Last week after a fair amount of expectant hype Apple announced an updated iPod range with new versions across every model. The biggest changes where reserved for the new Nano which got a new shape, a whole range of colours and some neat new features courtesy of the accelerometer previously only seen in the iPhone and iPod Touch. The Nano is also now apparently much more eco-friendly with Apple claiming it is now “very recyclable”.

IPod Touch

The second generation iPod Touch was also announced and if you read this blog on a regular basis you will know I believe the iPhone and iPod Touch to be a computing platform and the closest we have come yet to reaching convergence of phone/computer/media player/games machine into one unit.  This release is more of an evolution rather than a revolution with some fairly minor updates. The iTouch is now thinner, has been given a built in speaker and boasts new separate volume control buttons on the side. The volume controls are an important addition as on the older version if an applications available on the App store didn’t provide a “soft” control you had no way to control the output volume.

WiFi and App Store

The thing that in my mind though that really makes this platform more attractive is the combination of best in class WiFi Internet access and the ever increasing offerings, from games to small business applications, that are available from the App Store.  Of course these are available on the old model as well, so there is probably nothing new that would require an upgrade from an old version. But the fact that new version is being sold cheaper then the old suggests that there will be some good reductions on the older models of the iPod Touch over the next month or so.

There has been a lot of noise in the news this past few days about the release of Apple’s new 3G iPhone (unfortunately still not available here in Dubai).  While the second generation iPhone improves nicely on the previous version with its cheaper price and 3G capability, from a computing point of view I find the launch of Apple’s new App Store is a lot more interesting.

App Store

Why? Well I believe that the iPhone and the iPod Touch provide a newer, more advanced mobile computing platform than anything that had been available previously. But perhaps more importantly,  what is it that gives any computing platform its power? The applications!  By providing the software development kit (SDK) to attract developers and leveraging the App Store and iTunes to distribute the applications means that there will be many more applications available than Apple could ever manage alone, which is only going to strengthen the platform further. Some of the presently available applications may seem a waste of time,  but others will definitely enhance an already impressive platform. The iPhone is more than a phone and iPod Touch is now way beyond just being a MP3 player with a bit of a nifty interface.

iPod Touch

Now if you still think that iPhone is too expensive , it is not available where you live, or you are happy with your existing phone then my recommended way to move to this platform is with an iPod Touch. All the benefits and hey you where going to upgrade that iPod anyway!

Rivals

Now of course Apple isn’t the only game  in town and Nokia for instance has provided a mobile applications store for its Symbian platform for a while already, but I think that Apple have taken everything to a new level.  The good thing for all of us consumers is that Microsoft, Nokia, Google and the like are not going to just take all this lying down. So expect some great things in mobile computing in the near future.

Have you tried the Apps Store?

The big news from yesterday of course is the release by Apple of the next generation of the groundbreaking iPhone. So why should we be interested in the iPhone on a computing blog like Blogbytes? Well it is because of the growing importance of mobile computing and the convergence between the “normal” computing world and that of the mobile phone. The iPhone is a innovative computing platform that is leading this convergence and pulling all the established players with it. My feeling is that Apple do appear to have got it right this time around, answering the majority of criticisms of the initial version.

What’s new? 

So what is new? Well first off it is a 3G device which means that data download on mobile networks speeds will be significantly improved. The lack of 3G was probably the major criticism of the original model, after all how could you truly make use of all the innovative features of the platform if everything just crawled? Secondly there is built in GPS which will tie into the growing area of location services - providing information and services based on your actual location. Thirdly Apple is beginning to add features that will appeal to corporate users providing features that will provide syncing with Microsoft Exchange,  allowing it compete with the Blackberry.

The other major aspect which is new is the price. Apple announced that the new device will only cost $199 in the US and a similar price in all other countries. (UK prices are expected to be released tomorrow). This is a huge price drop compared to the original price and may leave early adopters feeling a little deflated. The new price appears to be a recognition by Apple that the price was the big blocker to a significant uptake by people who were interested in the device but didn’t actually go ahead and get one. There is likely also a recognition that the competition is only going to grow. All in all at this price the iPhone does seem to be a much more complete package with a price that is more sensible, moving it away from just being an expensive toy and broadening its appeal.

