For my overly enthusiastic politico friends - here's a must-have app for your iPhone or iPod Touch. Get easy access to all the information you need about any person in Congress.
This is fairly timely given the current situation our government has put us in. Tell them how much they suck and drive down their approval ratings even lower in the toilet than they already are.
:-)
I guess this is going to be a slow Apple news week as we all wait for new MacBooks in a couple weeks. Apple launched a new official YouTube page.
With the exception of an iTunes tutorial, it's all ads. Maybe they'll put some classic ads and things that are more interesting than ads.
(Via Macenstein)
My first iPhone/iPod Touch application, Vinoriffic, is live on the iTunes Apps store. Vinoriffic lets you quickly capture information about a wine that you've enjoyed and even purchase it right then and there.
I'm excited to see the feedback to know what to put in the next version. If you like it, or think it has a lot of potential, give it a good review on the store. If you don't like it or don't think it has potential, don't review it. :-)
I'm committed to enhancing the application based on what features people request most. The app went live last night some time and I've already had some feedback which is great!
Update Version 1.1 has been submitted to Apple for approval. 1.1 addresses an bug that prevents the proper wine from being returned in some searches. 1.5 is also coming soon with a vastly improved buy interface. 2.0 is starting to take shape with the addition of fields requested by some users.
Get it now. It's worth the wait! Better signals, battery life, faster interface, Genius, and more.
Finally got a chance to try the iTunes Genius feature on my MacBook Pro. Even though it has 1/1000 of my music collection, the Genius feature put together a great playlist. All songs flowed nicely into each other and were of the same tone. Kudos Apple!
Watching the keynote now (yes, I know, a couple days later - I've been in Jury Duty).
Highlights:
iTunes
- 65 million iTunes accounts
- 8.5 songs
- 125,000 podcasts
- HDTV Shows - $2.99
- NBC is back (aww, that Hulu thing didn't work out? Shocking.)
- iTunes 8
--- Grid view (I've used it a little, don't like it so far)
--- Genius (Signed up for it, haven't used it yet, be ready for a future post)
iPod
- iPod has a 73.4% market share of all audio players
- Over 5000 iPod accessories
- 90% of all US cars offer iPod integration
- Apple has sold over 160 million iPods since 2004.
- New 120 GB iPod classic (no 80GB or 160GB)
- New iPod Nano
-- Thinnest iPod ever made
-- Oval shape
-- Aluminum
-- Glass
-- Enhanced user interface (hold center button down for contextual menu)
-- Accelerometer (shake to shuffle - very cool)
-- Genius list creation
-- Voice recorder built-in
-- 24 hour music/4 hour video battery life
-- "Green" iPod (Mercury, PVC, Arsenic, BFR free)
-- nano-chromatic colors (silver, black, purple, green, pink, blue, yellow, orange, red)
-- 4GB - $149; 16GB $199
New Accessories
- Arm band
- Headphones
-- Volume Controls
-- Next/Previous/Pause/Play
-- Microphone
-- $29
- In-ear Headphones
-- 2 drives - woofer/tweeter (very nice)
-- Same controls
-- $79
iPod Touch
- Thinner
- Stainless Steel Back
- Integrated Volume Controls
- Built-in speaker
- Genius playlist creation
- Built-in Nike+iPod
- 36 hours music/6 hours video
- "Green" iPod (Mercury, PVC, Arsenic, BFR free)
- "Funnest iPod Ever"
- 8 GB $229/16 GB $299/32 GB $399
- 2.1 software (free to 2.0 users; $9.95 for 1.0 users)
iTunes Applications Store
- 3,000 Applications (but no Vinoriffic yet)
- Users have downloaded over 100 million applications
- Only 60 days old
iPhone
- 2.1 update - fixes lots of bugs (fewer call drops, better battery life, faster iTunes sync - about f'ing time)
- Free to all iPhone owners
- Available 12 September 2008.
