Interpret is conducting an App Developer Study and we are attempting to recruit both professional and hobbyist App Developers to take a short survey we’ve designed. We believe the survey will quite be helpful in pushing the industry forward for both developers and app users so please pass this on to anyone you know who might be interested.

You can find the survey here. http://tiny.cc/appstudy

Latest Engadget column, “lessons from the iPad launch” is now live here.

iPad hands on and first take are up at SlashGear. Check it out here

“When the iPhone went on sale, some called it a failure and predicted lack of consumer adoption. Like the iPod and iPhone, Apple did not invent the iPad device category. It has, however, done a better job to date than anyone else justifying that space to the market, and I expect both enthusiast and mainstream consumer demand to be strong.”

On the eve of Thanksgiving I’m thinking about how more then three hundred years ago, a small band of pilgrims united in faith and seeking liberty came to a new world. A place where they could worship according to their own beliefs. Tomorrow, in the United States, we celebrate a national day of thanksgiving. How cool is that?

Wherever you are, I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving and best wishes for the holiday season. See you next week.

Lots of buzz about the Droid over the weekend as more users got their hands on a device. My first take is posted over on SlashGear and it’s mostly positive. If, however, you’re thinking of getting one, here’s a list of five things that you should know about before you buy.

1. Applications. Despite the 10,000 apps in the the marketplace there’s too much stuff still missing, especially in terms of entertainment. That means a real lack of good games, no eBook readers like Kindle or Noook, no Slingplayer etc. Even worse, Android 2.0 still has a limit of 256mb for application storage. Sorry, that’s not even close for what most users need. Also not seeing a lot of best of breed applications. I still can’t find a decent Twitter client that comes close to what’s available for other platforms. Apple’s lead in the app marketplace is now 10x but beyond numbers, it’s the depth, breadth and quality of the apps that make the app store stand out.

2. Security. No real password protection. Hardware or SD encryption. No remote management or wipe. Maybe Ok for consumers but hardly good enough to protect anything important.

3. Exchange. It’s nice to see Exchange support native (HTC has offered it for their Android devices for some time) to Android but it’s not a great implementation. Too many issues, especially in terms of calendar.
4. Keyboard. Sorry, the keyboard just doesn’t work for me. The keys are too flat and too close together. This is the first time that the virtual keyboard is better than the physical one and that one’s not great (there’s a few better keyboards for sale in marketplace)

5. PC Sync ) I know the idea is to move everything to the cloud but the reality is, there’s a lot of folks who still want to do local sync to Outlook and get their contacts and calendars on their devices that way. Worse, there’s no media sync. I understand some folks prefer to just drag and drop their stuff on their device but I can’t imagine why (unless you’ve got a tiny music collection or are just moving limited content such as podcasts). I certainly don’t want to try and replicate my playlists in iTunes or Zune one song at a time, digging through directories on my desktop.

Even with these issues, I do believe Android is going to be force to reckoned with in this space and the Droid, if for no other reason than because it’s on Verizon’s excellent network is going to be a very popular device. I do think it’s going to appeal to more of a geek audience than a mainstream audience at this point.

I’ve been a Sonos fan since they first introduced their first products years ago and it’s been fun watching them evolve the line, tapping into new trends and offering new services and values. The latest in the line is the Sonos S5, a standalone device that’s designed to be used with an iPhone as the controller (of course, it also plugs into the rest of the Sonos family and can use any Sonos controller). It’s a simple concept and I’m surprised that no one has thought of it before. First, let’s see what the S5 isn’t. It’s not a speaker dock to recharge and play content on your iPhone. It’s designed that way and it makes sense if you think about it. In a bedroom setting (a likely place where the S5 will end up) you *don’t* want your phone in a dock across the room. Nor do you want your speakers next to your bed. Same for almost every other room where the S5 might go. What you do want is to access your iTunes library (which likely has more content than your phone), your online services like Rhapsody, Pandora, Last.FM and the like and Internet radio. It’s that combination, combined with the iPhone as a controller that makes the S5 work and stand out in a crowded market of speaker docks that really don’t work well with the phone model. It’s really simple. Sonos is about tapping into the Internet and your home network to deliver a complete and total music experience.

