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iPhone's "Mystery App" Is H.264 YouTube
Posted by
kdawson
on Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:23 AM
from the could-be-the-killer dept.
from the could-be-the-killer dept.
Rebelgecko writes "It turns out the iPhone's mystery app is a custom YouTube viewer. The iPhone will play YouTube's videos using the H.264 codec(as will the AppleTV after an upgrade) for higher quality. From the look of it, it will take advantage of the iPhone's screen design and touch capabilities much more than watching videos in the iPhone's version of Safari would. The videos can be streamed via a Wi-Fi connection or the EDGE network."
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Woah... (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:3G would be a lot sweeter. (Score:5, Insightful)
When I'm at home, I'm going to use my own Internet connection. When I'm at a coffee shop, I'll be using my notebook. At work, I'll have the work's connection. I guess if I'm at a friend's house without my notebook, this might be useful, but hey, I could just borrow his computer.
No, I think that Youtube won't be the killer app that Apple expects it to be. Although, who knows? If people don't think about how slow it's going to be over EDGE, it might be just enough to convince some people (who otherwise wouldn't) to buy. But I doubt it.
Parent
Thats a pretty stupid mystery app (Score:3, Insightful)
It is really interesting, from a marketing point of view, how Apple takes things that would be ho-hum for any other brand or company, and suddenly turns it into front page news with the whole "mystery feature" game. They do this over and over and over, and nobody ever seems to catch on.
I mean, realistically, it's just another smartphone in an already overcrowded market. But it's front page news every day.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Thats a pretty stupid mystery app (Score:4, Informative)
Yeah, that would be big news. [javimoya.com]
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Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
FTFS (you don't have to even read TFA):
That's not interesting from a marketing poi
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Music distribution is now part of the portable player industry.
Re:Thats a pretty stupid mystery app (Score:4, Insightful)
- On other phones that play music, it's a pain to find specific tracks. iPhone provides iTunes album preview mode [apple.com].
- Other smartphones give you subsets of websites; crippled "pseudo-web" implementations. iPhone gives you a complete browser [apple.com].
- No awkward dials, knobs, or scrollwheels to move about. Want to zoom in? Spread your fingers. Zoom out? Pinch them. [apple.com]
This thing really is different.Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not if there's No Flash In Safari (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:probably not (Score:5, Insightful)
I think YouTube has done the right thing to go with H.264, and it's a really big deal for Apple on so many levels...and yet another nail in Microsofts all powerful wmv.
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H.264 - lower bandwidth and conferencing (Score:5, Informative)
Obviously you can use it for streaming as well, though I don't know if you get the same bandwidth comparisons vs. the most popular streaming-video codecs, since there are so many of those out there. According to one of the Wikipedia pages, newer iPods support H.264 video formats, so they're capitalizing on those sales. And they're probably cutting down on the bandwidth required for YouTube, which is really important in a mobile data environment.
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Re:Not if there's No Flash In Safari (Score:4, Informative)
Second, the article title talks about YouTube providing H.264 content, which is a format the iPhone and iPod are already known to play.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
How does Apple do this? They like convert people into Apple salesmen - like zombies or something.
Look at your post, "chasing the ipod generation", "its the hippest phone ever", etc, etc..
Everybody tries to do this. Apple isn't alone. You dont think PalmOne, Motorola, Erikson, Nokia want to be considered "hip"?
First smartphone to target the market? What the hell was n-gage? You telling me that was pitched to stuffy businessmen to help organize their schedules?
I reall
Re:Thats a pretty stupid mystery app (Score:5, Insightful)
2) No one else has managed to be "hip". So yes, everyone tries, but so far Apple is the only one that has managed, with the iPod. Nintendo is a close second with their DS and Wii.
3) The n-gage was a disaster. Comparing the n-gage to an iPhone is like comparing a sour grape to an orange.
4) Apple has this effect because they do things right, with the iPods, iTunes, and iTunes store.
Your Treo is not targetted at consumers. Are there ads for the Treo on billboards, subways, or prime time TV shows? Does it make it trivial to synch your data, your email, your bookmarks, your movies, and music? By trivial I mean, no user action, just plug into your computer! Does the UI make it easy to access all those features? Not being able to access a feature is about the same as not having a feature in the first place.
Then the killer... is this something your parents can do? Your neice? Your next door neighbor?
That's Apple's secret. The iPod is accessible to everyone, not just geeks.
Parent
Re:Thats a pretty stupid mystery app (Score:5, Informative)
Rather, the Palms synched at the push of a button, but I still had to set up the software and such on my desktop.
