'Open' to Infection

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Sara Yin at PC Magazine:

Symantec has discovered a new Android botnet that is still thriving in the Android Market and has already been downloaded several million times this year.

The Trojan ‘Android.Counterclank’ was packaged in at least 13 free games published by three different publishers, making it harder to trace. Symantec notified Google on Thursday and at press time, 9 of the apps were still available in Google’s official app store.

My parents currently have Android phones because that is what they were given as a freebie when their carrier was gobbled up by AT&T. They run an antivirus app on them. It’s pretty ridiculous, if you ask me.

Android’s openness is totally awesome.

[via Sebastiaan de With]

¶ A 4-Inch Screen

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I was just looking at this article over at AppleInsider about a patent application from Apple regarding a touchscreen universal remote. There has been a lot of talk since the debut of Steve Jobs’ biography about Apple releasing an actual television set, rather than the current $99 Apple TV. So, in that sense, a universal TV remote would make sense, right? Heck, it even makes sense for the current form factor if you ask me. Right now I have to dig out a separate remote just to turn my TV on.

Now, there’s also been some talk about the next iPhone having a 4-inch screen, which I just don’t see happening. It would either diminish the crispness of the retina display, or, to keep the pixels per inch at retina quality, a new screen resolution would need to be introduced. This would be a nightmare for developers and designers, as they already have to support at least two resolutions for the iPhone. When Apple introduced the retina display, the increased the dimensions by exactly double. This makes it easier to design an interface.

What if the 4-inch screen rumor isn’t destined for the iPhone?

What if it is for a touchscreen universal remote that doesn’t run App Store apps?

Think about that.

¶ A Fistful of Dollars

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Apple PR:

Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 first quarter which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and record quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $26.74 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 44.7 percent compared to 38.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

The Company sold 37.04 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 128 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, a 111 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 5.2 million Macs during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.4 million iPods, a 21 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

That’s insane.

This breaks previous company records for all of the following:

  • Revenue
  • Profit
  • iPhones sold
  • iPads sold
  • Macs sold

To say it was a great Christmas in Cupertino would be a gross understatement.

Here are some other tidbits to chew on from various sources.

From MacRumors:

  • Set new records for desktops and portables, up 26% year-over-year versus 0% growth for entire PC industry.
  • iPhone represented 124% year-over-year growth vs 40% growth for industry according to IDC.
  • iPad revenue up 99% year-over-year.
  • 1.5 million iPads are in use across educational institutions.
  • 315 million cumulative iOS device sales. 62 million in December quarter.
  • 85 million iCloud customers signed up.
  • $4 billion to developers cumulatively, $700 million in december quarter.
  • 1.1 million Macs sold vs 851,000 year-over-year.
  • 22,000 visitors per store per week.
  • $97.6 billion in cash and marketable securities.

I picked what I found especially interesting. Their list is much longer (and their graphs paint quite the picture). One more thing from MacRumors’ coverage that I want to point out is this bit from the Q&A:

Q: 4G and larger screens are growing in the market. Has popularity of larger screens on Android phones changed or impacted your view? And 4G, obviously some phones have battery life issues, but what do you think?

A: We just sold 37 million iPhones and could have sold more with the supply. There are a lot of people out there who like what we’re doing.

I still don’t think the rumored 4-inch screen, 4G-enabled iPhone is happening any time soon. First, the 3.5-inch is feels great in your hand, and fits well in most pockets (and certainly better than a larger phone). Second, Apple really cares about battery life, and 4G doesn’t seem up to par yet.

From Farhad Manjoo, via Daring Fireball:

Apple’s profits ($13 billion) exceeded Google’s entire revenue ($10.6 billion).

Surely Google is winning.

And, in related news, Tom Krazit, for PaidContent, via, again, Daring Fireball:

In the first quarter that Verizon Wireless was on board with Apple for an iPhone launch event, the company sold 4.2 million iPhones, accounting for more than half of the 7.7 million smartphones that its customers purchased in the fourth quarter.

That calculates out to 55%. 55% of all the smartphones Verizon sold last quarter were made by Apple. I still get the feeling that Verizon is a little resentful that they needed to carry the iPhone, and I bet that is a burr in their saddle. That number gives Apple a pretty big chip to throw down if they need to.

Also, clearly Google is winning.

MG Siegler:

Every single Android phone that Verizon sells — dozens of models — combined could not outsell the iPhone last quarter. When you consider that Verizon sells plenty of BlackBerrys (and a few Windows Phones here and there) as well, this is even more incredible.