Now even with the new prices you still might find it a little out of reach. If you want access to the majority of the capabilities of the platform, but are perfectly happy with your six year old Nokia mobile phone then the iPod Touch is the way to go.

Do you think Apple have got things right this time?

Forced to go shopping in one of Dubai’s huge shopping malls the other day, I was able to get my first look at the Apple MacBook Air. Apple do not have a presence in the Middle East so everything is sold through a reseller, which means it always takes a few months for us to get a hands on look at anything new thing Apple has released onto the world.

Previously I had thought that the slimness of the design would mean that the MacBook Air would feel very flimsy but that wasn’t the case. While it is noticeably lighter than an average laptop and obviously a lot thinner it still manages to feel robust enough to be truly portable. In spite of the Air being underpowered compared to the standard MacBooks, playing around with the software in the store I didn’t see much of a hit on performance, and the keyboard is great.

I still think that as a laptop, while it is not for everyone with only one USB port, no CD/DVD drive and a reliance on WiFi for networking which makes software and data migration a challenge, it has certainly pushed back the barriers of what is possible with a laptop computer. The highly rated MacBook Air is a great buy for the Apple fan who is looking for a very portable computer and is the featured laptop on PriceGrabber at present.

The iPhone is continuing along its disruptive path in the world of mobile computing. The iPhone, while actually having a very small foot print in terms of global mobile phones, (it is slightly bigger if you only look at “Smart phones”), is having a significant impact on the whole approach and the success of mobile computing. The iPhone has a significant number of issues, which can be quickly run off along the lines of:

• Lack of 3G - significant problem for surfing
• Low quality camera - way behind some of the competition
• Software and usability issues - learning curve with the keypad and lack of effective search

Despite these ongoing issues the iPhone is having a significant impact in some unexpected areas. One of these areas is in web browsing. Despite the lack of 3G the iPhone is credited with significantly driving up the level of data use on networks, and is becoming the websurfing platform of choice for a growing number of people. It also seems to be getting a disproportionate focus from 3rd parties. Last week the BBC launched a version of its iPlayer for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Users will be able to view streaming video of shows over WiFi networks. This might disappoint a number of people who would have preferred to be able to download the video to the device. The BBC has said that the iPlayer will be supported on a large number of projects in the future but it is interesting that they choose the Apple devices first.

In related news Apple have also finally announced their iPhone software development kit (SDK), and an application store so that users can browse for soon to be available 3rd party applications. Good 3rd party applications will increase further the viability of the platform for mobile computing. If you don’t need or want the phone capabilities I would say that the iPod Touch is increasing looking like a great buy.

Dell is to remain focused on the computer business, so said Michael Dell yesterday. Dell has been touted as a potential buyer for the struggling Motorola group, and they really don’t want to talk about phones. Which of course means that Dell probably do have a phone in the works, or perhaps are looking at Motorola. If Dell really are looking at bringing out a phone, or buying an existing manufacturer, I am not sure that would be a good move for the company. It would show that Dell have moved from being a leader in logistics and efficient manufacturing to a follower of trends. Whenever they have tried that sort of thing in the past it has not really been too successful. What do you think? Should Dell stay focused on computers?

Motorola have also been in the news for having been passed by Apple in Q4 for numbers of “smart” phones shipped. That is pretty good going from a standing start at the beginning of 2007.

Apple does not look to be slowing down either, with the release today (in the US) of a new 16GB iPhone model in the States. So no 3G yet! In fact nothing else has changed on the new model except for the boost in capacity. The iPod Touch also gets the same treatment with a new 32 GB model being released, also just in the States at present.

There is no news yet when these models will be available in the UK, but I doubt that there will be too much of a delay.

Update: Good news! Both the models are available in the UK. The UK apple site must have been updated only hours after I wrote the above!

January is always an important month for Mac fans, as this is the month that the annual Macworld is held in the States. Last year the big announcement causing a big stir was of course the iPhone. This year the big news is that Steve Jobs and apple have announced the “world’s “thinnest laptop”.

