The Daring Fireball Linked List

Friday, 30 Jul 2010

OpenAppMkt ★: Gallery of iPhone-optimized web apps. Install it on your iPhone and it works like the App Store app. Interesting, but the fact that they clearly tried so hard to make it look good but that it still has janky scrolling and other visual rough edges says a lot about the technology’s shortcomings vs. Cocoa Touch.
IGN’s Sarcastic Gamer on the Xbox 360 Kinect ★: Worth it for the ping-pong joke alone.

Thursday, 29 Jul 2010

Ballmer Concedes the Obvious to Analysts Regarding the iPad ★

It’s cute how he still calls them “slates”. It’s sad that their answer is still Windows 7.

Nice bit of open source iPhone code from Leah Culver, implementing Tweetie-style refreshing by pulling at the end of a list.

Update: Here’s another one, recommended by a developer friend: EGOTableViewPullRefresh.

Lookout Posts Details of Their Black Hat Conference Presentation on Those Suspicious Android Wallpaper Apps ★

Nice technical write-up of what’s going on. It doesn’t appear that any particularly sensitive data is getting transmitted, but it sure is curious why they’re transmitting anything at all.

10K Apart ★

Web app contest from An Event Apart:

It’s time to get back to basics — back to optimizing every little byte like your life depends on it. Your challenge? Build a web app in less than 10 kilobytes.

Urbanized ★

Now in production: the final film in Gary Hustwit’s documentary trilogy on design, following Helvetica and Objectified:

Urbanized looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design, featuring some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050.

Apple Now Uses Its Own Location Service ★

Interesting, but not surprising.

The Talk Show ★

The comeback episode of Dan Benjamin’s and my podcast, talking about this week’s new Macs, the Magic Trackpad, Antennagate, and more. Sponsored by MailChimp.

Lookout, a Mobile Security Firm, Claims Android App Downloaded by ‘Millions’ Sends Personal Data to Server in China ★

Dean Takahashi, reporting for MobileBeat:

The app in question came from Jackeey Wallpaper, and it was uploaded to the Android Market, where users can download it and use it to decorate their phones that run the Google Android operating system. It includes branded wallpapers from My Little Pony and Star Wars, to name just a couple.

It collects your browsing history, text messages, your phone’s SIM card number, subscriber identification, and even your voicemail password. It sends the data to a web site, www.imnet.us. That site is evidently owned by someone in Shenzhen, China. The app has been downloaded anywhere from 1.1 million to 4.6 million times. The exact number isn’t known because the Android Market doesn’t offer precise data.

I’m sure this story will get just as much attention as if it had been an iPhone app that did this. I’d like to see more proof from Lookout, though. Up to 4 million downloads?

Update: The article has been updated regarding what information the app captures: “Update: Lookout notes it does not capture browsing history and text messages.”

Update 2: Lookout has posted details on their weblog.

Wednesday, 28 Jul 2010

The Emperor’s New Antenna ★

Smartest piece written yet on Antennagate? This one, by Watts Martin.

New Amazon Kindles: $139 Wi-Fi-Only Version and $189 3G Model ★

Now with a dark shell, like the new DX, which helps make the screen background look more like white. The pricing is aggressive, and Amazon seems committed to focusing on the e-reading market, not the tablet computing (or at this point, should we say pad computing?) market.

Walt Mossberg Reviews New Samsung Galaxy S Android Phones ★

Walt Mossberg:

I’ve been testing the first two Galaxy S phones, the T-Mobile Vibrant and the AT&T Captivate, both of which cost $200 with a two-year contract. Neither has all the features of Apple’s latest model, like a front-facing camera for video calls or an ultra–high resolution screen, but they are worthy competitors. They have some attributes the iPhone lacks, like bigger screens and better integration of social networking.

They sound like good — maybe the best? — Android phones. What I find interesting is that “Galaxy S” is Samsung’s branding, but the phones aren’t called that. Each carrier gives them their own names. How many real people will know that the T-Mobile Vibrant and AT&T Captivate are pretty much the same phone from different carriers? And “Android” doesn’t get mentioned at all. The word “Android” doesn’t get much play from the carriers, either. There’s just one mention of “Android” on AT&T’s web page for the Captivate, and it’s near the bottom in the small print section.

Sprint Evo Ad in Sports Illustrated’s iPad App ★

Specifically targets iPad owners: “Hello, iPad. Meet Evo, the first 4G phone.” Update: As Jason Snell pointed out on Twitter, they make a point of promoting the Evo’s on-the-fly Wi-Fi hotspot feature — something that pairs well with a non-3G iPad, and that the iPhone doesn’t offer.

