There was actually at least one OS update that Apple charged for. That was the software that enabled the 802.11n option on the wi-fi cards. The computers shipped with b/g but not n because it wasn't ready yet. Their reasoning for why they had to charge for it was because they were adding a feature you didn't have when you bought the computer. Most of the OS updates are only performance, security, and bug fix updates. They don't really add new features, like adding transit schedules to the Maps application on the iPhone (I suspect it was that and not the StreetView feature that was considered a "new" capability that kept the Maps update off the touch).
That said, it is all a bit silly at this point. Apple is probably being overly cautious. Note that all of this GAAP accounting "strictness" came about when Apple was being investigated for the stock options problems. Perhaps they are being over-protective now? Just put the touch on the same accounting method as the iPhone and AppleTV and be done with it already.
The sad thing is, if Google Maps were implemented on the iPhone the same way as it is implemented on a desktop - that is, as a JavaScript applet served up from a web server and running inside Safari (perhaps bound to a few extra JavaScript calls to provide location services), then Google could have pushed through any new feature enhancements independently without the need for a firmware release from Apple, or any of the corresponding worries about GAAP.
Heck... Even if it were dropped from the mainstream firmware entirely and instead released independently as a downloadable App, published by Google Inc and distributed through the iTunes Store, then it could be made available for whatever price Google chose to attach to it, down to and including $0.00.
Yeah second that. Id like to see some actual samples. And not those 5pfs rubbish ones that dreamcatcher took.
My friend jailbroke his iPhone too and the video camera is anything but crap. There are some apps on jailbroken iPhones that we can only dream on such as free tethering.
But how many fps and at what res can it capture? For a 3.5 inch screen you would want at least VGA 30fps.
Come on, my friend! You cannot expect too much from a mobile device that is so skinny and has such a crappy camera!
According to the page below, Dreamcatcher records at 15fps. Why do they not provide sample videos of their app? Watching a video of a video on Youtube is rather lame for trying to ascertain image quality.
Sorry bavlondon2, you are incorrect. iPhone CAN shoot video.
The Qik and Cycorder apps (available for jailbroken iPhones through Cydia) can record audio and video just fine (I've done it on my iPhone). Qik will even immediately upload the video to their website so you can share it with others.
Here is what video from the iPhone looks like (randomly selected): http://qik.com/iphonedaniel It's not up to Apple's standards. The real question is - why didn't they provide hardware that works well for video and support it?
I have to object strongly to people describing this update as fluff. Frankly from what I'm seeing and reading the bug fixes in Safari more than justify this update. If that was all they did the update would be worthwhile. The fact is they fixed or improved a lot more than just Safari. These bug fixes are extremely important if your are a developer, it means fewer work arounds and fewer deleted features.
Now the new stuff added may not seem like much to many of you and frankly that is fine. I don't have such a limited view myself of iPhone though. In fact I very much like Apples approach with iPhone updates as it reminds me of many open source projects. That is release early and often to incrementally improve your app. As long as things are getting faster, more stable and more feature complete I'm happy.
Oh by the way by making this a complete point release it becomes a much easier task for developers to specify which version of iPhone their app requires. Apples update practices are good for both Apple and their developers.
What Dreamcatcher? Thats not really video mate its lots of pics stitched together like basic animation. Thats why the frame rate is slow and choppy.
Quality just isn't the iPhone camera's forte anyway. I think iPhone video capture quality is pretty typical of quite a lot of camera phones and about par for a typical web video.
Apple seems to have finally gotten it right with 2.2: all apps now respond soon after opening; Contacts starts quickly and is responsive as soon as the contacts are displayed (despite having 500+ entries); and Safari hasn't crashed yet.
Ahhhhhhh.... I love the sound of whiners in the morning. It sounds like... uh, whining.
All this crap I'm hearing is a good example of why corporal punishment needs to be more common place. Frankly people whining about an update that fixes as much as this one apparently does need to be taken out to the wood shed and worked over until their expectations are more reasonable.
Harsh you may say? Not at all would be my response. For example Apple never advertised that IPhone had MMS or a video capable camera, so why do people suddenly expect such functionality? More so if you need such functionality download the SDK and write your own. You will either be humbled or learn the hardware limitations.
What is more important is that these improvements, bug fixed and updates should lead to many more stable apps. Especially stuff that uses web technologies.