ANyway, re: build quality. I don't know that build quality is better, but in 2001 when comparing a 5gb iPod to a 6gb Creative Nomad Jukebox, the iPod won based on:
1) Size
2) Form factor
3) Usability
4) UI
5) Durability (stainless steel+acrylic vs injection molded plastic)
Re: Hip. Why is the iPod, and Apple, hip? Because they targeted consumers with the iPod! All the other MP3 players, with their arcane use models, buttons, and software, self selected for geeks. Unfortunately geeks aren't hip.
Re: n-gage. You had to remove the battery to change games... On a cell phone. Why not just download games over the network (which happens now). The n-gage was decimated because the competing GBA was half the price, with 10x as many games. In two years the n-gage only had 50 games; by the time it hit 50 games, Nintendo had the DS out, and that is killing everything right now.
If Apple released the n-gage, besides the Apple logo, it would have had:
1) Integrated storage instead of cartridges (see iPod, iPhone, vs memory cards/cartridges)
2) Touch screen (see DS, iPhone, iPod's touch scroll wheel, vs buttons)
3) Larger screen (The n-gage screen only takes up 1/3 of the device. The GBs take half, the iPhone takes 4/5s, and the iPods take 1/2)
4) Apple would make the games downloadable (see iPod+iTunes store, for music, games, and movies)
Of course... this describes the iPhone, doesn't it?
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Re:Thats a pretty stupid mystery app (Score:5, Funny)
How does Apple do this? They like convert people into Apple salesmen - like zombies or something.
Look at your post, "chasing the ipod generation", "its the hippest phone ever", etc, etc..
The only new thing is, like you said, "its the hippest phone ever", and nobody will shut up about it.
damnit someone should steal that shirt and sell it on ebay
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I hope this helps you figure it out. (Score:5, Insightful)
Geeks have a higher tolerance for poor user interface design, I mean heck look at how popular Linux, BSD and Unix are amongst the geek set. The "CLI" or Command Line Interface is actually PREFERRED by this set. You take two computers, say either a Windows based PC or Macintosh and compare it to a GUI'less Linux setup and a geek would know that both computers can do anything. A regular person however would consider the Linux computer to be useless because they wouldn't know how to nor would they be interested in taking the time to learn how to use it. If it isn't point and click, it loses. Geeks don't mind investing the time though, they LOVE to tinker.
This is why you consider the iPhone to be nothing special. I own a Treo 700p that can already do all the things the iPod can do just about and there are certainly Windows Mobile and Symbian phones that also do most of what the iPhone does at a much lower price. But thats NOT THE POINT. Its not about matching features for features. Its about making sure that people will actually be able and WILLING to use the features that your product DOES have.
I am absolutely positively certain that regular folks will get more use out of their iPhones then they will out of their Treos, HTCs, Motorola Qs, Blackberries, Nokias...etc simply because the iPhone has the better interface. Regular folks have higher standards when it comes to interfaces. Either its going to be well designed or it won't be used. Geeks on the other hand will put up with crappy user interfaces because they are blinded by the features underneath. The truest test is when a user buys a device on their own and no longer needs their "geek" friend/neighbor/co-worker to set it up for them. Thats the iPhone.
Parent
You are.....something else. (Score:5, Interesting)
"Decent" interfaces that you point out on competing smartphones just aren't good enough anymore when something better comes along. That something better is the iPhone. All that "decent" stuff that came before is although still quite usable, now dated and obsolete. Its yesterdays news.
Your position is almost comical. People spend hundreds of dollars on these devices and you are actually opposed to a product so easy to use that its "chewing your food for you." You personally, after spending this much money on a device actually WANT to have to do mental work to get the most out of it. Thats like spending full price for a car that you have to put together yourself when everyone else's is pre-constructed and drivable off the lot. Ha ha worked a car analogy in! Damn these users for wanting to get the most bang for their buck! Why they're wimps! REAL users know better than to expect exlimplary service and products when they hand over their cash!
Perhaps you should start a company that would sell devices based on your design preferences.
1. A hammer that has a loose neck that will only stiffen strong enough to be used after you enter into a keypad on the handle the first 56 digits of Pi.
2. A light switch that requires you to recite the Gettysburgh Address in order to function.
3. A weight scale that requires you to tap dance like Fred Astaire for 15 minutes before it will tell you your weight.
4. And lastly a dishwasher with a panel on the front that will require you to specify the exact amounts of water used, at what pressure and what temperatures and what amounts of detergent to be released at 50 different intervals during the wash cycle before you can use it.
