This is a story that should surprise no one, but the Wall Street Journal still made it "news" on Saturday: Apple's iPhone is "forbidden fruit" on the Microsoft campus.

Numerous past stories point to the iPhone being an embarrassment for those caught with it at Microsoft, at least by a senior executive. After all, Bill Gates' children can't get an iPod or iPhone, Microsoft will only pay for the data plans of Windows Mobile phones, and CEO Steve Ballmer "confiscated" an iPhone at Microsoft's annual private company meeting in September of 2009.

Long ago, before the iPhone was launched, it was poor form to be using an iPod at the campus, as well.

While the disdain of Microsoft's execs at the iPhone is well-known, what might not be is the following incident:

At a retreat last March for dozens of senior Microsoft executives at its corporate campus, someone asked about employee use of iPhones in a question-and-answer period.

According to several people present, Andy Lees, a Microsoft senior vice president who oversees development of the mobile-phone software business, and his boss, Robbie Bach, explained that Microsoft workers often use rival products to better understand the competition (yeah, right).

Kevin Turner, chief operating officer, scoffed at that explanation, these people said. Mr. Turner said he discouraged Microsoft's sales force from using the iPhone, they added. "What's good for the field is good for Redmond," Mr. Turner said, recalls one of the people who heard his comments.

Meanwhile, Steve Ballmer told a story about how his father worked for Ford, and that his family always drove Fords. Of course, let's not forget that at the time Ballmer was a child, Ford was a dominant car company globally, not like now, and let's also not forget the discount employees would get for buying from "the company."

Meanwhile, some employees have taken a "better safe than sorry attitude."

One Microsoft worker said he knows several colleagues who try to disguise their iPhones with cases that make them look more like generic handsets.

"Maybe once a year I'm in a meeting with Steve Ballmer," said this employee. "It doesn't matter who's calling, I'm not answering my phone."

In January, Bill Gates appeared on "The Daily Show," and was asked by host Jon Stewart if he can have an iPhone since leaving full-time duties at Microsoft in 2008. "I'm a very loyal Microsoft user," Gates replied.

Watch a video of that appearance below:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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Tags: Answer Period, Bill Gates, Car Company, Company Meeting, Forbidden Fruit, Fords, iPhone, Iphones, Kevin Turner, Microsoft Campus, Microsoft Executives, Microsoft Workers, Mobile Phone Software, Mr Turner, Rival Products, Robbie Bach, S Sales, Senior Vice President, Steve Ballmer, Wall Street Journal

The New York Times has an interesting piece on the falling out between Google and Apple. The rancor has reached the point where, according to once unnamed source, "It’s World War III." What brought the two companies to this point, such that we may even see Microsoft's Bing replacing Google on the iPhone, if things work out as rumored?

After all, when the first-generation iPhone was launched, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was on-stage with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Schmidt joked that the collaboration between the two, necessary to get Google's services on the iPhone, was so close that companies should be merged and called “AppleGoo.” He added, “Steve, my congratulations to you. This product is going to be hot.”

Of course, the iPhone was, and is, hot. Then came Google's Android platform, which Jobs feels was a stab in the back.

During an all-hands meeting shortly after the iPad was introduced in January, Jobs went on a rant about Google: “We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake: Google wants to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.” He also added, “Don’t be evil is a load of crap” (originally reported as Jobs saying it was "bullsh*t").

It is doubtful the Android platform will "kill" the iPhone. However, many analysts believe that Android will eventually overtake the iPhone. The reasons should be common sense to anyone watching the industry:

• The iPhone, because of its App Store and rather draconian policies over what can and cannot be installed on the device, is a closed system. Android is not. The singular example of Google Voice is obvious.

• The iPhone comes (at least so far) in one form factor per year. Android phones are shipping in many varieties, with more to come.  To consumers who like differentiation, this may eventually be an issue.  

• While the iPhone's App Store far outstrips Android in terms of the sheer number of apps, exactly how many of those are truly useful? The better-known apps will show up on Android, if they haven't already. Of course, there are apps that may never show up on Android, such as, say, an app for your favorite bank. Many of those are simply an easy way to get into the web site of the company involved, and can still be done via Android's browser, which is just as capable as the iPhone's, at least for now.

Therein lies the rub, of course: "at least for now." While Apple has not sued Google over the Android platform, it has sued one of Google's hardware partners, HTC. Google, quite naturally, said it will back its partner.  Multi-touch, for example, is at issue in the fight, and that allows pinch-to-zoom functionality, something highly valued by consumers. Loss of such features to iPhone exclusivity will surely hurt Android adoption.

