4G WORLD 2010 – EMPOWERING MOBILE NETWORKS, APPLICATIONS & SERVICES

By Kate Walsh of Yankee Group: Since our inaugural event in Chicago last September, we have seen a rapid acceleration of announcements for 4G deployments globally. At last count, there are more than 120 operators worldwide who have committed to either LTE or mobile WiMAX. In addition to the mobile broadband technology adoption of 4G, there is a vast ecosystem of participants also entering this market to serve the broader network, software and application needs of operators deploying these networks. Indeed, that is exactly the theme of this years 4G World: Empowering Mobile Networks, Applications and Services.The 4G World 2010 conference program runs four days, and is the largest program in the world focused on 4G. 4G World 2010 is expected to draw more than 10,000 attendees, up from about 8,000 in 2009. This year we have greatly expanded our program partner participation. 4G World 2010 includes broad industry support from across the entire ecosystem of operators, vendors, analysts/researchers, associations and media channels. In all, we expect to have more than 250 sponsors and exhibitors participating, as well as more than 150 members of the press.4G World Conference Program UpdateThis year we are pleased to announce our early line-up of business leaders who together are paving the path towards 4G. These include executives from Sprint, ATT, Clearwire, KDDI, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, Ericsson, FCC, nPhase, Samsung, Motorola, Nokia Siemens, Alvarion and Huawei.Continue Readinghttp://4gtrends.com/?p=3564

iSuppli Issues Fast Facts on Potential Apple Acquisition of ARM

El Segundo, Calif., April 26, 2010To support media coverage of Apple Inc.s speculated acquisition of microprocessor Intellectual Property (IP) provider ARM Holdings, iSuppli Corp. is providing the following the fast facts and analysis: Published reports speculate Apple could be considering a purchase of ARM Holdings, a leading supplier of semiconductor IP. The news reports surfaced on Wednesday, April 21, lifting ARM shares up about 7 percent. Responding to acquisition speculation, Apple does not need to buy the company, they can just license technologies for less, said Warren East, ARM chief executive officer, in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. The timing of this speculation is interesting because Google recently announced its IP-driven acquisition of Agnilux, a start-up founded by P.A. Semi professionals who left when that fabless chip designer was acquired by Apple in 2008. ARMs IP plays an important role in mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. ARM designs microprocessor circuits that are widely used because the company is a leader in power efficiency, delivering the most calculations for the fewest electrons. In 2009, ARM signed 87 new semiconductor IP licenses, bringing its total to 662. Interestingly, ARM estimates that every semiconductor company would need to spend between $50 million and $150 million annually to reproduce what ARM does. ARM-based chips can be found in the majority of mobile phones presently sold. Just because ARMs IP plays an important role in mobile devices, that doesnt necessarily mean ARM is of strategic value to Apple, said William Kidd, director and principal analyst, financial services for iSuppli. iSuppli thinks ARM would represent a costly acquisition with little in the way of true strategic benefits. The acquisition would not give Apples products a competitive edge/differentiating value. iSuppli also doesnt buy into prevailing speculation that there could be significant value in denying other competitors access to ARMs IP, since the majority of the impact would be felt by companies like Broadcom, Samsung and Texas Instruments, which are not exactly Apples biggest rivals. In any case, there would be no visible end-market impact seen for two years at a minimum. If Apple were to acquire ARM, iSuppli believes chip makers would worry about Apples inward-looking corporate style. Many major semiconductor companies already have long and broad use of current ARM technology, and we suspect that their business engagement with ARM allows for future access as well. If you take this theory out further, it would be problematic for chipmakers to stop using ARM, not just because of their reliance on an ARM-designed microprocessors per se, but because redesigning the software/firmware of some baseband designs would be very time consuming and disruptive. We speculate that other ARM bidders could come outbut only if Apple truly emerges as a bidder, Kidd added. http://www.isuppli.com About iSuppli Corporation iSuppli Corporation is the global leader in technology value chain research and advisory services. Services afforded by iSuppli range from electronic component research to device-specific application market forecasts, from teardown analysis to consumer electronics and from display device and systems research to automotive telematics, navigation and safety systems research. More information is available at http://www.isuppli.com and by following us at twitter.com/iSuppli

