Alex Waddell’s blog

WWDC 2008 - maybees aye maybees no

2008-06-09T08:47:20Z

So Apple's WWDC 2008 is upon us this week, in particular the Steve Jobs keynote is today @ 1800 GMT. Based upon the incredulous hype over the past few days everyone is fully expecting the 2nd generation iPhone today, along with lots of other goodies like .Mac/MobileMe.

Me? I'm not so sure now...yes I wrote a piece last week all about how Apple could ship 3m iPhones worldwide and launch simultaneously, I still stand by it, just not the timeframe in which it will happen.

WWDC is a developer conference, not for consumers. Developers want to hear & learn about Leopard features, iPhone OS features and network with their peers who are also greating great apps.

Yes, everyone and their granny wants the 2nd gen iPhone however I think it's going to be a few weeks yet - 24th June is my bet (there we are I said it, 24th June is when the 2nd gen iPhone will be launched). I reckon the .Mac/MobileMe reworking will be central to this as well.

The new iPhone is a big, big event. Steve will want to demonstrate every single new feature to death (including how tightly integrated it is with .Mac/MobileMe with OTA syncing etc) - he simply can't do that in 90 minutes or less given all the other good news he will want to tell us.

So what will we get at WWDC today?

I think it will be something targetting Windows developers, maybe along the lines of the recently rumoured Apple Mac Fusion. I don't buy the form factor as it's too slim, however I do buy the concept.

I can see a lot of these being shipped to developers to let them try out OS X development at low cost (kind of like what the Mac Mini was meant to do), with perhaps a small number of variants targetting existing Mac Mini owners, gamers etc.

Again, only time will tell...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

A great quote

2008-06-09T08:29:07Z

A friend sent me an email with this quote, which I think is just great:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover" - Mark Twain

Kind of resonating with me this morning...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

How Apple could launch the iPhone (and ship 3m devices) globally on 9th June

2008-06-06T18:03:56Z

I've been quietly observing the rising hysteria and rumor-mongering about the next iPhone (iPhone 2 or 3G iphone or whatever) and whether or not it will launch during/after WWDC 2008...

And it's got me thinking...

If some of the investigative reporting is true, then somehow Apple have been building and stockpiling 3 million of the next generation iPhones in the US (and potentially globally) just ready to go at the flick of a switch.

The thing is, how on earth can they do this (i.e. build the damn thing, put firmware on it, box it up etc) if the 2.0 firmware hasn't been finalised yet (after all there was a new iPhone firmware as part of the latest SDK release)?

I honestly don't believe they would get Quanta to unbox 3 million iPhone and install the final firmware on it, re pack then ship them in volume for the launch (keeping it quiet would be next to impossible).

Another development in the past month or so has been the seemingly daily news that the iPhone is coming to this country or that country and from this carrier and that carrier.

The current iPhone ships with a pre-installed SIM tied to the carrier (I'm in the UK so my iPhone came with the O2 SIM pre-installed).

So, how on earth are Apple going to cope with selling iPhones where there is more than one carrier?

Lastly, Apple have struggled in certain countries to fulfill demand and yet have excess stock in another country. This isn't good for their bottom line and could ultimately mean lower sales overall and lower revenue in the long term.

Apple don't suffer from this kind of problem with the iPod range and must be able to divert stock to where demand is (remember Apple changed the iPod range a few years back so that they no longer ship with a power adaptor, much to the disdain of customers).

Here's my theory about all of this and how Apple are radically changing their physical distribution model.....

Apple have built a truly global iPhone.
They have built millions of them already.
Each and every iPhone is the same - there is no difference between a US iPhone and an Australian one.
Apple have pre-installed every iPhone with a bootstrap firmware that only allows it to boot and sync with iTunes.
Each iPhone will ship with an empty SIM tray. You will decide at purchase time which carrier you want and receive the appropriate SIM to install (for countries like the UK where there is only one carrier you will obviously not get a choice).
Buyers of the new iPhone have to therefore have to put the SIM in the phone then connect it to their iTunes to get the iPhone OS installed & activated.
The iPhone OS will then be customised to the country & carrier required, perhaps using iTunes & SIM information (language settings, 3G network parameters, ringtones & wallpaper will be installed at this point). These customisations would permit the carriers some flexibility in getting their brands onto the iPhone (future customisation updates could also be carried out through this process).
For Apple, this allows them to develop and fine tune the iPhone OS right up until launch time.
Furthermore by having a bootstrap firmware Apple ensures that all iPhones (either on contract or pay-as-you-go) have to be activated. This stops the "bootleg" iPhones that have flooded the market, raising the revenue stream for carriers AND Apple.
What about power? Well, Apple will remove the power adaptor from the package and have charging by USB (they'll declare that most of their users probably don't use the separate charging plug, that it reduces the packaging and makes it more environmentally friendly).
Apple can build as many of these global iPhones as they like, distribute them wherever there is demand and the user that buys it actually completes the build of the iPhone.

