According to a recent Apple job posting, they are looking to hire an iPhone software engineer to help them “take Maps to the next level.”

From the job description:

The iPhone has revolutionized the mobile industry and has changed people’s lives and we want to continue to do so. We want to take Maps to the next level, rethink how users use Maps and change the way people find things. We want to do this in a seamless, highly interactive and enjoyable way. We’ve only just started.

The specificity of this job description is interesting. But, this it is especially interesting given the current status of Apple and Google’s relationship.

Apple acquired mapping company, PlaceBase a few months ago and will likely be using their maps in future iPhone mapping apps, leaving Google out in the cold.

Apple has always developed their mapping application in-house, only collaborating on Google in terms of hooking into their Maps API (likely in a closer way than many other applications are allowed, I’m sure there is a lot of communication between Apple and Google during this apps development). But, since Apple developed the app themselves they could relatively easily switch their source for maps without wasting a lot of time redeveloping aspects of the application.

Apple – Jobs at Apple – Job description.

Previously:
10/4/09: Apple and Google Slowly Parting Ways

Arnold Kim:

iPhone developer Pandav has informed MacRumors that they have spotted usage records for an unreleased iPhone in their app’s analytics. The app used was iBART, a public transportation guide for the San Francisco train system.

References to iPhone3,1 were first found in iPhone firmware files back in August.

It’s not odd for app developers to find unreleased Apple products in their analytics data. But, I’m a little surprised that Apple is testing the next iPhone so early.

Apple Starts Field Testing Next Generation iPhone (3,1) – Mac Rumors.

Previously:
8/7/09: Latest iPhone OS 3.1 Beta Contains Reference to ‘iProd1,1’

Apple, regarding the distribution of iTunes LP and iTunes Extras:

Automatic, electronic submission of your iTunes LP or Extra is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010. Until then, the submission process is manual and limited. Please contact your label or studio rep for details and consideration. An existing iTunes contract is required. Your iTunes LP or iTunes Extras will be reviewed by the iTunes team for appropriateness of content and for technical quality.

This has the potential to become another App Store. But, since there is no copy protection on iTunes LP and Extras, content creators should be able to release their Extras and LPs on the web, bypassing Apple and iTunes entirely.

Apple – iTunes – iTunes LP and iTunes Extras.

Previously:
10/14/09: Build Your Own iTunes LPs
9/15/09: iTunes LP and Extras Destined for the Apple TV
7/27/09: Apple’s Project ‘Cocktail’ Coming in September

Update 12/8/09: The Boy Genius Report cites a source of theirs that claims that iDVD will be gaining iTunes LP creation support in an upcoming release (most likely with the new iLife suite). With DVDs becoming less and less relevant — this makes a lot of sense, however I would expect that (if true) Apple would change the name of iDVVD with this release.

Apple’s one-day sale has hit the US store. There you can get great deals on iPods, like the iPod nano starting at $138 or the iPod touch starting at $178. You can get great deals on Macs too, with the MacBook Pro starting at $1,098 or the iMac starting at $1,098. There’s also deals on the Apple TV, Time Capsule, and a whole slew of Mac accessories.

But, why would you buy from the Apple store when you could get a better deal at Amazon?

Amazon’s Apple store currently has the MacBook Pro for $1,049, the iPod nano for $134.99, and the new MacBook for $884.98. Shop from this link (for anything on Amazon) and I’ll get a kickback.

Previously:
11/24/09: Apple’s One-Day Shopping Event

John Gruber nails it with his interpretation of BusinessWeek’s interview with Phil Schiller:

The most interesting thing about Arik Hesseldahl’s interview with Schiller for BusinessWeek isn’t anything that Schiller says, but that the interview exists at all.

The fact is people are upset, not just developers, but users too. I still think that the majority of users have an abundance of goodwill towards Apple, regardless of Apple’s habit of silly rejections. But, Apple needs to be aware that goodwill only lasts so long when you treat developers and users like this.

Although the most interesting part of this interview is that it exists at all, the contents are still worth reading through.

Phil Schiller compares the App Store approval process to a retailer deciding what products will be on its shelves:

Whatever your favorite retailer is, of course they care about the quality of products they offer. We review the applications to make sure they work as the customers expect them to work when they download them.

It’s hard to argue with this point; I haven’t downloaded a single application that didn’t work the way I expected it to. That could be because of how careful I am at deciding what application to purchase, but I think a lot of it is due to Apple’s approval process.

That’s not to say I agree with the approval process. Today, the approval process is a mess and things get rejected that shouldn’t. And although Apple usually fixes those slip ups, the fact that they happen is enough to upset the whole iPhone community, including myself. The Airfoil Speakers Touch fiasco is a perfect example. Schiller didn’t directly address Airfoil Speakers, but he does talk about making trademark guidelines more sophisticated.

We need to delineate something that might confuse the customer and be an inappropriate use of a trademark from something that’s just referring to a product for the sake of compatibility. We’re trying to learn and expand the rules to make it fair for everyone.

Since Rogue Amoeba made the whole ordeal public, they have submitted a version with the icons and images intact and it has been approved by Apple. I would have liked to see the application approved much earlier, but at least it has been.

Apple is moving much slower than we all would like at fixing the problems with the App Store. We shouldn’t stop complaining (it seems that this is what has forced Apple to change), but we should at least admit that they are moving in the right direction and have shown a commitment to solving these issues.

Apple’s Schiller Defends iPhone App Approval Process – BusinessWeek.

Previously:
11/15/09: High Profile Developers Abandoning the iPhone

Aside from the new 64-bit version of the app, which encodes video about 10% faster than the 32-bit version, HandBrake has seen a slew of interesting and much needed improvements.

