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Today on the show:
- Psystar hires Jammie’s lawyers in fight with Apple
- Sprint reports Q209 earnings
- Yahoo and Microsoft reach search deal
For full show notes, please visit shownotes.technestreport.com
Posted in Daily Bit, Podcast
Ever since its initial release in 2007, the iPhone – along with its sibling, the iPod Touch – have shipped with a YouTube app. The sole reason for this app’s existence is because the iPhone isn’t capable of displaying Flash content. That much we already know. Yet with such prominent support for YouTube, I’m surprised that competing video sharing sites aren’t protesting with the words “monopoly, monopoly, monopoly.” Yes, I believe that Apple and YouTube‘s parent company, Google, are behaving in a monopolistic fashion when it comes to video on the iPhone.
Lets set some facts straight first: Flash is the format used to stream video content and display hyper-dynamic websites, among other things. Used by YouTube, Vimeo, Mevio, Hulu, Cnet, Ustream, Justin.TV, and countless other video websites, Flash is the most prevalent video delivery method on the web by a far cry. The only exception to the previous examples is Apple: it uses the beloved H.264 standard to deliver videos on its own website. But what’s important to note here is that Adobe has been trying, time in time again, to get Flash on the iPhone, all to no avail: Apple has had multiple excuses as to why Flash on the iPhone can’t be a reality. The company has cited battery life and a lack in processing power as the two major items that prevent Flash from being available on the device.
Competing mobile operating systems such as Nokia’s Symbian OS, Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, and Palm’s WebOS, have all either announced support for, or have already delivered devices that are capable of running the Flash Player. Today, the only Flash hold-outs are the Apple’s iPhone/iPod Touch and RIM’s Blackberry line. Given these facts, the effects of not being able to play back Flash on the iPhone are quite surprising, and even scary!
Posted in Apple, Featured, Google, YouTube, iPhone
You have an idea for a business. What’s the next thing you should do? Write a business plan?
According to Kevin Ryan, ex-CEO of DoubleClick and founder of six start-ups, the answer is a resounding “no.” Kevin’s advice is that writing a business plan – while helpful – won’t be as useful as putting together some seed money and starting the business. Kevin also advises not to work with an investor if he is going over the details of your financial model too closely: it’s a sign that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Watch the man say it himself below!
I agree with Kevin for the most part! Sometimes, however, it’s useful to put together a plan of action, rather than a full-fledged business plan. Doing so will make the entrepreneur think of certain details that s/he has not yet thought of, and allow for making decisions in a proactive, rather than in a reactive matter.
Posted in Biz Tip, Business, Decisions, Start-ups
Do you use iTunes to listen to audiobooks? There was a bug in iTunes that made all files manually marked as an audiobook disappear from the iTunes library. This video shows you how to retrieve them.
Posted in TNR tip, iTunes
This is a perfect example of what not to do during a time of confusion: stay silent. After news broke yesterday evening that iPhone users are at risk of having their device taken control of by a hacker, the web, radio, newspapers, TV, and the rest of the mainstream media have picked up on the story. iPhone users that aren’t privy to the details of the situation are scared. Being the go-to tech guy for friends, relatives, and clients, I’ve been receiving questions all day asking for advice. I don’t mind answering questions or helping people out; quite the opposite in fact. But what I do find deplorable is that Apple and AT&T are staying completely mum on the situation: there are no official blog posts, email updates, or – ironically – text messages to iPhone owners regarding the current status of the affairs. And that is poor communication, plain and simple.
Let’s get the basics out of the way: two security researchers – Collin Mulliner and Charlie Miller – have found a serious exploit in the way the iPhone handles SMS messages. If a hacker plays his cards right, he would be able to take complete control of an iPhone by means of sending a text message to the device. Complete control means making phone calls, stealing data, sending text messages without the owner’s consent… you get the idea.
But it gets worse: Apple was notified about the exploit six weeks ago. And in that time, the company has not issued an update to the iPhone OS. By comparison, the Android OS was also vulnerable to a similar attack. Google fixed the problem within a day or two of being notified of the problem. And all that brings us to the present: this evening, the two researchers who found this bug are presenting their exploit at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. Yet the most interesting part of all this is that neither Apple nor AT&T have made any official statements regarding the situation: Read more »
Posted in ATT, Apple, Business, Customer Service, Featured, Security, iPhone
This post is a part of the Yahoo! gets Microsoftified series – where we cover the facts, points of view, and details of the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal. To see all posts of the series, click here. More posts are coming soon!
This morning, Yahoo and Microsoft announced a 10-year search deal that will see the two companies join forces to take on Google. Basically, Microsoft’s technology will power Yahoo’s search results, while Yahoo will be charged with selling ads for both companies’ search sites. Here are the facts:
Posted in Bing, Business, Decisions, Featured, Industry News, Microsoft, Search, Yahoo!
Late last week, Google announced that its Latitude location-aware service is now available on the iPhone. Latitude is a location-aware mobile app, similar to services offered by Loopt and brightkite.
Latitude has been available for Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry (most models with color screens), and Symbian S60 devices for five months, making the iPhone/iPod Touch the latest mobile device compatible with the service. Unlike on all the other major mobile platforms that have a standalone Latitude app, iPhone users must run the service inside the Safari browser. As such, it has received criticism of being crippled and worthless. Read more »
Posted in Apple, Decisions, Featured, Industry News, Policy, iPhone
Podcast: Download
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Today on the show:
- Yahoo! Mobile site gets iPhone overhaul, syncing
- Sprint Nextel bets big on prepaid wireless
- Apple pulls all Google Voice-related apps from App Store
- New contest: we’re giving away 2 copies per day of iRealSMS. Details here.
For full show notes, please visit shownotes.technestreport.com
Posted in Daily Bit, Podcast
Podcast: Download
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Today on the show:
- Verizon changes tune on WiFi
- Google Latitude for iPhone released
- 4Chan attacked, not censored
- New contest: we’re giving away 2 copies per day of iRealSMS. Details here.
For full show notes, please visit shownotes.technestreport.com
Posted in Daily Bit, Podcast
Podcast: Download
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Today on the show:
- Apple and Microsoft earnings reports
- Contest winner announced!
- Palm Pre and iTunes – play the game!
- Picks of the week
- And a whole lot more
For full show notes, please visit shownotes.technestreport.com
Posted in Featured, Podcast, Weekly Recap