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Michael Arrington: "Why The New .Mac Webmail Is Important"
Techcrunch's Michael Arrington has penned an interesting piece on why the upcoming .Mac webmail revamp is so important. Be sure to check it out, but in summary: Michael believes the combination of a killer AJAX-infused webmail service that both allows users to manage multiple accounts and syncs with a desktop client will give Apple a significant advantage and appeal over competing email services. Now, putting aside the fact that Gmail allows you to transparently send and receive email from non-Gmail addresses, I agree with Michael and I'm pretty darn excited about the first .Mac webmail revamp since the stone ages. However, I think he's missing a major point that many others overlook when discussing, praising or damning .Mac: it isn't webmail. Or to be more specific: it isn't just webmail. Michael compares .Mac webmail to competing offerings from Google and Yahoo! - individual and free webmail services that can integrate with other offerings from their respective providers - or not. Google has their news, RSS reader (which just had a killer overhaul, by the way) and countless other sister products, just like Yahoo! has their own tool belt of web services. But the crucial fact here is that .Mac webmail is an unconditional component of a suite of products for which users have to pay a hefty yearly fee. You can't get .Mac webmail by itself, let alone for free, and while everyone is excited about the UI revamp (well, almost everyone), the mounting orchestra of criticism against .Mac still stands. The service overall, especially webmail, is sorely missing fundamental features that competing services have had for years, and our own Dave Caolo nailed one of the most significant on the head in his eulogy for .Mac: server side spam filtering. .Mac doesn't feature it, but it's become a standard (as in: four-wheels-on-a-car standard) with virtually any other service, webmail, POP or otherwise.[Update: A reader named 'random' pointed out that .Mac apparently does feature server-side spam filtering, courtesy of Brightmail, as outlined in this support doc. While this is nice, it doesn't seem to work well (especially compared to the likes of Gmail and Yahoo!), and it doesn't allow users to adjust its sensitivity or peruse server-specified messages as spam in case some legitimate messages are being inaccurately marked. In other words: it's terrible.] Stepping back from fundamentals and specifics, however, I think Michael is placing a little too much hope in this .Mac webmail upgrade. I highly doubt it will rake in the new users, even with the unique abilities Michael hails. At best, I think it will serve as a very welcomed upgrade that could convince a good portion of existing users to go the 'eh, ok fine I'll renew' route for just one more year. Don't get me wrong: as a member myself, I'm welcoming the upgrade and I was planning on renewing in a month before I knew about the webmail refresh. I just don't believe an update to one (admittedly major) part of .Mac will hold that much weight with those who aren't interested in the entire retail package, especially when competing services can stack up pretty well for the general user, and keep $99 their pocket to boot.
Cingular to Ogo: time to say goodnight
Well, you had a good run, Ogo; you really did. Okay, that's not even remotely true -- you had a lackluster launch on AT&T Wireless before the Cingular takeover cut you down in your prime -- but we digress. For those that may not recall, the Ogo is a QWERTY-sporting device that lacks voice capability (at least in AT&T Wireless' configuration), relegating it largely to IM and email duty. Cingular's finally pulling the plug on its remaining customers of the odd little clamshell next month, offering a $75 service credit in its stead. Of course, with the Ogo recently making strides in Uruguay and elsewhere, it's far from dead, but using one in the US of A just got a little harder. [Warning: PDF link]
Microsoft announces "Live Drive" 2GB iDisk-like storage
Continuing their new Live platform push, Microsoft has announced an iDisk-like service dubbed Live Drive. This bagillionth addition to the Live product family will boast 2GB of online storage, accessibly via any computer with a web browser (read: IE or possibly Firefox - if enough people bug them for it), which can also live on a Windows Vista computer as a virtual drive.MacNN, where we found this, didn't have many more details as to whether Live Drive will mimic any other .Mac functionality, such as application and data syncing, and we can't seem to get in with Firefox or Safari so that's all you get for now. Ultimately, with services like Live Drive and AOL's upcoming 5GB of free online storage via Xdrive, the virtual storage market is definitely heating up. Let's just hope it hasn't gotten too hot in the kitchen for .Mac.
