Published on
July 21, 2010 in
tech.
Today Skype released an update to their iPhone app that enables multitasking. Along with it, they announce via their “Big Blog” that they won’t be charging for Skype-to-Skype calls over 3G as had been announced at their previous update.
At Skype, we believe that better call quality and better availability which is achieved with an app capable of multitasking and/or making calls over 3G lead to increased call frequency and longer calls. We also believe that the mobile world is in a period of significant change, for example, with some operators starting to move to tiered pricing models.
In light of that, we no longer have plans to charge a supplement to make calls over 3G. We’re delighted to make it easier for you to talk for even longer and do even more together using Skype.
Sounds like a top to bottom clash of cultures and a divorce waiting to happen.
When an AT&T representative suggested to one of Jobs’ deputies that the Apple CEO wear a suit to meet with AT&T’s board of directors, he was told, “We’re Apple. We don’t wear suits. We don’t even own suits.”
Published on
July 1, 2010 in
tech.
TUAW is reporting that my alma mater, Oklahoma State University, is starting a pilot program to evaluate how iPads can be used in the educational space. Handing out MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads isn’t a new concept, but this is one of the few instances where the use of the devices is being monitored to evaluate its academic value to the student.
…OSU is really interested in how their students will go about using them. The results should be intriguing, not only for the lucky college kids who get to use iPads all semester but also for Apple and for other schools that are formulating plans over how to share and use technology. It certainly seems like having an iPad at college would be helpful in the traditional ways (you could read textbooks or take notes on it), but it’s cool that OSU is thinking about new ways to use it as well, such as apps for tests or connections across local Wi-Fi for networked learning.
The program will start with a mere 125 students among a 20,000-plus student body. The iPad is thought of by many as a potential game-changer for education. So it will be interesting to see what the OSU experiment finds.
Published on
June 17, 2010 in
tech.
Computerworld reports on HP’s plan to send ads to your printer. While discussing their new Web-connected printers and the idea of scheduled printing of Web-based newspapers, HP says it will throw in a few printed “targeted” ads along with it.
The company also sees a potential for localized, targeted advertising to go along with the content. While testing its ePrint Web-connected printers, HP ran two trials where consumers received content from a U.S. national music magazine and major U.S. newspaper along with advertisements, said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president in HP’s Imaging and Printing Group.
“What we discovered is that people were not bothered by it [an advertisement],” Nigro said. “Part of it I think our belief is you’re used to it. You’re used to seeing things with ads.”
…
“Through IP (Internet Protocol) sniffing, you have an idea about where those printers are so naturally it allows you to kind of already target your offers,” Nigro said. - ComputerWorld
First off, printing newspapers? Really? They couldn’t come up with a better use case than that? Haven’t iPhones, Android phones, and iPad-like devices proven that we are moving away from such a ridiculous waste of paper? Maybe it’s just me, but adding the annoyance of ads to the dying industry of home printers seems like a step in the wrong direction. It good business for them, though. The more ads printed, the more ink used, and let’s face it, ink cartridges are still HP’s best racket.
Published on
May 27, 2010 in
tech.
Barrons.com is reporting (h/t MacRumors) that Apple have allotted seven minutes of presentation time during Steve Jobs’s upcoming Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) to Microsoft. According to their sources, Microsoft will talk about native iPhone development using Visual Studio 2010. This would be shocking enough in and of itself given Apple’s recent headline grabbing stance on controlling native iPhone development and limiting it to their own XCode application and developers suite. To make it even more shocking is the idea that none other than Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer himself will deliver the presentation. This could prove to be one of the more interesting twists in the upcoming keynote on June 7.
On a side note, my unconfirmed, completely fictitious sources say that following Microsoft’s time, Adobe will be allotted 30 seconds during which CEO Shantanu Narayen, already fuming from the Microsoft announcement, will receive a swift kick in the crotch by Jobs.
Update: Microsoft has apparently shot this rumor down via its Twitter feed:
Steve Ballmer not speaking at Apple Dev Conf. Nor appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Nor riding in the Belmont. Just FYI.
