Tuesday, July 08, 2008
iPhone 2.0 pricing explained: two levels of "subsidy"
Sundry iPhone discoveries: none good
- With 3G enabled, the iPhone 3G's battery drained much more quickly in a typical day of use than the battery on the original iPhone. (Just as Jobs said a year ago. Many didn't believe power drain would be so bad.)
- While iPhone Software v2.0 allows for both personal and Exchange email accounts to function simultaneously, synching Exchange calendars and contacts will erase any personal calendars and contacts. (Clearly there's a limit to Apple's genius. I'm definitely disappointed, but not surprised.)
- Old iPod accessories meant to charge over Firewire circuitry (such as a Belkin car kit) don't work; iPhone 3G still only recognizes USB. (I'd never heard of this limitation. Annoying, but it's unlikely ever to change.)
- The GPS receiver's antenna is too small to replicate turn-by-turn navigation of a full unit. (So the GPS companies should be ok.)
- Battery replacement will still cost $86. (Still not user replaceable)
Monday, July 07, 2008
iPhone apps will not be able to synchronize with the desktop: OmiFocus
A month or two ago the Omni Group was writing about OmiFocus as though desktop sync would be possible.
Now they write:
The Omni Group - OmniFocus for iPhone and iPod touch
...Synchronized with your Mac via .Mac or WebDAV...
What the heck happened to Canon?
As a rank amateur I’ve been asking about what the heck is wrong with Canon since they failed to boost light sensitivity in their low-end dSLRs.
Now the pros are beating on Canon for light sensitivity, auto-focus, and reliability (emphases mine) …
The D3, D700 and Canon - James Duncan Davidson
… I think the very next camera that Canon releases, which better be a 5D replacement at this point, is going to say a lot about how they intend to meet Nikon’s resurgence. If the 5D replacement is just a freshen up of the 30D to 40D variety and which doesn’t meet the challenge that the D700 brings, then Canon will be telegraphing that they’re happy with their market position selling the crap out of the Rebel XSi without worrying about the higher end. On the other hand, if they release a competent contender, then we’ve still got a two horse race.
What will be a competent 5D replacement? At a minimum, it has to have usable ISO 6400 that is as good as ISO 1600 on the current 5D and it has to have pro-level autofocus. I don’t care about more pixels at this point, though I won’t complain about a 16 megapixel sensor. Even with a larger sensor, it is the twin metrics of low to high ISO quality—two more stops at least over the current 5D—and capable autofocus performance that will tell the story. Anything below this threshold will say volumes about the direction in which Canon intends to take the platform…
Sorry James, Canon is in trouble at the low-end too.
Where did they go wrong? To me their biggest issue is sensor light sensitivity. Presumably they can fix the reliability issues, and some of their pro camera are felt to have good autofocus. The sensor though, is a scientific and technical challenge. If they can’t meet that challenge, Nikon will own dSLR business.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
It's too late to short Adobe stock: Reader 9
Maybe insiders believe Google or Apple are really going to acquire them, just to get Flash.
Because looking at the latest release Adobe Reader knows Adobe is a disaster today. It's not just me, try Googling on "when did adobe go downhill"?
I'd guess they went off the rails a year or two before my adobe download manager post, so maybe January 2005. It would be interesting to know what happened then. Did some key people vest options and leave? What executive shuffle occurred?
I won't be installing Adobe Reader 9 anywhere. I removed Adobe products from my OS X machines about a year ago, and life has been quite a bit nicer since. (Sure Adobe's photo editing apps are sweet, but they also show doom. How hard would it be to QA the app as a non-admin user?)
On XP I'm on Adobe Acrobat full (no reader). Eventually the gross security measures will force a reader update, at which point I'll switch to an open source alternative for ISO-standard PDF. I'm sure Microsoft will supply something, they're in far better shape than Adobe.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Digitizing a large CD collection
Now I need something similar for my photos -- a high-end bulk load print scanner I can rent.
iPhone mystery: will Apple allow developers to do desktop sync?
This is a big deal for products like OmniFocus. Omni acts as though a solution is coming, but a week from go-live Mariner software doesn't know how this will work ...
Your Tech Weblog: Local firm making a spreadsheet for iPhone
... He also needs [Mariner] Calc for iPhone to sync with Calc for the Mac, and is talking with Apple on how that might happen, but he has no idea when this critical hurdle will be overcome....