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Apple, Intel, and PA Semiconductor: Part 2

In part one of this series we looked at a few reasons why Apple may have purchased PA Semiconductor, and debunked a few possible reasons as to why they didn't.

And in doing so, we were left with two valuable concepts that need further exploration: how to differentiate Apple's platform from all of the other generic beige boxes out there, and how to protect OS X from thieves and pirates.

But if the answer isn't in moving the Mac platform back to a proprietary processor design, then what gives?

What can PA Semi do for the Mac?

Apple, Intel, and PA Semiconductor

There's been a lot of speculation regarding Apple's recent $278 million dollar acquisition of PA Semiconductor.

Some believe that Apple did it simply to regain technical expertise in chip design for its its consumer electronics divisions (iPods, iPhones) and others simply for the companies' patent portfolio. A few misguided souls even believe that Apple did it in preparation for an eventual move to its own custom processor designs.

Personally, I think the primary reason lies elsewhere.

Apple Updates Apple TV Update

No, that's not redundant. Apple yesterday released Apple TV update 2.0.2, which according to my research fixes the 5GHz network connectivity issues introduced by the previous 2.0.1 update.

To recapitulate events, on Friday, March 28th Apple released Apple TV update 2.0.1. This update to Apple TV "Take 2" supposedly "improved stability" and added a few minor features, like a Genres option under My Movies.

In addition, this update also pretty much bricked the Apple TV for video playback.

The iPhone's Biggest Missing Feature

With both the WWDC and the iPhone's launch anniversary approaching, speculation is once again running rampant regarding the 3G iPhone.

When will it be announced? When will it ship? What features will it have? What chipset will it use? Will it have real GPS or fake? Will the back be metal, paper or plastic?

On, and on, and on.

Readers are asked again and again, "What features do you want?" What makes it a "must have", as opposed to being a total piece of garbage?

But in all of the articles and all of the replies, there's one "must have" feature that's continually forgotten and constantly overlooked. And one which would have me standing in line to upgrade at nearly any price.

And so would you, if you stopped to give it a second's thought.

A Reality Check On iPhone Restrictions

Many bloggers, developers, and people who should otherwise know better have been complaining about the "restrictive" native of the iPhone SDK and Apple's seemingly "arbitrary" limitations on iPhone applications.

Therefore it was with great interest that I read an article by Craig Hockenberry of Twitterific fame, which dramatically illustrates just what happens when Apple's guidelines are bypassed.

Apple TV Update Brings New Problems - UPDATED

In the motion picture industry, a "take" refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot. Let someone flub a line or miss a cue, and on you go to the next take.

This process continues until everyone gets it right

That being the case, it would seem that Apple TV's "Take Two" monicker is appropriate. Especially when we consider Friday's latest 2.0.1 update.

After installing 2.0.1, my Apple TV constantly loses its 802.11n network connection. I've had my Apple TV permanently drop off the network at least a half-dozen times while in the middle of streaming movies, and twice while browsing titles.

That particular "Take Two" 160GB Apple TV exhibited none of those symptoms immediately prior to the update, nor does a second, version 2.0 Apple TV I tried moving to the same location.

Apple TV Update Brings New Features

Apple released software update 2.01 for the Apple TV Friday, which was reported as fixing bugs and adding new features to the interface.

Although, to be precise, it appears to add one new feature, the addition of a "Genres" option when browsing your own movie titles.

Those of you with large movie libraries (you know who you are) will no doubt welcome this, as it lets you break down your monolithic list of movies into much more manageable sections, which in turn makes it more likely that you'll find something to watch based on your mood (action, horror, romance, whatever).

But while welcome, and long overdue, the Apple TV interface is still lacking in needed functionality.

Time Machine And The AirPort Extreme: What You Need To Know

This week Apple released a software update named "Time Machine and AirPort Updates v1.0", which "is recommended for all users and includes compatibility improvements for using Time Machine with Time Capsule, as well as AirPort driver fixes."

While we don't know everything that it does, one thing we do know is that it finally fixes the problem of not being able to do backups to USB drives attached to an AirPort Extreme.

So here's what you need to know, and do, to get things working.

AirPort Express Goes N: One Down, Three To Go

Apple just updated the AirPort Express to use next-generation 802.11n wireless technology, promising to to deliver up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous model.

It's about time.

But since Apple still has three products restricted to 802.11g networks, your ability to actually see those performance enhancements remains problematic.