[…]

The only thing not looking good about this post from June of last year is the incorrect assumption that it would take the iPhone 5 to reverse the Android surge. It “only” took the iPhone 4S.

“Only”.

Demobilizer

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Demobilizer is a great little Safari extension by Junecloud, the makers of the wonderful Delivery Status.

What demobilizer does is take links mobile sites and redirects them to the full site. This is really helpful, as I click a lot of m.example.com links from Twitter. I also see this a lot with links I have saved to Instapaper.

It’s a handy extension that stays out of your way, but enables your way forward.

[via Fruit Bytes]

Kindle Touch Software 5.0.3

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I have been checking Amazon’s page for Kindle software updates every week or so since Christmas, as they tend to post them on the site for manual download before pushing them out over wireless directly to the device. The reason I have been checking is that, as much as I love my Kindle Touch, the responsiveness seems to have been getting worse over time.

Last night I checked again and noticed an update, version 5.0.3, had been posted for the Kindle Touch (mine shipped with 5.0.1, never saw 5.0.2).

The page doesn’t list what Amazon has improved, but after a manual install, I can affirm that page turns, navigation, and overall snappiness are much improved.

This update makes an already nice Kindle extremely great.

¶ Thoughts on AT&T's Updated Data Plans

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When I switched to AT&T in 2008 to get the iPhone 3G, the only data plan was a $30/month “unlimited” (read: 5GB) plan. In 2010, right when my wife and I were upgrading to the iPhone 4, AT&T tossed aside the “unlimited” plan, and replaced it with two new plans, as such:

  • DataPlus 200MB at $15/month
  • DataPro 2GB at $25/month

MacRumors reports AT&T has updated its data plans again, going into effect this Sunday, January 22nd. Here’s how the new plans shake out:

  • DataPlus 300MB at $20/month
  • DataPro 3GB at $30/month
  • DataPro 5GB at $50/month (includes mobile hotspot/tethering)

And for iPad 3G users:

  • 250MB for $15/month
  • 3GB for $30/month
  • 5GB for $50/month

Right now, my wife is on the 200MB/month plan and I am on the 2GB/month plan. My wife rarely goes over 100MB on her plan each month, but I know that is because she is conscious of her limit and actively tries not to use her iPhone unless she is on Wi-Fi. I usually hover around 300MB per month in my 3G usage. It would be more (much more) if I were not on Wi-Fi the majority of the time. So the 200MB plan has never been for me. Most months, looking at my history, I could get away with this new 300MB plan. But, in months where I travel, I easily go over 300MB, but rarely over 500MB.

I think I’ll stay on the 2GB plan, which is far more than I need. Maybe I’ll move my wife up to the 300MB, so she can relax a little when she’s off Wi-Fi.

A few things about these plans are churning in my mind, though:

  • The 300MB plan, like the 200MB plan before it, are complete rip-offs compared to the other plans. If $30 gets you 3GB, and $50 gets you 5GB, then doesn’t the math say that $20 should get you 2GB, instead of a piddly 300MB?
  • If there were a $15 plan for, say, 500MB, both my wife and I could have that, and I wouldn’t need to be paying for more data than I use.
  • 3GB is a lot of mobile data. My wife and I could share that and never use all of it in a month. Why do we not have family data plans yet? Hey, AT&T, how about you offer that. You could even call it DataFamily to fit into your nomenclature.
  • If AT&T won’t offer family data plans, they should at least offer rollover data. Rollover minutes have long been part of their marketing. With rollover data, my wife and I could both use the lower 300MB plan, and most months we would be filling the rollover bucket. During travel months, like December, we could dip into our little bucket of rollover worry free.

Come on, AT&T, do something for once that helps me save a couple bucks. I know that idea seems foreign to you, but it would help you out, too, because you’d keep my family as a customer, and I would tell others about how flexible your plans are.

¶ App Within an App

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I always try to use a stock app that comes with my iPhone, iPad, or Mac if it can do what I need it to satisfactorily. Hence for quick notes I use the built in Notes app on my iPhone quite a bit, especially since I know, thanks to iCloud, that the note will be on my iPad and Mac if I need it. And when Reminders arrived in iOS 5, I eschewed the other app I was using in favor of Apple’s solution, because Apple’s app performed the same function that I needed. Heck, it provided a little more with location-based reminders, which are awesome.