AOL adds movie downloads to video portal
Dedicated services like Vongo and Movielink are already doing the movie download thing, but now AOL, a major player vying for digital distribution market share (and our parent company, by the way) added this most sought-after of services to their video portal. Ranging in price from $9.99-$19.99, a decent selection of movies both old and new are available, but of course: you need a Windows XP machine and IE6 - not even Firefox is allowed to purchase (bad AOL! Bad!). Now that an actual internet portal has stepped foot on video download ground, how much longer will it take for Apple to debut an iTunes iMovie Store? The CEO of Lions Gate Studios even dropped a hint that it's on its way, so here's hoping the rumors prove their substance sooner than later.Thanks Jon
"Walk of shame" customer receives iMac replacement
Remember Karl, the frustrated iMac customer from Dublin who was going to prove he could walk his sick iMac 156 miles into service for replacement faster than Apple could pick it up? As it turns out, he apparently never hit the road; Infinite Loop at Ars Technica is reporting that Apple Ireland received word of this much-publicized stunt not long after it hit the media (perhaps they use the digg widget?) and promptly sent a brand new replacement straight to his door about ninety minutes later.Score one for the little guy, but I'm wondering how many more frustrated service customers are going to attempt such a stunt. Maybe, as Jeff at Infinite Loop suggests, next time Apple will have to wait for the customer to actually get a couple miles into the walk before they fire off any more replacement units.
A media company seemingly lacking a business model? Maybe Apple should buy it...
...or not. Jan's post about the latest brewing business suggestion that Apple should buy YouTube betrays a strange trend in the news and blogosphere. Apparently, if a media-related company is either floundering or doing well but lacking a sure-fire business model, they're fresh meat for an Apple acquisition.Remember the rumors of Apple buying TiVo last year? TiVo's stock shot up 17 percent simply because the rumors started making their rounds. Now these rumors of Apple buying YouTube are fluttering about, and they simply don't make any sense in my book. Apple already has a ton of branding invested in the iTMS - including a very, very healthy video offering - and (as far as I know) they're the only major service which offers their own YouTube-like, grassroots media outlet: the Podcast directory. As Jan also mentioned yesterday, anyone can get a podcast listed in the iTMS, so they've already traveled down the road of offering a strong dose of user-generated content.These claims of YouTube being a perfect buy sound a little far-fetched too - no one can figure out how they're making money (NYT even admits that in their third paragraph), and the company has never dropped even a hint to clear up the confusion. As far as everyone can tell right now, they're spending kagillions on bandwidth without much of a business model besides 'place one or two banner ads.' Let's not forget this is also digg's 'business model' at the moment, and that "Kevin made $60m" story from Business Week was thoroughly debunked as being nothing more than an estimate; they don't have a dime of that money in their pocket. In fact, they're allegedly barely breaking even - and they don't eat nearly as much bandwidth as the video-intensive YouTube.Which leads me to the mortal question: how would YouTube show Apple the money? Could Apple charge $1.99, or even $.99, for that hilarious compilation of funny cats? My gut reaction is 'probably not,' though given the things people pay for these days, I could easily be wrong there. Nevertheless, I just don't see how acquiring what must be a money-pit of a company could benefit Apple, when they already have most of the tools and features in place to offer YouTube-like services and community on their own with the iTMS.Time, of course, will tell on this one, but my money is on Jobs and co. saving their check book for a different rainy day. Just because a company is up a creek without a business model, doesn't mean Apple should be the one to toss them a paddle.
OnLine Pro - automatic daily backup service for Mac OS X
Clunk Click, an online data backup service provider in the UK (with a somewhat awkward name), has opened up their OnLine Pro automatic backup service for Mac OS X users. Installing a small piece of software from the company allows users to specify which files are backed up to their secure data storage center, which is also backed up to a second storage center for the ultimate in backup redundancy.10-day free trials are available upon request, while prices start at $5/month. Check out their press release for more information.[via Macworld UK]
Google will not compete with iTunes
For a while now, it's been an unspoken assumption that, with the introduction of a video service (that really hasn't gone anywhere), Google might try to step on Apple's toes and take on the iTMS. However, at the NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) conference this year Chris Sacca, head of Google's business development, confirmed exactly the opposite; that the company is not going to take on the 800 pound gorilla that is the iTMS. Chris then went on to make a call for the existing stores to come together, create a unified format, shake hands and sing kumbaya. A move that other notable folks, such as Cory Doctorow, have been calling for, while others respond with reality-checking prowess. Ultimately, it's probably a good thing Google isn't trying to move in on the digital music turf. It seems that some of their service offerings, such as Google Video, still need a bit of polish if they're really going to make a splash.[via Engadget]
Google releases Mac photo uploader for Picasa Web Albums
No, Google hasn't brought Picasa to Mac OS X, but they did release two tools to let Mac users upload photos to their Picasa Web Albums service (think: 'Google does Flickr'). The first app (honesty a bit of a surprise) is a full-on plugin for iPhoto to let users upload their images right from within Apple's popular photo-management app. The second tool is a good ol' fashioned stand-alone uploader for those who want to fly solo.I've never used the service before myself, though I signed up when Google first opened it up (I like to make myself available, when possible). I just took the iPhoto plugin for a spin and it works well, though I don't think Picasa Web Albums is aimed at your typical Flickr user (its largest and most obvious potential competitor). Most of the social aspects of Flickr, such as tagging, groups, etc., don't exist in Picasa Web Albums - it seems much more geared to those who mainly want a place to upload their photos online, with a simple gallery that is easy to link family and friends to (it's also obviously geared towards Picasa users on Windows too). Users can chose whether to make uploaded albums public or private, which is where one of Picasa Web Albums' social features comes into play: users do have the ability to set other users as favorites in order to more easily view images and albums they upload (though, strangely, I can't seem to find any kind of public area where I can go hunting for other users). On the downside, however, Picasa Web Albums only offers a measly 250MB of storage space for free, with a $25 upgrade option for an extra 6GB of space.All in all this is a handy service and the new tools are a great gesture on Google's part towards the Mac community. However, due to Flickr's overwhelming popularity (especially among Mac users) and a seeming lack of integration with other Google tools (where are my GmailThis! and BlogThis! buttons?), I think Picasa Web Albums has a little ways to go before it gains any significant interest among Mac users.