Special Guest
- Sold 16 Million albums
- #1 male artist in iTunes history
- Jack Johnson
I have no doubt Way2Poppy will weigh in with more introspective reactions to Apple's announcement today, but - as a music fan - here's my take:
Too Poppy: The Lovers, The Dreamers, and Me
The quintessential digital music player got a refresh today - Apple announced the new iPod classic, the new and rainbowy iPod nano, new iPod shuffle flavors, and the new iPod touch. A new version of iTunes is also available for download. You'll hear about the details elsewhere, but my initial reactions:
Someone please explain this to me. Seriously. This is the softer side of Microsoft? What, retardation?
From sista blog Too Poppy:
It's been a looooong time since Apple has significantly upgraded the iPod and after dropping mine down the garage stairs for the first time in its two-and-a-half years of existence, it's good to know that change may be a-coming. Although, if the new iPod looks at all like this, I'll keep my trusty ol' classic working as long as possible (BTW, the drop resulted in not even a scratch - at least Brandon Wilde is playing fine today.)
Yep, you read that right. The geniuses at Bloomberg accidentally published a draft of Steve Jobs' obituary.
Read what Bloomberg plans to say when Steve eventually passes away, which I hope is a long ass time from now.
It's important to note that it is typical for a news outlet to prepare obituaries for prominent figures so that they can react quickly when the eventuality happens.
Embarking on a web site redesign can be a daunting task. If you don’t get it right, the damage can be immeasurable. Avoid these (too) common mistakes on your next web site project:
read more | digg story
Microsoft is gearing up to roll out their new marketing campaign to answer Apple's very successful "Get A Mac" ads.
Because if there's one way to show people how "with it" you are, it's to contract with a 90's icon whom hasn't done anything "with it" in over a decade.
BTW - there is a handful of new Get A Mac ads out.
Yep, I waited in line today. And yep, I totally underestimated the line and length of time it would take. I naively thought the lines wouldn't be as bad as last year since it wasn't new here, people would be more casual about it, etc. Duh. Finally got my phone after 5.5 hours in line and didn't have a working phone for another hour.
The time was mostly due to Apple and AT&T insistence that you can't leave the store without an activated phone. So you have a million people trying to all activate phones at the same time and Apple nor AT&T couldn't handle the traffic. It was taking anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes or more to purchase and go through the two-step activation process.
I'm a bit disappointed with Apple. One of the great things last year was that you could buy the phone quickly and easily and activate it at home. Sure there were activation issues last year, but I didn't have any and even if I did, I'd at least be in the comfort of my own home. That said, I waited in line with fun people and the Apple Store employees were there amazingly helpful selves.
On to the phone. I have not had much time to play with it, but I love the feel of it in my hand. It's a tad lighter than the previous iPhone, thicker in the middle, but with tapered edges which make it look & feel thinner. The interface is zippy and the 3G network is definitely light years better than the pokey EDGE network.
I have yet to download any Apps, but I'll definitely be trying a game or two and the MLB app. Cool stuff. This is going to be huge for Apple. The analysts have already doubled their estimate for iPhone sales next year to over 40 million.
Apple has posted a guided tour of the new 3G phone
AT&T has posted pricing, purchase and upgrade details.
AT&T has also posted videos on how to prepare for purchasing the 3G phone:
Existing AT&T Customers; New AT&T Customers.
AppleInsider details how to “hand down” your 1st Gen iPhone.
Some further details:
Believe it or not, it was 1 year ago today that the iPhone went on sale. Ah, I remember it vividly. Waiting in line for 6 hours with a couple friends, lawn chairs, and a couple beers smuggled in via travel mugs. Memories. And with the 2nd generation iPhone going on sale in 10 days, 16 hours, 2 minutes and 11 seconds (but who's counting?), I'll be repeating history.
Today is Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft. If you've been living under a rock for the past 2 years, he is retiring to start spending his 58 billion dollar fortune. He's got some charity or something. Frankly, I'd be more than happy to help him spend the money. He could even give some of it to my favorite charity - Give Chuck The World Foundation.
Engadget has declared today Bill Gates Day. Mr. Gates will be speaking to all Microsoft employees later today.
Regardless of what you think of Microsoft, Bill Gates has achieved amazing feats in his 33 years at the helm. I could list some/all here, but it's too much work and a simple Google search will take care of it for you.
