iLounge

MobileMe Chat Support is Useless

By Jeremy Horwitz | 08.07.08 | 6 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

After four attempts this morning to contact Apple’s standard customer service regarding MobileMe outage credit—the first three ended in failed attempts by representatives to transfer me to a billing department—this is the message that popped up on Apple’s MobileMe online chat page, the only way people are currently being told they can get customer support.

Right. Because after the first three people couldn’t help, customers should really have to wait 82 minutes for the next screwed-up response—it’s as if Apple is working from the Dell playbook here. Best of luck, Eddy Cue. Seriously.

iPod nano 4G: a Zune-alike?

By Jeremy Horwitz | 07.29.08 | 46 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

It may be hard to believe, but from what we’ve now heard from multiple sources, it’s true: the fourth-generation iPod nano will look like… a Microsoft Zune. Well, sort of.

Contradicting speculation that Apple was planning to transform the new nano into a miniature iPod touch, complete with a smaller touchscreen, we’ve been told that this year’s nano upgrade will go in a different direction. Described by one source as looking like “a Zune Flash… or whatever it’s called,” the new nano has a vertically (tall) oriented display with a Click Wheel underneath, preserving the button-based control scheme that users have found easiest to use without looking down at the screen. The new nano’s screen will gain the same 1.5:1 widescreen aspect ratio as the iPhone and iPod touch, versus the 1.33:1 ratio of the prior iPod nano and iPod classic, and you’ll rotate the device to watch videos on it.

To fit the screen and Click Wheel neatly together, the new nano will adopt a form factor that shifts away from the almost square dimensions of the 2007 third-generation nano back towards the general shape of the first- and second-generation models. As one of our sources noted, it’s a surprise that the new nano will be bigger than the prior model, but the goal appears to be preservation of all of the prior model’s usability while adding a bigger screen, and there aren’t many other ways to accomplish that goal.

Our sources also indicated that rumors that the device will have a multi-colored body are most likely inaccurate. A single-colored anodized aluminum frame akin to prior iPod nanos will apparently be used, with each nano offered in one color. Obviously, we’ll see what the real story is when Apple introduces the new nano later this year, but our sources are extremely confident in the accuracy of these details.

The iPhone Baby Arrives: Introducing Madeline Mirai Horwitz

By Jeremy Horwitz | 07.08.08 | 9 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

Yesterday, at 3:23PM ET, we welcomed Madeline Mirai Horwitz into the world. Weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and measuring 20 3/4” long, Madeline is the little girl whose pre-natal days were chronicled in The iPhone Baby. The feature article is especially fun to look back on at this point; yes, we did use the iPhone as a stopwatch, and sent her first pictures via the hospital’s Wi-Fi and its camera.

Special thanks to our readers and those in the industry who have asked about the baby; Madeline and mom are both doing great. No gifts, please, as we cannot accept them—she’s apparently not old enough yet to sign up for an AT&T contract—but the thought is appreciated.

Logitech’s QuickCam Vision Pro Makes iChat Awesome [updated]

By Jeremy Horwitz | 07.01.08 | 10 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

I am genuinely excited. Very excited. Following Apple’s abrupt discontinuation of the iSight web camera—and its lack of a replacement option—I’ve been struggling to find a good iChat-ready desktop video camera to pair with my Apple Cinema Display when my MacBook Pro is closed and docked on my desk. Though I have temporary use of an old iSight, I was planning to just replace the Cinema Display with a newer, bigger one as soon as Apple got around to releasing a model with an integrated camera. That may just have become unnecessary. Logitech’s new Mac-specific QuickCam Vision Pro ($130) web cam just arrived at iLounge, and it so completely puts the iSight to shame that my monitor replacement plans are now on hold. I’ll summarize the difference in two photos, then continue with a bunch more (and details) in the full story. Click on the headline for the rest.

