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There are lots of changes afoot both in Thailand and elsewhere and as part of this mood of change, this is to be the last eXtensions podcast. This week we look at some practical uses and problems with iOS devices.
Out of Town with Apple Devices and Software
And soon it is. A number of European countries had the iPad this week and so did Malaysia. I had a heads-up on Tuesday morning on Facebook and there were lines outside a shop called Machines where the device was on sale.
My KL friend later confirmed: People are buying it right now, he said.
Then I checked the iStudio pages and there was the iPad shown as being available as from 3 December and a link to pricing for all devices, including the 3G ones.
This is not yet shown on the Apple online store, but that would probably not appear until the 3rd, but I sent an email off to a lady I know and asked for two: Xmas is coming and I thought it was going to be here before the iPads. From my calculations, these are cheaper than those I saw in Singapore, and I will save on the air fare. The 32G wifi one is 18,900 baht, and the highest cost 3G+wifi version is 25,900 baht.
I later confirmed that, indeed, the iPad is to be here on Friday (see Late, late news).
I was saddened to see that one of the better investigative writers at the Post Database has left for other pastures. Don Sambaradaksa who has been picking away at some IT scabs in the country, most notably the Thai ID cards and their specifications that were conveniently ignored when millions were ordered. With the impending organisation (about which I have been told nothing), his job description was changed to reporter and he did not think much of that so resigned: a sign of integrity if ever there was one here. I don't know what Don has planned, but I hope we can get together in the future.
The Wikileaks disclosures has a lot of governments rattled with reports of officials running round in circles trying to carry out damage control before they knew the actual content of the documents to be revealed. This shows much about what the public is not told. In the UK some of this does come out under a 30 year rule. For some of us over the years that has meant that some chapters can be closed; although some subjects have longer disclosure limits, such as when national security is invoked (more like political face-saving) and the UK royal family where a 100 year rule applies: we should all be dead by the time we know (so to speak). That is why Wikileaks has them all so scared: deals revealed, lies apprised.
The UK isn't waiting for any of that to happen so the head of a press advisory committee (which does more than advise) sent out a memo to all media persons who may catch some of the trawl and told them, if in doubt, check. Where check has a double meaning of Stop.
The memo is couched in oily, almost apologetic terms, but in such a way as anyone from the UK is in no doubt that DA notices (once called D Notices) will be used ruthlessly: censorship.
It was also little surprise to us to hear that the Thai government's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) had blocked the site. As there had been rumoured to be some US establishment here during the war in Iraq and after, we wonder what is being hidden. Mind you, once the cat is out of the bag, the internet has so many tentacles, like a giant international squid, that this stuff will come to light sometime, somewhere. Isn't there a song like that?
The Guardian had some comments on this relationship of governments and journalism which are worth reading, especially as that newspaper had access to these documents and, while leaking many, communicated with the US and offered comment and where necessary redacted some or parts.
A couple of updates from things I mentioned last week. First, in the main article I wrote that a local user had been appalled when he was told that the latest iLife did not have iDVD or iWeb. I put him right on that and put something in the article. On Monday of this week we see that the iStudio Facebook page has a link to the iStudio site where there is an introduction to iDVD.
We also speculated last week in that same article about the future of iDVD and the availability of optical drives in Macs, especially considering the MacBook Air and the increasing interest in that computer despite the iPad. Over the weekend there was some news that the next update to the MacBook Pro might have the optical drive removed so that it would be like a bulky MacBook Air (although how bulky I have no idea) and that instead of a disk drive, there would be flash memory. What interests me most about this is the phenomenal increase in speeds that this would provide. People are impressed with the Air and its speed with a 1.6gHz processor, so imagine what a 2.66GHz one (or more) might do. The rumour becomes even more delicious as Lightpeak -- high-speed data transfer technology -- is thrown into the mix.
The iPad may not be the cause of major changes in the news business, but it may well have been the catalyst. As soon as some of the major news organisations began preparing iPad and iPhone capable apps, there was a sense of the inevitable. For me that reached a focal point when in one week the Eocnomist app was released, along with the app for Life (a print stalwart for years) and then the tie-up between Apple and Murdoch's NewsCorp. Rupert saw the sense of all this immediately and, while we have criticised his news outlets in several countries, we laud him for that. The New York Magazine has an item on this app and suggests that it will not be like much other NewsCorp fare -- thank heaven for small mercies, say I; although if Jobs is a partner this might be unlikely, hard headed and pragmatic as he is. Instead it may have more of the hard edged flavour of Bloomberg press, which is fairly good reporting.
