What should be Apple's response to Palm's WebOS?
Face it.
After Apple has beaten the living crap out of Palm, then body slammed the company on to concrete, and just as Apple was closing in for the kill, Palm...........while seemingly getting on its knees to beg for its life........takes out a hidden dagger and jabs it into Apple's groin!
Hail Mary pass indeed!
I don't know whats going to happen in the next six months. But if you guys think that Palm isn't going to make this happen your kidding yourselves. They have the same drive to succeed like Apple did Over 10 years ago when Jobs came back to save the company.
So lets all assume then that Palm successfully executes a launch of the Pre a few months from now.
How should Apple respond? And I mean how should they specifically respond concerning new products.
Clearly Apple has to upgrade their mobile OSX to handle some things just as well as the Pre. And I'm not talking about cut and paste.
Palm's WebOS can do multitasking and the iphone can't and or won't.
How should Apple respond to this or should they?
WebOS has this HOT new feature called synergy that searches for and automatically merges all your data from multiple applications that are connected to the web as well as corporate servers.
The iphone can only dream about doing that.
So how should Apple respond to those features?
Any ideas? Those ideas could be business strategies or straight up technological ideas (software and hardware).
I'm just trying to get a handle on what Apple might do.
After Apple has beaten the living crap out of Palm, then body slammed the company on to concrete, and just as Apple was closing in for the kill, Palm...........while seemingly getting on its knees to beg for its life........takes out a hidden dagger and jabs it into Apple's groin!
Hail Mary pass indeed!
I don't know whats going to happen in the next six months. But if you guys think that Palm isn't going to make this happen your kidding yourselves. They have the same drive to succeed like Apple did Over 10 years ago when Jobs came back to save the company.
So lets all assume then that Palm successfully executes a launch of the Pre a few months from now.
How should Apple respond? And I mean how should they specifically respond concerning new products.
Clearly Apple has to upgrade their mobile OSX to handle some things just as well as the Pre. And I'm not talking about cut and paste.
Palm's WebOS can do multitasking and the iphone can't and or won't.
How should Apple respond to this or should they?
WebOS has this HOT new feature called synergy that searches for and automatically merges all your data from multiple applications that are connected to the web as well as corporate servers.
The iphone can only dream about doing that.
So how should Apple respond to those features?
Any ideas? Those ideas could be business strategies or straight up technological ideas (software and hardware).
I'm just trying to get a handle on what Apple might do.
Comments
Let's be honest, since the very first iPhone introduction 2 years ago, not much changed/advanced in the iPhone OS. It felt more like bug fixes. Clearly Apple sitting on its laurels IMHO. Meanwhile we're still waiting for that promised push technology... Not to mention copy/paste...
It's really good to see someone light a fire behind Apple's proverbial hiney. To get them movin'.
Having said that I can also see the loss of Rubinstein's influence. Not everyone agrees with the Pre's design but technically this little thing has a lot going for it. Details like extending the touch sensitive area into the otherwise dead bottom area, or the induction charger, exchangeable battery, high-density screen, or the LED flash. And did anyone notice that the audio jack is at the top, center? Like with first batch of iPods? I always felt it's classier at the top center.
On a side note:
I wonder how upset Steve is with Jon Rubinstein. Hope they're still on talking terms. They both go back to the days of NeXT and Steve brought Jon along to Apple.
I also like the idea behind Synergy, but I wonder whether it isn't just a clever sync module rather than a 'revolutionary' OS advancement. I'm leaning towards the former.
The danger with this is that any change on Gmail, Facebook etc. will suddenly break Synergy until they come up with an updated sync module. The more places Synergy syncs with the more trouble I can see with sync modules breaking and/or being updated too quickly to catch up and in the process ruining data with buggy sync modules.
The concept certainly seems to be a step into the right direction, letting the user choose which services he/she wants, while the data is collated into an interface/device of choice, not having to learn and use a new interface for every new service.
Face it.
No one is living in denial. There are a lot of people that are wishfully thinking about Palm though. I may be one of them too, but it's just as likely that this was Palm trying to sell itself, hoping a buyer would come in and buy them out for $1 billion or something.
So lets all assume then that Palm successfully executes a launch of the Pre a few months from now.
How should Apple respond? And I mean how should they specifically respond concerning new products.