As for the S5, it’s pretty amazing. I met with Sonos in NY and they went through all the software magic they did to make this thing sound so good but bottom line it is magic. Here’s an example. Take your typical speaker dock, anyone will do. Crank up the sound. What you will get is distortion as soon as the volume gets loud. On the S5? It doesn’t happen. I can crank the volume up high and it just doesn’t distort. Not that I’d want to turn the volume up that high. At the highest settings, I had no problem filling a 30′ room. For most scenarios, where the S5 is going to be used, the sound is simply phenomenal. I connected to Rhapsody, Pandora, iTunes and a few Internet radio stations with ease. There’s also a setting that lets you set the S5 as an alarm clock as well. Overall, it’s a complete set of features that work well together.

So what’s the downside? I haven’t really found one. You will need another Zone player that’s wired to your router to use the S5 wirelessly (or it can be plugged directly into a router itself. In theory, you might use something like home-plug to connect but I haven’t tried that). You’ll also need an iPhone (or iPod Touch) as a controller or invest in a Sonos one. Having said that, Sonos has done something really interesting here. They’ve not just created an accessory for the iPhone, they’ve created an accessory for an app and that’s where things start to get really interesting.

I’ve spent most of the day wandering around, meeting with a lot of folks and the topic that kept coming up was Microsoft and the Windows 7 launch and how Microsoft will do tomorrow. Matt Buchanan summed it well tonight. The most interesting news this week so far in tech was a new mouse.

Tomorrow Steve Ballmer will take the stage in NY. It might be the most important product introduction for Microsoft. Ever. It’s not whether Win 7 will be a success. It will. It’s whether Win 7 will be relevant. Reviews have been good so far but Win 7 is only as good as the hardware it runs on. Mindshare is only as good as that’s created by MSFT and partners and so far things have mostly gone well. But the story is already told. On the eve of the launch, I feel the best Microsoft can do tomorrow and that’s not good. First, things can go wrong and you might miss expectations.

Which brings me to my point. I think there are two Steve Ballmers. I’m not close to Steve, but I have had the privilege of sitting down with him one on one over the years. I’ve interviewed him on stage in front of thousands of people. I have heard him speak more times than I can recall. There are two Steves.

One Ballmer is the CEO who shows up prepped by WaggEd, presents his story, stays on message and doesn’t leave the script. He’s kinda boring.

Then there’s another Steve. The guy who could drive any car on the planet, ever made, who still drives a Ford because that’s where his dad worked. The guy who shows up with such passion, energy and excitement that you can’t help get caught up in his enthusiasm and his message. If that Steve shows up tomorrow, it could be a whole different story. Of course, that Steve sometimes says things that, perhaps are best unsaid.

A lot of how MSFT does tomorrow will be determined by which Steve will show up. That’s one reason I’ll be at the event tomorrow.

Follow me live on Twitter at twitter.com/gartenberg

Apple’s new lineup of products today show that they’re largely ignoring the advice of analysts, journalists and other pundits and who keep suggesting Apple’s strategy must include lower priced $599-$799 laptops as well as enter the netbook market. Instead, Apple’s revamped the lonely white Macbook with core elements of the pro line including a uni-body design (Polycarbonate not metal), LED backlit display and a non removable battery with up to 7 hours of battery life and the now signature glass multi-touch trackpad.
Coming less than a day after Apple revealed stellar financial results, it seems Apple is wise to keep its own counsel about this market. Too many confuse volume shipments with success. With the low margins and high rate of return that netbooks have, they may be the hottest product that no one makes any real money on. The Macbook success to date has been excellent with Apple reporting 10 million sold over the life of the product. I expect the new model to do well for the holiday and lead the low end of the line for the value conscious consumer but at the same time offer a no compromise OS X experience.

I spent a little time with the Macbook and I’m pretty impressed. While it lacks the metal design of the pro line, the unit feels solid comfortable to hold. Apple’s also added a slightly rubberized coating the bottom making it less likely to slide off the table or your lap. Overall, it’s a nice evolution to the design and puts the notebook family somewhat more in harmony.

