WWDC 2012apple

If you think Apple ran out of gas with the passing of Steve Jobs you ought to take a look at the most recent keynote from WWDC. I suppose it is possible that these products are the cleaning out of the pipeline of the last few products the great one presided over. But even so I think a couple of things are obvious. Jobs created a culture that can survive without him. The other thing is that the Apple approach to design and close integration of software and hardware works. So long as the Apple approach meets the needs of the consumers and does not have to adapt to new times the company is going to remain a juggernaut. What amazes me is dthat companies have not begun making strides to imitate the core element of their success and that is integration at all levels.

Ok... That aside lets take a look at what Cupertino served up.

1. Fairly standard MacBook lineup hardware refresh with a move to faster cores, graphics and SSD technology. Prices lowered or remaining the same. Absent and later confirmed as no longer in the lineup is the longstanding odd child of the family, the 17" MacBook. Now whether you are in the small dedicated minority of those who see this machine as a one of the kind system unable to be replaced by smaller options or one of the many non-initiated who think they serve the same purpose for geeks that ferraris do for investment bankers... Let us observe a moment of silence for the apparent passing of this remarkable machine. Because if there was anything both groups could appreciate about the 17" inch MBP is that it was an incredible machine. I myself am an owner of the penultimate generation of this beast and have had a love hate relationship for it and find myself at a difficult cross roads for trying to decide on what my next machine will be... Which of course brings us to a very likely candidate.

2. The introduction of a next generation MacBook Pro that is classic Apple in that it is not a common denominator formula machine. This new box is attempting to read the tea leaves of the future market of professional mobile work power or perhaps more likely attempting to shape that landscape. Gone is the optical drive. Gone is the FireWire port, gone is the express card slot, gone is the Ethernet port and gone is the platter based hard drive. In addition to the same updates announced in the rest of the line you can say hello dual thunderbolt , dual USB 2/3 capable ports, HDMI, SD card slot, svelte form factor damn near as thin as the air consumer level machines, and last but definitely not least... HELLO 220ppi laptop retina display. If laptops were playmates this one would be playmate of the year because it's specs and designs are pure techno porn. Apple has continued its regression ( Or perhaps march in regaining) a fully customised internal component design across its products. While this is causing a great deal of controversy re: self upgrades and repair ability there is no doubt this marks the continuing return to the roots of the company as a designer of hardware. That aside this is not just being driven by Apples desire to do a whole lot of expensive redesigning as much as it is a necessity if Apple wants to continue to distinguish itself from the competition. Things have reached the point in laptop design that the exterior dimensions are largely a function of the standard components being housed inside by everybody.. So the only way to significantly change the exterior dimensions became the customisation of the internal components. I suspect the cost of this redesign and related machining changes in addition to some fundamental tech limitations is what killed the 17" machine.

3. OS X is moving to mountain lion and the name of the game is integration. Facebook, iCloud etc... And of course Retina HiDPI support. Safari in particular got a lot of updates. Also of note is the increased symmetry between OS X and iOS as dictation, notifications, reminders, iMessage etc have all made their way to the full OS.

4. iOS development continues apace with the introduction of a fully functional navigation solution, increased SIRI abilities, and some pretty nifty user friendly modes of operations that are finally moving beyond simple silent mode or not. A major move is afoot to present iOS as a Chinese friendly solution which is pretty damn important for anyone that might be envisioning a future where iOS is universal.

So having become a firm acolyte of Cupertino devices... will I be jumping on the new Retina MacBook? Not sure yet to be honest. I have seen the new screen in person now and it is impressive. It is still a mirror but it is noticeably muted in comparison to the older panels with an independent glass front. It is still not as good as the matte option screen but it might be bearable. The scaling system seems to work extremely well with none of the typical fuzzy or awkward edges endemic to current systems when not displaying native resolutions on an LCD panel. However no matter how many pixels it has it still is physically smaller than my current 17" screen and that is the catch for me. It does have a 1920x1200 mode... however In the past I had a 15" 1920x1200 screen and even with 20/20 vision I ultimately had to admit it was just to small for comfortable use. On the other hand switching between the scales looked to be very snappy and zooming options are much better supported these days. Might could work. But ideally... for someone like me that utilizes screen space with multiple windows a large percentage of the time the loss of physical space compared to the 17" is quite possibly a deal breaker. I understand the financial and technical realities that likely drove the demise of the 17" system but that does not make me stop wishing for a 17" Retina MacBook Pro. I will put it this way. If they had simply updated the 17" the same as they did the other MacBooks I would opt for it over the retina 15". As is I may opt for the Retina system due to a lack of a better alternative.

