Microsoft Windows 7, the Starter Edition

Channel Insider has an article up discussing the pros and cons of Microsoft’s plans as far as netbooks and the upcoming Windows 7. Specifically, they discuss the Windows 7 Starter Edition, which is going to be a stripped-down version of the “regular” Windows 7 versions/distributions. One of the worst aspects of the Starter Edition will be the fact that it only allows for three applications to be run concurrently.

There will also be some advanced features missing, which I don’t think will be as important (for most) as the three application limit, but CI makes a good case for the Windows 7 Starter Edition versus the Windows XP Home edition that ships with many current netbooks:

The big question is, Will customers be willing to pay for an OS that is arguably less capable than Windows XP Home edition, which is currently found on the majority of netbook computers? Netbooks have proved to be a challenge for Microsoft—the company has had to make special exceptions to get netbook vendors to put a Microsoft OS on those systems, the end result being a step backward down to Windows XP.

They point out what many of us have experienced - where Vista ran poorly on ultraportable netbooks/sub-notebooks, Windows 7 (beta) runs much better and provides for a better overall experience, even when compared to the performance of XP Home (especially in the networking area).

They do make a crucial point that Microsoft can’t ignore: If Microsoft (and the manufacturers who will be working on what editions are shipped with various netbook models) botch it and start pushing out netbooks with the Starter Edition, Apple could very well gain quite a bit with the release of their own netbook. Chances are high that any netbook shipping from Apple is going to ship with a version of Mac OS X that resembles what you see with the MacBook and with the Mac mini (and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the same OS X that ships on their consumer products). Apple is very proud of the fact that they’ve managed to scale OS X down to the iPhone, and you also have a huge unofficial (highly unofficial) group of netbook users who have worked out how to install OS X on just about every type of netbook you can imagine. OS X runs well on these devices. Apple also makes use (or has in the past) of the fact that they basically have two versions of OS X they ship (three if you count the iPhone) - the consumer/client version, and the server version. They don’t have a Home or a Home Premium or a Professional or a Business or an Ultimate version.

Microsoft takes a huge risk when trying to push a version of Windows 7 that would restrict you to three applications, and Channel Insider mentions the advertising benefits that Apple would reap:

How will Apple respond to the launch of Windows 7 Starter Edition? I can picture the cute commercials now. Imagine a Mac commercial where the PC guy is shown juggling a couple of balls, the Mac Guy walks in juggling dozens of balls and throws one ball in the PC Guy’s direction, and the PC Guy drops everything

The ads would write themselves, as many American consumers have not experienced a “Starter” edition of Microsoft Windows, and would be extremely upset to find out after the fact that their netbooks with Windows 7 can’t do as much as their netbooks with Windows XP. Retailers would not be happy with Microsoft or the manufacturers, as they would bear the brunt of consumer anger and confusion.

Read: Channel Insider

Apple’s Netbook, AT&T’s 3G Upgrades

Commercial Times/Digitimes is reporting that Foxconn Electronics (as it’s known in the US, Hon Hai Precision Industry as it’s known elsewhere) could be the potential supplier for an Apple Mac OS X-based netbook.

Foxconn and Apple have a relationship that goes back several years, and they’ve manufactured either partially, or in whole, devices for Apple that include iPhones, MacBook Airs, Mac minis, along with some iPods, so it makes sense that they are in the running for this.

Something that maybe slightly related - on the heels of AT&T offering netbooks with mobile data plans, Telephony Online is reporting that AT&T is working on upgrading its existing 3G networks up to a 7.2Mb/s speed. The improvements that could potentially double current speeds/capacity are software-based, designed to boost its 3G network before its eventual move over to a 4G network.

Telephony Online claims that it’s centered around the downlink capacity. The article mentions that most laptop cards (and presumably USB adapters), as well as smartphones and iPhones that AT&T currently offers, can handle the increased capacity.

Should AT&T’s plans to offer netbooks with mobile data plans prove successful, along with iPhone OS 3.0 coming out in the not-too-distant future, the increased capacity should be put to the test. Already Skype has been rolled out to the iPhone (although WiFi access is needed for VOIP), and an iPhone-based Hulu.com client is in the works as well.

Read:
- DigiTimes
- Telephony Online
via AppleInsider

Steve Jobs Overseeing Ultraportable Apple / Mac?

With the announcement last month of a major update to Apple’s iPhone OS (version 3.0), a lot more of us began to wonder about whether Apple would be scaling the iPhone’s interface up to something larger, perhaps netbook-sized. Keep in mind that the iPhone is running a scaled-down version of Mac OS X, which runs on the normal Mac product range (MacBooks, etc.). The iPhone update included the fabled copy-and-paste, more support for landscape mode in various applications, increased Spotlight functionality, increased functionality/access for the internal mapping functions/hardware, and official access to 3rd party hardware accessories, and a lot more, all of which would be handy/necessary for something slightly larger.

