¶ S

Turns out I wasn’t too far off on my late-night predictions yesterday.

The iPhone 4S sports an A5 processor, 8MP camera with vastly improved optics, and 1080p video recording with stabilization. It also features an AI assistant called Siri. It looks exactly like the iPhone 4, which is great because the the iPhone 4 is awesome. It has an improved antenna that can handle both CDMA & GSM frequencies, and is coming to Verizon, AT&T, & newcomer Sprint on October 14.

iOS 5, iCloud, & OS X Lion 10.7.2 will be dropping on October 12. And iCloud did get one more new feature: Friends & Family. This looks like it could be kind of neat for my wife to able to see how close I am to home before calling me to tell me to stop at the store.

And the iPod nano and iPod received very slight revisions. The nano no longer needs a dongle for Nike+ and has more clock faces to choose from since some people have taken to using them as watches. The touch now comes in white (seriously, I don’t think anything has changes as far as specs).

However, I was wrong about the iPod classic. It lives on for yet another year.

¶ Predictions

It's the eve before Apple's big reveal on the new iPhone. I always like to give a few predictions, of which I am usually terribly short-sighted or flat-out wrong. So I'm going to try to be a little more conservative this year, and just give my gut feelings on the some of the rumors.

• We will see a new iPhone, and it will be available very soon.
  • It will not have a ridiculous 4-inch screen.
  • Everything else is fair game. My gut says A5 processor, more RAM (but that won't be disclosed by Apple), and a better camera.
  • Sprint will be a new carrier in the US. And they'll be offering sweetheart plans because they're desperate to sell iPhones.
  • The new iPhone will support a previously unannounced feature of iOS 5 that other iPhones will not.
• We will get a release date for iOS 5, iCloud, and OS X 10.7.2. I would wager a couple days prior to the release of the new iPhone.
• iCloud will have one more really awesome thing to make it that much more of a big deal. I have no idea what that may be, but I have a hunch. Come on, this is Apple's baby for the next decade.
• We'll hear some news about refreshed iPods for the holidays. Nothing major. The classic will be dispatched to its Great Reward.

Designing for the Future

Guy English, spelling out what Apple's Push Notifications already do and how they relate to iCloud:

The “Push Notification” persistent connection enables:

• Push Notifications. In badge, sound and text flavours.

• Find My iPhone. Asks the device for its position and provides for sending a message, locking or remote wiping a device.

• FaceTime calls. Works with iPhones, iPods (let’s drop the ‘touch’, iPod Classic is dead) and iPads. Oh, and now Macs.

• iBooks bookmark syncing. Transparent and works across all iOS devices.

• Enterprise Wireless Configuration. iOS provides a mechanism through which enterprise customers can remotely reconfigure the devices they have in the field. It’s all very boring until you think about how that might work.

So there’s a fair amount of functionality we take for granted in iOS devices that’s already being provided over this one persistent connection. Not all of these features are likely to run entirely over the persistent push connection, but it is the control line that kicks things into action. iOS 5, and the set of services branded as iCloud, seem set to blow this pipeline wide open.

And then Tim Ricchuiti, hitting the nail on the head:

It’s kind of funny, actually. I can’t say whether Apple planned it this way, but the push notification system should be regarded as a failure if it’s purpose was simply for notification. Apple’s implementation of the more Android-style notifications in iOS 5 is an admission of that. But as failures go, it’s pretty good, being that it will be the backbone of what is generally regarded as the most significant development for Apple’s platforms since the announcement of the original iPhone.

I, for one, wouldn't be surprised at all if Apple had a long term plan when they designed Push Notifications. I certainly thought they were kind of a half-baked way to do just notifications, but in the context of iCloud now, it sure makes the whole thing look amazing.

Transitioning from MobileMe to iCloud

Nice Q&A today from Apple regarding the changes happening as MobileMe transitions to iCloud. Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Find My iPhone, & Back to My Mac make the cut. iWeb publishing, Gallery, and iDisk don't.

Some of the features on the way out are either being replaced or enhanced through some new features: iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, Automatic downloads and purchase history for apps and books, & Backup and restore.

Another thing making the cut that a lot of folks were unsure about is web access for Mail, Contacts, Calendars, & Find My iPhone. I'm glad to hear that because I do use that access about once or twice a month. Instead of going to me.com for this access you'll go to iCloud.com.

Also on the chopping block are some things that honestly never worked all that well going between one Mac to another: Syncing of Mac Dashboard widgets, keychains, Dock items, and System Preferences.