To Apple Care or not to Apple Care? Phones and iPads are mostly no-brainers on this front with AppleCare+ but I have never really been tempted on the laptop front. In general the design choices Apple made just made this laptop far LESS likely to suffer from a failure during a 3 year extended warranty period. If Apple adds accidental coverage to Apple Care for the retina macbook I would suggest getting it if you will be hauling it around with you a lot. On the other hand if it is largely just component failure coverage I would not sweat it to much. Any fundamental design flaws will surface in the included year of coverage all devices come with. Now that spinning discs are gone the next most likely failure is the battery and a battery replacement will be much cheaper than the $350 for the laptop Applecare. The only caveat to this is if in the next couple of weeks we find out that mass production has introduced issues that compromise the thermal management system. Though in that case I would advise just avoiding the Retina MBP all together.

Finally there is a good reason to not pony up for the New Retina machine. Ivy bridge is a nice processor line but the Haswell architecture may be worth the wait if you are not in need of a new machine. Perhaps more importantly is when Haswell lands Apple will also certainly increase the graphics horsepower. The current setup is capable of running the screen but it is definitely being pushed to the limits. So far this device looks like it is avoiding any major new device gremlins but it is still a device on the edge or what is possible and with that comes some headaches. The 2nd gen of this device has a good chance of being a very very nice machine.

Other than the iOS and Macbook upgrades and Retina display Apple also Previewed Mountain lion. The merge of iOS and OS X continues. I am wondering if Apple will never ship an OS XI and instead choose to go numberless from iOS and OS become simply OS. One of the upgrades that has my attention is supposedly multiple screens will be handled better than the current blank linen screen that has myself and many others screaming in frustration when trying to use full screen mode in Lion.

Google Glass: Next big thing or another scrap heap addition for VR?

Well first off I suppose VR is an inappropriate term. The new Google Glass project is part of a growing field of devices and technologies aimed at AR or Augmented Reality as opposed to the older awkward vision of Virtual Reality. The main difference is the mobility of the user. VR was and is aimed at transplanting a static user into an immersive digital world. AR is about taking the technology out into the real world. The technology is really a bit older than you might think and in many ways is already far more successful than VR. If you have ever seen a Heads up Display in action you have seen a form of AR. Lately smart phones that use cameras, accelerometer, and GPS to overlay information on the world around you have become as common as your nearest iPhone or similar device. Google Glass wants to take the next step and instead of having us look at a screen like a phone, they want us to wear a headset with a display ready and waiting just outside of our eye line... ie look up and perhaps a bit to the right and there it is. The clunky design of eye wear displays seems to be slimming down considerably judging by the early prototypes breaking cover though battery life remains as a major stumbling block to a truly svelte design powerful enough to rest comfortably in the design space afforded a pair of glasses.

How big a deal is this? Consider it this way. If the brains of this device is your phone then it doesn't have to break its way into the market so much as present a strong case for its use in conjunction with equipment you already have. So think of the phone as just a mobile computer. It has entertainment, directions (GPS), contacts, communications etc... It could for example connect wirelessly to your car and allow you to control music, conversations, display trip information and basic operation information like speed, temperature, warning signals etc... All in an integrated display you take with you everywhere. IE Get into another car and the experience is the same. Sit on the sofa and control your TV or other entertainment system. When playing a movie or video game be able to see ancillary information if desired. Provided the optics are accurate enough imagine walking through a grocery store and shopping with a running total that updates as you place things in your cart or put them back on the shelf... displayed against a pre-set budget amount and reminders of special occasions (little pete likes hotdogs for his birthday in two days etc...). When you get to the counter it helps you compare the cost expected vs what rings up and works via NFC to authorize the transaction with a real time update on your remaining bank balance/budget etc... imagine walking up to a vending machine and browsing the nutritional value information of the items inside and selecting one without touching the machine. Imagine getting onto an elevator that knows what floor you need based on the person you are in the building to see and it has directions provided as you navigate the building including a detour to the nearest restroom. When you see something you want a picture of you can decide to keep the last few seconds of time being constantly recorded or snap a higher quality still shot (also possibly happening periodically or based on surprising changes (guess at something interesting). Imagine it running facial recognition on anyone you engage in conversation and helping you remember someones name or connections to you.