The difference is stark. Jesse Hollington told me in a video chat that my stream looked “great.” No one ever says that about the iSight—including the newer version built into my MacBook Pro. Updated: I’ve run the QuickCam Vision Pro through a collection of new audio and video tests, with results at the end of this article.

read more »

A UK Perspective - Weighing iPhone 3G’s Cost

By Bob Levens | 06.27.08 | 5 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

When I read that Apple’s iPhone 3G was going to be made available on a contract-free O2 Pay & Go tariff in the UK, I thought that perhaps I would finally climb aboard the iPhone train and discover whatever I had been missing.

But after a little ‘research’ and number crunching, it appears that as an option to the original iPhone on an O2 contract, things don’t seem to be that much cheaper. I won’t go again into the details as to why I want to avoid a contract—I already have commented on this—but cost wise, the Pay & Go tariff appears to be almost as expensive as an iPhone on a contract.

O2 let the cat out of the bag regarding the Pay & Go tariff earlier this week, by mistake it would seem, as the page was taken down quickly, shortly after we reported on it. It was online long enough for me to get some figures to work on. Looking at the 16GB iPhone 3G, O2 wants £359.99 ($715) on the Pay & Go tariff with six months unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi with an option to continue after the six months for £10 ($20) a month. On top of this, there is a minimum monthly “top-up” of £10 upwards which gives an allowance of X number of minutes, depending on which of the many tariff packages you opt for—calls, texts or a mix of both. I personally find the O2 tariffs confusing. If you use 18 months as a period to add the cost up, it works out to approximately £659.99 ($1,311). It could be more if you decide to add one of the O2 “Bolt-On” packages; for example, £10 a month for the calls, then £7.99 ($16) for texts, then £10 for unlimited browsing/wi-fi - that’s £27.99 ($56).

For the same model of iPhone on the £30 ($60) a month contract, the phone would cost £159 ($316) and with 18 months at £30 a month the total cost of ownership would come to £699 ($1,389). That’s only £39 ($78) more than on the Pay & Go option.

From calling into my local O2 store today, it seems that the iPhone 3G on the Pay & Go package will not be available until September. I wonder if by then O2 will have had a rethink and changed the tariffs again due to lack of interest?

Or maybe I will have had a rethink and will have opted for a contract. We’ll have to see. The prices certainly aren’t going to get me to queue for the launch, that’s for sure.

On John McCain and the iPod

By Jeremy Horwitz | 06.26.08 | 7 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

Democratic Party Presidential Nominee Barack Obama has an iPod, and he’s not afraid to tell you what’s on it—nor were George Bush, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, or other iPod-loving politicians. But how about Republican Party Nominee John McCain? He hasn’t been quite as enthusiastic. Since iLounge’s editors include some Republicans and some Democrats, we were curious enough to contact Mr. McCain’s campaign with a couple of simple questions: does he have an iPod or iPhone? If so, what’s in his personal playlists? Thus far, there’s been no answer.

According to CNN today, Mr. McCain is a self-described computer “illiterate,” and iLounge reader comments seem to assume the worst about how out of touch he must be because of his age: a couple of readers suggested that he needed to “reveal the contents of his 78 rpm record collection,” and that “he wishes Hollywood would stop making talkies and go back to silents.” But as CNN’s video shows, age isn’t the issue; it’s the desire to be in touch with technology. Some long-serving politicians—and even grandmotherly Queen Elizabeth—have apparently asked for iPod assistance from more tech-savvy family members, and the CNN interview shows that the Republican Nominee leans on his Blackberry-toting wife for computer support, so it wouldn’t be impossible for the man to have and use an iPod even if computers are too challenging.

There seems to be some evidence that he does. One report placed him on a campaign bus in South Carolina telling reporters that he has an iPod with ABBA on it, while a separate Time Magazine report suggests that he unsuccessfully tried to get a voice-commanded Ford iPod system to play ABBA tracks. Perhaps it’s not a distaste for computers or a lack of an iPod, after all—maybe he’s said as much as needs to be said on the topic of his musical preferences.