Yes, the new bumps to the Mini are interesting and expected (and the new Mini based server will be a most interesting product to watch, keep an eye on that on) It’s the new iMac line that’s worthy of attention. The latest incarnation of the new all in one desktops is nothing short of breathtaking. While the design is familiar, the new aesthetics make it look more like something from an Apple concept lab than a commercial PC. Available in just two sizes, 21 and 27 screens, it’s the 27″ model that will stand out, there’s no doubt that when many customers walk into the Apple store, that’s the model that will have driven them there and the one they’re going to want to drive home with. Once again, Apple keeps price points and features balanced and flexible but there’s always a reason to go for the upsell. My advice, unless you’re either very budget or space constrained, go for the $1699 27″ model. The larger screen, extra HD and discrete graphics or worth the relatively small upsell. What’s even more interesting is the quad based $1,999 model that also includes an somewhat better ATI GPU. I suspect with a 16gb limit, the iMac is no longer a consumer or even a pro-sumer product anymore. I suspect more than a few professionals who might have worried about bumping into the iMac limits are going to be very comfortable with this new model.

Apple’s also added a few other new goodies. First, the Bluetooth wireless keyboard is now standard. Even better is Apple’s new Magic Moue. A wireless, Bluetooth mouse that fully supports multi touch. It looks odd at first and like the glass trackpads, the best way to use the new mouse is just use it, it works the way you think it should. There’s a right click available as well as a swipe and of course scroll. Scroll is 360 and works seamlessly. Even the fabulous two finger scroll is there (and will recognize one or two fingers so users coming from Macbook heritage will feel at home. By keeping multi-touch focused carefully into the command and control and resisting putting a touch screen on computer, Apple avoids the trap of making touch something that’s more gratuitous gimmick and something instead that enhances an OS that was designed long before touch concepts were even possible.

One other interesting feature is the display port is bi-directional, the first time I’ve seen this. Not only can you easily add a second monitor but you can actually now use a Macbook to output to the 27″ display. That’s going to open up some rather interesting usage scenarios. I’ll have full review over the next few days but so far, this one’s a winner.

Bottom line? The product updates are clearly evolutionary with some radical new design and feature elements. At a time when Microsoft is going to be talking Windows 7, Apple has upped the ante for what a premium computing experience is all about and has set themselves very nicely for the holiday buying season.

Latest Computerworld column. “The Pros and Cons of Windows 7 for Business“

“There’s a lot to like in Windows 7, but it’s a lot easier to like it if you have an easy migration path, from Windows Vista. And given the level of hype we can expect from Microsoft for this launch, IT should make sure it’s in charge of migration before users make the decision for them…”

I don’t know how I missed this but, I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. A really long time. Tears rolling down the cheeks funny. In between, Oh My God, Oh My God… and when they got to “I showed my guests two of the Windows 7 orientation videos” OH MY GOD.

First thought? No one is going to back to these people’s homes for a party. EVER. (Seriously, these are the best actors in the world. They managed to get through that drivel without cracking up.)

Second thought? OK. Perhaps it’s all a mistake. Perhaps these things were supposed to be self deprecating, in which case they’re funny. But somehow, I don’t think that’s what they were meant to be. (if so, the joke’s on me).

Third thought? Someone needs to work with MSFT and how to really capitalize on social media. There are opportunities being wasted. Sure. you could argue that they’ve gotten people talking about the videos and by consequence, talking about Windows 7. Problem is, folks aren’t laughing with them, they’re laughing at them, it’s a big difference.

One bit of news that came out of today’s Paul Otellini keynote at the Intel Developer Forum was the news that Intel was working with licensees BMW and Mercedes to put Atom processors in their vehicles. Which of course led me to Twitter that if they could VW to put and Atom in the Beetle it would be an industry first.

Yes, there would now be a PC inside a bug instead of the other way around. (cue rimshot)

I”ll be totally unplugged for the next few days in observance of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah (which marks the beginning of the year 5770 on the Jewish calendar). The Jewish New Year is a time focused on introspection, looking back at the good and the bad of the past year and planning the positive changes to make in year ahead.

Whether or not you share the same calendar as I do, please accept my wishes for health, happiness, life and peace in the year ahead.

It was speculated, leaked and confirmed and now it’s here, the Zune HD arrived to market yesterday. I’ve spent the last day working with one from end to and end and here’s what I think. Oddly, Microsoft sent out the devices to most reviewers last week but would not enable their use until the software went live on Tuesday. That’s why you’re seeing such a lag in reviews.