$99 iPhone nano
$15/month data plan capped at 500 MB/month
3.2" screen
Basically all of the same hardware features as the 8GB iPhone 3G
If they get the same $400 dollar subsidy from ATT, that'll mean they are raking in $500 for a 3 year old design. Most people are thinking this is Apple's strategy before Palm's announcement, so it's really not a response to the Pre at all.
Just imagine what a 3rd gen iPhone would be like if the iPhone nano is essentially today's iPhone 3G.
Clearly Apple has to upgrade their mobile OSX to handle some things just as well as the Pre. And I'm not talking about cut and paste.
Palm's WebOS can do multitasking and the iphone can't and or won't.
How should Apple respond to this or should they?
I think the multitasking has been in the plan since the beginning just like the SDK. I think Apple is mostly waiting on memory (256+ MB), PA Semi power-saving goodness, and the battery tech seen in the MBP 17, before they start implementing more OS features.
If Apple wants to respond to the cards interface, they already have an answer in expose.
WebOS has this HOT new feature called synergy that searches for and automatically merges all your data from multiple applications that are connected to the web as well as corporate servers.
The iphone can only dream about doing that.
So how should Apple respond to those features?
Any ideas? Those ideas could be business strategies or straight up technological ideas (software and hardware)..
Um, synergy is just cloud syncing. It doesn't search applications for your data. What it does is sync contacts and calendars from various online places (you have to logon) onto the device. It's also their name for having a unified inbox for SMS, mail and IM.
Can Apple do this? Of course. Will they do it? Who knows. I haven't thought through whether the unified inbox is a good idea or not. The contact/calender syncing should be very doable too.
I think what most people perceive as a threat is the Palm produced an OS with some very nice graphics in it. For some it may be too garish and the round corners too round (just like the hardware is too bulbous), but it's much nicer looking than any phone graphics out there. Iconography still sucks, but the colors and stuff, look eye-catching. Can Apple respond to this? Um, yes.
I really appreciate the fact that Apple finally has a formidable competitor for its mobile OS.
Let's be honest, since the very first iPhone introduction 2 years ago, not much changed/advanced in the iPhone OS. It felt more like bug fixes. Clearly Apple sitting on its laurels IMHO. Meanwhile we're still waiting for that promised push technology... Not to mention copy/paste...
It's really good to see someone light a fire behind Apple's proverbial hiney. To get them movin'.
Having said that I can also see the loss of Rubinstein's influence. Not everyone agrees with the Pre's design but technically this little thing has a lot going for it. Details like extending the touch sensitive area into the otherwise dead bottom area, or the induction charger, exchangeable battery, high-density screen, or the LED flash. And did anyone notice that the audio jack is at the top, center? Like with first batch of iPods? I always felt it's classier at the top center.
On a side note:
I wonder how upset Steve is with Jon Rubinstein. Hope they're still on talking terms. They both go back to the days of NeXT and Steve brought Jon along to Apple.
I also like the idea behind Synergy, but I wonder whether it isn't just a clever sync module rather than a 'revolutionary' OS advancement. I'm leaning towards the former.
The danger with this is that any change on Gmail, Facebook etc. will suddenly break Synergy until they come up with an updated sync module. The more places Synergy syncs with the more trouble I can see with sync modules breaking and/or being updated too quickly to catch up and in the process ruining data with buggy sync modules.
The concept certainly seems to be a step into the right direction, letting the user choose which services he/she wants, while the data is collated into an interface/device of choice, not having to learn and use a new interface for every new service.
Ah but see Palm made it a point to note that they have several business deals with all of those companies that synergy might interact with. Any change to technology on Gmail, Facebook, etc. and synergy will still be able to get updated user information and sort it for the Pre user accordingly. I'm leaning toward the latter by the way and it is indeed a revolutionary OS advancement.
Think about it. We were all gaga 2 years ago when Steve debuted the iphone interface. Which is basically a little computer that does apps one at a time.
This little baby from Palm doesn't care about your apps per se but cares MUCH more about the INFORMATION that the USER cares about on those apps. The pre runs multiple apps and shares information between all of them AND information on the net all at the same time seemlessly.
Synergy is not AI but its trying to pretend to be AI. Hey, thats an advancement!
The Pre's first gen's hardware has advantages and drawbacks though. They have that cool gesture area that takes advantage of the dead space beneath the lcd. But, the first gen's unit only will have 8GB of storage.......and no expandable memory. A mistake in my opinion.