There is a LOT of promise in something with a quality camera, an unobtrusive always there display and access to the internet and other smart phone type information. It will also change a lot of notions about what constitutes privacy.

iPad (2012): What is in a name?

So the new iPad announcement and release has come and gone. Not the iPad 3 as most if not everyone had assumed and in its place *drum roll* is just plain old iPad. So what is in a name? In this case I think this says a lot about how Apple is planning to move forward. This falls directly in line with the naming convention for every other Apple product except the iPhone. I give you three guesses what my prediction is about the naming convention regarding the release of the next iPhone is and all three don't count.

Simply put this means the iOS devices have grown up. Do not look for massive hardware changes in them any time in the near future, especially the iPad. It looks for all intents and purposes like the formula for a tablet has been set. Print quality display, solid battery life, partial multi-tasking and growing cloud interconnectivity. To me the future in terms of major changes will be in software with incremental hardware advances that keep pace with the technology updates. There are a couple of frontiers that could drive some significant hardware changes, namely true multi tasking and the ability to provide a fully functional content creation environment (think docked iPad driving a more traditional work station environment). However the OS and battery capacities at this point are the limiting factors and barring a major unexpected shift it is unlikely for that next step to occur any time soon. On the plus side this means the iPad line may now be subject to mid cycle updates rather than just full generational hardware changes.

So where does that leave this current piece of gadgetry? I will get into some details below but here is the short version. I bestow upon it the best praise I think possible for a 'new fangled gadget'... it is a fully baked device. Other than perhaps the display the story here is the fact Apple has filled in the few remaining weak links and chinks in the armor of the original iPad that survived the release of the iPad2. It took Apple one less generation to get to this point with the iPad than it did with the iPhone. Arguably the iPhone did not reach this state until the 4s (5 generations of device) but I would grant the 4 that status with the argument largely surrounding the failure to go multicore as its largest weakness. And that weakness has more to do with its longevity than any problems with the device itself.

The Good:

Retina Display

Lets get this out of the way early... Retina Retina Retina Retina. In geek terms this word may now replace Hallelujah as a general phase of praise. Apple confirmed rumors and now has released upon the world the first electronic display that is both on par with the standard printout in size and resolution (260ish dpi vrs 300dpi). For the few that haven't heard Apple calls this a 'Retina' display because the pixels are so small that you cannot see them at normal viewing distances. There have been a few folks like myself that have been harping about the need for higher DPI screens for many years. Display technology hit a real doldrum on this front as the race got underway for LCD HDTV sets. On the one hand it made LCD screens insanely cheap. But that cheapness also stymied any attempt at new levels of computer specific resolutions. To this day it is prohibitively expensive just to buy displays at larger than 1080p resolutions even at standard DPI just because there is no mass demand for them. It is a classic chicken and egg problem. Make them cheaper and folks would buy them, but nobody wants to buy them because there are much cheaper options (you can get 2-4 high quality HD screens for the cost of a Cinema display for example). It looks like Apple is poised to break the dam on this one and we should once again see computer display resolutions far out strip basic video in the not to distant future. Once people get a load of the Retina iPad screen and all the other Android tablets soon to use this it will be a short matter of time before laptop and desktop monitors begin to follow suit. And just like laser and ink jet printer technology it is likely to fixate around the 300dpi level for exactly the reasons of Apple's Retina marketing spiel. For almost all purposes 300 dpi sits right at or above the capability of the human eye to detect pixels. Thus print level electronic displays of a size in line with standard print outs are finally here and the first generation of them is a portable tablet no less. Bottom line... its as good as you have heard. And if you own stock in Xerox or any standard format printer technology (Letter, A4 size) I'd say the time to sell is not to far away. They just got turned into horse and buggy makers with the release of the car. The fall may not be immediate but it is coming. Also expect that old paperless office stuff to crop back up... only this time it has a real chance to stick if the Tablet uptake in corporate environments continues at its current break neck pace. Make exceptions if they adapt by kickstarting mass availability of 3d printers that do more than put ink on paper... in fact the major print company that makes that leap successfully may well be the next 'Apple' in terms of insane stock growth.