I see nothing to complain about in this update. At least not yet. Faster and more stable is always good.
I have a bunch of Web-pages saved as buttons on the home-pages of the iPhone. The icon USED to be just a "picture" of that page when the button/app was created.
NOW (once i've used that button/app), it displays an actual icon for the button... I'm assuming it's the same icon that would appear in the address-bar and Bookmarks menus of desktop Safari. (I know there's a name for those icons, I just can't remember what it is.)
I noticed that now instead of saying Text Message, it now gives me the name of the person along with still saying Text Message. Cool. I always wanted it to tell me who was sending me the text.
No MMS, which I use rarely, but the website that it sends us to for viewing of the MMS message is rather unreliable.
No copy/paste, but I can live without it and am sure it will come one day. At least they can see how a competitor like RIM does it....and improve upon it.
Landscape keyboard in all keyboard aware apps.
And Safari should go back to the old address bar, for this one looks a little too crowded.
I have a bunch of Web-pages saved as buttons on the home-pages of the iPhone. The icon USED to be just a "picture" of that page when the button/app was created.
NOW (once i've used that button/app), it displays an actual icon for the button... I'm assuming it's the same icon that would appear in the address-bar and Bookmarks menus of desktop Safari. (I know there's a name for those icons, I just can't remember what it is.)
I have a bunch of Web-pages saved as buttons on the home-pages of the iPhone. The icon USED to be just a "picture" of that page when the button/app was created.
NOW (once i've used that button/app), it displays an actual icon for the button... I'm assuming it's the same icon that would appear in the address-bar and Bookmarks menus of desktop Safari. (I know there's a name for those icons, I just can't remember what it is.)
Actually those would be "apple-touch-icon" icons, which can differ from the usual link icon, depending on how the site was configured. From your description, it seems the websites you previously saved may have since been updated to specify apple-touch-icons and the iPhone 2.2 software updates its touch icon accordingly.
Comments
Supply a link to the youtube vids will ya? I want to see the quality of them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd30Vd6UYcw
How sad a citizen not with the company can make it happen, but Apple can't.... Hardware not able to do it? OOOOOK then.
There was actually at least one OS update that Apple charged for. That was the software that enabled the 802.11n option on the wi-fi cards. The computers shipped with b/g but not n because it wasn't ready yet. Their reasoning for why they had to charge for it was because they were adding a feature you didn't have when you bought the computer. Most of the OS updates are only performance, security, and bug fix updates. They don't really add new features, like adding transit schedules to the Maps application on the iPhone (I suspect it was that and not the StreetView feature that was considered a "new" capability that kept the Maps update off the touch).
That said, it is all a bit silly at this point. Apple is probably being overly cautious. Note that all of this GAAP accounting "strictness" came about when Apple was being investigated for the stock options problems. Perhaps they are being over-protective now? Just put the touch on the same accounting method as the iPhone and AppleTV and be done with it already.
The sad thing is, if Google Maps were implemented on the iPhone the same way as it is implemented on a desktop - that is, as a JavaScript applet served up from a web server and running inside Safari (perhaps bound to a few extra JavaScript calls to provide location services), then Google could have pushed through any new feature enhancements independently without the need for a firmware release from Apple, or any of the corresponding worries about GAAP.
Heck... Even if it were dropped from the mainstream firmware entirely and instead released independently as a downloadable App, published by Google Inc and distributed through the iTunes Store, then it could be made available for whatever price Google chose to attach to it, down to and including $0.00.
Supply a link to the youtube vids will ya? I want to see the quality of them.
Yeah second that. Id like to see some actual samples. And not those 5pfs rubbish ones that dreamcatcher took.
Yeah second that. Id like to see some actual samples. And not those 5pfs rubbish ones that dreamcatcher took.
My friend jailbroke his iPhone too and the video camera is anything but crap. There are some apps on jailbroken iPhones that we can only dream on such as free tethering.
But how many fps and at what res can it capture? For a 3.5 inch screen you would want at least VGA 30fps.
Come on, my friend! You cannot expect too much from a mobile device that is so skinny and has such a crappy camera!
According to the page below, Dreamcatcher records at 15fps. Why do they not provide sample videos of their app? Watching a video of a video on Youtube is rather lame for trying to ascertain image quality.
http://www.iphonevideorecorder.com/
Video is a hardware issue. You wont see video capture at all officially on this.