The specs are impressive with a 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display powered by and Nvidia Tegra, built-in HD Radio receiver and HD output (which requires an HD dock for $90 extra). There are 16gb and 32gb versions, I’ve been working with a 32gb, platinum model. The device is small and light and very comfortable to hold. The capacitive display works smoothly and effortlessly. If you’re coming from a Portable Media Center or prior version of Zune, you’ll have no problems navigating. If you’re used to another device, you’ll have a few minutes of learning to get oriented. The screen itself is gorgeous. There’s nothing else on the market like OLED technology at the moment. Colors are vibrant and literally pop off the screen. It’s not that big a deal for music but for viewing pictures and video, it makes quite an impression. All controls are handles on screen and there’s a central home button that always takes you back to the main menu. In a view, it’s possible to pivot, from that point to other views, so going from artists, to songs, to genres is simple and smooth. Oddly, there’s no speaker on the device. While it’s not the ideal way to listen to music, sometimes it’s just nice to have. Microsoft claims 8.5 hours of battery life for video and 33 hours of audio, I haven’t had the device long enough to test those claims, so we’ll see. It also doesn’t note the screen brightness for those claims.

In addition to music, videos, and photos, the Zune HD offers a few new goodies. First is a Web browser. It’s IE based and the best I can say for it is that it works for casual browsing on mobile optimized sites. If you’re looking for an Internet tablet, look elsewhere, this is a media player with a basic browser built in. There’s a new apps section (odd that MSFT went with the term apps) with some varied content. There’s a calculator, MSN Weather programs, and a few games, notably Hexic. Microsoft says there’s more content coming including Facebook and Twitter apps and more casual games. The good news is that titles are all free. The bad news is that there’s not much of a developer eco-system at the moment. If you’re looking for a more robust application marketplace and platform, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Microsoft’s focus with Zune has been on media, no one will mistake the Zune as a netbook or gameboy ds replacement.
The Zune desktop software works well. It’s still a mystery to me why and how Microsoft needs to separate desktop tuners for media integration. Between Windows Media Player and Zune desktop it can get confusing. I had no problems with the Zune software seeing my audio, video and photo collections. As iTunes tags content differently, not all my tags for genre, album art etc came over. It’s not an issue for most folks but made configuration a little harder than it needed to be. There’s also no way I’ve discovered to bring my playlists from the Mac version of iTunes over to the Zune. Again, not a problem for most users but annoying for me. Setting up and syncing was simple and easy. I had not problems sending over a few seasons of TV shows, some movies, a few thousand songs and a few thousand pictures. Syn times were relatively speedy given I was moving 30gb of content.

One of the key differences of Zune to other devices is the Zune marketplace. Microsoft has finally added movie rentals as well as TV show purchases to the Zune store. In addition, Zune marketplace lets you subscribe to the service and have access to the entire Zune Marketplace library. In addition, you can keep 10 tracks each month in MP3 format. That brings the costs of subscription down to essentially $4.99 a month. You can add channels, download and get content directly on the Zune. You don’t need a Zune pass to enjoy Zune HD but it’s the experience of the marketplace, the software discovery and the device that really make the experience different.
Sadly, the ability to share files between devices is no longer part of Zune. Given the crippled nature of the feature, it’s not something most users will miss.

Bottom line? The Zune team delivered. Zune HD is an excellent music player that handles pictures and video content well (the smoothness of viewing pictures is wonderful, something we haven’t seen on non-Apple devices before).

What’s missing? In terms of accessories, while there isn’t the legion of stuff available for iPod, but the usual assortment of cases, car kits and the like are around. For HD playback, you’ll need that dock I mentioned before that costs $90, which seems a little steep for me. There’s really not an app story here and the fact that folks are making this an issue underscores how good a job Apple has done in moving the needle on that conversation forward. The reality is that many users are just looking for good media player with support for music, photos and videos and want a device with a large screen and capacity. I don’t think Zune HD is going to head to head directly with iPod Nano or iPod Touch buyers but is looking at a different segment of an overlapping audience. The challenge that Microsoft will have is telling their story with only one device and getting users to actually take a look at the Zune HD experience.

Should you buy? That’s a tougher question. If you’re a Mac user, it’s easy. There’s no Mac support for Zune so unless you’re prepared to run Windows on your Mac to get Zune HD support this isn’t the device for you. Folks who are tied closely to Apple’s eco system will also have a tough time making the Zune leap. If you’re invested in car kits, speaker docks, cases, Apple TV and iPhone, Zune isn’t going to fit into that eco system well at all. This is in fact where Microsoft is going to face some challenge. It’s not the lack of apps but eco system and connection of content to other screens that’s the biggest challenge to Zune. The iPod/iPod Touch platform isn’t the issue, it’s the iTunes ability to manage content and serve it to phones, media players, PCs and TVs that’s the issue. That said, if you’re looking for something more akin to a pocket computer than a media player, Zune HD isn’t for you.

