Linked List: June 23, 2010

Wednesday, 23 June 2010

YouTube Wins Case Against Viacom 

Kent Walker, Google VP and general counsel:

Today, the court granted our motion for summary judgment in Viacom’s lawsuit with YouTube. This means that the court has decided that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement. The decision follows established judicial consensus that online services like YouTube are protected when they work cooperatively with copyright holders to help them manage their rights online.

Derek Powazek on the iPhone 4 Camera 

Derek Powazek:

Just look at the detail and clarity. I’ve owned digital cameras that took crappier photos.

I don’t know if I’ll ever buy another pocket-size point-and-shoot camera. Dedicated point-and-shoots still take better pictures than any camera phone, but not so much better that it’s worth carrying an extra device. And Flip-style dedicated pocket video cameras? Forget it, they’re dead.

Draft: iPad Sketching App From 37signals 

Integrates nicely with Campfire.

Display Discoloration on Some iPhone 4 Units 

Yellow spots and bands on some units, alas.

The New Flickr Photo Page 

Terrific work from Flickr: bigger photos, better navigation between pictures, and an excellent built-in dark-background “light box” mode.

A Fluid Hicksdesign 

Rather amazing fluid web layout by Jon Hicks.

White iPhone 4 Won’t Be Available Until Second Half of July 

Apple:

White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.

Creepy? 

Meg Marco for Consumerist, on Apple’s updated section on location data in its privacy policy:

Apple updated its privacy policy today, with an important, and dare we say creepy new paragraph about location information.

Here’s the text of Apple’s updated location privacy policy:

To provide location-based services on Apple products, Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is used by Apple and our partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services. For example, we may share geographic location with application providers when you opt in to their location services.

Some location-based services offered by Apple, such as the MobileMe “Find My iPhone” feature, require your personal information for the feature to work.

How is this “creepy”? Location data on iOS is always explicitly opt-in. You, the user, must grant applications explicit permission to access location data — including Apple’s own system apps. This policy spells out what happens when you do grant this permission. Whenever location data is being accessed, you get an indicator in the status bar. And in Settings → General → Location Services you get a listing of every app with location privileges, the ability to turn it off, and an indicator for each app that has accessed your location within the last 24 hours.

Forrester Analysts Predicts iPad Sales Will Plummet 

Philip Elmer-DeWitt, on a new report from Forrester analyst Sarah Rottman Epps:

But in the text of the full report, and in the accompanying chart, Epps estimates that U.S. sales for tablet computers from all manufacturers will total 3.5 million in 2010. In other words, in Forrester’s opinion, the 2 million iPads Apple sold in April and May were a fluke. It will be lucky sell 1.5 million in the U.S. between June and December — or fewer than 215,000 per month.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Apple announced the three-millionth iPad sold. (Many of them now, admittedly, outside the U.S.)

Adobe: The New Yorker Is Coming to the iPad 

Adobe:

The New Yorker, the iconic magazine title from publisher Condé Nast, confirmed today that it will use the Digital Magazine Solution from Adobe to create an engaging magazine experience for tablet devices like the iPad.