Conflicts

The Talk Show is one of my favorite podcasts. It is hosted by Dan Benjamin and John Gruber on the 5by5 network. On Episode 47, Gruber talked a bit about his thoughts on iCloud and one item has garnered a lot of attention around the web. Thankfully, the folks at Mac Stories typed up a transcript:

Gruber: The new way does not involve merging and conflicts. […] It doesn’t mean that Apple has magically solved the tech difficulties of syncing. […]

You’ve got 3 devices let’s say. Server-side data stored somewhere on a server, and you’ve got an iPhone and you’ve got a Mac. All data is up to date, say Address Book. You have an entry for Dan Benjamin and all it has is an email address. In all three places it’s the same and I sit down at my Mac, I add your home phone # to your contact and then I sit down with my iPhone at the same time (say everything’s offline) and enter Dan’s home # manually, but I enter it wrong. What happens when you sync? You’ve entered two phone numbers in two places, and at the server there’s no phone number. As it stands now MobileMe often will offer you a dialog box telling you that there is a conflict. It presents it to you and you have to pick which one is right. […]

In iCloud I believe you will never be presented with such a dialog, no matter how much has changed in one of the instances while it was “offline”. The server-side iCloud, when there seemingly is a conflict, will make a decision and it will decide which one is the best (in Apple’s terms the “truth”). That is what Steve Jobs means when he says “The Truth is in the Cloud.” iTunes will decide which one is right and that’s it. iCloud will push that right one to any device that has this account that has a different version. But, here’s the trick – what happens if it’s not the right one? On the server side, it will remember all of the other ones, almost like versioning. There will be some sort of interface like “go and look at your contacts.” There will be some sort of way to say “show me previous versions and let me pick the one that is right”. You pick it and push it back up into the cloud and tell it “that’s the truth” and Apple will push it out.

Dan Benjamin: Whatever is the most recent change will propagate but here are previous versions to pick from if you want.

Gruber: Apple won’t reveal it but iCloud, on the server, will determine the truth when it detects a conflict that will never be published. It will act like a “black box”. Most cases it will go by the most recently implemented change — it will be undefined. The key is that if there is a conflict, they will remember the different conflicting versions. If it picks the “wrong truth” it will be able to go back and get the right one. That’s what I mean when I say no more merging or conflicts. iCloud will make its best guess at merging & conflicts other than having you pick it.

Dan Benjamin: Do you know this or is it just a theory?

Gruber: I know this. What I don’t know but I believe, again, is that I think iBooks is an example of this in action. If you have the same iBook on the iPhone and iPad and take them both offline and flip a couple of pages on the iPhone then flip a different number of pages on the iPad, and them put them both online and they go to sync their “read state” or “current page state” to iTunes servers, iBooks never presents you a dialog. […]

iBooks is and has been one of the testbeds for what Apple is now calling iCloud.

I don't know about you, but I think data conflicts are aggravating and disruptive. Thankfully, I rarely see them, but I hate it when I see them, mainly because conflicts rarely affect just one file.

That said, I am curious if iCloud's conflict resolver will work well. At least when the user is prompted, they can do a little legwork to determine which info is correct, and then be done with it. I almost think it would be more frustrating to have iCloud pick the "wrong truth" and then have to rely on that when you are out and about.

Of course, the versioning support sounds like a great compromise, but how exactly do you access that? Through a Mac or PC? That isn't helpful when you are out with friends. If there is a way to access those versions in iOS, that could make things easier.

One thing that does make sense is that iBooks has likely been a large-scale test for iCloud. And it is very good, in my opinion. I haven't once noticed any anomalies between the last-read state on my iPhone or iPad. Even more so, all my highlights and notes seem to work just fine, too, despite sometimes reading my on my iPad while offline.

In the end, I can see why Apple doesn't want to burden users with conflict resolution. It doesn't exactly inspire confidence in a system when it throws up errors. If iCloud can make the right choice 99% of the time, that's pretty awesome. And for most types of data, like iBooks and bookmarks, an wrong choice every once in while isn't particularly devastating. Where iCloud will have very little allowance for error will be calendars and contacts.

50 Percent

Out of the many nice things coming in iCloud, one of the best is backup for iOS devices to the cloud.

David Chartier reports:

A little birdie says that about 50 percent of Apple Store customers who need to get their iPhones swapped have never plugged them into iTunes after the initial activation and sync. This is a big reason, according to this birdie, for why Apple Store Geniuses are excited about iCloud.

Backupophobes can get away with never touching iTunes after activating an iOS device. But folks obviously need to plug them into some kind of power source to recharge which, combined with a reachable WiFi network, is what triggers iCloud’s automatic backup feature.

