tequila bomb

Today, there’s only one operating system: Unix. (Okay, there are two, but we’ll get to that.) This is why I contend that the OS doesn’t matter—or that we need to take another look at the word’s content, at what we mean when we say ‘Operating System’.

Jean-Louis Gassée stating the obvious. But he is right. A good read.

The only exception is Windows. Initially built on top of DOS, Microsoft painstakingly added version after version, always striving for backward compatibility while, at the same time, adding new features. It didn’t always work well (who wants to remember Windows Me and Vista?) but it worked well enough because Microsoft never gave up. They fixed mistakes that they claimed didn’t exist, and now we have the well-respected Windows 7. (Inevitably, critics will say that Microsoft wouldn’t have gotten away with such a tortuous path if it weren’t for its vigorously enforced monopoly.)

Unrelated : It’s interesting (read: irritating) to me that Microsoft are also the only Smart Phone manufacturer who are going with their own proprietary Graphics API.

iPhone OS 4.0 and the new iPhone 4G. Duh!

The next version of the Mac OS X, perhaps.

Nope.

In an inspired bit of entrail reading this morning, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu says Apple (AAPL) may have a libretto of big WWDC announcements. “Other announcements we are picking up that could potentially be made are iTunes.com, a web-based version of its iTunes client, and new Mac refreshes with faster processors and graphics, namely the Mac Pro and MacBook Air, which were last refreshed in March and June 2009, respectively,” he wrote in a note to clients this morning.

Wu is simply doing what most Apple watchers might do. He’s looking at refresh periods on hardware. Sure the Air is due for an update. So are a lot of things going by that metric.

But Apple’s only option right now is to pair the small-outline Core 2 Duo with the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M controller with integrated graphics. That GPU is a significant upgrade to the 9400M used in current MacBook Air models, and would offer increased performance with a decreased drain on the battery. But it is hardly an exciting step forward for the CPU.

All the Core i5 and i7 offerings from Intel require the use of Intel’s IGPs, which are less powerful than the current NVIDIA GPU being used in the Air. And now that Intel has taken the wraps off its ULV mobile processors we can see that they too rely on the same awful IGPs. Cramming an extra NVIDIA GPU into the Air, alongside Intel’s updated silicon is not really an option with its small form factor.

So no Air update. Even if it is “updated”, it’s not really an update. It’s a “bump”.

I am actually hearing whispers that Apple is at least experimenting with some custom silicon for the next MacBook Air. But I don’t see it being available as soon as WWDC, if at all.

Going out on a limb : I don’t think we’ll see any major Macintosh updates at all at WWDC this year – apart from perhaps Mac Pros.

I also tend to agree with Peter Kafka (now) that it probably is a bit early for a cloud based version of iTunes.

“Sources tell me that in the past few weeks, Apple has started signaling to the labels that it’s interested in a Web-based version of iTunes, its dominant music retail platform,” Kafka wrote on April 30. “But those conversations are preliminary at best. So if you’re expecting to hear about an ‘iTunes.com’ offering in the near future–like during Apple’s June 7 developer conference–you’re likely to be disappointed.”

I do think a ‘cloud’ iTunes is coming, especially when you consider the rumours about Apple’s new Apple TV plans from the last 24 hours. I had previously theorised that it may come around WWDC time, but in the light of the last 24 hours I do have to admit I think that is less likely now.

The new architecture of the device will be based directly on the iPhone 4, meaning it will get the same internals, down to that A4 CPU and a limited amount of flash storage — 16GB to be exact — though it will be capable of full 1080p HD (!). The device is said to be quite small with a scarce amount of ports (only the power socket and video out), and has been described to some as “an iPhone without a screen.” Are you ready for the real shocker? According to our sources, the price-point for the device will be $99.

This makes sense to me. According to my sources Apple have a lot of different pieces of hardware on test benches right now, some even from their desktop lineup, using custom silicon.

It’s Tuesday (somewhere)!

New Wallpapers, and AT&T Tethering…  I wonder what cost that will incur for US users?

It is likely that AT&T will be utilising the technology currently in place for the iPad to limit video download quality, when tethering goes live.

One reason we’re skeptical about this rumor is that Apple has been consistently rolling out new iPhone OS 4 beta builds. Why would Apple wait until WWDC to announce enhanced Facebook integration? One would think Apple would want to give developers a chance to work with the API before the new OS hits. Also, if Apple takes the spotlight away from iAd, Game Center, or a new phone, we would be surprised, but then again, keynotes can be long. A brief mention wouldn’t be too shocking either.

Well colour me excited about this. Not!

The only reason I mention it is that I’ve noticed some of my friends on Twitter bemoaning some clumsy attempts by Facebook recently to address security and privacy issues.

This makes me wonder if these rumours are true, and that Apple is putting pressure on Facebook, and still waiting for them to meet certain expectations that Apple has for this “partnership” to go ahead.

I think we’ll just see some kind of Facebook contacts import feature in iPhone OS 4.0.

Fingers crossed, that’s all.

…the iPhone 4 SDK contains references to capturing video at 720p, or 1280×720. Current iPhone models are only capable of capturing video at 640×480, leading some to believe that the next-generation iPhone will indeed be called the iPhone HD.

Just to be clear : Don’t expect to see this feature implemented on any device other than the new 4th generation iPhone. I am still not convinced about the ‘HD’ name. And I am still curious about the actual screen resolution in the new iPhone.

The latest beta also sports a “widget” to control the iPod application. Apparently reached by swiping the screen to the left, the widget appears at the bottom of the screen and has buttons to launch the iPod application, to skip forward and backward, and to pause or play. This seems to serve the function that a double-click of the home button currently serves.

