Archive for the ‘iPod’ Category

Adobe spells out iPhone apps limitations

LOS ANGELES–Adobe Systems’ announcement of tools to create applications for the Apple iPhone comes with some restrictions.

Adobe announced on Monday at Adobe MAX, the company’s worldwide developer conference, that its Flash Professional CS5 developer tool will enable developers to create interactive applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. A public beta of Flash Professional CS5 is expected to be available later this year.

In an interview at the conference Monday, Anup Murarka, director of technology strategy and partner development in Adobe’s platform development unit, spelled out some of the limitations of creating Adobe Flash-style apps for the iPhone. These limitations exist because the Adobe Flash player is not supported on the iPhone.

Murarka clarified that Monday’s announcement was not a joint announcement with Apple. “This is an Adobe announcement. This is just something that’s related to our tools and what they output, which is a native iPhone app,” he said.

“So, we’re not running Flash directly on the device. We’re actually allowing our tools to output for native iPhone apps,” Murarka explained.

He then described some limitations. “Let’s take it from the developer’s point of view. They have a very rich environment and language. That’s in Flash today,” he said. “You’re not going to get all of the Flash feature set that would normally be there in the run-time.”

Murarka continued: “For example, high-quality video, H.264, is not available with this product because Apple does not make available the decoders. They make you use their own UI (user interface) to play back high-quality video.” Apple describes the H.264 video codec as delivering “stunning quality at…low data rates.”

He also cited synchronization. “Being able to do synchronization between data and video. Those can be built as Flash applications. In sporting events (for example) using flash for data overlay. Those types of things are not going to possible because we don’t have access to the APIs (Application Programming Intefaces) that would give us the video decode along with all of the individual frames so we can do synchronization,” he said.

And he spoke about graphics effects. “Some of the filter effects. Some of the capabilities that as a programmer you would easily do within Flash are not available as they are not natural APIs that iPhone platform makes available to us.”

Murarka concluded by saying that Adobe continues to work with Apple towards getting Flash on the iPhone. “We’re not there as quickly as we would like. We’re not able to put Flash in the browser. We’re not able to put a Flash run-time on the device directly. But this is a good step,” he said.

Source :

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10368171-64.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Android apps show big potential for growth

Android, iPhone and iPod Touch users are all highly engaged with applications and frequently download them to their devices, according to a new survey from AdMob.

However, Android has a much smaller base of devices and thus has more upside ahead.

AdMob, a company that tracks mobile Web and application usage, found that Android and iPhone users download nine to 10 apps a month and iPod Touch users download 18 a month. More than half of the Android and iPhone users spend more than 30 minutes a day using apps, according to the survey results released Thursday (PDF).

That’s some serious engagement and a lot of runway for Android. Why? Android-powered devices–T-Mobile’s MyTouch is the headliner–are hard to come by. However, that’s changing as Motorola will be taking Android handsets to large carriers like Verizon Wireless in the fourth quarter.

Source :

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10319403-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Rumor: Apple planning new iPods with cameras

Apple’s expected September event may see the introduction of new iPod models, according to a report on AppleInsider.

(Credit: Apple)

The fact that Apple would use a September event to launch new iPods wouldn’t be a big surprise, but the new iPod Nano and iPod Touch will reportedly have cameras. AppleInsider didn’t cite sources for this detail but said it “has it on authority” and that it has been able to “independently confirm” the information.

The addition of cameras would increase the functionality of iPods, making them dual-purpose devices.

AppleInsider, Boy Genius Report, and other rumor sites have also speculated that iTunes 9 will debut in September and add social networking to the music organizer, among other changes.

A new digital album format will likely debut in September, as well. Code-named Cocktail, Apple’s new album format is said to include photos, lyric sheets, liner notes, and clips from music videos.

It also seems clear at this point is that an Apple tablet will not make its debut during the September event.

Apple hasn’t officially announced the event yet, though it is expected to take place after Labor Day weekend. For the past several years, the company has gathered in September to launch its newest iPod products for the holiday-shopping season.

Source :

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10319162-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

iPods and Transistor Radios Separated at Birth?

@Michael Jack. An iPod with the Regency TR-1 in red (circa 1954-55) and TR-4 (black).

@Michael Jack. An iPod with the Regency TR-1 in red (1954-55) and TR-4 (black).

Recording engineer and music producer Michael Jack has amassed an amazing collection of 1,100 transistor radios.

@Michael Jack. Look familiar? An iPod with a Zenith RE-10

@Michael Jack. Look familiar? An iPod with a Zenith RE-10

These models from the 1950s look like predecessors of the iPod, he notes on his flickr stream:

“When I fist saw the Zenith RE-10 I figured I had come upon the most obvious inspiration for the iPod… Although all these radios appear to have similar design elements to the iPod I would ALMOST bet that the RE-10 was studied (or at least observed) by the Mac design team.”

@Michael Black. Note: the size of the iPod's click wheel about the same as radio's tuning dial.

@Michael Black. Note: the size of the iPod’s click wheel about the same as radio’s tuning dial.

I love the still-modern look of these half-century old radios, whether Jonathan Ive used them for inspiration or not.

What do you think?

Source :

http://www.cultofmac.com/ipods-and-vintage-transistor-radios-separated-at-birth/15104

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