Archive for March, 2012

Is the Latest Always the Greatest?

2
439 days
by in Objective-C

After watching the various feeds regarding Apple’s media event this Wednesday, I picked up my iPad (1st generation) and went to download the new iPhoto app. Unfortunatley I was out of luck, as it said I needed a camera (why? If I had a Mac without a iSight Camera would Apple prevent me from using iPhoto on my Mac?). Thankfully I have an iPhone 4S, so I went to the App Store and was presented with the following Updates screen:

Now at first glance you may just think Apple have been busy, but if you look closely they updated some of their existing applications to requires iOS 5.1, a version of the OS which had only been available for a few minutes (and a version of the OS that refused to download due to server load!!!).

This made me think, If Apple requires users to update their devices to latest version of the OS to use their Apps, why don’t all developers?

The common approach of developers is to change the minimum specification of their applications only when they release a major version, but why does it have to be this way?

If we only supported the latest version of OS (and I mean even a point release) we would have the benefits of:

  • Only having to test on one version of the OS
  • You get to use the latest APIs
  • Hopefully the newer version of the OS has less bugs than the previous versions

Now using the latest APIs actually has a number of benefits:

  • You have to Write Less Code
  • More chance of getting featured by Apple and other publications as your using new features
  • Happy Developers

So whats the downside? The only downside is quite a big one and that is:

  • Reduces the number of people that can use your app

But who are these users that don’t run the latest version of an OS? All iOS devices that have been avaliable for purchase in the last 2 years (not many people keep their phones beyond this) can upgrade to the latest OS for free. Since Over the Air Updates where introduced in iOS 5, the process of upgrading the OS on your device has become quick and painless. So my argument is, if all applications required the latest OS version to work, then maybe users would be more eager to upgrade their OS anyway…

We have something you really have to see. And touch – Media Event Predictions

2
443 days
by in Objective-C

So it is time for Apple’s first Keynote of the year (or do we count the educational event in January? … it did show up in the Keynote Podcast Feed after all), and the one prediction that everyone seems to be agreeing upon is that we will see the unveiling of the iPad 3, but what will be new…

iPad 3


Retina Display

The iPad 3 will have a 2048×1536 Retina Display (4 times as many pixels as the iPad 2′s display), meaning that text will be sharp and crisp and your be able to watch 1080p videos with (quite a lot of) pixels to spare. To put this into perspective, the 27″ iMac has a resolution of 2560×1440, which means the iPad will actually have more lines on the screen than the 27″ iMac. There is an unfortunate side effect of the iPad getting a Retina Display, and that is applications will probably increase in size with all of the iPad @2x images.

A6 Quad Core Processor

One thing that we know for sure is that the iPad 3 will need quite a bit of a speed bump to push all those pixels around the screen, but will it be a newer Dual Core A5 or a Quad Core A6 Processor? One of the rumors is that the iPad 3 will be slightly thicker than its predecessor, and I think this is to accommodate a bigger battery for a Quad Core Processor.

Improved Camera

The iPhone 4S’s camera is the one of best cameras that you will find on a smartphone, the iPad 2′s camera on the other hand is probably not as good as the original iPhone’s. The Retina Display would emphasise how bad the cameras are on the iPad, so I expect Apple to bump the spec of both of the cameras so that they can at least both record video at 1080p.

LTE

It is early days for LTE, but I don’t think that there is any doubt that it will be the standard for the next few years, and unlike CDMA this will include outside of the US too. Maybe LTE is why the iPad 3 will put on a few pounds?

What else?


AppleTV 3

Continuing on the theme of 1080p, I think that we will finally get an AppleTV that is able to play 1080p videos which will also mean…

1080p iTunes Videos

I think Apple will start selling 1080p videos, which means that they are (theoretically) the same quality as Bluray. This means that videophiles will have nothing left to complain about… unless they still have a dial up internet connection as those video files will be huge.

What we won’t see


Thunderbolt Syncing

Am I the only person who still syncs their iPad using a USB cable? Hopefully I am not, but it would be good if you could sync your iPad in seconds over Thunderbolt. Unfortunately I don’t even think Apple will be adding to the tiny (mini? … nano?) list of device that currently uses Thunderbolt.

128 GB of Storage

With 1080p Videos and Retina apps everyone would like a bit more storage wouldn’t they?

iOS 6

I don’t think we are too far away from the developer preview of iOS 6, but I think that Apple will have an event just for iOS 6 (especially if it is a major release).

Go to Top