It's not just Google that's "picking on" Apple. Its Android partners are as well. Verizon, which reportedly passed on the iPhone, has made no bones about AT&T's coverage issues, which many iPhone users are aware of. They also were quick to point out that things the iPhone can't do, the Droid can.

It's not just about smartphones, either. The NYT points out that Apple made an offer of $600 million for AdMob, the mobile ad company, but after requiring a 45-day routine clause that prevented the start-up from shopping itself to others, Apple inexplicably let the 45 days pass. Once the period expired, Google immediately pounced.

Within three days of the no-shop provision's expiration, Google announced it had agreed to buy AdMob, for $750 million, a 25 percent premium over Apple's offer. In addition, Google made sure to point out that it, unlike Apple, was an old pro in advertising, and thus better suited to AdMob. Finally, the company also promised that AdMob employees would be able to cash out stock options sooner than Apple’s deal would have allowed.

An unnamed source told the NYT:

“There is no way AdMob would have gotten $750 million if he (Eric Schmidt) wasn’t worried that it would end up in the hands of Steve. Are they going to get $750 million in cash flow back? No way.”

Apple settled for seconds, signing a deal with Quattro Wireless, an AdMob rival, for close to $300 million in January. Of course, AdMob was the prize fruit in all this pursuit. This, and the contentiousness over Android and HTC, signal that Apple and Google's World War III is nowhere near an end.

Tags: Android, Apple Ceo, Ceo Eric Schmidt, Ceo Jobs, Common Sense, Differentiation, Eric Schmidt, Google, iPad, iPhone, New York Times, Phone Business, Rancor, Rant, Search Business, Sheer Number, Stab In The Back, Steve Jobs, Unnamed Source, World War Iii

When the first-gen iPhone was released, with its non-user-replaceable battery, many were interested, and not-so-happy with its battery replacement policy: users had to expect a three-day wait and could lose all their data. You would, of course, get your iPhone bad. Now, with the iPad, Apple has changed course: they don't replace your battery; they replace your iPad.

Here's what the support page concerning the iPad's battery replacement policy says:

[...] If your iPad requires service due to the battery’s diminished ability to hold an electrical charge, Apple will replace your iPad for a service fee. [...]

The service costs $99, plus $6.95 shipping. The total cost is $105.95 per unit.
All fees are in U.S. dollars and are subject to local tax.

Ah, but all is not golden in battery-replacement land: your data will once again not be preserved. Additionally, it will take about a week, the page says, from start to finish.

Naturally, odds are you won't get a new iPad, but a refurbished one. Still, that's not a bad deal, all things considered.

Tags: Apple, Battery Replacement, Electrical Charge, iPad, iPhone, Odds, Refurbished, Replacement Policy, Replacement Service, Service Fee, Shipping Cost

We already knew the iPad will ship without the iBooks app, which will be downloadable (free) from the App Store, but on Friday, on the first day consumers could pre-order an iPad, Apple rolled out an iBooks page with more details on the upcoming e-books, as well as on the device.

The iPad-centric day earlier brought news about the way 3G service will be managed on the iPad. Some of the new tidbits of information about iBooks:

While iBooks sold at the iBooks Store will naturally have DRM (copy protection), since the iBook format is the ePub open book format, users will be able to sync free ePub titles to the iPad using iTunes.

Similar to the Kindle, the iBooks app will remember where you left off when you finish reading. You can then start at that "bookmark" when you re-enter the app. Additionally, if you touch and hold on a word you can look it up in the built-in dictionary, on Wikipedia, or search for it in the book or on the Web.

Also similar to the Kindle, the iPad can read a book to you. Of course, that feature on the Kindle became an issue, with publishers saying it cut them out of audiobook revenues, despite the fact that experts (and just about anyone who heard the feature) said there was no way it was a threat to audiobooks. Expect the same limitation that Amazon.com settled upon: publishers decide on a title-by-title basis whether that feature is available.
Among these are that it remembers where you left off reading and if you touch and hold a word the iPad will look up the meaning for you. VoiceOver screen-reading technology will read any page aloud, as well.

Unlike the iPhone and iPod touch, the iPad has a physical screen rotation lock. Anyone who's ever tried to read on one of those other devices will tell you it's a pain if you're lying down, as the accelerometer flips it from portrait to landscape frequently. With the iPad, Apple placed a screen rotation lock switch on the right-hand side of the iPad, above the volume controls.

For those with issues with hearing in one ear, Apple states on its Accessibility web page that you can route both channels of audio to just one earphone, if necessary.