Adobe abandons iPhone code tools

BBC: Adobe is to stop making software tools that allow Apple's iPhone and iPad to use its popular Flash technology. The decision reverses an earlier pledge in which it said it would help get Flash working on the gadgets. Flash is very widely used on the web and many sites use it to power animations, media players and other multimedia elements. Despite this, Apple's products do not support Flash and it has made public statements criticising the technology. Closed toolsIn mid-April, Adobe released software called Creative Suite 5 that contained translation tools that automatically turn Flash code into programs that run on the iPhone. the BBC

Apple previews iPhone OS 4

DigiTimes: Apple has previewed its iPhone OS 4 software and released a beta version of the software to iPhone Developer Program members. The new release includes an updated Software Development Kit (SDK) with over 1,500 new Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and over 100 new features that will be available to iPhone and iPod touch users in summer 2010, the company claimed.iPhone OS 4's new multitasking offers users a new way to move between apps, and provides developers seven new multitasking services to add multitasking features to their apps. These services include background audio, so apps like Pandora can play music in the background, and VoIP, so VoIP apps can receive a VoIP call even when the iPhone is asleep or the user is running other apps.iPhone OS 4 delivers mail experience on a mobile phone with its new Unified Inbox, allowing users to see messages from all their email accounts displayed together in a single inbox. Users can switch between inboxes to see messages from any single account. In addition, users can now thread their messages by conversation, making it easier to stay on top of email discussions. DigiTimes

iPad Sales to Hit 7 Million in 2010 and Triple by 2012

El Segundo, Calif., April. 2, 2010The iPads attractive design, compelling applications and multi-touch capability, key components of Apple Inc.s past successes, will help to offset the initial omission of Adobe Flash from the device and send demand soaring in 2010 and beyond, according to a preliminary forecast from iSuppli Corp.Worldwide iPad sales are expected to amount to 7.1 million units in 2010. Sales will double to 14.4 million in 2011 and nearly triple to 20.1 million in 2012.The attached figure presents iSupplis preliminary forecast of worldwide iPad unit sales.Sales in 2010 will be driven by early adopters and others attracted to the iPads unique touch-screen-based user interface. In 2011 and 2012, iPad sales will be driven up by a range of factors, including a flood of new applications, improved functionality and declining prices. iSuppli regards its iPad sales forecast as conservative. Factors that could boost sales beyond iSupplis preliminary expectations include swift feature enhancements and the early addition of Flash support. The right touchTouch is the new standard for user interfaces, providing a naturally intuitive way of operating an electronic device, whether you are two or 92, said Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research for iSuppli. The tablet form factor is ideally suited to touch. The iPad represents an intriguing mix of two devices that have struggled to gain traction for years: Internet appliances and tablet PCs. In a sharp departure from past tablet implementations, it appears that Apple has both minimized and maximized the capabilities of the devices, limiting it as a creation device but compensating for this shortcoming by offering a wealth of easily consumable applications. The devices initial limitations are likely to be overlooked if Apple provides enough content to keep users engaged within the product limitations. Apple will not have the field to itself for long, however, as competitors around the globe are poised to introduce their own tablet PCs, many of which will have more robust capability than the early iPads. Nonetheless, being first out of the gate with a low-cost tablet alternative gives Apple a distinct advantage, Alexander said. 2010 sales could potentially climb much higher than the 7 million figure, and that first year successcombined with expected ongoing innovationwill help to keep Apple at the forefront of the tablet market for several years. Key to continuing success will be how quickly Apple responds to issues as they arise and whether the company can align suppliers to meet demand needs. No flash in the padChief in realizing this upside potential is Apples ability to address the lack of Flash support in the iPad. Some have called the long-term viability of the iPad into question because of its nonsupport of Adobe Flashthe multimedia platform from Adobe Systems Inc.Until Apple addresses this issue one way or another, its decision not to support Flashcommunicated earlier on by Apple CEO Steve Jobswill have a limiting effect on the iPads sales potential, said Francis Sideco, principal analyst, wireless communications. This is because one of the key use cases of the device, as marketed by Apple, relates to web browsing or consumption of online content. Absent Flash, iPad users will not be able to enjoy Flash-driven content, which is used in a considerable amount of websites as well as web-based games and videos. Weighing the risks: Apples huge gambleApples decision has divided vociferous fans and incredulous unbelievers alike into mutually opposing campsa battleground between those who believe Apple can do no wrong and those that opine the Cupertino, Calif.-based behemoth has finally overplayed its hand.Given the tablets nonsupport of Flash, consumers could end up being disappointed if what they expect to be a great browsing experience from a magical and revolutionary productwhich is how Apple describes the iPad on its websiteturns out to be less than extraordinary.Apples strategy with the iPad is largely centered on paid content. The company has partnered with major providers, which will sell their content on Apples App Store for a fee.With so much Flash content available for free, Apple may be excluding support for the software in order to encourage users to pay for any content they use on the platform.Hosting tens of thousands of applicationswith a current average price of $3.13 per applicationand boasting more than 1 billion downloads since its launch in 2008, the App store is a phenomenal cash cow for Apple, analysts across the board agree.Despite dire prognostications from some critics about the iPad eventually failing because Flash is missing, Apple has a track record of defying great odds and successfully navigating previously uncharted waters, such as it did with the iPhone. With initial orders falling in line with expectations, Apple is likely to stick with its strategy of not using Flash unless there is a notable impact on sales. Learn more about Flash and the iPad in Sidecos report, entitled: Operating Systems: The New Face of Wireless. For more information, please visit:http://www.isuppli.com/Pages/Operating-Sys…ireless.aspx?PRTo find out more about the burgeoning touch-screen market, stay tuned for Alexanders upcoming report, entitled: Touch Screen Interfaces in Portable & Desktop Computing Systems.For more information on iSupplis display service, please visit: http://www.isuppli.com/Pages/L1_Displays.aspxiSuppli soon will release the results of its physical teardown of the iPad. To learn about iSupplis recent virtual teardown of the iPad, please visit: http://www.isuppli.com/News/Pages/Mid-Rang…iEstimates.aspx

