The iPhone has so much potential. The cell phone market is ripe for change. Can the iPhone do it?

The definition of a smartphone, according to Wikipedia: “A smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC-like functionality.” The smartphone market is growing larger and larger everyday- dating back to 2001, when the first BlackBerry was released. However, since their inception almost 8 years ago, the technology and software behind these devices (BlackBerry, Treo, etc) have changed little. That was, until last year.

With the introduction of the iPhone in January 2007, the technology world was suddenly mesmerized with what is still referred to as the “most anticipated cell phone”. The iPhone broke the mold of all other ‘traditional’ cell phones in many ways- it’s touch interface, slick integration of 3 devices into one, core software being OS X- not to mention that Apple designed alone- there was no influence from the carrier. While the iPhone’s concept is great, execution was good and has proved midly successful, we are only seeing the foundation laid by Apple. Until June 2008, the iPhone has been under the sole control of Apple.

In a situation strikingly similar to the original Macintosh, the iPhone is innovative and has revolutionized the cell phone market already like the Macintosh. Now that Apple has laid the groundwork, it is time for the developers to step in and give the world another reason to buy an iPhone, to build the metaphorical house. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the Macintosh never saw this stage in 1984- it was crippled by a limited amount of 3rd party software.

The iPhone is in entirely different situation. While developers were initally scared by the GUI in the Macintosh, developers have been begging to develop for the iPhone since it’s introduction! Last week, developers were finally given the opportunity to start writing their app’s for the iPhone- not to mention Apple’s commitment to add enterprise features! This announcement was met with very positive reaction from the technology community. There is no question: the iPhone is headed in a really great direction. Not only strengthening the iPhone platform, Apple is getting ready to compete with the biggest smartphone maker- RIM.

Just as it did with it’s iPod years ago, Apple is slowly beginning to dominate the smartphone market and with the latest trajectories, could leave its competitors in the dust. The more I think about it, RIM and its BlackBerry devices are almost reminiscent of Creative’s music players 7 years ago compared to the iPod. And after last weeks announcement, all the sudden the iPhone is a full-blown competitor to RIM’s BlackBerry. The iPhone may become the next iPod for cell phones. Will the competitors see it coming this time around?

Over the past few years, I have always wondered- how far can Mac OS X go?

Mac OS X was first released in 1999, with Mac OS X Server 1.0. In 2001, Mac OS X version 10.0 was released for desktop consumption. Based on UNIX, and taking many hints from NeXTSTEP, the NeXT Operating System, OS X brought us Aqua- a new GUI that reflected Apple’s colorful product lineup at the time. Now, almost ten years later, what has become of OS X?

Speaking about the recent Mac OS Tiger v10.4 release at WWDC 2005, Steve Jobs said:

Funny, that makes a lot sense- with last October’s release of the latest iteration of OS X, 10.5 Leopard- we are not even halfway into the 20 years Steve mentioned, but halfway through the 10.x cycle. In 2007, the Mac saw its market share rise to almost 8% by years end. Apple sold almost 4 million iPhones worldwide. Both product lines rely on OS X for software. From its inception in 1999, this is significant progress. OS X has become more than an Operating System- it is working its way into the core of Apple.

Last week’s iPhone Road Map event is a great example of the power in OS X and what it can do beyond the personal computer. The iPhone SDK will probably become another landmark event for OS X, as developers harness the power of the software running in the iPhone. Intern, not only will that sell more iPhones, but it will expand and solidify Mac OS X’s presence.

Later this year, we will see more and more integration of OS X into Apple’s other products that aren’t a desktop or laptop. For example, last year, we saw the iPhone, iPod Touch and AppleTV introduced- all of which run OS X at the core. This year, and as we continue into the future, we will see more devises shipping with OS X and continue to see it’s market share increase.

With more products running OS X, and continued demand for these products- be it iPods, Macs or iPhones- OS X has a very bright future. The shear fact that one OS is powering a Phone, an iPod, a set top media box and personal computers demonstrates its power and potential for future devices. The question is… what will OS XI bring us?

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).

Read more…

So yet another week has passed us by. We’ve been working diligently to get more content and so far, I would say we were successful. The site is back to its functional state again, and you should continue to see a steady stream of content. Because of a job I had to take on this weekend, Sidney and I weren’t able to record a podcast, but we will try to get it done before mid-week, as I am going to Hartford on Wednesday. In the Apple world, last week, we saw the introduction of the iPhone SDK to the public, which I must say- has been met with good reception. I was impressed with the Enterprise features and inspired by the SDK itself (which I have been playing around with). I think Apple and the iPhone are headed in a very good direction. Happy Monday, everyone.

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.”

4 more after the jump! Read more…

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.

One of the three recently introduced iPhone commercials about car shopping. It has been added to The Daily iLife podcast today, which you can subscribe to in iTunes or watch here.

Say your out shopping for a car, and the salesman says, “This is the best deal in town, guaranteed”. But lets say you want a second opinion- thats when having the entire internet on your phone sounds even better.

A reader asked (a little too long ago) a couple questions about Time Machine. Here are some answers.

The answer for this is quite simple. At first you might think that deleting a file from Time Machine is redundant, but when you have multiple copies of files that are very large- your disk space is precious! When you enter Time Machine, simply highlight the file (or folder) you want to delete from backups and click on the Gear menu item. An option “Delete file from all backups” will be present, and this is what you want! To prevent it happening in future backups, you may want to go into the Time Machine System Preferences pane and click on the Options. From there, you can specify what you don’t want Time Machine to backup. Be it your Final Cut project file, or Movies folder.

Apple does not provide a solution to this issue, but you can use TimeMachineScheduler, which will allow you to specify a 1-12 hour period for backups and a slew of other options for customizing Time Machine backups. This should do the trick.

If you or someone you know have any questions for theiLife, feel free to Contact Us!

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!