According to the specs, the iPad supports AVI videos in MotionJPEG format, with data rates of up to 35Mbps, resolutions up to 1280 x 720, with PCM stereo audio. To this point, iTunes has never supported any AVI files.

Have you pre-ordered an iPad? According to some very, very rough guesstimates, some are saying that the rate of pre-ordering has reached 20K an hour.

Tags: Accelerometer, Amazon, Apple Ibooks, Consumers, Copy Protection, Dictionary, E Books, Format Users, iPad, iPhone, Ipod, Itunes, Landscape, Lock Switch, Physical Screen, Publishers, Sync, Title Basis, Wikipedia

iPad pre-orders began on Friday, March 12th, as Apple promised. Pre-orders began being accepted at 5:30 AM PST.

Apple is limiting pre-orders to two per customer. Shipping is free, and as the device will arrive on April 3rd in stores, those who have Saturday delivery in their area will receive it that day. There is also an option for in-store pickup. Those who opt for pickup can do so between 9 AM and 3 PM that day.

The iPad also comes with 90 days of complimentary phone technical support. The hardware, including the rechargeable battery and all accessories, carries a one year warranty. You can assume he screen is not, if damaged accidentally. Coverage can be extended to two years with a $99 AppleCare protection plan.

The iPad is the long-rumored Apple tablet PC. Announced in January, it uses a version of the iPhone OS, which means it also has its limitations. For one, while Apple CEO Steve Jobs contends the iPad is superior to a netbook, it will be unable to multi-task, at least at launch.

Specification-wise, the iPad is 0.5 inches thick and weighs 1.5 pounds, with reported battery life of "up to" 10 hours. It has a 9.7-inch display and a 1GHz custom Apple-built A4 chip with the CPU and graphics combined. The device is targeted as a device that fits between an iPhone and a MacBook, and is positioned as an e-book (iBook) reader, as well as a web browser. It will also be able to run many of the 140,000 App Store applications written for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Should you buy n iPad right now? Early adopters usually end up with the short end of the stick. The first iPhone buyers were not all that happy with the device's limitations, and certainly were not happy when Apple sharply cut the price a few months later. In fact, a lawsuit was even generated.

Thus, if you are not someone who obsessively needs to be the first with a new device, you should wait. Allow someone else to "kick the tires" before you charge in with your credit card.

Tags: Apple Ceo, Apple Tablet, Applecare Protection Plan, April 3rd, Battery Life, Customer Shipping, E Book, iPad, iPhone, Launch, Macbook, Netbook, Rechargeable Battery, Rush, Short End Of The Stick, Steve Jobs, Store Applications, Tablet Pc, Tires, Web Browser

The Jawbone series has always been touted as the best, hands-down, when it came to noise-cancellation. However, it's also been a pain to wear, at least through the first two versions. The company recently introduced the Jawbone Icon, a much smaller version, with the advantage of programmability. How does it stack up?

The Jawbone Icon comes in six different styles, which are not just different in looks but in voice. That's right, the icon responds to you with a different voice tailored for each version (The Hero, The Rogue, The Ace, The Thinker, The Bombshell, The Catch). However, you're not stuck with the voice you get by default. Using that same programmability feature that utilizes the MyTalk software platform, you can put the Ace's voice on the Rogue, for example.

The MyTalk program is currently in Private Beta. However, Aliph is smart enough to let everyone who buys an Icon get access within hours of asking for access to the site, at least for now.

The Icon has been made remarkable smaller than the overly large earliest versions you might recall, so much so that finding a fit with the provided eargels and hook is pretty easy. A hook isn't really necessary for most people, and the fit, at least for the reviewer, was solid and comfortable.

When you turn on the Icon, depending on the "personality" of the voice on the earpiece, it will tell you its ready to go. If your phone is ringing, it will automatically answer the call. The device only has two buttons, a large one on top for redialing, hanging up, and the like, and a power switch on the inside the Icon that's very easy to use.

What the Icon doesn't have is a volume control. For that, you have to use your phone's volume control, which didn't bother this reviewer, but has annoyed some on the Jawbone forums.

Noise cancellation? As expected, on a Jawbone device, it's tops. One nice feature for iPhone users: an battery meter shows how much battery is left on your Icon. A warning though, for people who might have jailbroken their phones and used that space in the upper right hand corner to display a numeric battery indicator for their iphone ... it screws up the Jawbone's indicator.

What's the biggest complaint about the Icon? Unlike many headsets nowadays, it doesn't offer A2DP. Those who want support so they can listen to music or YouTube, or Internet radio through the Icon will be sadly disappointed. In fact, the forum has a very long thread discussing the topic, with much criticism of Aliph, and with many saying they will switch if Aliph does not use MyTalk to update the headset with A2DP.

