Background iPhone Apps, Push Notification and the iPod Touch

There has been a lot of talk in the past few days about Google launching their Latitude App as a browser app on the iPhone. I have to agree with Marshall Kirkpatrick who said "Google Latitude on the iPhone? It's Terrible, Try Brightkite." Brightkite, even as a web app, is streets ahead of Google's Latitude in terms of usability. Brightkite's iPhone App just takes their service to another level.

The interesting issues that emerge around all this discussion are those of background applications and push notification. Let's bring some threads together here:

• Push notification is the bare minimum needed to allow applications to be updated with new contextual information. Thankfully the Push capability is in the works from Apple but will require iPhone application vendors to update their applications.
• Push needs to be coupled with continual updates to location, at the user's choice. So, even if I am not using the BrightKite App I might want to broadcast my location to the BrightKite servers so that they can send me relevant push notifications.
• The IPod touch is due for a product refresh and is rumored to be gaining a camera and microphone in the next iteration that is expected around September time. hat would tie in with Apple promoting the Touch heavily in their back to school promotions. Are they running down their inventory?
• Apple is rumored to be unhappy with AT&T - like many of us iPhone users. Their network is performing poorly, things are breaking - like voice mail. We still don't have MMS and Tethering. The AT&T MMS capability for the iPhone is worse than awful. I complained about the stupidity of it over a year ago. As a result AT&T may loose their exclusive deal next year. Alternatively Verizon might pick up the rumored Apple Tablet early next year.
• Verizon and Sprint have recently released the Novatel Mi-Fi which is a revolutionary personal wi-fi zone that supports up to 5 devices with a 3G backhaul. I wrote recently about how the Mi-Fi is a game changing product.
• Skype offers an iphone voice calling application that works over Wi-Fi. It works great. I regularly use it to call overseas without being stung by AT&T's outrageous per minute costs on overseas calls. I am not singling out AT&T here. Every cellular company seems to be happy to gouge their customers on international calls from your cell phone.

I still use the original iPhone, complete with cracked screen. With all of these factors playing out at the same time I am considering a scenario where:

1. Apple releases an upgraded iPod Touch with 64Gb so that it can store most of my music and it has a camera, microphone and speaker making it functionally equivalent to the iPhone
2. Apple releases a workable Push notification system
3. Skype, the Gizmo Project or Google Voice deliver an iPhone application that uses push notification to alert you to incoming calls. Gizmo is available on the iPhone via Nimbuzz.

If these three things come together then the iPod Touch could revolutionize cell phone use. People who are currently tied to AT&T in the USA could go to Sprint or Verizon and purchase a Mi-Fi with an unlimited data plan. In 2010 NovaTel might even release a Mi-Fi that uses Verizon's emerging LTE network for even faster backhaul.

UPDATE: Nimbuzz does in fact support push notifications. Since it supports the Gizmo Project and Google Voice supports Gizmo it means (in theory) you can get push notifications on calls to your Google Voice number notified to you via Nimbuzz when a call is re-directed to Gizmo by Google Voice.

Mac Mini should become the Apple TV Plus

An article on Apple Insider today has Analysts urging Apple to upgrade the AppleTV to add Cable TV support. I think Apple would be better off keeping the price of the AppleTV low and instead building in the Cable TV interface to the Mac Mini when they revamp it. The Mac Mini with a cable TV interface and a large hard drive, plus the ability to add extra storage would make the Mini a great home media hub. The AppleTV could then continue as the satellite device. With a great hub product a family could easily add an AppleTV to each TV set in the house.

A fully fledged Mac running as a compact media hub opens the opportunity to sell additional wireless keyboards and mice too. The platform has Front Row and Mac OS X offers the opportunity to extend functionality more easily than opening up the AppleTV. The Mac Mini can be the adaptable point of entry for digital media and Apple can keep the AppleTV relatively closed. It stays as basically an iPod with an external screen and remote.

A fully fledged Mac OS X machine running as a home media server with iLife and iWork included further extends the influence of the Mac. A media optimized interface (via Front Row) makes it easier to break down the PC barrier in the home but the ability to do double duty as a computer further extends the reach of the Mac and breaks down the PC monopoly, ultimately making it easier for families to make their follow on computer purchase a Mac that would be compatible with their media hub.

Apple don't mess with the AppleTV instead upgrade the Mac Mini to be the home media hub. I am sure Robert Scoble and Dave Winer would agree with that strategy. They have been in the leading wave of Mac Mini Media Hub users.

