Update 6/23/2008: two commenters have pointed out to me that the check box is now the entire name of the calendar. In fact, it is. False alarm. Should have been more attentive.
We have been receiving emails throughout the day of withdrawn functionality from Google Calendar. We have tested the issue and are now confirming that users no longer have the ability to specify which calendar(s) are displayed. Three staff members and five acquaintances and general friends-in-tech have confirmed our findings. We have tested using Firefox 3, Firefox 2, IE 7, Safari 3.1, and WebKit r34728 nightly build.
Earlier in the week, this feature was controlled by check boxes next to every calendar name. This means that as of now, there is no easy way to choose which calendars are shown and which are hidden in the popular online calendaring application (which, for those of us with a multitude of calendars, is a major minus).
If you have any information about this, please comment on this post or send email to getsatisfaction at TechNestReport dot com
Posted in
Cloud Computing,
Google
Just a quick and funny post this time around:
I needed to download a template from Microsoft’s Office 2007 site and upon visiting Microsoft.com, I saw this:
If that doesn’t stike you as funny (or at the very least ironic), then let me put paint a background description. The notebook pictured above is an Apple PowerBook (titanium). Unlike current Macs, it didn’t have an Intel processor and didn’t run Windows natively. Rather, Windows could only be run in a painfully slow virtual mode through the now-discontinued Mac Vitual PC environment. Moreover, the notebook was released in January 2001 and discontinued in September 2003.
So, it’s a great complement to Apple and their design team that Microsoft would use a notebook no longer in production as their home-page PC image for promoting security downloads. It’s a testament to the timeless design Apple’s products have.
What else does it mean to you?
Posted in
Apple,
Humor,
Microsoft
Yes, yes, hurray! The faster, better, do-it-all iPhone has been announced. But there are still a few burning questions about the release, answers to which are very important to power users like myself. So, does iPhone firmware version 2.0 and/or iPhone 3G have the following much-needed features?
- Cut&paste (or Copy&Paste).
From what we have seen thus far, the answer is “no.” And it’s a big let down. Stick with me here: on stage, Steve Jobs talked about 3G as if it is a major innovasion of sorts, yet what it really is is just an inclusion of a different data chip and some software drivers to support that chip. The concept of 3G speeds is not new or revolutionary not was it that difficult for Apple to implement. Nevertheless, about 5 minutes of the almost 2-hour presentation was spent by Mr. Jobs explaining the benefits of 3G. Why spend so much time of the presentation on 3G speeds when so many have been asking for it since iPhone’s launch? Yet many an iPhone power user has been clamoring for cut&paste since the launch as well. And while cut&paste might not be as important or as useful as 3G wireless transfer speeds, it certainly is a feature Apple decided to ignore completely this time around. Even still, some might say that the development of cut&paste in the iPhone would require less effort and time from Apple, being only a software feature. So, where is it? Here? Nope. There? Don’t look like it either…
Another question about cut&paste is about its implementation code-wise. If it would have been included in the update, how would Apple justify running what is in all instances a background service, without giving such permission to third-party developers in the SDK? I’m sure there is a way to implement it if Apple did it, but don’t expect to see it as a third-party application any time soon.
Verdict: cut/copy&paste is not in the cards for this release of the iPhone. Let’s hope (with a big “H”) that it is coming as a free software update down the road.
- Multiple-calendar support.
From what we have seen, it’s not clear. During Phil Schiller’s demonstration at WWDC, there was a minor color difference between appointments in the “Day View” of his iPhone. Something important to remember is that iCal and consequently the new MobileMe service (as well as Outlook, which works with MobileMe), all have multiple calendar support. So it would only make sense if the feature made it this (second) time around to the iPhone.
Verdict: maybe multi-calendar support made it through this release. It looks like it.
Update: the calendar section of the iPhone website now makes it clear that multiple calendars are supported. Just like in iCal, calendars have their own colors. Hurray Apple!
- Calendar sharing. (More of a feature for the MobileMe service).
Speaking of calendars, how about sharing them? I have made the switch a long time ago from my Mac’s iCal to Google Calendar. The only reason for my switch was the ability to share my calendars with friends, my girlfriend, colleagues, and clients -all in real time and on the web. No RSS feeds to manually manage, no problems if my calendar is offline. It’s always online with Google Calendar, since the web is its home.