The Design

Many continue to lament Apple's reluctance to significantly change the design and give it poor marks for keeping the same basic look. I'm sorry but what exactly is the problem with a slim metal backed, glass fronted high quality feeling slab? Baring a production ready haptic system to bring tactile feedback to the touch interface system I don't for see a major change or a need for a major change to the basic design. The bezel allows you to hold without interacting with the screen. The size of the display drives all else. May see a move to more and more durable materials, especially if the spec of the internals ever flatlines (ie Moore's law hits the limits of physics). Though it looks like we are on that ride for a few more years at least.

Battery Life

Move to LTE and Retina display with quad core graphics and 1gb of DRAM had many worried that the iPad would give up some battery life. Early reviews are in and all seem to be unanimous that the real use battery life is close to the marks listed by Apple with the largest variance I have seen listed by 'The Verge' and they credited it to their use of a brighter default screen setting than Apple uses in their tests (65% vs 50%).

LTE

Must say I was a bit surprised by the inclusion of LTE. 4g technology rollout has been a real mess and its an ugly time to get out there into it. However its here and it works and it is certainly faster than the 3g/4g mess the iPhone 4s shipped with. Big thumbs up on this one.

Apple Care

I am not a fan of extended warranties as they are typically super high margin cash cows preying on uniformed user fears. This is still true for Apple Care BUT under a certain set of circumstances this plan is a very good value for the money. I use my iPad daily. It has become something that if I am without it I miss it sorely. It goes with me EVERYWHERE and I have the most expensive version. For 100 dollars I get 3 years of coverage and 2 accidental replacements covered at 50$ per incident. It is the accidental coverage (even with the additional 50$ hit) that puts this in the good column for me specifically. It only applies as a good value for me because I rely on this device daily and my usage will expose it regularly to the possibility of damage. under those circumstances I think it makes sense to plunk down the dough for Apple Care. On the other hand, If it is going to be a coffee table device or even if you are getting the base spec device the value is not nearly as strong unless damage from mishandling (young children etc...) is a real concern. Manufacturing defects almost always manifest well within the 1 year basic warranty period and the basic pieces of this device just are not prone to failure. Apple uses high quality and minimal amount of switch gear (only moving parts), a very durable casing design and there is no spinning drive making all the internals solid state hardware. Assembly quality has been verified as at least on par with previous devices which have experience no deterioration issues due to assembly defects.

The So So:

Battery Charge time

Ok the new display radio and memory did all tack on significant energy usage and Apple upped the battery by a whopping 17 watt hours. This leads directly to an increased charge time. Figure 30% longer to recharge your device than before. Expect a possible improvement in this the next time around of either faster recharge times or an increase in expected battery life. The original iPad challenged mobile charging solutions with its heavier amperage draw than USB spec... this one shatters it. Charging this device on USB is going to be an exercise in patience where it was marginally useful on the first two generation devices.

Heat

You may have seen some stories bouncing around about how the new iPad runs hotter than the 2... well this is directly tied to the above two issues of battery life and charge time. Apple is running through some 40% more power in the same amount of time. That energy has to go somewhere. Hands on experience for me has been that prolonged LTE data transfer (video streaming) is probably the most consistent cause... high graphics games have not had a huge effect. In perspective the worst I have experienced so far is far less noticeable than say a laptop actually in your lap doing the same types of activities. On the brighter side all this waste heat means there are some real gains to be made with the electronics to make them a bit more efficient that we can hope to see in the next generation or two.

Storage

No increase in total storage from the first device to the last. This may be the first real limitation folks hit on the device. New high speed LTE connectivity and memory hungry graphics (bumps to standard still quality and all those retina app updates/releases coming) are going to make short work of even the max 64gb size memory device. Lack of an SD slot continues to be a sore spot for many and rightly so I think. The new beaming capabilities of wirelessly sending files between iOS devices is all that keeps this out of the bad category for me. Apple is finally sort of dealing with the fact that these devices need to be able to talk to each other somehow. Even so the beaming capability does not seem to be universally implemented (only found it in iPhoto so far) and requires you to be on the same wifi network (can't do it across two LTE connected devices).