Time Inc. Frustrated by Apple Over iPad Subscription Issue ★

Peter Kafka on Time Inc.’s frustrations with the Sports Illustrated iPad app:

Last month, the publisher was set to launch a subscription version of its Sports Illustrated iPad app, where consumers would download the magazines via Apple’s iTunes but would pay Time Inc. directly. But Apple rejected the app at the last minute, forcing the Time Warner unit to sell single copies, using iTunes as a middleman, multiple sources tell me.

The problem is not as simple as Apple not allowing third-party publishers to bill users directly, without going through iTunes so that Apple gets a cut of the pie, because:

Confusing the issue even more is that Apple already allows a handful of app makers — like Amazon and the Wall Street Journal, which like this Web site is owned by News Corp. — to bill customers directly. Amazon itself, meanwhile, has been sparring with publishers over subscriptions for its Kindle platform. Jeff Bezos keeps most of the data and money that those transactions generate, too.

Here’s the difference, I think. With Amazon and the Wall Street Journal, users set up and create their accounts on the web, not within the iOS apps. The WSJ app requires a subscription that doesn’t go through iTunes, but you create, pay for, and manage that subscription on the web. Judging from Kafka’s description of the Sports Illustrated situation, it sounds like Time tried to add its own direct billing subscription system within the Sports Illustrated app itself.

(The Sports Illustrated iPad app is free, and from within the app, you can buy individual issues. Samples are free, most regular issues are $5.)

Anyway, the whole problem would just go away if Apple would spell out what the rules are for subscription publications.

Motorola Droid X Ad: ‘No Jacket Required’ ★

Smart ad from Motorola — the message is that the Droid X is better than the iPhone 4, but they didn’t have to mention the iPhone by name. Maybe the biggest downside for Apple with the free cases offer is that it creates the impression that the iPhone 4 needs a case.

LG Posts Record Handset Loss ★

Shinhye Kang and Seonjin Cha, reporting for Businessweek:

Losses from mobile phones totaled 120 billion won ($101 million) in the second quarter, compared with profit of 620 billion won a year earlier, Seoul-based LG said in a statement today. The loss, the division’s first in four years, was triple the size projected by the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

This shows the folly of thinking “market share” is a primary concern. LG sold over 30 million handsets in the quarter — up 2 percent over last year — but lost money because most of them were cheap low-profit models.

iMac or Mac Pro? ★

Marco Arment compares:

Today’s overdue Mac Pro update is a welcome change, but for a computer that’s so expensive, why not just get an iMac?

It’s a really good question.

Derek Powazek on Designing for iPad ★

Derek Powazek:

I never realized how much web terminology had crept into my vocabulary. An iPad app doesn’t have pages, it has screens or views. You don’t click, you tap. You don’t scroll, you swipe. I spent much of our early meetings stumbling over my own words just to communicate the basics.

Safari Extensions Gallery ★

Coincides with the release of Safari 5.0.1, which is now available through Software Update.

Tuesday, 27 Jul 2010

Dan Frakes on the Magic Trackpad ★

The buttons are in the front feet underneath.

Kickstartup ★

Craig Mod on his experience using Kickstarter. (I just got my copy of Art Space Tokyo, the book whose printing he funded through Kickstarter, and it’s exquisite.)

Neven Mrgan Compares the New iMac to All-in-Ones From Dell and HP ★

Not the computers, but their websites.

Adam Lisagor on The Pipeline ★

Really enjoyed this interview of Adam Lisagor by Dan Benjamin. Funny and very honest.

Mark Huot: ‘A Real Web Design Framework’ ★

Thoughtful response to Jason Santa Maria’s plea yesterday for a new web design app; in particular, how something like Interface Builder — or at least exactly like IB — wouldn’t work for web pages.

Dell Streak Pricing: $549 Without Contract ★

Question for those who think commoditization is going to to relegate iOS to a Mac-sized niche: where is the $200 Android competitor to the iPod Touch? It’s been a huge hit for three years, and still has no competition.

Apple’s Original Desktop Trackpad ★

Nice catch by Simon Beckerman.

First Philly Apple Store Opens This Friday ★

There are a bunch of Apple Stores in the Philly area, but this is the first in the city proper.

London Times Loses Almost 90 Percent of Online Readership ★

Josh Halliday, reporting for The Guardian:

The Times has lost almost 90% of its online readership compared to February since making registration mandatory in June, calculations by the Guardian show.

Dumb.

Apple’s Magic Trackpad ★

Multitouch trackpad for desktop Macs.

New $999 27-Inch LED Cinema Display ★

Replaces not just the old 30-inch Cinema Display, but also the 24-inch. This will be Apple’s only standalone display going forward. Doesn’t go on sale until September, though.

New iMacs, Too ★

Another SSD option:

Customers of the 27-inch iMac have the option to order a 256GB solid state drive (SSD) as a primary or secondary drive. The iMac SSD supports up to 215 MB/s data transfer rates for faster startup and application launch times.