Mac-BlackBerry Sync Release More Powerful, Streamlined PocketMac for BlackBerry 5.0

PocketMac, the creator of the original Mac-to-BlackBerry sync solution, announces the release of version 5.0 of PocketMac for BlackBerry. This is the latest version of the groundbreaking sync solution. "It's taken us a long time to get this software upgrade out," Tim Goggin, VP of Sales & Marketing said. "We've wanted to release it for a while, but it was more important to make sure it was solid and super-easy to use." PocketMac for BlackBerry comes complete with a synchronization engine redesigned from the ground up for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. The new engine accounts for the new quicker synchronization speeds. Also included are simpler, clearer preferences, reorganized to accommodate the way users want to work. Goggin continued, "This is the latest chapter in the community we helped establish. When we invented PocketMac for BlackBerry, there was no way for Mac users to sync to a BlackBerry. A few years after we released PocketMac for BlackBerry, the makers of the BlackBerry, licensed our software. It's that history that informs our desire to 'get it right.' We take this product very seriously." It also includes two-way sync with the following applications: (*) Apple Address Book (*) iCal (*) Daylite (*) Entourage 2008 (*) LotusNotes (*) iTunes (*) iPhoto (*) Stickies In addition, as part of every sync, PocketMac for BlackBerry will quietly back-up all of your BlackBerry's SMS texts, and your call history. A separate viewer application is also provided so that you can access this data from your desktop. PocketMac for BlackBerry 5.0 is $19.97 and is available for download now. It runs on Mac OS X 10.5 & 10.6 Intel Only. (Power PC Macs not supported). It includes a complete 90 day money-back guarantee. Goggin concluded, "There's no risk to trying this product. If, for whatever reason, you don't like PocketMac for BlackBerry, just request a refund and you'll get 100% of your money back." More information about this product can be found at: http://www.pocketmac.com/PocketMac_for_BlackBerry.php

Energizer USB Charger Software Contains Malware

Newsfactor:A USB charger from Energizer uses software that contains a Trojan, according to US-CERT. The software was apparently developed outside the U.S. and may have been giving hackers access to PCs since 2007. An analyst said trust in the Energizer bunny may have led many consumers to install the DUO USB charger malware even with a warning. Some Windows PC users may hope the Energizer bunny didn't keep going and going. It turns out the Energizer DUO USB battery charger is a vehicle for attacks on PCs, according to the Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team. US-CERT researchers said Friday that the software that installs with the Energizer charger contains a Trojan horse that gives malicious hackers a back door into Windows machines. "An attacker is able to remotely control a system , including the ability to list directories, send and receive files, and execute programs. The backdoor operates with the privileges of the logged-on user," US-CERT said. "Removing the Energizer USB charger software will also remove the registry value that causes the backdoor to execute automatically when Windows starts." Newsfactor

GroceryIQ 2: Shopping in the Cloud

I wrote a review of GroceryIQ just over a year ago and I have continued to use it frequently. The new GroceryIQ 2 expands on the original concept by taking advantage of the power of a connected mobile device that can tap into the cloud. These significant improvements have pushed the app from “frequently used” to “indispensable” on my own iPhone. I’ll run down the features for you and then share some comments from the developer on how the cloud and the iPhone have come together to create great software.

