Jim Dalrymple at Macworld notes that the iPhone software update from Monday was mostly to handle issues with dropped calls on new iPhone 3G handsets. According to an Associated Press article, the update "improved communication with 3G networks," said Apple spokesperson Jennifer Bowcock.
However, some Macworld commenters are saying the update hasn't helped with dropped calls, even in areas with a strong signal.
What's more, according to an AppleInsider rumor, another update is scheduled for September that addresses an issue where non-default applications will repeatedly crash. A tipster claims to have received a Steveogram saying the issue "is a known iPhone bug that is being fixed in the next software update in September." (Chairman Jobs is known to occasionally respond to complaint emails with terse but sympathetic notes.)
The crashing problem has remained unresolved so far, and it has resulted in large and angry Apple support discussions about the topic. Steve's one-line explanation may at least provide a target for users for when they can start using their iPhones as intended.
Steve Jobs has been called a "master showman" whose "reality distortion field" lulls observers into believing they desperately need whatever he's pitching. However, it isn't magic that makes him so engaging, but a talent for public speaking combined with ruthless rehearsals.
Still, one need not be a visionary billionaire vegan to deliver a killer presentation. BusinessWeek has written a great article about steps you can take to bring your own talks up to that level. Tips include, "Try for an unforgettable moment," "Demonstrate enthusiasm" and my favorite, "Create visual slides." From the article: "There is a trend in public speaking to paint a picture for audiences by creating more visual graphics. Inspiring presenters are short on bullet points and big on graphics."
Amen. We all know that slide presentations are an exquisite form of torture, made worse when the presenter is simply reading slide after slide of text. Unless we're in a foreign language class, please abandon the read-a-long.
There is one more thing Carmine Gallo failed to mention: Have a few catch phrases ready to go. See above.
Is it even possible? Forbes does a little bit of speculating on just who might take over when Jobs takes his leave from Apple, and candidates aren't exactly jumping out of the woodwork. Jobs is about as visionary as they come -- only a guy like Steve could lead Apple from the iMac to the iPod to the iPhone, breaking records and status quo the whole time. Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall are tossed out as two names currently within Apple's ranks, but Jobs is almost as much of a company mascot as he is a CEO. As consultant Patrick Sweeney says in the article, anyone who steps into the turtleneck has to fit completely into the culture of the company, or it won't work.
And forget the day-to-day and design decisions -- who's going to stand on stage and say "boom" at WWDC and Macworld? Here at TUAW, we're pretty sure the rumors of Jobs' ill health are exaggerated; he's probably not going anywhere anytime fast. But at the same time, it's hard to imagine an Apple without him at all.
Dan Lyons, the real Fake Steve Jobs, is leaving his editor's job at Forbes to join the staff of Newsweek, where he'll take over for outgoing columnist Steven Levy. (Levy left Newsweek for Wired in April.)
Lyons is leaving Forbes on good terms, with associate managing editor Bruce Upbin writing, "Saying we wish him well is an understatement." No details surrounding the financial aspects of the transition were immediately available.
Since Lyons owns the FSJ property himself, Silicon Alley Insider says he'll be bringing El Stevo with him, but it remains unclear what will change about the vast FSJ media empire.
Fake Steve, I honor the place where your funny and my bone become one. Namaste.
First you could stream the yesterday's keynote, then you could download it via iTunes, and now you can stream it in HD. Nothing beats seeing an Apple presentation in HD, you can almost smell the Old Spice on Phil Schiller.
Normally I wouldn't even post about this, but several people have commented on the way Steve Jobs looked during his keynote yesterday. Most folks seemed to think that he looked a little thinner than usual, which of course makes one think back to his battle with cancer. An Apple PR person assured the Wall Street Journal that Steve has been fighting a 'common bug' for the last few weeks, and he is on the mend.
Everyone here at TUAW hopes Steve feels better soon! We should probably send him an iCard before they go away.
Apple has posted video of Steve Jobs' keynote presentation this morning. The video is available via QuickTime, and covers all the announcements of the iPhone 3G, the App Store, MobileMe, and more.
Gizmodo is reporting that "sources close to the 3G launch" have provided confirmation that the iPhone 3G will be announced at the WWDC 2008 Keynote on June 9th. While this does sound a lot like a rumor, other factors such as nonexistent stocks of first-generation iPhones, the flurry of non-US iPhone launch announcements last week, and the all-but-confirmed Steve Jobs keynote all point to something big.
Gizmodo also speculates that European launch dates are scheduled to follow close on the heels of the US announcement, with iPhone 3G availability in Spain at the grand opening of the Telefonica megastore in Madrid on June 18th.
June 9th sounds good to me, since I can buy my wife an iPhone 3G for our 29th anniversary on that day! What's your take on the iPhone 3G rumor du jour? Give it a reality check by taking our poll:
Tip 'o the TUAW Stetson to Sharvil for pointing this out!
