Apple iPhone and related items (cont.)

[zenie]

Where is the hack for video?

You can get them on PAYG now, if I had a spare 400 quid I'd get one

 

[Sunray]

Hey I know, the iPhone version links to the GPS so if your travelling on the bus in a third world country for 20 hours, you can show people where they are? Then you can show them their houses, hopefully one will have their car parked outside when the image was taken. That will kill 20 minutes.

 

[Sunray]

Where is the hack for video?

You can get them on PAYG now, if I had a spare 400 quid I'd get one

Its not a hack for Video you need to hack the phone so you can install the app as its not on the App store.

http://www.iphonevideorecorder.com/

 

[Gromit]

I downloaded Google Earth on to my desktop and have used it precisely once. I know it's well clever and all that but.... meh.

Funnily enough i DL'd once for PC and used it once.
Have DL'd it for iPhone and have used it erm just once.

Now if it was live satilite pictures with sharper focus and closer zoom I might use it. To spy on friends whilst pretending like i was a CIA agent trying to stop a terrorist.

 

[Iam]

It looks quite cool... but I don't see me using it other than to go "here, look at this!"

 

[editor]

Mr Anti-Competition himself, Steve Jobs, has just blocked Opera Mobile on iPhone.

Opera CEO Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner told the NY Times in a recent interview that Opera's engineers have developed a browser capable of running on the iPhone, but Apple won't let the App be released as it competes with Safari Mobile.
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/apple-blocks-opera-mobile-on-iphone-481079

More: http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2008/10/30/opera-mini-denied-apple-disallows-browser-competitor-iphone/

 

[Gromit]

Surely Opera knew this would happen. Why did they even bother spending money on development without speaking to Apple first?

Oh wait I know why, gets them in the media and raises their profile doesn't it.

Not that I'm saying apple are right but just pointing out that neither party are whiter than white in their motives here.

 

[Sunray]

Mr Anti-Competition himself, Steve Jobs, has just blocked Opera Mobile on iPhone.

More: http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2008/10/30/opera-mini-denied-apple-disallows-browser-competitor-iphone/

What Marius said.

If you read that press release carefully,

... interview that Opera's engineers have developed a browser capable of running on the iPhone, but Apple..

So you've developed Opera mobile and all this is a press release stating that you could get it to run on the iPhone, but Apple will not let you, even though anyone whos anyone in the industry knew that that was the case.

 

[xbow's sis]

Sorry to sound like a complete luddite, but I'm being told that you can't forward an SMS on an iphone???? so no jokes to be sent on ??

 

[Lazy Llama]

That's definitely the upside, yes.

 

[xbow's sis]

lol! Good point!!!

 

[Gromit]

Sorry to sound like a complete luddite, but I'm being told that you can't forward an SMS on an iphone???? so no jokes to be sent on ??

Correct.

That's definitely the upside, yes.

No MMS either, so no accidently sending yer mum rude pics from your phone instead of your GF either.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Surely Opera knew this would happen. Why did they even bother spending money on development without speaking to Apple first?

Oh wait I know why, gets them in the media and raises their profile doesn't it.

Not that I'm saying apple are right but just pointing out that neither party are whiter than white in their motives here.

Yep, well said.

 

[editor]

So you've developed Opera mobile and all this is a press release stating that you could get it to run on the iPhone, but Apple will not let you, even though anyone whos anyone in the industry knew that that was the case.

Perhaps you missed the earlier furore where developers were asking Apple to clarify the terms on which apps would be rejected? There are already apps which fall foul of their own rules on the App Store.

But if you want to defend their anti-competitive stance and blame Opera for trying to build an alternative bowser for the iPhone, you go right ahead. I don't think I'm going to be impressed though.

 

[paolo]

I love Google Earth. About 1 in 20 Glastonbury festival goers used it this year, to see what the festival had to offer. Pretty good I thought, given that it was a grass roots word-of-mouth affair. Some people explored it for hours at a time. I'm now working on a monster new project, a massive mashup, completely different subject area... Head back in kml again

The limiting thing with the Mobile version is lack of support for kml loading. Which means it's limited to the basic database of stuff. If/when they add support for 3rd parties like myself, then there'll be lots of potential for some very useful on-the-go stuff. Waay more useful than streetview.

