And the cat and mouse game continues. Last Tuesday, Apple released the latest version of the iPhone OS 3.1.3 (7E18). This was an unexpected release, since a lot of people were hoping for the 3.2 version which is on the new iPad.

3.1.3 is a relatively minor update, fixing battery level reporting and a few crashes caused by 3rd party apps and the Japanese Kana keyboard.

Unless you absolutely need the improved battery accuracy, or your iPhone was crashing incessantly, you want to stay away from this update if you have a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone.

As usual, it didn’t take that long for the iPhone Dev Team to come up with a solution. They have released PwnageTool 3.1.5, which allows you to go to 3.1.3 while preserving your jailbreak and ultrasn0w unlock.

Of course, there are exceptions :
- if you used the blacksn0w unlock (at baseband 05.11.07), you need to stay at 3.1.2.
- if you have an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS, it’s best not to upgrade (just to be safe).

PwnageTool 3.1.5 works with the iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS with early bootrom, iPod touch 1G, and iPod touch 2G with early bootrom.

Since I just upgraded my iPhone 3GS to 3.1.2 about a week ago, I’ll stick to it until a bigger update comes along — 3.2 maybe?

Ah, analysts. They get paid a lot of money to predict and speculate, and write reports on those predictions and speculations that cost a few thousand dollars. Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb has compiled several different analyst reports on iPad sales, and they all look promising.

The numbers range from 1.1 million units sold in the first year, with the most optimistic prediction being 9 million units in the second year.

Here’s what I, a non-analyst (or a non-paid analyst) can tell you : Apple will sell containerloads of the Apple iPad. Apple is very good at selling you what you want, not what you need. Steve Jobs famously said they would sell 10 million iPhones in the first full year, and they did. This was back when the iPhone was a 2G-only, $700 unsubsidised device locked only to the AT&T network.

Even though a lot of people say they can’t see the use-case for an Apple iPad, you just know that once Apple gets these devices into the hands of people, and once these devices start being visible in public, the pull factor will be incredible.

In 3 months, when the 3G versions of the iPad will come out, we’ll have 150,000 apps available in the App Store, and many iPad-specific applications. Expect to see whole industries (logistics, education) adopting the iPad, or something similar to an iPad.

Non-Apple users will not be left out, we have maybe half a dozen different tablet offerings which are out now or will be out soon. This time next year, we’ll look back and wonder how we managed to get by without tablets.

What’s most surprising to me is how Apple positioned the iPad. It’s not the Kindle killer (at least not explicitly), but it’s the netbook killer. I think for people who treat netbooks as a third device (between the desktop/laptop PC and the phone), this could be true, but not for people who treat netbooks as their sole device (as a cheap laptop).

About The Apple iPad

Here’s what we know about the Apple iPad

- runs iPhone OS 3.2 (not the full Mac OS X) and can run almost all iPhone apps
- 9.7 inch screen, comparable to a Kindle DX, but in colour and with multi-touch of course
- 1GHz “Apple A4″ system-on-a-chip
- newly rewritten core apps (Mail, Contacts, Photos, Notes, iPod, Calendar, Maps)
- new iBooks ebook reader app
- built-in App Store, iTunes Store and a new iBookStore
- 10 hours battery life, 1.5lbs light, 0.5 inches thin
- no ports except for standard iPhone/iPod Dock connector
- Bluetooth and WiFi (802.11n)

There are six versions of the iPad – 3G and non-3G versions in 3 storage capacities : 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

So what does the iPad replace? Nothing, really. It’s not a replacement for your iPhone or your laptop. It’s a third device for someone who’s entrenched in the Apple iTunes/App Store ecosystem. Think about the investment you’ve put into digitizing, purchasing, organizing your content and apps into Apple’s iTunes. The iPad makes all that effort just that much better.

People who were expecting an Apple tablet at a premium price ($800-900) would have been pleasantly surprised at the starting price : just $499 for the entry level 16GB version. That’s just $10 more than the Kindle DX. Even the most expensive iPad is just $850, well below the $1,000 threshold. Next year, when these storage capacities double for the same price, and with a number of apps written specifically for it, the iPad will probably sell very well.