Apple seem to have recognised, and dealt with the issue of having the Home Button functionality change in iPhone OS 4. Something that I discussed here, before iPhone OS 4 was announced.

Apple has also added the ability to lock the orientation of the device. This is similar to the iPad, but instead of a hardware switch, the iPhone will use a software icon in the aforementioned widget to trigger the lock. The feature will be welcomed by many iPhone users, though we wonder why Apple couldn’t find a more appropriate place for the icon.

It’s not a particularly intuitive location. But then I don’t think Apple see it as a feature that needs instant access. You are only going to use it if you are settling down to read a book, or you are setting the device up to play movies and picture slide shows for an extended period of time. In which case it’s only a couple of taps and swipes away.

Last, but certainly not least, Apple has added what can be best described as a task manager for quitting applications that are running in the background. Some may remember that Steve Jobs indicated at the iPhone 4 media event that task managers are evil and should be reviled, but apparently things have changed. To close an app in the latest beta,  users just have to press and hold on the multi-tasking screen until a minus badge appears on active applications.

I also touched on that in the article I referenced above. With any multi-tasking, no matter how good, you need a way to kill apps. Even on the first generation iPhone it is possible to get stuck processes, which if nothing else eat up memory.

If you click on LaLa’s website link above you will see that…

Lala is shutting down.

The Lala service will be shut down on May 31st, 2010.

Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting new users.

Members, you can still use Lala through May 31st, 2010.

Log in for details

Apple acquired LaLa on December 4, 2009.

One of my bets for iPhone OS 4.0 was a music streaming service. Even if that is still wide of the mark it’s almost certain we’ll see something happen with iTunes and whatever Apple have done with LaLa.

WWDC is just around the corner.

I’ll let you connect the dots.

UPDATE : From a LaLa user HinterRecords.

The OolongEngine is a more a set of core libraries for building iPhone apps than a game engine. It is not something like Unity that anyone can pick up and put a game together with limited programming experience. But it is a comprehensive code base nonetheless, and offers considerable freedom for those wanting to code and not just design by mouse.

I’ve been using it as a base for my own iPhone engine (Virush) for some time. It has just had a fairly major makeover and been updated for the iPad, as well as for OpenGL ES 2.0 a while back. Several titles in the App Store have used it.

The Oolong Engine is written in C++ with some help from Objective-C. It will help you to create new games and port existing games to the iPhone, the iPod touch and the iPad. Here is its feature list:

• OpenGL ES 1.1 and OpenGL 2.0 (> iPhone 3GS, iPod touch third gen, iPad) support
• Math library that supports floating-point calculations with an interface very similar to the D3D math library
• Support for numerous texture formats including the PowerVR 2-bit, 4-bit and normal map compression formats
• Support for PowerVR’s POD (Scene and Meshes), .3DS and .blend file formats
• Touch screen support
• Accelerometer support
• Text rendering to support a basic UI
• Timing: several functions that can replace rdstc, QueryPerformance etc.
• Profiler: industry proven in-game profiler
• Resources streaming system
• Bullet SDK support (for 3D Physics)
• Audio engine with OpenAL support
• Networking with the ENet library
• Industry proven memory manager from http://www.fluidstudios.com

Worth a look if you are in the market for a codebase starting point.

It’s free, and the developer community is friendly.

Actually a pretty comprehensive report which includes a full diagnosis, explanation of the issue, and steps to reproduce it.

Princeton think it’s an iPhone OS3.2 bug related to DHCP leases, and explain that it is, for them, a security issue related to the same IP address sometimes getting allocated to more than one device / user…

So first Israel start confiscating iPads which enter their country.

The iPad device sold exclusively today in the United States operates at broadcast power levels [over its WiFi modem] compatible with American standards.

As the Israeli regulations in the area of WiFi are similar to European standards, which are different from American standards, which permit broadcasting at lower power, therefore the broadcast levels of the device prevent approving its use in Israel.

From haaretz.

These guys have heard of the iPhone and the iPod, right? And laptops?

Now US Universities are banning the iPad, touted as a “student friendly” device by Apple :

…even before the iPad became officially available for consumers, Seton Hill University made it known that they were going to start providing iPads to their Fall, full-time students.

However…

According to The Wall Street Journal , it seems that three separate universities: Cornell, George Washington, and Princeton University are all restricting access of the Apple iPad. Stating wireless Internet security reasons, Princeton has logged an astonishing 20% of blocked iPads from its network. According to engineers, they realized malfunctions could result in a total breakdown in the school’s computer system.

You’ve got to love University network technicians. Their little panics are always good for a belly laugh. When I was at college I ended up running the campus wide network for what was, at the time, the biggest community college in Europe. It simply meant things ran better for me, and my fellow students. I could easily fit the work in in-between lessons. The technicians used to bring me cups of tea and play my networked M.U.D while I sorted their stuff out for them.

As for George Washington University, it seems that that school has permanently blocked the iPod Touch, iPhone, and the iPad from connecting to their wireless networks.

Oh! Those guys have heard of the iPhone and the iPod! Good work guys!

Perhaps the network guys at Seton Hill University should give the guys over at Cornell, George Washington, and Princeton University some advice on how to run a proper network.

This is not really an Apple problem. This is more to do with Apple being the most popular mobile device manufacturer and increasing numbers of students having their devices.

That problem is certainly not going to go away any time soon.

In the interim perhaps students should be asked to use Opera Mini on their iDevices to ease network bandwidth usage?

UPDATE : The guys and girls over at Princeton make a fairly good case for it perhaps being a DHCP lease issue in iPhone OS 3.2. I may have to eat my words.