Evolution of Apple.com

by Justin Horn on May 18th, 2009 @ 11:22 am

A cool look at the changes of Apple’s website since 1997. Pretty fun to look at whether you are a web developer or not.

AppStorm

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Apples & Oranges

New rumors on iPhone 3.0 background apps

by Justin Horn on May 15th, 2009 @ 5:09 pm

John Gruber brings up the possibility of background apps in iPhone 3.0 again after reading an article by Dan Frommer.

Dan Frommer:

Here’s two potential scenarios we’ve heard. Treat these as anecdotal rumors for now, as we don’t know how realistic they are.

Apple might allow users to select two apps that can run in the background.

Apple might selectively allow some apps to run in the background. We assume that developers could apply for permission to run in the background, and that Apple might approve or deny them based on the resources they need and how well they behave with the operating system’s stability.

Gruber points out that this is a pretty sketchy rumor, but is in line with a rumor he heard way back at MacWorld in January:

What I heard then was that Apple was working on a vastly improved dock for your most-frequently used apps, and that there’d be one special icon position where you could put a third-party app to enable it to run in the background.

I do think there is a good chance we will get background apps in a few months as one of the big surprises with iPhone 3.0, but it will only be availble on the new 3rd gen iPhone. The current models simply do not have enough app memory, not to be confused with the storage memory of 8GB and 16GB, to handle background apps. I do believe 3rd party apps could run in the background on the new iPhone if the rumors of the app memory going from 128MB to 256MB are indeed true. Another hint at background apps came from Digg’s Kevin Rose when discussing iPhone 3.0 rumors at SXSW. In response to a question on background apps he says “No, no Background Apps. They said they couldn’t do background apps”. Then after the douche bag to his right says it’s never going to happen Rose goes on to say studder “…no..uh.. it will happen”. Even though he says no at first, his hesitation sounds like it could happen, but only with new hardware.

I really hope they introduce background apps in a couple months as it would fit nicely into the short list of possible hardware upgrades (digital compass, faster CPU, more app ram, more storage, improved battery life, etc.) that would entice owners of the iPhone 3G to shell out another $200 to $300 bucks for the new model.

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iPhone, Speculation

Best Buy’s Project Charlie codename for new iPhones?

by Justin Horn on May 15th, 2009 @ 11:00 am

BGR has posted a picture acquired by phoneArena of Best Buys inventory screen. It shows 3 new mystery products code named Charlie 1, 2, and 3…the only description being “Project Charlie”. This could be a million different things, but the timing suggest that it could be new iPhones coming in the form 16GB black, 32GB black, and 32GB white. Another interesting point made by commenter ahow628 from the BGR article is the code name is in the correct order for a 3rd gen iPhone in the Phonetic Alphabet, alpha / 1st gen, beta / 2nd gen, and charlie 3rd gen.

This could be something not at all related to iPhone, but if it is this could suggest the iPhone is coming sooner than later. My guess on the 3rd gen iPhone release has been a repeat of last year. Announcement at WWDC followed by a release about a month later in early July, but if Charile is the iPhone it may come out right after it’s announced at WWDC early June. For now I’m going to stick with my original guess of announced at WWD and released on July 10th.

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iPhone, Speculation

iPhone 3.0 beta 5 fixes A2DP issues!

by Justin Horn on May 14th, 2009 @ 7:21 pm

UPDATE 6.21.09 A2DP bluetooth on iPhone 3G S works great, 3G not so much

UPDATE 5.16.09 After doing a test while running I did get it to break up a little bit so I guess it’s not perfect, but at this point I’m not sure if it’s the iPhone or the headphones. Either way in a 9 min jog it only broke up a few times for just a sec or two so it was still very usable unlike beta 4. While walking with it in my pocket I was still unable to get it to break up at all.

Not much changed in beta 5, but a big update for me is I can now use my S9-HDs I bought to test when 3.0 beta was first released. After writing about my first impression of A2DP I’ve been testing against each new beta. The audio skiping and sound quality issues improved with each update, but the issue with the audio cutting in and out when using the headset outside (seemed like a bad bluetooth connection) remained in my last A2DP update. One beta later and the problem is solved! I’m now able to use the S9-HDs when jogging, guess I have to start working out more now.

Also, beta 5 is the first beta where Apple requires all new apps to be 3.0 compaitble. So it looks like if this isn’t the final beta, there probably aren’t going to be too many more before it’s released to the public…which is making me think they may release 3.0 firmware before releasing the 3rd gen iPhone.

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iPhone, iPhone Accessories, Software

Our 3rd gen iPhone poll may run a bit longer if latest rumors are true

by Justin Horn on May 13th, 2009 @ 5:58 pm

I assumed that by the time WWDC rolled around in the second week of June our 3rd gen iPhone poll would be over, but the latest rumors flying around the Internet say different. I would like to go on the record saying I disagree with the latest rumors and believe that they will discuss the new iPhone. Not sure if they will give a official release date, but using the past as a guide I’m leaning towards yes. I understand the argument for a special iPhone event in late June coinciding with Steve Jobs return, but I believe Apple is trying to faze out that role for Steve since he probably won’t be with the company a few years from now.

John Gruber’s comments make me feel more confident on my thoughts against this rumor:

That’d be goofy. Last year’s iPhone 3G was announced at WWDC in early June, so why wouldn’t this year’s? Plus, if there are any new hardware features — like say a video camera or magnetometer — that means new APIs, and if Apple wants to have WWDC sessions for the new hardware-specific APIs, they have to announce the hardware first.

So if you think the rumor is true and you haven’t placed your vote for a chance to win a new iPhone you better get to it, if you agree with me you should get to it anyway.