If there's something the Internet has proven is that, no matter how high any limit is, there will always be someone who will reach it. For a long time, music lovers had to endure the 25,000 tracks limit on iTunes Match and Apple Music, but now Apple is bumping it to 100,000 tracks.
Any service's terms and conditions are, as some put it, "a way to train users to click 'accept' on everything that pops up on their screens". But now, someone shows us how different things could be, if these terms and conditions came in a more appealing format.
I'm sure lots of people - you and I included - have already thought of an App they would like to create for the iPhone and/or iPad. But the hard part is: where to begin?
Now, Stanford University lends us a helping hand with a free Application Development podcast via iTunes U where Paul Hegarty explains us, step by step, how we can create an amazing App that might become the next huge success on the internet. And even if it doesn't, at least you'll know how to create Apps for the iPhone and iPad.
The course has 13 episodes, and it the perfect example of how global reach can teach people around the world using new technologies.
New lectures will be posted each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
It is recommended you already have C language and programming experience; if that's not your case, you might want to try with another beginner/introductory course to programming languages.
If you head to Apple you'be greeted by a mysterious iTunes annoucement for tomorrow.
What can we expect from it? I'd like it to be the death of iTunes as we know it, and the beginning of a cloud based alternative that wouldn't require us having iTunes installed in a single PC.
On the other hand, I'd settle with being able to buy/rent movies and TV Shows in Portugal...
Looks like I was very lucky. This was my first Apple event (thanks Apple, for taking me to London to attend) and it was filled with lots of new stuff. (Ok, it might not have been as hyped as a new iPhone or iPad launch, but it was filled with lots of different new - and that's great. :)
The event was streamed live by Apple - some say as a test to their new server farm, maybe to try out how streaming millions of rented HD movies and TV series will be. Unfortunately, while it stands behind web standards when battling Flash, their video stream has available only to Apple customers, requiring you had Safari, or an iPhone/iPad.
Apple Stores around the World
Steve Jobs showed up on stage and - after a well deserved public greeting to Wozniak - started talking about their latest Apple Stores around the world - Paris, Shangai and London are now home to some incredible stores that turn Apple into a "different" brand.
Soon Spain will also have one Apple Store... but unfortunately there are no (known) plans of ever getting an official Apple store in Portugal.
iOS Devices
With over 120 million devices (iPhones, iPods, iPads) and 230 thousand new devices being activated every day, the iOS platform is an obvious success. It is almost surreal to think how things were in the pre-iPhone era; where a "touch-only" based device seemed an impossible trick to pull.
Steve even joked about Android daily activation numbers were not only "new" devices, but counted updates as well - but Google has already set that straight.)
iOS 4.1
The first great annoucement: the much awaited iOS 4.1 update is coming next week. I've never been pleased with iOS4.0 regarding "stability", and I was pleased to hear this version comes with lots of bug fixes (proximity sensor, bluetooth, working on iPhone 3G, etc) and also has a few new tricks as well.
HDR Photos (High Dynamic Range)
HD Video upload via WiFi
TV Shows rentals
Game Center
The most noticeable are the HDR photos. While you already had some Apps that did this, starting next week you'll have this as standard in your iPhone 4. Basically, it takes several photos, with different exposures...
... and it merges it all together to create a new photo where you can see details in both extremely lightes and shadowed areas.
As for the game center, it makes the iOS platform even more attractive to game developers - Nintendo said they didn't care about the iPhone as a game machine... they'll soon be regretting having said that.
Epic came on stage to show off an Unreal Engine demo running on the iPhone... and it looks amazing:
Yes, soon after the iOS 4.1, the iOS 4.2 will bring all that to the iPad (and more.)
Printing, AirPlay and everything you already have on the iPhone will be available for the iPad - at last!
Just have to wait a little bit longer...
New iPods
The entire iPod range was updated.
New iPod Shuffle
Small as ever, with easy to use buttons, playlists, genius, and VoiceOver; and costs $49.
New iPod Nano
The one I liked the most: the new iPod Nano.
Smaller than ever, the new Nano ditches the clickwheel and gains a small multitouch screen.
It looks like a Nano iPhone interface, and you can even rotate it with two fingers.
New iPod Touch
You get what you hoped for: A4 CPU, Retina Display, dual cameras, gyroscope, etc.
Only the "look" stays the same - but thinner.
New iTunes 10
iTunes gets to version 10 and now has Ping.
Ping is a Twitter-like/Facebook-ish kind of social network oriented to music and iTunes contents. You can easily share and track what your friend and favorites artists are doing - and vice-versa.
With over 160 million iTunes users out there, Apple expects this to be an instant hit, and I'm sure they're right - although I'm not really an iTunes-fans.
