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Apple's SDK for iPhone2: unquestionable genius that too many have overlooked

Green-eyed monsters notwithstanding, why aren't more people impressed with how Apple is helping developers?

REVIEW

UPDATE: 06/11/08 7:05 p.m.
I've just finished reading Tom Yager's blog post review of the iPhone2 on InfoWorld (06/10/08) and it was just an outstanding piece that more than adequately summarized and analyzed iPhone2's current strengths and weaknesses - as well as its competitors' strengths and weaknesses both now and into the foreseeable future. As you read it, see if you too don't see him slip between praise and admiration to frustration, especially when discussing those unfulfilled requests he opines as remaining unanswered by Apple. But also make it a point to learn from the many reader comments that were subsequently posted, 'cause as expected, they too do an outstanding job of enlightening. However, where I was most impressed (of course, he says humbly) was where he seemed to take the position on Apple's SDK objectives I've described below, when he says: There are already gorgeous new handsets out from HTC and BlackBerry, but as Apple's strategy shows, a mobile empire is not built with a device. It takes software, committed developers and accessible, comprehensive services covering the range from consumers to enterprises.

* * * * * * * * *

For those of you who are also into this, I watched the Apple WWDC 2008 Conference in its entirety last night, right alongside Mrs. Head Geek who was equally into the awesome presentation.

Suffice it to say that after reading most of the criticisms in the press along with all of the expressed disappointments, Apple's SDK (Software Developers Kit) is such an incredible advance in software development, offering such outstanding drag-and-drop freedom to the creatives (developers) that I can't figure out why more wasn't, hasn't, isn't being written about it.

What Apple has done is to help unleash the creative and entrepreneurial minds of developers - amateurs and professionals alike - to concentrate on their concepts coming to fruition (for the iPhone2, of course) rather than worrying about hundreds and hundreds of lines of code that they would have otherwise had to write.

I'm certainly not a developer - as in code writer - but as I understood it, as you develop your application, you can (1) choose to include Apple-supplied tracking (as in GPS) functionality, (2) choose to simulate your new app on a screen-based iPhone2 for layout and functionality, and then (3) in an almost finale, synch it with your real iPhone (via your Mac) on the spot, to name just a few!

That may not mean much to some of you, and as consumers, some might say, big deal, so what, what does that mean for me?

But I get it.

I get what Apple wants to do.

Supporting this creative incubation known as SDK (fully underwritten by Apple) will indeed yield extraordinary results, many of which will become new parts of our lives . . . and we will ask, once again, how we ever lived without them.

That's how you prepare for the future, by providing for and helping the now.

P.S. - Those who've sold off Apple stock since Monday can only be called foolish, although saltier words do come to mind.

Shakira & Beyonce: stunning and talented

REVIEW
from Head Geek

A quick review of iTunes this afternoon yielded some music videos I've been meaning to download for a while but hadn't yet.

The first one was Beautiful Liar with Shakira and Beyonce, Whenever, Wherever with just Shakira and then the now favorite, La Tortura with Shakira and Alejandro Sanz.

[sigh]

How do we spell perfection, boys and girls?

LIVE VIDEO: Apple's new Boylston store opening

Still recovering from an amazingly eventful day yesterday at the Grand Opening of Apple's now largest store in America on Boylston Street in Boston, we noticed that some of our visitors to [: neon :] were being directed to a not-so-updated update page of ours - and hence were not getting to see these videos.

So, we decided to post them anew, immediately below.

Enjoy.

UPDATE2: Here's the first video we've been able to post-production edit. Stand-by for possibly one maybe two more.

It took a while, but we've finally combined the three longest/largest video files we took for the afternoon in the video immediately below and these are the most energized. You'll see the employees doing their own rally on the spiral staircase and then running out of the store, in formation, onto the sidewalk, across Boylston and down Fairfield, high-fiving the customers waiting to get in, only to eventually re-enter the store through the back entrance. Then you'll see the first customers on line be let into the store in groups of about twenty, each cheering, arms raised and actually running into the store. You decide how cool or how hokey this customer and employee Pep Rally really was in the end, but one thing you cannot question is the spirit and absolute attention to detail Apple is known to have.

Anyway, major kudos to the good people at Apple P.R., all consummate professionals and despite the crowds and the pressure, couldn't have been nicer to us. And lastly, a special shout to Ms. "Burberry" with Chanel glasses and a Gucci handbag from Apple corporate. Thank you for your compliments about what we wrote in [: neon :], it was a pleasure meeting you as well. Your company puts on quite a show. Quite a show.

Apple's Boston-Boylston store Grand Opening Video Update

UPDATE2: Here's the first video we've been able to post-production edit. Stand-by for possibly one maybe two more.

It took a while, but we've finally combined the three longest/largest video files we took for the afternoon in the video immediately below and these are the most energized. You'll see the employees doing their own rally on the spiral staircase and then running out of the store, in formation, onto the sidewalk, across Boylston and down Fairfield, high-fiving the customers waiting to get in, only to eventually re-enter the store through the back entrance. Then you'll see the first customers on line be let into the store in groups of about twenty, each cheering, arms raised and actually running into the store. You decide how cool or how hokey this customer and employee Pep Rally really was in the end, but one thing you cannot question is the spirit and absolute attention to detail Apple is known to have.

Anyway, major kudos to the good people at Apple P.R., all consummate professionals and despite the crowds and the pressure, couldn't have been nicer to us. And lastly, a special shout to Ms. "Burberry" with Chanel glasses and a Gucci handbag from Apple corporate. Thank you for your compliments about what we wrote in [: neon :], it was a pleasure meeting you as well. Your company puts on quite a show. Quite a show.

