For those of you who have seen the movie Demolition Man you know where I'm coming from. I still haven't figured out how the damn 3 sea shells work.
So in honour of this confusion and disfusion I'm ranting mildly against the 'sea shells' in my life. These include my heroes, technology and things of general interest to me.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my mild rants.
As reported by the BBC "Wireless Turns iPod into a phone" and confirmed from the website, Truphone now has technology that allows 2nd Gen iPod Touch users to make calls to other iPod Touch users and Google Talk users over wi-fi - for FREE.
There's no phone bill or over the limit fees. Their aim is to make the software able to make calls to land lines, skype and other type of services within weeks. This could mean massive savings for persons who use their mobiles heavily and are constantly going over their limits. It could also mean huge savings if this software allows us to make international and long distance calls as well.
"There are a slew of new features we're rolling out for the iPod Touch that will let users call landlines, Skype users or send instant messages. We're talking weeks, not months, before these go live."
So no having to wait months for this. This would mean that this is just as good as having an actual iPhone. Well, with the one limitation that you need a wi-fi connection to be able to use this service. But it's impressive nonetheless. Though I have not tried it out yet, I think the question remains as to the quality of those calls. Is it just as good as making a regular call using the cell towers and other technology or is it choppy and bad like you would expect from most software of this type in their early stages? Let's see.
Truphone is software that you can download freely from their website and install on your mobile device which helps you save on calls by routing them over the internet. Similar to skype, let's wait to see if the voice quality is just as good. Amazing stuff. Another challenge to the phone companies. Now let's just wait for Apple to deleverage themselves from AT&T and we should be good. For now.
So above were some of the things that interested me and I’m only commenting on those that did. First off, the iPhone Touch (video above) seems to be the much awaited for Video iPod. I noticed that it was still not called the “Video iPod” and I am tempted to think that Apple is yet to unveil that device. Remember the iPod with video some claimed was the video iPod?
iPod Touch Tech Specs Price: 8GB $299; 16GB $399
Display * 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen multi-touch display * 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 pixels per inch
Audio * Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz * Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
Video * H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
Wireless data * Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
Battery life: Audio: 22 Hours; Video: 5 Hours
This is an amazing device as you might have well realized. It’s the iPhone but without the Phone. I won’t go into too much details about it as you can read from the tech specs (above) and see from the video what exactly it does and is.
One thing I notice missing was Google Maps from it. I don’t know if this was something Steve Jobs missed or if it’s something that’s going to be added in later. But it has everything else. The Starbucks partnership is a great deal. The ability to preview and download songs - up to the last ten - played at a particular Starbucks is a nice idea.
I take issue with Apple. I think they have too many very similar products. It makes it very hard for me to choose which product to get. Like, I really want to get an iPhone, but now the price has dropped to $399 for the 8GB model - the only model they will be making and selling from now (4GB are still being sold but discontinued....get yours while supplies last). That’s a similar price I would pay for the 16GB iPod Touch. Granted the Touch is not an iPhone and can’t make calls...but it does basically the very same things the iPhone does plus it’s twice the capacity. So which do I choose.
In addition the iPod Classic is similarly price but has a 160GB capacity - that’s 80 times the capacity of the iPhone..granted it does not do as much. I’m saying why can’t we get a 30GB Touch?
Now now, we all know it would be hard to sell the one over the other if the lesser of the devices had features that made it stand out over the better, but with those devices possession such simiilar features and with prices so close, makes the decision hard. At least for me. I think there should be distinguishing features that makes each one stand out over the other.
Apple stock went down at the end of the day after the keynote address. The stock to me is greatly undervalued, for several reasons. One is that, as announced, Apple’s iTunes is the number one in online downloads in 22 countries where it operates. The partnership struck with Starbucks which has “over 44,000 stores world wide and growing at rate of 7 stores a day” (ceo and founder of Starbucks Howard Schultz).
The iPhone has greatly increased the revenue base of Apple who is scheduled to ship 1M iPhones by the end of this month..and thus far the iPhone is only sold in the US. Deals are being struck in the UK and France for possible carriers of the iPhone which means that the customer base,, and hence sales of the iPhone will only increase, i.e. more money for Apple.
Plus, the iPod Touch, which is very much an iPhone without the phone functions, ships worldwide from the end of the month.
This means that for those customers who badly want and can’t get an iPhone can now get a Touch which does practically the same thing. With just these few things in mind, it’s clear that Apple Stock (at close of the day - Sept. 4 - was $136.74, down 5.15%) is clearly undervalued and will only go up.
Mark these words, analysts are going to raise their share price estimates of the company come end of the week.
I’ve been waiting a long time for an iPod with a screen this size and now that it has the touch technology I’m even more excited. I’m getting mine soon after it starts to ship.
Here is some information from the other iPod lines released today
Overview An anodized aluminum top and polished stainless steel back. Five eye-catching colors. A larger, brighter display with the most pixels per inch of any Apple display, ever. iPod nano stirs up visual effects from the outside in.
And it’ll wow you for hours. Play up to 5 hours of video or up to 24 hours of audio on a single charge.1 All that staying power and a wafer-thin, 6.5-mm profile makes iPod nano one small big attraction. taken from Apple.com
With 80GB or 160GB of storage,1 iPod classic gives your music and video room to move. It also has plenty of energy (up to 40 hours of audio playback2), good looks (a sleek, all-metal design), and a great personality (a brand-new interface with Cover Flow). In other words, iPod classic makes an ideal companion. Why not get to know it better? taken from Apple.Com