It was widely anticipated that Apple were going to announce a new laptop, and most people who expressed an opinion expected some sort of a very small form factor sub-notebook, or a tablet version of the existing MacBook. However what they actually got was not smaller but “slimmer”. When shut, the new MacBook Air measures only 4mm at the thinnest point and only a measly 19mm at the thickest part. It does looks good, but also seems at a distance a little fragile. You get the feeling that it might be a little too easy to snap it in half accidentally!

Its fairly standard specifications include a 13.3-inch LED-backlit screen, a good 2GB of memory, a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor a 1.8-inch 80GB HDD. The trackpad has support for gestures, so that you are able to use finger and thumb to pinch and expand files and images in a similar way to the iPhone or iPod Touch

Like the iPhone, there have been people who love the concept of a light and very thin laptop, but a lot of people who don’t. Detractors point out the fixed battery, the only one USB port, the fact that it relies on WiFi only for networking and the lack of an optical drive as major drawbacks. However only time will tell how successful the Air will be and if you remember the iPhone had a lot of detractors and that has been a success for Apple.

The MacBook Air will not be available for a few weeks, but if you want something now, then for more or less the same price you can get a standard MacBook Pro or a PC aiming at the same market like the Sony Vaio TZ Notebook pictured.

Productivity software applications! What on earth are you talking about you say. Well productivity software refers to that group of software that includes word processors, spreadsheets, calendar and email applications etc. In other words all the computer programs that are supposed to make you and perhaps your business more productive. Often of course these programs, especially to start with when you are a new user, are anything but productivity enhancers as you struggle with new concepts and a seemingly infinite number of options and features. Of course if you use these applications regularly, and many people do at work, you will eventually reach a certain level of proficiency and the application will begin to help rather than hinder your work. This learning experience unfortunately can often be a frustrating experience, and in future posts we will look how some of these productivity applications are evolving as a result of the Internet.

The godfather of productivity applications is of course Microsoft Office, which has become the de facto standard for creating documents. Office will in fact provide all that most individuals and business will ever need to write letters and do the budget, and as such is a good choice. In fact most people will assume you have Microsoft Office and will often send you documents in the formats the application creates, without checking with you first.

But are there any alternatives? Well yes, Corel WordPerfect Office provides a nice alternative. Although it is now an also ran against Office, it is just as capable and does have one nice feature which is the ability to look at the style codes in the word processor which makes it easy to troubleshoot any problems with your document. Anyone who has struggled with Microsoft Word happily changing fonts, text size and styles seemingly at random will appreciate this. A second alternative if you are a Mac home user is the Apple iWork 08, which is Apple’s equivalent to Office, and although the functionality is not on a par with Office would be more than adequate for most Mac users.

Happy productivity! If you are a student always make sure you purchase the academic or student version to save money.

Apple’s much anticipated new version of its operating system, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard has recently been released. This of course kept the Mac faithful happy, but is it any good?

The arrival of the newest version of an operating system, or any new version of a popular project, is always something that will create a lot of discussion and interest, often generated by significant hype prior to its arrival. When the much anticipated day of release finally comes there is often a feeling of deflation, of anti-climax, of there being something missing, or … well perhaps that is just me. Sometimes the new arrival lives up to its billing and sometimes it falls short on expected functionality. On this occasion though Leopard has stepped up to the mark.

One of the most obvious changes in a new version of an operating system is often the look and feel, and Leopard is no exception. In this case delivered through some minor visual tweaks to the interface, like a much needed clean up of the window appearance and a new look dock, which are then complimented by some interesting visual functionality like Cover Flow the well known navigation tool for your iTunes music collection which makes it as an additional navigational tool within Finder, allowing you to flip through the contents of your disks with ease. The album art from iTunes being replaced by an image of the first page of any document being looked at. There some valuable new applications too, not least the new backup tool called Time Machine that is easy to use and looks great.

You can find Leopard here and there is also a family version available which would be good value for money if you have a family of Macs. If you are like me and a rely on a clapped out laptop for your computing needs I suggest you also have a look at the fabulous MacBook or MacBook Pro. Unfortunately in my case I will be just looking for now.