Howard Stern is Old Hat

A week or two ago Garry Vaynerchuk did a commentary on Howard Stern. I managed to catch it live on video through UStream.tv and blogged about it. I finally got the link for the recorded video thanks to Viddler. So here is Gary Vaynerchuk explaining how Howard Stern, the self appointed king of all media, just doesn't get new media.

Staying Aloft

This past weekend I had the opportunity to stay at one of the new W Hotels near Philadelphia. The Aloft Hotel opened earlier this year near Philadelphia Airport.

The aloft is certainly a different boutique style hotel. The rooms are really well designed and the staff are friendly. I would certainly stay there again.

Modern design is a strong point of the Aloft brand. The rooms are beautifully laid out with very clean lines. The large flat screen TV has a connectivity "gizmo" on one of the desks in the room. It is this gizmo that perplexed me. The idea is that you can connect up your laptop, or other electronic devices and use the TV as display and audio. A very nice idea. It would mean you could use the complimentary WiFi in the room and stream shows from Hulu out to the TV.

With all the thoughtful touches through out the hotel there has obviously been a tremendous attention to detail but it seems like the designers have never really thought about the electronics gizmo. It is a great idea but the execution seems a little lacking - except in one area. This box has four, yes - FOUR, power outlets. That is great for charging electronics. However the rest of the connectivity was strangely almost useless.

It is as if the designers have never actually used the gizmo. Now I travel quite a bit. I also do a fair few presentations from my laptop. As a result I typically carry a selection of cables and connectors to hook up my MacBook Pro. I went through my bag and found I didn't have a single cable that would work with the gizmo.

This box would be infinitely more useful if they had provided a bunch of cables to go with it. For example:

I had an audio jack to BNC connector. I didn't have a cable with male plugs to allow me to connect to the gizmo.

I had a video out connector. I didn't have the necessary cable with a male plug.

I had a DVI to VGA connector but I needed a male VGA to male VGA cable to connect to the gizmo. If I had been traveling with a Video Projector I could probably have stolen the VGA cable from that, but alas, no.

I had a 3.5mm audio splitter cable but I didn't have a 3.5mm male to male cable in order to connect tot he audio in. So I couldn't even connect my iPod.

Given the target audience of this hotel I was really surprised that this gizmo didn't provide an iPod docking and charging connector. That would have been an instant hit with a large number of travelers.

Would I stay at an aloft again? Absolutely! Don't get me wrong this is a fun hotel. Only next time I would make sure I packed a few extra cables. I am publishing this so that others who may choose to stay there can go prepared.

Gary Vee explaining how Howard Stern doesn't get new media

Update: I tracked down a recording of this broadcast- check it out here.

I just caught Gary Vee broadcasting live on UStream.tv. He was listening in on a Howard Stern radio show talking about facebook and myspace.

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV
Gary wasn't dissing Howard Stern, he holds him in high regard for monetizing his personal brand. However, he does go on to explain how Howard is sounding like old media and isn't positioned to capitalize on the new social media.
I will have to see if I can track down a recording of that live stream. Gary Vee totally nails the situation.
Fascinating stuff.

Upping the ante with iTunes to become the family Media Hub

There is a fascinating discussion in the comments on Paul Beard's blog about capabilities for iTunes. The post was pointed to by the TUAW blog because Paul provides some detailed instructions on how to move an iTunes library. Something I have experienced much pain with after upgrading to a new Mac.

The challenge with all this is to retain the play count and ratings information. Moving or importing songs in to a library is the easy part. Apple handle's that with ease.

This points to Apple needing to update iTunes to recognize a growing trend - The family music and photo library.

We should be able to consolidate music and photo collections and then be easily able to create a subset of those libraries that we can carry with us on our laptops and still sync the full library to our iPods.

I reached a point a while ago where I couldn't carry my entire library on my Laptop. I am sure there are many MacBook Air users that faced the same problem. Solving this problem would make the Macbook Air more attractive as a second machine.

What I want is to be able to create an extract of my main music and photo library and yet be able to sync my iPod using the combined libraries from my laptop.

I developed a work around for this. I setup a central iTunes Music Library and made the drive/folder shareable. I then map to the drive from my local machine. Then open the shared folder and drag and drop the tracks in to the library on my laptop. For this to work you need to go in to the iTunes Preferences Advanced Tab and make sure that the option to "Copy files to iTunes Music Folder when adding to library" is unchecked. This creates a pointer to the original track on the shared folder. It may not be pretty but it works.

Come on Apple, if you really want to be the hub of the family entertainment system then make these more complex scenarios work. Streaming from different libraries just doesn't cut it. We, the people have invested heavily in our digital media collections and if you want to be the preferred platform then you need to make it easier for us to protect and share within the family unit at least.