Jobs vs. RIM: Open Systems Don't Always Win, Why 7" Tablets Won't Win, Dual-Dock iPad Coming, and More

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News, Reviews, & Opinion

• Steve Jobs: 'Open Systems Don't Always Win'
• RIM Co-CEOs Call Steve Jobs' Slam 'Misleading' and 'Unacceptable'
• 'Steve Jobs Is Right About the 7" Tablet'
• Why Is the Competition Avoiding 10" iPad Competitors?
• Apple's iPad Coming to AT&T Stores on October 28
• Verizon Wireless to Sell iPad at Its Stores Beginning October 28
• Verizon to Sell 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab Starting November 11
• Canada and US Pay Most for Cellphone Plans
• European Trademark Office Confirms New Dual-Dock iPad

Apps & Services

• The New York Times Delivers News iPad App with More than 25 Sections of Content
• The Economist Intelligent Life App Free Download for iPad
• Printer Pro Adds Printing to iPad Right Here, Right Now
• Motor News Media Introduces Automotive Excitement On the Go with New iPhone App
• Formula 1 2010 Timing App - Championship Pass

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News, Reviews, & Opinion

Steve Jobs: 'Open Systems Don't Always Win'

Macworld's Jason Snell reports:

"Steve Jobs had a lot to say Monday during his conference call with analysts following Apple's announcement of record earnings and sales. Here's the Apple CEO in his own words.

"Jobs holds forth on RIM ('I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future'); Google ('Google loves to characterize Android as open, and iOS and iPhone as closed. We find this a bit disingenuous, and clouding the real difference between our two approaches . . . You know, even if Google were right, and the real issue is closed versus open, it is worthwhile to remember that open systems don't always win'); tablet competition ('it appears to be just a handful of credible entrants, not exactly an avalanche'), 7" display tablets ('One naturally thinks that a 7" screen would offer 70% of the benefits of a 10" screen. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. The screen measurements are diagonal, so that a 7" screen is only 45% as large as iPad's 10" screen. You heard me right: just 45% as large . . . This size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps, in our opinion'); pricing ('our potential competitors are having a tough time coming close to iPad's pricing, even with their far smaller, far less expensive screens. The iPad incorporates everything we've learned about building high-value products, from iPhones, iPods and Macs'); iPad and cannibalization ('The iPad is clearly gonna affect notebook computers. And I think the iPad proves it's not a question of if, it's a question of when . . . I am convinced that we've got a tiger by the tail here, and this is a new model of computing . . . that lends itself to lots of different aspects of life, both personal, educational, and business')."

Link: Jobs Speaks! The Complete Transcript

RIM Co-CEOs Call Steve Jobs' Slam 'Misleading' and 'Unacceptable'

Research In Motion founders and co-CEO's Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, evidently unamused by Steve Jobs' comments at RIM's expense during the Apple Inc. Q4 financials conference call on Monday (above), have issued a terse joint rebuttal on a company blogsite

"Apple's attempt to draw RIM into Apple's self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple's claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public's understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple's difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage.

"One thing is for certain, RIM's customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple."

Link: Joint Statement from RIM Co-CEOs in Response to Misleading Comments by Apple

Jim Balsillie expands:

"For those of us who live outside of Apple's distortion field, we know that 7" tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple's attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 - 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter. Apple's preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM's August-ending quarter doesn't tell the whole story because it doesn't take into account that industry demand in September is typically stronger than summer months, nor does it explain why Apple only shipped 8.4 million devices in its prior quarter and whether Apple's Q4 results were padded by unfulfilled Q3 customer demand and channel orders. As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story."

Editor's note: Apple introduced the iPhone 4 in June, continuing a tradition that goes back to the original iPhone introduction in June 2007. iPhone buyers anticipate a new model every June, which means less purchases are made in the April-June quarter than in the July-Sept. quarter when the new model is available. Balsillie is telling "half a story" when he pooh-poohs Apple's quarterly comparison - which corresponds to Apple's fiscal quarter and the calendar quarter - to RIM's sales figures. dk

Link: Breaking: RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie Responds to Steve Jobs Comments Made During Apple Earnings Call!