What’s New in Version 2

The big update in version 2 is list syncing between multiple iPhones. In practice, this feature is incredibly valuable. Whenever my wife updates the list with something that we need, I get a push notification that something has been added to GroceryIQ. When I get to the store, I open the app and it quickly syncs my lists so that I am sure to not miss something we need. In addition, my wife instantly benefited from the effort I had put in to organize the aisles to match the layout of our store as well as the history and favorite items that I use to quickly build shopping lists.

GroceryIQ 2 also adds some features related to its acquisition by Coupons.com. You can find coupons on your iPhone and print them straight from the phone to a supported HP printer. I have a Canon printer so I use the email option to send the list of coupons I selected on the iPhone and print them from my computer. The list categories show logos for items that have coupons available as another reminder.

The gee-whiz feature in this release is barcode scanning to add items to your shopping list. You take a picture of the barcode using the iPhone camera and it will look up the item and add it to your list.

Frankly, I love this app because it actually makes shopping easier than using pencil and paper.

Jason Boehle from Coupons.com

I spent a little time catching up Jason Boehle from Coupons.com to talk about how the 2.0 release came about and how technology has made the simple task of making a shopping list even better.

Tell me about how you decided on the feature list for Version 2.

List sharing between devices has been a big request by users and was part of the original vision for Grocery iQ 1.0. We’re pleased to finally deliver it to our loyal customers. The new couponing features are another exciting addition to Grocery iQ and allow our customers to easily find coupons and savings directly related to what they’re shopping for. Barcode scanning is an incredibly useful feature for list building that many customers have requested, and we delivered one of the best barcode scanning experiences on the iPhone.

How is list sharing implemented?

List sharing is implemented using secure web services on the proven Coupons.com high-availability infrastructure. Apple’s push notification service is used to get list updates to your phone in real-time, while still taking it easy on device battery life. In addition to sharing a list between multiple devices, single devices can use the service as an online “backup” of their Grocery iQ data. One of the coolest things about doing all of the list sharing in the cloud is that we’re able to leverage this work to implement web-based list editing and sharing to devices as well as sync lists between other versions of Grocery iQ on other mobile platforms like Android, etc.

How does printing direct from the iPhone work?

We worked closely with HP to enable coupon printing directly from the iPhone to HP printers connected to wireless networks. In addition to loading coupons directly to your store savings cards, this is another feature that enables our customers who are away from their PC to still save money using Grocery iQ. The coupon printing feature is another example of highly leveraged work that is available in our Coupons.com iPhone app in addition to Grocery iQ. It also makes use of cloud-based services for all of the imaging and assembly of the retail-ready coupons.

How did the trend towards using cloud services impact the development of GroceryIQ 2?

The “cloud” has helped to enable all these new features in Grocery iQ 2.0. List sharing, coupon display, printing, and even barcode scanning all benefit from the power of a very sophisticated web service infrastructure. For example, we have an incredibly rich on-device product database which we use for barcode scanning and lookup. However, if we don’t find the product you just scanned in our on-device database we have the full power and extensibility of a web service that will search many other online databases to locate the item.

A cloud-connected device enables a whole host of scenarios. For example, your significant other can add items to your shared shopping list, load coupons to your savings card, and then send you to the store on your way home from work—and even make changes while you are there by scanning a snack box because the kids just finished it off. The built-in database enables a detailed shopping list, so you can be sure you’re getting the right items, and when you checkout, and the coupons are automatically applied when you swipe your savings card. Welcome to the digital age of grocery shopping!

Grocery Shopping Made Better

I know some of you may be wondering why I spilled this much digital ink on a grocery list app. Let me tell you, I use this app at least once a week and the list sharing features have really helped my wife and I keep up with the shopping demands of our large family. It really is better than keeping a paper list at home.

I also think that Jason’s comments about the cloud services that are leveraged in the iPhone app are important for the future of the platform. I think the next wave of iPhone development will show a lot of innovation in taking simple concepts that worked great in software and improving them by reexamining what is possible with a mobile device that is always connected to the cloud with push notifications. GroceryIQ is a great example of a cloud-connected app done right.

