Well, that sucks

This showed up in my inbox today:

April 14, 2010

Apple Media Advisory

Apple today released the following statement:

Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad™. We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April.

Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May. We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason—the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far.

Tethering to continue indefinitely, says Rogers

Canadian iPhone users, rejoice. We may not get the iPad for a few more weeks, but free tethering continues...

Rogers offering Turn by Turn Navigation

Hey all.

Yeah, I know. Been a while. iPad, blah blah. Still not in Canada.

But here's a new app from Rogers, offering turn by turn navigation.

The app is built on the same engine as the AT&T turn by turn navigator, built by the same company, and is basically the same app, except for the Rogers' Branding. Still, nice to see it come to Canada, at $4.99.

Sorry, did I say $4.99? I meant $4.99 a month. You know, if I lived somewhere with more than twenty roads, I might consider it. If I lived somewhere where Rogers worked, I might consider it. But I don't know that the benefits of turn by turn navigation outweigh the myriad of options (including the built in app) available. At least not $60/year worth of benefit.

As always, don't base your situation on mine. I live in a small town where I tend to navigate not by streets but by who lives at the corner.

It LIVES!!!

For all the naysayers who said Apple TV was dead, Apple just put out Apple TV 3.0.

Okay, yeah, so it's not a new Apple TV unit with a 500 GB hard drive. Yes, it is just a software update. But it means they care. It means they're paying attention. It means...it means.....

Well, I'm not sure what all it means, but I'm sure it means something. And I'm sure there'll be lots of speculation elsewhere as to what it means.

Me? I'm just happy that the device is still a going concern.

So long and thanks for all the fish...

So, while the rest of the world is reveling in the new Mac announcements, I am dealing with the email I got today from the editor over at Macworld Canada saying as of the end of this month, they will be closing up shop.

Wow. The site has only been around for a few months, and I've been writing for them for even fewer months, so it is sad to see the place get closed before it really had a chance to get going.

Even worse, I was going to use the fact that I was writing for Macworld to convince my wife I needed one of those new iMacs. Now? I guess I'm stuck with this slowly aging macbook....ah well, could be worse. I could be debating whether to upgrade to Windows 7 or stick with XP....

It's official

Unlike most Apple rumors, where there are months, and sometimes years worth of speculation, yesterday there was a rumour that Telus and Bell would be carrying the iPhone, and then the press release went out saying, yes, Telus is going to be carrying the iPhone (sorry Bell, but I'm not going to link to your press release).

So. Um, what does this mean? Well, it is pretty exciting for Apple fans, that's for sure, especially for those that aren't big fans of Rogers and have been looking for alternatives.

However, I suspect that most people who want iPhones have got iPhones already, because given the choice between an iPhone and crappy customer service or no iPhone, most people choose the former. And besides, the truth is, all cell phone companies have their strengths and their weaknesses, their good customer service reps and their bad ones. I was just talking to someone who said they would ditch Rogers for Telus as soon as they were able, and not half an hour later to someone else who said exactly the opposite. They want at least the appearance of choice.

And for us fringe constituents who lie outside of Rogers' coverage? I am not yet convinced this will change much, at least for a while. But we'll see. I've got a question in to Telus asking about it.

Could this iPhone I have before me work in a few months?

It's not really a big secret that Bell and Telus are rolling out an HSPA network, which is the sequel to, and built upon, the GSM standard. Says the website GSM World: "HSPA is part of the GSM 3G network and is (predominately) a software upgrade of the network infrastructure."

But with the rumour (read: wild speculation) that Bell might be on track to start offering the service in November, the Twitters have gone wild with the speculation that hey, maybe Bell and Telus will be getting the iPhone.

I hope not. Cuz if Telus got the iPhone, I'd have to get the iPhone. And I can't really afford to get an iPhone right now (life of a freelance writer, yada, yada).

I actually do have an iPhone now, but I am currently using it merely as a camera. Oh, and it is a tester, so I have to send it back.

Hang on, did I just save money by waiting for a better version?

As I've talked about in the past, the iPod Touch version 3.0 software wasn't really a compelling update for someone with a first gen iPod Touch. Yes, cut and paste is a great feature, but I found I didn't need it enough to bother.

