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MacHeist Confirms Tweetie 2 for Mac Is Still Coming→

MacHeist Confirms Tweetie 2 for Mac Is Still Coming

Ev’s tweet even took me by a bit of a surprise because we’ve been in contact with Loren Brichter (@lorenb), developer of Tweetie, ever since the bundle happened and even though Twitter has acquired his company,Atebits, he’s still been working on Tweetie 2 for Mac. If you carefully read Ev’s tweet, you’ll see that he was careful with the language and “not something we’re actively investing in” doesn’t at all mean that the app is in any way dead. In fact, we’ve confirmed with Loren that it’s alive and well and he’s still progressing on Tweetie 2, even though with the acquisition and his new responsibilities, it’s taking longer than he originally anticipated. It’s also worth noting that he’s added another developer to help him move things along.

And it should be free. MacHeist users will get access to an early beta.

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Mozilla Challenges Apple & Google With a New Decentralized App Store Platform→

Mozilla Challenges Apple & Google With a New Decentralized App Store Platform

Open Web Apps, the organization says, are hybrid of the web’s openness and the desktop’s convenience, access to hardware capabilities and more. The Store Framework will enable an unlimited number of interoperable App Stores to be hosted by anyone, and compete based on quality of user experience. The apps distributed through these stores can be free or paid and can run on any browser that supports HTML5, including mobile browsers.

Sounds a lot like a bigger version of the extension gallery to me, but good luck with that. Please notice the use of the word “integrated” in the video.

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The Cost Of 14 Million iPhones→

The Cost Of 14 Million iPhones

Great observations by Turley Muller about blockbuster iPhone sales and drop in gross margin:

Where in the hell did Apple get that production capability? There is no way Apple could have turned out 14.1M units without materially added expense.

The 3GS benefited from no change in form factor, thus the molds. tooling, assembly process didn’t change.  iPhone 4 required a significant modification to the production process.

With more units sold come more expenses. If you add that the iPhone 4 required a complete change in the manufacturing process, well you get the idea. About the iPad:

I can envision a scenario where Apple would desire to announce lower iPad units just to keep entrants from salivating.

Take iPod for example – very expensive, only worked with Macs (latest with firewire). Then USB solution came, but still PCs didn’t have iTunes, thus significant work arounds required. Nobody took Apple seriously on iPod – too expensive & minute addressable market.

Couple, three years later – all in rapid succession – Apple releases iTunes for Windows, iTunes Music Store, cut prices and introduced the iPod mini. Within 9-12 months iPod share exploded from 20-30% to 70-80%.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple adopted this strategy once again. They let others think it’s a very niche product, then they blow the competition out of the water by constantly iterating. The question is: can they really play this game with almost 8 million units sold in 6 months?

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Complete Transcript Of Today’s Steve Jobs Statements→

Complete Transcript Of Today’s Steve Jobs Statements

This one pretty much sums it all up:

Nokia makes $50 handsets, and we don’t know how to make a great smartphone for $50. We’re not smart enough to have figured that one out yet, but believe me I’ll let you know when we do. And so our goal is to make really breakthrough great products, make the best products in every industry that we compete in, and to drive the cost down while constantly making the products better at the same time. That’s what we did with iPod. We updated our products many times every year with better functionality, often times at same price and sometimes at a lower price. And it was the relentless improvement at in some cases a lower price, that was able to beat our competition and yield the market share that it did.

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iPad As The New Flash→

iPad As The New Flash

Jeffrey Zeldman:

Too many designers and publishers see the iPad as an opportunity to do all the wrong things—things they once did in Flash—without the taint of Flash.

Everything we’ve learned in the past decade about preferring open standards to proprietary platforms and user-focused interfaces to masturbatory ones is forgotten as designers and publishers once again scramble to create novelty interfaces no one but them cares about.

While some of this will lead to useful innovation, particularly in the area of gestural interfaces, that same innovation can just as readily be accomplished on websites built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—and the advantage of creating websites instead of iPad apps is that websites work for everyone, on browsers and devices at all price points. That, after all, is the point of the web. It’s the point of web standards and progressive enhancement.

But the iPad supports open web standards. More than hoping in Apple’s tablet to save their magazines, I think publishers just want to make a shitload of money out of iPad apps. It’s that simple.

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Fight the Dangers of Distraction On Your Mac→

Fight the Dangers of Distraction On Your Mac

Does this mean we should all cancel our Twitter accounts, stop checking email and throw our iPhones in the trash? No, we just need to exercise some moderation. Consistently spend some time concentrating on doing one thing and ignore distractions. Not only will our brains thank you in the long run, but in the short term, you’ll see performance improve, too. Of course, doing it is easier said than done. Luckily, technology can give us all a little SelfControl.

Good tips. Didn’t know about this app.

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iPad Makes Its Way to the Farthest Reaches of the Earth→

iPad Makes Its Way to the Farthest Reaches of the Earth

Pitcairn Island is currently home to about 60 people and is one of the most remote and inaccessible inhabited locations in the world, with its only regular physical connection to the outside world coming from a cargo and passenger ship that makes a total of eight visits per year to the island. Rare visits from cruise ships also bring occasional visitors to the island.

So color us a bit surprised when Andrew contacted us to let us know that he is now the proud owner of a 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad, the only one on Pitcairn Island. Andrew tells us that he made contact with a woman from New York who had arranged for a visit to Pitcairn Island on a cruise ship traveling from Tahiti to Easter Island and who asked if there was anything she could bring him. As an Apple fan with a 17” PowerBook and Power Mac G5 already in his possession, Andrew requested an iPad. Two months later, the visitor arrived and presented Andrew with his iPad.

Possibly the best iPad story I’ve heard so far. I mean, it’s here.

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How Much Money Can You Make On The App Store?→

How Much Money Can You Make On The App Store?

Dylan Ginsburg, developer of River of News for iPad (which I reviewed here), quits his day job to become a full-time iOS developer. As a first step, he posts the results of RoN in the App Store so far.

“OK, what about satisfaction with my work? I don’t have a chart for that but I don’t think I need one. Developing River of News has been the most rewarding “work” of my life. It’s not even close. My sleeping is all screwed up because I keep thinking about how I can make my software better. That’s right, “my software.” What a great thing to be able to say. I’ve gotten such tremendous satisfaction from creating something that people use and like.

Less money, more satisfaction. What do I do?

I resigned from my job this week. My employer treated me well and I thank them but I’ve got a shot to do something amazing and I’m not going to pass it up. If I can be successful at this then all I need to earn a living is a laptop and an internet connection. I can do that anywhere in the world and on my own schedule. Wow. That’s a life changer.”

It is indeed. $20,000 in two months is not bad, but he could get a lot more with full-time development. I bet he will. Also, developers:

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I’ve always had a reliable salary and a good standard of living. But I’m taking my shot.”

It’s stories like this one that keep the App Store running. Take your shot.

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iPad Gives Special Needs Kids a Boost→

iPad Gives Special Needs Kids a Boost

Before she got an iPad at age two, Caleigh Gray couldn’t respond to yes-or-no questions. Now Caleigh, who has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, uses a $190 software application that speaks the words associated with pictures she touches on Apple Inc.’s device.

“We’re not having to fight to prove to people that she is a smart little girl anymore, because it’s there once they see her using the iPad,” said Caleigh’s mother, Holly Gray, who said her daughter can use the tablet to identify colors or ask to go outside.

Incredible.

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