Quicken Essentials for Mac

I spent the last week or so playing with a copy of the new Quicken Essentials for Mac from Intuit and I can make this review really short for you. If you’re a die-hard Quicken user, you will hate (I mean really loathe and despise) the new Quicken Essentials product. If you are new to Personal Finance Management (PFM) software, then you will probably really like Quicken Essentials but still feel a little confused about why you have to pay $60 $69 for it.

Quicken Pops a Mint

Quicken 2007 for Mac was released in August of 2006. Since that time, Intuit has struggled to define its Mac strategy and loyal users have felt left behind. Intuit tried an online product that worked with the Mac, but were bewildered when a little startup, created as an anti-Quicken, amassed more subscribers. Last September, Intuit took another look at that startup and acquired Mint.com and placed Mint’s founder, Aaron Patzer at the head of the personal finance group at Intuit. That move appeared to show that Intuit was floundering and was looking for outside help to fix its core PFM business. Understandably, the new Quicken Essentials shows a strong Mint influence.

The Essence of Quicken

To start on the new version, Intuit threw away the code for previous releases and started over to create a Mac native version with a modern look and feel. One of the design goals was to create a financial app that would feel at home as part of the iWork suite and it mostly succeeded. The new version looks great and shows a lot of attention to simplifying the user experience in areas like adding new accounts. People that are new to Quicken will love how easy it is to get started.

The new version had four key features: to see all your accounts one place, to see where your money is going, to stay on top of bills, and to track goals for saving money.

Accounts in One Place

Quicken Essentials will download transactions from about 12,000 banks out of the box (around the same number that Mint.com currently supports) and up to 16,000 financial institutions will be supported in the next few months. This is over 3x the number of FI’s that Quicken for Windows supports. This is a tremendous improvement.

Where is My Money Going?

Quicken Essentials provides a nice looking home page with pie charts to quickly show where you stand. Instead of being buried in reports, this information comes front and center. QEM also supports budgets for tracking spending by category.

Plan for Bills

Quicken Essentials will analyze your previous spending and detect recurring bills to help you anticipate upcoming expenses. Of course, you can enter bills manually as well.

Set Goals for Saving Money

You can set goals and track your progress towards that goal.

The reboot of Quicken for Mac comes at a price in features however. While Intuit was fairly certain that they would cover 80 percent of the users from previous versions, there are going to be a lot of pretty upset users from the other 20 percent.

What’s Missing?

No Bill Pay

There is no Bill Pay feature in this release. Intuit found that less than 10 percent of existing customers were using that feature. Because major banks offer free online bill pay to their customers, this feature was axed as “non-essential.”

No Turbo Tax Link

There is no quick link to export tax prep reports direct to Turbo Tax. Many users would simply run the reports to look at spending by category and then type those numbers in Turbo Tax so, again, Intuit decided that this feature was also “non-essential.”

No Investment Tax Lot Accounting

QEM will track the current value of your investment accounts, but it does not provide any reports on the history of your transactions. Fortunately, all the transaction data is preserved in the underlying data and will be available to future versions that offer more comprehensive investment reporting.

The Future

Banking Services

QEM is one of the first places where you will see the integration between Intuit and Mint. All of the back-end will eventually be the same across Mint, Quicken for Windows and Quicken for Mac. Quicken for Mac will be the first product to get the big connection and then the rest will be ported over.

Parity with Windows

The whispered goal at Intuit is to bring parity to the Mac and Windows versions. This includes file format compatibility between different platforms. There is a clear acknowledgment that customers just want to get access to their financial information on whatever platform is available or convenient and Intuit is interested in being there.

Whither Quicken 2007 for Mac?

Quicken 2007 is still being fully supported. Intuit made it clear that it will provide support for a three-version window to include 2006, 2007 and Quicken Essentials.

iPad

No official statement here, but Intuit did discuss that the iPad is an “at your fingertips” device and financial data is a nice thing to have “at your fingertips.”

TheAppleBlog Recommends

I mentioned at the start that Quicken Essentials for Mac is similar in many ways to Mint. The product is streamlined, simple, visually appealing, and easy to jump into. They are so similar, that it is hard to understand why you should pay $59 for Quicken Essentials when you can use Mint.com for free. That decision comes down to…

• planning future transactions to manage cash flow
• importing historical data
• offline access

If you need any of those features, Quicken Essentials would be a good choice except for the price. For such a limited product (albeit a much cleaner and better designed product) I really think Intuit should have come out with $29 introductory pricing, $19 if you own any other Quicken product.

