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Finally time then to move the last Windows user in the household to a Mac!

After submitting my certified identification information, Apple yesterday finally permitted activation of my iPhone developer account.

We are following up with you regarding your recent iPhone Developer Program purchase.
Your order information did not sufficiently match your enrollment information and as a result the ability to activate your Program was placed on a temporary hold. We have reviewed the issue and have removed the hold on your Program activation. At this time, we ask that you please refer to the original activation code email that you received and click through the link once again.

What information didn’t match up, I have no clue as I provided everything that was requested. USD 99 down and it’s done. Now, to get the latest SDK which runs about 800MB as a download…

Whilst Apple’s products are amongst the best-designed and most stylish in the world, that company’s interaction with its developer community is rather archaic and worthy of being called dictatorial. The process I followed to be registered as an iPhone developer started innocuously enough: log on to the developer website and start entering details. But whilst every other process of purchasing goods on the Internet permits immediate purchase by credit card, the Apple iPhone developer program stops its web workflow and requires a form to be printed out, signed and faxed to developer central. I am generally not interested in faxing anything and I initially attempted to mail a scanned copy of the completed form to Apple. No response. So, I went the way of the 1980’s and reticently faxed them the piece of paper.

A fast turnaround time, to be fair. I had a confirmation of my enrollment within a few hours, but attempting to activate my paid-for membership resulted in another disappointment: a request for identity verification, no less!

Once again, I need to print out a form and complete it. Attach a certified copy of a passport or similar identification document and then fax it off to Apple. It’s as though I’m trying to gain access to CERN’s LHC complex instead of wanting to potter around developing an iPhone application or trying to see what options there are for iPad development. Requesting identity verification for a developer program is a joke, specifically if my payment has already been completed and accepted. Why not request identity verification together with the payment if that’s so important? The fact that the enrollment procedure doesn’t take place completely electronically is an inconvenience. The fact that Apple requires identity verification for the download and use of an SDK to support their products is an absolute disgrace!

In my move to make a Mac my permanent computing solution, I am busy investigating various solutions and applications I’ll need to be free of Windows. No native port of the SAPGUI exists for Mac OS X, making access to SAP systems potentially problematic. Instead, the Java version needs to be used and this has been updated by SAP about one month ago. The 720 release of the PlatinGUI for Mac OS X can be found on SAP’s ftp server. In comparison to the Windows native software package requiring at least 500MB of storage space, the PlatinGUI package is exceptionally light, requiring only the download of a single 32MB file.

There are a few base requirements that need to be satisfied before attempting the installation. A Core 2 Duo processor and 1GB of RAM is required in the target machine. From a software perspective, either Mac OS X 10.5.7 or 10.6 has to be loaded and an updated Java SE. Below Mac OS X 10.5.7, Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 4 is required, whilst the Java SE 6 is already present in Mac OS X 10.6. The installation was rather uneventful, creating a program icon in the Applications folder. I find the creation of new connections to be simplest under the Advanced tab with the Expert mode enabled.

Create a direct connection to the SAP system using the connection string

conn=/H/<IP Address>/S/32<Port>

The Java GUI supports almost all functions provided by the native applications. There may be one or two complex, modern transactions that may be hamstrung, but in the technical area, everything I require works without a hitch.

No trouble getting to SAP from the Apple…

I wasn’t an early adopter of the new Apple Magic Mouse. Overall, the Mighty Mouse with its single trackball in its wired and wireless variations has served me well. Though there is a lot of criticism leveled at that peripheral, I was quite comfortable using it and was even adept at left and right clicking at will. I found the shape quite comfortable and something that accentuated the experience of working with a Mac. Since my current black MacBook doesn’t have a multi-touch trackpad, I grabbed a Magic Mouse on a recent flyby of the local Apple store.

The Magic Mouse is sleek and attractive. Boxed in a clear perspex container, it exudes the charm a gadget costing more than ZAR 800 should. There are no unsightly wires and absolutely no button or trackpad to be seen. The smooth, curved surface contains a discreet Apple logo. The mouse is satisfyingly weighty and slides quite nicely on a smooth surface.

Setup on the MacBook running Snow Leopard was extremely simple: unpack the mouse, switch it on (batteries are already installed) and let the Bluetooth stacks communicate.

I was a bit apprehensive about the use of the touch interface on the mouse. Within minutes, I was scrolling easily through documents in Pages and web sites in Firefox. It’s an incredibly intuitive way of working. A brief stop in the Mouse preferences pane to change the function of the secondary button is the usual configuration change I make for every Apple mouse.