 

[iskande]

What Marius said.

If you read that press release carefully,



So you've developed Opera mobile and all this is a press release stating that you could get it to run on the iPhone, but Apple will not let you, even though anyone whos anyone in the industry knew that that was the case.

more detail here http://daringfireball.net/2008/11/opera_app_store ... not actually relased , not actually ported , just a wrapper ...

"If what they’ve done for the iPhone is along the same lines — that they’ve gotten a Java ME runtime running on the iPhone — it’s clearly outside the bounds of the iPhone SDK Agreement."

 

[Gromit]

But if you want to defend their anti-competitive stance and blame Opera for trying to build an alternative bowser for the iPhone, you go right ahead. I don't think I'm going to be impressed though.

I think you've missed the point. We're not defending the anti-competitive stance. Merely pointing out that Opera aren't white knights against oppression but using Apple's reputation for their own ends.

Anything that happens with regard to Apple is big news. Anything that happens to Opera is small news. How do Opera make themselves big news. We'll go to mock battle with Apple and while people are arguing on the net about it they'll be talking about us when previously we were a forgotten brand. We've all fallen for it. Its a victory for the Opera spin doctors. Fished in etc. We've been spun!

 

[editor]

I think you've missed the point. We're not defending the anti-competitive stance. Merely pointing out that Opera aren't white knights against oppression but using Apple's reputation for their own ends.

They're just trying to compete on a level playing field. And that's good for all of us.

Anything that happens with regard to Apple is big news. Anything that happens to Opera is small news.

Hello? Opera are hardly little minnows - their mobile browser is the most popular mobile phone browser in the world.

More importantly, it seems that it's faster than the iPhone's browser:

Firstly, it's currently the most advanced, feature-packed mobile browser in the world for Java-based handsets. It supports multiple cached pages for seamless back-and-forward navigation, Javascript, RSS and secure connections for online shopping.

But secondly, and perhaps more impressively, it uses server-side caching, meaning before the massive full-size Web pages are crammed down your teeny GPRS data connection, they're compressed to a ludicrously small size.

This not only makes pages load a billion times faster than when using any pre-installed phone browser, but it slashes your data charges, too. In many tests, it loads much, much faster than the iPhone loads over 3G. Intuitive zooming and fast scrolling using keypad shortcuts make zipping around pages and zooming in on text not only easy but lightning fast.

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/natelanxon/0,139102300,49299593,00.htm

 

[Gromit]

Hello? Opera are hardly little minnows - their mobile browser is the most popular mobile phone browser in the world.

More importantly, it seems that it's faster than the iPhone's browser:

Once again you've missed the point. I'm talking about news. Media mention. Nothing else.

How many column inches do Opera get compared to Apple? They want more and they aren't ashamed to engineer a situation thats going to give it to them.

How much have Apple spent on advertising and PR compared to Opera? Opera are to some extent piggy backing Apple's PR instead of spending money on creating their own. Very clever but none the less two faced.

 

[editor]

Once again you've missed the point. I'm talking about news. Media mention. Nothing else.

No, I think you're missing the point. Opera aren't doing this as a cheap, desperate ploy to get advertising. They're doing it because they want to compete on a level playing field and secure their commercial future by being on as many platforms as possible.

How much media attention do you think has generated anyway? Past the usual techie websites, I doubt if most people have a fucking clue what went on and it certainly hasn't been plastered all over the main media outlets. Your PR argument is a total red herring, IMO.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Looks like Opera may have been sneaky PR minded buggers after all:

So we, along with half the interwebs, picked up a paraphrased comment by Opera’s president that pretty much indicated Apple had rejected popular mobile browser Opera Mini from the App Store.

Well, John Gruber over at Daring Fireball did some digging and found out that it just ain’t so:

My understanding, based on information from informed sources who do not wish to be identified because they were not authorized by their employers is that Opera has developed an iPhone version of Opera Mini, they haven’t even submitted it to Apple, let alone had it be rejected.​

 

[editor]

Well, that rather depends on how weight you put on a source described as, "informed sources who do not wish to be identified because they were not authorized by their employers."

