Treating myself to some Italian this fine Friday evening. I’m looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend of video games, movies and being generally lazy.

Note to Apple: Just stream your damn keynote live next time… even if it’s just audio. If you don’t, someone else is going to attempt it so it might as well just be you. That way, you can at least exert some control over the quality of the broadcast.

This year’s keynote focused solely on the iPhone and its supporting services. After the keynote there was a shorter session, not publicly available, detailing Apple’s next version of the Mac OS X operating system dubbed Snow Leopard. Read on for my thoughts of the topics covered in the first keynote.

iPhone SDK
Most of this portion of the keynote was a rehash of what was announced back in March. It included more demos of 3rd party apps currently in development. These new apps all looked very slick and I was especially happy to see Pangea Game’s Cromag Rally was implementing my rotating screen/steering wheel control concept. Apple seems to have convinced most developers that $10 bucks a shot is a good price to charge for commercial iPhone apps. I find this price very reasonable, especially considering the quality of these applications.

Push Notification Service
Probably the most interesting info to come out of this portion of the keynote was Apple’s solution to the “no apps running in the background” mandate. Basically, developers will be able to take advantage of a system by which their servers can send alerts to user’s iPhones using Apple as a proxy. It works like this: if you sign into an IM server on your iPhone then exit the program, the program is no longer running. However, the IM service keeps you logged in and if you get a message, sends an alert to Apple’s servers which gets relayed to your iPhone over either the cellular network or wi-fi using a persistent IP connection Apple maintains. Alerts can include icon badge updates, alert sounds and even dialog boxes with buttons. This solution prevents a slew of background tasks killing battery life and slowing the device down. It also scales well since all applications can uses this service for free and the user’s device maintains only a single IP connection.

As great as it is, this clever solution is another example of Apple’s willingness to only meet the developers half way. Apps still can not talk out when inactive. For IM clients this isn’t an issue but other apps like MobileScrobbler won’t work because it can no longer run in the background automatically collecting data about your listening habits and sending them up to Last.fm’s servers in realtime. Another minor issue is that while the first wave of 3rd party apps will be available in early July, this service will not be available for developers to use until September.

MobileMe
It’s good to see that Apple has finally revamped their aging .Mac service. Retooling it to be “Exchange for the rest of us” is a unique spin and does give it something that other free services don’t quite have, true push data syncing. However, at $99/year I don’t think it’s something I could really justify using considering all of the other free services I have available to me. The only real feature that still intrigues me is the super-slick web photo gallery.

iPhone 3G
The second generation iPhone does a lot of things right. First of all, they’ve lowered the price to just $199 for an 8GB model and $299 for 16GB. It now includes 3G for a “zippy” web browsing experience when not on wi-fi plus it includes a true GPS supporting realtime tracking directly in the Google Maps application. The device is slightly thinner at the edges, has better battery life and better audio. On the down side, Apple still hasn’t included true MMS support, no forward facing camera, no cut & paste and AT&T has increased their data plan by $10. Even with those issues, the new iPhone is a clear winner and even I’m seriously considering an upgrade if only so I can have true GPS capability, better battery life and possible improved reception over my launch day model.

Being almost ten years old, my old car was on its way out. So, I decided this week that it was time for a new car to last me anther decade and hopefully beyond. I’d actually been researching cars for over a month and the Honda Civic was clearly the best value in its class. It didn’t hurt either that it comes in a sleek, futuristic styling.

Check out my Flickr album for more high resolution photos including some of the high-tech interior.

So, I got the idea that whenever the accelerometer detected horizontal tilting of the device, it would then rotate the visuals in the opposite direction to keep the game’s horizon line level with the player’s. This would make the iPhone feel more like a real steering wheel since the iPhone would appear to the player to turn independently of the game visuals. I’ve created the following video to demonstrate this concept.

• View on Vimeo
• View YouTube

My tax refund was starting to burn a small hole in my pocket so I picked up a Nintendo DS Lite yesterday. I had owned an original DS for a few years but I eventually donated it to my nephew. I’ve wanted a DS Lite ever since then but never enough to actually go out and buy one. Now they sell a slick looking red model called the “Crimson Black” which is the one I ended up buying. It’s very stylish. At first, I thought it was almost too small and I had some trouble holding it comfortably. Once I adjusted to it, I found I actually prefer it. The screen is simply incredible. I knew it would be brighter than the original DS but until you actually see it, you don’t realize just how much. I’ve started compiling a list of DS games I’ve missed out on over the past few years that I’m eagerly wanting to try. I may look into a GameFly account as there isn’t a better way to rent DS games around here that I know of.

Speaking of DS games, the other thing that convinced me to pick up the system was Seth sending me SMS messages about how fun the new Pokemon Diamond and Pearl is. At first, I figured he just wanted someone to trade pokemon with. However, after I got the game I have to admit it is rather addictive. I had tried playing the Gameboy Advance version of Pokemon once but I never could get into it. This new Diamond version on the other hand is really pulling me in. Granted, the RPG aspects do feel dated and the game is geared more towards kids than your average game but I can overlook these issues and simply enjoy it for what it is: a fun battle/collection game. It is rare to find an RPG where you actually look forward to random battles. What’s more, this game features a slew of Internet enabled features such as online trading, online battling and more. It even supports voice chat which is very impressive for a handheld gaming system. I’m looking forward to trying these features out.