Folks who are on Windows who are looking for top notch media player that’s highly optimized for content consumption should seriously consider Zune HD. As a one to one product, it’s the first device I’ve seen in a long time that’s a credible offering against an iPod. The performance of playback, the gorgeous OLED display, combined with a robust set of content and service offerings help make the Zune HD stand out and offer a differentiated experience. If Microsoft is able to effectively market this differentiation to the consumer and tell their own story of eco system and integration, I suspect Zune HD will do better than some folks are predicting.

I’ll have some more thoughts once I’ve take in on the road and out and about for a few days. So what do you think? Did Microsoft get it right this time? Or is it, too little/too late?

Our music analyst, Josh Bell takes a look at iTunes LP as a purchase driver for music, in this guest post.

A number of announcements were made on Wednesday by Apple – cheaper and new iPods, a Genius feature for apps, etc. The lack of an announcement about the Beatles catalog being available on iTunes was somewhat of a downer, but I found the “iTunes LP” to be the most intriguing.

In short, iTunes LP is an attempt to convert digital singles buyers into digital albums buyers by offering extra content only available by downloading the album. The content might include lyrics, photos, videos and other goodies. However, there are a few potential issues that I see:

iTunes LP is designed for the hardcore fan who wants all of the info about the artist they can get their hands on. The problem here is that these people are buying the album anyway, regardless of whether it includes the bonus material. The casual fan – the one who hears the new Black-Eyed Peas on the radio and goes to iTunes to buy it – doesn’t care about the photos and the lyrics – they just want the song.
Most of this information is already available – free and legal – on the Internet. There are a number of sites that are lyric databases, and artist photos appear everywhere from magazine sites to an individual fan’s page. In fact, many artists have all of these extras on their own website or MySpace page.

Even more of this info is available illegally as well. Many of the more “trusted” BitTorrent users will compile photos, lyrics, set lists and other goodies with downloads that will likely rival the bonus content that iTunes is offering.

Most importantly, people only buy 1-2 songs off an album because usually only 1-2 songs off an album are any good. Consumers recognize this, which is why singles have dominated the downloading landscape. Even if an album has 5-6 good songs, a consumer still may not see the value in the bonus material for an extra $4-5.
Even worse, some of the iTunes LP albums currently available are more expensive than the regular edition, despite containing the same songs. Thus, they’re asking consumers not only to upgrade to an album, but to shell out an extra $1-$3 for content that does not include additional music.
The biggest issue of all, however, may be that in order to enjoy all the visual bonus content, you need to be sitting at your computer. This is somewhat anathema to the beauty of iTunes and mp3s – you can take them with you.

The curiosity factor may convince people to try an iTunes LP, but compelling content is the only way to keep them coming back.

MG. I totally agree (although I didn’t miss the Beatles that much, they alread live on my iPod.) While I love what Apple has done here with legal content, re-created and expanded the richness and the depth that used to come with buying a record album, at the end of the day, it is still and will always be about the music and making the music good enough to attract buyers.

I’ts been a while coming but as of this morning, The good folks at Rhapsody have announced the release of the long awaited iPhone/iPod Touch app. I’ve been using it for the last few days and I’m pleased to say it works really, really well. Just enter your credentials and you’re good to go. I had no problems streaming over the air (but of course, there’s no background streaming on the iPhone). I had no problems accessing my playlists, albums and artists. Along with the Sonos, this is the best integration of Rhapsody that I’ve seen . As i‘ve talked about before. Connected devices and streaming services are just made to go together. I’m still in shock that Nokia’s music efforts are still mostly tied to the desktop and not the phones they offer.

Now that Rhapsody i finally on a tier one connected phone, the iPhone, no less we’ll have a chance to see whether this model can finally resonate with consumers The iPhone is particularly important — as according to Interpret’s data, it’s the one phone users are purchasing for its media capabilities. Rhapsody will enable consumers for the first time have the chance to create powerful individualized services, optimized for the their listening tastes. If Rhapsody will take the time to explain just how the subscription model can co-exist with the music already owned by the consumers, we just might see theses services go from niche, music aficionado-oriented brands to mainstream success. I

Connected phones and subscription services together can help generate the next big inflection point in the music industry. Now, just imagine what happens when that’s connected to social media.