Fifty percent doesn't surprised me at all. I know far too many iPhone (and iPod touch and iPad) users who never sync their devices. Ever. They don't even realize that there is a built-in backup solution.

Don't even get me started on how few people I know back up their computers.

[via DF]

¶ Lofty Promises

Apple has a habit of changing our lives. They did it in the 70's with the Apple I & II, by aiming to make computing available to everyday people. That same focus leaped forward in 1984 with the advent of the Macintosh. The original iMac mitigated the intimidating aesthetic of computers, breaking up some of the presumptions of everyday folks that computers were beyond them.

Then Apple started creating a bond between our computers and ourselves. They truly started to become personal when Apple heralded the idea of the digital hub. Your computer suddenly became the keeper of things most precious to you: your photos, your music. The video of your child's elementary school play.

The iPod came, giving you a medium to carry a copy of your digital hub everywhere. First, it started with music, something that can move the passion within our souls. Then it added photos, so we could show our friends and family a favorite picture. Then videos were integrated. Iteration after iteration brought more and more of our personal lives with us everywhere.

Then another leap — the iPhone. The ability to remove an abstract interaction with these precious digital memories — no more keyboard and mouse, no more click wheel. You simply touch, swipe, pinch, tap. A natural interaction that a two year old can learn, and also the elderly who were too afraid of the complexity of computers.

The iPad expounded that dream even more, and whether you like the catchphrase or not, something magical did indeed happen. To quote John Gruber:

It’s a shame, almost, that we squandered the term “personal computer” 30 years ago.

How true.

A Digital Divide

Somewhere along the line, amongst the magic, some of the smoke and mirrors that the audience is never supposed to see became apparent. It became too difficult to maintain the illusion of these multiple devices working simply and with little maintenance. The digital hub became the digital burden.

It became too much for a person with multiple devices to remember which device had synced back to their digital hub on their computer at what time and with which content. Complexity tainted the promise of simplicity.

A Lofty Solution

Monday, Apple changed the game. Where the computer served as the digital hub for the last decade and, for a time, worked well, the new hub belonged somewhere else. Technology finally allowed for the rest of us to have something special. A hub that exists in the lofty domain of the "cloud".

Apple's forthcoming iCloud serves as the new hub, and your computer is just another device among your iPhone and iPad in this new vision.

The promise of iCloud takes something that happens on your iPhone — a new photograph, for instance — and effortlessly transmits it to iCloud, which then pushes it to your other devices. The same goes for a new music or book purchase, a bookmark, a freshly composed document. It all happens in seconds, and the user never has to think about what is stored where.

A lofty promise, indeed.

Commitment to the Promise

This isn't the first time Apple has attempted cloud services. I vaguely remember iTools in Mac OS 9. I was young and didn't care enough at the time. I also remember .Mac throughout the better part of my life as a serious Mac user, though I never had a need to subscribe. MobileMe is the most current release of iTools/.Mac, and it was this iteration that finally lured me into Apple $99/year subscription.

The promise of MobileMe was push email, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks. It also provided access to iDisk. For me, MobileMe has been a solid investment. It accomplishes the email, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks syncing between my mac, iPhone, & iPad. That is what I bought it for, and it lives up to the promise for me. iDisk, however, is a disaster. I don't use it for much, and Dropbox is what I turn to for that functionality instead.

Many other folks I know or follow think differently of MobileMe. They hate it. It doesn't live up to the promise in their eyes. Apple itself thinks of it as a failure. Steve Jobs even poked fun at it in the keynote.

It was this juncture in Jobs' keynote that we see that where MobileMe was a bolt-on product that Apple put just enough effort into, iCloud will be a first-rate service that Apple will put everything it has behind.

The commitment was revealed in iCloud's availability and pricing. Where MobileMe was adopted by a small percentage of Apple's user base due to its $99/year cost, iCloud is intended for all users to adopt with the low price of free. This fact alone shows that Apple must be committed to iCloud's success. Apple can't afford to have it fail. Apple's reputation with all its customers will be tarnished if iCloud doesn't live up to its promise.

---

I, for one, look forward to iCloud with great anticipation. I had a very good run with MobileMe, and if it worked that well without Apple truly focusing on the service, then iCloud should be astounding.

WWDC11

Yesterday Apple announced a lot of new things at WWDC. Frankly, it has been a lot to process and figure out what the highlights worthy of discussion are. So I thought I'd share some (hopefully) brief thoughts on OS X Lion, iOS 5, & iCloud.

