Ideas Maverick Blog by Preetham Venkky

Seems like the Apple vs Adobe saga shall continue. Just recently, Steve Jobs responded (to Adobe’s ‘unofficial’ allegations) through an open letter published on Apple’s website on why they’ve decided to omit Flash on their devices. Steve Jobs quotes as saying:

Adobe has repeatedly said that Apple mobile devices cannot access “the full web” because 75% of video on the web is in Flash. What they don’t say is that almost all this video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads. YouTube, with an estimated 40% of the web’s video, shines in an app bundled on all Apple mobile devices, with the iPad offering perhaps the best YouTube discovery and viewing experience ever. Add to this video from Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, NPR, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, People, National Geographic, and many, many others. iPhone, iPod and iPad users aren’t missing much video.

I personally think the tone of Steve’s letter in non-threatening and logically explains their decision to disable the problems that arise on their OS, by removing them from the very root. Unlike Adobe’s claim, Adobe or Flash are definitely not as open as HTML5. Also, Flash to iPhone converter can never fully enable or utilise all the features extended by the iPhone OS. Having a middle layer (in this case Adobe’s flash converter) doesn’t improve quality for the user. What it does do is to make it easier for the developer.

Great apps aren’t built easily and iPhone users have every right to ensure only good quality apps are installed on their device. Apple just wants to ensure this, so what if an old not so relevant technology needs to be killed in the process. Adobe, you need to allow Apple to pave way for the new and if you can’t comply, then step aside.

Update

You can find excerpts from WSJ’s interview with Shantanu Narayen, CEO Adobe and a former Apple employee; on Steve’s letter. Amongst many points, Shantanu does move on to say the following:

Speaking about Mr. Jobs’s assertion that Adobe is the No. 1 cause of Mac crashes, Mr. Narayen says if Adobe crashes Apple, that actually has something “to do with the Apple operating system.”

This is ridiculous. This is akin to saying that if your designer clothes don’t fit you, then there’s something wrong with your body structure. I think Adobe needs quickly move across their 5 stages of grief – Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. They presently seem to be stuck at the second stage. All the best Adobe, we’re still cheering for you.

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More often than not, simple innovation comes from the most unexpected companies. Recently, Panasonic launched the world’s first digital SLR capable of interchanging lens, with a touch based movable LCD viewfinder; the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2. While there are enough reviews out there to fill your lonesome hours, I would like to highlight the benefits of such technology to the user.

• Improves interaction with the subject through the screen
• Allows you to automatically adjust the auto-focus
• Clicking just by touching the screen improves stability
• Easy browsing of stored images
• Comfortably view images in full-size

Besides the capability to click images, the Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-G2 can record HD quality video at a depth of 1280 x 720 in their proprietary ‘AVCHD Lite’ format. A dedicated video record buttons allows you to access this function almost immediately. External microphone support has been extended while the in-built microphone claims to be able to cut background and wind noise effectively. You can read more about it here.

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Babylon Ltd., just a few moments back announced the inclusion of iBabylon application over at Apple’s iTunes store. Priced at a steep $11.99, iBabylon is targeted at the international traveler. With a 75 language dictionary and language translation support for 33 languages, iBabylon boasts of the following features:

While there are plenty of translation and dictionary applications for the iPhone, iBabylon integrates the two and provides you a plethora of options. Its features will definitely make you sit-up and take notice, but what remains to be seen is if iPhone users buy into it despite the steep $11.99 price-point. I for one, think it’s money well spent.

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It’s not uncommon to find spectacular panoramas and make them interactive using either of the following three technologies:

a. Quick Time VR Plugin
b. Java Applet
c. Flash Script

Panoramas are usually shot either using a 360 lens or by shooting at intervals of 45 degrees and then stitching the photographs. This, might I add, is last generation technology. I found something far more interactive and interesting over at the CNN blog – Video Panorama.

Video Panorama

The next generation in panoramas is the technology which enables panoramic views within a video. While it’s a little difficult to explain it in words, you can experience it by clicking on the following image.