Moving the index finger across the length of the mouse enables scrolling top to bottom. Left to right scrolling is achieved by moving the index finger along the width of the mouse. A nice feature is the ability to zoom into the screen by pressing the ctrl key and scrolling upward. A sideways two-finger swipe assists scrolling through iPhoto libraries, for example. When not in use, the mouse powers down to help conserve the batteries – hopefully, these won’t need replacing too often.

The Magic Mouse enables an intuitive interaction with the Mac. I took to it without a minute’s hesitation and already find myself trying to scroll without using the scroll wheel on the G2S‘ Logitech mouse. Most certainly pricey, but an absolute joy to use. I’ll have to think about replacing the iMac’s mouse next…

The much anticipated iPad has been presented by Apple and, overall, responses seem to be favourable. To me, the iPad as it has been shown is exactly what I would want. Ever since I’ve become reliant on the iPhone, I’ve been hankering for a device with the same functionality, but a bigger screen. A bigger screen for reading books and magazines and for browsing the web. And that’s really all there is to it: the iPad is an oversized iPod Touch with the possibility of adding 3G network services. The barrier to entry has been set to permit a good number of users to experience the device without having to spend a huge amount of money: USD 499 is not bad for a WLAN only device and in combination with a MiFi, the iPad can easily be taken on a road trip without worrying too much about wireless hotspot availability.

Some responses to the iPad announcement have indicated disappointments with the iPad. The lack of a camera is a frequent point that is raised. No radical change to the way the user interface functions. Lack of Adobe Flash support. To all these I say not important. For me at least. How long did iPhone users cope without the ability to cut and paste text? Quite some time. On a device the size of the iPad, a built-in camera would be handy but not essential. In my usage scenario, I don’t even video call using Skype or iChat when I’m on a decent Internet connection. Would I want to maneuver a 25cm x 18cm chunk of kit to take a photograph of something? Unlikely. It’s impractical and unnecessary. A change to the user interface would have necessitated a new operating system and possibly new applications. The iPad runs a flavour of the iPhone OS. All existing applications will run on the iPad, and newer applications will support the bigger screen. I have tons of applications I’ll simply be able to sync and run. The Zinio magazine reader will function, Amazon’s Kindle reader will function, as will all the photography apps (not requiring a camera) and games I have. That’s significant and means I can get going straight away without considering and learning a new style of interaction. Do I need Flash? I avoid that even when using a full-size desktop machine. HTML5 is a better alternative and existing content from YouTube and other sources is quite widely available for the iPhone without a reliance on Flash.

The battery life is significant even if real-world tests don’t meet up with the claimed 10 hours. 6 hours or more of constant usage would be great. A long standby time a great asset. But where the iPad breaks new ground is in its ability to connect to a Bluetooth or docked keyboard. Better still, Apple has also announced the ability to attach a camera or storage card using special dock connectors. The ability to add external devices and interact with them is now a reality. First promised a year ago when the iPhone 3GS was announced, we may finally see a slew of devices that may be connected to the dock connector to extend the usage possibilities of the iPad. With regard to the camera dock – suddenly editing a large image or creating high-definition HDR images without reliance on a notebook computer is a reality. Tons of applications are already available, and many more will take advantage of this – Photoshop for the iPhone OS may become a far more useful tool to many in this regard. With Apple having taken the lead in producing hardware interfaces, there is no doubt that other manufacturers will take the initiative to produce their own.

Apple’s online book store may compete with Amazon’s Kindle store. I have a Kindle and enjoy using it. The iPad means I will no longer use the Kindle. Not because I’ll necessarily purchase content from Apple’s iBook store. I’ll be able to read all my Kindle books on the iPad using the Kindle Reader. The iPad has a colour screen and is backlight. There is no way the Kindle can compete with that. Concerns about iBooks not being available immediately in countries other than the USA are of no concern: I’ve been using a US-based iTunes account for ages with full access to all content it provides. I’m able to purchase Audible books from the US store even though I don’t physically reside in that country. Similar access will be available to the US iBooks store. It takes a bit of obfuscation, and that’s it. Nobody’s really perturbed about that, least of all the guys accepting cash for their services.

The only reservation I have is the use of the micro SIM card instead of a standard one. It’s obvious that this is a lock-in to AT&T in the USA. The 3FF SIM (micro SIM) is about 50% smaller than a regular GSM SIM card. Instead of a 15mm x 25mm card the dimensions are 12mm x 15mm.

The availability of the 3FF micro SIM in South Africa is not yet known.

Apple has created a device that is instantly recognizable to millions of iPhone users the world over. It’s easy to use, provides a great feature set and is responsive. Migration of existing applications is a no-brainer, and the addition of special applications such as Apple’s own iWork for the iPad will lead to greater use of the device in areas where the iPhone previously couldn’t perform. The device will mature, and as it does, those features that irk users will be accepted (like the lack of cut and paste) and possibly rectified. The iPad is an appliance. Easy to use, limited in its functionality to enable it to perform at its peak. That’s the Apple way. In my opinion, the iPad in its current guise is the evolution of a new platform. Subsequent updates to the iPad will enable more features, better and more compelling applications and interaction with various external devices. In a similar way to the iPhone, the iPad will become widespread as its features are discovered by more and more users, possibly in specific vertical markets.