A Brief Aside on Screen Size and Resolution

By Jeremy Horwitz | 06.24.08 | 0 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

Until recently, Apple’s approach to third-party iPod game development was characterized by two concerning trends: a closed, “we invite you” system of partnerships, and games that were built for specific models and didn’t work on others. With the release of the iPod classic and third-generation iPod nano, for instance, every past “iPod Game” needed to be rewritten and repurchased for these models—a huge amount of wasted time and money. OS X iPhone appears to be substantially different and better, allowing developers to get virtually complete access to Apple’s tools, and suggesting that a game built for OS X iPhone will run not just on the original iPhone, iPod touch, and iPhone 3G, but on future OS X iPhone-based devices as well.

The question we’ve been mulling for months is this: what happens when Apple introduces an iPhone with a different screen size? Or resolution? Does the interface just shrink, as it did from the 2.5” iPod classic screen to the 2.0” iPod nano screen, or does Apple offer a hobbled device with different features and limited software compatibility? Alternately, might Apple split the current big touchscreen into a foldable two-screen design like the Nintendo DS, with one screen possessing touch capabilities and the other just serving as an extra display?

No one knows for certain, but history suggests that Apple will—despite the present appearance of a single “iPhone platform”—continue to make obvious and non-obvious changes to future devices that will create compatibility issues for unprepared developers. Screen sizes could shrink, or even grow. Resolutions and pixels per inch could go up or down. And aspect ratios may change. As a result, a game that looks great on today’s 3.5” screen might be hard to see on a smaller future display, or look chunky on a bigger one. Smart developers should probably start to consider ways to create graphic assets and interfaces that would work on a scaled-up or scaled-down iPhone or iPod touch, rather than just creating pieces that work on today’s models.

If your artwork is purely polygonal and you’re not using any on-screen text, you’re probably safer than most—apart from texture and initial object size considerations, resizing polygonal art for a smaller or bigger display isn’t too hard. But having to redraw all of your fonts and bitmapped art, such as backgrounds and sprites, can be seriously prohibitive. To illustrate just some of the challenges involved in this process, here are some screen shots from Taito’s recent Space Invaders Extreme for the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS, taken on the same stages, showing just how different one game can look on different sizes, shapes, and resolutions of screens. We picked this title because it’s super cool, and because it sells for $20 per platform—affordable enough that any developer can pick up both versions and see our spotlighted (plus other) differences firsthand.

On the PSP’s 480x272 widescreen, which is most similar to the iPhone’s 480x320 screen, you could have plenty of real estate on the left and right sides for text boxes, but in many games, using only part of the screen for gameplay feels less immersive and compelling. On the Nintendo DS, the key notification elements are overlapped on the main 256 x 192 screen, rather than placed on the sides of the playfield. Taito mostly wastes the top screen as a scoreboard, but brings it into play during boss stages and bonus rounds, which actually doesn’t add much if anything to the widescreen experience you get on the PSP. The single, bigger screen is almost always better.

A major issue in trying to use the same assets on screens of different sizes and resolutions is spacing. Just as with the transition from the iPod 4G to the iPod 5G, when Apple tried to keep the same text menus on an increasingly empty white screen, the bigger Nintendo DS pixels place the same characters much closer together, while the smaller PSP pixels see them spaced dramatically apart. Not only do the two versions of the game look different, but this change materially impacts elements of the gameplay. A shot that might have hit an adjacent Invader on the DS version slips through on the PSP version thanks to the gap. Taito could have scaled the PSP’s characters upwards to make them mimic the DS ones, but didn’t, and the result is two games that look the same on the surface yet vary a bunch when you’re actually playing them.

Ultimately, developers will have their own approaches to creating in-game assets and interfaces, but as the screens above show, consistency for future devices will either demand a truly resolution-independent OS X iPhone gaming environment, or artwork that’s easy to update in the event of a new device release. A little advance planning can go a long way in improving the speed and quality of your future updates.

How the iPod + Macs Appear in Metal Gear Solid 4

By Jeremy Horwitz | 06.20.08 | 3 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

Last month, we mentioned that Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 4 for Sony’s PlayStation 3 was going to feature an iPod as an in-game item; now that the game is out, we’ve had a chance to see how both the iPod and Macs were used. It’s actually sort of surprising.

