Linked List: August 13, 2009

Thursday, 13 August 2009

Brian Lam has a much-linked-to piece on Gizmodo today titled “An Insider on the Apple Tablet”:

They went on to say that although the project has been going on under various names between four and six years, the first prototype was built around the end of 2008. Adding, “The time to market from first prototype is generally 6-9 months.” That would place the device’s release date in this holiday season. They then said, “There was a question of what OS the device would run, too.” (Other people I’ve talked to have implied this remains a huge secret.)

I’m almost certain there’s no tablet coming this year. It’s a 2010 thing. (Update: Jim Dalrymple is hearing 2010, too.)

So Lam’s source is an “insider” but has no idea what the OS is and has the ship date wrong. Sure.

Microsoft: New Outlook for Mac App Replaces Entourage in Next Version of Office, Scheduled for Late 2010 ★

Jason Snell:

Microsoft announced Thursday that the next edition of Microsoft Office for Mac will be released in late 2010. The new edition of the venerable office suite will include Outlook for Mac, a new application that will replace the Entourage. […]

Microsoft Mac Business Unit general manager Eric Wilfrid said that Microsoft will create Outlook for Mac using Apple’s modern Cocoa development frameworks, rather than the older Carbon system used by previous Office applications because of their legacy of having been originally developed for the Classic Mac OS.

I concur with this tweet from Snell — that they’re pre-announcing this so far in advance to discourage current Entourage users from switching to the new Exchange-compatible versions of Apple Mail and iCal in Snow Leopard.

Zune HD Available on September 15 ★

Joshua Topolsky at Engadget:

The Tegra-packing, HD Radio-playing, 720p-outputting device will come in a black, 16GB flavor for $219.99, or a beefier, “platinum” finish 32GB version clocking in at $289.99 (apparently the player will come in five additional colors, but no word on which ones, exactly).

The angular industrial design is original and wholly un-Apple-like. But isn’t it odd that the word “marketplace” doesn’t quite fit on the screen in the Zune’s main menu?

Clearly, the Zune HD is going to be compared to the iPod Touch. Its biggest shortcoming is that it’s just a media player and web browser; no apps, no games. The Zune HD prices look good compared to today’s iPod Touches, but not so much compared to the new camera-equipped ones Apple is set to announce next month (16/32/64 GB for $199/299/399).

Laying It All Out ★

Another comprehensive review and comparison of design apps by Jon Whipple, this time looking at five competitors to InDesign and QuarkXPress in the page layout space: Create, iCalamus, iStudio Publisher, Swift Publisher, and WorksWell.

This is not just a kick-the-tires checklist comparison. It is a deep 12,000-word examination of what these apps offer and how they stand compared to InDesign.

Palm Collects Location Data From Pre Users ★

Joey Hess reports that WebOS periodically sends Palm your location, which apps you use, and crash logs. The crash logs I understand (although that should be opt-in). But I don’t understand why Palm would collect location information. Dieter Bohn has more at PreCentral.

Update: Palm has issued a statement acknowledging that they collect location information.