Apple Thoughts - News & Reviews on all things Apple

I'm thrilled to announce the newest member of the Thoughts Media family: Android Thoughts. As you can guess, this site will be covering Android in all it's forms - phones, slates, etc. The site is being led by none other than our very own Jon Westfall; he'll be handling all editorial duties on the site, similar to how Apple Thoughts works. Android has exploded in popularity over the past 12 months, surpassing even the mighty iPhone in terms of daily activations according to some. It made sense to cover Android as part of what we do here at Thoughts Media, but I wanted to find someone who was passionate and interested in all things Android...and that person is Jon Westfall. Please go read his welcome message on the site to find out how Android Thoughts was born - and subscribe to the RSS feed and Twitter stream. And, above all, if you're interested in Android as a platform, contribute, share, comment, and become a part of that new community.

"Dieter's at the IFA show in Berlin, Germany and he's scored us a first look at mophie's upcoming juice pack air for iPhone 4. It's got soft touch paint and they claim ZERO signal degredation because the entire PCB board is on the bottom, so there are no electronics around the antenna."

I've been waiting for this to come out! I have one that I used on my 3GS with great results, and this one looks even better. It will sell for $79.95 USD and will be available within the week. They will also have it available in black red, white and green. From the pics it appears to add quite a bit of thickness to the iPhone 4 however, so I'll have to get a look in person at the real thing once it comes out (this one was prototype apparently).

"Ars got the official word from an Apple spokesperson: there will be no new software update for old AppleTVs. That means no sexy Netflix, though you'll be able to keep on buying movies and TV shows instead of renting."

It was kind of buried in the overview article at Ars Technica where they note "We confirmed with an Apple spokesperson that the maximum HD resolution of the Apple TV is 720p, consistent with recent rumors. Additionally, there will be no software update to bring the new features to older Apple TVs. Older Apple TVs will continue to work as they have been working up to this point, and they will continue to be able to purchase movies and TV shows even though the new Apple TV is rental-only." It was also something that I wondered about since I have one of the original Apple TVs and now I know, I can't update my Apple TV so I'll have to buy one of the new ones to get the enhanced features. Disappointing but not entirely unexpected with new devices, backward compatibility has to end at some point yes?

"The lack of an official, native version of the Twitter client for the iPad has been a puzzling omission, but now the big blue bird has set things right, having pushed their native iPad app to iTunes."

I've been waiting for this for a while (along with an official Facebook app for iPad, which has yet to make an appearance). I didn't get a lot of time to play with it this morning, but so far, I like it. The interface is a little quirky, and takes some getting used to, but it really is a great twitter app. If you're as much of a twitter fan as I am, you'll probably want to give this a try. The official Twitter app for iPad is free.

"As usual, Steve Jobs began his Apple music event keynote today by giving a breakdown of iOS devices sold to date - 120,000,000. It took them from June 2007 to June 2010 to reach 100,000,000 and only 3 months to add another 20,000,000 on top of that. Jobs also said they're activating new devices at a rate of 230,000 a day."

A not too subtle jab at Google when Steve said "if we counted upgrades in our numbers they'd be way higher than 230,000." Google of course had a response to this which was "The Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services." I guess Google and Jobs are interpreting data differently?

"It's billed as 'One More Hobby.' It hasn't been a big hit, but those who used the Apple TV have shown affection for the device and provided Apple with valued feedback. Apple took this feedback and retooled the Apple TV into a smaller form-factor that clocks in at 1/4th the size of its first-generation sibling."

Honestly, I was happier to see a new AppleTV than I was to see new iPods. The fact that Apple was able to reach the $99 price point is amazing. While I'd wish it had the ability to add apps for increased functionality, I was happy to see that Netflix was added. There aren't many of us who own AppleTVs, but we tend to be loyal to our little boxes. The lack of any storage means you can only rent streaming content on the new device, but you can stream any iTunes content on your computer to the new AppleTV as well. The AppleTV is available for pre-order now. Is anybody else as excited about this as I am?

"Perhaps more than any other device in Apple's electronics arsenal, the iPod nano has changed dramatically over the years. Birthed as the iPod Mini, the first generation nano rounded off and slightly shrank the design, while adding a color screen."

This was one change that I really didn't get from yesterday's event. But then again, I think that has been the problem with the Nano all along, just where does it fit in the iPod mix. As you can see from all the various changes, perhaps Apple has been wondering this same thing as it has taken on many forms over the years. What are your thoughts? Do you think the Nano change is good? Bad? Too close to the Shuffle?

"As revealed yesterday, The latest version of Apple's iTunes media-managing software, iTunes 10, is now available to download through Software Update or via direct download..."

I updated to iTunes 10 last night, and I have to say: I love it. My only complaint is that the Ping feature doesn't have sub-accounts for family members. My partner and I use the same account for iTunes, but that means we only get one Ping account as well. I'm sure this is something Apple will fix in the future. Cult of Mac goes through a list of all the interface changes to iTunes 10. Have you updated to iTunes 10, and if so, what do you think?

"Too busy to read our liveblog coverage of Apple's September iPod Event? Everything you need to know about Apple's new products is below the fold, including details about the new iPod Shuffle, Nano, iPod Touch, AppleTV, iTunes and iOS update."

Pretty good summary of yesterday's Apple event, in case you weren't following along on any number of the live blogs or the live streaming by Apple. As you may have guessed, I was pretty excited about the Apple TV portion and I think they are on the right track with it. The price point is low enough, I think, that this will become more than just a "hobby" for Apple, and topping it off with the Netflix integration is icing on the cake. Definitely a big step in the right direction. The other high point for me was the update to iTunes with Ping. Seems like a logical way to keep track of your favorite artists and find out information on their next concert. The social aspect of it wasn't that big of a deal for me, but I can see how it might be for others. And of course the fixing of the proximity sensor was a big deal, especially since reports had it that it would not be fixed with this update. How about you? What were your highlights from yesterday's event?

"Another promising sign for e-books. The electronic version of a recently-released mystery novel outsold the hardcover version, according to the publisher, HarperCollins.

The thriller by Laura Lippman, "I'd Know You Anywhere," which hit bookstands Aug. 17 sold 4,739 e-books versus 4,000 hardcover versions during the first five days the title was available. However, there's no mystery why e-book sales are edging out physical book purchases."

No surprise that eBook sales are in ascent, despite the somewhat misleading title of the referenced article. Harper Collins has seen their eBook sales double in the last year, (but) today comprising (only) about 8 percent of their sales. Why, you may ask? One theory: A positive review gets posted online, and readers are immediately able to buy (acquire/download) the book online, 24x7, at a variety of sources. No more waiting for the bookstore to open at 10am tomorrow. No more "out of stock." Regardless of the platform, the book is often immediately available online, whether you're using a Kindle (number one!), a Nook, a Sony Reader, something else, or an iBooks-capable device. Instant gratification. In an attempt to appease print publishers losing revenue over sales of eBooks, Apple has offered to add iAds to books sold by Apple, but this idea has been rejected by publishers - so far. I'm a pretty avid reader, and I try to find new books online before browsing the bookshelves in bricks-and-mortar stores, but I don't think that eBooks will overtake printed books until a eBook reader arrives on the scene that is affordable to everyone. What do you believe is a realistic price point for "the eReader for the rest of us?" $29? $49? $99?