'Steve Jobs Is Right About the 7" Tablet'

The Telegraph's Milo Yiannopoulos says Apple has spoiled us with its 10"n tablet and made us reluctant to accept a smaller one.

Yiannopoulos notes that BlackBerry maker RIM's chief executives have lashed out at Steve Jobs' assessment of the tablet computer market with a blog post attacking the "distortion field" that supposedly surrounds Apple (above), but notes that the RIM blog post doesn't answer any of the big questions about tablet computers, preferring instead to make cheap shots about Apple's quality controlled ecosystem and centralised design philosophy.

"The thing is, 7in just doesn't make sense for any kind of application," Yiannopoulos contends, proceeding to deconstruct the arguments advanced by Research In Motion founders and co-CEO's Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in their blog.

Link: Steve Jobs Is Right About the 7-Inch Tablet

Why Is the Competition Avoiding 10" iPad Competitors?

Inc's Renee Oricchio asks rhetorically, "what's the optimal size screen for a tablet? Short answer: who the h-e-double hockey sticks knows. The tablet is so new, it's too new for things like screen size to be ubiquitous."

However, Ms. Oricchio continues: "Having sold more than four million units since coming out last spring, Apple is the closest thing to an industry standard at 10 inches (9.7 to be exact). Interestingly enough however, the rest of the industry seems to be ignoring that rule of thumb. The tablets now coming out (or soon to be coming out) are typically seven inches (Samsung's Galaxy Tab, Research in Motion's Blackberry Playbook, to name a couple).

"With the iPad experiencing such success with a 10 inch screen, I have to wonder why the other guys are putting their chips on seven inch screens."

Link: 7 Inch vs. 10 Inch Tablets

Apple's iPad Coming to AT&T Stores on October 28

PR: AT&T and Apple have announced that all three iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available at more than 2,200 AT&T Stores starting Thursday, October 28. AT&T will offer customers 3G prepaid data plans for iPad, complete with Apple's easy on-device activation and management. All iPad data plans are available without a term contract and include unlimited access to AT&T's 23,000+ domestic WiFi Hot Spots.

"With our breakthrough iPad data plans starting at just $14.99 and access to AT&T WiFi Hot Spots around the country at no extra cost, our customers will have the best of both worlds. We can't wait to showcase the amazing features of iPad Wi-Fi + 3G in our stores across the country¹ just in time for the holidays, said Glenn Lurie, AT&T President of Emerging Devices, Resale and Partnerships, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "With our breakthrough iPad data plans starting at just $14.99 and access to AT&T WiFi Hot Spots around the country at no extra cost, our customers will have the best of both worlds."

"We look forward to expanding the reach of iPad, allowing even more customers to experience the magic of iPad for themselves," said Tim Cook, Apple's COO. "As we approach the holiday season, we are very happy that customers will now be able to buy iPad Wi-Fi + 3G at AT&T Stores."

iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad's revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface. iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models are just 0.5" thick and weigh just 1.6 pounds thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook and deliver up to 10 hours of battery life² for surfing the Web on WiFi, watching videos or listening to music, and up to nine hours of surfing the web using a 3G data network.

Apple's App Store offers iPad users access to the world's largest catalog of apps with over 280,000 apps, and more than 30,000 iPad specific apps in 20 categories including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. With Apple's iBookstore! , the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device, iPad users have access to more than 100,000 books from major and independent publishers.

All iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available beginning Thursday, October 28 in AT&T Stores across the US for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16 GB, $729 for 32 GB and $829 for 64 GB. Domestic data plans for iPad are priced at $14.99 per month for 250 MB and $25 per month for 2 GB with no term contract. Both plans include unlimited access to AT&T's 23,000+ domestic WiFi Hot Spots.

1. AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
2. Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Link: AT&T Wireless

Verizon Wireless to Sell iPad at Its Stores Beginning October 28

Mobile service provider Verizon Wireless and Apple announced Thursday in a joint media release that that Apple's iPad tablet will be available at over 2,000 Verizon Wireless Stores nationwide beginning October 28. Verizon will offer three iPad bundles with an iPad Wi-Fi model and a Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, for $629.99 with an iPad Wi-Fi 16 GB + MiFi, $729.99 with an iPad Wi-Fi 32 GB + MiFi and $829.99 for a package with a iPad Wi-Fi 64 GB + MiFi. Verizon Wireless is offering a monthly access plan to iPad customers of up to 1 GB of data for $20 monthly, and will also sell the three iPad Wi-Fi models on a stand-alone basis, presumably at the standard Apple price points of of $499, $599, and $699 for the 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB data storage capacities respectively.

Verizon Wireless operates America's largest a 3G data network, and its credit card - size device MiFi 2200 is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and facilitates creation of a personal WiFi cloud capable of sharing the high-speed Internet connectivity of the Verizon Wireless 3G Mobile Broadband network with up to five WiFi-enabled devices. The MiFi 2200's rechargeable battery is claimed to provide up to four hours of active use and 40 hours of standby time on a single charge.

"We're thrilled to be working with Verizon Wireless to get iPad into the hands of even more customers this holiday season," said Tim Cook, Apple's COO. "iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before, and together with Verizon Wireless we're offering an easy way to stay connected wherever you go.

Link: Unleash the iPad on Verizon Wireless

Verizon to Sell 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab Starting November 11

AppleInsider's Katie Marsal reports:

"The Samsung Galaxy Tab and Apple iPad will go head-to-head in Verizon stores in the US starting Nov. 11, when Samsung's 7-inch tablet goes on sale for $600 . . . The two touchscreen tablets will compete on the same carrier and in the same stores."

Link: Verizon to Sell 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab Nov. 11 for $600

Canada and US Pay Most for Cellphone Plans

TGDaily's Emma Woollacott reports:

"The US is amongst the most expensive countries on the world for cellphone service, a study from a non-profit public policy institute has found.

Mobile phone rates per minute of voice service around the world in US dollars.

"The New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative (OTI) researched cell phone voice, text and data services for prepaid, regular postpaid, and unlimited postpaid plans provided by prominent cell phone carriers in 11 countries.

Minimum mobile phone package rates around the world in US dollars.

"It found that Canada was the most expensive country for a complete package of voice text and data, costing $67.50 per month. But the US was not far behind at $59.99 per month. For the UK, the figure was $32.40.

"But at the bottom end of the chart, the costs are vastly lower...."

Link: Canada and US Pay Most for Cellphone Plans
Full Report: An International Comparison of Cell Phone Plans and Prices

European Trademark Office Confirms New Dual-Dock iPad

Patently Apple reports:

"This week the European Trademarks and Designs Registration Office confirmed that one of Apple's new iPad designs is displaying an extra left side 30 pin connector to allow it to dock in landscape mode under application 001222905-0001. The first sighting of this design was noted on September 25, 2010. This time around, we see that Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ives have signed off on the design. That's always a good sign for things to come, wouldn't you agree?"

Link: Europe's Trademark Office Confirms iPad's New Dual-Dock Landscape Design

Apps & Services

The New York Times Delivers News iPad App with More than 25 Sections of Content

PR: The New York Times has released the NYTimes App for iPad, which builds on the elegant design of the Editors Choice App. It has more than 25 sections of Times content, including more videos and photos; breaking news alerts; and enhanced section and article navigation.

The NYTimes App is free and available through the App Store. When The Times launches its pay model next year, the iPad app will require a paid subscription.

Four sections of the app - Top News, Most E-Mailed, Business and Video - are immediately available at download. To access all other sections, users log in with an existing NYTimes.com account or complete a quick, free registration within the app. When the app transitions to a paid subscription model in 2011, users will be required to pay for full access; pricing information will be announced at a later date.

"More and more, our readers are connecting with The Times across a variety of platforms, and we are developing products that allow them to engage with our content in a meaningful way, said Yasmin Namini, senior vice president, marketing and circulation, The New York Times Media Group, and general manager, reader applications. "With the NYTimes App, our readers can immerse themselves in our award-winning journalism and rich multimedia, all tailored for a premier experience on the iPad.