OS X Lion

Apple showed off a lot of the same things it did during the first preview months ago and also on its website since. Chief among those are things like Multi-Touch Gestures, Full-Screen Apps, Mission Control, Launchpad, Auto-Save and Versions.

The Lion part of the keynote was really just a recap to show off some polish, and give details on its release. I was very happy to see the price tag of $29.99, and that it will be distributed via the Mac App Store in July. I honestly was a little surprised to see Apple killing off the optical disc this aggressively. I knew it would happen sooner rather than later, but I expected it for the next iteration of OS X.

My only curiosity with the whole thing revolves around whether or not we'll be able to make some sort of bootable recovery, whether on disc or USB drive. I mean, what if your hard drive goes kaput? We'll find out in July.

I do highly recommend you peruse Apple's extensive information about OS X.

iOS 5

There were two things I have been wanting built into iOS recently, and those have been a better notification system and a ToDo List that would sync over the air with my Mac and iPad. I had bought a few apps to accomplish the latter, but none work as seamlessly as I expect out of my Apple devices.

Thankfully both of those items and more came to fruition.

Notification Center

Notifications have, honestly, taken a cue from Android. They pop in briefly from the top while you are doing something and quietly disappear for later inspection within the Notification Center, which can be accessed by dragging a finger down from the top of the screen. Here, notifications can be acted upon, left alone, or dismissed. Another nice touch regarding notifications is how they stack on the lock screen, and can be acted upon straight from there by sliding your finger across a particular notification, which unlocks the device and pops you into that app.

Reminders

Reminders is your regular old task list, with a twist. It has the ability to use geolocation as a way to alert you to a task, when you either arrive somewhere, or leave. For instance, you could set a reminder pick up dinner when you leave your office. As you are walking to your car, your iPhone alerts you. It looks like everything I could want and more.

Camera

The improvements to the Camera app have me fairly excited. There will be a software button you can tap from the lock screen to jump immediately into the camera. From there, you can now pinch to zoom, tap & hold to lock auto-exposure and auto-focus, and even use the volume up button as a shutter release.

After you take a shot, you can also do basic editing, such as rotation, cropping, red-eye correction, and an automatic touch-up process.

iMessage

iMessage is a new, free service, that allows you to send text, pictures, video, contacts, location data, etc to another iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. It will be the default system in the Messages app, with SMS/MMS being a fallback if the recipient isn't an iOS user. This is definitely huge and I am sure the carriers aren't happy about Apple sucking away their precious overpriced texting plans.

Independence from Computers

By far the biggest announcement for iOS is tethering via USB will no longer be needed to sync and make backups. Heck, iTunes isn't even needed to set up your iDevice out of the box anymore. Just take it out, run through a set-up dialog, and you're on your way. This will be great for upgrading to a new device, and even more so, those buying an iPad as their only device.

Another perk is iOS updates will now occur over the air, and as delta updates. Delta updates are just the changes. Up until now, iOS updates have been the entire OS, which is kicking around 600+ MB these days.

iOS 5 is set for release this fall (I'd guess September). Check out the new features and a video.

iCloud

iCloud is a new service from Apple that moves the focus of syncing off of iTunes and onto a server. Jobs said, "The cloud is the truth", meaning that all your devices — Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod touch, & iPad — will be communicating with iCloud as their main source of information.

iCloud will store email, contacts, calendars, iTunes, App Store, & iBookstores purchases, documents, photos, and backups. The idea is that you make a change on one device, and it uploads to iCloud, and then is pushed to the other devices.

For example, take a picture on your iPhone, and it is on your iPad and within iPhoto on your Mac in mere moments.

iCloud looks to be a big deal, and it will be available this fall alongside iOS 5, free for everyone.

I was very glad to see iCloud is free, and MobileMe accounts are being rolled into it.

---

Like I said, it's a lot of information to absorb. The implications of iCloud are staggering, something I'll expound on in a later post. I am excited to get Lion in a month's time, and find myself impatient, as always, for the next version of iOS.

It's All About the Software

From Apple PR this morning:

Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software - Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

It don't see how Apple could spell it out any more, but this year WWDC is all about software. Any next-gen iPhone hopefuls will have to wait until September, likely.

I'm glad to see Mr. Jobs will be on stage again. This medical leave has been very different than his previous ones. He is still very much involved during his absence.

Lastly, the iCloud rumor seems true. I can't remember the last time (if ever?) Apple pre-announced a product via press release. Needless to say, I have a feeling it will be big.

And who knows, maybe there will be "One More Thing".