A non-conspiracy theory about why Apple has banned background applications from the iPhone. Battery life. I, for one, find the argument convincing.
Thanks to TLA for pointing out to me that the New York Times technology reviewers have an amazing sense of humour:
So. Apple released a new Macbook this year, oddly called the Macbook Air. As names go, I think it has all the memorability of the Ford Focus. Still, as the Focus proved, you can produce a winning product with a bland name, and I think this is one.
As someone who travels a lot [...]
Steve Jobs makes at least two major presentations each year, one in January and one in June. I’ve written about the January 2007 announcements before. The June ones (made on Monday) seem to have been more an effort in spin than an announcement of new technology.
He made much of the fact that games [...]
There has been considerable astonishment at Apple’s announcement of a version of their web-browser that will run on windows. After all, despite what Apple claims, Safari does not have greatest reputation even among OS X users, and it is not as if Windows users do not have a wide choice of browsers already.
All of [...]
It is amusing to hear that Microsoft are attacking Apple’s iPhone (which has yet to be launched), on the basis that it features proprietary hardware and software. Microsoft are the last to encourage interoperability with their own programs, whatever their PR machine might say.
Apple will be charging a nominal fee to users of a particular upgrade:
The fee for the software is required in order for Apple to comply with generally accepted accounting principles for revenue recognition, which generally require that we charge for significant feature enhancements, such as 802.11n, when added to previously purchased products.
There is more coverage [...]
Although Windows users are having to get used to a version of office without the usual menu system, it looks like Mac users will have the best of both Worlds.
I had promised myself that there would be no more “Apple”-themed postings for a bit, but then my battery decided to die. I’d used it, you see, and that had apparently finished it off. It must be a known problem, since it was prominently linked to on Apple’s support website.
Poor, but at least [...]
Apple’s ability to keep its products secret is almost legendary, and possibly quite unique.
Of course, in this case, they’ve actually had not announce it themselves early, because regulation and co-operation with other businesses makes it impossible to maintain control any longer.