Category: Links

Netbot, however, is the best client so far for the iPad. My reservations still stand about the overall ideology of the Netbot product. What that doesn’t mean though, is that I am opposed to using the app at all. The iPad app is very good, especially compared to the field.

Alli Dryer reviewing Felix, an iPhone ADN client:
>The main problem with the icons, though, is that there are just way too many of them. A row of icons (reply, view conversation, repost, and star) accompanies every single post, and is therefore repeated over and over AND OVER on every screen that displays a stream. Coupled with the generous 256 character limit on App.net, this creates a situation where only two or three posts fit on screen at any time on my squatty iPhone 4S. I’d prefer it if these icons only revealed themselves after I tapped on a post (in order to save space).

When I first started testing [Felix](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/felix-for-app.net/id562447652?mt=8) I felt the same way. The fact that the actions for each post are repeated makes the app look less visually appealing and I felt it detracted from the surrounding beauty of the app. Here’s what we are talking about:

It would present a much cleaner view if these icons were hidden until the user took some action as Dryer suggests. However, after using this app exclusively (it’s in my dock after all) I can say that I no longer want these icons tucked away. Having them readily available is simply better for me. I can respond with less taps/gestures and because of that the entire app’s flow feels faster to me.

I’ve tested a few ADN clients that use the old Tweetie style of “swipe to reveal the actions” and now they just feel slow to me. This is one instance where I am happy to let the beauty of something be slightly marred for the benefit of utility.

[Brian X. Chen](http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/time-warner-cable-modem-rental/):
>Time Warner Cable, the big broadband and cable provider, is planning to start charging customers a monthly fee of $3.95 for renting a cable modem from the company. It said in notifications mailed to customers this week that the new fee would go into effect over the next two months.

I am linking to the fourteenth episode of The B&B Podcast where Shawn and I talked about cable modems. The bottom line is that you want to buy your own — they aren’t much money, rarely fail, and don’t line the pockets of greedy cable companies. [You can check if Time Warner supports it here](http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/support/topic.ashx/Buy+or+Lease+Your+Modem), also most cable modem manufacturers tell you where it is compatible. I personally only use Motorola Surfboard Modems.

Jeff Bartlett for Consumer Reports:
>Overall, Apple impressed our staff with the graphic presentation for the interface, results, signage, and points of interest info. However, there is less customization throughout than Google–a mixed blessing when driving, where distractions can be dangerous. Google comes across as more business like and less fun.

Usually I can’t stand to read a Consumer Reports, well, anything, but Bartlett offers a well reasoned and researched post. Hats off.

He sums up the maps situation really well, even though he is only focusing on the navigation element:

>When getting down to the nitty gritty, Google provides a better overall package, but we feel that both provide a good solution for standard software. We expect the competition between the companies will benefit customers with ongoing improvements.

In other words his entire post spells out the fact that the Apple Maps are not as good as Google’s, but that they do still work and are expected to get better. ((It’s like Hell froze over.))

Harry Marks with a dose of reality:
>*Using* a maps application or GPS device takes a modicum of common sense.

I had quite the debate this weekend with people over the maps app — keep in mind these are not nerd, just consumers — all of whom thought Apple was doomed because they had *no* maps app. Not that Maps was bad, that the coverage over the true problem is so bad that consumers don’t even know what the real problem is. And that’s the problem, not that consumers are actually having that many problems, but that the press has built up the issues to be so bad that consumers think there aren’t workable maps on the iPhone.

There was a lot of head-meets-desk this weekend.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt writes an interesting and rather scathing article on Scott Forstall. I’m not sure the maps and Siri problems are fire-able offenses because both were things Apple had to do and both needed user feedback to get better. Now it’s true expectations weren’t managed well, and that’s not good, but fire-able?

However if it is true that other executives don’t like to meet with him without Cook present, that’s a different matter entirely.

I don’t know much, but what I do know is that Cook has had the reigns entirely for almost a year and there’s been no exodus of talent. I think that says a lot.

Chuck Skoda:

>What was more unexpected was the size of the Lightning connector. The marketing images don’t quite do justice to how small it is, and the size isn’t the end of the improvements.

It’s really small — blew me away when I saw it t first. The connector actually seems delicate, but at the same time very strong. More than that though is how fantastic the phone looks when plugged in now, whereas the dock connector was bulky and ugly, the Lightning connector is sexy and sleek. I love this connector.

Honest question: why did they need to fake an address to “beat” Apple? Why not just show Street View versus Flyover? Seems like that is more honest and more telling of the feature dis-parity between the two.

Another way would be to show one of the many “melting” bridges, or to advertise your market leading position. There’s tons of ways Google Maps are better than Apple Maps — why invent something?

What does it say about your company when you immediately decide to make up ways to “beat” a competitor instead of just realizing that you actually *do* beat a competitor? It’s like an abuser-abusee situation where Google now feels that Apple is so consistently better that surely they could never have a better product, yet in this case they do have the better product, Google just chose to think Apple did have the better product and made up shit. So odd.