Another entrepreneur, and one who likes to take a calculated gamble once in a while is Richard Branson. He too is about to join the likes of Murdoch with his own iPad publication, Project. This would seem to be ailed at the 30+ group with information on movies, gadgets and music. Dave Caolo at TUAW has some information on this.
And I must apologise for my wavering voice: I caught a cold at the weekend.
Occasionally, one of the online publications runs an item with the title Blood on the Tracks and refers to the latest failure in the business of the iPod and iTunes realm. But what if Microsoft were to be the failure. Reports coming out of Europe are suggesting that the latest, greatest, phone operating system that was early to the market, according to Redmond's CEO, is not doing too well at the moment.
There was some more on this from the direction of the developers who fear a platform flop. They also remember the Kin. Not many other people do of course. See: should have stuck with Apple, despite the control.
On the other hand, Mac stuff is going out of the door faster than ever before with estimates of 3 million MacBooks and 750,000 MacBook Air computers in Fall and that does not really take into account the Xmas or new year periods which always see higher sales. This is also claimed by Phillip Elmer-DeWitt in Fortune who suggests an explosive holiday season.
This continued performance and growth is reflected in the way Apple is recruiting more and more people for its workforce in the US, when that economy is dragging a bit, and recently by its acquisition of the former HP campus in Cupertino: adding another 98 acres to what it has in the city.
It is not hard to come up with reasons why Apple keeps outperforming, starting with design, and product reliability. On this, PC World's reliability survey has Apple way ahead in desktop, notebook and smartphone sections. When I had a problem with the MacBook Pro, for example, that also was solved, albeit a little slowly by the local services; but solved it was.
There is likely to be an update to iOS bringing it to 4.3 and that could include subscriptions to go with the Murdoch app, The Daily, but some were suggesting early in the week that this could be delayed until early in the new year.
While I was putting this together, we had notification that Branson's app was available, but when I checked this is not in the Thai store, although it is listed in the US store. Doesn't Branson think we can read out here?
We may have the iPad coming to Thailand at last, but there are stories about the iPad 2 and it is expected to be released about April next year. One of the features is likely to be a camera, but I suspect that this is for faceTime as its size makes it awkward for taking photos. Nonetheless, a totally denied rumour concerns the lens of the camera according to Sam Oliver at AppleInsider.
René Ritchie also has one of his long (but useful) discussions on the next iPad and its possibilities.
Last week we mentioned radiation from the scanners at US airports and how it might be a good idea for some people to genuinely avoid these: that would certainly mean an invasive pat-down of course. But radiation comes at us in many ways, and the phones most of us now carry may be emitting more than we realise. Dave Carnoy at CNET gives us a list of the top 20 radiation emitting phones and there are a couple of popular brands in there; but not the iPhone. He also has a link to the bottom 20, but the iPhone is not there either. It is somewhere in the middle and the link for that is available on the Bottom 20 page. We also hear that one of those companies listed in the Top 20, Motorola, is to split soon: its phone business becoming a separate company from its radio business.
Britain's Daily Telegraph is joining the pay for news brigade and as from next year it will charge for online access to its content. The register tells us that of the UK publications, only the Guardian and Indepedent are still free.
And in another demonstration of the way things are moving online, we read in Wednesday's Bangkok Post Business section of a new online store from the Mall Group: Siam Paragon's company. It will start next Wednesday We mentioned a couple of weeks ago about Central, although their's looks a bit half-hearted and focuses on hi-so folks round the city centre. The Mall's URL was in the Post but when I tried it, there was an Access Denied page and it asked me to log in, with no place TO log in, so I guess this is coming soon. As I mentioned, next Wednesday.
We also read in the same article that BigC is also online but when I looked there was too much Flash for my liking and not enough English. There is some English in among the Thai, but there are no separate English sections (even true gives this a go on some pages). I probably will not be shopping with BigC, but may give Paragon a try later.
Some of the later items this week are fairly indicative of the changes that are gathering pace in the region and as part of that, I am looking at new developments. The commitment I have given to the podcast for over 5 years has limited returns: there are not that many subscribers and I need to redirect my energies, so eXtensions podcast #280 is the last. My thanks to all of you for your support.
And that's the way it is.
Late late News
As a last pair of notes, I took the iPod nano and iPod touch back to Apple's office on Wednesday morning and saw piles of iPads there. I mentioned this and said, "Friday?" but there was only a non-comital giggle. I did mention that iStudio had had the information online for a couple of days. Later, I had email from someone at Apple in Singapore with a cryptic message and a link to the Thailand online store where, as I suggested earlier, it would appear. I wrote back and said I had already ordered two.
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