The Camera

Depending on how you look at it this could be in the good column. The rear shooter is the same hardware that was so successful in the iPhone 4 and as such is a very capable mobile camera. But taking snaps with a tablet actually feels more silly than you would imagine it to be. However this is a serious step up from the excuse for a camera put on the iPad 2 and should be much better at supporting augmented reality efforts and QR/Barcode reading applications. Front camera is still base VGA instead of HD capable which is not terribly surprising. Video chat at HD levels is still somewhat rare and for what it does this thing works. Bottom line is that at least the snaps you take with the rear camera no longer have less pixels than the screen even with massive jump to the 2048x1536 Retina display.... and the low resolution of the front camera means people won't be able to count your nose hairs from the unflattering tablet video chat positioning.

The Bad:

Cellular Data Caps

This is still probably the single worst aspect of cellular enabled tablets. LTE speeds now make the data caps/cost look more and more ridiculous. They were to small relative to the cost 2 years ago and today are insanely out of whack with the intent of how the device is supposed to be utilized. There is nothing wrong with profiting. But the carriers are beyond that and I believe are at best profiteering and at worst involved in organized price fixing. The past 4-5 years has seen a MASSIVE increase in mobile devices with data service contracts which have led to massive profits. In a sane market this would drive costs down. 2 years ago when the iPad launched there were offers for unlimited monthly plans, they no longer exist and more expensive plans capped at a mere 5gb are in their place. Something is rotten in the wireless provider world. Are unlimited plans supportable by the infrastructure? Quite possibly not. Is the cost of providing users 5gb of access 50$? Most assuredly not. There is currently talk about allowing some app makers to subsidize bandwidth used by consumers and if any such plans come to pass we may get an idea of what the real carrier cost is. Because there is no way in hell Netflix or ABC etc... would agree to subsidize bandwidth at the current cost pushed to the consumers. I expect this to be an issue that gets greater and greater scrutiny as if the carriers fail to shape up they are going to be standing directly in the path of advancements possible with a connected mobile infrastructure trying to defend unreasonable levels of profit for providing what will soon come to be viewed as a basic utility.

The iOS AppStore Limitation

Censoring is bad and Apple is currently the self crowned king of the mobile application world. They give the final thumbs up to any and all apps officially accessible from an iOS device and the viciously defend they right to be the only legitimate distributer of software for their devices. Did they earn it? Yes they did. Is it their playground? Yes it is. But the bigger their success becomes the more the app approval process and disallowing of alternative application installation is going to be viewed as counter productive and possibly destructive to the consumer. Currently this is not the reality. The careful selection process and walled garden nature of the store is a large part of the devices success. But Apple is playing a dangerous game with the way they deny an app, sherlock the ideas and enforce arbitrary censorship restrictions on content that will sooner or later raise anti-competitive suits and freedom of speech issues. All of this could be solved not by Apple opening the floodgates to any and all crap in their App store, but simply by allowing supported access to other application providers such as the popular Cydia store linked to the very active iOS jailbreak community. The current model of app delivery to iOS devices is like Ford saying you can only fill their cars up at their dealerships or special gas stations. It has got to change. I say this as a massive fan of the App store and what it provides. This could quite possibly be an issue that hits Apple similar to the anti-monopoly issues that plagued Microsoft in the late 90's and early 2000's. They need to open up the doors to alternative app stores before they get forced to.

Lack of Case

Gorilla glass may be tough but its also now designed to not be easily replaceable. As with my original review I find it reprehensible that Apple does not at least provide a token screen cover as part of the basic equipment package when purchasing an iPad.

Conclusions:

As I said this is a solid fully capable device with no obvious holes as were the case with both previous devices. I used the first gen device for 2 years with quite a few annoyances. I expect to use this one for 2 years with very little concern for tech envy despite my wandering eye when it comes to new fangled gadgets. I ponied up for Apple care for the first time because I actually expect there to be a decent chance I will still be using it daily for the full 3 years of the coverage. And I got it for the accident replacement coverage more than anything else.

Recommendations:

For any 1st generation tablet device owners (Apple or otherwise) this is a no brainer contender for your money if you are looking for something new.

For second generation device owners, especially iPad 2 folks it isn't a slam dunk. If you read a lot, mess with high quality digital imagery and/or need faster mobile bandwidth speeds there is a lot to be gained. If you are a more typical browse and e-mail type the cost benefit of upgrading so soon is not so hot.