I’m expecting the Keyboard Dock for the Apple iPad to be a very popular accessory. There are many people who want this for their iPhone, so hopefully Apple can release that version soon.

Would I buy it myself? The answer would be yes. I’ve been wanting a netbook for a while now, and the iPad actually can do most of what I want : editing blog posts, web browsing, ebook reading and watching video. It’s a little bit more than what I was planning to spend on a netbook, but all my media is ready to go for the iPad.

Save the date : Wednesday 27th January. Exactly one week from now, Apple is holding an event to launch or announce … something. Since Apple is not in Macworld this year, they didn’t have to rush things out so early in the year. So what will we see next week?

Is it going to be iPhone OS 4.0? Boy Genius reports that the new OS is probably imminent, and will bring some interesting new features:

* OS-wide multi-touch gestures.
* background applications / multitasking.
* Many graphical and UI changes
* new syncing ability for the contacts and calendar applications.

Whether we’ll see a brand new iPhone, is another matter. For the past few years, we’ve seen new iPhone models in June, but who knows what Apple might do. We’ve seen rumours that the current 8GB iPhone 3G will be replaced with an iPhone 3GS model.

The biggest speculations, of course, centre around the Apple tablet. The iTablet, or iPad, or iSlate has almost the same hype level as we did before the original iPhone was announced.

This is going to be a long week!

Google certainly made a splash with their launch of the newest Android phone, the Google Nexus One. Google made the phone available for sale unlocked directly from them, at google.com/phone. Google explained their different approach to selling the phone on their own blog, saying that they “want to make the overall user experience simple: a simple purchasing process, simple service plans from operators, simple and worry-free delivery and start-up.”

Let’s have a look at what people are saying about the new Google Nexus One phone.

Google Nexus One: The TechCrunch Review

“It’s Google’s vision of the perfect Android device, from the huge and beautiful screen and massively fast Snapdragon processor to the software elegance of Google Navigation, Live Wallpaper and the Voice Keyboard. When combined with Google Voice there is no phone on the market today that can touch the Nexus One … the Nexus One has no obvious flaws or compromises. The phone is the state of the art in mobile”.

Engadget : Nexus One review

“This is precisely the right phone at the right time: class-leading processor, vibrant display, sexy shell, and just a sprinkling of geekiness that only Google could pull off this effortlessly.” However, (while) “it’s a good Android phone, but not the last word”. Engadget says that the Motorola Droid is probably the better phone.

Gizmodo : Nexus One Review

“The Nexus One is an over-hyped Android phone. But that doesn’t stop it from being the best Android phone”

Nexus One Blog : Nexus One Review

“On a 3G network, there is no reason to stray to any other device … because of its hi-res display, speed, and it’s extremely attractive UI … it makes browsing the web a truly unique and visually stimulating experience.”

Android Central : Google Nexus One Hands On (Video)

Google Nexus One Specifications

Physical Dimensions:

* Height: 119mm
* Width: 59.8mm
* Depth: 11.5mm
* Weight: 130g with battery; 100g without battery

Storage:

* Flash: 512MB
* RAM: 512MB
* SD card: 4GB Micro SD card included (expandable to 32 GB)

Camera, photos, videos:

* 5 MP camera
* Mechanical autofocus
* 2x digital zoom
* LED flash
* Geotagging capable

Cellular & wireless:

* 3G T-Mobile and EDGE on AT&T
* Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
* Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
* A2DP stereo Bluetooth

Location:

* AGPS receiver
* Cell tower and Wi-Fi positioning
* Digital compass
* Accelerometer

Display:

* 3.7 inch (diagonal) widescreen, WVGA AMOLED screen

External buttons & controls:

* Physical power key
* Physical volume up/down key
* Tricolor, clickable trackball
* 4illuminated softkeys (Back, Menu, Home, Search)
* Haptic feedback
* Teflon-coated back cover

Connectors and sensors:

* Dock pins for the Docking Stations or other Nexus One Accessories
* 3.5mm, 40connector, stereo headset jack
* Earpiece
* Speaker
* Microphone
* Second microphone for active noise cancellation
* SIM card slot
* Micro SD slot
* Micro USB port
* Proximity sensor
* Light sensor
* Tricolor charging and notification indicator LED

Processor:

