HSPA+ iPhone will be world's smartest smartphone

Apple [AAPL] will talk about its iPhone next Tuesday during a special event at its Cupertino headquarters, so I've gathered all the most recent additional claims for the device in this post. Expect the fifth-generation to be faster, sleeker and better-connected than before, though there's still some anxious reports concerning whether an iPhone 5, an iPhone 4S, or both, will debut.

HSPA+ iPhone will be world's smartest smartphone

Faster
The most credible fresh claim this morning is that the iPhone will support HSPA+.
HSPA+ offers download speeds of up to 21Mbps, up from the 7.2Mbps HSDPA/HSUPA 3G radio inside of the iPhone 4. That's a faster mobile standard than the existing iPhone 4, but isn't the LTE support some have been hoping for.

Disappointed?
Don't be. I think it is important to accept that many of the world's largest carriers don't yet offer LTE support, so the move to instead favor HSPA+ will make the device immediately faster and capable of being deployed on networks everywhere from the get-go.
The support for this standard was apparently revealed during a Macworld Asia keynote speech by China Unicom's deputy director of research, Huan Wenliang. In a slide depicting the evolution of the iPhone, the iPhone 5 is marked as offering support for HSPA+. I'd rate this as credible, with a 70 percent likelihood.
Bigger
There's another report, this time from Cnet France, which claims the new iPhone will offer a larger screen than the previous model. Specifically, that report claims use of a 960-x-540 pixel qHD screen that measures around 4.2 to 4.3 inches diagonally.
Claims that the display may be larger have circulated for months. There's been grainy images, claims on Digitimes, claimed engineering drawings and the usual slurry of claimed case designs.
It has previously been suggested the next-generation device may simply abandon the existing physical Home button for a haptic, touch-sensitive replacement, a move which should also boost usable display size.

Smaller
So many people have speculated the new iPhone will boast a teardrop design, making it thinner at one end than at the other.
These claims have also been in circulation for months, prompting people at Gige.de to create their own iPhone prototype, which I've embedded above for your entertainment.
Such claims are reaching new heights this morning, as AT&T is now listing three new cases for the fifth-generation iPhone. These cases seem to show a tapered design with the mute switch now moved to the other side of the device.


Smarter
No, not the A5 processor nor the much-improved graphics support -- the new iPhone will be the smartest thing. Those voice controls I've been talking about are about to radically change the way you interact with your phone, according to Forbes.
Citing investor, Jason Schwartz, Forbes tells us the "iPhone is about to create the most revolutionary user interface in the history of technology."
That's a huge claim. The report tells us we should expect this voice assistant to "quickly make its way into laptops and desktops as well."
You will be able to ask your phone to find places, give you directions, take and send dictated messages, change playlists and more.
This is useful for everybody, and betrays a commitment to accessibility which Google's Android OS completely lacks. Apple's recognition of that need most recently caused Stevie Wonder to heap praise on the company.
It's like this: The iPhone will be the world's smartest smartphone.
Hard to get
There's one more thing. Everyone is going to want this phone.

• There's millions of existing iPhone owners just itching to upgrade.
• There's millions who have never owned an iPhone who want to own this next-generation model.
• There's millions using other smartphones who plan to switch to the new device just as soon as it appears.

A recent study by InMobi tells us 41 percent of North American mobile phone owners intend purchasing the new device. Tellingly, the survey also claimed 52 percent of BlackBerry users plan to ditch RIM to go for an Apple mobile.
This level of demand means eBay expects a 70 percent increase in sales of previous iPhone models as people shift their old Apple mobiles to make way for the new.
In typical Apple fashion, these things are going to sell out fast, there will be waiting lists, queues and disappointment as new Apple CEO, Tim Cook, ruefully tells investors: "We can't make these fast enough". That's just how it is going to be.
If Apple makes good on the expectation and delivers a reduced price iPhone 4S model, then you can expect an even bigger increase in iOS marketshare in the coming Christmas quarter.
Also next week, Apple is expected to refresh its iPod range. Will it kill the low-end devices, including iPod classic, or will it choose to focus its efforts on touchscreen devices and iPhone accessories?
We'll find out next week on October 4.
Place your bets, and speak up in comments below.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.  

Apple, Adobe keynote conflict -- a cloud for Flash

Apple [AAPL] and Adobe [ADBE] continue to spar over Flash support on iOS devices, but recent moves by the latter firm seemingly suggest its coming round to a new approach for its once important multimedia standard, one in which all the work of handling Flash content is handled by the server, not the mobile device.

Apple, Adobe keynote conflict -- a cloud for Flash

[ABOVE: Final Cut X -- the best version ever (for Adobe).]
Clashing keynote capers
What's strange is that both Apple and Adobe will be making keynote announcements at the same time tomorrow.
We all have numerous ideas what Apple might announce, with iPhones and iCloud way at top of the list, but what on Earth does Adobe have planned?
Adobe is holding its keynote as part of its Adobe Max developer event, which runs until October 5. Given that Apple will suck up global press attention with its keynote, Adobe's likely not expecting too much traction when it makes its own big announcement.
It could be something from nothing -- after all, Apple only announced its keynote last week, while Adobe has had details of its own developer event available for a year, but the proximity of the two keynotes is sparking some debate. After all, there's lots of interest in a slick and successful implementation of Flash on Apple devices.

Is a Flash in the cloud?
Could Adobe be about to tell us something? We know the company's CTO, Kevin Lynch, will talk to developers about how Adobe is "transforming the creative process across mobile devices, personal computers, and the cloud."
Things have been pretty tense between the two firms since 2010, when then Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, wrote his famed "Thoughts on Flash" diatribe. Since then things have improved, slightly, with Adobe welcoming this year's introduction of Final Cut X for reinvigorating interest in Adobe Premier.
What happens next? We may find out more tomorrow, but I'm not expecting Flash on an iPad -- but speculate we may see some further announcement on future support for server-side Flash based media delivery systems for mobile devices.
That's the kind of support Adobe most recently stepped toward with Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5. "With Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5, media publishers now have a single, simple workflow for delivering content using the same stream to Flash-enabled devices or to the Apple iPhone and iPad."
We'll learn more tomorrow.
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Apple, Wippit, iTunes Match and the death of Big Music

Apple [AAPL] today is expected to introduce its super-fast, voice-savvy, revolutionary fifth-generation iPhone. The company is also expected to unleash the file-sharing amnesty-like services of iCloud and iTunes Match -- on a day which ironically also marks the tenth anniversary of the founding of the world's first legal P2P music-sharing service, Wippit.
Music industry enters 2001
This is worth a moment's thought.
As we recognize, iTunes Match seems set to give you access to all your music in the cloud for a set fee, effectively becoming something like a year zero moment for file-sharers. It's a defining deal in which the labels are getting paid money for the cloud-based music service iTunes users will pay for, and users should get access to tracks they obtained in different ways.

