My hope and predictions for tomorrow Apple event

Tomorrow Apple is hosting a media event presumably for iPad announcement.

From the invite sent to the media, we can for sure bet that Apple will announce the next iPad revision. And this is exactly what it will be, a revision, not a redesign. Rumours and leaks around the web in the last few months pretty much spoiled the event IMHO. So, why call the press just to show something looking more and more to the iPad 1.5? I think we'll see more than that. Here is why.

Usually, around this time of the year, Apple call the media to show the world a preview of the next release of iOS. Also, if Tim Cook's words are to be taken seriously, the tablet market is about to become larger than the PC market. Also, iPad "killers" are in the rear mirror. Well, kind of. So, I expect Apple to preview some cool stuff specifically for the iPad in order to keep its lead on the tablet market. Previewing new iOS APIs is nice but should (could) be waiting this year WWDC. And let's face it, the pace of evolution of iOS is decreasing because it is more and more of a mature operating system. So the attention turns to features that people directly use on their device.

On the side, we could see some of iLife apps too ported to the iPad. That would make sense.

Finally, a word on MobileMe. If Apple is to talk about its internet services offering, I hope it is to make the iPad less dependent on iTunes for syncing content. Right now this just doesn't make sense to depend on iTunes to put content on the iPad. Signs points to that. Steve Jobs said via email that MobileMe would get a lot better in 2011. MobileMe is no longer available in traditional retail store and could be released on the Mac App Store, Apple seems to standardize its services around the use of the Apple ID and they made a few services of MobileMe with iOS 4.2. Not to mention the North Carolina data centre built recently for Apple own usage (iTunes and MobileMe according to Apple officials). So there is room for hope here.

Stay tuned for on update to this post after the announcements.

Apple's App Store approval time worsening

Checking today what was the current approval time for Apple to approve new apps or updates in the App Store. Things are worsening since a few weeks.

How ironic

This blog is about building iphone apps. Sometimes I'll write about subjects not directly related to iOS development. This happens when news or comments on the blogosphere bring some important point. Today, this is the case with an article from CNN: "Why nobody can match the iPad's price". In summary: because Apple is in control on nearly all aspects of the iPad (design, processor, operating system, etc.) they don't have to pay royalties or licensing fees to anybody. Virtually. So, they can bring down the price of the iPad to a "mere" 499$. So they grab the market for themselves. How ironic this is.

499$

For nearly the exact same reasons, this modus operandi was to Apple's disadvantage at the beginning of the Mac and the years that followed. They at that time were controlling the hardware (not as much as today though) and the software but they were unable to capture the market, the Mac was consistently too expensive compared to the PCs.

2495$

How ironic this is.

The latest iPhone ad from Apple - clever

Yesterday Apple made public their new ad for the Verizon iPhone.

What can we decode from this latest ad from Apple beside the fact the the iPhone will now be sold at Verizon? Two very important things.

The Verizon iPhone or the AT&T iPhone are both equal
The main message is that whatever network you choose for your iPhone, Verizon or AT&T, the experience will be the same. The same well known device that so many users worldwide love to use. This is the main and most obvious theme of this ad. But there is more.

Look how cool the iPhone is
The second message behind this ad is very simple: show the world again how cool the iPhone is. This is kind of two ad in one. Clever. Love it.

Apple 2011-Q1 Financial real numbers

Apple announce their Q1 financial results. Records, records, records.

• iPhone unit sold: 15.5 millions that I predicted, the real thing is 16.24 millions (wow!)
• iPad unit sold: 5.8 millions that I predicted, the real thing is 7.33 millions (wow!)
• iPod unit sold: 14 millions that I predicted, the real thing is 19.45 millions (wow!)
• Mac unit sold: 4.2 millions, the real thing is 4.3 millions (wow!)

What to expect besides sales numbers:

• "Best Apple quarter ever"
• "Very excited with new products roadmap for 2011"
• "iPhone demand still very strong, better than expected"
• "iPad demand is beyond our wildest dream"
• "Demand for iPhone from Verizon is solid"
• "No comments" - in response to questions on Steve Jobs health issue.

Bottom line? More than 35 millions more iOS devices. Which translate into 43 millions more potential customers for my iOS apps. 

BREAKING - Steve Jobs taking a medical leave - again

This blog is about iOS development in general. But, as a dear Apple technology lover, I cannot let go this news without a say: Apple's CEO Steve Jobs is taking another medical leave from Apple. Again.

Looking at Steve's internal email, I feel that this time, things will be different. First, it will take time for Steve Jobs to return looking at the wording used in its email. Then, I don't know why this time but I feel Apple management will act differently: they have to be more transparent. But most importantly, I think Steve won't return. I don't know why.

Now, let see how financial markets reacts to this news.