After all, we want to make sure that absolutely NO ONE is forced to use a product that makes completeing tasks TOO EASY. If you are forced to use a product that spoon feeds you everything it stifles the development of CRITICAL THINKING skills.
You could call your company, Idiot Enterprises Incorporated.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The poster I replied to pretty clearly was implying that the reason that "geeks" don't think the iPhone is special is because the functionality exists, it just isn't simple enough for the general population to use. I don't see how my reply did anything but agree with that assessment.
I own Macs, I own PC-clones. Back in the day I owned Commodores. I do not find Apple interfaces to be particularly intuitive vs these other platform interfaces. It is true, that Apple can sometimes make common tasks easy to
Re:Thats a pretty stupid mystery app (Score:5, Insightful)
The difference is, apple actually succedes at it.
Now before you flame the fuck out of me, think about what I'm actually saying... I am NOT saying that apple is better than these other companies, I am not saying that their technology is any different or better or anything. I am simply saying that while Motorola, Nokia, Microsoft, Creative Labs and all those other clowns want to be considered "Hip", Apple actually IS considered "hip" and that makes a big difference.
They didn't get into that position just by marketing, they didn't get there by having superior technology. They got there by figuring out what features and interfaces the majority of people would really dig and then selling that. Nobody else seems to do it as well as they do.
That is what makes apple different, if you don't understand that you will not understand what makes them successful.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh yeah? Then if that's true, how come the Treo guys aren't putting out ads like this? [youtube.com]
I tell you what, if I had a phone that could do what the iPhone does, I'd get a copycat ad out tout de fucking suite, along with whatever was my extra selling point tacked on at the end (most probably something along the lines of "...all this, and cheaper than the iPhone!")
Disclaimer: I hate cellpho
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
"Attention to detail (response time, no trying to touch a scroll bar, ect)" is the entirety of a "tech perspective".
pays off (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:pays off (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
More evidence... (Score:4, Insightful)
man (Score:5, Funny)
You know (Score:5, Funny)
{dream sequence}
Damn I wish I could see a short clip of kittens doing cute things or kids doing lightsaber battles
{/dream sequence}
My life is now complete.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:You know (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
What about desktop Macs? (Score:2)
Re:What about desktop Macs? (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Good USA Today article (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2 007-06-20-at&t-iphone-push_N.htm [usatoday.com]
AT&T girds for iPhone launch on June 29
By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY
For consumers eager to get their hands on an Apple iPhone, here's the good news: It will be available in all 1,800 AT&T phone stores at 6 p.m. sharp on June 29.
The bad news? "We fully expect one or more of our stores to run out of stock on the first or second day -- my guess is the first day," says Larry Carter, senior vice president of sales for AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive U.S. distributor.
To help accommodate as much foot traffic as possible, AT&T phone stores will stay open an extra hour -- until 10 p.m. -- on the first day.
To get "iReady" for the big day, Carter says AT&T added 2,000 extra sales people to stores. Half will be there just to help handle the expected early crush of buyers. The other half, he says, will stay long-term to help with extra customers the iPhone is expected to draw to AT&T's stores.
Crowd control on launch day is a concern. In some markets -- Carter declined to name them -- AT&T is working with local law enforcement on crowd-control plans. It also has alerted landlords at shopping malls and other phone store locations to make sure nobody is caught off guard.
Not all stores are equal
Carter would not say which stores will have the biggest iPhone stockpiles, but allowed that iPod users are a "natural market" for the smart phone. As such, he says, stores in areas with big numbers of iPod users -- such as New York City, Chicago and much of California -- will be well stocked.
Does that mean that those stores will have more iPhones than stores in, say, Richmond, Va., or Florida? "Yes," he says. "It's just common sense."
If your local store sells out, Carter says sales people will take mail orders, and devices will be shipped in 3 to 5 days, inventory permitting. "Ultimately, we will meet every customer's desire to have one," Carter says.
To discourage sCalpers, AT&T plans to limit how many phones each customer can buy. Carter declined to cite the number, saying only that AT&T would try to prevent "hoarding and reselling."
New service plans for iPhone
There are other surprises in the works for June 29. In addition to launching the iPhone that day, Carter says AT&T also will announce new service plans for it.
He declined to be specific, but says plans will be customized for the iPhone. Translation: The iPhone may offer cool features such as unlimited Web browsing, but you'll have to pay for them.
Carter says the additional fees shouldn't be a surprise. "Regardless of which device you're using today, you pay us a certain amount for (voice) minutes, and you also pay us for data units," he says. "That is also true on the iPhone."
