- This site is not affiliated with Apple, Inc. or its partners.
::Great Sites::
Subscribe through Feedburner
-
Archives
-
Categories
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
I guess that when you have all of the greatest toys in the known universe, you don’t need an iPhone. According to a recent survey, 91% of Japanese people won’t be buying an iPhone. What does that mean for Apple and Steve Jobs? My guess is absolutely nothing. Heck, even if 9% of the Japanese did by an iPhone, that would be almost 11 million people. And, if the hype is to be believed, a bagillion percent of Americans are dying for the iPhone 3G. What this does represent is how rich and fantastic the gadget scene is in Japan. To be honest, they get so many great toys released, it wouldn’t surprise me if the iPhone was hum drum. Unfortunately, for us in the States, the iPhone is about as revolutionary as it gets.
This weeks web application review features a nifty little social-networking restaurant review site. Restaurant Ratingz, by Interon Software, combines food, reviews, and a digg-like rating system into a handy and speedy guide to eating in your town. Now, to be fair, there might not be a restaurant review for every town in the nation, but that is no ones fault but your own. After all, that is how social-networking works. It is the responsibility of the users to add more data and keep it alive. Restaurant Ratingz loads very quickly, and is formated quite well for my little screen. Also, even though I live in a relatively small town, I was able to find a few great reviews on local hot spots. Entering new reviews is also very quick and simple in the web widget. Head on over to Restaurant Ratingz if you are looking for a smart, fast, and well designed place to spend 2 cents, or, if you want, add your own.
This post is about the iTunes sale movie of the week, but on a side note, have you seen the thousands of “iPhone Killer” phones on the market? A thousand phones you say? I admire your notion of fair odds, mister. Remind you of anything? That’s right, “The Magnificent Seven” (Warning: iTunes link) is the $.99 movie of the week. If you have not seen this movie, then you must… MUST go rent it now. It is one of the greatest of all classic cowboy movies, and the experience to see it is worth a buck. I mean, with gas prices what they are, you are probably car pooling or riding the bus these days. You can use a little entertainment. Here is the official description:
Get it quick before it goes away. “The Magnificent Seven” will only be on sale from Jun. 17, 2008 - Jun. 24, 2008 .
I know, the title is a bit confusing, so let me elaborate. Recently, industry analysts have determined that it only costs about $100 dollars to manufacture the new 3G iPhones. That’s right, only $100. We were all shocked and awed by the rumor that the iPhone 3G would only cost $199. Then we were all amazed that the rumor was true. “How could this be?” we said. “They will lose money!” we screamed. We were wrong.
Now, I know companies don’t do things to lose money, so I shouldn’t be surprised. I just wonder what the hoopla behind the phone being “subsidized” by an expensive data plan is all about. There is no real subsidy needed here. Apple and AT&T are just getting richer and richer.
A few weeks ago, I asked what you were willing to pay for an iPhone application. Well, an industry insider, Gene Munster, had the same question. He did some digging at WWDC and found the following:
In reality, free is a great price, but $2.29 - 3.99 isn’t so bad either. The games like SuperMonkey ball, rolling in at $9.99 seems a bit steep, but if the quality is there, I can support the cost. After all, I paid $29.99 for the same game on a hand held system. It would be more fun on the iPhone. I am excited to see what free apps there will be out there. Loopt seems exciting, as does some of the streaming media applications. Once the iPhone is downloading 3G, streaming media will be a killer application in my humble opinion.
If you caught the WWDC keynote by Steve Jobs, then you no doubt know that there are a few hundred thousand potential developers out there cranking out native applications for the iPhone. In less then a month, these applications will be available for you to download and purchase. What does this mean for the state of web application development? I don’t think the scene will change much at all. We do have some great things coming down the pike. Super Monkey Ball looks fantastic, as does Cro-Mag Rally. These 9.99 games are sure to be high quality and entertaining, but I don’t think that they will push out classics like Bejeweled or Frenzic. The web application games are free, they are fun, and you do not have to take up any of your 8 or 16 Gigabytes just to play them. As long as web application games can be fun and free, they will compete. Developers can still make money from web application games through advertising and the purchasing of desktop versions. Other web applications that I have loved are best online. Elegant Words: The Ubiquitous Dictionary would take massive amounts of storage on your iPhone, and with 3G connection, it will load almost instantly. The same can be said with many GTD applications that I reviewed. A native iPhone application will not instantly synch between all your machine the way several web to do’s and GTD applications do. Applications like TypePad and Loopt are a different story. They add real value to the iPhone experience (for free I might add). These High quality useful applications do not have a web application counterpart - nor would you want one. As long as web application developers realize that their work is of equal (or maybe even more) valuable and relevant on a high-speed iPhone, and they don’t get greedy or threatned by the lure of the Application Store on iTunes, then we should see many great web applications coming our way in the future.
That’s some good vocabulary isn’t it? You can tell that I am a professional writer. Either that, your you can tell I have a good dictionary. To be honest, the later is true. But, after reading today’s Web Application review, you can use big words to. Today’s web application I would recommend is Elegant Words: The Ubiquitous Dictionary . Since I use the application, I know that ubiquitous means being everywhere - all the time. Those two adjectives - elegant and ubiquitous - describe this web application quite nicely. The application is designed very well, and it works very fast. Like the dictionary application in OS X, Elegant Words: The Ubiquitous Dictionary will easily allow you to look up synonyms and antonyms with just a click poke. The application is especially nice when I am reading or scribbling away in my journal, away from my computer, and I need to check out the spelling or meaning of a word. I just whip out my utilitarian and adroit iPhone and check out a word. The dictionary is almost ubiquitous - I guess that is where the name came from. Head over to Elegant Words: The Ubiquitous Dictionary and give the application a try. It is useful, educational and free. What more could you want in a lexicon guide (dictionary)
Dave Mamet is a great director and producer. In fact, I am dying for his television show “The Unit” to come back and entertain. Until then, I get another Mamet movie for $.99 from iTunes (last week was a Mamet movie as well). This week, “House of Games” (Warning: iTunes Link) is available for less than a dollar. Here is the official description:
If you would like to check out another Mamet movie - his first, then head over to iTunes right away. It is available from Jun. 10, 2008 - Jun. 17, 2008. Don’t forget, soon you’ll be watching this on your 3G iPhone!
Gizmodo.com got their gadget crazy hands on an internal memo regarding the iPhone upgrade and details. Some of this information was expected, but some was a bit of a surprise. The short of it:
Yes, you are correct. Even though the iPhone will be $200 dollars cheaper than it currently is, it will cost you $40 dollars more to own over the course of the 2 year contract. That difference jumps to $600 dollars more to own over the 2 year contract if you are an Enterprise Plan user - ouch. If you want to read the entire article in all of its internal secretness, head over to Gizmodo.comstraight away.
What do you get when you cross 300 hours of standby, a 2G talk-time of 10 hours 5 hours of 3G talk-time 5 to 6 hours of high-speed browsing, 7 hours of video, 24 hours of audio, 2.8X faster download speeds, black matte, chrome buttons and $199? That’s right, you have a 3G iPhone! The new kid on the block will be hitting the streets on Jully 11th in 22 countries. Not only does the new phone have 3G, but it will also feature a location aware GPS chip and a sleek and sexy new design. Boy, this one sure was a surprise! I would have never guessed… oh wait, I forgot, this was the worst kept secret in the world. |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright © 2007 iPhone • Powered by WordPress • Driven by the internet domain registration services of Loud Sign.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