In my opinion, the iPad (at least on paper) is the device I’ve been waiting for. I can’t wait to get my hands on one…

Steve Jobs didn’t disappoint at his presentation of the new Apple product announcement.

The iPad will be available in the next month, with international availability pending. It’s little more than an oversized iPod, but that’s exactly what I was hoping for.

The 9″ device is powered by Apple’s own A4 chip, running at 1GHz and able to execute the entire library of iPhone applications natively. A choice as to whether the app is run in full screen mode or centered on the larger iPad screen is available, until applications for the iPad are developed. A variety of options regarding configuration are available and the pricing starts at USD 499. The ideal model is the one containing both 3G and WLAN with 64GB of storage. That’s the one to get.

The unit accepts optional accessories, including a stand and keyboard stand. For those with an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, that can be connected to the iPad. It will be possible to upload photos from a camera and possibly use an application to edit and process those. A new version of iWork runs on the iPad.

Only a few more hours to go until Apple unveils the next big thing.

Unbelievable how much a product that no one has ever seen can grab the imagination in the way the rumoured Apple tablet device has. If this is anything like an oversized iPhone with 3G network connectivity, WLAN, touch screen and decent display, I want one.

Then again, we may only be seeing a new MacBook Pro and Aperture 3.0.

Oh, and one more thing…

Last week, Marvel Comics announced the availability of select titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch devices via in-app purchasing options. I have the Comics application by Comixology installed, though I don’t use it at all that often. The primary reason is the fact that the free content available holds little interest for me and I don’t have the time to research some of the independent comics available on that platform. The promise of Marvel Comics titles is a bit more interesting, if only due to the fact that I know many of the characters and storylines. The fact that the Marvel titles are available only within the US was of little concern – I have a US iTunes account. Strangely, Comics shows no Marvel content whatsoever…

Providing a wide choice of applications something the iTunes Apps Store cannot be criticized for. I downloaded the free Panelfly reader to the iPhone and launched it in anticipation. Marvel Comics? No problem! As a service to you, the loyal reader, I attempted to purchase issue #1 of the Astonishing X Men: Gifted.

The comics cost USD 0.99 each and are downloaded rather speedily. That’s the good part. The bad part is the important one: reading a comic on a minute screen and having to zoom in and out whilst panning around the page.

Panelfly is able to show an overview of all pages in the current book for easy selection.

Reading any of the content in the full page view mode is pretty difficult, unless you have the habit of carrying a microscope permanently attached to your forehead. Rotating to landscape mode makes little difference and simply necessitates more scrolling.

To zoom in is tedious and takes time. It also made me lose my position on the page. It’s not the ideal reading experience.

So, even though I’m able to get to the Marvel content, it’s unlikely I’d consider this a viable comic book reading experience. Now, if Apple would consider producing a device with a 10″ touch screen, that could all change…

I’ve spent at least eight hours attempting the update of my iPhone 3G from its 3.0 firmware to the newly release 3.1 version. Somehow, the update of the firmware for both my iPhone and iPod Touch devices has never really been a pleasant experience. First off, the download via iTunes is an absolute pain, taking far too long, timing out and having to be restarted way too often. Without even attempting the download via iTunes, I head for the direct download links kindly maintained here. At least a direct download implies the use of my browser’s download manager, restartability and a generally shorter download time.

With the download complete, I started this update with trepidation. With very few exceptions, the update has always failed at least once. I use the MacBook as my sync computer for the iPhone. Copied the firmware file, started iTunes and opened the update file by holding down the Option key and clicking Update. Select the file and hold thumbs. It took a very short time for a rather familiar screen on the iPhone to show up:

Error 14. That’s pretty much a catch-all. It has no direct resolution, other than restoring the device using an older firmware file. I tried the 3.0.1 release simply to gain something out of another unpleasant upgrade experience. That worked seamlessly. The most annoying bit is waiting for all applications to be reloaded using the last backup file, a process that completes after about two hours or more. Stupidly, I attempted the update again sometime after that. Same result. Even more stupidly, I tried it again a few days later. Same result. My iPhone stays on 3.0.1.

In a way, I’m relieved the upgrade didn’t work. It seems there are some real issues with the new firmware relating to reduced battery life, an inability to access Exchange mail and services and overall stability problems. So I’ll wait for 3.1.1 or 3.2 or whatever the next release will be. Then I’ll try again…