In addition to the software updates, Apple also did a nice refresh of the iPod line. Of course the obligatory stats. First, 50% customers are new to iPod. That’s pretty important as it shows that the market is still expanding and there are new customers to be engaged with. In terms of market share, Apple has a staggering 73.8% share. That’s something that just doesn’t happen in consumer electronics. Or in most markets for that matter.

The core strategy play is still the iPod Touch. As Apple discussed, it’s the hottest iPod on the market, with 20 million sold, over 30 million phones, that’s a 50 million device strong eco system. That’s not a number that’s going to go unnoticed by app developers.

Apple’s now added Genius Mixes directly to the device and of course, the iPod Touch has evolved to much more than a media player. With Wifi, Browser, Email, Contacts, Facebook, Twitter, etc, the iPod Touch is looking a lot at what the PDA market might have evolved into. Of course, Apple is wise to never to refer to the iPod as a PDA. Even more interesting is Apple’s onslaught into the handheld gaming market. We just finished a report on this topic so I’ll have more to share shortly but bottom line, Apple claims 21,178 games vs. 3,608 for Nintendo and 607 for Sony on the PSP. Apple is clearly going after the portable game market in a big way. Apple’s also revved the pricing for the line.
8 gb – $199
32 gb – $299
64 gb – $399

Of course, these are without contract and getting to the $199 price point was super important. I expect that to have a big impact come holiday.

While some speculated that the iPod Classic would be retired, I’ve been skeptical. There’s simply too many use cases for the largest devices. Apple revved the capacity to 160gb, while keeping last years form factor and price. 160gb goes for $249 (and hold 40,000 songs)
Even though it was introduced recently, the iPod Shuffle got an update. First, it’s now in colors with Pink, Green and Blue along with Silver and Black. Capacity is $59 2gb $79 for 4gb. And there’s a uber-cool Special edition iPod Shuffle. It’s done in stainless steel and has 4gb $for 99. No new features but it’s super cool and caressable. VERY caressable.

Finally, the Nano gets an update. It’s been a super popular device for them with more than 100 million sold and now it does video. Video is now integrated into the new iPod Nano. Camera, Microphone and Speaker. Capture with sound. Same size as last years but with a larger display of 2.2″. Camera resolution is VGA camera. Connect to Mac and PC. No still only video for now. Very cool. This is likely to put some real pressure on the flip folks for taking short, ubiquitous video clips. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see where Apple’s going with this.
In addition, there’s Genius mixes. And an FM Radio. Radio has a cool feature where it can pause for up to 15 minutes. In addition it can also do iTunes tagging. Finally, there’s Voice Recording software and an integrated pedometer.

The new units are polished anodized aluminum. These are colors that really pop and they really do have to be seen to believed. There’s nine colors to choose. Capacity is 8gb $149, 16gb for 179. Like everything else, it’s all available today.

Once again, Apple has taken a set of evolutionary steps with their device but built in some revolutionary features. At an economic time when consumers are looking for choice and different purchase drives, Apple has an excellent catalog of devices that should serve them well in Q4. Next week, we’ll see Microsoft unveil Zune HD an I’ll take a closer look at both device platforms stack up against each other. Some device or software questions? Ask away…

This morning, Apple announced the latest software update for iPhone and iPod Touch. OS 3.1. Along with announcement, Apple announced the platform is now 50 million strong with 75,000 apps, in the apps store, and 1.8 billion downloads. (not counting updates). Yes, it’s clear that Apple’s mobile platform is huge force to be reckoned as competitors attempt to tell their own app story against Apple’s center of gravity.
Apple says there’s a litany of fixes and updates in 3.1 but here’s major stuff.

First, Genius will now make recommendations from the App store based on the apps you own. This will work for all devices, both iPhone and iPod Touch. Discovery among 75,000 apps can be hard and Apple understands this. From my quick demo, it appears Apple has done a very good job here and this is good news for developers as they attempt to further differentiate themselves and hope consumers discover them.
Second Apple’s in the ring-tone business. iTunes now offers Pre-Cut ringtones. 20,000 to start with from all major labels. Price point is $1.29 US. This is a breakthrough price for ringtones and will likely put some pressure on the rest of the market to adjust their prices as well. 3.1 is free for all iPhone and iPod Touch users using 3.0. iPod Touch users who haven’t bought 3.0 yet can get 3.1 for $4.95

Apple also introduced a new version of iTunes. Setting some background, Apple is now in 23 countries iTunes Music Store and is now #1 music retailer in the world. The store boasts 8.5 billion songs but more importantly, Apple has a 100 million accounts with credit card info. Very impressive. So what’s new in iTunes 9?

