tequila bomb

When speaking on the latest episode of his show Pach Attack, [analyst Michael Pachter from Wedbush Morgan Securities] said that he feels the market is reaching saturation point.

“We’re starting to see DS hardware sales crack, I think the big woody of the iPod Touch is cutting into the handheld market, I think the PSP is dead on arrival and I think the PSP2 is going to be dead on arrival.”

“It looks to me like young kids are just as happy playing with an iPod Touch or a Nano. The Touch is cool, it plays games, plays music, they’re going to put a camera in it and you’re going to get all kinds of cool stuff.”

He did, however, have some positive words to say regarding Nintendo’s new 3DS, but also that after an initial spike, sales will dip and hand the incentive back over to Apple.

“What’s the difference if you play Tetris on an iPod Touch or on a DS? Well, you pay a buck on the iPod Touch, you pay $20 on the DS. Parents prefer $1 or free software, I think the iPod Touch is going to sell really, really well. So, after the 3DS has had its little rush I think the handhelds will continue to decline.”

From gamrFeed.

Pretty much identical to the conclusion I came to a few days ago…

People have theorised that the console market could be in trouble in the future simply because of the convergence of portable and home hardware.

I don’t think so. But I do think that the day of the dedicated portable console is over. Nintendo’s 3DS will most likely be the last marginally successful one, and for similar dubious reasons to the Wii.

But after that it’s going to be hybrid smart phones all the way for mobile gaming…

Oh, and iPads and iPods of course!

Unfortunately this Playstation Phone doesn’t stand a chance in that market.

I don’t know how long Apple’s ad will run for. So go visit espn.com right now.

You can still access all of the site’s menus even when the advert is running, and portions of the website seem to have been cleared out of the way. Seamless, non-irritating, responsive, intuitive, and a very attractive advert to watch on top of all that. Simply awesome. Oh, and it’s Flash-less!

Any company that shows this duty of care to an audience it is trying to attract is one that I am going to buy stuff from. Simple as that.

Take note Wired, and other crappy ad laden sites. This is what you should be doing when you do your huge banner adverts.

CUPERTINO, California—November 22, 2010—Apple® today announced that iOS 4.2, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, is available today for download for iPad™, iPhone® and iPod touch®. iOS 4.2 brings over 100 new features from iOS 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2 to iPad including Multitasking, Folders, Unified Inbox, Game Center, AirPlay® and AirPrint.

“iOS 4.2 makes the iPad a completely new product, just in time for the holiday season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Once again, the iPad with iOS 4.2 will define the target that other tablets will aspire to, but very few, if any, will ever be able to hit.”

Find my iPhone is now free, but there is a caveat…

The Find My iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch) feature is now free to use without a MobileMe℠ subscription and helps you locate your missing device.* The Find My iPhone app is a free download on the App Store℠ and lets users easily locate a missing device on a map and have it display a message or play a sound. Users can even remotely lock or wipe data from a lost device to protect privacy.

*The free Find My iPhone feature is available for iPhone 4, iPad or new iPod touch (4th generation).

VLC Developer Rémi Denis-Courmont confirmed that Videolan sent a copyright infringement notice to Apple about the iOS version of its popular video playing app, VLC. The notice targets the DRM-based distribution method of the App Store and its restrictive terms and conditions. VLC is distributed under a GNU General Public License (GPL), an open source and free software license program that does not allow the restrictive policies of the iTunes App Store. By tightly controlling how VLC is distributed, Apple’s App Store violates this GPL and Videolan was compelled to notify Apple.

Apple will not comply with this request. So their only option is to remove it.

If you want VLC on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch then I suggest you go get it now.

Apple advertises the rear facing camera as being able to record 720p video, however that’s not exactly true. Photos are shot at 960 x 720 but video is shot at 1280 x 720. Apple appears to be using a 960 x 720 sensor to cut costs, but upscaling video to 1280 x 720. Apple’s scaler seems pretty good, the bigger problem is the sensitivity of the image sensor.

The pricing guarantees Apple is going to continue to have incredible quarters going forward. Apple found sneaky ways to reduce the total BOM (bill of materials) cost on the new iPod Touch. A cheaper chassis compared to the iPhone 4, no GPS, less DRAM on package (256MB vs. 512MB), a cheaper screen and a worse imaging sensor. Granted the iPod Touch is significantly less expensive than the iPhone 4, particularly if you take into account the AT&T contract you need for the latter. At least the new iPod Touch was on par with the iPhone 4 as an MP3 player, which is important given this is an iPod.

The bottom line is that the new iPod Touch is not an iPhone 4 without the phone, it’s more like an updated iPod Touch – maybe even an iPod Touch 3.5. It’s not bad but it’s not great either. You have to set your expectations accordingly.

As always, a grown up and objective review of Apple gear.