This could be a good thing, in the sense of bestowing legality on the habits of the file-sharing music population, but things could have been so different if the labels had been properly switched-on ten years ago.
Back then is when iTunes first appeared on the Mac, the iPod was born and Big Music was attempting to still the wave of P2P music with its own torrents of litigation and government lobbying.
It's also when Big Music began attempting to support legitimate services, but even then it quickly became clear that some were more equal than others.
iPod, iTunes and pocket(book) power
Apple managed to rise to the head of the pack not just because of its iPod/iTunes lock-in, but because as a giant corporation it could pay the eye-watering up-front licensing fees major labels demanded from digital music services for the rights to distribute content.
Add the per-track royalty to those fees and it was clear that Big Music still didn't have its heart wholly in digital music.
This has changed a great deal, now digital is the leading music delivery format, but while labels complain at iTunes and its pre-eminence, they fail to take full responsibility for their part in its success.
The iTunes giant
The road to digital music is scattered with the corpses of many a player who had hoped to create and deliver music services.
Napster -- which we must remember asked labels for legitimate music distribution licenses, and offered them the kind of deals they get from the music streaming services they champion today -- was just one of the many that stood there in the corridors of broken digital music dreams.
Wippit was another. The service kept itself going through clever UK business deals and sheer belligerence, but as the cut to the labels grew and as its visibility began to fade in comparison to the major-backed services, principally iTunes, it eventually ceased trading in September 2008.
That the labels really didn't understand just how times had changed was clear from the start.
They really didn't get it
Paul Myers, Wippit founder and one time CEO, recalls, "Only a few months before [the Wippit launch] I had met in the offices of major label exec in charge of his company's world-wide digital strategy and he told me that 'MP3's will never catch on.'"
"He wasn't even smiling. He was serious. And perhaps I should have seen then that the game was up when he revealed that he didn't write his own emails, but preferred to dictate them to his secretary and read incoming emails from the printed page (and in case you're wondering, he still holds a senior position in a major record company!)."
The reason I note this as Apple prepares to deliver a legal and fully-licensed cloud-based iTunes Match music amnesty to US iTunes users is simple: If music labels had fully embraced legitimate digital music services such as Wippit a decade ago, the music retail landscape would be very different, and it is absolutely certain that the music locker services -- such as those once championed by MP3.com -- would already have become de rigeur.
"The record industry had a chance 10 years ago to own the market, instead of now being a slave to it," said Myers today. "We offered much fairer terms than has become the norm now and could have set the precedent if we'd received the same support we were giving out. The type of freedom of access we are beginning to see was always going to happen, but look at the cost now it has. Years were lost while they were guarding the park gates to keep the crows in."
It is also interesting to note that, when it comes to the question of legitimacy, neither Google nor Amazon have paid for the right to offer music storage services.
Content counts
These are both firms some labels have tried to support in the past in their attempt to unseat iTunes, but, once again, when it come to putting cash on the table and offering music industry a financial lifeline, it is Apple and the smaller digital services, including Wippit, who are -- or were -- prepared to value the musical content the labels say they champion.
As, ironically enough, the original Napster was also prepared to be, though its advances were shrugged off by labels who didn't fully comprehend how much things had changed.
"Now the market is so dispersed, so social, so mobile and the old rules are so non-applicable that the big boys online aren't even bothering asking anymore. It's very sad." Myers remarks.
All this change was predicted long ago by controversial music industry maverick, Wayne Rosso, who in 2008 insisted: "There's no money in content sales -- content is a means to an end. It will eventually be ads-supported and free."
Apple will deliver us its version of the kind of future digital music-savvy types could have imagined ten years ago later on today. The company's iTunes Match service isn't (at least at time of writing) the ads-supported music streaming service some are expecting the company will eventually deliver, but is a step in this direction.
We'll find out what else Apple has to announce later on today. Be sure to check back here for full coverage when it does.
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Apple confirms Mac sales are up, up, up

We know today is an iPhone-focused event, but before he got into it Apple [AAPL] CEO, Tim Cook, let launch a few fascinating snippets about the Mac, telling us the Lion OS is spreading faster than any before, and that Mac sales are growing much, much faster than those of the rest of the PC industry.


How fast this Apple grows
In the same Apple "town hall" which hosted launch of the original iPod ten years ago, Cook alluded to the Hong Kong launch last month of an Apple retail store, telling us that Mac sales at that single store on launch day exceeded those of any other store anywhere.
Apple's chance in China looks huge, too: Over 100,000 people visited the Shanghai store on launch day, he said.
OS X Lion continues to grow fast, with over six million copies downloaded so far -- that's a much swifter uptake than we saw for Snow Leopard, but some may feel Cook's comparison with Windows 7 adoption slants some of the evidence.
That pretty much confirms Net Applications data we saw hit the news brands in the last 24-hours.
[ABOVE: Apple has its own clip we can expect to see a little later, but this six minute story shows the length of the Hong Kong Apple retail store queue. No one else has this.]
Resurgence, resurgence, resurgence
It's when it comes to the Mac versus PC growth curves that Cook really nailed the story: while the Mac platform has grown 23 percent since last year, we've seen just 4 percent growth in general PC industry sales. At least, that's according to Apple and IDC.
There was a time when Mac marketshare was measured at or around 20 million seats. No more. That figure has more or less tripled, the CEO said -- there's now 58 million Mac users worldwide.
In August, NPD figures confirmed Apple is selling one-in-four PCs sold at US retail. A resurgence indeed.
The iPod classic is a gateway to Apple
Cook then took time to mention that over 300 million iPods have been sold in the last decade, giving the product 78 percent market share.
There's still questions if that product will see an upgrade, but we'll learn more as the Apple event continues.
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Apple: Free iOS 5 upgrade ships October 12

As you'd expect, Apple [AAPL] is prosletyzing its iOS platform during its keynote speech today, revealing that is has become the number one mobile OS with a claimed 43 percent of the market -- and that iOS5 will ship on October 12. And will be free.

Apple's mobile gorilla
In a list of superlatives, the company's Scott Forstall dazzled us with statistics:

-- iTunes is number one for apps
-- over 18 billion apps downloaded so far
-- 1 billion apps downloaded each month
-- Apple has paid developers $3 billion so far.

Forstall took a moment to look at some of the new features within iOS 5:

• iMessages: To all your devices.
• Reminders: Set them up -- pick up your laundry -- also these things are location-based, so you could say "remind me to pick up my laundry when I leave work", or any other location-based demand. This is Siri-usly interesting...
• Twitter: Tweet photos and sites from Safari and video from YouTube.
• Newstand: Get your daily news fix there.
• Camera: New editing options and better quality photos because of these feature improvements, he said.
• Gamecenter: 67 million users now get Friend discovery and game recommendations.
• Safari: Nothing new here: tabbed browsing and Reader have been discussed before. He also talked about improved search in Mail/
• PC-free: with wireless updates.

The best thing? For many of us the wait is over -- the new mobile OS will ship on October 12, and will be free to download for supporting iOS devices.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Apple: Faster iPhone 4S ships October 14

Apple: Faster iPhone 4S ships October 14

The iPhone 4S will launch on October 14. Announcing Appe's most important mobile device, the company's marketing chief, Phil Schiller, talked the talk: "Despite competitors trying really hard to copy the iPhone," he said, "they just haven’t been able to do it. How do you follow up a hit product like the iPhone 4? With the iPhone 4s."


Some of my Twitter folk have already expressed a little disappointment at the new device, which is no slimmer than the iPhone 4 which preceeded it. I don't agree with them, I think what's inside the new iPhone makes this an impressive, not an incremental, upgrade. So, let's look at the advantages of the remake, which boasts the same design with the tell-tale metal band around the exterior -- and a superb processor.
Faster
It's much faster. It runs the same A5 processors as you get inside the iPad, and that means you also get amazing graphics improvements -- in this case the graphics are up to seven times faster than those you got with the iPhone 4. This means you can expect some cinematic games -- including Infinity Blade 2, which ships in December.
Further
Well, perhaps not, but battery life's always important when it comes to mobile devices. In this case you can look forward to ten 8 hours of 3G talk time and up to ten hours of video, the company said.
Fitter
Well, how else would you describe a re-configured antenna which this time hopefully won't see Apple's new CEO forced to say there's a slight problem. Antenna 2 in the iPhone 4S (sorry about all the numbers there) is going to swithc between not one but TWO antenna, so you can expect much better call quality and faster data. Oh, and its'a world phone -- you won't need a CDMA phone for Verizon and a GSM phone for AT&T. They're the same. Use it anywhere. Woot.
A better camera
Guess what? Oh, perhaps you already did, but this camera is an 8-megapixel number with a sensor that'll shoot you some 3,264-x-2,448 action. The lens is better, it grabs more light, your pictures will be sharper, more sensitive, crisper, better. iPhone photography has come of age. Can you get much better with a camera?
Perhaps you can. It's faster too. It takes just over one second to take the first pic, and you get Face detection. If you were a marketing expert you'd probably compare this to the competition to underline just how much faster Apple's iPhone camera is...
Apple had just the marketing expert in Schiller, who pointed out that the Droid Bionic, Galaxy S II and HTC Sensation all had cameras, too. And showed how slow they are. (You'll spend over five seconds grabbing two images with a Bionic, by the time you do your iPhone 4S will have harvested just under ten images. So you won't use a Bionic for pets, sports or children, I'm guessing. Pretty good for still life.)
HD Video
I seem to remember predicting this. Image stabilization, noise reduction and 1,080p HD recording. What a difference a much faster processor makes.
.... And Voice Control
As predicted, the new iPhone will (eventually) feature Siri, the voice assistant Apple acquired all that time ago. You can ask it questions using real human phrases, "Is the weather going to get worse today?" and it will answer.
Pre-launch Siri isn't quite ready for prime time, Schiller admitted, warning that it remains in beta, pending the iPhone 4S launch. Oh, and it "integrates maps" (which let's face it we just know don't come from Google. Apple is using Yelp for restaurant reviews).
Siri will be available in English, French and German at launch, with more languages to follow later on. It works with 3G and WiFi, and will also accept dication (thanks Nuance).
Cut the cost
Pricing was a wonder, Apple is not only now going to offer the iPhone 4 for $99 in an 8GB configuration, but is also peddling the iPhone 3GS (8GB) for free. The iPhone 4S -- which will be available on Sprint -- will cost $199 for the 16GB model; $299 for the 32GB model and $399 for the 64GB iteration.
iPhone 4S will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK on Friday, October 14 and customers can pre-order their iPhone 4S beginning Friday, October 7.
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Apple breaks iCloud October 12

Apple [AAPL] really isn't messing when it comes to iCloud, working hard to position the service as the virtual glue which combines all its platforms, hardware and software together into a unified force, and plotting to unleash the service right near the launch of its latest iPhone 4S.

