If you ever wondered why Apple is banking on software to set the iPhone apart from other smartphones, take a look at the new iPhone app “Nearest Tube.”
When you launch this app, the screen shows a live video feed of whatever’s in front of you, as if you were looking through the viewfinder of a camera, for example. Except, superimposed over that video are arrows showing where and how far away the nearest Tube stations are (it was developed for the London Underground). As you turn your iPhone, the program adjusts and shows you other Tube stations, always organized by distance and color-coded to match the Tube line.
Dope. Dope. Dope.
Nearest Tube is currently waiting approval from the App Store. Via Gizmodo.
Between now and the time that the billionth purchase is made, anyone who buys an app from the App Store or enters without purchase is eligible for the sole grand prize:
$10,000 (!) iTunes Gift Card
32 GB iPod touch
Time Capsule
MacBook Pro
Certainly setting the shuffle apart from its competitors is the introduction of VoiceOver:
VoiceOver is the exciting new feature that makes iPod shuffle the first music player that talks to you. It entirely changes the way you browse and navigate your music. Say you’re listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. With the press of a button, VoiceOver tells you—without interrupting your music.
But the fun doesn’t stop with songs. For the first time ever on an iPod shuffle, you can have multiple playlists, because VoiceOver announces their names, too. So you can easily find the right mix without taking your eyes off your run, your ride, or whatever you’re doing.
Additionally, virtually all controls are now relegated to the earbuds’ in-cord remote:
That’s a neat trick, except for everyone that owns higher-quality third-party earbuds (me).
The new 4GB (~1000 songs) iPod Shuffle sells for $79 and is available in black or gray. The second generation Shuffle (1GB/$49) is also still available.
(This really reminds me of the SNL episode where Steve Jobs appeared on Weekend Updated to introduce the iPod Mirco (and later Inviso – “an iPod so small it cannot be seen by the naked eye”). I looked forever for the video but alas, it’s not online.)
Franz Ferdinand’s third LP, “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand,” came out over a month ago but it wasn’t until I kept hearing the below iPod touch commercial that I got hooked on the second single:
Apple has released a new version of it’s Safari web browser and they’re claiming it is once again the fastest browser available.
Some of the new features in this version are a relocated tab toolbar, “smart” address and search fields, full page zoom, a “top sites” feature, and a native look for Windows users.
Additionally, “Safari is the first — and only — web browser to pass Acid 3. Acid 3 tests a browser’s ability to fully render pages using the web standards used to build dynamic, next-generation websites, including CSS, JavaScript, XML, and SVG.”
The world’s largest software company has announced that they will start operating retail locations but failed to note what products would be on sale, when they would open, or how many they would open.
So, why exactly did you issue a press release again?
While the X Box commands decent shelf space in gaming stores, Zunes are often ignored by sales people in favor of the iPod. Thus, these new Microsoft stores could provide a forum for the company to push items that resellers won’t push themselves. Since the X Box and the Zune are the only (?) pieces of hardware Microsoft manufactures themselves, it will be interesting to see what partnerships they forge with hardware manufacturers (Dell, HP, etc.) to highlight Vista or Windows 7, which I’m sure they’ll want to have on display; it may create some interesting bed fellows.
That said, I’m not convinced that Microsoft can create even a remotely interesting retail experience, even by non-Apple standards.
The NY Times is reporting that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will take a leave of absence because his health-related issues are “more complex” than originally believed. COO Tim Cook will serve as the interim CEO.
Jobs, who is considered synonymous with Apple, has repeatedly been the target of speculation about his health and recently stated that he was suffering from a horomonal imbalance. It will be interesting to see how Apple stocks open at the morning bell.
“When he does go, he will be remembered as a tremendous genius — but also as a petulant narcissist with a grandiose sense of his importance and a sadly limited view of the world around him.”
So writes David Lyons in the Washington Post about Steve Jobs. On Mr. Jobs’s successor, Mr. Lyons draws an interesting comparison to Bill Gates, who was also synonymous with the company he used to run. Full article.
Posted by Mark 
$10,000 (!) iTunes Gift Card
Posted by Mark 
Posted by Mark 
The world’s largest software company has 