 

[Gromit]

How much media attention do you think has generated anyway? Past the usual techie websites, I doubt if most people have a fucking clue what went on and it certainly hasn't been plastered all over the main media outlets. Your PR argument is a total red herring, IMO.

Techie websites. Used by their target audience.
Main media outlets. Won't run it because the general populace don't give a damn cause they use whatever their computer came with. Not their target audience.

They've hit their target audience.

 

[Gromit]

Well, that rather depends on how weight you put on a source described as, "informed sources who do not wish to be identified because they were not authorized by their employers."

Hard to say.

This can now be spun one of three ways.

Whistleblower
Loose lips
Unofficial release by PR for damage limitation cause whoever opened their trap to start this messed up by going off brief and spouting duff gen.

Unofficial sources for CCFC quoted by the Echo at one stage used to be Sam Hammam phoning up Echo reporters. Straight from the horses mouth but unofficial.

 

[editor]

They've hit their target audience.

Don't be daft. Opera is a mainstream consumer product, not some kind of niche app for techies.

 

[Gromit]

Don't be daft. Opera is a mainstream consumer product, not some kind of niche app for techies.

The day it comes OEM on a PC from PC World is the day i'll believe its mainstream.

If the user has to go to a website to DL its an 'alternative' browser imo.

Safari is about the only other browser I'd consider mainstream because its OEM on Macs.

 

[editor]

Tsk tsk. Even Apple #1 fanboys Engadget are unimpressed with this development. Still, the more they treat developers like cunts, the more likely they are to defect to an open platform like Android where the punters can decide what's "best" for their handsets.

Oh Apple. Is it that you can't see the things you're doing, or that you simply don't care how they look? If you'll recall, few months ago Jobs and co. kicked up quite a dust storm over a seemingly innocuous application called Podcaster, which allowed you to receive over-the-air updates of new podcasts when they were released. The company rejected the app based on the grounds that it "duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes," a claim that seemed unreasonable at the time, and should now feel downright criminal.

According to a German blog which has posted pictures of the latest beta build of firmware 2.2, Apple has included functionality which allows you to download podcasts over-the-air. The new addition works with both video and audio, and over 3G / EDGE and WiFi, though the size of podcasts is limited to 10MB when using the cell network.

Now we don't pretend to assume that Apple just got this idea after seeing Podcaster in action -- and it's clear that Apple is killing projects which are similar to its own -- but it's still hard to stomach the concept of the company outright refusing an application with nearly the exact same functionality, only to turn around and add it to their installed software.

This kind of veiled violence against developers only serves to chip away at the support Apple has engendered in its community, and drive those hands and eyes to other platforms. C'mon Steve -- we know you can do better than this.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/06/apple-adds-ota-podcast-downloads-to-iphone-firmware-2-2-continu/

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Says a lot that even they are turning on Apple but is anyone really surprised by this now?

 

[elbows]

No its not surprising, but its almost totally indefensible so it will still raise eyebrows and cause a stink. Personally it does not bother me very much as a user, most people wont care that Opera is not avaialable on it, Adobe pulling the same stunt had more effect because more people want Flash on the iphone.

As a potential developer it stinks and puts me off. I will try to stick to webapps for the iphone as Apple can't control them.

This sort of stuff does stop the iphone being the ultimate device, and I do hope competitors beat Apple in the longrun. I got the iphone fully aware of its strengths and weaknesses, I do not regret the choice until the alternatives have as polished an overall user experience.

 

[editor]

This sort of stuff does stop the iphone being the ultimate device, and I do hope competitors beat Apple in the longrun. I got the iphone fully aware of its strengths and weaknesses, I do not regret the choice until the alternatives have as polished an overall user experience.

T Mobile are doing their bit to add some misery to the user experience with their upgrade antics over the G1 phone too, but at least the Android platform shouldn't suffer any Steve Jobs "I'm in charge around here and I decide what's best " shenanigans.