I do, however, have one little annoyance about Notes and Reminders — the way they are integrated into the Mac. On iOS, Notes and Reminders get their own apps. On the Mac, they are relegated to being apps within an app. Notes and Reminders are shoehorned into Mail and iCal, respectively.

I would much rather Notes and Reminders have their own apps on the Mac, with similar interfaces to their iOS counterparts. Notes, on its own, could effectively replace the Stickies app on the Mac.

My problem with Notes and Reminders being integrated into other apps is consistency. A great example of consistency between the Mac, iPhone, and iPad is Twitterrific. The app offers the same experience across all three devices. The user never has to question how to do anything on each device. Learn once, apply everywhere.

Take a new user, give them an iPhone for a bit. Sit them in front of a Mac, and tell them to find their reminders. I bet they’d hunt for a Reminders app. In fact, they’d probably be confused to learn that Reminders is part of iCal. It doesn’t really make sense.

One of the greatest things Apple did when releasing the iPad was to keep the experience familiar and consistent. Lately, the experience on the Mac has started to feel like a neglected ugly duckling.

Apple's Education Event

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Big Apple

The other day Apple sent out invites for an event late next week. Apple says the event will be focused on education, and take place in the Big Apple.

I think it’s a safe bet we’ll see an update to iBooks bringing digital textbooks to iOS. It’d be pretty awesome if you could rent books a semester at a time for a low price. I would have loved that when I was in college.

I have a couple other suspicions, but I don’t have a great deal of faith in seeing them come to fruition.

First, I wonder if we’ll see iBooks for Mac. I’ve personally never cared for reading a novel on my MacBook, but a textbook would be a different story. If you’re using your Mac to write a term paper, it would be handy to quickly reference your textbook via Command-Tab.

Second, this seems to be a good venue to introduce a revamped iWork for Mac. The current version is getting a little long in the tooth. I’d like to see the iWork suite take some design cues from the iOS apps for full-screen mode on Lion. Also, iCloud integration is sorely needed. I’m sure we’d all like to see how Apple will handle the UI for iCloud on the Mac. It’d also be nice to see more robust digital publishing tools integrated into Pages, making it easier for authors to create stuff for the iBookstore.

In the end, I think the main focus will be on textbooks. That said, I do have a feeling in my gut that says this event will have a much larger impact on the future than any of us are thinking.

¶ Five Years

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Five years ago today at Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs unveiled a device that reshaped our definition of the personal computer. It reminded us of the stuff of science fiction from our childhood.

I remember the first time I actually saw an iPhone. It was a couple weeks after it was released, and I was sitting with my bride in the Denver airport, waiting for our connecting flight to Seattle for our honeymoon. While we were waiting to board our plane, a young woman sat next to me and started browsing on her iPhone. I was about to inquire, but instead admired as she had just received a phone call. That was the first time I saw one.

A few days later my wife and I found our way to an Apple Store in Seattle, where I finally was able to experience the future. I called my parents, who were a little confused when they answered as their caller ID said Apple, Seattle, WA. If I had resided in an AT&T coverage area then I probably would have left the store with one.

One year later we moved to a new city, which did indeed have AT&T, and I bought an iPhone 3G on release day. My son was born four days later. I used the lap timer in the Clock app to time contractions. A couple days earlier, in preparation, I drafted a message to our friends and family announcing his birth, and left blanks for things like time of birth, length, weight, etc. Minutes after he took his first breath, I snapped a picture with my iPhone, sent it to the web, added the link to my email message, filled in the details, and hit send.

A lot of folks mock Apple for describing their devices as magical. Let me tell you, being able to announce my son’s birth to the most important people in my life without having to leave his and my wife’s side, all within moments of welcoming him into the world…it was magical. Truly magical.

Today I own an iPhone 4. It is used daily and it, like its predecessor, is the thing I reach for to record these endearing moments of my life. My son has an old iPod touch of ours, loaded up with games, educational apps, and Pixar movies. He has apps that have helped him learn how to write the alphabet. Not to mention that he is fascinated by the iPad. I often sit back and wonder when he goes to college, if the computer he takes will be more like a MacBook or an iPad. I have my money on the latter.

Even after the past half decade of the iPhone being a part of our culture, I sometimes catch my iPhone 4 out of the corner of my eye, and notice how great it really is. It is a piece of art. I am still fascinated with how photos and apps seem painted on the glass.

In the end, the iPhone is just a device. I could live without it. However, its presence in my household sure seems to bring a lot of joy and delight. The iPhone changed everything. I can’t wait to see what the next five years will bring.