Features of the NYTimes App include:

• Expanded content - access to more than 25 sections of content from The New York Times, enhanced with relevant posts from The Times's more than 50 blogs.
• Streamlined navigation - a popover section listing allows for smooth navigation between sections. On article pages, a navigation bar beneath the article allows users to swipe through and select other articles within the section.
• Enhanced multimedia - beautifully designed photo and video sections display the latest from The Times' world-class multimedia collection. Articles feature embedded photos and videos, with the ability to play videos within the article or expand to fullscreen view.
• Breaking news - breaking news notifications allow users to stay on top of breaking news even when the app is closed.
• Share options - share articles, videos and multimedia with a full set of tools, including Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.
• Slide shows - full-page slide shows display large-scale images tailored for the iPad screen.

"As technology evolves, we are committed to setting new standards for online advertising, and the iPad is a prime example of our innovation," said Denise Warren, senior vice president and chief advertising officer, The New York Times Media Group and general manager, NYTimes.com. "We will continue to deliver unparalleled marketing value to our clients, creating ads that make the most of the iPad's rich media capabilities to create a compelling experience for the intelligent, thoughtful readers who choose to engage with The Times by downloading and launching the app."

Fox Searchlight, Mercedes-Benz, and MicroStrategy are advertisers on the iPad app at launch.

The NYTimes App for iPad is available for free from the App Store.

The NYTimes App for iPad is an update to the Editors Choice App, which has been downloaded more than 650,000 times since it launched in April 2010.

Link: NYTimes App for iPad (NYTimes also has an iPhone/iPod touch app)

The Economist Intelligent Life App Free Download for iPad

PR: Intelligent Life Magazine from The Economist is available exclusively on the iPad in North America. Intelligent Life is the quarterly magazine from The Economist, covering life, culture, style and places. It shares The Economist's fondness for crisp prose, dry wit and free thinking. But it gets way from politics and economics to cover anything else as long as it's interesting, from tailoring to museums, hotels to philanthropy, going green to choosing wine.

Intelligent Life mixes features by Economist staff with contributions from leading authors such as Julian Barnes and A.S. Byatt, and interviews with everyone from Philip Pullman to Zaha Hadid. Unusually for an upmarket magazine, it has photography and illustration to match the elegance of the writing. On the screen, the design is as stylishly intuitive as the iPad itself, with every page specially adapted for both landscape and portrait formats.

The print magazine requires a $60-a-year subscription, but the current issue is free to download with access sponsored by Credit Suisse for the autumn issue. It includes the latest issue of the magazine along with an introductory sampler of content from previous issues.

In the autumn issue:

• OMG! The rise and rise of the acronym, by Lane Greene from The Economist's New York office
• Hilary Mantel, whose novel Wolf Hall is now the most popular book in Man Booker prize history, on life as a winner
• Bringing up four children in four continents: Emma Williams, a British doctor turned writer, on what she has learned about family life in New York, Jerusalem, Senegal and Belgrade
• The Visual CV: the best of Philip Seymour Hoffman, an actor without fear
• The Photo Essay: boxing in the slums of Nairobi, by the American war photographer Jehad Nga

Also included in your download, the Intelligent Life sampler, containing

• My friendship with Hockney: a vivid portrait of the artist by Karen Wright, former editor of Modern Painters
• Extreme dogs: a Photo Essay by Tim Flach, best known for his beautiful images of horses
• The Line of Beauty: the ice blonde through the ages, from Lucrezia Borgia to Grace Kelly
• Authors on Museums: the novelist Margaret Drabble on the art of pietra dura, or painting in stone, as seen in a gem of a museum in Florence
• Places: a river runs through him - Mark Twain and the Mississippi

Requirements:Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later

Link: Intelligent Life (download link)

Printer Pro Adds Printing to iPad Right Here, Right Now

PR: Readdle announces Printer Pro, new iOS application that adds highly anticipated printing capability to the iPad. Printer Pro lets iPad owners print email attachments, documents, web pages, photos and other types of content from their devices. It can print directly to many WiFi printers and to any printer attached to the Mac or PC via helper application that runs on the computer.