Aliph, for its part, has responded only by saying that MyTalk was designed to enhance the functionality of the Icon, and that users should "stay tuned." It has, however, been some time since the Icon was released, with no changes to A2DP, so some are getting tired of the wait.

Conclusion: The Icon is a great headset, with (finally) a Jawbone version that finally seems to fit easily and comfortably. However, the lack of A2DP seems an oversight, and its hard to understand why Aliph would omit the feature, as most OEMs are adding the feature to their latest headsets.

Tags: Ace, Battery Meter, Bombshell, Buttons, Different Styles, Earpiece, Hero, Hook, Icon, iPhone, Jawbone, Noise Cancellation, Personality, Power Switch, Private Beta, Programmability, Software Platform, Thinker, Two Versions, Volume Control

Now that we have cut, copy and paste in the iPhone OS, the current most desired missing feature (at least among developers) is background processing (multi-tasking). While Apple has said push notifications was fine instead of multi-tasking, in reality there are so many things that can only be done with multi-tasking.

For example, using a very common user complaint, it might be nice to be able to listen to Pandora and be able to get a phone call, without dropping Pandora's feed, that is.

Apple, on the other hand, has always used battery life as the reason for no multitasking. The company has said that the current state of battery technology and battery life is such that background processing (multitasking) on the iPhone was a non-starter. This puts severe constraints on what can and cannot be done on an iPhone.

The iPhone 3.x software is a fully preemptive multitasking operating system. So, it is possible, on a jailbroken iPhone with Backgroundr, to work outside the limitations artificially placed on it by Apple, and multi-task. Aside from that, only the apps bundled with the system by Apple can run in the background.

AppleInsider claims that "people with a proven track record" have told them that multi-tasking is coming in iPhone OS 4.0. Of course, if they do that, besides the obvious questions on battery life, Apple also has to figure out a slick way to switch and kill apps.

For that, Apple might have taken a look at some other apps for jailbroken iPhones. ProSwitcher is one such example. It allows you to switch and kill apps running in the background, even allowing you to flick them off the screen like in Palm's webOS.

At any rate, this isn't the first time the addition of background processing to the iPhone OS has been rumored. To this point, users have always been disappointed. This time, who knows?

Tags: Apps, Background Html, Background processing, Battery Life, Battery Technology, Constraints, Copy And Paste, Current State, Flick, iPhone, Multi Tasking, Multitasking, Os 4, Pandora, Phone Call, Point Users, Preemptive Multitasking Operating System, Proven Track Record, Webos, X Software

The latest beta (4) of the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK shows evidence of a couple of new gestures that appear to be coming to the iPhone. The new gestures are triple-tap and long press.

9to5Mac has been trolling through the latest SDKs, and it found two new files, 3Tap.plist and LongPress.plist that didn't exist before.

Of course, there is already a long press used in the OS to bring up the Cut/Copy/Paste menu, among other things, so its unclear what the LongPress.plist would refer to. These aren't game changing modifications to the OS, at any rate.

On the bad news front, for those who have been hoping, it also appears the more trolling through the SDK showed the Video Chat files that had been found by 9to5Mac earlier have been removed. It's unclear if they have been removed because it was a mistake, and that the feature was never coming, or that it's been removed to stop speculation.

At any rate, if Video Chat were to come out, it probably wouldn't be of use to anyone with a current-gen or older iPhone.

Tags: 9to5mac, Bad News, Beta, Copy Paste, Game, Gestures, iPhone, Mistake, Os 2, Paste Menu, Plist, Sdk, Speculation, Tap, Video Chat

VoiceCentral announced Black Swan, a Google Voice iPhone web app in December of 2009, but it was somewhat upstaged by Google itself, which released an official Google Voice iPhone web app in late January. Now Black Swan is out, so how does it compare with Google's web app?

The need for web apps for Google Voice on the iPhone arises because Apple has purged the App Store of Google Voice apps in mid-2009, and has refused to accept Google's native iPhone app. Web apps, which use the Safari's capabilities instead of a native app, are subject to the App Store approval process, and thus can't be blocked by Apple.

To install the Black Swan web app, you simply navigate to http://voicecentral.riverturn.com/install from your iPhone's browser. You'll then see a message says the app is installed, and it will then prompt you to add a bookmark to your Home Screen.

After that, you just add your account information (you do have a Google Voice account, still only invitation only, right?). The app is free, but VoiceCentral also offers a premium version, for $10 a year (currently on sale for $6). The premium version adds the ability to import contact photos, see billing transactions, Do Not Disturb, Favorites, and Inbox Search. You also get real customer support, as opposed to forums only.

