How To Build An iPad Competitor

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Jason Kottke, at Kottke.org:

Set aside for now that Surface does look genuinely interesting, that the price hasn't been set, and the thing isn't even out yet. For a piece of portable networking technology like a smartphone or tablet to be successful on the scale at which Apple operates, you need to have an ecosystem, a network of interacting devices, software, products, and services that work together...hardware + software is not enough. Apple, Google (and partners), Amazon, and possibly Microsoft are the only companies with the expertise and pockets deep enough to build their own ecosystems. Ok, maybe Facebook in a couple years or if Nokia can dig themselves out of their current hole, but that's really about it. Jason Kottke lays out all of the things Microsoft needs to do to make the surface successful, if their goal is to directly compete with the iPad.

Millions of pixels: Visualizing the Retina MacBook Pro

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David Smith, at his blog, writes:

The new MacBook Pro introduced at WWDC features a new ‘Retina’ grade display with a resolution of 2880x1800. This is the highest resolution display Apple has ever shipped, besting the now discontinued 30” Cinema (2560x1600) by a million pixels. I wanted to link to his post so that folks would go and check out the two graphics he's created which show you just how many pixels the new Retina MacBook Pro screens use.

Apple Bets It All On Siri And iCloud

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Kyle Baxter, at TightWind:

If you want to know whether Apple’s going to continue its remarkable growth in the next five or more years, there’s two things you need to look at: Siri and iCloud. Kyle makes a very good case for why iCloud and Siri are so crucial to the future of Apple, as a company, and will be key anchor points on all of their flagship products for the foreseeable future.

Readability Calls It Quits On Its Flawed Business Model

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CEO of Readability, Richard Ziade, at the Readability Blog:

And the great majority of those publishers never registered. Out of the millions—yes, millions—of domains that flowed through Readability, just over 2,000 registered to claim their money. As a result, most of the money we collected—over 90%—has gone unclaimed. As of today there’s nearly $150,000 in earmarked money sitting in a separate, untouched bank account. Good riddance. I never consented for Readability to collect fees on my behalf. Readability is finally admitting that 90% of the publishers their users read, never signed up for their opt-in service despite the fact that, for years, they used this justification to collect money from users on their behalf. Sleaze. Oh and what are they doing with that $150,000? They're giving it to two charities of their choice, without refunding it to users. Because, you know, Readability knows best…and by giving it to charities of their choice, they prevent you from criticizing that they're too lazy to refund it all individually back to the users who paid them the money in the first place. Sleaze.

WWDC 2012: The News

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WWDC 2012
Watch the video from the keynote. Well, that was exciting. Now that the WWDC Keynote has concluded, Apple has now revealed what they've been working on lately and was ready to release to consumers (or at least developers). Here is a rundown of the basics. I'm sure you can get much more detailed coverage from your normal sources:

The Hardware

MacBook Air:

  • New Ivy Bridge Intel-based CPUs up to 2Ghz, dual-core i5. Turbo boosts to 3.2Ghz
  • Up to 8GB RAM
  • 60% faster graphics
  • Up to 512GB SSDs
  • USB 3.0
  • Factime Camera now 720p

  • Prices have decreased - 11" $999 & $1099, 13" $1199 & $1499

    MacBook Pros:

  • New Ivy Bridge Intel-based CPUs up to 2,7Ghz quad-core i7. Turbo boost to 3.7Ghz

  • Up to 8GB RAM
  • 60% faster graphics - GeForce GT 650M, Kepler architecture. Up to 1GB video RAM.
  • USB 3.0

  • Prices the same - 13" is $1199 & $1499, 15" is 1799 & $2199

    Next Generation MacBook Pro:

  • Ridiculously thin (.71 inches thin) - 25% thinner.