The predictions I made in my recent post didn’t turn out to be all that accurate, however. Here’s a quick break down:

• Developer Registration Codes - This one was easy and I was right on the money. Apple is requiring devs to register with them to receive a code that will be embedded into their apps. Basically, this is DRM for applications. This gives Apple the power to disallow and deactivate malicious developers and apps retroactively. A good policy.

• Corporate Custom Apps - Apple is going to solve the issue of corporate custom app delivery by giving corporations their own delivery system (a custom App Store the businesses maintain themselves) as long as they are willing to pay the price.

• Developers Releasing of Apps Directly - I missed the mark here. Almost everyone but me assumed Apple would control the distribution of apps and they were right. While being able to directly download apps on the device wirelessly using a simple, universal interface is nice, the Apple developer approval process is still a big concern that I fear could hinder adoption of the platform by developers who want to push the limits.

The third point in particular is both discouraging and welcome. I completely agree that the benefits of quality control, security and stability are issues that Apple’s approval process hold paramount and for that I can not falter them. None the less, the real issue now becomes where will the lines be ultimately drawn and how big will the “grey area” be for developers to work within? Will Apple be more flexible in the future regarding what is and isn’t allowed? How long will it take for developers and/or their apps to be approved for distribution? This all remains to be seen.

These concerns aside, I’m really encouraged by the power of what this SDK brings. For the first time since the 1990s, it feels like we are witnessing the emergence of a new computing platform that could realistically sit along side the desktop and laptop as a full featured computing device that is not simply a peripheral that compliments them but a platform in its own right.

Furthermore, the iPhone is also shaping up to be a serious contender in the mobile gaming market. Seeing games like Super Monkey Ball and Spore already demonstrated in playable form indicate to me that Apple has an opportunity to also turn the iPhone into a competitive handheld gaming system; maybe the first since the Sony PSP to actually be capable of directly competing with Nintendo’s long time portable gaming dominance.

Shot during the course of a typical work day, this video is the first I’ve made using my new Aiptek A-HD camcorder. The campus you see is the University of Evansville, where I work as a web developer. The music is from “My Life” performed by Billy Joel. I edited this video in iMovie ‘08 in less than an hour. It was the first time I’d used the new version.

• View HD Vimeo version
• View YouTube Version

As for the camera’s weak points, it has a very poor internal microphone with a short range. Also, if the sound around the camera is too loud, the audio tends to pop and distort. There is even a subtle hiss. Another issue is that there is no image stabilization or actual zoom worth using. While these issues might have prevented me from picking up another camcorder like this, I was willing to overlook them because of what is by far this camera’s best feature: the price tag. You can pick one up for only $120 bucks. This is hundreds of dollars less than the next available HD camcorder! If you’re willing to live with less than stellar audio and lack of zoom, everything else about this device makes it a worth owning.

The link below is a short 10 second bit of raw video taken straight off the camera so you can see the full HD resolution it records. One last tidbit, the camera’s files will also playback on my Xbox 360 in full 720p HD! This is certainly a fun little gadget.

exampleHD.mp4 - 10sec 1280×720p H.264 video AAC audio

For a while now, I’ve been assuming that third party applications would only be made available and/or sold through an Apple maintained area on the iTunes store. However, I’ve given it a lot of thought and I no longer think that’s how it will work.

First up, judging by their event flyer, Apple appears to be emphasizing the enterprise market much more than I would have imagined. In the enterprise space, companies like to develop custom applications for their end users to run that are exclusive to their business. These people aren’t going to want proprietary apps like these listed in some kind of public directory. They’ll want to distribute these apps privately making the idea of an “only available through iTunes” delivery method unrealistic.

Secondly, if Apple seriously wants iPhone development to be huge they wouldn’t create some kind of manual, per-app approval process. This would only limit and slow down available titles. What they really want is to rally developers to create selection and diversity while at the same time controlling what these apps can do. Thus, all they need to do is require developers to use their SDK where the APIs contained within control what developers can and cannot do.

Thus, here’s my best guess for what Apple will announce:

1. The SDK will be free but each developer will have a unique code embedded into their apps. They will have to register this code with Apple before they can compile their applications and distribute them. What this does is guarantee that only apps built using Apple’s approved APIs can be installed while also giving Apple a mechanism (via software updates) to retroactively disable rouge apps from being run.
2. Developers will likely release their apps themselves via the web. If apps do show up in iTunes, it’ll only be through an optional, multi-developer maintained area similar to the webapps area hosted on Apple.com or the podcasts section in iTunes. Keeping this maintained by the developers themselves would prevent Apple from running into conflict of interest issues.
3. The apps will come as a file with a new extension that is registered to open in iTunes. Double clicking this file adds it to the user’s library of available, sync-able apps. At the same time, the file’s developer key can be checked against Apple’s servers to ensure that the developer and/or the application is legit and not flagged as being harmful before being installed on the device.

These are just my predictions. If Apple goes another route, I won’t cry foul however I certainly hope they’ve considered these same issues. Whatever their solution, I hope they can provide at least the same amount of flexibility to make the iPhone and iPod a strong platform in the future.

A night of continuous snow and freezing rain turned my car into a block of ice. There wasn’t a single inch without a sheet of frozen water covering it this morning. The university decided to close down today so I get to stay home. However, I think I’m going to de-ice my car none the less. I have to pick up some food for lunch and dinner. Wish me luck!