HandBrake now uses a new DVD reading library which will allow it to read some DVDs that it had trouble with before. The app is also focusing on quality-based encoding, explained best on HandBrake’s website:

This means that instead of telling encoders to use a specific size and vary quality to meet it, we tell the encoder to vary size to meet a given quality level. Overall quality improves, since bits are spent only when they are needed, and are saved when they are not. While this means output size is somewhat unpredictable, the results in picture quality speak for themselves.

Hard drives are cheap and the boost in quality will be greatly appreciated. The release notes also say that 2-pass encoding is no longer needed.

A single pass at a constant quality provides just as much compression efficiency as two passes at an average bitrate.

The developers have decided to simplify the applications default presets, that means no more PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, Film, etc. presets, there is now a “Normal” and a “High Profile” preset, both should work on device that supports standard Main Profile H.264 with AAC-LC audio in an MP4 file.

The new version has also received some changes to the user interface. Overall this update is fantastic, I’m not too happy with the placement of the deinterlace options but I’m willing to forgive them because of all the other improvements. I can say for certain that encode times have improved and that alone makes the one year development time worth it.

HandBrake.

Update 12/20/09: VLC is Looking for Mac Developers

These entries have been updated with new information in the last 24 hours.

High Profile Developers Abandoning the iPhone, originally published Nov 15, 2009
Apple Unveils New iMacs with 21.5 and 27-inch 16:9 Displays, originally published Oct 20, 2009
AT&T on iPhone Tethering and Verizon Ads, originally published Nov 14, 2009
Motorola DROID, originally published Oct 29, 2009

I regularly update previously published entries. This entry is a way of letting RSS feed and homepage readers know about the new information. You can find past updates here.

It should come as no surprise that iPhone jailbreakers who turn on SSH and don’t change the default password are at risk.

Chester Wisniewski regarding the worm:

It configures two startup scripts, one to execute the worm on boot-up, and the other to create a connection to a Lithuanian server (HTTP) to upload stolen data and cede control to the bot master. Security.nl also says that the worm changes the root password from the default of “alpine” that Apple set in the factory firmware, making it more difficult for users to secure their devices. The recommended method to remove this malware from your iPhone is to restore the Apple factory firmware using iTunes.

Remember that the only users at risk are those who have jailbroken their devices, turned on SSH, and have neglected to change its default password.

The Loop spoke with Apple spokesperson, Natalie Harrison about the worm:

The worm affects only a very specific set of iPhone users who have jail broken their iPhones and hacked it with unauthorized software. As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones, and for good reason. These hacks not only violate the warranty, they will also cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.

I happen to agree with Natalie, I jailbroke my iPod touch a month ago and ended up restoring its firmware because of the increase in crashes. But, in the mean time I spent a couple of days playing around with all the jailbreak apps. During that time I came to one conclusion: aside from tethering, the only reason to jailbreak your device is to pirate App Store apps. Because of that, I find it difficult to support those who jailbreak their device.

CNET reports that Sergey Brin, speaking informally to reporters, said the following:

Android and Chrome will likely converge over time.

Many believe that this would going in the right direction, I’m not sure if that’s the case. The only way for Chrome OS and Android to converge is if one (or both) of them lose their vision. The point behind Chrome OS is that every app is a web app. Android is the first viable smartphone OS that is completely customizable, with an open source core and of course, apps.

If these two operating system converge you’ll get nothing more than a watered down version of both, you’ll get a poor OS cobbled together from two somewhat viable alternatives.

With the iPhone, Apple made one of the smartest moves I’ve ever seen a company do, they took their desktop operating system and broke it down to its essential parts to run on a handheld device. Google is going in a completely different direction. Not only have they decided not to reuse parts from their existing OS, they’ve decided to write a completely new OS, splitting their developers into two camps, Android and Chrome OS.

With that logic you could say that converging the two would be a wise move, but I don’t think that’s true. Rather than merge the two operating systems into one down the road, Google needs to make a decision. They can either scrap Chrome OS entirely using Android on netbooks in its place or throw out all of the bits below the browser in Chrome OS and replace them with Android. It is entirely possible that Google could do the latter (which is obviously the better choice) down the road but why not deal with all of that now. Chrome OS is still relatively early in development, I can’t imagine the nightmare of having to replace the core of an OS after it has already been established in the marketplace.

The truth is, Chrome OS should be built on Android, and the fact that it isn’t makes me question whether Google is really taking either one of these projects seriously. The real test will come in 2-3 years when we find out whether Google employees have chosen to eat their own dog food.

Brin: Google’s OSes likely to converge | Webware – CNET.

Previously:
11/20/09: Google Officially Demos Chrome OS
7/8/09: Google Announces a Linux Distro and the World Goes Mad

Apple has announced their one-day shopping event. The event will take place this Friday, November 27.

Apple hasn’t released what discounts will be available, simply stating:

Come back to the Apple Online Store the day after Thanksgiving for a special one-day-only holiday shopping event.

The Boy Genius Report claims to have received information from a “pretty credible connect” detailing the discounts for this Friday. It’s hard to tell if the leak is genuine but the listed discounts seem reasonable.

One-Day Apple Shopping Event – Apple Store (U.S.).

Update 11/27/09: Apple’s one-day shopping event has hit the US store and the Boy Genius Report’s “connect” was spot on. Also, Amazon is having deals on Apple products today. Not only are some of their sales even better than Apple’s, if you follow the above link and purchase anything on Amazon I’ll get a kickback.