This is my full-time App.net client — and I don’t mean on my iPhone, I mean on any platform. I have been testing Felix for quite a while now and I really like it.

First: I love the icon.

Second: It’s not quite as sexy as Tweetie, but where trade-offs are made I really don’t mind at all.

Third: I actually like that the actions are visible and you don’t need to swipe to reply — it makes the app a lot faster (and the app is fast).

What a great App.net client, go get it.

Digitol:

>With iOS 6, you can choose to limit (though not entirely disable) ad tracking, by digging deep into settings. Go to Settings > General > About, then scroll down to the bottom and top on Advertising, then toggle Limit Ad Tracking to On.

I’m glad to see this, but even the learn more link doesn’t give you a good idea of when you are and aren’t going to be tracked. Wouldn’t it be something if Apple added an indicator in the status bar, like the location services one, that would tell you when your data is being sent to an ad server? You could then, like in the locations services preference, decide which apps could send that data, wouldn’t that be great?

Never going to happen, but interesting toggle by Apple, I just wish it was limited from the outset.

There’s two ways to interpret the quotes being tossed around from Schmidt: as Google giving up on iOS, or Google dragging their feet. Here’s the quote from Bloomberg’s Teo Chian Wei:

>“We haven’t done anything yet with Google Maps,” Schmidt told reporters in Tokyo today. Apple would “have to approve it. It’s their choice,” Schmidt said, declining to say if the Mountain View, California-based company submitted an application to Apple for sale through its App Store.

I read this as Schmidt saying that they don’t have a standalone app right now, and when they do it will be up to Apple to approve it — meaning he’s not sure if they will (they will). However many are sure to read this as Schmidt saying that Apple is holding the app — I doubt this is the case.

The Google-hater in me reads this as: “We haven’t made the app yet, wait, I mean it’s all up to Apple whether they would approve such an app. Did I say to much Larry, or was that sufficiently vague?”

Kontra:
>One of the key reasons why Google has better data than Apple is the fact that for many years users of Google Maps have been sending corrections to Google, which has improved its accuracy significantly. So by not submitting Google Maps to the App Store, Google would not only give up a very significant portion of its mobile revenue, but more importantly, it would self-induce a debilitating data-blindness on the world’s most lucrative mobile ecosystem.

That’s a great point, and [Apple provided that feedback mechanism right in Maps on iOS](http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/24/how-to-report-a-problem-with-ios-6-maps-data/). A larger point about this mapping kerfuffle for Google is that Google simply cannot stand to be complacent here. By not introducing a Google Maps app ASAP, Google is giving iOS users a taste at a different mapping platform and the risk is that users might like Apple Maps **and** that Apple Maps may get so good so fast from user feedback, that Google’s offering would be rendered irrelevant.

A good friend of mine, and long time Android user, called me Saturday telling me he was probably going to get an iPhone 5. I was shocked, but encouraged him to do so. He managed to find one from Radio Shack, purchased it and set it up. He’s a smart guy, but he does rely on friend-tech-support often yet there’s one thing he said to me that I think is pretty telling, given the fact he is a first time iOS owner: “I downloaded some apps already, like YouTube because apparently that doesn’t come on the phone, but it’s free, so I got that.”

In his mind downloading a YouTube app (which Apple removed from iOS 6) was basic — it was essential to using *his* phone. Yet there’s no Google Maps — he may not even know that Maps is not Google Maps — he likely doesn’t care either. However, if Google had Google Maps in the App Store when he found the YouTube app, I have no doubt he would have instantly downloaded it — that’s what everyone uses on their computers after all.

What if in another month Google launches the Google Maps app, will my buddy still deem that a no-brainer download at that point, or will he wonder why he would need *another* Maps application?

Anthony Drendel, a resident of China, reporting on the improvements that iOS 6 maps bring for those — oh — 1.3+ *billion* people living in China:
>Apple has chosen AutoNavi to provide map services within China. That was a smart move, because AutoNavi is a local Chinese company that provides very detailed maps of China. Google was never going to be able to map China as well as it has other parts of the globe because the Chinese government doesn’t trust the motives foreign companies—and it especially doesn’t trust Google.

Interesting because it sounds to me like, internationally, it is a really mixed bag. I am hearing that England and France got worse, now China is better. In the U.S., from what I have seen is visual oddities and slightly inaccurate placement of businesses. However, there *are* more local businesses in my testing, especially outside of big cities.

Either way, let’s say Apple gets maps on par with Google results in 18 months (I’d say 6 months if I were betting money), and keeps improving in huge markets like China — that’s nothing but pure profit for Apple because now they are giving Chinese people a real reason to choose (official) Apple devices over other devices. That could be huge.

**Update:** Or maybe this isn’t new, [Michael DeGusta](https://alpha.app.net/degusta/post/527393):

>@benbrooks I mentioned this on Twitter, but Mr. Drendel is completely wrong about China maps. iOS 5 / Google use AutoNavi as well, iOS 6 just shows more of the places at a wider zoom. (Meanwhile, ~225 cities in China lost transit & traffic seems reduced)