* QUALCOMM QSD 8250, 1Ghz

Audio decoders:

* AAC LC/LTP, HE-ACCv1 (AAC+), HE-AACv2 (enhanced ACC+)
* Mono/Stereo standard bit rates up to 160kbps and sampling rates from 8kHz to 48kHz
* AMR-NB 4.75-12.2kpbs sampled @ 8kHz
* AMR-WB 9 rates from 6.60kbit/s to 23.85kbits/s sampled @ 16kHz
* MP3 mono/stereo 8-320kbps constant bit rate (CBR) or variable bit-rate (VBR)
* MIDI SMF (Type 0 and 1), DLS Version 1 and 2, XMF/Mobile
* XMF, RTTTL/RTX, OTA, iMelody
* Ogg Vorbis
* WAVE

Audio encoders:

* AMR-NB 4.75-2.2kbps sampled @ 8kHz

Platform:

* Android mobile technology platform 2.1 (Flan)

Image formats:

* JPEG (encode and decode)
* GIF
* PNG
* BMP

Video decoders:

* H.263
* MPEG-4 SP
* H.264 AVC

Video encoders:

* H.263
* MPEG-4 SP

Power and battery:

* Removable 1400mAh battery

Palm Pre Plus has double the internal storage (to 16GB) and comes standard with the Touchstone back cover for wireless charging. Palm Pixi Plus adds Wi-Fi and has the option to get multiple colours for the back cover. Both smartphones will be available from Verizon on 25th January 2010.

webOS isn’t so hot if you want to play games, you say? Palm is getting their iPhone envy out of the way — they announced the release of 7 3D games for webOS. The games are mostly ports from other platforms :

* Need for Speed Undercover (EA Mobile)
* The Sims 3 (EA Mobile)
* MONOPOLY (EA Mobile)
* Asphalt 5: Elite Racing (Gameloft)
* Let’s Golf! (Gameloft)
* Glyder 2 (Glu Mobile)
* X-Plane (Laminar Research)

Want more? Here’s the Palm presentation video from CES 2010

When I got my iPhone, one of the first things I tried to figure out was how to read ebooks on it. You have to realise that just two years ago, reading on the iPhone wasn’t as easy as it is today. No Stanza, Kindle app, or even apps on the phone!

However, I have been having less and less time lately, especially with increasing pace and responsibility at work. Now I find that it’s much more convenient for me to slot in a few minutes of “reading” during my commute. Yes, after years of listening to Audible ads on podcasts, I’ve finally succumbed and I’ve started listening to audiobooks. I know that there are people who don’t consider audiobooks “reading”, but I get just as much information and enjoyment as the “traditional” way.

I find that I can get quite a lot done while I’m commuting to work – at least an hour’s worth each day. Of course, I listen to the audiobooks on my iPhone, so there’s very little change in my setup. No new gear needed.

The downside? Audiobooks tend to be more expensive than ebooks. We need an Amazon Kindle Store of audiobooks at least in terms of the $10 standard price for most books. Guess who owns Audible? Amazon.

Here’s the reading (and listening) list for 2009 :

1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell 20090102 (Audio Book)
2. Hell’s Faire by John Ringo 20090110
3. Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves 20090114
4. I Remember the future by Michael A Burnstein 20090127
5. Tokyo Zero by Marc Horne 20090202
6. The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross 20090310
7. UR by Stephen King 20090311
8. Who Moved My Blackberry? by Lucy Kellaway 20090312
9. Halting State by Charles Stross 20090324
10. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
11. The Unforgiving Minute by Craig Mullaney
12. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher 20090505
13. The Ghost by Robert Harris
14. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher 20090523
15. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher 20090530
16. Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi 20090609
17. Death Masks by Jim Butcher 20090617
18. The Strain (Kindle Edition) by Chuck Hogan, Guillermo Del Toro 20090708
19. Blood Rites by Jim Butcher 20090716
20. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher 20090727
21. Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher 20090812
22. Small Favor by Jim Butcher 20090824
23. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher 20090829
24. Daggerspell by Katherine Kerr 20090908
25. Daemon by Daniel Suarez
26. Darkspell by Katherine Kerr 20091010
27. The Taqwacores by Muhammad Michael Knight 20091021
28. Heat Wave by Richard Castle
29. Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck 20091101
30. Superfreakonomics by Levitt & Dubbner 20091120
31. Under The Dome by Stephen King
32. The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman (dead tree)
33. What the dog saw by Malcolm Gladwell
34. World War Z by Max Brooks (audio)
35. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (audio) 20091231

2010 should be another interesting year in Mobility. Early next month we’ll see faster, cheaper netbooks, a new Google Phone (Nexus One) and maybe the mythical Apple Tablet (or iGuide, or iSlate). And that’s just January.