For me, I'd rather see Apple offering a iTunes-in-the-web service, that would allow me to completely forget about installing and syncing my iPhone at home.
New Apple TV
Not so great for us here in Portugal (as we don't have access to these iTunes rental) but great for everyone in a supported country, here's the new Apple TV.
1/4 the size of the old one, the new Apple TV is no longer a "computer" but more like a HD Media Player. It has no local storage and is better suited to stream content from either your local network, YouTube, NetFlix, or - more importantly - the new low cost iTunes rentals.
Forget about buying... renting is the new "buy" - at least as far as Apple is concerned.
Maybe due to its A4 CPU, or mabye for streaming bandwidth reasons, the new Apple TV only outputs 720p (and not Full HD 1080p.)
More Photos
Final Thanks
I want to thank Apple once again for the short but lovely stay I had in London.
(Yep, that was my room view... Apple really knows how to treat us! :)
Yesterday was the day Apple presented us with some updates. And here it is:
iPod Nano 5G
The new iPod nano has some enhanced colors and... a video camera - among other things:
Video camera (640x480) - (though, no still photos!)
Integrated speaker and microphone
Voice recorder
10% larger LCD (2.2")
Voice Over
FM radio!
YouTube upload (via computer)
Pedometer with online Nike+ sync
The 8GB now costs 139 euros, while the 16GB version costs 169 euros. (Who will buy the 8GB version when they can get twice the storage for just 30 euros more?)
The video camera can do some real-time effects on the video, such as black-and-white, "psycadelic" effects, and even an "x-ray vision" mode.
iPod Touch
The iPod Touch, failed to do much of an impression - the most noticeable thing was the absence of a video camer (people were expecting it to have one - but it sounds like those rumors about hardware problems actually were right about it.)
Prices dropped (the 8GB model costs 189 euros) and there are larger capacity models with 32GB (279 eur) and 64GB (369 euros).
The hardware was updated, and it's nos 50% faster - making it an ideal pocket computer and portable game machine, and becoming the cheapest way to access the App Store and its millions of Apps. In fact, it looks like Apple is now looking to the game business as a really good way to push the iPod Touch, which now have OpenGL|ES v2.0 and offer the easiest way for gamers to get their games (App Store.)
New iTunes 9
I'm not a big fan of iTunes, but it does look like it's getting "less" annoying and offering some interesting features that might make me give it a second chance.
Facebook and Twitter integration
iTunes LP - the digital version of the old LP covers (and more.)
iPhone App management done right (at last!)
Home Sharing
Faster performance in Windows PCs
Also, don't forget to update your iPhone/iPod Touch to the latest OS 3.1 - so you can have full access to all those new features.
(Though, if you have an unlocked/jailbroken iPhone... you might want to wait a bit more to ensure you won't break anything :)
Some other annoucements: a new iPod shuffle, and the iPod classic now was 160Gb storage space; and that's about it.
If you've been around for some time, you'll probably know that while I'm a satisfied owner of an iPhone... I can't stand using iTunes!
I just sync it once every other month, to keep a backup of my iPhone and nothing else. Besides... if it wasn't required to activate and update the iPhone's firmware, I probably wouldn't have even installed it.
Ah... the dreaded moment to connect you brand new iPhone 3G to your computer...
iTunes kicks in and... here it comes... the lengthy backup operation begins taking more and more time each and every time you do it - the more stuff you have in there, the more time it takes, until it becomes unbearable.
... until now.
Now you can easily disable this annoying backup process on iTunes and just re-enable it once every week (or whenever you feel like.)
You just need to:
Locate your iTunesPrefs.xml file. Usually located in: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes
or C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes
or (in Vista) C:\Users\username\AppData\Apple Computer\iTunes\
Hint: If the folder Application Data does not show up, make sure that hidden files are visible in the Windows Explorer
Backup your iTunesPrefs.xml file
Open iTunesPrefs.xml using a capable text-editor (e.g. Notepad++, Ultraedit, but not MS Notepad)
Search for a section called User Preferences and paste the following snipped into the User Preferences Section after the first <dict>:
It's not uncommon for greed to move mountains, and the bigger they get the greeder they become. As if profiting for free, selling TV episodes that people can already watch on their TVs, already having paid for their cable subscriptions, isn't enough. NBC wants more.
Paying $3 for each episode is ridiculous, unless they're willing to send you a giftwrapped HD-DVD season box set at the end of the season.
iTunes is a success because they have provided exactly what people want: content at a fair price. If NBC wants a share of the pie, they have to do the same and treat their customers with respect... or they'll be doomed right from the very start.