Simple by design
For all that, the company continues to craft its service with the same kind of simplicity with which it focuses any of its other attempts. Don't walk to the iCloud and expect it to transport you like some demi-god through a temporal warp to a planet with better designers, but join up to take a trip on a service as it delivers something a little closer to that with each iteration.
Apple's quite gifted at delivering simplicity which hides complexity, so the iCloud mission statement remains a simple one: "iCloud stores your content and wirelessly pushes it to all your devices."
The power of everything
Simple, huh? But, as your digital content marries ever more closer with your offline life, that's going to be a mission that eventually encompasses everything.
Right now it's about photos, storage and distribution. It's about iTunes media -- so when the iCloud launches you'll be able to download any songs you buy on any of your devices automatically to your Mac for no charge.
It's also about documents, meaning those synced with iCloud are updated across all your devices. So you can begin workoing on your Mac, move to your iPad and finalize what you do on your iPhone.
Which sounds nice, until you realise that what this means is that Apple has just managed to deliver a simple and seamless way by which you can manage your working productivity and offline chill-out to media life.
Contacts, Calendars and those few titles you might purchase from the iBookstore also get a little fluffy iCloud edge.
Apple today also confirmed the feature I warned you would make it to the Mac, that Find my iPhone has been updated to find your Macs as well.
Your digital life gets everywhere
Apple's Eddy Cue -- who heads the iCloud mission for Apple -- also introduced a new app, Find My Friends. This lets your find your people using the same Find My iPhone process. You can even time when locations are shared, which should be handy for parents trying to track down those 10 percent of UK children who already own iPhones.
Apple also talked about its $24.99 iTunes Match service. This will scan your drive and if it finds something you have it doesn't will automatically upload that track. Otherwise it simply matches your music with a track from its 20 million strong archive.
The iCloud breaks on October 12, iTunes Match launches at the end of the month.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Why the iPhone 4S critics are wrong, wrong, wrong

Apple [AAPL] introduced the world's smartest smartphone yesterday, delivering a faster processor, faster graphics, better camera and world-changing voice assistant technologies -- but it seems many in the analyst and media communities are disappointed. Why? Because Apple didn't change the shape...

Does this strike anyone else out there as weird?


Well futile
After all, these are the same critics who panned ex-Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, when he declared that in the post-PC age, consumers aren't so interested in a device's technical statistics, but in what it does. In clinging to feelings of disappointment about the lack of appearance of this new shape the rumor sites had been speculating about, are these analysts and media and other assorted Nathan Barley types simply agreeing with Jobs?
I've included some sample criticisms within the rest of this post.

"Some people were looking for a brand new phone and they haven't got that today, so some will be disappointed."
Luke Peters, editor of gadget magazine T3 speaking to BBC News. (Luke -- it is a brand new phone!)

All this grinding of teeth and gentle moaning, all these complaints that the new iPhone isn't 'revolutionary', all the much-voiced disappointment at lack of NFC or LTE, none of it makes sense.
[ABOVE: Apple's iPhone 4S ad spot. Look, it's new, as in, it wasn't here before..]
Revolution, bore me
In the case of the two standards mentioned, neither are ready for prime time: NFC payments lacks an agreed international payment standard, while LTE isn't yet deployed widely worldwide.
When it comes to revolutionary: don't upset me. Not only is this a word that's bandied around to the extent it is rapidly losing its meaning, but here are three, yes, three, huge and significant advancements within the iPhone 4S which put the device way ahead of the pack.

"Apple has missed a trick by just releasing the exact same phone again with marginally upgraded specs."
Gareth Beavis, phones editor at TechRadar, told BBC. (Gareth -- a processor that's twice as fast, a world radio, seven times faster graphics, an improved antenna and much better camera and that's "marginally upgraded specs? Get over yourself.)

1: The dual-core A5 processor. Look at this thing: it's really fast with superb graphics. It will take almost a year for competitors to catch up. That's because it isn't just the processor they need to match, but the implementation. No one else makes the processor and the hardware, which is why Apple has such an advantage here.
2: The 8-MP HD video camera: This thing is fast -- I've no doubt someone somewhere is totting up speeds on all the smartphones out there right now, but the absence of any debunking reports this morning suggest Apple's new camera is as fast as the company claims: support for HD video is also incredible -- think back just five years and where we were then when it came to portable video capture.

[ABOVE: iCloud: do not underestimate this.]
3: iCloud: All your documents, contacts, data, music, movies, media -- all of it -- permanently and easily available across all your devices. You can be productive (or entertained) when you're on the train. iCloud is such a big deal and I can't wait to see if it really does turn out to be as capable as Apple promises.
Apple's options
There's a future in so-called iterative improvement. There' the iPhone 5, which I suspect will be released in the latter half of next year and feature LTE support, as more carriers worldwide deploy LTE networks: There's no point having a phone with a feature you can't use in your country, after all.
The iPhone nano. It's so clear it will turn up eventually. It will be powered by Siri. It may be a year or two yet, as the processor and hardware will require further miniaturization, and the component costs will need to decline, but at some point you can predict a voice-controlled, low-cost small iPhone.
Perhaps analysts and media are upset about the price? Perhaps Apple should have kicked into the low cost market with its range?
Perhaps Apple should have worked hard to meet those low cost, low-specced Android devices over there in Cheap City?
The low-cost iPhone is here, and it's the 3GS
It did.
Look at the cost of the iPhone 3GS -- free (with a two year contract). Look at the iPhone 4, now just $99 (also with a two year contract). Apple offers a phone for every price bracket now. It will be interesting to look at just how these prices translate into real world prices at Apple carriers as the product rolls out.

[ABOVE: Siri. This is a big transformation in the way you use your phone. It's a UI evolution no one else has got, which opens the doors to whole new product families.]

Apple's Siri revolution
I'm just misusing the word "revolution" out of habit -- you could look to the Occupy Wall Street campaign for a sense of what that word could really mean, but Siri Voice assistant? This a seriously impressive slice of combined technology. Combined? Yes, simple voice recognition, powerful use of Internet information sources and an interesting use of maps.... I'd argue that access to Siri is a big enough reason to upgrade to the iPhone 4S all on its own.

"Whilst Apple announced improvements in the hardware performance and on the service layer, it has been let down somewhat by having almost no change in the user experience and in the industrial design. Unfortunately for Apple, this is happening at a time when competitors are aggressively bringing new products to market with superior user experience in the form of wider and better screen, intuitive UIs, and more integrated apps."
David McQueen, Principal Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media
(David, what is there about Siri which isn't an intuitive UI? In what way does anyone else offer a superior experience?)

Disappointments?
Sure, I'm chastened we still have no sight of the iPhone nano I so believe is on the map; yes, I'm still waiting for NFC payment systems -- but note the new and improved Bluetooth could feasibly support some of the secure Bluetooth-based payment systems you see around. I think a haptic Home button would be a good way to create more screen real estate.
But none of these are deal breakers, not really, the critics have it wrong. The HSPA iPhone 4S is the world's smartest smartphone. And Apple is about to sell millions of them....if the economy doesn't implode.
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.
Also from yesterday's Apple's 'Let's Talk iPhone' event coverage, read:
Why the iPhone 4S critics are wrong, wrong, wrong
Apple: Faster iPhone 4S ships October 14
Apple breaks iCloud October 12
Apple: Free iOS 5 upgrade ships October 12
Apple confirms Mac sales are up, up, up 
Why Apple may talk Apple Maps when it talks iPhone
Apple, Wippit, iTunes Match and the death of Big Music.

