Posts tagged iphone os 4
Game Center isn’t coming in iPhone OS 4.0
May 19th
We’re pretty sure that this hasn’t been addressed by the mass media just yet, so we thought we’d fill you in. OpenFeint and Plus+ have some hope for prolonged existence: Apple’s latest release notes explain that Game Center is not coming to iPhone OS 4 when it’s released. The software is merely there for developers to try it, test it and critique it. It specifically says in the release notes to play with it, but don’t submit any apps that support it on iPhone OS 4.0. There’s even a little blip about it in the publicly available support notes.
We’ll start the rumors here: It’s entirely possible that Apple will scratch the Game Center idea completely before they even release it. The initial idea was met with opposition, questions and anything but user support. Sure, some developers like the idea of social integration within their games, but that exists already with OpenFeint and Plus+… so it begs the question: why would Apple even care to step in as a player? We can’t think of a single good reason to put time and effort into Game Center… maybe some sort of combination with iAds? OpenFeint and Plus+ have been around for a while, they know what works and what doesn’t. Apple has no clue about social gaming. If anything, Apple should do what they do best: buy someone out. Better yet, get out of the social gaming industry. It’s definitely not their area of expertise.
Either way, we shouldn’t expect to see anything until “later this year.” We’re guessing a back-to-school release with new iPods.
If you haven’t heard by now, iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 4 came out late in the day on Tuesday. We still have spots available for our Beta test program. We’ll let you know about our experience with Beta 4 in the next couple days.
iPad printing and new cost estimates from iSuppli
Apr 7th
AppleInsider did some casual reading of the iWork for iPad support documents… we’re not really sure why, support documents aren’t exactly thrilling material… but they found some interesting phrasing that is definitely worth mentioning.
Printing directly from iPad is not currently available
For years now, we’ve been waiting for a built-in printing solution for the iPhone… and with the iPad’s “productivity” it seems like a pretty big oversight. Currently, you’d have to sync documents back to your computer via iTunes or a wireless transfer like AirSharing if you wanted to print them out. Definitely not as productive as Apple would like.
Wireless printing on a device isn’t going to be easy. Perhaps that’s why it took Apple so long to roll out a proper solution. You’re definitely going to need a networked printer or possibly one that’s hooked up to your AirPort Extreme. Printing, in general, is a complete mess with every device requiring different drivers to function. Apple tries to limit the complexity in the Mac OS by pre-installing the most common drivers out there. That solution would be impossible on the iPhone OS: the pre-installed drivers can take up a lot of space, up to 6GB depending on your settings. Some are suggesting that they’ll limit the printing abilities to a few generic options in order to avoid problematic drivers for the device. Mac users can print on a device without the proper drivers if you just use the generic print settings… and it usually works well. If you’re trying to do more complicated color printing, it may not work as well as you’d hope.
Printing for the iPad and iPhone OS will prove to be a revolutionary change to the iPhone OS as we know it. It’s not going to be easy.
On a different note, iSuppli has updated their cost estimates for the iPad. The base model costs Apple $260 to make instead of their original quote of $220. This isn’t a huge shocker: most pre-release estimates are off by a similar margin. iSuppli attributes the difference to a few different things: the LCD, the multitouch controllers, and the A4 processor. Each one of those components were a little more expensive than they originally expected but that doesn’t mean much for investors. If you look at it, Apple is charging double their costs on every device. They’re making about $250 from each 16GB, $310 from the 32GB and $350 from the 64GB. Factor in the premium of 3G that will appear at the end of the month and profit goes up by $100 for each device. Wow.
We’re not saying that Apple shouldn’t make money, but they should really consider dropping the Wi-Fi version and selling the 3G at the Wi-Fi price. At a cost of $30, we don’t see a good reason to charge an additional $130 for 3G when you’re already making at least $250 in profit from each device. Is it Greedy? Yeah, a little bit. Will Apple really drop the prices? We definitely wouldn’t count on that.