Apple/Boylston Grand Opening Update

UPDATE: We have video of the entire event and much more here.

Just managed to get out of the crowd to post this audio, since I won't be able to post the multiple videos until later tonight. Have some terrific shots.

Unbelievable is all I can say. What an experience, what an incredible Public Relations team they have.

UPDATE: Well, TalkShoe just surprised me and made the audio file size more than 3 Gigs, yikes, so forget it, I won't have time to break it up and post it right now. Instead, go to this link, Apple Boylston Grand Opening - 05-15-08 and give a listen.

Will post everything later tonight.

Boston/Boylston: thousands expected for Grand Opening of largest Apple store in U.S.

UPDATE: We have video of the entire event and much more here.

UPDATE: 05/15/08 - 02:58 - Just about ready to leave but we wanted to test something first. Yesterday, we subscribed to TalkShoe for LIVE audio shows to post here, so today I thought, if we can't be absolutely certain whether we can do a LIVE streaming video feed from the new store, maybe we can at least schedule a LIVE radio feed via TalkShoe and through my cellular phone from the site. So the LIVE audio feed is set to begin @ 5:30 p.m. Eastern and will go for up to 2 hours. To join in the conversation LIVE, just dial (724) 444-7444 no earlier than 5:25 p.m. and then when prompted, enter the show code 19595, or just log-on to http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19595. Hope it works. We'll give it our best shot.

It's beautiful, isn't it? This is the pic Apple now has on their site. Can't really tell if it's an actual shot or a CAD-style rendering.

Wow, can't wait to see it - although planning on going to the Grand Opening of Apple's newest store tonight may not be as easy as it sounds for us - or anyone. Been hearing on the local news that "thousands" are expected to be lined up for the 6:00 p.m. door opening, which means that a casual stroll to the Starbucks a few doors away may be darn near impossible.

Crowd control.

Boston's finest everywhere. (Love those guys).

Traffic snarls. (God bless the MBTA).

Barricades?

I do have some ideas as to how to bypass the crowds, but one thing is certain now, we will not be able to LIVE feed any kind of video as we have no air cards to deploy. I know, dumb mistake. But I also have an audio idea that just might work, but I'll be scrambling this afternoon to see if it does.

Anyway, we'll head out around 3 or 3:30 this afternoon to begin our trek on the T. The goal is to be there no later than around 4 to get a good enough position to take some pics. However and from experience, my guess is that they'll have a designated area in front of the store's entrance for the media (sometimes referred to as a press pen), and if so, any hopes of staying up front may be dimmed since we've been unable to secure any credentials in such a short window between announcement and day of.

So, we'll do our part and keep you posted throughout the day with LIVE blogging, and if you drop in to [: neon :] every chance you get to see what's up, then we can share the excitement.

No, not everyone is always on their computer, their cell phone or messaging

EDUCATION

Of all the activites that kids under the age of 21 could spend their spare time on, using Metal Detectors to look for historical artifacts in an open cornfield on a cold but sunny New England afternoon would probably not have been the first to come to mind.

But this older brother, younger brother teamed up together somewhere in Massachusetts and recorded their experience in a video that is remarkably unique for three reasons: one, how smart, as in seemingly well-educated and well-spoken/quite articulate they both appeared to be; two, how focused/dedicated they both were and three, how enthusiastic they each seemed to be with each new find.

Kudos to the brothers and double kudos to their parents. Kind of reminds you of years past when kids didn't have iPods, cellphones, computers, Facebook or MySpace, let alone the Internet and instead opted to spend as much time as they could finding things to do . . . outside.

What a concept!

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

SONY's NWZ-A820: will it help turn around the once respected company?

EDITORIAL/PRODUCT REVIEW

In the interests of full disclosure, we should probably say that our beloved Head Geek does not like SONY as a company or its products, all due to a long series of problems he personally experienced from a multitude of purchases he made over the past ten years, so please do not expect any contempt, anger or disdain for SONY to be hidden from any discussion in this post.

However, there are some newsworthy goings-on with their Europe-only release this week of their alleged iPod killer, the NWZ-A820 Walkman.

Not to take a thing away from Apple's clear marketing genius and superior quality control, but until Apple came along, SONY was the clear leader in both home and personal electronics creativity and quality. The fact that SONY failed to prepare for, let alone provide for, any competition for Apple and their iPod is more of a testament to SONY's hubris than to iPod's absolute, unquestionable genius and product success.

But SONY's arrogance, clearly evident in many of its past warranties and too-often contemptuous treatment of its consumers in post-sale Customer Service - - - not to mention its music and video library paranoia when their allegedly stealth DRM and copyright management software controls were alleged to have been surreptitiously loaded onto consumer PCs and allegedly caused substantial damage to many a hard drive (including one of Head Geek's PCs) - - - all of which subsequently lost SONY a long, very positive rep in the U.S..

That said, it's probably not surprising SONY chose to make the release of their NWZ-A820 this month only in Europe, and what we have below is a video of someone opening and demonstrating a pre-release version of the NWZ-A820 somewhere in the U.K., giving us a better chance to see just how competitively toxic this could be to Apple.

Although it appears Apple has absolutely nothing to worry about, we'll nevertheless be real sports and await this gentleman's follow-up review to more fully crow.

NOTE: Even in the Press Release provided to and found in respected tech blogger Engadget, SONY has yet to announce its price points for the model.