Farewell, Steve Jobs, you saw the future

Apple [AAPL] chairman, ex-CEO and company co-founder, Steve Jobs has passed away after a long fight against cancer.
 Apple's website reveals:
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

"Join the dots"
Since I first saw the above video it has always resonated with me. I remember the day it appeared, everyone including my non tech-friends spoke about it. That's how much there was here for that man, who left behind a planet that was very different from the one he met when he first came in.
The impact of his ideas, or his ability at times to pull disparate ideas together to recognize something new, these ideas have altered the way we live.
That's not something you can say about anybody, much, really, and that's a legacy every technology user, everyone who has benefited from that technology, everyone who ever had the guts to stand up for and follow an idea, the "crazy ones". I think we all feel a sense of loss today, at the passing of this man.
I don't think it is appropriate today to churn out too much in the way of philosophy or clever sentence construction. The world's lost someone hugely inspiring and important. I think most of us will agree. So, today I just wanted to say, "Thank you, Steve Jobs. I'm so very sorry you left us so soon."
If you have messages, leave them here, or send them to Apple at rememberingsteve@apple.com
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

What would Steve do? Join the dots

I've been trying to gather my thoughts on the passing of Apple [AAPL] leader, Steve Jobs. There's opinions everywhere, most are good, others crassly board the bandwagon of his life to make specious points. What words can I add to this clamor?

Only connect
Words are complicated. Even at their best they are nothing more than reflections of the never-ending internal chatter each living sentient being experiences in their life.
Sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes a few words help foster one of those rare strong connections our souls yearn for. Other times, no words can join those so sundered. Sometimes it takes more than words, it takes action. And it's all about communication. Communication is joining the dots.

Steve Jobs and communication:

• Here we sit reading and writing and researching on these graphical user interface controlled computers.
• Here we are, using an Internet browser that didn't even exist just a few years ago until Berners-Lee managed to write the world's first Web browser using a NeXT machine.
• Perhaps we first heard the news of Jobs' passing on an iPhone, or an iPad.
• Perhaps we use a Mac.
• Perhaps we'd just watched a Pixar movie.
• Perhaps we sat down after hearing the news to listen to our favorite tunes on our iPod.
• Perhaps we read about his passing in a newspaper or magazine, printed using fonts. Did you know that Jobs was resposible for bringing fonts to the masses because he included support for them within the Mac OS?

We've lost a man who did so much to salvage something poetic and beautiful and utterly human within this increasingly commodified world. Jobs broke rules and in doing so made sure at least some ideas from the Whole Earth Catalog actually became part of the very fabric of our modern world.
A job description
This stuff ain't cheap. Some days you need to dig so very deep. Some days you just have to gather and distil every iota of your own experience, pull it all together into some small compressed ball of internalized primal ectoplasm, then compress this substance even more if you are trying to strain out even the merest scent of a hint of an intimation of an original idea.
Look, we've all been there, think about it. We've all found ourselves suddenly inside the most important conversation of our lives straining our whole being, our whole soul in an incredibly painful attempt to say just one thing we truly mean, just one thing which resonates, one gleaming thought that truly connects. Because we all want to connect. And it takes real effort to get there.
Now imagine thinking at that kind of level was your day job. Because it was Steve's day job.
Every day, to get ahead of the curve he will have been trying: to distil his humanity, his ideas and experiences, his loves and love's inevitable friend, pain, to dig deep into this compressed experiential bale and pull out new ideas like rabbits from hats. Ideas of such purity and substance that they revolutionized whole industries and put him on the map not just as the finest CEO the world has ever seen, but as a genius maverick, an artist, an idiot-savant product design poet with a brain full of freedom and a heart full of ideas and a love for what he did which I suspect was only transcended by his feelings of love for the planet he was doing it for. Because would you do a day job like that for any lesser motivation?
Creative expression
Some people say that the passing of Steve Jobs was a JFK moment; an Elvis moment; as significant and memorable and world-changing as the death of John Lennnon. I know I'll never be able to forget the morning I heard the news.
I imagine the family and friends of the man, and I can't but sense the feeling of loss there, because someone like Jobs could never be anything other than a man you don't meet every day. I can't imagine how dark it must be for his closest friends now they have to live without his light.
Us on the outside can recognise how he wandered in the far places where the most creative expression hides to find the inspiration for the shiny techno pleasures we use every day today. Given my limited understanding of the effort it might take to achieve that, then I see no reason to believe his personal relationships were any less meaningful or inspired.
The alchemist
Jobs had the power to distil his thought and experience until he found the essences of ideas which changed the world. A spiritual/technological alchemist from a place where artistic expression and technological innovation collide.
See, it isn't one thing or another. It isn't about innovation, artistic integrity, sincerity, humor, product design, humanity, it is all of the above and more.
Ultimately, we're all children of our own nature. Very few of us can join the dots enough to make the invisible visible, to weave fantasy into real, to reach out and touch millions through an expression of an idea wrapped up inside something mass produced, yet beautiful.
Products of perfection and humanity that shine all the more brightly for being surrounded by the pygmy notions that we already know will never, ever make the grade but which seem to dominate our wider society at this time.
For all these reasons and more, I salute you, Steve Jobs. Now it's up to the rest of us to try to join the dots.
If you have messages, leave them here, or send them to Apple at rememberingsteve@apple.com
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Apple upgrades hint Cupertino's plans for television

Apple's [AAPL] plans for television are moving forward slowly as new iOS 5 and iCloud features hit the Apple TV, and Cupertino meets with Hollywood to agree new movie streaming deals.

Reflect on this
The company quietly upgraded the Apple TV software yesterday. Meanwhile analysts and leaders from the gaming and the entertainment spaces are predicting Apple plans a serious push at the front room.
"It's the big area they haven’t colonized," said James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research. "It's the thing we spend more of our time on than sleep."
What's so great about the update?

AirPlay video mirroring is a big deal. It was already possible to stream audio and video content to the Apple TV from an iOS device using AirPlay, but now you can mirror the entire screen of the iPad 2 on the TV connected to the Apple TV. Play games, watch things, surf the 'Net. Just one box required.
Game on
Interestingly, Apple's move to take on Nintendo in the console gaming space has been previously noted, but now it seems the strategy is closing in on reality. According to the Seattle Times, Valve CEO Gabe Newell said:
"The living room is the domain of the consoles, and its ability to exist independently from the other platforms is gone,"
He is anticipating a new product that will challenge consoles. "I suspect Apple will launch a living room product that redefines people's expectations really strongly and the notion of a separate console platform will disappear," he said.
With iOS 5 and Apple TV, is the company already in position to achieve this?
Breaking broadcasting
What else does the Apple TV update add? Photostream support the ability to watch movie trailers and live streaming of NHL hockey games in the US. You also gain support for subtitles in Netflix, new slideshow themes and free access to news, comment and analysis from the Wall Street Journal.
Of course, integration of support for iCloud is the biggest deal. You can already stream content from your iTunes collection as held on your domestic computer system: but, when iTunes Match launches later in the year, it will be interesting to see if you need a computer at all.. what could this imply?

• If you no longer need a computer, just how much of a future does Apple plan for the front room based on iOS 5?
• Will the company eventually launch full music and movie subscription streaming services (see below)?
• If the company intensifies its invasion of the living room, at which point will creating an Apple-branded television set make sense?
• Will an A5-powered Apple TV, or Apple-branded television, enable remote interrogation, set-up and show purchase/recording using the truly interesting Siri intelligent assistant?
• Will your voice become the ultimate remote control?