Verizon iPhone HotSpot - iOS 4.2.2 or iOS 4.3? (Update 2)

With the unveiling of the long awaited CDMA iPhone 4 today on the Verizon network, there is a surprise: a new feature called HotSpot will allow an iPhone to act as a Wifi hotspot. This feature will let up to 5 wifi devices to connect to it, like an iPad for example. It seems iOS 4.2.1 doesn't allow that. Could we see a iOS 4.2.2 or even 4.3 update coming out very soon? Will the hotspot feature be available on the GSM iPhone too so we can tether our iPad to the iPhone? Finally, with the rumored "Daily" newspaper being announced on January 19th by Murdoch, with a subscription service built-in, we could see iOS 4.3 by the end of january.

Just speculations here.

Update #1: iOS 4.2.5 seems to be the version coming on the CDMA iPhone.

Anyway, the Verizon iPhone = more iPhone sales = more iOS devices = more customers = more app purchases = happier developers.

Update #2: Wow, iOS 4.3 SDK is out for Devs! AirPlay for third party apps, new iPad gestures and... Personal HotSpot for every devices.... That was fast. So We may see iOS final release just for the Verizon release after all...

My 2011 predictions - iOS, Apple

Before being an indie iOS developer, I was first and foremost an Apple fanboy. I love everything about Apple, the good and the bad (!). Every new year bring a new set of rumors and wishes related to Apple and I wanted to bring mine more specifically centered on Apple and its iOS platform.

So what should we expect in 2011 from Apple and for the iOS platform?

1. Verizon iPhone. This one is easy. Wait for 2011-1-11 Verizon's press conference tomorrow for a confirmation. This will be a CDMA iPhone 4 essentially with a custom build version of iOS to support it.
2. Ping for Apps. This one is more like a wish than a prediction. Ping for Apps would help developers to be in touch with their user base and have a voice on bad reviews.
3. iOS SDK 5.0 beta. This should be previewed in the march time frame. The main new thing about it would be the inclusion of the "Notification Center". A set of iOS APIs to allow the centralization of application notifications. An application could post a notification right on the screen and / or to the notification center for later viewing. On the end user side, the user would pull down the status bar or the iPhone screen in order to bring a list of recent notifications. Beside that, I really don't know what next for iOS in term of SDK APIs. On the iPad, I wish Apple would offer a more complete document management solution than the current one based on iTunes File Sharing. Oh and expect to have an updated lock screen with more useful information: mail count, events of the day, pending notification count, etc.
4. XCode 4. This one should be ready for the next WWDC along with iOS SDK4 and the first beta of Mac OS X lion. I expect a big round of iOS app updates submitted to the App Store because of developers recompiling their apps in order to take advantage of LLVM performance improvements. 
5. iTunes in the cloud. This one is to be tied to MobileMe making this an opt-in option. Steve Jobs said that MobileMe would get a lot better in 2011 in response to a mail from a user. So buying a song would first make it available on the MobileMe account for streaming. Then on the computer, iTunes could retrieve the purchased song on the next iTunes startup.
6. iPhone 4GS. Don't expect a big upgrade on the iPhone this year. Big upgrades seems to be set at more or less 2 years interval at Apple: iPhone 2G (2007) -> 3GS (2009) -> 4 (2010). iPhone 4 was a really big upgrade and I expect Apple to refine a few things on it (antennas, processor speed) before we see the real iPhone 5.
7. AirPlay everywhere. This will be the year where AirPlay takes off. Expect an iOS update that allow Mobile Safari to play video over AirPlay.
8. Apple TV SDK. Yep, in 2011, along with iOS SDK 5.0, expect to see the announcement of Apple TV SDK. Yes "only" one millions of units has been sold last year but if Apple want to build more value into its Apple TV offering, they have to start an App Store for the TV.

You can also read my post "App Store: what could be next?".

Apple's App Store approval time worsening

Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves for a bad news: review time for new apps or updated apps submitted to App Store review team are pretty bad. I'm monitoring this quite often and the trend is looking bad. With the upcoming iOS 4.2 for iPad which will require the submission of many updates and the upcoming Mac App Store, review teams at Apple won't be looking for things to do in their spare time.

We will see how things goes for november. Do you have an app in review? How long did you wait to get a review completed by Apple? Share your experience.

Last minute predictions - Updated

This bog is about iOS development but I cannot refrain myself from publishing my own little predictions of what Apple is about to announce to at the "Back to the Mac" event. So here it is.

1. Checked - MacBook air - new smaller model and a refreshed 13" one. No breakthrough here.
2. Checked - iLife '11 - a sure thing. More like evolution than revolution.
3. Nope - iWork '11 - again, a sure thing. Same thing: evolution, no revolution.
4. Nope - MobileMe for free starting today? With Premium services? Could be fun to see.
5. Checked - FaceTime for Mac OS X. Shipping today. Windows - Later this year.
6. Checked - Mac OS X 10.7 preview. Shipping next year (end of spring 2011). 

Mac App Store??? OMG.