Genius mixes – This is a super cool feature. So far Apple has had 27 million libraries analyzed and 54 billion songs processed. Where Genius only put together a playlist, Genius Mixes create an ongoing personal radio station. It’s a little like Pandora but built out of your music collection.

Improved Sync – Sync’s gotten a lot better in iTunes. I can now for example sync
particular playlist but at the same time, I can add individual artists. Likewise,Movies,TVs and Podcast settings can all be adjusted on overridden by the user. Even more important, Apple now shows a user layout of the iPhone and iPod Touch making it dirt simple to set up your app screens.

Home Sharing – I’ve wanted this feature for a long time. I can finally compare what’s on
my different computer iTunes libraries, see what’s missing from both and then easily consolidate them together. I can also make sure that future purchases for music, video, apps etc all stay in harmony. Excellent. I’ve been looking for something to do this for a long time. Nice to see this at last. Of course, I can still stream from different libraries across my network.

Re-designed Store – The store’s been totally revamped. Just got a lot of easier to find things, and in general get around. Lots of content can be seen and bought inline. There’s also some cool Twitter and Facebook integration. Yep, iTunes is getting social.

iTunes LP – This is an interesting feature and helps re-create the album experience of old with liner notes, lyrics, song lists, videos photos and memorabilia. At launch there will be eight titles with two to three a week. Sometimes the content will be an album, sometimes just a few songs. It’s a good idea but it’s not likely to drive consumers back to the album purchase model (although Apple did point out that 50% of music bought on iTunes is albums). There’s no price premium for it, but it’s likely we won’t see it on every album for some time. At the end of the day, if it’s good music, people will buy it and if it’s not, this won’t be a purchase driver.

Bottom line? Nice update of the software line that will help keep Apple in the lead with the most refined mobile entertainment experience.

In a surprise move, Palm announced a new WebOS device. Called Pixi, it’s smaller, lighter device than the Pre with a candybar form factor. Like the Pre, it runs WebOS and comes with 8GB of storage space. It differs from the Pre with a smaller form factor and smaller screen and a slightly slower processor. With the Pre slated to drop to $149, that would likely put the Pixi in the $99 price range, making it more affordable to the target demographic. Also like the Pre, the Pixi is a Sprint exclusive for now. All WeBOS features are there along with new Synergy links to Yahoo and LinkedIn, making the Pre one of the most socially connected of devices.

I had a chance to spend a few moments with newest addition to the WebOS family and this feels like it’s the Centro of a new generation. It has great hand feel and is likely to appeal to a younger demographic more concerned with the text an social media features of the Pixi and what’s likely to be a lower and more affordable price point. Palm continues to execute well in the narrow straits it finds itself in. It has continued to hit every mark in needed to since the introduction of the Pre and Web OS in January. With today’s news, Palm has delivered on their second in a promised family of devices. We’ve seen in our research how Palm has been able to gain significant mindshare, and mindshare is something we know translates into market share over time. A new lower priced device also maps very well into the research we’ve done on consumer price expectations for smartphones. Overall, we expect the Pixi to be a hit device and while Sprint does not offer the iPhone, the diverse catalog of device offerings it is showcasing for fourth quarter is likely to draw in users who might be looking for a different phone experience.

Slash Gear column. “Snow Leopard is Just Plain Cool”
Engadget column “Will Snow Leopard’s Exchange support earn Apple a new entourage?”

Too much time on the road over the next five weeks as well as working on a site re-design, so expect posting will be light.

Please stay in touch on Twitter (twitter.com/gartenberg) or my weekly columns on Engadget and Slash Gear.

It’s was the mobile platform with the might of Google behind it, but there was a lot missing. The Android native UI wasn’t overly interesting and the first devices were missing basic features like a standard audio jack. With the introduction of the HTC Hero this morning, HTC offers the first Android device that feels like it’s actually finished and it’s the first Android device I’d pay for.