Apple goes Hollywood
It isn't the first time we've speculated on Apple's plans to launch movie streaming services.
The company has been rumored to be investigating such a plan since it acquired lala.com. It now appears negotiations to get movies onto iCloud streaming services are intensifying, with Apple negotiating with Hollywood studios for licenses to do just that. (Apple in August ended its 99-cent TV show rental scheme because consumers preferred purchasing TV shows.)
These negotiations seem to be reaching critical stages, with Apple representatives and studios meeting to "finalize" deals to allow such services, according to the LA Times and Wall Street Journal.
Apparently, part of the implementation will let users stream movies to their devices -- you won't need to manually transfer those large, space-taking files.
These services could apparently launch before the end of the year, or early in 2012. Given that previous speculation has suggested a 2012 launch point for an Apple--branded television, could Apple be plotting to take its "hobby" product into the mainstream?
2012: Apple takes the den
Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster says, "We believe Apple may add movies and TV shows purchased or rented in iTunes to the iCloud service, which could be viewed on a TV."
Right now, of course, those games you play on your iPad or iPhone can be mirrored to your TV, as can your presentations, spreadsheets, Safari pages -- anything on your screen can now be mirrored on your TV.
That will not be where this story ends. In the opinion of your humble blogger, Apple is close to the point when it will reinvent television.
What are your thoughts? What does TV need? What doesn't it need? And how can Apple disrupt the industry? Do let me know in comments below, and I'd be ever so pleased if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I'm able to let you know as new reports get published here first on Computerworld. 

Thousands queue to buy iPhone 4S 'for Steve'

The Apple [AAPL] iPhone 4S is going on sale in multiple countries this morning, met by animated queues of new gadget-buyers as the device stakes its claim as Q4's 'product of the year'.
[ABOVE: Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, is in the queue for the new device.]
Millions dial in for iPhone
Earlier this week Apple confirmed the new device had attracted one million pre-orders during the 24-hours the product was made available for pre-order.
This weekend, some expect the firm may sell four million of the smartphones, prompting Apple to ask Pegatron to raise iPhone S production by 50 percent, to 15 million.
The signs are good. O2 this morning claimed it sold more iPhone 4S handsets in the first hour on sale than the number of iPhone 4s it shifted in 2010.
In London, there's queues at Apple's Regent Street and Covent Garden store, with hundreds -- perhaps a thousand -- people stood in line at Regent Street. Scenes were equally crazed at Covent Garden, where the queue literally went around the famous market square.

[ABOVE: Early morning in Covent Garden.]
Demand is higher than before
These scenes are being repeated at Apple retail stores all across the UK, and also in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Japan, where the product is going on sale today.
Hundreds queued around city blocks in Sydney and Tokyo. In Japan, local media reports claimed demand for the new device to be 60 percent higher than it was for the iPhone 4. And in Perth, Australia, traffic was disrupted by the crush.

Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, is at the front of the queue outside of the Apple store in Las Gatos, California, waiting to get his own iPhone 4S. “The long wait begins. I’m first in line. The guy ahead was on the wrong side and he’s pissed,” he wrote in a Tweet.

...for Steve
For many, the purchase of the new device is also a ritualistic expression of sorrow at the tragic loss of Apple's Steve Jobs.
"I have been waiting for the iPhone 5 for a long time. But since Jobs died, I wanted to make sure I had a new iPhone with some advantages over the old," said Mark Du.
"I am a fan, a big fan. I want something to remember Steve Jobs by," said Haruko Shiraishi, speaking to Business Day.
"I did it for Steve Jobs as a tribute. I was very sad at his passing," said Sydney resident, Tom Mosca.
It is telling that undisturbed outside or near most Apple stores small impromptu shrines to Steve have appeared.
The new iPhone uses chips from Qualcomm, Toshiba and a other smaller semiconductor companies, as revealed by an iFixit teardown of an iPhone 4S. The device contains 512MB DDR2 RAM and includes what appears to be a new Apple-developed power management chip.
Can't touch this
Competitors can't seem to touch Apple's mojo: "Once again Apple is taking a lead and asking a lot of its competitors. I wish those competitors luck, for the better all smartphones are, the happier I am. If Steve Jobs's true legacy is that the devices every other company makes are so, so much better than they otherwise would have been, I don't think he would mind one bit," said Stephen Fry.
This is inevitably going to translate into strong sales of the device in all Apple's markets, with queues understood to be forming across the US this morning as people wait to get hold of the new device, which many have christened as "the iPhone 4S, for Steve".
Apple seems set to see an iPod nano effect on its iPhone sales this season, I'm thinking.
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

Apple: the world's leading mobile device company

Apple [AAPL] achieved record Mac sales in its just-gone quarter -- combine portable Mac and iPad sales and there's no doubt Apple is the world's leading mobile device company.

Record Mac sales driven by mobile
The statistics tell it like it is. Apple sold 4.89 million Macs in its just gone quarter. That's a new record. Rip that figure apart: Apple sold 1.278m desktops and 3.616m notebooks in the quarter.
"The increase in Mac sales was fueled by the very strong growth in MacBook Air as well as the continued strong performance of MacBook Pro," said CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, last night.

The MacBook Air is the future of Apple's notebooks. Light, extremely portable and powerful, its support for MultiTouch makes this an alluring machine. Alluring, that is, until Apple begins to diversify its iPad line, as it must. Just take a look at the sales chart, and consider the 11.12 million iPad 2's Apple shifted across its 90-day quarter.

Set for growth
"We see the tablet market as a huge market, and we could not be happier with our position in it," said CEO, Tim Cook, during last night's Q&A, where he also made a promise. "And we've got some fantastic things in the pipeline."
"And after selling 40 million in the first 18 months, which is more than our wildest dreams were and selling 3 out of every 4, I think we've got a fairly good handle on what to do next," he added.
What could Apple do next? Traditionally Apple doesn't diversify too fast, but it could conceivably offer up (this list is speculation, it is not to be taken as fact):

• The iPad Pro/HD -- a powerful iPad with an A6 processor and a higher-resolution screen. Perhaps capable of running pro-apps, perhaps even Mac apps.
• The iPad touch -- an iPad with a smaller, 7-inch screen.
• The iPad max -- a 15-inch iPad. Some may suggest the MacBook Air is this.

Apple will doubtless surprise us with its future product roll-outs.
[ABOVE: An Apple video from 1987 shows you the iPad and Siri combined future of computing, I feel.]
Let the cannibalization continue
Some people worry that the iPad may cannibalize Mac sales, but that's not what's happening. Apple's iPad is denting PC and destroying netbook sales, but Macs seem pretty resolute in the face of the post-PC charge.
"I do believe that we're seeing cannibalization," admitted Cook. "I think that it's showing up in 2 ways. I think that some people are electing to buy an iPad rather than a Mac.
"However, I believe a materially larger number of people are electing to buy an iPad instead of a Windows-based PC. And so I think we are overwhelmingly coming out very, very well in that cannibalization....with cannibalization like this, I hope it continues."
Grow baby, grow
If you take a look at the thin blue trend line in the image above it's pretty clear that iPad sales seem set for exponential growth. This means the company has successfully defined the future of the post-PC.
Apple watchers know Mac sales began to grow with the advent of the iPod, and that the iPhone also added zest to Mac sales. Today and there's no doubt the iPad has clinched Apple's reputation for delivering best-in-class devices, albeit tied inexorably to the Apple ecosystem, which some pundits despise.
The company has barely begun. Last night Apple's strategy to expand its share in emerging economies was briefly discussed, with China seen as a blueprint for future success. Rest assured, China will become Apple's biggest market, perhaps as soon as next year. The country is already Apple's second-largest market -- all in a few years.
The smartphone space race is also kicking into high gear. Cook again, said last night: "...we want the iPhone to be in as many customers' hands as possible because we think it's the greatest phone by far. And that's why we live to do that. And so yes, we aspire to much larger volumes than where we are. And we think the smartphone market will eventually absorb the handset market."
Chasing the mainstream
The handset market is 1.5 billion handsets. The smartphone market is around 400 million units. There's huge growth potential in this, but when Apple makes a snap at the handset space with its Siri-powered pre-paid and post-paid offering...
Apple now offers the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 at lower prices to those who want them. This is only part of Apple's strategy.
"The big win is to eat into the 1.5 billion and not just for us but I think for others as well, and we are very focused on doing that. You can tell that with the moves that we've made recently," said Cook last night.
I'm expecting more drama in the Apple-verse as the company moves to grab some of those 1.5 billion per year handset sales.
Certainly, Apple missed some estimates -- even I expected 20 million iPhone sales. This won't cause any long-term problems. The history of the iPod nano tells me iPhone sales in the current quarter are going to set new records.
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

This is why Apple's iPhone 4S doesn't support 4G/LTE

There's been a lot of fuss and bother at Apple's [AAPL] decision not to include LTE support in its fifth-generation iPhone 4S, but the anxiety is misplaced as it really is not the cat-bird-seat time for the tech.