Once installed, Printer Pro appears in the "Open In..." list on the iPad. This allows people to print documents from Mail, Safari, Dropbox, ReaddleDocs and many other applications on the iPad that support this function.

At the same time, "Open In..." approach makes it possible to print files from many popular online storages: Dropbox, MobileMe iDisk, GoogleDocs. It takes only several taps to download the file via free Dropbox, iDisk or Google Docs application and send it to printer.

"Printer Pro lets you print right now, month before the release of iOS 4.2 update. It supports a wide range of document formats, integrates with other applications and core iPad services like clipboard, address book and photo library," says Igor Zhadanov, Readdle CEO. "The most important, Printer Pro is designed to work alongside Air Print unleashing full power of this wonderful technology."

Printer Pro Desktop is a free complementary application that runs on users computers. It shares computer's default printer with Printer Pro thus extending list of the supporting printers to virtually any device available on the market.

Device Requirements:

• Compatible with iPad
• Requires iOS 3.2 or later
• 9.0 MB

Printer Pro 1.0 is available on the Apple App Store at $6.99. Printer Pro Desktop is a free download from Readdle web site.

Link: Printer Pro (download link)

Motor News Media Introduces Automotive Excitement On the Go with New iPhone App

PR: The Motor News Media Corporation has brought visual excitement to iPhones, iPods, and iPads with the debut of its first smartphone application.

As the first in a series of new mobile applications, the company's free "MotorNewsMedia" app is designed to surprise and delight automotive fans with the availability of approximately 1,800 color images of concept, custom and prototype vehicles from the world's leading automotive manufacturers.

Designed to serve as device wallpaper or to exist in a photo gallery, there is something for everybody.

"This new app represents a comprehensive selection of automotive expressions from the world's most progressive vehicle companies," says Kenneth Chester, Jr. - President & CEO. "This first app is merely the tip of the iceberg of the content that we are planning to make available directly to the motoring public."

Users pay 99¢ per image that they choose to download. The app will email two copies of the image - one optimized for iPhone wallpaper and one optimized to be saved in a photo gallery on the user's computer.

Plans call for the company to initially roll out this app on Apple's iOS4 smartphone platform. The app is scheduled to also be released to Android (Google), Symbian (Nokia) and Blackberry smartphone/tablet platforms in the next year.

The company reports that it also has two exciting all-new automotive-related image applications in its near-term development pipeline.

Motor News Media is based in Des Moines, Iowa and is a leader in providing automotive content to newspapers throughout the United States.

Additionally, its Vintage Automotive Media & Materials subsidiary is a leading on-line store of automotive print materials including factory brochures, press kits, magazines, shop manuals and owners guides.

System requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch. Requires iOS 4.0 or later

Link: MotorNewsMedia (download link)

Formula 1 2010 Timing App - Championship Pass

PR: This is the only official Formula One Live Timing and Track Positioning application for the iPhone and iPod touch.

This application gives access to live timing and track positioning for all sessions - Practice 1, Practice 2, Practice 3, Qualifying, and Race for the 2010 Championship.

This is the only official F1 application with unique data and features.

• Live Positions - displayed on our dynamic 3D map. See gaps as never before!
• Pick your favourite driver and follow their progress. Watch as they battle for position!
• Unique replay feature Replay any session at any time you choose. Perfect for tape delayed broadcast!
• Zoom in on the action or pull back to see the whole field
• Live Timing Data Screen - Watch the session like the F1 engineers.
• Full timing screen including sectors and gaps.
• Live Commentary - Lap by lap live commentary.
• Standings - Results and news for the 2010 Season.
• Detailed Information Information and history on all drivers, teams, and race tracks.
• Complete Season Access.

Experience all sessions via the live timing feed from the track to the palm of your hand using iPhone or iPod touch.

This application is unlike any other, and a must-have for the F1 fan!

The Grand Prix will never be the same.

New in version 2.12

• New Korea Map.
• Local notifications are now disabled as default. Please go to the Setup screen to re-enable them.
• Minor bug fixes.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later. This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad

Price $16.99

Link: F1™ 2010 Timing App - Championship Pass