There's video support under jailbreak, but it is not very good. Could be Apple left it out because it doesn't look good.
Sorry bavlondon2, you are incorrect. iPhone CAN shoot video.
The Qik and Cycorder apps (available for jailbroken iPhones through Cydia) can record audio and video just fine (I've done it on my iPhone). Qik will even immediately upload the video to their website so you can share it with others.
Check out a story here:
http://newteevee.com/2008/06/12/qik-...ble-all-along/
Here is what video from the iPhone looks like (randomly selected): http://qik.com/iphonedaniel It's not up to Apple's standards. The real question is - why didn't they provide hardware that works well for video and support it?
Now the new stuff added may not seem like much to many of you and frankly that is fine. I don't have such a limited view myself of iPhone though. In fact I very much like Apples approach with iPhone updates as it reminds me of many open source projects. That is release early and often to incrementally improve your app. As long as things are getting faster, more stable and more feature complete I'm happy.
Oh by the way by making this a complete point release it becomes a much easier task for developers to specify which version of iPhone their app requires. Apples update practices are good for both Apple and their developers.
Dave
What Dreamcatcher? Thats not really video mate its lots of pics stitched together like basic animation. Thats why the frame rate is slow and choppy.
Quality just isn't the iPhone camera's forte anyway. I think iPhone video capture quality is pretty typical of quite a lot of camera phones and about par for a typical web video.
Qik is another app that does it.
Here's a sample:
http://qik.com/twit#v=567436
Certainly not what I'd expect from my HF100 or EX3, but the internet generally isn't known for quality media either.
Ahhhhhhh.... I love the sound of whiners in the morning. It sounds like... uh, whining.
All this crap I'm hearing is a good example of why corporal punishment needs to be more common place. Frankly people whining about an update that fixes as much as this one apparently does need to be taken out to the wood shed and worked over until their expectations are more reasonable.
Harsh you may say? Not at all would be my response. For example Apple never advertised that IPhone had MMS or a video capable camera, so why do people suddenly expect such functionality? More so if you need such functionality download the SDK and write your own. You will either be humbled or learn the hardware limitations.
What is more important is that these improvements, bug fixed and updates should lead to many more stable apps. Especially stuff that uses web technologies.
I see nothing to complain about in this update. At least not yet. Faster and more stable is always good.
Dave
I have a bunch of Web-pages saved as buttons on the home-pages of the iPhone. The icon USED to be just a "picture" of that page when the button/app was created.
NOW (once i've used that button/app), it displays an actual icon for the button... I'm assuming it's the same icon that would appear in the address-bar and Bookmarks menus of desktop Safari. (I know there's a name for those icons, I just can't remember what it is.)
Ok, after figuring out how to look around, it's pretty fun to play with.
No MMS, which I use rarely, but the website that it sends us to for viewing of the MMS message is rather unreliable.
No copy/paste, but I can live without it and am sure it will come one day. At least they can see how a competitor like RIM does it....and improve upon it.
Landscape keyboard in all keyboard aware apps.
And Safari should go back to the old address bar, for this one looks a little too crowded.
Good job overall.
PTI
Around the Horn
Here's a new one...
I have a bunch of Web-pages saved as buttons on the home-pages of the iPhone. The icon USED to be just a "picture" of that page when the button/app was created.
NOW (once i've used that button/app), it displays an actual icon for the button... I'm assuming it's the same icon that would appear in the address-bar and Bookmarks menus of desktop Safari. (I know there's a name for those icons, I just can't remember what it is.)
Favicons
Here's a new one...
I have a bunch of Web-pages saved as buttons on the home-pages of the iPhone. The icon USED to be just a "picture" of that page when the button/app was created.
NOW (once i've used that button/app), it displays an actual icon for the button... I'm assuming it's the same icon that would appear in the address-bar and Bookmarks menus of desktop Safari. (I know there's a name for those icons, I just can't remember what it is.)
Actually those would be "apple-touch-icon" icons, which can differ from the usual link icon, depending on how the site was configured. From your description, it seems the websites you previously saved may have since been updated to specify apple-touch-icons and the iPhone 2.2 software updates its touch icon accordingly.
Supply a link to the youtube vids will ya? I want to see the quality of them.
Ok. Here is 1. The one my friend has is different than this but still. The video recording is shown near the end of this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCkF5IteHLU
Here, this one is better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L0cNPMSDXs