Of course all of this is all conjecture, however to me it makes an awful lot of sense, don't you think?

Apply the global iPod build & distribution method that Apple have fine tuned for the past few years and apply to the iPhone (it wouldn't be the first iPod element applied to the iPhone after all).

Only time will tell.....

Alex.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

The Vista Blues...

2008-05-21T18:41:38Z

Brilliant extended ad from Apple, all about the Vista blues:

Vista blues (long version)

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Microsoft & Facebook vs The open web

2008-05-19T11:47:12Z

Very interesting blog post from Robert Scoble - http://scobleizer.com/2008/05/19/why-microsoft-will-buy-facebook-and-keep-it-closed/

Kind of worrying if it all comes true......

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Funny advert

2008-05-19T06:54:40Z

One of the funniest adverts on UK TV at the moment:

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

New toy.....

2007-09-19T19:11:44Z

I've got myself a new toy.

Purely by chance we happened to be in the Glasgow Apple store this afternoon (having had some fantastic tapas and wine at La Tasca), and we dropped in for an iPod shuffle skin.

They didn't have any that my wife took a shine to....however they did have the new iPod Touch....and I got a 16gb one

OMG is it nice - the interface and the screen is absolutely stunning. It really does blow away anything you've seen before.

So why not wait for the iPhone here in the UK - after all it was announced yesterday as arriving on November 9th via O2?

Well, my rationale is that I can get a 16gb iPod touch for £269, however I can only get an 8gb iPhone for the same money. The £35 per month I also could not justify at the moment as my employer provides a phone free gratis.

My wife hit the nail on the head - if I waited for the iPhone then no doubt there would be a new version of it in early 2008 probably with a better camera, 16gb or greater and 3G. For once I listened to her.

UPDATE: Well, I only listened to her for a few months... Apple released the 16gb iPhone in February and of course, I got one. I sold the iPod Touch to a colleague (who of course is delighted with it) so that softened the blow. I am even more impressed by the iPhone - with the new applications & home screen widgets it really is the first useable mobile computing platform. Can't wait for iPhone 2.0 s/w in late June.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

The world just lost one of the good people

2007-09-04T10:38:16Z

Jane Tomlinson lost her long battle against cancer on Monday 3rd September 2007.

Jane Tomlinson

For those of you who didn't know of Jane & her incredible achievements, the BBC has posted an obituary page here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2585103.stm

Jane and her family setup a charity called JanesAppeal to raise money to support other families who are affected by cancer. You can donate money to this worthwhile charity here : http://www.justgiving.com/janetomlinson

BBC Leeds has put together a great page about Jane, detailing her activities over the last 7 years of her life : http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/features/jane_tomlinson/

I only met Jane once, very briefly about 4 years ago, and I was taken with her unassuming yet insprational nature and totally down to earth attitude.

Her husband Mike works for the same company as myself and I'm sure that everyone here would wish to pass on our sympathies to Jane's family at this time.

Jane you were, and still are, an inspiration to many people across the world.

Rest in peace.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Loving Apple...not loving Apple

2007-08-29T08:46:18Z

The new slimline Apple keyboard is simply beautiful - it's fantastic to type on, even Samantha (who is often agnostic when it comes to to technology) agrees it's "pretty good"!

Apple have just launched TV Programmes on iTunes in the UK - at long last we'll all have something legal (ahem!) to play on our Apple TV's (I don't currently have one - now however I have the perfect excuse!).

Not liking the prices - £1.89 per episode.....anyone at Apple heard of the exchange rate?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

My name is Alex and I am an Apple Geek

2007-08-25T13:26:29Z

In true Apple geekdom style I attended the Grand Opening of the new Glasgow Apple Store on Saturday 25th August 2007. I waited in line from about06:15am (I was about number 60 in the line) next to Fraser Speirs (he of the FlickrExport - we truly are not worthy) and the team from CoffeeBreakSpanish.com (Mark, Kara & Leslie).

Apple brought us coffee about 07:30am (courtesy of Starbucks) - kept us all going until the grand opening at 09:00am.

The Store itself is amazing, the glass staircase does appear to defy gravity and is truly beautiful.

IMG_0952.JPG

I took loads of photos, posting them to my Flickr account and my new .Mac webgallery:

Flickr: here

.Mac Webgallery: here

So what did I buy? Well, not having a lot of cash to splash around I plumped for the new slim keyboard from Apple and a Dr. Seuss A-Z game for the kids.

The new slimline Apple keyboard is....awesome - it is fantastic to type on, my typing is more accurate and faster to boot!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend