Writer Matt Rosenhein explains WebKits latest endeavors to pass the Acid3 test.

The Acid web standards test has just gone into its third itineration, and the WebKit team is already racing to make their engine as compliant as possible. The Acid3 test builds upon many of the goals that were presented in the much praised Acid2 test, which served as one of the best indicators as to the CSS compatibility of browsers. Safari was the first major browser to pass the test, followed immediately by Konqueror (whose engine provided the code base for WebKit), iCab (the current version now uses WebKit) and Opera. Firefox and Internet Explorer, the two most widely used browsers, have yet to publish a stable release that passes the Acid2, though both teams have demonstrated betas and nightlies that pass and will be released in their next major releases (Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8).

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This June, iPhone’s going 2.0. Apple is adding a host of much-clamored-for features (mostly for enterprise users) in addition to, finally, official support for third-party software.

As with the Apple TV, the early adopters (all four million of them) won’t be left out of the fun — iPhone 2.0 is coming as a free software update and includes licensed ActiveSync support, 802.1x networking (a must at many colleges and businesses), and the App Store, where developers can list their programs at prices from $0 up. The message behind 2.0 is clear: iPhone is being evicted from its niche. Apple aims for it to be the mobile communicator of the future, King Smartphone, handed out by the thousands at the world’s largest corporations and purchased by any individual with the desire to stay connected.
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Writer Matt Rosenhein details some of the more interesting patents Apple holds that still remain unused and what it could mean for future Apple products.

“Integrated Sensing Display”

Dubbed the ‘telescreen’ by some, this fantastic patent calls for an LCD like display with an integrated image sensor, that would be able to simultaneously display content and capture images. The claimed application for this patent would be an invisible iSight allowing the front of the iMac to remain completely bare of extraneous marks. Alternatively, the filing specifically refers to the uses attractiveness in portable electronics in order to conserve precious space. Sadly the patent was filed in 2004 and remains unused, suggesting that the idea was nothing more than a conceptual design rather than any sort of product in development. Of course, it is entirely possible that this patent has already been implemented on all existing Apple products, making way Apple’s inevitable overthrow of the major world powers and the creation of a New iWorld Order.

“In addition, portable devices, such as portable digital assistants (PDAs) and cell phones, have very limited space for displays and would benefit if additional real estate were not used for a camera.”

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With tomorrow’s iPhone SDK Road Map announcement, we should expect to have most of our questions about the next stage in developing for the iPhone answered. Prior to the announcement, I would like to make a few last minute predictions about things we might see and hopes for things I would like to see.

The iPhone SDK Roadmap Event Invitation

In October of last year, October 17th to be exact, Apple quietly released that they were developing an iPhone SDK. This came to the relief of the community as the current “Web 2.0” iPhone SDK wasn’t quite doing the trick.

As we all know, late February came and went without any iPhone SDK announcement, however last week we got of word of the iPhone road map event. What I find particularly interesting about the announcement is the lack of definitive answers or explanations. On the invitation, pictured above, “iPhone Road Map” indicates this isn’t going to just be about an SDK. This should be our hint that this event is about the iPhone, not the SDK. Get the difference?

I think we will see applications singed by Apple and distributed through iTunes. I feel that the developers will have the option to set a price, but I hope that it isn’t required. As for the limitations imposed by Apple and the SDK, I also hope that developers aren’t severely limited by restrictions imposed by Apple. I’m sure Apple understands the potential of the iPhone SDK and won’t compromise features without good reasoning.

I sincerely wish that Apple is going to mention something about games on the iPhone and the iPod Touch! On Tuesday, Jobs said “[the] impending SDK release for the iPhone and iPod Touch [will] open the market for new opportunities for gaming”. Multi-touch is a highly innovative interface that has great potential for gaming. We will see games either coming from the iPhone SDK or only through Apple or selected developers (as the iPod Games currently are). Again, preferably free- because everyone loves free things and there are plenty of developers willing to develop games for donation only (or free).

On the invitation is a sign that says “Enterprise”. This probably means that the iPhone will become more Enterprise friendly via the SDK or a slight Software Update. Something as small as an update to allow Microsoft Exchange support to something larger- which can finally attract big business customers. Only Apple knows for sure.

If we see all of this happen tomorrow, I would be very happy. Honestly I feel that Apple is going to throw us a curve ball that may for be for the good, but also for the worse. Apple has been very protective of the iPhones security- which is a good thing. We can always wish, so while not quite as plausible, Apple does currently hold patents for mobile distribution which they may use. If you could browse and download the applications through iTunes, on the go- that would be awesome! Whatever comes from tomorrow, it will be for the better.

Right now, the iPhone is one of the best phones on the market. Apple wants to sell more than 10 million of them by the end of the year- but can the SDK bring these numbers?

With the announcement of this Thursdays iPhone SDK event in Cupertino, February has left us without any details being publicly available. No one quite knows why it is being delivered late- Jobs did announce it in October! But at this point, no one is counting the days- they just want the SDK!

Since that day in October, we have heard very little about the SDK, except for small rumblings and speculation about it’s distribution within iTunes. The iPhone SDK could mean big things for the iPhone- as the closed platform is the largest complaint with the iPhone, besides EDGE speeds. While Apple’s included applications are great, the iPhone lacks user customizability.

At WWDC 2007, Jobs revealed that iPhone applications could be developed through Safari- in “Web 2.0 Applications”. This was met with much disappointment from developers and consumers who wanted to take advantage of the full potential in the iPhone. Native Applications could be seal the deal for the iPhone. Lets not forget about the original Macintosh, introduced in January 1984. While far ahead of its time, the major flaw and ultimate result for poor sales was due to the lack of developers!