Not only does being shown in an iPod commercial lead to fame and fortune for many artists, but Canadian singer Leslie Feist apparently got something else out of the deal: she got American citizenship. We have no idea how that works, but she says as much in this clip of her appearing on Stephen Colbert's show. When he mentions that she's from the Great White North, she says that she's actually a dual citizen now. Colbert asks if Steve Jobs really stepped up to make her an American and she says yes, that's pretty much how it worked: "They offered me citizenship, that was part of it."
Is she joking? Or has Jobsy actually got the ear of the government now and is giving out citizenships as part of Apple contracts? Either way, we know this: Leslie Feist rocks. We'll have her as a citizen any day, via a backroom Apple deal or otherwise.
As we noted earlier this week Apple purchased of the chip design firm P. A. Semi and speculation has been rampant about what it all means. Well the Journal is reporting that Jobs spoke recently about Apple's relationship with Intel saying: "We have a great partnership with Intel. We expect that to continue forever." He further suggested that the acquisition was mainly to improve chips to go in portable devices and dismissed speculation about a return to the Power PC platform (the technology on which P. A. Semi's designs are based).
ComputerWorld's Preston Gralla posted a blog entry titled, Five reasons why Vista beats Mac OS X. Clearly, this was link-bait, but you know what, I'll bite.
And although I vehemently disagree with the post's title and assertion, I want to make it clear that I'm not coming at this from the typical rabid Mac-fangirl stance. Until August of last year, I still used a PC as my primary computer (I used Macs at school and for creative work); I used to work as a PC technician. In our TUAW backchannel chat, I'm usually the first person to take the "don't knee-jerkingly attack the PC" stance.
Still, it was impossible to read the post and NOT respond. Let's take a look at Mr. Gralla's arguments and dissect them one-by-one.
As part of their feature on Apple we noted earlier in the week, Fortune magazine also has an interview with Steve Jobs that's definitely worth a look. Though frankly a bit annoying to page through, it's chock full of Uncle Steve goodness. There's quite a bit of interesting background on some of Apple's biggest business decisions over the last few years. It's definitely worth a read if you're interested in how the CEO of the most-admired company in the country thinks.
In addition, there's also a story by Fortune editor Peter Elkind on The trouble with Steve Jobs. It comes off a bit like sour grapes in places, but nonetheless is also worth the time.
Where's all that cash that Apple made from the iPhone and all those iPods, Macs, and iTunes downloads last year going? Why, right into Apple's mattress. According to the Financial Times, Apple currently has $18 billion sitting on their balance sheet, doing nothing much at all. And they're OK with that -- Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer recently said in the Q1 conference call that they like having that "flexibility." And after all, you never know when you might need to drop $18 billion on something important.
All that money doing nothing isn't so great for Apple's investors though, some of whom apparently want a piece of the pie. They might like to see dividends, stock buybacks, or even actual spending come out of that on Apple's part (later in the piece, I'm surprised to see that Apple only spends 3% of their sales on R&D, while Microsoft spends 14%). But no -- Apple is flush with cash from all their big sales numbers, and they want to apparently stay that way.
We've been sipping green tea in celebration here at TUAW HQ. Why? In honour of one Steven Paul Jobs, no less, for today just happens to be everyone's favourite CEO's 53rd birthday.
With 10 hugely successful years in the modern-era Apple saddle, let's hope there's many, many more of those to come. Happy Birthday Steve, from all of us at TUAW.
And they found ... not that much. There's something not-quite-right about these snapshots purportedly from inside Apple's Cupertino campus. They look like they come from almost anywhere -- despite the plentiful Apple products (and one notable Microsoft natural keyboard), there's no major signs of genius -- no "the crazy ones" posters, iTablet prototypes lying around, or "how to act around His Steveness" employee pamphlets. Could it be that the people who work at Apple are, strangely enough, just like us?
No, surely not. These pictures are also a bit out of date, we're told, as rumor has it that the front lobby always shows off the new products, not the old iMacs. So clearly these snaps are from the late '90s, when the rest of us were using beige boxes and OS 9 to compute, and only Apple employees had the luxury of using thin keyboards and horizontal LCDs gone vertical (madness!) in their super-futuristic office space. There: our worldview is back to normal. As normal as it gets, anyway.
Jim Dalrymple at Macworld notes that the iPhone software update from Monday was mostly to handle issues with dropped calls on new iPhone 3G handsets. According to an Associated Press article, the update "improved communication with 3G networks," said Apple spokesperson Jennifer Bowcock.
Is it even possible? Forbes 
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Normally I wouldn't even post about this, but several people have commented on the way Steve Jobs looked during his 
Apple has posted 
As we 
ComputerWorld's Preston Gralla posted a blog entry titled, 
As part of their 
Where's all that cash that Apple made from the iPhone and all those iPods, Macs, and iTunes downloads last year going? Why, right into Apple's mattress. According to 