The video was shot using a Yellow Bird Camera. The camera captures all the possible directions using six lenses. The video stream is captured at 1200 Mbps in an uncompressed format. Interestingly, the website has the longest URL ever.

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Before I get onto some serious iPad bashing (and maybe let slip a few glorifications), I must say that the $499 price is a tease. The iPad seems to be a product which was released hurriedly and without much thought, Maybe the marketing team got into development without much consultation with R&D, or maybe they were working backwards from a pre-determined price point; whatever the case, the iPad is not a paradigm-shifting product. So let’s start with the discussion then:

iPad Brand Name

What the hell were they thinking? It’s the worst brand name to come out of the Apple stable. I was personally rooting for iSlate which sounded more sleek, slick and Apple-ish. Tweeple have already begun parodying it with alternate names like iTampon:

@BruinGirl2001: Will the next version of the #ipad come w/wings? will there be a model called the #itampon?

It’s gone to the extent of ‘iTampon’ becoming a trending topic on Twitter; nothing can be more insulting. We netizens would like to see somebody’s head roll.

iPad Screen Size

9.7-inch. Large screens are nice and it is competitively larger than the Kindle DX. But the one big question is, are they competing with the Kindle? Technically speaking they can’t, for the simple reason that Kindle is an e-ink reader while iPad is LCD/O-LED based. On the plus side, we’ve now got colour for those of us who weren’t entirely impressed with B/W readers to begin with. But it will be difficult to use iPad as an e-book reader on a bright sunny day or in rooms with strong backlighting.

At a resolution of 1024×768, the screen’s worst property is its 4:3 aspect ratio. All current displays are being shipped in 16:10 or 16:9 widescreen versions. iPad’s 4:3 aspect ratio is a step back. This will only make the job of web designers and programmers that much more difficult. Not to mention, a lot of screen real-estate will be wasted while watching movies, TV shows and videos.

iPad OS

I have no idea why it took Apple two years to develop the iPad. There is very little work done on the iPad OS since it’s not very different from the iPhone OS. If it’s meant to be a product between the iPhone and MacBook, then the OS should’ve been more Mac OS than iPhone OS. While the OS can be complimented for its simple clean interface (touch-enabled), where it misses out on is:

a. No multi-tasking – You can’t run more than one application at a time
b. No TSR program support – You can’t run small applications in the memory
c. No external device support – You can’t use optical/pen drives, printers etc.
d. No file system browser – You can’t browse and access files independently
e. No multi-user support – You can’t manage multiple users or accounts
f. No flash support – You can’t access websites built using flash

In simple words, the iPad OS is not meant for a full-fledged computing device. The OS is a far cry from being able to support a Netbook or a Tablet PC.

iPad Market

Is there one? If it’s a competition to the Kindle, then we need to wait and watch their positioning. As I see, there isn’t a market for a large iPod Touch and that’s exactly what the iPad is. If the product doesn’t add more than 10% to Apple’s revenue, then it wouldn’t have garnered a mass appeal.

iPad Ergonomics

I’m extremely disappointed to report that the iPad is the most user-unfriendly gadget to come out of Cupertino. With no docking support in landscape, using it in portrait makes little sense. Absence of a groove for a strong palm-hold makes it substantially risky to move around with. Glossy reflective screen does more harm than good. No camera or webcam would mean no video interactions. 8-finger typing is neither here nor there.

iPad Pros

While there’s little to be excited about when it comes to the iPad, there are a few technological advancements:

a. 10-hr battery backup
b. Intuitive multi-touch gestures
c. Custom Apple A4 processor
d. Easy-to-use GUI
e. Newly launched iBookstore

Conclusion

iPad is just an over-sized iPod Touch. The most thoughtless gadget yet from Cupertino. But at $499, it might have hit the sweet spot – The Ultimate Tease.

So what do you think about the iPad? Will you buy one? Share your views in the comments.

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