While the current situation with the iPhone is slightly different, developers are begging to develop for the iPhone and so far, Apple has kept the platform closed. By opening it up we might see a surge in iPhone sales as developers put the hardware to all kinds of creative uses. I hope to be pleasantly surprised with Thursdays announcement and sincerely hope that Apple has learned their lesson from the past. The iPhone has an unbelievable potential!

It has been a rough month for us- February has come and gone with no iPhone SDK. Last week, we saw an update to the aging Apple laptop line- with multi-touch! The SDK missed its late February target, announced by Jobs in October, but will be detailed this Thursday, March 6th in Cupertino. We should expect to see the applications approved by Apple and distributed through iTunes. As for theiLife, we have been slowly coming back to life after our two week absence. I have to apologize, but with one person writing the majority of content, it becomes hard to do daily when I have to do lots of other things. We will definitely see more content this week, again, sorry for the empty site.

What does all the recent breaks in Apple announcements, from Macworld to the model numbers to new laptops indicate about Apple in 2008?

Apple used to pride itself on its secrecy. To this date, they are one of the best examples of companies with excellent control over itself- however over the past year I have noticed more and more breaks in secrecy and more accurate predictions from the rumor mills. Could this be an indicator of the company beginning to get too large?

This leads me to question, what has happened to Apple’s extreme secrecy regarding new products? As Apple is gaining market share and growing as a company, it must be becoming harder to maintain the extremely tight security and structure within the company it once retained. As more rumor sites appear, it only adds fuel to the existing hype always surrounding Apple.

Looking back upon 2007, we saw countless photos of unreleased products that turned out to be the real thing. In context, for Apple, this is almost unheard of! A typical Apple ‘slip-up’ used to be something like an empty reference on their website or a change from within the Apple Store itself (like shipping times). I cannot honestly recall from years past, the last time I witnessed a product spy shot of an Apple product that turned out to be the real thing!

It could just be my memory failing me but the fact is 2007 saw more breaks in Apple secrecy than ever before. To me, this screams that something has changed within Apple. Maybe because it is getting bigger, maybe because the attention surrounding the company is at an all time high but- either way I don’t think it is a good sign. Apple is slipping on something that it used to have a tight grip on.

If it is true, it is clearly demonstrating that something within Apple has changed, and evidently Apple is having a hard time coping with it- because they must notice! This could be very early indications that Apple is growing into an uber large, Microsoft type company. While Apple’s growth is great for Apple users, investors and, the technology world- if Apple’s growth exceeds control, it could end up hurting the company in other more serious ways. Will we see new MacBooks today? Will the iPhone SDK be delayed until March?

With the recent victory of Blu-Ray as the next-gen format, and with Apple belonging to the Blu-Ray disc camp since 2005, it is only natural that we should start to see Blu-Ray in Apple products.

Apple has long been known to bring new standards to the table. Take USB, or the floppy drive for example: When the original iMac was introduced with just USB, hardware manufactures scrambled to make peripherals, even though PC’s had been shipping with USB for years. While the switch was annoying for the early buyers, the iMac is credited for making USB what it is today — and for killing off the floppy.

Others, and myself, speculated for the past 3 years that we would soon see the introduction of Blu-Ray drives into Apple products — particularly as a build-to-order (BTO) option! However, over these past few years the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray battle rocked us all, and that could be the reason behind the inaction. Was Apple waiting for a clear winner? Is Blu-Ray still too expensive, even for BTO?! After all, Steve Jobs said that 2005 was the year of High-Def! We are almost three months into 2008!

What that reason was, or is, we will find out soon. I get the feeling that this year, we will see Blu-Ray drives in Macs, possibly standard but most likely BTO. Also, conveniently, with the AppleTV and iTunes shift into the living room, we could see another possible collaboration between Apple and Blu-Ray. It is also good to keep in mind that Steve Jobs is the largest shareholder in Disney, which supported the Blu-Ray camp since the beginning. Be it a free digital download with purchase of a Blu-Ray disc, a hardware upgrade to the Apple TV or something else, time can only tell. The future is Blu.

Thursday night I went to the Tibet Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall, hosted by Philip Glass. It was a great musical experience, featuring Sufjan Stevens, Marisa Monte and Band of Horses and many, many others. The performances were incredible, with Sufjan Stevens’ reworking of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and Nawang Khechog, a Tibetan multi-instrumentalist, doing “The Last Stand of the Wild Yaks” with drums and a mini-didgeridoo. There was also Ashley MacIsaac and Phamie Gow playing a very catchy piece on fiddle and harp, respectively. To bring down the house, they had Ray Davies of Kinks’ fame play two classics, “Lola” and “All of the Day and All of the Night”.

It was a great night for such a prestigious and historical venue like Carnegie Hall, except I was decidedly unfulfilled. The artists were still making the speakers pop when they plugged and unplugged their instruments, and numerous times the performers had to ask a tech to help them get sound out of their amps. All the technical difficulties got me thinking about how just because society might have fancy new phones and computers, the art of performance hasn’t really come as far as it should in the past twenty years.

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Hey guys! If you haven’t noticed, things have been very dry around here for the past week. We are still around, but have all been extremely busy. The writers here at theiLife.com have been occupied all week with various things…and we really apologize for keeping the website so empty. This next week content may be dry again, but we ask you to stick with us, once we get things resolved- we will be back in full swing. I hope that you can understand our schedules lack time to work this week but, keep in mind that we aren’t going anywhere. If you would like to help us out, feel free to contact us and lend us a hand!