As you may or may not know, Metal Gear Solid 4 is the latest in a series of military espionage and action games featuring a character named Solid Snake. The developers at Konami, led by Hideo Kojima, have spent years creating realistic guns, vehicles, armor and environments for the various games in the series, modeling them to an impressive degree of reality, and in some cases abstracting them into next-generation versions. So it’s no surprise that the company’s emulation of an iPod is fairly accurate—the only unusual part is that the device is a well-since-discontinued fifth-generation iPod in a world where nanomachines, night vision eye patches and genetically engineered battle machines are all apparently more common than iPhones or touch-screen iPods.

You actually use the iPod by holding down one of the top left triggers and then spinning the right analog joystick around in a circle to scroll on the Click Wheel. A yellow beam indicates how your finger is currently sweeping the Wheel. Pressing the joystick inwards is the iPod’s central Action button; you can select items on the Wheel by sweeping the Wheel and pressing the X button on the controller as something’s overlaid with the yellow beam. It’s all an attempt to make the experience as much like using an iPod as possible on a PlayStation 3 joypad, with menu options that are familiar but stripped down for simplicity’s sake. The only setting under “Settings,” for instance, is “Repeat,” and both songs and podcasts are found under “Music.”

The in-game iPod’s collection of songs consists of tracks that are pre-added by the game, as well as ones you find lying around in the warzones you walk through. Konami has included songs from past Metal Gear games, both console and handheld, as well as podcasts that break down the fourth wall and let you listen to the developers talking about the game. You’re supposed to use the iPod to listen to audio if you get tired of the default minimalist background music; it’s not a mandatory part of the game, but playing certain tracks can relax Snake or improve certain of his performance characteristics.

While it’s cool to see the iPod in the Metal Gear universe, it’s also a little off-putting. By attempting to replicate the Click Wheel rather than just using a simpler joystick-style selection interface, Konami actually makes it more difficult to pick tracks than it would have been with just a simple menu. Apple understands this completely in its own design of TV- and computer-based interfaces—Apple TV and iTunes don’t try to use faux scroll wheels. The inclusion of the iPod appears to have been more for fun or stylistic reasons, or perhaps paid product placement, than anything else.

Leaning in the “product placement” category are some of the cutscenes with your assistant, Otacon. He sits at a desk with a suspended Apple Cinema Display floating in the air, and a Mac Pro under the desk—or at least two items that look a lot like them. The Apple logos on both devices are unmistakeable, though, and Otacon even asks how you’re enjoying your iPod in one scene. “If you’re feeling run down, why not take a break?,” he asks. “Listen to a few tunes...?” Something about that just says “product placement,” or at least “thanks for letting us include the iPod, Apple.”

The presence of Macs, iPods, and Apple logos in the game is especially interesting given how many TV shows and commercials we’ve recently seen with the Apple logos intentionally covered up: the Food Network’s Iron Chef America has a conspicuous collection of Cinema Displays near Alton Brown, but their Apple logos disappeared after the first season’s episodes. Commercials now include more Apple notebook machines (current model MacBooks and MacBook Pros) than ever before, but they tend to appear with purely white or silver lids, minus only the Apple markings. For Metal Gear’s fictional characters to be Apple users clearly required some sort of permission from the company—we just wonder how much.

A Tangent on 1921 Tequila Cream

By Jeremy Horwitz | 06.19.08 | 7 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

There are only two alcoholic beverages that I would go out of my way to find. One—a beer called La Bécasse Gueuze—is basically impossible to purchase in the United States. The other was given to me as a Father’s Day gift last weekend: 1921 Tequila Cream, also known as 1921 Crema de Tequila. I’m sharing it on Backstage mostly because I wanted to spread the word about something that I consider to be pretty special and hard to locate, and also because I was inspired by John Gruber’s Tequila link today.