eMusic hits No. 2 in digital music sales, thanks iPod
eMusic, a seemingly small-time digital music service that sells DRM-free MP3s of independent artists, has quietly overtaken other big name rivals such as RealNetworks, Yahoo! and even Napster for the #2 spot in digital music sales. The company attributes its success largely in part to the iPod's widespread popularity and the fact that MP3s play just fine on it, but also says "the consumer confusion over interoperable formats gives us a great advantage". In other words: the tower of babel that is the digital download industry has opened the door for a service that speaks everyone's language to snag the second largest piece of the pie. While not everyone is happy with 2nd place, eMusic seems to be enjoying their 11% of the industry, right after the iTMS at 67%, but way ahead of Real Rhapsody with 4%, Napster - 4% and MSN Music - 3% (data according to NPD Group).[via iLounge]
Widget Watch: Basecamp
Basecamp is an award-winning, web-based project management service from the much-loved 37Signals, makers of the equally-loved Backpack. Since Backpack has had its own widget for a while now, it seems that Kennedia Consulting felt it was high time Basecamp received the Dashboard treatment as well. The cleverly titled Basecamp Widget offers an interface to the pleasantly simple, yet powerful, Basecamp web service, allowing you to: View Milestones, Todos, Posts and Contacts for your active projects Complete and Uncomplete Milestones Complete and Uncomplete ToDo items The author has also stated that a slew of additional features are planned for the widget, depending on how much interest is expressed from the community (hint hint). So check out the widget, submit some feedback and let the developer know you care.
Airfone to shut down commercial service in 2006
Earlier this month we saw JetBlue and AirCell snap up the 1MHz swath of spectrum required for Verizon's Airfone service to operate over US territories, so it shouldn't really come as any surprise to anyone that the 140 person Verizon subsidiary is shutting down commercial airline phone service this year. It's goin to be a lot of work ripping those godawful ugly and rarely used seat-back phones from from 1,000+ Continental, Delta, United Airlines and US Airways jetliners nation wide, but lose not all hope until 2010; Airfone will apparently still continue overpriced in-flight calling service in the other 3,400 corporate and government planes they operate out of (which are all typically far smaller vessels, of course, unless you're talking about Air Force One). Still, it is a little disappointing that a wireless phone company with a 21 year track record in the market is going to be shuttered because the FCC sold their license in a bid to some other, more well-heeled companies; guess that's the way you play the game though, eh? And really, while we mourn the loss of any company, we won't mourn the loss of thse damned phones, nor will we be sorry about not having to wait any longer than necessary to get our in-flight internet access on.
T-Mobile launches kidConnect service
T-Mobile's launched a new service aimed at parents looking to placate their kid's incessant begging for a cellphone, but still maintain some control over how much they use it. kidConnect will give kids unlimited weekend minutes and a set number of "whenever minutes" (50 under the $19.99/month plan, with parents able to buy more) after which the service is cut off so they don't run up the bill -- kids can also trade in their whenever minutes for text message credits, although those'll dry up pretty quick at 4 text messages per minute. Regardless of how many minutes they use, however, they'll always be able to call their parents phone, or call 911. And unlike the myriad of other kids' cellphones, kidConnect will work with any T-Mobile phone, which we're guessing most kids would prefer anyway.[Via Slashphone]
Microsoft confirms the 'iPod killer' rumors are false
Yesterday, Engadget posted some less-than-clear images with rumors of an iPod killer coming soon from the Microsoft camp. Today, PC Magazine has confirmation from a Microsoft rep that these rumors were nothing more than hot air. In fact, they were simply the result of a mis-translated Japanese press release about Microsoft's new Windows Media Player 11 software; they had nothing to do with hardware.So for those of you who might have developed a chronic nail-biting habit, worried that Microsoft's new '#1 with a bullet', MTV-infused music service and killer new hardware were going to usurp Apple's iPod and iTunes overnight (ironically, the only time MTV has anything to do with music these days), I think it's safe to say you can give your nerves a rest.[UPDATE: Microsoft was setting other rumors about an iPod killer straight; their announcement wasn't tied to these images that Engadget posted yesterday. Those could be shots of a Gigabeat-S portable media player from Toshiba, for all anyone knows.]