Since switching to Google Calendar, I have purchased BusySync – an OS X plug-in that allows me to perform 2-way synchronization between Google Calendar and my local iCal. This solution works for Google Calendars I am the owner of as well as for calendars that have been shared with me on Google. The main reason for using BusySync is that, in the all-to-common situation of not having internet access, I am able to make changes to the calendars offline – in iCal. As soon as my internet connection is reestablished, everything synchronizes automatically: iCal changes I have made offline are synced up to Google Calendar; changes others have made to either their calendars or my calendars (that I have shared with them) in the time I was offline are synced back down to my local iCal.
It would be very nice, clean, and efficient if Apple provided this service through MobileMe, especially in the “push” way of the new .Mac replacement. How would they do this? That’s a question that would require some collaboration between all web calendaring companies (Google Calendar, Plaxo, Yahoo Calendar, Microsoft Live calendars, MobileMe, and many others). These companies would need to create and implement open calendar-sharing technologies – since current calendar-sharing technologies are proprietary. Much in the same way that Google is leading the open social networking movement with OpenSocial, an open calendar-sharing movement (by Google?) would need to take place to develop open-standard calendar sharing technologies. The issue here is not in creating online calendars that look and work the same; it’s how to make all these web-based calendars from different providers work together in the “sharing department.”
Verdict: As of this point, calendar-sharing goodness hasn’t shone through to MobileMe/iPhone.
- To-Do Lists.
Verdict: looks like that’s not made its way into the new software release or the new iPhone. That’s fine. I’m using 37 Signals‘ online Ta-da List and loving it. The only drawback is that my to-dos don’t have a to-do date and aren’t displayed on my calendar.
- MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).
Right about now, it is getting ridiculous with this feature, or namely – lack thereof. Why is a free Nokia phone able to send and receive MMS messages, and the super-duper-ultra-useful iPhone isn’t. Apple fanboys – bring the mail, please do – but I refuse to apologize for Apple when one of the most standard mobile phone features is not supported in the industry’s smartest smartphone. And the lack of information and Apple’s standard level of secrecy about why the feature is missing are getting plain annoying.
Verdict: no MMS for you, sonny. Send your picture of the uber-cool car that just drove by via email (video after jump).
It looks like Apple has some work to do still with standard features on the iPhone (MMS) and collaborate on bigger issue (calendar sharing) with other companies to improve MobileMe. We will be keeping our eyes peeled, noses sniffing, and ears listening to every move Apple makes on these issues. But for now – enjoy what features you have on the iPhone and enjoy their excellent implementation – whether you are getting the 3G version or sticking to your 2G oldie-but-goodie model.
Posted in
Apple,
Operating Systems,
Software,
iPhone
‘Tis the time again. WWDC is coming in less than 12 hours (that’s half a day!), and the Apple fan club here at TechNest Report and around the world is waiting… waiting what shiny new gadgets uncle Steve will give us the opportunity to buy. What useful, sexy, and Apple-branded products will we learn of tomorrow? Here is Alex’s prediction run-up so far:
iPhone/iPod Touch:
- iPhone take 2.
- New, slimmer form factor with colored back-covers.
- 3G HSDPA/UMTS, built-in GPS, 16-32GB of storage space.
- Subsidized through ATT and world-wide partner carriers: $200 (with a contract). Price unlocked directly from Apple:$400+.
- Copy and paste, App Store (obviously), and a non-recessed head-phone jack.
- A2DP Bluetooth goodness for listening to music with a wireless headset (I’m surprised the current iPhone still doesn’t have it).
- iPhone take 1 and iPod Touch gets the 2.0 firmware and all the features that come with that.
- Plethora of 3rd party iPhone/iPod Touch software.
- Rebranded and re-written .Mac service
- New name: .Me.
- Over-the-air (OTA) sync of calendars, address book, bookmarks, pictures, documents.
- Push email
- Here’s the punchline: avaialble API. Developers can write their own plugins for the new .Me. For example: AWS, developers of the great 1Password application will give me an app that will sync my 1Password keychain from my iBook to .Me and to my iPhone, and the other way as well. What this will do is directly compete with Microsoft’s new Mesh service, which is striving to accomplish the same thing also with an open programming architecture. By the way, .Me is now also available for Windows.