Benchmarks comparing the iPhone 4′s performance to that of this new iPod Touch, show that the new iPod is just a hair slower than the iPhone 4 overall.

Interestingly iFixit confirmed that Apple’s early PR material about the iPod Touch having a vibration motor was wholly incorrect. There is none.

The A4 in the iPod Touch is the one found inside the iPad, and as such only has 256MB of RAM.

Apple A4 CPU, an internal antenna, 802.11 b/g/n, and a 3.44 watt-hour battery, Retina Display, front-facing camera for FaceTime, and rear-facing HD-capable shooter.

From BGR.

Apple TV

So let’s be clear. I was wrong in my assumption that the new Apple TV would not come out until next year. But oh so right that it would be iOS and ARM based, and that we wouldn’t see the all singing all dancing media roll out that was generally expected.

Apple TV is still a hobby. And if it wasn’t $99 I wouldn’t be bothered about it. I still prefer to make my own Apple TV from a Mac Mini. But at $99 Apple TV is significantly better value than the Airport Express I bought a few years ago… At that price it’s worth getting one just to see whether you like it or not.

And if you don’t its media streaming capabilities on a home network make it worth $99 alone. Being able to walk into your living room and wirelessly stream a video you just made on your iPhone 4 to your 40″ Plasma is a killer feature. Very Bang & Olufsen.

Apple have been smart here. Instead of launching a crippled service, and trying to hype it, they have augmented what is already a solid “hobby” project, and will let the eco-system grow around it. Expect most large US TV companies to be going cap in hand to Apple by this time next year to be part of the service. At the moment it’s just ABC and Fox who are onboard.

Unlike Google, if Apple launch something which is Beta, they call it a “hobby” and keep it a “hobby” until it’s ready for prime time.

Apple TV could be iTunes and the iPod all over again. But this time in Technicolor.

iTunes 10

The big news about iTunes 10 (apart from the new logo!) is “Ping”. “Ping” is Apple’s very own “social network for music”. I am not sure I can be bothered having iTunes open all the time. But if Apple opens up the API, and someone makes a nice client I might be tempted to join a social network which is about finding good music that my friends also like.

Embedding videos and images inline in the Twitter like feed is appealing too.

iPod Nano

This thing it going to sell like hot cakes, in my opinion. If you haven’t pre-ordered one today you are probably already in a queue. It is so close to being the fabled iWatch that I am considering having one as just that, but I’ll most likely carry it around as a pocket watch with benefits. I am also considering going and buying a pair of Nike trainers for the first time!

The clever bit is that Apple have prevented the Nano and the Touch from cannibalising each other’s sales by removing the camera from the Nano and putting it into the Touch. Smart.

The real question is will Apple open the Nano up for developers?

I can see a nano-app Gold Rush happening around this device, if they do…

iPod Touch

Pretty much as expected. Retina Display, Apple A4, Front Facing Camera for Facetime and a crippled back facing camera.

iPad

No mention specifically, other than iOS 4.2 coming soon. But Steve did say that the iPad would get access to all new iOS features, specifically hinting at HDR (now on iOS4.1 for iPhone and iPod Touch). So that tends to suggest an iPad bump around years end with a camera. Facetime is very obviously coming to the iPad as well as the new iPod Touch.

iOS 4.1

We’ve had it to play with for a while as developers. But a new GM has been released today which features some stuff we’ve not been privy to.

HDR photos is a nice new addition.

It’s interesting to note that we’ve not had a sniff of 4.2 yet in developer circles…

iOS 4.2

iOS Unification. So by the end of the year your iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone will all be running the same OS.

Wireless printing had to come sooner or later. But it was nice to have it confirmed.

That rumored September Apple event will be coming even sooner than expected, now that Apple has sent out invitations for an event at 10am Pacific Time on September 1. As usual, the company did not specify exactly what will be discussed at the media-only event, but the image contains the typical clues that this will be a music-focused event.

This is much earlier than expected. If negotiations for Apple TV were “ongoing” a few days ago, this seems to suggest that the Apple TV may have been dropped from the line up. As I have said, I may be wrong about Apple TV. But my gut tells me that we’re not going to see it – unless Apple are very upfront about it still being a “hobby” project.

Expect an iPod Touch with FaceTime, Retina Display and a cut down rear facing camera.

No iPad iOS unification, yet.

iOS 4.1 and Game Centre will be one of the focusses.

Since there is no preferred device orientation for iPad, OpenGL rendering on the device must handle that. I have added arbitrary device orientation to my HelloiPadGLSL code to demonstrate how to handle that. It turns out to be relatively easy if you think in terms of the MVC design pattern Apple has established and implement the proper methods in your Controller and View. I include liberal doses of NSLog-ing to stare at for your pleasure:

On GitHub: http://github.com/turner/HelloiPadGLSL

Nice piece of reference code.