LTE isn't everywhere
There's some perfectly reasonable reasons 4G/LTE support in this generation iPhone didn't yet make sense: For example, LTE is not fully deployed, there are some technology and battery life challenges... However, for many the speed of the mobile broadband LTE supports make it an incredibly exciting proposition: 1Gbit/second on a mobile device? That's fast.
I spoke with telecoms expert, Vanilla Plus editor, George Malim, who confirmed the fragmented nature of international LTE deployment:

"Europe is fragmented because of licensing. The UK for example won't even be making LTE licenses available until next year. Almost without exception, operators will adopt LTE but we're not there yet. Device availability is a major issue holding back LTE uptake. It's mostly confined to dongles at the moment."
"LTE is in deployment in the US, notably with Sprint but the others are rolling it out. There's probably more deployments in APAC (Asia-Pacific) as a region than any other. In Russia the four major operators are rolling out a shared LTE network - which will be ready next year."
A July research report from ABI confirmed the international LTE challenge. "The biggest concern facing many operators now is the squeeze on available spectrum," said ABI research analyst Fei Feng Seet. "Regulators in certain countries have not yet announced any plans for LTE spectrum allocation."
But it's new and shiny they cried
That these are the facts hasn't hushed the howling from some pundits at the absence of LTE/4G inside the iPhone 4S. I think many of these critics wanted LTE just because it is new and super-shiny. They want it, but do they need it? One day, perhaps, but today is not that day.
As Gordon Aspin, chief executive of Cognovo, a spin out from ARM Holdings  warned in 2010:  "Technologists always overestimate the speed of technology adoption."
As of May 2011, just 12 countries had begun offering commercial LTE services, with ABI Research then predicting just 16 million LTE subscribers would exist worldwide by the end of this year.
Product design is taking choices
Look at it this way. When writing the road map for the iPhone product range, Apple's executives have had to strike a balance between cost, reliability, technology, utility and design.
If Apple had included LTE support within the iPhone 4S, then it is likely the product would be more expensive (additional components) with lower battery life (the drain of managing 2G, 3G and 4G network coverage on the chip) -- all to support a standard the vast majority of Apple's customers won't actually be able to use.
For most customers that's just not sexy.
Battery life? "LTE networks have more cells covering smaller areas so the hand off/signalling involved will drain batteries more rapidly unless carefully managed," warned Malim.
It really doesn't take too much to see that for the majority of Apple's international iPhone customers, more expense and less battery life is a pretty poor trade-off for a technology that's only really seeing big use so far in certain parts of the US and APAC. And, of course, any Apple LTE smartphone will also need to interoperate with 2G and 3G technologies.
2012: 4G hits home
2012 is when everything will change, because that's when LTE finally begins to arrive.
"The shift to 4G differs from the shift to 3G because of smartphones' capabilities," says ABI research director Phil Solis. "In the US, people are actively looking for 4G as a handset feature, spurred by heavy marketing of 4G smartphones. Sprint's success with WiMAX smartphones is an indicator of the scale Verizon Wireless and AT&T can achieve with LTE smartphones this year."
"I think LTE is very much a positive move for the whole industry. 3G was too much of a technology push but it's very clear people want broadband on the move and LTE will meet the requirements for people to do that," said Aspin.
There's still technical challenges.
Operators will deploy the tech using different frequencies. For example, US deployments will work in the 700 megahertz band while the majority of European deployments will be in the 2.6 gigahertz band.
Also in Europe, carriers are deploying LTE FDD networks, while China Mobile and India's broadband wireless operators are opting for LTE TDD. 
New opportunities
There's lots of hope for LTE deployments. The technology fills the gap of WiMax (from which many of its technologies are based), while being made available via next-generation portable devices. This opens up all sorts of new business opportunities, for example:
In Germany, T-Mobile's LTE service, called "Call & Surf Via Funk," is priced at $53/month in districts where xDSL fixed-broadband services are limited. The end-user is entitled to a fixed telephony line and an LTE connection.
So, when will 4G be ready to roll? "Depending on market widely deployed status will be 6-18 months," predicts Malim.
"It will take two to three years to build into a mass market and I don't see availability as the critical factor," said Aspin.
Beyond this, Apple is in an excellent position to deliver something special when it introduces devices supporting the new high speed standard.
iCloud -- currently a hybrid off- and online system, will become ever more efficient as it is improved, and as mobile broadband becomes more available the service will become even more useful.
When the company meets this challenge, it will work to offer the best LTE experience in a device with a design and a battery life that sets it apart from competitors.
What are your thoughts? Speak up, I'm interested.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

ARM's latest chips hint Apple iPad, iPhone plans

Apple’s [AAPL] future iPads, iPhones and other mobile devices will deliver unimaginable battery life and much-improved performance, if developments at the company's processor design partner, ARM, are to be seen as harbingers of the future.

[ABOVE: ARM's Cortex-A7 processor design diagram]
Understand history
You can sometimes get a glimpse of the future by taking a peek at the past, and when it comes to Apple and its mobile products, it's always worth taking a look at what's happening at chip designer, ARM.
ARM this week: "Announced the ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore processor -- the most energy-efficient application class processor ARM has ever developed, and big.LITTLE processing -- a flexible approach that redefines the traditional power and performance relationship."
A single Cortex-A7 processor delivers 5x the energy-efficiency and is one fifth the size of the Cortex-A8 processor, while providing significantly greater performance.

Of course, we can't be sure Apple will opt for the ARM design as its reference design in future iterations of Apple's A-series chips, but it seems pretty likely, given that its two previous processors (A4 and A5) have been highly re-imagined versions of previous ARM processors. Even more interesting, these new processors may even allow Apple to lop a few more dollars off of its product prices...

TSMC connection?
It is also interesting that this week ARM announced that it had worked with TSMC to tape out the first 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore processor. This is interesting because some previous rumors have claimed TSMC is working to produce small process chips for Apple iDevices, though these claims have become more contrary in recent weeks. TSMC's 20nm process provides more than a 2X performance increase over preceding generations.
Given Apple's focus on delivering end-to-end media-focused experiences within its family of compatible mobile devices, including the current iteration of the Apple TV, it is interesting that the TSCM process can deliver on so many fronts:

"The Cortex-A15 processor's low-power, high-performance and advanced feature set is perfectly suited to 20nm process implementations. Resulting SoCs will be ideal for a wide variety of markets, including smartphone, tablet, mobile computing, high-end digital home, servers, and wireless infrastructure."

The division bell?
I'm seeing a potential for  a parting of ways here. At present, all Apple's devices eventually migrate to the next-generation processor, so the A4 iPhone became the A5 iPhone. The A4 iPad became the A5 iPad. But, with two distinct chip solutions available to it, will Apple diversify its chip line-up?
Will it perhaps exploit the power of the Cortex-A15 to deliver processors for future iPads (and, potentially, Macs), while using the ARM Cortex-A7 reference build within future smartphones?
This would lend excellence in computing power to the iPad and deliver good performance and phenomenal battery life to the iPhone.
It's all speculatative, of course.
At present Apple has A4 and A5 processors in production for its products. Because it sells millions of these products it benefits from economies of scale when manufacturing its processors -- diversifying the family more would make the production process more expensive. That's true, but with millions of devices sold worldwide, it is possible Apple doesn't need that economy of scale as much as it once did.
Apple likes options
Whatever the plan -- and Apple doesn't always fully commit to a plan until the last minute -- the company's engineers will be looking to maximize performance and battery life in future Apple devices. Already best in class in both departments, iPhones and iPads are cleaning up in their respective fields.
Wired confirms the way Apple deals with strategy:

"Years ago, I heard the back-story on Apple's switch to Intel first-hand from some folks on the IBM side of things, and what I learned was that Steve Jobs agonized over this decision and waited until the morning of the keynote before pulling the trigger on this move. He actually went into that day with two keynote presentations prepared: one for a PowerPC-based product line, and one for The Switch. When he pulled out The Switch presentation, the IBM team was absolutely as stunned as the rest of the world, as was the P.A. Semi team who had been separately assured by Jobs that their dual-core PowerPC part would find its way into Apple portables."