- Pricing for the .Me is going to determine its success. Purchased with an iPhone, .Me is free for a year, discounted yearly rate thereafter. Purchased separately from an iPhone (with an iPod Touch, for example), users pay a monthly or a yearly fee, one that is less than the current $100 per year (one can only hope that’s the case). Storage plans for current features of .Mac, such as website hosting and back-up are to increase while keeping plan prices the same as they are today. For example, Apple will charge $4 a month, $40 a year for .Me when purchased separately from an iPhone. This basic plan will have 10GB of storage space on .Mac and thus 10GB of bandwidth to sync between devices. For $6 a moth, $65 a year, users will get 30GB of storage and bandwidth space. And so on.
- Another feature of the new .Me: the ability to pipe through to your Time Capsule and any Mac/PC on the network. This way, users can retrieve any file from a home Mac or PC, as well as browse and listen to streaming music/video from an external drive attached to the Time Capsule.
Mac
- Preview of next version of OS X.
- Intel only.
- Not as many new features and changes as Leopard. The focus of this release is code optimization and efficiency.
- One of the new prominent features: ZFS.
- Improved Spaces functionality with the ability to assign a desktop to each space.
- New MacBook. This relaunches the MacBook and the MacBook Pro lines.
- 13, 15, and 17″ models.
- Aluminum and glass.
- GPS, WWAN, Wireless USB, WiMax built-in.
- Price is no longer directly tied to screen size as it is now.
- Prices start at $999, $1099, and $1199, for the respective screen sizes.
- Each notebook size is configurable exactly to the liking of the customer. The Pro versions will have top-of-the-line hardware and will be differentiated by being all black. This means that I will be able to get a MacBook Pro 13″ with a real GPU – like a GT8800 for ~$1600, and I will be able to configure a 15″ or 17″ MacBook without a GPU for ~$1099 and ~$1199, respectively.
- There is a enough demand for both of these examples and will introduce the Mac to markets that have been looking at the product but discouraged by the $2000 price tag of the current 15″ MacBook Pro. The attractiveness of the lower price point of Mac notebooks will far outweigh the lowered margins. And here is a plea from myself: please don’t charge $2000 for the same hardware that Dell charges $1500 for. It’s a blatant rip off. (MacBook Pro 15″ vs. Dell XPS 1530 come to mind).
- Mac Tablet.
- iPod touch, but bigger.
- More than 2-finger gestures.
- Unlikely for today’s event.
Posted in
Apple,
Decisions,
Mac,
Predictions,
Wish List,
iPhone
For years, Apple has been known as the true innovator in the technology space. Their innovation spans far and wide and has conquered the hearts and minds of many. Just ask any Mac user or anyone with an iPhone why they love their Apple product, and you will hear words such as “simplicity, elegance, style, usefulness, reliability, and the “hip factor,” among others. Users of Apple products love their products. Period. They live and swear by them. And even though the Macintosh market share has been steadily increasing over the last few years, Apple Mac computers will never be leaders by this metric; not if the company sticks to the same business model as it utilizes today.
On one hand is Microsoft: a technology company whose product is difficult to escape in everyday life. Whether you’re on the web , at home , at the bank , or in the car , chances are Microsoft had a hand in designing the software which powers those items. However, it is widely opined by tech analysts and experts that users of Microsoft products aren’t as enthusiastic about their products as users of Apple gear are. Most of them “just use it,” as I had a friend explain to me why he uses Windows (or rather, a Dell PC with Windows pre-installed). And as far as I can see, Microsoft will not be letting go of their software dominance. Quite to the contrary, actually: they will grow the market share of their current market-leading products, and expand into new territory – and be dominant there as well. Just to be on the same page, however, allow me to review some general marketing and business concepts before we delve into the good stuff. Here we go.
Rule : A company’s market position influences its focus. For tech companies, this is especially true. Market share leaders focus on attracting new potential users, whereas smaller firms focus on attracting current users away from the market leader.