If you are a hard-core Quicken user and you like to reconcile your bank statements with your own records and you religiously enter all your receipts, you will be disappointed in this product. You might really like the next version that includes tax lot accounting and bill pay, but then hold on to your $60 $69 for a year (yes, I am an optimist and will hope against hope to see another version in a year). For the time being, hold on to Quicken 2007, or even Quicken 2010 for Windows, and see what happens.

iPad SDK Mining a Big Tease, But Let’s Stay Level-headed

After the rumor-fest surrounding Apple’s mystery device was stanched the moment Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad, a new trend has emerged; SDK Mining. This is the art of digging through the iPad’s operating system to uncover clues about hitherto-undisclosed functionality.

Since the iPad and iPhone SDKs are so very close in core functionality, SDK Miners have been trying to unearth something (anything!) we didn’t already know about the iPad. I suspect most people simply glance over these reports, shrug, and move on without comment. After all, we’re a bit tired of tablet rumors by now, right? But looking at some of the comments in the articles (linked below), there are some people who take it all very seriously indeed. And that’s probably a mistake, as I’ll explain shortly.

Before I do, here’s a quick rundown of what we think we know so far from the SDK Mining that has happened in the last five weeks.

January 29

Engadget confirmed that the OS SDK contained support for Video Calling, File Downloads, SMS and even Handwriting input;

We’re told that there are hooks to accept and decline a video conference, flip a video feed (which suggests a front-facing camera) and — most importantly — run the video call in either full screen mode or in just a portion of the screen. That means you’ll be able to chat and do other things at the same time, which could mean there’s at least some type of multitasking going on here.

Engadget’s Nilay Patel adds in an update;

…there’s a spell checker with multiple dictionaries and user-added entries (huzzah!), much richer text support for apps, the ability to selectively draw to external displays (using the VGA or component adapters, we’d imagine), location-aware ads in Maps and possibly other programs that use the Maps API, file upload ability in Safari, a modifiable cut / copy / paste menu, and, most interestingly, prototype support for a “handwriting keyboard.” Maybe we’ll see some stylus action on this thing after all.

In all, Patel lists no fewer than 18 new discoveries, though many of them are pretty dry and technical.

After that, things fell quiet for a while, until just this week.

February 20

9to5Mac reported discovering a set of icons in the 3.2 SDK it believes are “pretty definitive evidence” for video calling functionality in a future iPhone or iPad device.

Image by 9to5Mac

It also found strings of code that refer to iChat, too, but didn’t speculate further. It did say;

While it is possible that Apple brought code over from its Mac telephony products, it is unlikely that they also built icons and compressed them into the iPad SDK for such a product if it weren’t being built for future release.

February 23

MacRumor’s Arnold Kim added to the fresh wave of SDK Mining reports with this graphic of the icons used in the video chat functionality;

Image by MacRumors

Kim writes;

It seems Apple built in API support to test to see if your iPad had a Front Facing Camera, Zoom and a Camera Flash. The front facing camera would, of course, be used for video chat, while Zoom and Camera Flash are often requested features for the iPhone’s camera.

Given the size of these buttons, they were intended for use on the the iPad’s screen rather than the iPhone. We’re not sure why these features were dropped…

And finally, just today, MacNN brings us news of (wait for it) advanced wallpaper options.

Image by MacNN

Well. Be still my beating heart. From MacNN;

In the current iPad simulator, users can now set separate lock- and homescreen wallpapers, reflecting the iPad’s ability to keep wallpaper active while navigating icons. In case the difference doesn’t matter, another button applies the same wallpaper to both screens.

The Disappointment of SDK Mining

While it’s fun to poke-around in the code (in the absence of an actual iPad to play with, it’s the next best thing!), SDK Mining often leads to disappointment. An operating system — even a ‘small’ OS like the one found on the iPhone or iPad — is hugely complex. It’s the end-product of years of development. In that time, as hardware and software prototypes came-and-went, functionality was added and removed, supported and dropped, many times over. This is common to any OS development process.

We need to be careful when reading breathless reports of “hidden” functionality in the iPad (or iPhone) SDKs. In the reports above, the code references camera features, proving that, at some point, Apple’s developers seriously explored that functionality. That doesn’t mean a camera is guaranteed to appear on the iPad. (For instance, just because I once learned how to ride a bike, it doesn’t guarantee I’ll become an avid cyclist.)

So let’s enjoy the speculation — but not get too worked-up over what it might mean. After all, it might never happen.