Just remember, as a weblication, or a web app, Black Swan does have limitations imposed on it.

• Currently, weblications cannot access the iPhone's contacts. However, Black Swan can import your Google contacts to provide similar functionality.
• The earpiece cannot be accessed by the app, so voicemails play through the speaker or the headphone jack.

The lack of an ability to link to your iPhone's native contacts is annoying, but understandable.
There are also no push notifications. If, for example, there is a voicemail left on your Google Voice number, there isn't a way for Black Swan to send you a push notification. Well, there is a way, but not without "help," at any rate.

Additionally, unlike the official Google Voice web app, when you want to make a call Black Swan has Google Voice call you and then connects you to the actual number. The official web app uses an intermediate number and doesn't require you to answer the "callback." That's a big convenience.

So, does the world really need another Google Voice web app? Not really, not in addition to the official web app. What it really needs is a more open App Store.

Watch a Black Swan video:

Tags: Apple, Black Swan, Capabilities, Contacts, Customer Support, Earpiece, Google, Google Web, Headphone Jack, Invitation, iPhone, Native App, Notifications, Photos, Safari, Swan, Swan Web, Voice Number, Voicemail, Web Apps

How draconian is the App Store approval process? That's been discussed over and over again. How draconian is the iPhone developer agreement, however? Copies of the agreement have been hard to come by for non-developers (for good reason; more on that later), but the EFF managed to get one, and it's eye-opening.

The EFF used a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to get a copy of the agreement, after spying a NASA app in the App Store. The copy they obtained is, they noted, out of date, but it is likely it has not been significantly modified since the Rev. 3-17-09 version.

For one thing, in order to code and distribute apps for the iPhone which, unless the iPhone is jailbroken, can only come from the App Store after Apple's approval, developers give up a number of rights. One of those is to even discuss the developer agreement.

10.4 Press Releases and Other Publicity

You may not issue any press releases or make any other public statements regarding this Agreement, its terms and conditions, or the relationship of the parties without Apple's express prior written approval, which may be withheld at Apple's discretion.

And that is probably why we never hear anything about the agreement.

Section 3.2 is the so-called "non-jailbreaking" section. It's rather long, but the jailbreaking portion says:

(e) You will not, through use of the Apple Software, services or otherwise, create any Application or other program that would disable, hack or otherwise interfere with the Security Solution, or any security, digital signing, digital rights management, verification or authentication mechanisms implemented in or by the iPhone operating system software, iPod touch operating system software, this Apple Software, any services or other Apple software or technology, or enable others to do so;

More EFF-discovered Apple limitations on developers:

Section 7.2: Applications developed with the use of Apple’s SDK can only be distributed through the App Store (sorry Cydia and RockMyPhone). Additionally, Apple can reject an app for any reason, even if it meets all of the formal requirements of Apple.

Section 8: Apple can "revoke the digital certificate of any of Your Applications at any time." Yup, you were approved, and then rejected. It has already been made clear that Apple has a "kill switch" by which it can remotely disable apps, as well.

Section 14: Apple will never be liable to any developer for more than $50 in damages.

Section 2.6: No reverse engineering (including, the EFF points out, the kinds of reverse engineering for interoperability that courts have recognized as "fair use" under copyright law).

The conclusion of the EFF, which echoes the opinions of some who believe the best smartphone in the market is a jailbroken iPhone:

Overall, the Agreement is a very one-sided contract, favoring Apple at every turn. [...]

If Apple's mobile devices are the future of computing, you can expect that future to be one with more limits on innovation and competition (or "generativity," in the words of Prof. Jonathan Zittrain) than the PC era that came before. It's frustrating to see Apple, the original pioneer in generative computing, putting shackles on the market it (for now) leads. If Apple wants to be a real leader, it should be fostering innovation and competition, rather than acting as a jealous and arbitrary feudal lord. Developers should demand better terms and customers who love their iPhones should back them.

It's pretty obvious why developers put up with this type of agreement: it's the only way to access the full set of iPhone users (as opposed to just jailbroken ones). As the iPhone is the smartphone right now, Apple has leverage. The EFF's copy of the iPhone developer agreement is here (.PDF).

Tags: Apple Developer, Apple Software, Authentication Mechanisms, Blasts, Developer Agreement, Developer License, Digital Rights Management, Discretion, Freedom Of Information, Freedom Of Information Act, Good Reason, iPhone, License Agreement, Nasa, Operating System Software, Public Statements, Sdk, Security Digital, Security Solution, Software Services