No amount of planning will help, however, if Apple is unable to supply enough phones. "That's what we stay awake at night thinking about," Carter says.
It's also out of AT&T's control. Manufacturing is being overseen by Apple, which also maintains control of design, customer care (for the device, not monthly service), advertising and more.
Apple, famously secretive about its products, has been mum about its Apple Store sales plans. So far, it has not allowed AT&T sales staff access to iPhones so they can get comfortable using them before the big day. "Apple wanted to launch it that way," Carter shrugs.
Only as good as network
One thing AT&T does control, however, is the network on which the iPhone will depend. While network reliability might not have the sex appeal of an iPhone, it could spell the difference between the device becoming a runaway success -- or a flop.
$$ for at&t (Score:3, Interesting)
Zero dollars (Score:3, Informative)
The Killer App is... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The Killer App is... (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:The Killer App is... (Score:4, Interesting)
H.264 encoding is pretty hard but it doesn't have to be performed on the phone- it can send the raw capture (can't be that large) to Youtube's encoding cluster and have them do the heavy lifting, so the process is identical to using it on a computer.
And sure, you can't run iMovie on the thing, but I bet it's more than capable of selecting a subset of the recording and maybe even basic titles. That covers 99% of the movies on Youtube already.
Parent
How about making it "smart"? (Score:3, Funny)
It would be so awesome of they released a developers kit (and wishful thinking, make it open to everyone). Too bad it's impossible (viruses, ugly inefficient apps and all that).
Whatever the outcome, I'll pay 500 to whoever writes the first 95% compatible full speed widgetized NES emulator with a comfortable input system.
Oh yeah, and gives me an iPhone to test it intensively for five or six years or until the next iPhone comes out.
NOT the mystery app (Score:3, Informative)
visit it here [youtube.com]
read old news articles about it here [google.com]
Re:NOT the mystery app (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, it is the "mystery app." The "mystery app" was caused by the application icons being slid down one slot in a brief section of an iPhone ad. Well, they've updated the iPhone website [apple.com] and the new iPhone graphic shows all twelve application icons. They are, in order:
YouTube is the app that's been added. It's the "mystery app" that was missing from before.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Did you even click the link [apple.com] in the article? YouTube is an app, and will not be viewed in Safari.
The site you link to is for other phones.
Maybe they did catch it (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe the editors did catch that lack of continuity, and they decided to leave it in. Maybe they put it there intentionally.
Why would they do that? Simple, to generate a lot of discussion and marketing buzz, and maybe even to get additional exposure for the iPhone on Slashdot.
EDGE not totally unusable (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
Higher quality codec can mean, as the article assumes, higher quality/same bitrate. But it can also mean same quality/lower bitrate.
I've used EDGE a great deal on T-Mobile's network, and I can tell you that while it works, it's not exactly speedy. While much of the problem is with latency, the bandwidth isn't great either, with 64kbps being a typical top speed. Supposedly AT&T are upgrading their network to make sure that EDGE's higher, theoretical, speeds are attainable, but I'd be surprised if user
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, Sorenson Spark [wikipedia.org] and TrueMotion VP6 [wikipedia.org] are highly competitive with the H.264 codec. My guess is that the H.264 transition has less to do with bandwidth and more to do with the iPhone's design. Apple currently uses H.264 for all of its downloadable movies and videos. (Sans a few minor exceptions like th
Re:Why change the codec? (Score:5, Insightful)
Even at the same resolution and bitrate, however, H.264 is a very high-quality codec and is bound to have higher video quality with less blurring and blocking than Flash Video. The reason YouTube uses flash is that it's loaded on damn near every desktop computer and doesn't require spawning a separate player, installing decoders, etc. But it actually makes sense when targeting a fixed platform like the iPhone or AppleTV to take advantage of the better video formats that are available.
Also, I'd personally love it if YouTube let me set an option in my profile to view H.264 videos as I'm browsing the website. Keep the videos in flash by default, but let people who know they can view embedded H.264 take advantage of it.
Parent
Re:What about the dock socket? (Score:5, Informative)
They're selling this thing as a full-featured iPod nano (with some new features, even). I'd imagine that the small reserve of people who still haven't bought an iPod (ignoring those who never, ever will, no matter what) would further translate into an accessory market. The thing is almost exactly the width of a current iPod, the dock connector is the same and in the same location, and it syncs with iTunes and not some new application just for the iPhone. All signs point to "yes, it will work with iHome and all of those other dock accessories."
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