Hasta La Gadget!

The Adobe-Apple Flash war used to be one of the juiciest catfights around, but, much like two aging boxers, both sides now appear willing to act like adults put it all behind them. Speaking at yesterday’s D9 conference in Palos Verdes, California, Adobe head Shantanu Narayen confirmed that he and Steve Jobs have reached an unofficial armistice, bringing an end to their prolonged war of words. According to the CEO, Apple’s Flash issues stemmed from the company’s “business model,” rather than any legitimate concerns over quality. “It’s control over the app store that’s at issue here,” Narayen said, implying that Flash’s wide-ranging platform compatibility may not have jibed with the Cupertino ethos. He went on to remind moderator Walt Mossberg that developers can still use Adobe’s AIR software to get their products to the App Store, adding that his company is looking forward to the rise of HTML5 and “actively contributing” to its development.

Mossberg, meanwhile, seemed to blindside Narayen when he brought up Flash’s poor performance on Android devices. “I have yet to test a single one where Flash tests really well,” the columnist claimed. “I’m sorry, but it’s true.” Narayen sputtered a bit, before pointing to the BlackBerry PlayBook as an example of the progress that Flash has made. When Mossberg reminded him that the PlayBook doesn’t run on Android, the CEO not-so-subtly sidestepped the question by emptily declaring that Adobe’s mission is simply to provide people with the best tools to create content. Apparently satisfied with this non-answer, Mossberg changed the subject back to Apple, allowing Narayen to wax poetic about their new Pax Romana — and, perhaps, to breathe a sigh of relief. See the full interview after the break.

Continue reading Adobe CEO has no beef with Apple, no answer for poor Flash performance on Android (video)

Adobe CEO has no beef with Apple, no answer for poor Flash performance on Android (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since we’d rather not attempt to pick out a birthday present for the retail store that has everything, we’re breaking out the home movies to see just how far it’s come in the past decade. Here’s some footage from Macworld 2001, in which a chipper Jobs takes us behind the wood barricade for a “little private tour” of the first ever Apple Store in Tysons Corner, VA, showing off a rear-projection screen for playing commercials and debuting the hyperbolically-named Genius Bar. All said, not that much seems to have changed with the stores in the past ten years, save, of course, for the inventory — of particular note are the MP3 player and PDA sections, both populated with third-party hardware. Apple would scorch the earth of the music player market later that year with introduction of the iPod. The personal organizer still had a little time left, but surely even back then the iPhone was a twinkle in old Steve’s eye.

Continue reading Nostalgia: Steve Jobs tours the first Apple Store at Macworld 2001 (video)

Nostalgia: Steve Jobs tours the first Apple Store at Macworld 2001 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 12:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember when Steve Jobs had a dig at Apple’s mobile competition and proclaimed that “no one” would buy their Hummer-like 4-inch-plus smartphones? Well, going by the latest NPD data, that group of “no ones” among US smartphone consumers is now a meaty 24 percent. Separating handsets into screen categories of 3.4 inches and below, 3.5 to 3.9 inches, and those above 4 inches, the stat mavens discovered that the midrange is holding steady, but smaller-screened devices are starting to lose out to their jumbo-sized brethren. No prizes for guessing that Android-powered devices were behind that big sales increase, with the HTC EVO 4G and Motorola Droid X leading the way, followed by Samsung’s multivariate Galaxy S range. Now, care to tell us more about our mobile future, Steve?

[Thanks, Skylar]

Disclaimer: NPD’s Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.

Continue reading ‘Hummer’ handsets now account for 24 percent of US smartphone sales, prove Steve Jobs wrong

‘Hummer’ handsets now account for 24 percent of US smartphone sales, prove Steve Jobs wrong originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Wednesday, Apple introduced the world to the iPad 2. A beautiful device, to be sure. Feature packed? You bet. Soon to be selling like hotcakes? Absolutely. But the introduction of an iteration on an already existing product wasn’t the most notable piece of the event, nor was the surprise appearance of Steve Jobs. No, Wednesday’s event was significant because it introduced the world to Apple’s real vision for the foreseeable future, a theme the company has hinted at but never fully expressed. This week, Apple showed everyone where it was headed, challenged competitors on that direction, and made it clear that the company not only has staked a claim in that space, but is defining it.

This week, Apple stepped into the “post-PC” era of computing — and there’s no looking back, at least not for the folks in Cupertino.

By joining the company’s ongoing vision of a “different” kind of computing with a soundbite friendly piece of marketing-speak, Apple has changed the rules of the game, and made the competition’s efforts not just an uphill battle, but — at least in the eyes of Steve Jobs and co. — essentially moot. But what exactly is the “post-PC” world? And why is it significant? Let me explain.

Continue reading Editorial: It’s Apple’s ‘post-PC’ world — we’re all just living in it

Editorial: It’s Apple’s ‘post-PC’ world — we’re all just living in it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, remember all the fun last month when Samsung’s Lee Young-hee said that Galaxy Tab sales were “quite smooth” but everyone heard “quite small?” Yeah, well, Steve Jobs doesn’t. Before unveiling the iPad 2 today the man in black and denim listed that early misquote — which was widely and officially corrected — as evidence to prove that the iPad‘s competition was floundering. Admittedly that isn’t far from the truth, but there’s no need to go putting words in other executives’ mouths to make a point.

Continue reading CE-Oh no he didn’t!: Steve Jobs misquotes Samsung, asks what you’re gonna do about it

CE-Oh no he didn’t!: Steve Jobs misquotes Samsung, asks what you’re gonna do about it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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