I’m not going to claim to be a tequila connoisseur; actually, I probably had more of it on my honeymoon last year than at every prior time in my life put together. But when my wife and I came across a shop that was selling 1921 Tequila Cream, which shouldn’t be confused with the other three types of pure tequila sold by the small Mexican company Corporacion Licorera 1910 S.A. de C.V., we were enthralled. Introduced in the United States only a few years ago, 1921 Tequila Cream is to tequila what Baileys Irish Cream is to whiskey, a softer, universally palatable version that could as easily be found in a dessert as in an after-dinner drink.

Yet, just like comparing standard tequilas to standard whiskeys, the 1921 has fire and spice that beg to be enjoyed quickly, rather than stored away; hints of caramel, coffee, and cocoa are also evident in the light brown, sweet and creamy drink. Bottles we bought in Mexico, and later in California, always seemed to disappear within a day or two of the cork coming out.

Finding 1921 in Western New York is basically impossible, which is why my wife had her family bring a bottle cross-country from Southern California as a gift. You might be able to find it where you live—the company has a non-comprehensive store locator, as well as a variety of Internet merchants selling it for around $24 a bottle—and if so, it is most definitely worth trying. Let me know what you think if you can rustle some up. And better yet, if you can find La Bécasse Gueuze (aka Belle Vue Gueuze) outside of Belgium or France, let me know; we might just have to arrange a trade.

Tim Russert, 1950-2008, R.I.P.

By Jeremy Horwitz | 06.13.08 | 4 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

I normally don’t post things of this nature on Backstage, but I wanted to take a moment to lament the death today of Tim Russert—best known as the host of NBC’s Meet The Press—a journalist who I considered inspirational. Opinionated, well-informed, honest, and willing to speak truth to power, Russert set the gold standard for political journalism, and his untimely passing will leave a huge gap in both American news and politics. Rest in peace, Mr. Russert, and may those you leave behind be better for the lessons you taught us.

Is This the New iPhone’s Touchscreen?

By Jeremy Horwitz | 06.05.08 | 23 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

Apple almost never confirms its component suppliers, and for various reasons, the suppliers only rarely confirm that they’re working with Apple. That’s the only major reason that we’d normally be skeptical about what’s shown below: the first pictures and diagrams of a touchscreen display that a Taiwanese company claims is being used in an upcoming iPhone. It’s a 2.8” display—shown here alongside a newer 3.2” version—two sizes that would enable Apple to start shrinking both iPhones and touchscreen iPods from the current 3.5” screen size found in its first-generation models.

The developer of these displays, Host Optical, has shown what it describes as a “projected capacitance touch panel,” complete with a collection of characteristics that it suggests are superior to the ones being used in the original iPhone. According to the company, the displays have “no significant” aging effect—they don’t get progressively less sensitive over time—and are claimed to be more durable than alternatives, waterproof, plus resistant to high humidities and temperatures. Since one of the major concerns over current-generation iPhones is the continued touch sensitivity of their screens, Host’s version could be a nice step up.

Also significant are the sizes the display comes in. The 2.8” screen is shown as having a 52.6mm (2.1") by 67.7mm (2.7") component footprint, with an actual viewing area of 45.6mm (1.8") by 60mm (2.4"). An additional 15-20mm (0.6"-0.8") of height is added by the black frame with Home button hole, providing a place for the screen’s control circuitry and connector to rest as well. A newer 3.2” version is closer in size to the current-generation iPhone’s front face.

To be clear, we believe that there is zero chance that a 2.8” screen is going to be in Apple’s first 3G version of the iPhone, but as a component for an iPhone mini/nano, as well as a fourth-generation iPod nano, it makes a lot more sense. Notably, Host’s displays place two and only two sensors off to the right of the ear speaker, a detail that doesn’t track with what we’ve heard about the 3G model. Another difference is the size of the black frames, which have significantly more space between the screen and Home button than current iPhone faceplates. Changes such as these would be precedented in Apple portable designs—the initially unusual rebalancings of iPod nano screen and Click Wheel locations relative to the iPod mini and full-sized iPod, for instance—and might also be necessary to give future iPhones enough ear-to-mouth distance to be functional as handsets.