AppleInsider is reporting on a Wall Street Journal article as well as some past rumors/information that even while Steve Jobs is working from home after taking a medical break from Apple, he’s still overseeing a lot of the major projects currently in progress at Apple, including a device from Apple that is “smaller than its current laptop computers but bigger than the iPhone or iPod Touch”.

Back in October of last year, Jobs made some interesting comments about netbook-sized Macs:

“As we look at the netbook category, that’s a nascent category. As best as we can tell, there’s not a lot of them being sold. You know, one of our entrants into that category if you will is the iPhone, for browsing the Internet, and doing email and all the other things that a netbook lets you do. And being connected via the cellular network wherever you are, an iPhone is a pretty good solution for that, and it fits in your pocket.

“But we’ll wait and see how that nascent category evolves, and we have got some pretty interesting ideas if it does evolve…”

A few months later, in January of this year, during Apple’s first quarter 2009 financial results conference call, Tim Cook, who is filling in for Jobs, had the following to say:

“We’re watching that space, but right now from our point of view, the products in there are principally based on hardware that’s much less powerful than we think customers want, software technology that is not good, cramped keyboards, small displays…. We don’t think people will be pleased with those products. It’s a category we watch, we’ve got some ideas here, but right now we think the products are inferior and will not provide an experience to customers they’re happy with.”

Since that time, there have been some major developments in “that space” that Apple woudl be watching. The market will soon have the NVIDIA Ion platform which provides the kind of hardware acceleration and performance Apple would want in an ultraportable device (and which would closely match the NVIDIA hardware already present in the MacBook and Mac mini line, simplifying some development costs/issues).

You also have AT&T, Apple’s partner with the iPhone in the US, offering a wide range of subsidized netbooks with 3G/mobile broadband packages. Finally, you have low-cost netbooks/ultraportable laptops that are selling incredibly well and gaining mainstream acceptance from both the public and brick-and-mortar retailers such as Office Depot and Best Buy.

The Wall Street Journal article mentions that Jobs was heavily involved in laying out iPhone OS 3.0, and Apple Insider mentions that there have been reports of Apple ordering 10-inch touchscreen displays. The price on touchscreen displays in the 9-inch and 10-inch range should be dropping this year, as devices such as the 8.9-inch touchscreen/convertible Asus Eee PC T91 Touch are produced.

Read:
- Wall Street Journal
via AppleInsider

Dell Adamo - Users Can’t Replace Battery

Pocket-lint is reporting that the new 13.4-inch Dell Adamo does not have a user-replaceable battery. At this time, Dell hasn’t mentioned any costs associated with a new or replacement battery.

This mirrors the 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Air as well as Apple’s high-end 17-inch MacBook Pro.

As Pocket-lint points out, this means people won’t be able to hot-swap batteries, and will have to send them in to Dell to have the battery serviced/replaced.

When you look at the MacBook Air, Dell’s decision does makes sense, when you take into account just how thin the Adamo is. The Adamo is only 0.65 inches (16.51mm) thick, while the MacBook Air is 0.16 - 0.76 inches (4 - 19.4 mm). When you are designing something this thin and light and ultraportable, certain sacrifices have to be made in order to fit a battery that has an acceptable amount of battery life, and removing the mechanism(s) involved in user-replaceable batteries does help.

Read: Pocket-lint

Apple iPhone OS 3.0 - A Major Upgrade

Today, Apple previewed the upcoming update to the iPhone and iPod Touch software - iPhone OS 3.0.

It includes over 1,000 new APIs for iPhone developers to work with, including support for new features as well as older features that were considered off-limits to developers.

More importantly, at least from the consumer/end-user perspective, it offers some really additions that consumers have been asking for, including official tethering (although Apple is still working with mobile providers on how to handle tethering) as well as Copy and Paste between applications, and MMS support.

Phil Schiller described the iPhone software updates:

“The new iPhone OS 3.0 is a major software release packed with incredible new features and innovations for iPhone customers and developers alike…It will keep us years ahead of the competition.”

New features for consumers/end-users:
- Official support for tethering (important for those of us wanting to tether our laptops to our iPhones)
- Copy & Paste between applications
- MMS/Multimedia messaging
- Landscape mode added for built-in applications such as Mail, Notes, and Text Edit.
- Push notification
- Search/spotlight functionality increased (search Mail, notes, text, iPod library)
- Voice memo capabiltilies

New features for developers:
- Access to 3rd party hardware accessories
- Updates for working with the internal mapping functions
- Purchase/subscription content from within an application (rather than exiting to the App Store)
- Peer-to-peer connections based on Bonjour
- Access to iPod music library

Apple also announced that they’ve now sold 17 million iPhones, as well as over 13 million iPod Touch units. The App Store now has more than 25,000 applications available for download/purchase, and the number of countries available for the App Store has been raised to 77 countries.