$40 XBL Vision camera & UNO bundle detailed by MS source along with prices & dates for other 360 accessories
Our friendly anonymous source at Microsoft has provided us with a few more details concerning the 360 accessories announced back at E3.Perhaps the most important involves the bundling of the Xbox Live Vision camera with a wired headset, the popular Live Arcade title UNO, and a month of Live Gold service for $39.99 when it releases in the States on September 19, 2006.Granted, this is still an unofficial report (based on a leak of "official" info), so understand that you're probably not gonna get much confirmation from MS until they're good and ready to give it. If you'd like information on what other peripherals are coming out "Holiday 2006" (so sometime in the 4th quarter) and at what price, read on for more.
Get a map from any app with MappingService
Like Tim Gaden over at Hawk Wings, I too love Mac OS X's highly underrated Services menu, and Robert Stainsby has released a very handy addition to it: MappingService. This clever service allows you to select an address from any application, say a website, a document or an IM, and simply chose 'Map' from your Services menu to generate a map in any one of three mapping services: Google Maps (of course), ZoomIn Australia or ZoomIn New Zealand.MappingService is known to work on 10.4.6 and might possibly work on earlier versions of Mac OS X. It is open source software released under the BSD license, and Robert is accepting donations for his fine work.
Widget Watch: the Jack of All Widgets
The Jack of All Widgets widget could perhaps be better named as the Jack of All Searches. It allows quick access to what I would guess is around 50 different searches and services, including Amazon, gas prices, people searches, package tracking (including the only widget I know of that searches the USPS), lyrics, weather and more. It's description page at Apple's download site says it starts up Safari to display search results, but with my experience it simply starts your default browser.The Jack of All Widgets widget is freeware and available from Apple's download page.
iTMS introduces "New Rock Revealed" weekly band explorations
The iTMS has introduced an intriguing new service called "New Rock Revealed", where one band's music will be dissected each week to find who their roots and inspirations were, as well as similar sounds you can find today. This first week looks at Pearl Jam's new album (which rocks, by the way), and lists its tracks in the middle of the chart. On the left side is a list of "Roots & Influences", where songs from bands that inspired Pearl Jam are listed, track by track, matching up to the Pearl Jam songs where their influences can be heard. On the right side is the "Similar Sounds" list of bands who clearly were inspired by Pearl Jam. Each of the two lists (Roots & Influences and Similar Sounds) are available as mixes ready for purchase, priced at just over $12 apiece. I would imagine that price will fluctuate, depending on the length of the album New Rock Revealed dissects each week.This is a really cool idea, though I wish the iTMS could produce some more information along the lines of truly exploring a band's roots. I'd love to be able to read a little more into what exactly inspired Pearl Jam; where they got their sound, how they started out as a band living out of their broken-down tour bus and eating stale bread three times a day until they got their big break. With that said, I'm excited to see the iTMS whipping out clever new services like this to get people more interested in music, where it came from and where it's going.
Will Sony charge for online gameplay?
An astute observation by x360Central (and a few readers as well) points out the absence of online gameplay and matchmaking from Sony's "Basic Community Services." These were outlined at E3 last week, but we never explicitly heard about the former features.This brings up the flamebait regarding the Sony online platform and similarities to Xbox Live. Should they choose to leave out free multiplayer after all, then it would reduce the PlayStation Network Platform to a musty spin-off of Xbox Live Silver.Sony has stated that they plan on giving gamers free online gameplay though, so until they come out saying that they will definitely charge for it, let's keep that in mind. This will be an interesting issue to watch develop as we get closer to the launch date.
Widget Watch: Web Translator 2.0
Web Translator is a widget that allows you to translate a web page or text using either Google's Translation service or AltaVista's Babel Fish service. Usage is pretty simple: enter a URL or text, chose the languages and off you go.This widget seems like a nice addition to Apple's built-in translation widget which only does text.