Yes, future models will hopefully solve that but still.....they need it to be perfect out of the gate not after.
No one is living in denial. There are a lot of people that are wishfully thinking about Palm though. I may be one of them too, but it's just as likely that this was Palm trying to sell itself, hoping a buyer would come in and buy them out for $1 billion or something.
I think some of the most hardcore apple fanbois are indeed living in denial. But, to give them the benefit of the doubt we should really see what happens in the next several months as Palm executes the launch.
Since Apple likes to skate to where the puck is going to be then how do you think Apple might try to SURPASS Palm's "cards" GUI method and synergy?
No one is living in denial. There are a lot of people that are wishfully thinking about Palm though. I may be one of them too, but it's just as likely that this was Palm trying to sell itself, hoping a buyer would come in and buy them out for $1 billion or something.
$99 iPhone nano
$15/month data plan capped at 500 MB/month
3.2" screen
Basically all of the same hardware features as the 8GB iPhone 3G
If they get the same $400 dollar subsidy from ATT, that'll mean they are raking in $500 for a 3 year old design. Most people are thinking this is Apple's strategy before Palm's announcement, so it's really not a response to the Pre at all.
Just imagine what a 3rd gen iPhone would be like if the iPhone nano is essentially today's iPhone 3G.
I think the multitasking has been in the plan since the beginning just like the SDK. I think Apple is mostly waiting on memory (256+ MB), PA Semi power-saving goodness, and the battery tech seen in the MBP 17, before they start implementing more OS features.
If Apple wants to respond to the cards interface, they already have an answer in expose.
Um, synergy is just cloud syncing. It doesn't search applications for your data. What it does is sync contacts and calendars from various online places (you have to logon) onto the device. It's also their name for having a unified inbox for SMS, mail and IM.
Can Apple do this? Of course. Will they do it? Who knows. I haven't thought through whether the unified inbox is a good idea or not. The contact/calender syncing should be very doable too.
I think what most people perceive as a threat is the Palm produced an OS with some very nice graphics in it. For some it may be too garish and the round corners too round (just like the hardware is too bulbous), but it's much nicer looking than any phone graphics out there. Iconography still sucks, but the colors and stuff, look eye-catching. Can Apple respond to this? Um, yes.
Actually it does search your applications for your data. You need to watch the entire Palm keynote. Or have you already?
takes out a hidden dagger and jabs it into Apple's groin!
Well, they've kissed their feet at least.
Palm's WebOS can do multitasking and the iphone can't and or won't.
How should Apple respond to this or should they?
The iphone can multitask in the same way. Safari loads multiple tabs at the same time. This is the Pre's multitasking.
Apple don't allow multitasking on native apps so that something doesn't sit in the background sucking down your battery. When you run code through an interpreter, you can allow as much multitasking as you want as you can control what it's doing. With low level code, you can't do that so easily.
What happens if you get an app that runs natively and loads at startup on the phone and locks up the entire iphone? How do you get rid of it without a phone restore? Even then how do you know which app is the problem? Multitasking apps aren't needed on the iphone.
WebOS has this HOT new feature called synergy that searches for and automatically merges all your data from multiple applications that are connected to the web as well as corporate servers.
The iphone can only dream about doing that.
It's a security risk. What if you had some executive's private phone number and home address stored on a secure server and the phone decides to drop it into your contacts database and someone steals your phone? Data management should be done by the user, not the device.
I'm just trying to get a handle on what Apple might do.
All they need to do is optimize performance a bit, add copy/paste, fix a few minor bugs and they are 6 months ahead of Palm - much more if you count the app store. It's not as if the Pre makes the iphone look archaic. People are over-exaggerating the capabilities of the device. It uses a physical keyboard in portrait mode.
If anything, I'd be asking what will Palm do to make up for where it lacks vs the iphone.
the other thing i haven't seen yet is the "wow" and exclusivity effect, many many iphones, it will get attention for being the new kid on the block....but it must really dazzle when it comes out remember RIM's.....ooops i forgot what it was (storm, bold don't remember
pre has a tall ladder to climb held back by its network.
as an aside, SJ talks about all those patents he has gazzillions to protect...like what...seems everyone has touch, multitoach, pinch etc....is the iphone interface THAT unigue??? lets throw some patent fights in there was entertainment as we wait for iphone v3
How should Apple respond? .