Interpretation : From that sentence, we can substitute some words with actual company names and come out with: “Microsoft, a market share leader in desktop, server, mobile, automobile, and embedded operating systems, focuses on attracting new potential users, whereas Apple, a smaller yet “more-loved by its users” technology firm, focuses on attracting current users away from the market leader (Microsoft).
Such market forces can be observed most prominently in Microsoft expanding into new, yet untapped geographical markets, and consequently attaining new customers/users there. For example, efforts by Microsoft such as the availability of Windows XP on the OLPC XO and the availability of Windows on low-cost miniature (yet useful) notebooks such as HP’s Mini-Note and Asus’ EeePC give the company a chance to be the first official supplier of computers to technologically undeveloped nations. That was a mouthful so let me break it down a bit.
Unrealized profits in the developing nations
Until now, Microsoft has not been achieving to the fullest potential the sales of the company’s cash cows – Windows and Office – to third-world nations. That is, most commercial software that is being used and sold in such nations is pirated. Microsoft is using a combination of forces to change this. Windows Genuine Advantage is first to come to mind. With the infusion of the aforementioned low-cost PCs and a new, low-cost, version of Windows (Starter Edition), Microsoft is making their software more financially appealing to residents of these countries. Having access to low-cost and genuine software will allow tech users of these regions to choose such products and benefit Microsoft financially instead of the software pirates. (As an aside, this has worked very well with music conglomerates and artists in the U.S. The “overly-complicated” strategy is to make content easily accessible , affordable , and to treat your customers with respect - not with the automatic assumption that they are thieves and will do anything to steal your content. Only then piracy will be eliminated. Video companies still have not caught on to this ingenious marketing and sales technique).
OLPC
Out of the low-cost PCs mentioned above, one deserves some more discussion. The OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative is a non-profit organization that designs, manufactures, and sells the $100 XO laptop (pictured above). The goal is to bring computing (in the form of the OLPC) to children in third-world countries. Governments of such nations can purchase these sturdy, usable, and fun laptops for children and students. Donations are also accepted on the OLPC site. (My explanation is simply underwhelming compared to what the OLPC initiative’s goals and practices are. Check out the OLPC project, located at laptop.org, to find out more about the OLPC initiative.) Back on track: children in third-world nations will be able to use these low-cost, functional computers to better their education. The huge detail that has to be noted here is the following: these children will be brought up using the OLPC. Microsoft just partnered with the OLPC initiative to provide Windows on these laptops. The end result is that an entire generation of children will be brought up using Windows. If the light bulb hasn’t turned on yet, think about how much attachment and/or dependency these children will have on the Windows OS as they grow up. Moreover, in five to eight years, Windows desktop OS market share worldwide will be growing exponentially from these two complimentary forces:
- Windows OLPC sales today and in the future
- Students using the Windows OLPC today will be buying and/or using another computing product with Windows in their future (after completing schooling and entering the workforce)
Meanwhile, Apple’s Mac will still be hard at work trying to chip away at its measly single-digit marketshare in the U.S., but doing absolutely nothing about third-world countries and those children’s computing education needs.
Say what you will about Apple:
- that it is a smaller, more concentrated company serving a differentiated and/or more concentraed market;
- that it would rather compete in the space of higher margins rather than the market share game;
- or that, by Steve Jobs, there are certain price points Apple will never compete in (the lowest ones, obviously)
Thus, the fact still remains that the desktop OS market will be, just as it is today, dominated by Windows. Apple’s Mac may conquer the hearts and minds of its users, but when only a small fraction of the world is using the Mac, there is something to be said for the “numbers”. (Hint: numbers tell most of the story). All this will occur unless Apple makes a paradigm shift in their Mac business model. But this topic is for another day.
Additional notes – please read this before leaving your comments and sending me any kind of mail
I wrote this post putting other third-world country topics aside. I realize very well that basic needs such as food, shelter, and water (in no particular order and among others) must be met before questions about computing even begin to be discussed. I, however, firmly believe that if computing is brought to a nation that has never been exposed to it, the nation will be on a more even playing field than it has been before. Surely, computers and technology alone won’t make it fair: technology education is a requirement.
Posted in
Apple,
Business,
Decisions,
Marketing,
Microsoft,
Operating Systems,
PC vendors,
Software