The iPhone SDK: Promises Broken, Promises Kept

Back when the iPhone was originally announced at MacWorld San Francisco, much was made of the fact that the iPhone wasn't just a phone, but a software platform in its own right.

Build on OS X we were told, Apple would be able to quickly and easily add applications and extend existing functionality.

But in reality, this never occurred.

Apple's Application Store: Not Just For iPhones?

In an earlier article I discussed how Apple new iPhone application store will promote an avalanche of applications as developers flock to both a super cool hardware platform and a marketplace designed to promote their creations to every iPhone owner.

In fact, the store is the only place where the average user can acquire third-party applications. A system described by many as being a "walled garden" around the iPhone and the iPod touch.

A point that has so many profound ramifications that one has to ask: can Apple enforce it? And if so, will they extend the concept to its obvious conclusion?

Why The iPhone Application Store Will Create An Avalanche of Applications

One of the announcements to come out of the iPhone SDK press conference was the creation of the "App Store", a place for developers to display and hawk their wares for both fun and profit.

In fact, the App Store is the only place where they can do so, which is bound to be a point of contention between Apple and the "information wants to be free" crowd.

Even so, I tend to think this is a good thing. Why? Well, one big problem software authors face is exposure. It's not enough to create a cool application. People have to know about it, find it, and download it. And in many cases simply getting paid for your work is a major hassle as well.

The App Store makes all of that happen.

Apple's Secret Conspiracy Against Flash

Lover's of Adobe's Flash development environment were dismayed at a recent statement by Steve Jobs that Flash was a resource hog and that Apple had no intention of pigging out the iPhone.

Immediately, Flash fires erupted around the web as supporters came out of the closet (yes, that kind of love) and scurried out from under the rugs, declaring to one and all that Apple had a secret agenda.

Flash, you see, was the secret weapon that would allow bright and untarnished access to all of the worlds content, thwarting Apple's dastardly plan to funnel every precious byte of content through iTunes.

My take? Steve's right. Flash is a resource hog, on many levels.

And for that, and for other reasons, I do NOT want it on my iPhone.

Will Apple Build The Safari Pad?

The New York Times is running an article probing Apple and the possibility of its building a "Safari pad", basically a larger version of the iPod Touch more suitable for multimedia, internet browsing, and... reading.

Like most discussions on the subject, this one makes note of a comment made by Steve Jobs when the Kindle was announced. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore."

While it's true that Steve has been known to say one thing and do another ("no one wants to watch video on an iPod"), I find his book reading comment to be very interesting and highly informative for one simple reason: turn it around, and it says that sixty percent of the people in the U.S. read two books or more last year.

One hundred and eighty million readers? And just in the U.S.?

I don't know about you, but that sounds like one heck of a market to me.

[via NYT]

The Blu-Ray/HD DVD War: Retail Revolutions

In our last installment of The Blu-Ray/HD DVD War, we discussed how Warner dumping the HD DVD format in favor of Blu-Ray could quickly lead to additional defections from Toshiba's HD DVD camp.

Which occurred, right on cue.

But instead of more studios following Warner as we originally surmised, these defections came in the guise of NetFlix and Best Buy and Wal-Mart, dealing HD DVD a fatal blow to its retail channel.

A surprise, perhaps, but such is the nature of betrayal.

And as such,Toshiba, with no chance to win, sued for peace, and ceded the battlefield to Blu-Ray.

But what triggered this new wave of betrayals?

Apple TV And The Long Tail

In his book The Long Tail, Chris Anderson enumerated several key components needed when making online distribution systems work.

One of them is "findability". Or to put it simply, if you can't find it, you can't buy it.

And while the Apple TV's new interface is adequate given the currently limited selection of titles, it's going to need yet another overhaul once Apple adds more content.

It simply won't scale.

Apple TV's Magical Mystery Tour

Is anyone else confused by the movie categorization system on the Apple TV?

I was browsing titles and jumped into Pieces of April to read the description. While there, I noticed a title in the "other people have rented" section called Stage Beauty. Not only did I not recognize the film, but I didn't remember seeing it anywhere else.

Stage Beauty is listed as a drama, but go to Genres > Drama and try to find it. Not listed. Go to Genres > All Movies, however, and it's there.

Weird. And there's more.

