Hasta La Gadget!

Nokia’s freshman CEO is speaking at the Open Mobile Summit right now. As expected, he’s covering the same ol’ ground, explaining why Nokia ditched Symbian and MeeGo to build the “third ecosystem” with Microsoft — you know, after totally dominating the high-end smartphone market just three years ago. He’s also being credited with the following quote:

“Apple created Android, or at least created the conditions necessary for Android to come into being”

We’re on to you, Mr. Elop. It’s a classic diversionary tactic. Get the one and two smartphone / tablet OS vendors squabbling and then execute a flanking maneuver while nobody’s watching. Why else would the Nokia CEO make such an emotive claim? Unless it’s true?

CE-Oh no he didn’t!: Stephen Elop says ‘Apple created Android,’ the conditions necessary for its existence originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 05:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrates iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion and iCloud at WWDC 2011. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Apple CEO Steve Jobs set off a bomb in Silicon Valley on Monday, and companies all over the world are still assessing the damage.

The new features in iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion and iCloud that Jobs introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference affect a long list of companies big and small. Some are direct competitors of Apple, but many come from the legions of iOS developers whose apps have helped make the iPhone and iPad popular.

To start with the giants:

• The iOS 5 Notifications Center is a direct response to Google’s superior (for now) Android notifications system.
• The iOS 5 systemwide Twitter integration flips a middle finger at Microsoft’s Facebook-integrated Windows Phone 7 platform.
• Apple’s internet-based iMessage messaging client is a copycat of RIM’s BlackBerry messaging client, and it should inspire millions of iPhone customers to downgrade their text-messaging plans when iOS 5 lands this fall. That will put a dent in carrier profits.

(Let’s not even speculate about the death of SMS from iMessage.)

As for small startups:

• The “Read Later” functionality baked into the Safari browser for iOS 5 and Lion seems to render the popular Instapaper app unnecessary. Creator Marco Arment, however — at least for public consumption — is keeping up a brave front that he is “tentatively optimistic” that the new feature “will improve sales dramatically.”
• The upgraded Mail app included with OS X Lion (a $30 operating system upgrade) makes the $10 Sparrow mail app look like a raw deal.
• And iOS 5’s photo- and document-sharing features, combined with 5 gigabytes of free online storage offered through iCloud, may compel many Dropbox customers to cancel their subscriptions, or downgrade their storage options.

That’s just a few.

“It was like a forest fire cleaning out the brush,” said Phillip Ryu, principal at Tap Tap Tap, developer of the bestselling image-editing app Camera+ for iPhone. It’s worth noting, coincidentally, that Apple’s next iPhone update will also include a built-in photo editor, which competes with the likes of Camera+, too.

Now, here’s why iCloud, iOS 5 and Lion pack such a deadly punch against so many companies: Together, they strengthen Apple’s lock-in strategy with vertical integration. Many consider Apple to be the most vertically integrated company in the world: All Apple hardware and software are designed in-house, and Apple also runs its own digital content store, iTunes, along with the App Store and iBooks store.

The new feature set in iOS 5, iCloud and Lion tightens Apple’s vertical integration of its software ecosystem by amplifying its “lock-in” goal. The vast majority of the new iCloud tools introduced Monday are exclusively for Apple customers, designed to bridge the iOS and Mac operating systems to make the experience more seamless, convenient and irresistible than ever.

The idea behind this strategy is: If you’re an iPhone customer today, how can you resist buying a Mac or an iPad now, and why would you buy a Windows PC or an Android device? And if you’re already plugged into Apple’s “cloud” ecosystem, why use a cross-platform solution like Dropbox or Google Docs to store your media, when the Apple-only experience is bound to be more optimized for you?

Apple’s software news this week was designed to make people feel like crap if they aren’t already Apple customers. If you use Apple’s Pages word processor, your documents sync with Pages on the Mac, iPad and iPhone.

When you create a calendar event on your Mac, that event automatically appears on your iPhone calendar, too. You can also share the event with another Apple device.

If you snap a picture with your iPhone, the PhotoStream feature pushes the photo to iCloud and syncs with the photo folder on your Mac, Apple TV and iPad. (There’s a photo folder for Windows PCs that will work for this, too, but it looks considerably less polished than the Apple PhotoStream.)

And Apple’s lock-in strategy works like this, too: If a lot of your friends have iPhones or iPads and you have neither, you’d feel left out. With iOS 5, they’ll all be able to message each other for free with the iMessage app rather than the traditional rip-off SMS plan offered by Verizon and AT&T. So if you’re lured in, it’d be hard to give up an iPhone or iPad for a competing product, because you’d be leaving an entire network of iMessage chat contacts.

