Apple may 'think different' on iCloud's video sync feature
iCloud and video are two words that have not gone together since the service launched last year. But a video synchronization feature rumored to arrive on iCloud next month could change all that.According to a report in The Wall Street Journal earlier today (subscription required), Apple is at work on a feature that lets users sync up videos they've taken with their iOS devices through iCloud. What's unclear is whether that's simply an addition to the existing Photo Stream feature, or something separate.As it stands, Apple's Photo Stream feature, which was introduced alongside iOS 5 last June, only syncs photos. If you want to see a video you've taken from your iPhone on your iPad, or vice versa, you've got to either sync it to that device with a computer using iTunes, or upload it to a Web sharing service like YouTube or Vimeo. The Journal's report suggests videos would now be ferried over too.This brings up a question about storage though. Videos are big, especially if you've captured them on either of Apple's most recent iOS devices, the third-generation iPad and iPhone 4S. Both of these shoot in 1080p, and the files that are saved are bigger than ever. If Apple treats videos the same as photos, will that mean you get to keep videos as part of your Photo Stream, with no size limits? That would be generous given how Apple treats other types of files on the service.Apple's iCloud gives users 5GB for free, though only some files eat into that amount. Things like digital content (be it apps, books, videos, or music) purchased from one of Apple's stores and the Photo Stream don't count against the limit. However, e-mail, stored documents, settings, app data, and iOS device backups (which can include the camera roll's photos and videos) are all counted. When thisgets short, users can add on 10GB, 20GB, or 50GB of iCloud storage, for $20, $40, or $100 per year respectively.By comparison Photo Stream is considered more like a temporary bin for your files. Apple counts photos by volume, not megabyte or gigabyte. You get up to 1,000 photos in your Photo Stream at any given time, and as new ones come in, old ones are flushed out.Related storiesIs Apple about to make iCloud an Instagram competitor?Apple Photo Stream syncs photos simplyHow much iCloud storage will you need?How to manage iCloud storage on iOS 5Apple prices out extra iCloud storageBut the way users store their media with the service could be changing, according to the Journal. In the same report the outlet says Apple execs have been considering "expanding the number of photos and albums users can store via iCloud to make the service resemble its iPhoto downloadable software," but that cost (presumably in its server infrastructure) has been a consideration. In other words, a move like that would likely increase how much Apple needs to spend on its server infrastructure and upkeep.One thing that's unclear is how many people are paying for add-on storage through Apple already. During its fiscal second-quarter conference call last month, Apple was asked by Goldman Sachs whether there had been "a big uptick in iTunes Match and paid storage additions," since those features were introduced (iTunes Match is Apple's other paid add-on service that scans and matches a user's music library with tracks in the iTunes catalog to make them available on other iOS devices). Apple's chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, responded by saying that question was missing the point (emphasis mine):We've now got over 125 million users that have come on to the service since then and they're building up documents and music and other things that they want to store. And so I think storage growth will come more over time. Our real desire here was not about selling more storage. We think Match is a great product, and we recommend that everybody use it. But it's a 'pay for a service.' We just really want to increase the customer delight from the entire ecosystem and platform of our iOS devices and the Mac, and that's why we've done iCloud.That's a pretty strong indication that Apple won't charge extra if it were to add videos to the Photo Stream feature. The real question is what happens if iOS users actually get to store more of their media on iCloud as opposed to relying on computers and hard drives, or on iCloud's backup feature, which only stores snapshots of a device.Apple very clearly wants to distance itself from using iCloud as a virtual hard drive, as we can see with the closure of MobileMe's iDisk next month. User-made video hasn't been too far removed from that product. Looking back, Apple has kept close tabs on how much space user videos take up in its cloud. With MobileMe, and .Mac before it, Apple kept track of not just how much storage a video took up, but also how much bandwidth got slurped up when you shared it with someone else. MobileMe closes up its doors next month, and perhaps that megabyte-counting behavior will go with it.