Fixing The Air #3: The Ports

As you undoubtedly know, the Air has a single USB port, a single micro-DVI port, and a stereo headphone jack. No ethernet. No FireWire. No ExpressCard/34 slot.

Each with it's own ramifications, problems, and solutions.

And as we saw in Fixing the Air #2, this paucity of ports and the desire to create the "world's thinnest notebook" lead in turn to other design decisions, again each with its own issues.

So let's turn our attention to the Case of the Missing Ports.

How To Watch Rentals More Than Once

It's common knowledge that you can only watch a downloaded rental on your Apple TV once before it goes poof. In fact, it's a major complaint on many blogs.

But last night I noticed that 2010 was still in my rental list, even though I'd downloaded and watched it the night before. So deciding to conduct an experiment, I waited and then hit "Play" a second time with only an hour left in my 24-hour "you've started it, now you have to finish it" cycle.

When I did so, my Apple TV politely asked if I wanted to resume from where I'd left off (the closing credits), or start over from the beginning. I chose to start over. And it did.

Further, it let me continue past the 24-hour deadline to finish the film.

So how do you watch rentals more than once?

Just hit play.

The Apple Ecosystem

A blue-ribbon panel of experts at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain agreed that Apple's iPhone was the best recent advance in mobile telecommunications.

The panel, whose title was It's the User Experience, Stupid agreed that iPhone represents a model for mobile operators to follow, but they reached little agreement on how to follow.

One suggested that operators manipulate users by identifying their "need states", while another said that they need to somehow tap into users' "neural networks" to navigate a mobile phone interface "using touch and pre-touch input."

But in focusing on the phone, and in asking how they can follow Apple's success, telcos and manufacturers are completely missing the big picture.

Apple TV Take Two - Take One

My brand new Apple TV arrived today, in the form of the software update Steve Jobs promised during this year's MacWorld keynote address.

So was it worth the wait? Is renting all it could be?

The answer is a definite... maybe.

Time Machine Now Safe To Use With Aperture

OS X Leopard introduced Time Machine and simple automated backups. A good thing.

However, Leopard had barely been out a week before it was discovered that Time Machine could corrupt an Aperture image database if a backup or restore occurred while Aperture was running. A bad thing.

And that the only fix was not to backup Aperture files. Also a bad thing.

Now, Apple tells us that this issue is resolved in Mac OS X 10.5.2, and that photographers using Aperture 1.5 or 2.0 can now safely use Time Machine to backup their images.

A good thing.

Best Of The Leopard 10.5.2 Update Coverage

As you probably know, Apple released OS X Leopard 10.5.2 on Monday. This update corrects quite a few "known issues", fixes plenty of bugs and internal problems with Leopard, and evens adds some new interface features.

But rather than repeat what's already been said, I thought I'd provide a few links to some of the best coverage and information out there:

• Straight from the horse's mouth:
  About the Mac OS X 10.5.2 Update [Apple]
• On the interface changes (with pretty pictures):
  10.5.2 Update Shows Apple Listens To Users [MacWorld]
• Lots of discussion both pro and con:
  Mac OS X 10.5.2 Update Brings Welcome Fixes [Slashdot]
• Professional photographer?
  New Digital Camera RAW Formats Supported [Apple]
• For you Photoshop users:
  Leopard Update Fixes Some Photoshop Problems [iSights]

Enjoy!

Leopard Update Fixes Some Photoshop Problems

According to Senior Photoshop Product Manager John Nack, the 10.5.2 update fixes some of the issues that have been plaguing Photoshop users. Among them:

• Typing values into the options bar in Photoshop (e.g. to set brush size or crop dimension) is no longer problematic.
• Prior to 10.5.2, some Apple apps (Finder, Aperture, iPhoto, Preview) could crash or fail to read some complex XMP metadata, such as Lightroom develop snapshots. That problem has been fixed.

Based on my own testing, I can say that the text entry problems appear to have been fixed.

Unfortunately, I can still consistently trigger the "flickering cursor" issue that prompted my original entry on the subject back in October.

Fixing The Air #2: The SuperDrive

The second most contentious design decision regarding Air relates to the elimination of the internal SuperDrive.

Now, this isn't new in the world of small computers. Many systems in the ultra-portable class have offloaded the CD/DVD drive to an external enclosure, or to a docking station.

So they have an excuse. But what matters here is not that they did so, but how they did so.

And managed to get almost everything wrong in the process.