Google can only dream that its own “lock-in” were this tight. It’s halfway there: Google Docs, mail and calendar work well on Android devices. But Android still suffers from the recurring issue of hardware fragmentation. You can’t even be guaranteed to have the same version of Android on one Google-powered handset versus another, much less an Android Honeycomb tablet, nor can you be assured that the apps you’ve downloaded work the same on every Android device.

(Do I even need to bring up Google TV? Why even bother at this point.)

Apple said its big push Monday was “the cloud,” as in, snipping the cord and going truly wireless. But the real story was “lock-in.” Who would ever leave the Apple universe now? It’s up to Apple’s rivals now to find a solid opportunity here to compete with Steve Jobs’ widget.

See Also:

• Why Nobody Can Match the iPad’s Price
• 5 Reasons the Media Cover Apple So Much
• Behold, the Next Media Titans: Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon
• WWDC 2011 Highlights: Apple’s Mobile, PC Worlds Converge in iCloud
• Apple Snips the Cord on iTunes, Reveals iCloud Strategy
• Apple’s iCloud: Data in Forefront, Devices in Background

Boxee threw a meetup in London last night where it revealed the return of its BBC iPlayer app and upcoming addition of streaming movies and shows from Blinkbox. This continues a trend that has seen the addition of Headweb video on-demand for Scandinavian regions and Databazaar’s library of Bollywood flicks in the last week. Boxee had iPlayer before but it stopped working after some technical changes, while the blog post reveals Blinkbox support is expected arrive around the end of the year. Boxee flashed its iPad app at the party too, promising to bring the existing experience to your tablet plus the ability to send video back to a Boxee Box for watching on the big TV screen. Finally, VP of marketing Andrew Kippen mentioned streaming locally stored video to the iPad from new Boxee Media Server software. While adding Plex-style functionality is nice by itself, we’re just excited to see any kind of reference to the software for PC and Macs that seems to have been ignored since Boxee got into the Box business.

Boxee hits London with updated iPlayer app, Blinkbox video and new Media Server originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not often that we get the opportunity to mention the Financial Times and Playboy Magazine in the same sentence, but the two publications do have at least one thing in common: App Store aversion. Today, the FT launched a new, entirely web-based app, designed to circumvent iTunes (and Apple’s 30 percent revenue cut) altogether. The paper says its single, cross-platform app will allow it to issue updates with more frequency, while reaching an audience that extends far beyond the iOS realm. Though the subscription service is only available for iPhone and iPad users at the moment, versions catered for Galaxy Tab, Xoom and PlayBook users are coming soon. Perhaps more important, however, is what this move could mean for other publishers — many of whom haven’t taken too kindly to Apple’s subscription revenue and data-sharing practices. FT managing editor Rob Grimshaw says his paper has “no plans to pull out of any apps store,” but if the system proves viable, it could open the door for others to pursue their own, similarly HTML5-based ventures, in the hopes of retaining full revenues and access to subscriber information. We’ll have to wait and see whether this iTunes exodus ever materializes, but in the meantime, iOS users can hit the source link to enjoy the new app, available for free until July 14th. Others, meanwhile, can head past the break to see a demo video, narrated in appropriately dulcet, British tones.

Continue reading Financial Times web app debuts for iOS, more tablets to come (video)

Financial Times web app debuts for iOS, more tablets to come (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 02:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We already got a chance to try out OnLive on the HTC Flyer early but now the company has made its plans official at E3, announcing a Player app will bring internet-streamed gaming to the iPad and Android tablets this autumn. Just as we saw, the apps allow for tablets to be used as the screen and touch / motion controller, touch / motion controller for games on an HDTV, or screen for games being played with the new universal wireless gamepad. The fun isn’t limited to just tablets though, the app will work the same way on smaller Android and iOS mobile devices. We’ll head over to South Hall and get some hands-on experience with the apps for ourselves shortly, until then you can check out an E3 trailer and all the details in the press release and after the break.

Update: We just got our hands on an early build of the tablet app on a Motorola Xoom, and we have to say it looks fairly promising — OnLive added a basic touchscreen overlay that could make sense for games that don’t require dual-analog support. Of course, you’ll want that fancy new universal wireless controller if you plan to take a hardcore FPS (like Homefront) on the go. Sadly, the tablet-as-TV-controller functionality wasn’t ready for prime time, but we did get a peek at a game designed specifically for the touchscreen interface: Ubisoft’s From Dust will have an OnLive-specific SKU. Get a glimpse at Homefront and From Dust via OnLive in the video below.

Update 2: We’re hearing that the OnLive Player will probably come to the HTC Flyer in August, and begin hitting other tablets in September and October.

Continue reading OnLive Player app for iPad and Android tablets meets the public at E3 (update: hands-on)

OnLive Player app for iPad and Android tablets meets the public at E3 (update: hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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