I hope you have a great New Year!

It’s been a while since I last did an ebook recommendation. Reading has been a little slow lately, but there have been a few good reads that I want to recommend. First up is the new book by Stephen King, Under the Dome

I’ve skipped several of Stephen King’s past books, but the premise of Under The Dome intrigued me :

When the smalltown of Chester’s Mill, Maine, is surrounded by an invisible force field, the people inside must exert themselves to survive. The situation deteriorates rapidly due to the dome’s ecological effects and the machinations of Big Jim Rennie, an obscenely sanctimonious local politician and drug lord who likes the idea of having an isolated populace to dominate. Opposing him are footloose Iraq veteran Dale Barbara, newspaper editor Julia Shumway, a gaggle of teen skateboarders and others who want to solve the riddle of the dome. King handles the huge cast of characters masterfully but ruthlessly, forcing them to live (or not) with the consequences of hasty decisions.

Verdict : If you liked The Stand, then you’ll like this one. Under The Dome has a largish cast of characters, good versus evil, and all the good stuff. This is a chunky read, so set aside some time.

You can buy Under The Dome ebooks from Fictionwise, eReader or Mobipocket. Or buy a dead tree version from Amazon.

eReader is currently offering a year end special sale, with 40-60% discounts on all ebooks.

What a wild roller coaster ride this year has been. When we started 2009, we only had one phone running Google’s Android mobile operating system : the T-Mobile G1. Now we have a few from Motorola, HTC, Acer and soon (maybe?) even the mighty Google itself will have the “Google Phone” aka Google Nexus One.

Mobile ad network Admob recently came up with a report showing that 25% of their total base used an Android handset to view mobile ads. The iPhone still commands 55% of the mobile viewing public, but that just shows that the Android market is indeed growing, and Android users use as much web on their phone as iPhone users do. Android users are either iPhone refugees, or people who have been waiting for an iPhone alternative. Google certainly agrees that this is a significant trend — they bought over Admob for a cool $750 million.

Much ado about Google Nexus One (N1)

If you remember back in the day before the iPhone, we had constant rumours about an “Apple Phone”. Many people gave up waiting for the iPhone, but eventually Apple released it and look where it is today. Over the past few years, we’ve also been hearing about the mythical “Google Phone”, which was supposed to save the smartphone world from being totally dominated by Apple.

Just recently we’ve suddenly had a sudden burst of leaks about the Google phone — dubbed Google Nexus One. Even a Google blog announced that they are testing a special Android phone internally, “eating their own dog food”. Now we have a hands-on review of the Google Nexus by Gizmodo.

Some highlights :
- it’s slightly thinner and slightly lighter than the iPhone 3GS
- the screen is the same size and same resolution as the Motorola Droid, (but) it’s noticeably better
- “astonishingly faster” than the Droid
- 5 megapixel camera with flash
- no multitouch

There’s already a website dedicated to the new phone, and they have a video of Android 2.1 running on Google Nexus One :

So Android now certainly has some momentum behind it, plus some a hero phone wih enough hype to rival the iPhone 4.0. However, the Android ecosystem is fragmented right now — unlike Apple, which has always offered the same software upgrades even to the oldest version of the iPhone, Google has been less than forthcoming about Android updates. Currently, we have version 1.5, 1.6 and 2.x in the market, with very little information on whether Google or its partners would offer upgrades, or even if upgrades are even possible.

Still, 2010 looks like another interesting year in the smartphone market, with iPhone and Android duking it out. There’s Palm still hanging on with webOS (barely), and there’s still a chance that Microsoft would make a comeback with Windows Mobile.

So, are you thinking of getting a Google Nexus one?