Well, the iPod Touch version 3.1 software is out, and they're charging again (hello? I don't think Sarbanes Oxley applies to Canada...) for the software. But this time, only $4.95.

I can't be too sure (as I still haven't updated), but it looks like if I upgrade to 3.1, I get all those features in 3.0 tossed in for free.

Cool. I wonder what happens if I wait for 3.2?

Oh. Yeah. Right. Sorry.

So, um. There was an iPod/iTunes announcement earlier this week.

And once again, the rumours were much more interesting than reality.

People, can we stop saying that Steve Jobs is going to announce the cure for cancer, or the discovery of a new alien race or whatnot, and just let Apple develop products on their own time? It's a bit like Star Wars Episode I. Yes, it sucked, but even if it had been pretty good, it still would have sucked, because there was no way it would have lived up to my expectations.

Then again, even if it hadn't been over rumoured ("camera in iPod Touch!, iPad! Wetwire interface!), it probably wouldn't have done much for me. Okay, the video camera in the Nano is cool. But if I'm getting a convergent device, I'm getting a Canon 7D. And some of the new iTunes features are pretty nice. But don't expect any new iPods at Casa Macanuck this year for Christmas.

But that 7D sure'd be nice....

Streaming CBC

Back when I was in college, I joined a cross-Canada train trip to protest cutbacks to the CBC.

You'd think they'd repay my loyalty by playing nice with iTunes, but no, they've decided that their streaming feeds will be carried by Windows Media Player.

Eww.

And, to get their geek cred on, they provide an alternate, Ogg Vorbis stream, for the two people out there who use Ogg Vorbis.

Mac users with Flip4Mac can still listen to the stream, in a browser window, but sometimes you don't want to listen in a browser window, you know? Leave the browser for browsing.

Anyway. Today, Veekee had a great tip over at ehMac. (Update, this tip was published over at Spacebeast a few months ago, but I completely missed it...)

To quote her:

"You can stream CBC through itunes by hitting Advanced>Open Audio Stream in iTunes and then entering:

http://asx.abacast.com/cbc-r1nameofcity-96.pls

ie: http://asx.abacast.com/cbc-r1halifax-96.pls

Or, if you want to listen to the low-bandwidth stream, change 96 to 32.

Brilliant.

Update: So I went to check the Prince George Stream. Still streaming as an asx file. The Vancouver page has an update, telling users how they can listen to the MP3 stream.

However, this trick works for, say, Edmonton and Calgary, which haven't updated from the asx stream yet. It doesn't work for Prince George, though, as that stream apparently hasn't been converted.

Or it could just be that something is wrong with the Prince George feed in general, as when I try and listen to it in my browser with Flip For Mac, it doesn't seem to be working, either. I'll keep you posted on that one.

Do note that the definition of a high bandwidth feed has jumped from 32 kbps to 96, though if that is a function of better compression with MP3 or fatter interweb tubes all the way around I'm not sure.

Let the Speculation begin

A BC Man died in a fire about six months ago.

This doesn't really sound like Apple news, but bear with me.

Today, the coroner said the cause of the fire was an overheated laptop, left on a couch.

The coroner refused to release the make and model of the laptop, but CBC quite gleefully has added a picture of an Apple Powerbook, mentioning that this is "one of several computers" that has had problems with overheating batteries.

So, let the speculation begin, but don't expect any answers. Still, I'm glad that I keep my Macbook safely (sic) on a desk with good ventilation....

Here comes the next big cat

Well, after a few episodes of overpromising and underdelivering, Apple is once again on track with meeting or beating their projected ship dates. Not that they announce many products ahead of time, but for Snow Leopard, the expected ship time was sometime in September, which usually means last day of. By beating that expected ship date, Apple is back on form.

Of course, we'll have to wait until then to see if the program is really all it's cracked up to be. The OS has gained a surprising amount of traction, considering the fact that Apple has promised no new user features, with all the performance gains under the hood. Well, that's not quite true, but the fact is there is no new iChat or Mail Program or anything big and flashy. Instead, the upgrade will improve usability, with better assistive technologies for people with disabilities, built in support for Microsoft Exchange Server, and faster wake-up and shut down speeds.