Latest iPad mini rumor puts price at $200 with 8GB storage
Latest iPad mini rumor puts price at $200 with 8GB storage
A smaller version of the iPad will be less expensive and offer less storage than Apple's full-sized model, but will have the same resolution, according to a new report.Citing a previously reliable source, iMore today adds to the handful of existing iPad mini rumors, with something a little different.The outlet says such a device is very much in the works and will come in around the $200 to $250 price range. On the lower end, that's less than half the price of Apple's current entry-level iPad model, and $150 to $200 less than the 16GB second-generation model that Apple still sells. That would also overlap with the pricing of Apple's iPod Touch line, which starts out at $199 and tops out at $399 for the 64GB model.iMore's report adds two other interesting assertions. The first is that the device will only have 8GB of memory. That's half the memory of the entry-level iPad, which has kept the same three storage configurations (16GB, 32GB, 64GB) since the first-generation model. Second, is that the screen will sport the same resolution as Apple's latest iPad at 2,048 by 1,536 pixels.That second detail is of particular interest given the notion that Apple would want to keep in step with what it calls "Retina Displays" on its iOS devices. These are displays where the pixels are so closely packed together that you cannot pick them out from one another when viewing the screen. As iMore notes, a 2,048 by 1,536 pixel screen at 7 inches would give the smaller iPad a 326 pixels per inch display, up considerably from the 264 pixels per inch on Apple's latest iPad, and on par with the 326 ppi Apple currently offers on its iPod Touchs and iPhones -- just bigger.Related stories'iPad Mini' to take on Kindle Fire?Samsung may have let slip Apple's iPad Mini plansNew iPad Mini rumor: 6M coming in third quarterThat screen resolution combined with smaller storage could cause a problem though. 8GB on an iPad would fill up mighty fast with HD content, and media-rich games. For instance, many 1,080p movies on iTunes go beyond 4GB a pop. There are also games, some of which have stretched in size in the jump to the new iPad. There could be workarounds for it though, particularly if Apple makes some adjustments to its iCloud infrastructure to add streaming instead of downloading. This is the latest rumor to suggest Apple would roll out a smaller version of the iPad later this year. A report from the often off Taipei-based DigiTimes in February said a 7.85-inch iPad model was in the works and ready to ship by the "third quarter" of this year. Separately, Chinese portal Netease asserted the same claim just last month. The big difference from both those reports is the price, which was $50 to $100 higher than iMore's suggestion.(via MacRumors)
A smaller version of the iPad will be less expensive and offer less storage than Apple's full-sized model, but will have the same resolution, according to a new report.Citing a previously reliable source, iMore today adds to the handful of existing iPad mini rumors, with something a little different.The outlet says such a device is very much in the works and will come in around the $200 to $250 price range. On the lower end, that's less than half the price of Apple's current entry-level iPad model, and $150 to $200 less than the 16GB second-generation model that Apple still sells. That would also overlap with the pricing of Apple's iPod Touch line, which starts out at $199 and tops out at $399 for the 64GB model.iMore's report adds two other interesting assertions. The first is that the device will only have 8GB of memory. That's half the memory of the entry-level iPad, which has kept the same three storage configurations (16GB, 32GB, 64GB) since the first-generation model. Second, is that the screen will sport the same resolution as Apple's latest iPad at 2,048 by 1,536 pixels.That second detail is of particular interest given the notion that Apple would want to keep in step with what it calls "Retina Displays" on its iOS devices. These are displays where the pixels are so closely packed together that you cannot pick them out from one another when viewing the screen. As iMore notes, a 2,048 by 1,536 pixel screen at 7 inches would give the smaller iPad a 326 pixels per inch display, up considerably from the 264 pixels per inch on Apple's latest iPad, and on par with the 326 ppi Apple currently offers on its iPod Touchs and iPhones -- just bigger.Related stories'iPad Mini' to take on Kindle Fire?Samsung may have let slip Apple's iPad Mini plansNew iPad Mini rumor: 6M coming in third quarterThat screen resolution combined with smaller storage could cause a problem though. 8GB on an iPad would fill up mighty fast with HD content, and media-rich games. For instance, many 1,080p movies on iTunes go beyond 4GB a pop. There are also games, some of which have stretched in size in the jump to the new iPad. There could be workarounds for it though, particularly if Apple makes some adjustments to its iCloud infrastructure to add streaming instead of downloading. This is the latest rumor to suggest Apple would roll out a smaller version of the iPad later this year. A report from the often off Taipei-based DigiTimes in February said a 7.85-inch iPad model was in the works and ready to ship by the "third quarter" of this year. Separately, Chinese portal Netease asserted the same claim just last month. The big difference from both those reports is the price, which was $50 to $100 higher than iMore's suggestion.(via MacRumors)
Apple, Elon Musk and interplanetary travel
Apple, Elon Musk and interplanetary travel
