13 posts tagged “iphone”

Steve Jobs

This was a great read about Steve Jobs.

<stolen from Fortune Magazine>

In October 2003, as the computer world buzzed about what cool new gadget he would introduce next, Apple CEO Steve Jobs - then presiding over the most dramatic corporate turnaround in the history of Silicon Valley - found himself confronting a life-and-death decision.

During a routine abdominal scan, doctors had discovered a tumor growing in his pancreas. While a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is often tantamount to a swiftly executed death sentence, a biopsy revealed that Jobs had a rare - and treatable - form of the disease. If the tumor were surgically removed, Jobs' prognosis would be promising: The vast majority of those who underwent the operation survived at least ten years.

Yet to the horror of the tiny circle of intimates in whom he'd confided, Jobs was considering not having the surgery at all. A Buddhist and vegetarian, the Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) CEO was skeptical of mainstream medicine. Jobs decided to employ alternative methods to treat his pancreatic cancer, hoping to avoid the operation through a special diet - a course of action that hasn't been disclosed until now.

For nine months Jobs pursued this approach, as Apple's board of directors and executive team secretly agonized over the situation - and whether the company needed to disclose anything about its CEO's health to investors. Jobs, after all, was widely viewed as Apple's irreplaceable leader, personally responsible for everything from the creation of the iPod to the selection of the chef in the company cafeteria. News of his illness, especially with an uncertain outcome, would surely send the company's stock reeling. The board decided to say nothing, after seeking advice on its obligations from two outside lawyers, who agreed it could remain silent.

In the end, Jobs had the surgery, on Saturday, July 31, 2004, at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, near his home. The revelation of his brush with death remained - like everything involving Jobs and Apple - a tightly controlled affair. In fact, nary a word got out until Jobs' tumor had been removed. The next day, in an upbeat e-mail to employees later released to the press, he announced that he had faced a life-threatening illness and was "cured." Jobs assured everyone that he'd be back on the job in September. When trading resumed a day after the announcement, Apple shares fell just 2.4%.

Apple entertained no further questions about Jobs' health, citing the CEO's need for privacy. No one learned just how long Jobs had been sick - or that he had contemplated not having the surgery at all. "It was very traumatic for all of us," recalls one of those in whom Jobs confided, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the topic's sensitivity. "We all really care about Steve, and it was a serious risk for the company as well. It was a very emotional and very difficult time. This was one page in the adventure."

***

The Steve Jobs adventure: By now it's one of the most remarkable stories in business. When Jobs returned in 1997 to Apple - then facing its own near-death experience - he arrived with a tarnished legend. He was, of course, the charismatic boy wonder who at age 21 had co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak in his parents' garage back in 1976. He was worth $200 million by 25, made the cover of Time magazine at 26, and was thrown out of the company at age 30, in 1985.

What he's accomplished in the past decade has not just restored Jobs to the Silicon Valley pantheon but elevated him to the status of superstar. On the brink of bankruptcy when he returned, Apple now has a market value of $108 billion - more than Merck, McDonald's, or Goldman Sachs; $1,000 invested in Apple shares on the day Jobs took over is worth about $36,000 today. And it isn't just Apple and its investors that have benefited from Jobs' executive skill. Pixar, where he served simultaneously as CEO, has come to dominate the animation business, churning out megahits like "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles" that prompted Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) to buy the company in 2006 for $7.5 billion. (Jobs now owns 7.3% of Disney, worth $4.6 billion, in addition to Apple stock worth $682 million.)

iPhatigue

<stolen from The Unofficial Apple Weblog>

Posted Mar 6th 2008 2:52PM by Mat Lu

While Apple did not release any games at today's event they did begin to show what's possible with several tech demos. Apparently the SDK has only been available for the last two weeks or so, even inside Apple, which makes what they showed that much more impressive. First up, a team inside of Apple cooked up "Touch Fighter," which appears to be a kind of space-based shooter that you steer by tilting and aim by pointing. The game is 3D and uses OpenGL graphics.

Next up was Travis Boatman from EA who showed an iPhone version of the eagerly-awaited game Spore (also shipping for Macs later this year). It's clearly cut down from the desktop version, but as Johnson said of the dog walking on his two hind legs: "it is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all!" Considering that EA had two weeks, this suggests the iPhone has the power to be a serious gaming platform.

Finally, Ethan Einhorn from Sega showed off a build of Super Monkey Ball, naturally also using tilt controls. What's interesting there is they actually underestimated what the iPhone could do, and ended up having to bring in another artist to upscale the art from what they had anticipated. Again, the take home message: the iPhone is a real platform for game development.

It's worth noting that these were all demos and there are no guarantees that any of them will be released. Nonetheless, it's an impressive showing for two-weeks with the SDK and we can only imagine what things will look like in June when firmware 2.0 is released to consumers.

Update: Engadget says that EA has confirmed Spore for iPhone; release in September.

It sounds like we're not only (FINALLY) getting the SDK, but hopefully they've used their licensing of ActiveSync from M$ so we'll be able to talk to Exchange via more than just IMAP and POP.

<stolen from CNET>

Apple distributed invitations Wednesday morning for "an iPhone software road map" event next week, which means we're finally going to hear details on the plans for an iPhone software development kit.

As you might be aware, next week is March, not February, which means Apple will have missed its deadline for shipping the SDK this month. Still, on Thursday, March 6, at 10 a.m. PST the company will hold a "town hall" meeting at its headquarters in Cupertino to discuss the State of the iPhone, and probably answer several questions about how iPhone application development will unfold.