Whew! Now that's flashy stuff. But perhaps users are getting sick of feature bloat, and are really looking forward to a streamlined experience. I know I am. And the $29 price point doesn't hurt, either....

Of course, this update lays down core technologies, like Grand Central Dispatch and Open CL, which will allow developers to take advantage of the processing power of the Mac. And of course, when the sequel to Snow Leopard comes out, expect a number of flashy new features that they've now had a double development cycle to work on, too.

Whoah

Wonder what Jason Calacanis makes of this? While it doesn't respond to every issue he raised in his rant last week, it should cover points three and five nicely.

Or maybe not. By seeking to maintain the high quality of user experience, Apple must maintain more control over the phone than most people want.

There's a few tidbits of information that come out in the letter, though nothing groundbreaking. I would have been interested to see the full answer to the question about which apps have been rejected (and remains so, as they have not been changed to meet app store policies).

Double Digits, here we are!

According to IDC, Apple has 10% of the Canadian PC Market, it's highest rank since...well, ever probably.

The research article is available from the IDC website for the low, low price of $4500 (US, natch), so I'm only going by what I hear from Electronista, by way of EhMac.ca, everyone's favourite Canadian Mac Community.

Thanks, Max!

Oh, the irony

So, the FTC says the investigation of Apple and Google will continue for possible Anti-Trust violations, meaning that because Schmidt was on the board, competition between the two companies is reduced, because his presence implies some form of collusion between the two.

At the same time, the FCC has sent a letter to Apple asking them to explain the rejection of the Google Voice App from the iTunes App store.

So on the one hand, Apple and Google are too friendly, and on the other, Apple isn't playing nice enough with Google? Only in America....

auf Wiedersehen, herr Schmidt

Ever since the announcement of Google's Chrome OS, Mac media has been all a twitter over whether Dr. Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO should remain on the Apple Board of Directors.

Dr. Schmidt has been on the board for three years, but issues have been raised over potential conflict of interest between Chrome and OS X. It was fine when Google was a search giant and an advertising mogul, but now, it appears, that the two companies have too much overlap for Dr. Schmidt to comfortably remain on the board. For the last few months, he has been excusing himself from the meetings when discussions of the iPhone came up, due to the competing Android OS for mobile phones. If he would remain, he'd have to remove himself whenever discussions of the Mac OS came up. Which means basically he'd be around for discussion of Mac hardware and iPod hardware, and that's about it.

So, so long Dr. S, and good luck with that little company you look after.

Um. Ri-ight

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. From Apple Insider.

Truly a Canadian Mac Moment

From Tod Maffin's Flickr Feed

F:

Are you using Vista or XP?

There's the question again from tech support for my ISP. About two months ago, Telus blew a line running into town and since then my internet has been up and down and down and up. A couple days ago while trying to trace some co-ax in my house, I thought I knocked something lose, as half the lights were out on my cable modem. When I got back from a wedding this weekend, though, it was back up and running. Or at least, it was up and running to the point of connecting to the ISP. But I couldn't get out onto the interweb.

So I called to tell them that their door was closed. Again. And of course, every time I do, they have to walk me through the typical tech support stuff: is it plugged in? Is there a router? Are you connected.

This time, after answering that I was on 10.5, and explaining that was, yes, Mac, I was still asked to open up my command prompt. You mean terminal, right? Yeah, right. Okay. Now type in ipconfig. Well, this is UNIX not DOS, so that doesn't really work. And no, it is not a virus.

Um. Okay, we'll schedule a service technician to come and take a look.

But the problem is at YOUR END. Everything at this end is working fine. Why do I need someone here to trouble shoot YOUR PROBLEM. Grr.

But it appears to be working now. Sort of.

So, what are you trying to say here?

The latest press release from Apple, touting Apple's 1 million iPhone weekend, featured a rather prominent quote from Steve Jobs.

Now, I'd have to go back and check the last few press releases, but I think this is the first release I've seen quoting Steve in months.

Which leads me to suspect that Jobs is back to work.

Update: Now Cult of Mac is saying that CNBC is reporting Steve might have come back today. Makes sense to me. So, when do we see that tablet announcement...?