It is worth considering that ARM's Cortex-A7 is a strong attempt to create a System on Chip (SoC) that meets the "conflicting consumer demand for devices with both higher-performance AND extended battery life."

Big.LITTLE processing
To help enable this, ARM has introduced Big.LITTLE processing. This pairs the best of the high-performance Cortex-A15 MPCore and ultra-efficient Cortex-A7 processors. "Big.LITTLE processing allows devices to seamlessly select the right processor for the right task, based on performance requirements. Importantly, this dynamic selection is transparent to the application software or middleware running on the processors," it explains.
It is clear that ARM wants to continue breaking Intel in the smartphone and tablet markets with its new processor designs. And, given that Apple's are the biggest-selling products in both of those industries, that relationship with Cupertino cannot be so far from ARM's mind:
"As smartphones and tablets continue to evolve into users' primary compute device, consumers are demanding performance as well as the always on, always connected service they expect. The challenge for our industry and the ARM ecosystem is how to deliver on this," said Mike Inglis, Executive Vice President, Processor Division, ARM, in a statement.
"The introduction of Cortex-A7 and big.LITTLE addresses this challenge and extends ARM's technology leadership by setting a new standard for energy-efficient processors and redefining the traditional power and performance relationship."
It will be interesting to see just how fast future Apple devices become, how energy efficient, and how much more capable these things will get as they move toward becoming productivity solutions in a post-PC age.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld. 

Samsung may beat Apple's US design patents, expert warns

Apple [AAPL] insiders may never forgive Google for Android -- but there's a chance Apple's iPad design patent may not prevail in the US courts, potentially opening doors to a wave of Android-driven copycats.
[ABOVE: A detail from Apple's Steve Jobs memorial service on October 19. Full coverage is now available on the Apple website -- though only using the Safari browser.]
A little rain
Apple has won wide success in many of its litigations in the mobile space, and has reached licensing deals with Nokia and Microsoft. However, now it seems Samsung may have a chance to hit back in what many regard as the "Stanley Kubrick case".
"I think it's fair to say this is the most high-profile design case we've ever had and this is really testing the system in these different countries, forcing them to make decisions on difficult issues about design," said Chris Carani, a patent attorney at Chicago-based IP law firm McAndrews, Held & Malloy and also chairman of the American Bar Association's Industrial Designs Committee for 2011-13.
A little of the back story:

Anyone who's anyone online will last week have read how Steve Jobs vowed to "destroy Android". Apple is now pretty much prevailing in courts worldwide, with HTC and Samsung dealt recent heavy blows.

Microsoft now collects patent-usage revenue from 55 percent of Android device makers. And some patent experts consider it possible no one will be able to sell Android devices in some markets in future.

Most recently U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said that Samsung Electronic's Galaxy tablets infringe Apple's iPad patents, but declined an injunction because the judge felt Apple must show both that Samsung infringed its patents and that its patents are valid under the law.

The latter has been widely reported, but patent expert Carani notes that media observers got it wrong:
The iPad patent is invalid?
Carani has reviewed the court transcripts and finds: "I think the big news is that despite previous reports that the court is leaning in Apple's direction by finding infringement (with) the iPad patent, the court actually said on the record that she believes that the iPad patent is invalid."
In the US, Apple is suing Samsung on three design patents and one utility patent. The design patents -- D593,087, D618,677 and D504,889 -- relate to the appearance of the iPhone and iPad.


"Contrary to some earlier reports, Judge Koh did not officially "rule" or "hold" that Samsung infringed any of the asserted Apple design patents," Carani claims. "Rather, she was careful to say that her statements during the hearing were only "tentative thoughts." (Transcript at 97.) She indicated that she hoped to "issue an order fairly promptly. This is a critical point because anything the Judge said during the hearing is not a final ruling."
It has also been widely reported that the judge noted the similarity in appearance between the iPad and Galaxy tab, but kept quiet on her opinion of the iPhone claims. Once again, this was not a final ruling.

Tearing a hole
In order to assert its design patent claim, Apple must successfully convince the judge to reject any examples of "prior art" Samsung's legal people might present to the court.
However, Judge Koh has already stated that she "thinks" the 1994 Knight-Ridder tablet prototype invalidates the iPad patent, though this is once again not a final ruling. Carani notes his opinion that while Apple argued against that opinion, Apple legal failed to adequately stress the all-glass screen on the iPad's front face, which the other device lacks. .
The complexities of the case are extensive, Carani notes in a summary provided to me. He observes some occasions during the case so far during which Apple's patent attorneys have failed to raise vital arguments regarding design patents.
Apple is now under pressure to prove its design patents:
"Inasmuch as the court appears to be assigning a broad scope to the Apple design patents, and that Samsung has unearthed some relatively close prior art, in my opinion in view of the publicly available materials, the Judge will likely find that Apple has not met its burden on validity at this stage of the case and deny the Motion for Preliminary injunction," warns Carani.
A fair war?
Whatever the outcome of this case, there's others wending their way through US and international courts, with recent Korean reports claiming Samsung management also see this as a "war".
Speaking anonymously, a high-ranking Samsung executive said company CEO Choi Gee-sung: "Will take full responsibility of the ongoing legal issue. We don't see any signs of entering a comprehensive cross-licensing deal with Apple."
That sounds about right given that Apple's lawyers last week promised only to license "low level" patents to others for use in smartphones, determined to protect those of its user interface patents which set it apart from competing mobile devices.
Despite the litigation, Samsung remains a key component supplier for Apple -- and it looks possible the two firms have successfully compartmentalized their conflict.
Samsung's COO attended Apple's Steve Jobs memorial service last week, before he flew to the states he told local reporters: "Samsung should maintain a healthy partnership with Apple. The companies should also compete fiercely but fairly."
Only great artists should steal
Fairly? Apple spokeswoman Kristen Huguet told Reuters earlier this month, "It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad ... This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas."
So far as I can tell, even with the departure of Jobs, Apple remains utterly committed to protecting its intellectual property -- and while it may lose some of the battles, the company will not lose the war.
Meanwhile, of course, Android vendors must fight each other for their meager slices of a fractured market while trying to make money from sales of products while also paying increasingly high licensing fees for the patents used inside Android.
Within that environment a wave of consolidation is inevitable, and vendor loyalty to Google's so -called "free" and so-called "open" OS must surely be evaporating. The stage is set for Microsoft to court vendors with its own mobile OS -- but is the market ready to welcome such a move?
Apple meanwhile is expected to sell 25 million or more iPhone 4S units this Christmas, (50 million according to some analysts) while iPad sales lead the tablet industry and set new records, despite the usual questionably overly-optimistic predictions claiming some success for Android alternatives.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in comments below.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld

About this Apple TV revolution chatter

We've been speculating that Apple [AAPL] has a plan for television, now the company's interest in the scheme's been seemingly semi-confirmed -- by Steve Jobs. So, what should we expect?

[ABOVE: Which of these three things doesn't have an Apple brand on?]
What's going on?
The buzz is coming from Jobs' statements as reported in his posthumously published biography.
"I'd like to create an integrated television set. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it," he said.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been anticipating an Apple move into television for a very long time. He now believes the company has begun prototype production.
Adding even more weight to the rumor, Bloomberg claims Jeff Robin, who was essential to the creation of the iPod and iTunes is leading the TV development teams.
"Apple Inc. is turning to the software engineer who built iTunes to help lead its development of a television set, according to three people with knowledge of the project. Jeff Robbin, who helped create the iPod in addition to the iTunes media store, is now guiding Apple's internal development of the new TV effort, said the people, who declined to be identified because his role isn't public," the report explains.

[ABOVE: Patently Apple will confirm Apple has many television-related patents. Why?]
What can we expect?
An iTunes-savvy television with all the additional features of an Apple TV may not be enough to thrill the market. What else could be in the home entertainment pipeline?
-- I'm hoping for iTunes Extra and augmented features for movie and TV downloads. All your DVD extras available at the touch of a button once you purchase the film or show.
-- Apps: It makes so much sense to support apps on an Internet-enabled television of this kind.
-- With apps support, this television is the ultimate console.
-- Spoken word controls: will this mythical TV support the advanced search and assistance facilities of Siri? Given Siri will have been in beta for at least six months when this new Apple TV appears, it's possible. On which some may reflect that Apple is about to give us what we've always wanted, a television we can shout at.
What's happening now?
Gene Munster claims prototype production of the new products have begun. Perhaps he's correct, but I've come across similar reports before.
Munster cites Apple patent filings and chats with a "contact close to an Asian manufacturer" in his prediction, saying: "We believe that of the estimated 220m flat panel TVs sold in 2012, 48 per cent or 106m units will be Internet-connected, of which Apple could sell 1.4m units."