Apple also said to expect details on "some exciting new enterprise features," which at first blush sounds to me like a method of getting the iPhone to work more closely with corporate e-mail software. It's not clear whether the SDK will actually become available next week, or whether Apple is planning to use the occasion to explain what options developers will have for getting their applications on the iPhone. Check out our report on the iPhone SDK and the possibilities for official third-party application development for more background on what might be discussed next week.

Apple will be playing host twice next week, holding its annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday and then two days later having us all trek down I-280 once again for the iPhone event.

<stolen from The Unofficial Apple Weblog>

by Nik Fletcher

Back at Macworld we saw a sneak-peek from 1Password creater Dave Teare of the (then forthcoming) iPhone form-filling, username-storing 1Password bookmarklet for iPhone (pictured above at Moscone). Today sees a new build of 1Password pushed out for beta-loving users who want to take advantage of it.

Of course, one main qualm people may have with this is "just how secure is my data?" The 1Password data is saved in the bookmarklet itself using "448-bit blowfish encryption". Users set up password to use with the bookmarklet, and 1Password outputs all your data in an encrypted format to sync via iTunes' 'Sync Safari Bookmarks option'. Once on the iPhone, you navigate to the page such as Pownce, choose the bookmarklet, enter your previously-set password and choose the login you wish to use. All the form filling, and form submission, is handled by the Javascript.

I've been long-in-need of something like this for the iPhone -- the typical 'too many usernames, too many unique passwords' scenario -- and using it this evening, it's been mighty handy. If you're wanting to get your hands on it, simply set your copy of 1Password to check for beta releases (all the usual beta disclaimers apply) and download the most recent release!

iPhatigue

The demo was not going well.

Again.

It was a late morning in the fall of 2006. Almost a year earlier, Steve Jobs had tasked about 200 of Apple's top engineers with creating the iPhone. Yet here, in Apple's boardroom, it was clear that the prototype was still a disaster. It wasn't just buggy, it flat-out didn't work. The phone dropped calls constantly, the battery stopped charging before it was full, data and applications routinely became corrupted and unusable. The list of problems seemed endless. At the end of the demo, Jobs fixed the dozen or so people in the room with a level stare and said, "We don't have a product yet."

The effect was even more terrifying than one of Jobs' trademark tantrums. When the Apple chief screamed at his staff, it was scary but familiar. This time, his relative calm was unnerving. "It was one of the few times at Apple when I got a chill," says someone who was in the meeting.

The ramifications were serious. The iPhone was to be the centerpiece of Apple's annual Macworld convention, set to take place in just a few months. Since his return to Apple in 1997, Jobs had used the event as a showcase to launch his biggest products, and Apple-watchers were expecting another dramatic announcement. Jobs had already admitted that Leopard — the new version of Apple's operating system — would be delayed. If the iPhone wasn't ready in time, Macworld would be a dud, Jobs' critics would pounce, and Apple's stock price could suffer.

And what would AT&T think? After a year and a half of secret meetings, Jobs had finally negotiated terms with the wireless division of the telecom giant (Cingular at the time) to be the iPhone's carrier. In return for five years of exclusivity, roughly 10 percent of iPhone sales in AT&T stores, and a thin slice of Apple's iTunes revenue, AT&T had granted Jobs unprecedented power. He had cajoled AT&T into spending millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours to create a new feature, so-called visual voicemail, and to reinvent the time-consuming in-store sign-up process. He'd also wrangled a unique revenue-sharing arrangement, garnering roughly $10 a month from every iPhone customer's AT&T bill. On top of all that, Apple retained complete control over the design, manufacturing, and marketing of the iPhone. Jobs had done the unthinkable: squeezed a good deal out of one of the largest players in the entrenched wireless industry. Now, the least he could do was meet his deadlines.

Check out the rest at Wired.  It's a good read.

iPhatigue

From Lifeclever:

Here’s a little known secret: bookmarklets work on your iPhone.

But wait, what are bookmarklets?

Bookmarklets are little pieces of Javascript code that can be saved as ordinary bookmarks in your web browser. They enhance your browsing experience by giving you super-instant access to useful tools and special functionality.

There are billions of them, and below are my favorites. These work wonderfully on a computer, but they’ll add an extra boost of functionality to your iPhone.

To use, just drag the links into Safari’s Bookmarks Bar and synch them to your iPhone via iTunes. Next, bring up the Bookmarks Bar folder on your iPhone and simply tap the bookmarklet you want to use.

Apple iPhone

Call me what you will but I actually waited in the sun for a little over 2 hours to pick up an 8Gb iPhone.  It rocks.  The 2 issues I have with it I knew of prior to the purchase - no 3G and no (current) Exchange support.  I dealt with the lack of 3G with my Treos so I can deal with it on my kickass iPhone.  There's talk of Exchange support already in the works.  To me, this is a necessary feature for the iPhone to compete in the business market.

Regarding the comments that [insert smart phone here] can do everything an iPhone can, I concur.  However, the same could be said for OS X vs. Windows.  While Windows can do everything OS X can do, and more actually, there's no comparison as to which is the better OS after giving it a try.  So says me.  ;-)

I gotta say, Apple did a fantastic job not only in bringing a (somewhat) revolutionary device to the market, but also in the way they marketed it.