Adobe bites back at Apple

If you go to Adobe's 'getflash' page (http://www.get.adobe.com/flashplayer) you will be greeted with the image you see in this post - a snarky remark about Apple's lack of support for Flash on the iconic iPhone.

However, as I stumbled upon Cult of Mac's article, it seems that a Reddit comment points out that Flash on the iPhone would reduce the iPhone's battery life to beyond abysmal.

From Reddit:

About six months ago, a friend who was working closely along side adobe’s flash application development team told me that they received a prototype of Flash for iPhone. The prototype allowed the iPhone to have less than half an hour of battery life using flash. They then sent the prototype to apple and suggested incorporating this prototype iPhone flash into the iPhone OS in the next update.

Apparently apple sent this letter back thanking them for being interested in developing a working version of flash for the iphone but because the prototype is so processor intensive, and awful for battery life, they would not include it with their OS because it is just not good enough. They suggested using the gpu instead of the processor to render flash. Then they suggested building a seperate app for flash and web browsing because there was no way apple could endorse flash integration on the iphone in its current state.

Adobe apparently didn’t want to release the app under their name either and it never showed up in the app store.

So Adobe sucks at programming and Apple won't allow such poor code, and now Adobe is trying to point fingers at Apple?

Hmmmm...

But to be honest, I don't miss Flash at all. How about you?

Apple makes changes to stores in time for holidays

Image source: Tony Shi's flickr photostreamAs Microsoft begins rolling out their retail stores, Apple is allegedly preparing to make some changes to their own store, just in time for the holiday season.

The first reported change is phasing out multiple shirt colors that employees wear in order to differentiate themselves by their roles. These color coded uniforms tend to confuse shoppers as to who handles each task. Allegedly there will be only one color of uniform for all employees, although ifoAppleStore reports that the color may change every few months just to keep things fresh. 

The other change will involve the checkout system, which will be switching from the Microsoft EasyPay handhelds to iPod touches that will be custom-equipped with a barcode reading accessory. This checkout system will also allow customers to pay with cash on the spot, rather than having to maneuver to the cash register. Apparently, the Windows CE-based devices were "prone to crashes and non-responsiveness by employees." 

Surprise!

So in the near future, you'll be able to go in and out of an Apple Store even faster with all your shiny new goods!

via MacLife.com

Google Maps - Now with ads!

Ads are 'sponsored links' with special iconDo you see that? Yes, it's ads in our beloved Google Maps app on the iPhone. They are marked as 'sponsored link' but are just ads and nothing more.

Yes, Google wants money. It's just a little surprise us iPhone owners have came about recently, without any word from Google themselves.

Does Apple want to take part in bringing in revenue from mapping services? Who knows, they did recently buy Placebase, which is a smaller mapping service. Will this be a replacement for Google Maps in the future (since their ever-growing feud since Google CEO Eric Schmidt left)? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, enjoy the ads.

More Sources Point to Apple Event on Sept. 9

Mark September 9 on your calendars, because a second super-secret souce pegs this as the day Apple decided on for the annual iPod/iTunes event, after teetering between September 8 and 9 for quite some time.

The biggest expectation for this year will be the iPod touch and iPod nano, both of which are allegedly getting cameras, which will make both devices dual-purpose point-and-shoot cameras for the first time ever. Sources at AppleInsider are also claiming that the camera is just going to be one piece of this year's iPod story.

We are also expecting the announcement of iTunes 9, which has been rumored to integrate social networking services for the first time. There were also rumors of Blu-ray support and iPhone/iPod touch app management in this new version, but no confirmation until the event.

What to NOT expect according to numerous sources, is any sort of Apple Tablet announcement, since this product is likely to not make any appearance until the first quarter of 2010.

The event has no set place yet, though from past events, it is highly possible that San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center may hold the event, or even the Moscone West. Analysts and members of the media will be getting their invitations with full details of the event about a week prior. 

John Paczkowski on the D | All Things Digital blog was the first to report of the September 9 date.

via MacLife

Apple Cutting Into Handheld Game Market

With the continually growing App Store, which is filled with tons of games, how does Apple's iPhone and iPod touch fare in the world of handheld gaming against the kings, Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP? The answer: very well.

Both Nintendo and Sony have sold 70 and 35 million units, respectively, and both have their dedicated gamers that yearn for the high-quality franchises and system exclusives. But these apparently still aren't enough to keep Apple away from cutting into the market. Micheal Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Morgan Securities and a top game industry analyst, says it's a "fait accompli."

According to Pachter, "iPod touch game sales are already cutting into the handheld market, particularly at the low-end," he wrote to a writer at The Apple Blog. “The iPod touch’s market share will continue to grow, I suppose to around 10 percent to 15 percent of all handheld game sales."

The iPod touch market share will continue to grow to about 10 to 15 percent of all the handheld game sales, according to Pachter. He sees the iPod touch as much more of a competitor in the handheld market than the iPhone since prices for the device will drop and parents will see them as viable substitutes for a DS or PSP. He doesn't think the iPhone will grow like the iPod touch in the gaming market though, since it requires an expensive data plan, which most parents are hesitant to pay for a child younger than 18.

The main challenge for the iPod touch gaming market though, is the pricing for games. “The sticking point is whether we’ll see these games offered at $9.99 or at $29.99. If at the lower price, the developers/publishers would take a profit hit; if at the higher price, the popularity of the iPod touch as a gaming device will suffer," claims Pachter. It should be noted that currently top-selling games in the App Store, even from the major publishers, sell for even under $10.

Still, Nintendo and Sony have the better games and exclusive first-party titles that we will most likely never see in the App Store. This seems to be the only advantage they have over Apple in the portable gaming market, but only time will tell if that will change.

via MacLife