You can watch the presentation here: Events.Apple.com

AppleInsider has a good summary of the changes. They’ve also posted their first impressions.

Apple - OLED for Netbooks?

On top of the rumors already floating around, Smarthouse published an article last week claiming that not only is Apple close to launching a touch screen-based netbook, but that they have been looking at using OLED display technology for both the display and a keyboard.

Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology is relatively new technology. OLEDs transmit less light than traditional LEDs, however they don’t require backlights. This allows them to draw a lot less power, and when compared to conventional LED-backlight displays running on the same battery, they have a much longer battery life. Because they don’t need a backlight, they are also substantially thinner.

Their sources claim that Apple is mixing touchscreen-oriented features both from iPhones as well as MacBooks (multi-touch touchpads), and they have had meetings with Sony about licensing Sony’s OLED technology for Apple products. One of the analysts mentioned calls it “an iPod Touch on steroids”. They also claim that Apple has been looking at SDX flash memory.

The sources mention that this new ultraportable/netbook will probably not be ready until sometime in the second half of 2009, with some analysts mentioning as late as October (which would be in time for the Christmas/New Year holidays).

It’s an interesting rumor/story. Apple clearly doesn’t want to “race to the bottom” and compete with Acer and Asus and HP (as well as Dell) in the cheaper part of the netbook/ultraportable market. Chances are they’d much rather have a device available for those wanting such a small form factor, while at the same time retaining some unique features that put them more into competition with the 8″ Sony VAIO P Series. Having an OLED display would allow them to either have substantially longer battery life, or to reduce the size of the battery needed (thereby reducing the weight).

Read: Smarthouse

Apple iPhone OS 3.0 - Copy and Paste, Multi-Tasking?

In a follow-up to this week’s upcoming iPhone OS 3.0 announcement, there are plenty of rumors and comments flying around.

At South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, Kevin Rose, Digg founder, is claiming that the “centerpiece” of the upcoming OS 3.0 announcement would be copying and pasting text, as well as multi-tasking.

He believes that much of the efforts that Apple has been putting into the iPhone are to match some of the software advantages/advances available in the Palm Pre. He also said that video capture was out.

Gizmodo is claiming similar information from other sources.

They also claim that MMS will not be added at this time.

Nobody can seem to confirm whether or not tethering to laptops/notebooks will be allowed. Given that it’s already been proven to be relatively easy to add (through jailbreaking of iPhones), and that AT&T has been interested in it, it’s probably going to roll out when AT&T has a grasp on how to handle usage. Obviously tethering would not fall under the current iPhone data contracts, since a tethered laptop/notebook could easily blow through 5GB in a matter of days.

Read:
- AppleInsider
- Gizmodo

iPhone OS 3.0 Announcement - March 17, 2009

First off, this is not the release of Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0. Some people have taken it as a sign that it would be released then. What it is, is a media event where Apple is going to discuss the iPhone OS 3.0, which should be a very significant upgrade. A lot of us with smartphones have been interested in some kind of tethering plan for laptops/notebooks, and it could be announced then.

There will be a look at the new OS, and a look at the Software Development Kit (SDK aka devkit). The SDK has apparently undergone several changes as well. According to Engadget, Apple is calling this an “advance preview of what we’re building”

It’ll be at 10am PST (1PM EST, 12PM CST).

Potential features:
- Possible Push Notification
- MMS Messaging Support
- Tethering to laptops/notebooks/etc. (allowing those devices to share the iPhones data connection)
- 3rd party applications running in the background (which could be take the place of push notification)
- GPS upgrades

Out of those three, I would say tethering will happen for sure - back in November, AT&T mentioned that official iPhone tethering plans were being worked on. They were firm on that. The functionality was there if you were willing to “jailbreak” your iPhone as it is. AppleInsider reports that it will use Bluetooth on the iPhone, attaching to a USB device on a computer, and that AT&T would be offering a new/separate contract for such tethering. This would be in addition to the contract for unlimited on-device browsing (since a laptop/notebook could pull down much more data over AT&T’s 3G and Edge networks than an iPhone could in normal or even semi-heavy use).

I doubt anything about a potential touchscreen-based Apple netbook will be mentioned.

Speaking of Apple, they’ve released their new 4GB iPod Shuffle this week, and ifixit already has a tear-down.

Read:
- AppleInsider
- Engadget

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