[ABOVE: Opening up a new platform to developers? Why not launch at a developer conference?]
When can we expect it?
If Apple chooses to introduce app support within the new product, then it's logical the company will introduce the device in or around WWDC 2012.
An introduction at that event is logical because the new device may potentially offer a chance for developers to make some money developing for television.
Who should be worried?
Samsung and everybody -- assuming Apple understands the way the domestic consumer electronics markets work. (Hint: Has it sufficient experience introducing new product families with a feature-set and at a price that consumers find attractive? You know the answer.)
Television is all about content, and as content schedules become ever less inspiring people in the market for a TV may not be prepared to pay that mythical Apple premium -- even for built-in high definition and high quality displays, iTunes support, apps and voice control.
It's true that Apple faces quite a list of potential foes in its purported new plan, including hardware makers, console manufacturers, cable firms and more, for example: Samsung, Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft Xbox, Cable and satellite TV firms, Netflix, Google TV, Amazon and many more...
What might set it apart?

• That TV show or movie you're watching might follow you from room-to-room and place-to-place on any of your array of compatible devices.
• Apple has filed a wide number of 3D patents, including for 3D operating system elements.
• Broadcasting will evolve. In future, channels will become apps, and you'll only explore the ones you want, leaving the rest behind. Euronews now offers its channel on Samsung's family of connected TVs. Similarly, the BBC's iPlayer app continues to gain features and become international.

In future the ecosystem will extend. Here's four potential examples to illustrate this:
-- If you have an iPhone or iPad you can already watch your video on a television using Apple TV.
-- iCloud will enable most users to access their media from any registered device.
-- Voice recognition technologies mean that you will eventually be able to ask your TV for what you want to watch, schedule a recording be made, or even have a show recorded and then made available via your online content locker for playback on another device.
-- You should also be able to achieve this remotely, using another device.
-- Social networking with these TVs will eventually enable things like PiP (Picture In Picture) video chat with other families while watching a show, an exchange of reactions from Twitter and more.
Is there any truth in the claims?
Of course Apple is prepared to explore all potential new markets available to it as it seeks to extend the reach of its iTunes system.
It remains open to question if moving to offer full-sized television sets makes sense for Apple, though if it chose to do so it has an immediate high street presence for its products via its chain of retail stores -- so it can reach customers with those boxes.
Before finalizing any such decisions, Apple's management will be asking themselves:

• Is this simple enough?
• Do we control enough of the primary technologies?
• Can we make a significant contribution to this market?

What do you think the answer is? Can Apple reinvent broadcasting? Let me know in comments below.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.

NFC: How Apple's iPhone gains on 'Google Wallet' plan

Many believe Apple [AAPL] is exploring use of NFC (Near Field Communications) as part of an authorization system for iDevices. Why hasn't the firm fielded this new iPhone as a wallet technology yet? Perhaps because it's leaving it to arch-enemy Google [GOOG] to make these solutions mainstream.

[ABOVE: The iPhone 4S does not support NFC.]
Leading from behind
Leadership has its price. Take Apple's 'unlock gesture' patent -- the first company to introduce a successful device implementing it, that gesture is now copied everywhere. Can anyone spell "patent litigashun?"
Relax Apple fans -- remember: "Sometimes you can lead from behind". It's clever to let Google do the work, for a change.

NFC is full of promise -- devices toting it are already being used as wallets, boarding passes, event tickets, museum tour guides, stock-taking tools and more. There's a growing body of fervent NFC initiates prepared to spread the gospel of the short range contactless tech -- but there's challenges to wide deployment, these include:

-- Lack of an agreed industry payment processing standard -- meaning terminals and systems aren't yet compatible.
-- Competition between banks eager to embrace the standard yet unwilling to lose their existing credit-processing fiefdoms.
-- Consumers will need to be convinced of the security of NFC payments.
-- Smaller merchants need to be convinced that its worth investing in new NFC payment processing systems.
-- The technology requires NFC chips and radios inside devices -- and these cost cash.

[ABOVE: Nokia is also working hard to bring NFC to the mainstream.]
Closing in on critical mass
"As the costs of NFC chips decline, and NFC radios are combined with other chip functions, the cost to integrate NFC into handsets will be outweighed by the benefits," In-Stat Research Director Allen Nogee said in a statement. We won't be waiting too long. The analysts predict 1.2 billion NFC chips will ship in 2015.
NFC is a great technology in some ways. It's a short-range contactless solution that enables a scanning device to recognize and identify an NFC device. Based on RFID, the standard also includes security features, such as PIN support. Visa and Mastercard are already experimenting with NFC, for which deployment is most advanced in the APAC regions.
There's other competing standards -- not least Bluetooth 4.0 -- but, at least in the latter case, these lack the support of the big credit and banking organizations. Bluetooth 4.0 could conceivably be used as a payment solution, but it would take work to bring such systems to the mass market, and this would be meaningless without industry support.
(Sure, Apple could introduce its own Bluetooth-based payment processing system using iTunes as the virtual bank, but it would then need to evangelize its solution to retailers worldwide. So why bother?)
Look beneath the hood
Don't ignore that Bluetooth connection. "The growth of combo chips will also allow NFC radios to piggyback on technology that already has significant penetration in the market. For example, Bluetooth radios, which currently have 100% market penetration, can be integrated with NFC radios, making the choice to include NFC easy for OEMs," said In-Stat's Allen Nogee.
Does the existing radio inside the iPhone 4S already host such an integrated NFC device, I wonder?
Exploiting the Google-plex
Given that the existing market for NFC has these hang-ups, it makes sense for Apple to sit things out and allow Google -- or, more specifically, Google's long-suffering Android 'partners' -- to evangelize the technology in order to help foster a network of NFC-using merchants and retailers.
After all, what's the use in being able to use your iPhone as wallet if no one's ready to take your cash?
That's not to say work isn't in progress. There's banks who already offer iPhone holders which double-up as NFC devices.
In Singapore, the infocomm regulator and industry partner have stumped-up $40 million to support phone-based payment technologies.
Forrester Research analyst Steve Noble says the "tipping point" will come when NFC is more convenient to use than normal cash or cards.
Building the infrastructure
Some Android-driven and some Nokia-made devices already boast NFC support. At present this is fine if you want to wander into a museum and enjoy some virtual exhibits, or if you happen to be in Tokyo and want to download a special offer from a digital billboard, but these aren't exactly the kind of mass market inflection points you can build an industry on.
Things are changing, of course. MasterCard, Isis, and Citigroup executive's will share their opinions on overcoming lack of devices, the best business models and reaching critical mass for NFC and NFC applications at an industry event in November. New Jersey Transit has become the first public transport agency to adopt Google Wallet mobile contactless payments.
[ABOVE: Google Wallet explained.]
Google Wallet? Yes sir, Google is working hard to create an ecosystem for these payment systems -- raising awareness, visibility and interest in these technologies.
Most recently, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess, Jamba Juice, Macy's, OfficeMax, Toys'R'Us and American Eagle have all signed-up. Shoppers at these locations can now pay for items, redeem coupons and earn rewards points all with a single tap of their NFC-enabled handset.
Persuading these big retailers to sign-up for NFC payment support is important, and as the standard reaches critical mass it is likely more international merchants will get involved, eventually creating the kind of payment-taking infrastructure you need to have in place if you want to introduce a mass market device.
Cat-bird-seat
Things will gather momentum, until one day Apple CEO, Tim Cook, opens the curtains on his window, sees what time it is and realizes the stage is set for Apple to introduce its NFC-compliant iPhone that -- perhaps -- has a few extra elements designed to make the standard not just interesting from a hardcore technologist or Android-loving geek's point of view, but something seriously sexy for consumers too.
Because that's what Apple does. It makes things that resonate across the mass consciousness. Only this time it is letting Google do the heavy lifting. After all, NFC is a standard -- the secret sauce will be Apple's implementation of it. NFC done right, or done wrong? You decide. Comments below...
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