Wait for a shipping product to appear. See how it actually works.
Implementing multi-tasking on a phone is a big technical accomplishment but I'm not sure its a killer feature. How much multi-tasking does one do on a phone? In guess there are times when its beneficial but its more important to not give in to feature bloat then to rush new features into the iPhone IMO. Bud has drinkability and the iPhone has usability.
Having said that I'm very intrigued by Pre. I may get one for my wife once they come out if it works as well as it appears to and is priced reasonably. In fact the biggest missing feature on the iPhone is that its not available on other US networks like Sprint and Verizon. I am one of the few people apparently, that live in an area where Sprint's network is better than ATT's. I still like my iPhone and don't want to give it up but I would rather have an iPhone on Sprint's network rather than ATT's.
Wait for a shipping product to appear. See how it actually works.
Implementing multi-tasking on a phone is a big technical accomplishment but I'm not sure its a killer feature. How much multi-tasking does one do on a phone? In guess there are times when its beneficial but its more important to not give in to feature bloat then to rush new features into the iPhone IMO. Bud has drinkability and the iPhone has usability.
Having said that I'm very intrigued by Pre. I may get one for my wife once they come out if it works as well as it appears to and is priced reasonably. In fact the biggest missing feature on the iPhone is that its not available on other US networks like Sprint and Verizon. I am one of the few people apparently, that live in an area where Sprint's network is better than ATT's. I still like my iPhone and don't want to give it up but I would rather have an iPhone on Sprint's network rather than ATT's.
Coming from an S60 Nokia to an iPhone 3G I can tell you that proper multitasking is one of the major letdowns of the iPhone platform. It really is pretty irritating to keep having to go back to the home and reload the app you were using just 30 seconds earlier because you needed to do something else quickly. S60 devices can multitasking very quickly and efficiently on lesser hardware than that found in the iPhone, so the logical conclusion to me is that the iPhone apps are bloated and resource hogs, and would need some serious tidying up by Apple before the iPhone could multitasking properly.
I'm sure Apple can add this OS-wide without breaking their self-imposed 'No Multitasking' rule. And they probably should.
Several tasks in the background really run the risk of draining your battery. If they constantly access the Internet and process some data, you'd be online effectively 24/7. The battery might last OK over WiFi, but if this is a 3G data call with a weak signal I'm not sure you'd get more than a few hours with one battery charge. Imagine your fully charged Pre running out of juice around 2pm. Not very useful.
Of course we will have to wait for a shipping device to judge this. But I can understand why Apple is so conservative here.
If Palm has contracts with just the big companies like Gmail and Facebook to sync their data via Synergy, I'm not sure how useful this will be overall. Not everyone uses just the big name services. And if half of your services don't sync with your Pre it's not that useful overall.
Again, we can only know once the Pre ships.
Also keep in mind that not all these big companies are happy to have sync modules for the Pre, as it goes against their own interests. Many of them use data mining techniques to monitor user behavior and gauge user interests to deliver tailor-made advertisements. All that would be lost to them if you never use their web UI but only access the data via a Pre. So they might have signed on only initially for a trial period.
In the end this will be like the iTunes contract negotiations with the big 5 music publishers - only many times more complex.
Apple in theory could do a lot of this themselves. I just wish they would use their 'mobile.me' service better and offer simpler cross-platform IM, blogging, picture sharing features, etc.
If the iPhone OS would only need to sync with other Apple services, while those are easily accessible on every platform, they might pull this off far better than having to do contract negotiations with so many Internet services.
But on the other hand they can't take on all Internet services and try to compete with everyone. Not even Microsoft pulled that off.
Yet if they would have at least a 100% working, cross-platform, viable alternative to each of these services then perhaps it would be easier. Although I guess Apple can't be spreading itself out that thin.
While the engineering team is doing all this, and they need to, the software team need to add everything with a high vote that appears on that "please fix the iPhone" website. They also need to finally add the background notification services, and basically take a fresh look at the OS, to see what fundamentals they can improve. They need to make a spotlight app. Add double the RAM, a better processor, with better OS optimization, ala Snow Leopard.
On a side note:
I wonder how upset Steve is with Jon Rubinstein. Hope they're still on talking terms. They both go back to the days of NeXT and Steve brought Jon along to Apple.