So, about a year ago Tesla's Elon Musk reportedly met with Apple's mergers and acquisitions chief and maybe Tim Cook. What was on the agenda? The report this weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle didn't have any details on what transpired at the meeting. Perhaps Apple wanted to kick Tesla's tires. Moving from $600 iPhones and $6,000 Mac Pros to $60,000 automobiles would be a bold move for Apple, but not a moonshot. The two companies are likely a cultural and aesthetic fit, both obsessed with creating breakthrough, eco-friendly consumer products that win design awards and become status symbols.But the more logical move for Apple is turning the Tesla into another Apple-driven computer, integrating iOS software technologies into the stylish electric car. A partnership approach is more of a Tim Cook move. And, if Apple and Tesla were to join hands, there could be only one CEO. Elon Musk doesn't seem prone to giving up control of his creations, especially at this early stage, or to crave developing personal computing devices. While Apple is thinking $300 iWatch, Musk is launching rockets into outer space and devising 800 mile-per-hour Hyperloop transporters.Related storiesElectric cars advance in DetroitTesla Motors finalizes DOE loan for Model STesla Motors files for $100 million IPOCar Tech Live 154: Could Toyota have had a worse week? (podcast)Hints of a bubble in green-tech IPOsApple might want to come along for Musk's space rides. His Space X venture, which has a goal of enabling humans to visit and live on other planets, could make use of some creature comforts from Apple. When people travel to Mars or other planets via Space X, Apple's entertainment, commerce, and communication services could be integrated into the in-flight systems. Visitors and the local population might tour the planet in a Tesla dune buggy with Siri, Maps, and Apple wearables while listening to dreamy music streamed from iTunes. This scenario may never happen, but it points to Apple's need to gain industrial strength in vertical markets, not just geographies. The company can continue to sell tens of millions of iPhones each quarter, especially given the majority of the people on the planet today are without a smartphone. But the bigger opportunity for Apple and its ecosystem is becoming essential not just for people texting, checking news, watching movies, and playing games, but for massive growth areas such as transportation, home automation, and health care.Apple, as well as Microsoft and Google, wants to be in every car, not just Tesla. The company is betting that iOS users want to have their Apple-ness everywhere. Apple has been working with Audi, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, and others to integrate iOS in the car. On the health care front, Apple has assembled an elite squad of wearable designers, medical sensor experts, sleep researchers, exercise physiologists, and fitness gurus to create a new platform that works on every Apple device. Late last year, senior Apple executives met with directors at the United States Food and Drug Administration to discuss mobile medical applications.Apple hasn't yet given indications regarding how it plans to tackle home automation, or interplanetary travel. But it's safe to say that Apple's approach won't involve manufacturing living spaces or spacecraft.
So, about a year ago Tesla's Elon Musk reportedly met with Apple's mergers and acquisitions chief and maybe Tim Cook. What was on the agenda? The report this weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle didn't have any details on what transpired at the meeting. Perhaps Apple wanted to kick Tesla's tires. Moving from $600 iPhones and $6,000 Mac Pros to $60,000 automobiles would be a bold move for Apple, but not a moonshot. The two companies are likely a cultural and aesthetic fit, both obsessed with creating breakthrough, eco-friendly consumer products that win design awards and become status symbols.But the more logical move for Apple is turning the Tesla into another Apple-driven computer, integrating iOS software technologies into the stylish electric car. A partnership approach is more of a Tim Cook move. And, if Apple and Tesla were to join hands, there could be only one CEO. Elon Musk doesn't seem prone to giving up control of his creations, especially at this early stage, or to crave developing personal computing devices. While Apple is thinking $300 iWatch, Musk is launching rockets into outer space and devising 800 mile-per-hour Hyperloop transporters.Related storiesElectric cars advance in DetroitTesla Motors finalizes DOE loan for Model STesla Motors files for $100 million IPOCar Tech Live 154: Could Toyota have had a worse week? (podcast)Hints of a bubble in green-tech IPOsApple might want to come along for Musk's space rides. His Space X venture, which has a goal of enabling humans to visit and live on other planets, could make use of some creature comforts from Apple. When people travel to Mars or other planets via Space X, Apple's entertainment, commerce, and communication services could be integrated into the in-flight systems. Visitors and the local population might tour the planet in a Tesla dune buggy with Siri, Maps, and Apple wearables while listening to dreamy music streamed from iTunes. This scenario may never happen, but it points to Apple's need to gain industrial strength in vertical markets, not just geographies. The company can continue to sell tens of millions of iPhones each quarter, especially given the majority of the people on the planet today are without a smartphone. But the bigger opportunity for Apple and its ecosystem is becoming essential not just for people texting, checking news, watching movies, and playing games, but for massive growth areas such as transportation, home automation, and health care.Apple, as well as Microsoft and Google, wants to be in every car, not just Tesla. The company is betting that iOS users want to have their Apple-ness everywhere. Apple has been working with Audi, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, and others to integrate iOS in the car. On the health care front, Apple has assembled an elite squad of wearable designers, medical sensor experts, sleep researchers, exercise physiologists, and fitness gurus to create a new platform that works on every Apple device. Late last year, senior Apple executives met with directors at the United States Food and Drug Administration to discuss mobile medical applications.Apple hasn't yet given indications regarding how it plans to tackle home automation, or interplanetary travel. But it's safe to say that Apple's approach won't involve manufacturing living spaces or spacecraft.
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