While any company can claim that it’s supplying parts for a new iPhone, to the extent that Host is doing so, and has both samples and diagrams to offer as proof, we’re intrigued. As we’ve previously noted in Backstage, we’re still not sure how Apple will pull off the tricky act of downscaling the current iPhone OS to a smaller display, as typing on a 2.8” screen’s keyboard would be one of a few real challenges, but between UI changes and the prospect of a slide-out keyboard, nothing’s impossible for future iPhones. Seeing how it ultimately all plays out will be very interesting.

The Vaja Mouse Pad

By Jeremy Horwitz | 05.29.08 | 4 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

Since my job at iLounge involves reviewing products rather than trying to sell them, I am not going to attempt to convince you that Vaja’s new Mouse Pad is something that you’re going to spend $60 or $70 to purchase. I can count the number of mouse pads I’ve purchased on one hand, with two fingers, and mention that both of them came from the same Apple Company Store two years ago. They’re circular, black with a gray Apple logo in the center, and cost something like $10 or $15 a piece. Because of that gray Apple logo, mice tend to get completely confused and skip locations when they’re run over that surface, but I liked how these pads look and kept using them anyway. They replaced a free mouse pad that came from Ofoto (remember them?) years earlier; in fact, most of the mouse pads I’ve used were given away with purchases I made.

For obvious reasons, I like Vaja’s Mouse Pad better. As one might expect from both the company and the price, this is a beautiful design relative to most of the forgettable alternatives out there: rounded at the corners, it’s completely covered in the company’s classically impressive colored leather, which you can hand-select in two tones from a variety of choices. One of 37 colors becomes the frame, complete with a metal Vaja logo, while one of 10 colors becomes the mousing surface, slightly elevated over the frame thanks to soft padding.

Flip the pad over and you’ll see the company’s classic brown leather is used to create a hard bottom surface. Ours arrived with a bit of scuffing on the bottom, which isn’t a huge issue given that it’ll basically never be seen on a flat surface, and probably will accumulate additional marks from desktop grime as time goes on. By comparison, the top surfaces were perfect—extremely clean, and a really sharp match for the Apple hardware they sit next to.

Other than the price, which like Vaja’s cases screams “luxury” rather than “necessity,” the only major question a leather mouse pad raises for me is this: how long will it last before scratching or scuffing to a different patina? Obviously, your color choices will have some impact on this—picking Apple-matching light colors rather than darker ones might make damage more visible—but ultimately, it’ll be up to you to keep it clean. The plasticy top surfaces of other mouse pads have lasted many years without showing marks, so it’ll be interesting to see how this one holds up, but I can say with some certainty that I’m looking forward to continuing the testing.

Updated June 26, 2008: After almost a month with the Vaja Mouse Pad, I wanted to update this story with some conclusions on its durability and utility. My suspicion in late May was that the Mouse Pad wouldn’t be able to stand up well to some of the stresses of use at my desk, such as occasional freshly-washed hands grabbing my mouse, exposure to a little dirt, food, or drinks nearby, scratches, or so on. So I’m glad to report that the Pad looks basically the same today as it did out of the box; the white rim is still white, the gray center is still gray, and there’s only one little difference: small, generally unnoticeable areas of the gray leather are starting to lose their texture in favor of a softer patina. In terms of utility, the Pad is great except for one thing: it could use a little rubber on the bottom. While it stays generally in place, it’s not as sticky as the typical mouse pad, so you can either add something like double-sided tape yourself or hope that Vaja updates the design a little to make this Mouse Pad as firm on a flat surface as a freebie alternative. That aside, I’ve found the Mouse Pad to be a great little addition to the desk—another cool “luxury gift” option from Vaja.

Mirror’s Edge

By Jeremy Horwitz | 05.09.08 | 4 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

First, watch this:

Then, read this: Parkour.

Then, if you’re still intrigued, watch this:

The controls could be a real issue. And it’s possible that the gameplay, like so many other “total first-person” experiences, ultimately won’t work in the end, despite how impressive it looks right now. But as a real demonstration of what the PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware can do, EA and DICE’s Mirror’s Edge is now one of my most anticipated titles for whenever it ships in 2008. 