  • Retina display - 2880 x 1800, 220 ppi. 15.4 inches. (5,184,000 pixels)
  • 4.46 pounds - lightest MBP ever - lighter than a 13" MBP
  • Glare/reflection reduced by 75%
  • Battery life - up to 7 hours, 30 days of standby.
  • HDMI port
  • Up to 768GB SSD flash storage
  • Up to 16GB RAM
  • Using the new nVidia Keplet GPUs
  • Quad-core i7 Ivy Bridge Intel CPUs
  • Ports - SD Card, HDMI, two USB3, Magsafe 2, two Thunderbolt ports, headphone jack.
  • Backlit Keyboard
  • BlueTooth 4.0
  • FaceTime HD Camera
  • 802.11 N
  • Dual microphones (uses beam-forming to enable a new generation of voice applications)
  • No built-in Ethernet (see adapters below)
  • No built-in optical drive (why need it?)
  • Price is $2199 for the base model. Two new Thunderbolt Adapters:
  • Thunderbolt to FireWire 800

  • Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet

    Mountain Lion

  • Over 200 new feartures

  • Highlighted in the keynote: iCloud, Messages, Reminders, Notes, Documents in the Cloud, Dictation, Notifcation Center, Sharing Services, new Safari (synced tabs, unified address/search bar, tab view gestures, fastest javascript engine, share sheets), Power Nap (fetches email, reminders, calendar updates, photostream...in the background while asleep, Time Machine backups, auto Software Update), AirPlay, and Game Center.
  • Ships in July for $19.99

  • Developers get the Gold Master release today (Apple called it "near final" on stage).

    iOS 6

  • Lots of new Siri improvements: Sports info, Restaurants (Yelp & Open Table), now launches apps, "Eyes Free" (working with various car manufacturers to have built-in Siri integration with their cars), lots of new international languages (including local search for these countries).

  • Siri coming to the iPad
  • Facebook Integration - just like Twitter in iOS 5. Photos app, Safari, Maps, Came Center, iTunes Store, App Store (you can like apps or see what people have liked), Notifcation Center posting (Twitter also gets notification center posting), Contacts (Contacts data within Facebook will show up in Contacts app).
  • Phone app (messaging/reminders options to incoming calls).
  • Notification center: Do not disturb feature
  • FaceTime over 3G/4G
  • Unify Apple IDs with your phone #.
  • Safari: iCloud Tabs, photo uploads, smart app banners
  • Shared Photo Streams: Easy way to share photos with other people.
  • Mail: VIPs, add photos & video from compose window, pull to refresh.
  • Passbook: OS integration of movie ticket, starbucks card, plane ticket type apps. Makes it easy to find your tickets for various things within apps.
  • Accessibility: enhanced features to benefit autistic kids (kickass Apple), single app-mode (allows teachers, for instance, to lock an app preventing the home buttom from being used).
  • Maps: Local Search(Yelp integration), Traffic Service (pools data from other iOS users), Turn-by-turn navigation (routes you around traffic, can display on lock screen for mountin in a car while driving), Siri integration, Flyover (3D views).
  • Beta 1 released to developers today.

    Post-keynote Update: Mac Pros

Not that big of an update. Disappointing. No USB 3, no Thunderbolt. Mac Stories has a good rundown of new vs old.

WWDC 2012 Rumor Roundup: iOS 6, Mountain Lion, iCloud and Macs

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Arnold Kim, at Macrumors:

With Apple appearing to have a full slate of announcements lined up for its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote on Monday, we're offering this roundup to summarize a number of the high-profile rumors that have been circulating ahead of the event. Arnold has done an excellent job of compiling together all of the rumors that have been floating around over the last several months. He does a good job laying out the more or less credible ones too. I for one am hoping for new Mac Pros, and an iOS 6 Beta… Happy Keynote Day everyone.

The Costa Concordia Sinking: Inside the Epic Fight for Survival

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Of course I saw the news when this happened, and I saw whenever there were updates in the news about it, but I didn't pay very close attention to it. In hindsight, I'm glad this article was written, because I had no idea the story was this riveting. Bryan Burrough, at Vanity Fair writes:

Another Night to Remember

When the Costa Concordia, a floating pleasure palace carrying 4,200 people, hit a rock off the Italian coast on January 13, it became the largest passenger ship ever wrecked, supplanting the Titanic in maritime history. From the moments when the captain made the first in a series of incredible blunders, through a harrowing night of mindless panic and deadly peril, in which rescuers and passengers improvised a massive evacuation and ordinary men emerged as heroes, Bryan Burrough reconstructs an epic fight for survival—in which all too many would perish. Instapaper this article, go fix yourself a drink, sit down on the couch and read.