You don't honestly care about that. Who cares. I want a better iPhone, and I don't care if Jobs gets all touchy along the way.
all the above is based on presentation of the pre.... (how much time has people handled the pre--maybe 1 minute??)i'll wait for the "i've handled it for a few days" review. its neat that they got that kind of buzz just like iphone did. i think the network will hurt palm, sprint might not last . but i think in the two years much has happened with SJ and iphone. hey does pre have copy-paste AND voice dialing??
the other thing i haven't seen yet is the "wow" and exclusivity effect, many many iphones, it will get attention for being the new kid on the block....but it must really dazzle when it comes out remember RIM's.....ooops i forgot what it was (storm, bold don't remember
pre has a tall ladder to climb held back by its network.
as an aside, SJ talks about all those patents he has gazzillions to protect...like what...seems everyone has touch, multitoach, pinch etc....is the iphone interface THAT unigue??? lets throw some patent fights in there was entertainment as we wait for iphone v3
Supposedly this is also Sprint's chance to stand up and be counted. Do you think Sprint can afford to mess this up either? According to Gizmodo, Sprint has currently the most reliable 3G coverage. And there has been a lot of complaints on reliability over on AT&T.
Plus Sprint is the first major communications company to get started on their 4G network.
If this motivates Sprint to move faster on their 4G network and some better pricing then all the better!
Although the iPhone will continue to outsell other phones, including the Pre, I think the must respond with better hardware. The iPhone is the best looking phone out there, but feature wise it needs help. Firstly the obvious one is the camera, they need to add a significantly better camera with a flash that can handle video. They need to not only make the YouTube app 100X better... comments, voting etc. etc., but they need to tie the camera with YouTube and Flickr etc. With direct upload to these services. They need to upgrade the storage to 32GB, the Pre will launch with 8GB. They then, and this is the big one, the need to change out the display for an OLED display. They could do other stuff like use better battery technology, that very new silver tech is meant to be amazing. They could always add EVDO REV. A also.
While the engineering team is doing all this, and they need to, the software team need to add everything with a high vote that appears on that "please fix the iPhone" website. They also need to finally add the background notification services, and basically take a fresh look at the OS, to see what fundamentals they can improve. They need to make a spotlight app. Add double the RAM, a better processor, with better OS optimization, ala Snow Leopard.
They must rethink the OS indeed. I betcha the Palm Pre's debut really really took the Apple iphone team off guard and must have hurt at least some of them personally.
Because I realize now that the iphone team's intention must have been to debut a product with multitasking.
I think Apple fully expected to be the first company to debut a multitouch modern smartphone with those features.
Now when Apple introduces their version it will seem as if they are playing catch up.
That must be very embarassing.
When does AT&T lose iPhone exclusivity in the US? Some sources say 2010, some say 2012.
No one knows for sure it seems. But if I was Apple I would end that exclusivity soon. Because frankly its keeping Apple from innovating faster. Hopefully a successful Palm Pre selling quarter will help with that decision.
I agree with THT, the iPhone could multitask today but battery life is precious. In fact I read that Apple most likely primarily focused on the power efficiency of chips in many areas (Bluetooth most likely and others) over say the latest chip that has more modern features.
Of interest to future products are
Battery - It's interesting that Apple has spent so much time and attention in bringing new battery technology to the MBP 17. We all know that Apple is not going to go to removable batteries and that in phones battery life is sacrosanct. I'm looking for this same battery tech to hit the iPhone in Rev 3
Snow Leopard- The kernel of Snow Leopard is being modified for more efficient message passing and all that special sauce that kernel engineers love to add. I think that we're going to see background processes and a lot of the efficiency is going to come from SL more efficient kernel and GrandCentral technology.
Imagination - They have some very nice graphic stuff that sips power. Of note also is that Rev 3 of the iPhone will finally support shaders. The current iPhone's graphics are all fixed function and what I gather is that programmable graphic cores and shaders are more efficient so the UI should get a bump in speed if not getting even better looking.
I haven't read anything yet but I expect that FSevents may be improved enough to handle multitasking on the iPhone without actually having to run a process all the time.
In summary battery power is more important than anything here. Your phone doesn't do a thing if it's run out of juice. The key to delivering the features we want/need is for Apple to leverage outstanding battery power which will enable these other features.