Same-Day iTunes Movies Are Worth More Than a Golf Clap

By Jeremy Horwitz | 05.01.08 | 5 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

It might not be the flashiest press release that Apple’s put out in the last two years, but today’s announcement that U.S. customers will be able to buy movies* from the iTunes Store on the same day they’re released on DVD is huge. “Walmart and Amazon and Target and Best Buy are probably freaking out right now” sort of huge.

This particular omission from the iTunes Store was, to our eyes, seriously crippling Apple’s ability to compete with the big boys on video sales. Imagine what iTunes would have looked like for music buyers if it couldn’t sell or pre-order new releases—well, you don’t really need to imagine it, as the video section of iTunes used to look that way, filled largely with films you’d all but forgotten about and had to search to find something interesting. There was also that daunting question: why pay $15 for a “new release” today when you could have gone to Target and gotten the DVD for around the same price a week or more ago?

When iTunes movie rentals—both SD and HD versions—are truly available on the same day as DVD releases, Netflix and Blockbuster have a lot to worry about. And that asterisk above? Apple still needs to bulk up its video catalog, a lot, before it can truly compete with DVD stores. But there’s no doubt; Apple’s finally on the right path with video, and anyone who doubts that it’s driving a bulldozer would be well-advised to bulk up or get out of the way.

The Other New iPhone?

By Jeremy Horwitz | 04.30.08 | 18 comments |  tell-a-friend |  digg this story

Remember last year, when a little-known company named Uniea announced new iPod nano cases—with correct physical dimensions—before the new iPod nano was ever shown? As we mentioned shortly afterwards, readers were quick to slam Uniea and its mock-ups, but the cases proved perfect fits when the new nano was released. Now, there are all sorts of friend-of-a-friend stories swirling around about the second-generation iPhone, and perhaps not surprisingly, they contradict one another. Yesterday, a Taiwanese newspaper claimed Hon Hai/Foxconn was making an iPhone with a 2.8” screen, which would present certain major interface challenges given the way the current iPhone works, and might well be a “mini” iPhone rather than a full sequel to the current model. Additionally, like you, we’ve heard about another model that is supposedly coming soon, and sounds more like a true next-generation iPhone. Companies overseas have already started working on products for this one, which is basically the same size as the current iPhone, but has slightly different curves, coloration, and materials. Specs for either or both of these models could be nothing more than disinformation put out to burn developers, but they could also be correct. In any case, here are the details they’re working from.

Developers believe that the “glossy black plastic iPhone” details that have been circulating are partially accurate. When you first hear the word “plastic,” you tend to think “cheap,” but the premise here appears to be to approximate the look of metal through automobile-style gloss, while eliminating the presence of matte plastics and metal found in the original iPhone. The rear shell becomes larger, with the hard aluminum casing disappearing entirely, but a silver metallic bezel remains on the front—just much thinner than before. Once flat on both the back and front, the enclosure now is tapered like a MacBook Air, thicker at the center than at the sides. From the side, top, or bottom, the curves and proportions look more Blackberry than iPhone, but from the front, the new model looks basically unchanged from its predecessor. Perforated bottom speaker and microphone grilles have been transformed into larger shapes alongside the Dock Connector, as well.

While the screen size stays the same in this model—3.5” diagonal, with 3” height and 2” width, some currently unexplained changes are made around the ear speaker. On iPhone, a proximity sensor and ambient light sensor sat above this speaker; the new version has what appear to be three separate sensors, or two sensors and a tiny second camera—the original camera stays where it was. Though it would be great to picture this new dot as a video iChat-ready camera location, it’s entirely possible that this is nothing more than a rearrangement of the proximity sensor array. And colors? Glossy black or white backs are apparently locks, with a red version possible, too. Each would have the same silver bezel on front, and substantially black material surrounding the screen.

Of course, only Apple and its key partners know if any of this is correct, but some companies are assuming that it is. It’ll be interesting to see whether they’re right, and new cases begin to appear immediately after iPhone’s launch, or whether a multi-month delay is in store.