Apple Unveils New Mac Pro With Up to 12 Processing Cores ★

First update to the Mac Pro in over 500 days. Looks good. And they’re finally pitching SSDs as being faster, not just more reliable:

For the first time, Mac Pro customers have the option to order a 512GB SSD for the ultimate in reliability and lightning fast performance. With the ability to install up to four SSD drives in the system’s internal drive bays, the new Mac Pro can provide ultra high-speed disk bandwidth and random disk performance, two times faster than the average performance of a standard disk drive.

Rare Video Footage of Yours Truly Making Predictions Regarding New Products From Apple ★

I missed the AA battery charger.

Yahoo Japan to Adopt Google’s Search Engine ★

Reuters:

Yahoo Japan, Japan’s biggest Internet portal operator, said on Tuesday it will adopt U.S. rival Google Inc’s search engine and advertisement delivery system and provide Google with its data.

Not exactly a team player, I guess.

Monday, 26 Jul 2010

Settling Scores With MLB At Bat ★

Speaking of Khoi Vinh, I’ll ditto his complaint about the excellent MLB At Bat app for the iPad: the “Condensed Game” videos are terrific, but they’re very difficult to access without spoiling the final score of the game.

A Real Web Design Application ★

Jason Santa Maria on how he designs websites, and what he craves in a new design app:

I’m asking for something that sits on the fence between all of this. I don’t think any of the current desktop apps or any given browser gets the job done. They all do a pretty good job at a few things, but no single one does well enough to really make it a solid prospect.

Free Registration for Macworld Expo 2011 Ends in a Few Hours ★

Get in while the getting’s good.

The Laff Box ★

Fascinating interview by Mike Sacks with Ben Glenn II, a TV historian and perhaps the world’s preeminent expert on the laugh track. (Via Liz Danzico.)

The Deck ★

Ever wonder how to get a display ad on Daring Fireball? There’s only one way: The Deck, the web’s best ad network.

Update: And it just got better: Khoi Vinh’s Subtraction is back in The Deck, starting next week.

Carl Howe Sets the Record Straight on That Survey Regarding iPhone and Android Customer Satisfaction ★

Remember that link Friday about the survey that showed a startling difference in iPhone and Android customer satisfaction? Not so fast. Yes, 77 percent of iPhone owners plan to buy another iPhone. But, as Howe (the analyst who wrote the report) explains, their Android numbers were specific to owners of “Google-branded” phones:

You’ll note in the excerpt above, we were careful to say “Google-branded Android phone owners”. That’s because our data keys on the manufacturer of the phone as the way to determine what type of phone a consumer owns. Because all non-Google Android brands make phones using other operating systems, Google-branded phones are the only ones we can be certain run Android. However, restricting ourselves to that category means that we leave out a big segment of Android owners, specifically those who own Motorola Droids and HTC EVOs among others.

The only Google-branded phones are the Nexus One and the clunky 2008 G1, so the results clearly aren’t representative of Android owners in general.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Kubrick ★

Maybe The Shining tonight, to celebrate.

The Ins-N-Outs of an in-N-Out Double-Double, Animal-Style ★

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s obsessively detailed deconstruction of the In-N-Out Animal Style Double-Double hamburger. Consider it a sequel to his research on perfect McDonald’s-style french fries from a few months ago. (Via Kottke.)

The Talk Show Returns ★

My pal Dan Benjamin is off the sauce and we’re celebrating by putting our podcast back on the air, on a weekly schedule. Listen live this Wednesday at 1pm ET. We’ll have much to talk about, what with the new Mac Pros (finally, right?), speed-bump iMacs, and the gorgeous new 16:9 27-inch Cinema Display that Apple might hypothetically release tomorrow.

Update: Doubly-hypothetical, but who knows, maybe even that desktop multitouch trackpad device I first mentioned last October, too.

Reviving Caslon ★

William Berkson, on creating a new revival of William Caslon’s 18th century typefaces:

To go back to the analogy of the performance of an old song or old music score, the situation reminds me of what Ira Gershwin said when he heard Ella Fitzgerald’s recording of the Gershwin song book. “I never knew we were so good until I heard Ella sing our songs.”

U.S. Copyright Office Declares Jailbreaking Legal ★

Here’s the ruling itself from the Librarian of Congress. This is good news, but I don’t think there will be much of a practical effect — just because it’s legal doesn’t mean Apple must support it.

Sunday, 25 Jul 2010

Ostrich ★

Free Safari extension Twitter client by Jérôme Gravel-Niquet.

Update: The website is flaking in and out; here’s a cached version in case you need it.

The War Logs ★

Series of articles from The New York Times on material from a WikiLeaks archive of military documents regarding the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

An Analysis of Lightroom JPEG Export Quality Settings ★

Great research and analysis from Jeffrey Friedl. Must-read for any Lightroom user.

Terminal Tips and Tricks for Mac OS X ★

Great collection of command-line tips from Super User.