The most interesting iPhone app I have seen so far is one that turns it into a remote for Apple TV. Judging by the activity from Apple and MS in this area both agree that integrating currently separate devices is they way forward. And what better way than to control your TV with your phone. I always wondered why I ended up with six different remotes.

The added benefit is that you can use the expanded functionality of a phone to integrate currently separate services. Euro 2008 has just finished, as England were not involved I watched a lot of the games at home alongside my laptop. I would watch the game and discuss it with my friends online and using texts. What struck me was that it would be much easier to have these comments streamed down the side of my TV screen rather than relegated to separate devices.

Mainstream twitter

And this is where the iPhone/Blackberry type remote comes in. It would allow me to add my comments quickly using the remote if it was designed like this. I think it favours a fixed keyboard rather than a touchscreen but it is Apple which has got there first. Admittedly there is no integrated Twitter like service for sports games at the moment but this is the most likely way for Twitter or an equivalent service to go mainstream.

The fact is that most people don’t want to let everyone know what they are doing all the time. There will be specific events like sports events or conferences where people want to use it but most of the time they won’t. Microblogging will change as its users change. In the early days the twitterholics twitter about everything but later adopters won’t do this. Watercooler moments will still happen, they’ll just be liberated from the watercooler.

Pic: Vincent Brown

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I should be more interested in f8 than I am considering we’re about to launch a FB app. Yes I read the predictable Valleywag post saying how terrible Zuckerberg was. Then I watched the video and realised he was perfectly competent if slightly dull. The main news seemed to be about what didn’t happen namely FB connect and a payments system.

The real earth-shattering development will be FB connect. It’s great news for users who will be able to link up cross platform without creating a new account – this is how I understand FB connect anyway, correct me in the comments if not. It will promote competition between platforms and allow users to pick the SN which suits them best. I guess FB are doing it because they think they will disproportionately benefit as the best platform. I don’t think there’s much doubt about that right now but it won’t necessarily stay that way forever.

The lack of a payments system exercised some app developers, including the illustrious Max Levchin, who seem to think if there is a payment system people will start paying for apps. Fellow widgetmakers – I tell you now – nobody will ever pay money for a FB app. Look at Causes – people only donate on average 21c per year on things they actually support. They will not pay anything for your apps. Accept it. People pay for iPhone apps because people pay for iPhones. If they won’t pay for FB they won’t pay for FB apps.

Advertising is the game. We think we have cracked the way of getting advertisers to pay far higher rates on our FB app and we should be ready for release in the Autumn (Fall) so you can install it and judge for yourselves then.

Read more:
On friend bankruptcy
On useful advertising
On the future of social networks

Pic: phil-it

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When an unusually gaunt Steve Jobs unveiled the 3g iPhone last month speculation about his heath started again. In response to a recent query Apple released a statement saying that Jobs’ health was a private matter. Some think otherwise and argue that since Apple’s performance is so tightly bound up with Jobs that he is public property as much as his company.

I disagree. Jobs is a private individual and the state of his health is a matter for him. It is common knowledge that he had pancreatic cancer which was successfully operated on in 2003. If Apple shareholders were sufficiently concerned about his health then they could have sold when that procedure became public knowledge and no doubt many did. Those who held on can have no complaints. They know Jobs’ history of illness and they know Apple is a secretive company. If they don’t like it they can sell their shares. Some complain this means selling at a loss but anyone buying shares in a company knows they can go down, if they do not they should not be trading stocks. If you want steady, risk free rises stick to Treasury Bills.

Jobs was responsible for a remarkable turnaround in Apple’s fortune and has made its shareholders very rich. When Jobs took over in 1997 Apple’s share price hovered under $5, at their recent peak in Jan 2008 Apple shares touched $200. Apple’s share price cannot keep climbing at this rate. The company hit a grand slam with the iPod and it will not repeat that success with the iPhone and Apple TV, the problem Apple shareholders have is that the assumption it will is already priced into Apple stock.

Right place, right time

The iPhone will be a success in its niche – high end mobile devices – but it won’t break out the same way the iPod did. The iPod rode the convergence of a number of factors; the emergence of filesharing, the expansion of broadband internet which facilitated the massive transfer of small files and mp3 compression which allowed music files to be shrunken to a tenth of their size. All that was required to complete the revolution was a small, cool, easy to use music player with equally beautiful software. These were Apple’s strengths, Jobs spotted the trend, bet the company and won. This will never happen again. At least not to Apple. The stock is already too high, swollen by the expectation that Apple will reign supreme.

All CEOs are human, Steve Jobs has his strengths and weaknesses and people who invest in Apple know what they are. If they are nervous about the future the answer is simple: sell.

Pic: Danny Novo

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