I’ve just been using mine for a few hours but it’s been love at first sight. Mine’s a white unit with the Teflon coating and it feels great in the hand and looks like prop off the set of the moview 2001. Quick review of specs, GPS, digital compass, a gravity-sensor, 3.5mm stereo headset jack, a 5 mega-pixel autofocus camera and expandable MicroSD memory. The Hero also has a dedicated search button that allows search through Twitter, locating contacts, find emails or search for any data that’s on Hero. In practice it works well, when I remember that it’s there.

What sets Hero apart is HTC’s UI for Android called HTC Sense. The Ui is fluid and works great and feels modern. I love the multiple screens with glanceable information. I’ve got my calendar, Twitter, Weather etc all set up and customized they way I want it. As I’ve pointed out before, it’s the home screen concept for information done right. HTC includes a boatload of widgets that totally transform the device into a custom user experience. Even better, I can save multiple profiles or scenes as HTC calls them and switch based on context. Excellent.

Downside? The device has got a lot going on and is nowhere near as fast the iPhone 3Gs in terms of performance but it’s not nearly as slow or sluggish as some of the early reviews have made it out to be. It’s also too early for me asses battery life which was a nightmare on the G1. More over the next few days as I spend some more with the device.

This is clearly what T-Mobile should have brought to market. The MyTouch feels totally dated by comparison.

A guest post by my Interpret colleague, Josh Bell who leads our music research on how illegal downloaders can actually drive music sales. Great stuff.

Interpret’s Syndicated Research Service recently released an interesting report about illegally downloading music. Rather than focusing on the illegal activity, we took a closer look at how else downloaders get their music. This isn’t the typical “let’s vilify the illegal downloaders and get them to switch to iTunes” strategy – it’s been tried with little success. Nor are we suggesting more lawsuits, though I’m sure that would be a fascinating and controversial read. Instead, we took a look at overall music consumption – what else are these “pirates” doing to find music? Are they paying for music at all? How can we reach them and squeeze some additional revenue out of them?

TorrentFreak.com recently posted a thoughtful article about our report, but there are two points to clear up – first, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of over 9,000 respondents, then weighted the data to the US Census to project to millions. Second, the finding that “51% [of music pirates] are fine with the current price point of legal downloads” is misleading. What we state is that on an 11-point scale where 0 = completely disagree and 10 = completely agree, 49% of illegal downloaders completely agree that downloading should be cheaper than buying a CD. This doesn’t mean the rest don’t agree – in fact, 85% agree with the statement (rated it a 6 or higher).

And one tidbit from our report not mentioned in the TorrentFreak.com article – music pirates are consuming music in a multitude of ways – video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, streaming on social networking sites, etc. So even if they’re not buying CDs or paying for downloads, there are other ways to reach them that the music industry is not exploiting.

Want to read more? Let me know and for a limited time we’ll send you the report free!

Variety reports on the Social Media research we’ve done at Interpret on the effectiveness of Twitter at Comic-Con. My colleague Zack Kirchner guest blogs and has some more details on what we learned.

Despite efforts to generate interest in over 30 different movies that were featured in studio’s booths, the majority of movies featured at Comic-Con did not generate significant enough buzz on Twitter to break the barrier of .01% of total tweets. The movies that did generate significant buzz (Summit’s New Moon, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland & Tron: Legacy, Paramount’s Iron Man 2 and Sony Picture’s District 9) were central to the comic fan’s ancillary interests in fantasy and science fiction. More importantly, the movies that generated the most significant Twitter buzz had established fan bases who re-tweeted the tweets coming directly from Comic-Con attendees, allowing those movies to expand their reach virally. New trailer releases also made it easier for people on Twitter to share links online, which certainly helped Alice in Wonderland, New Moon and Tron: Legacy rise to the top.

One factor limiting the effectiveness of studio’s efforts to promote their movies was the sheer number of movies featured at Comic-Con. Comic-Con attendees were inundated with flyers, posters, buttons and other promotional efforts even before entering the convention. It’s hard for a movie to stand out in the crowd, even when that crowd is made up of rabid costumed fans who live for Comic-Con weekend.

Summit and Disney were the most effective studios at generating Twitter buzz overall. Summit’s booth was constantly surrounded with people hoping to get a glimpse of video clips released at Comic-Con, generating a large amount of buzz for both the original Twilight movie and its sequel, New Moon. Even though Disney didn’t have a large booth to showcase their movies, they gave their fan bases what they wanted with the debut of both the Alice in Wonderland and Tron: Legacy trailers.

Overall, Twitter buzz for Comic-Con is very low with no movie generating enough tweets to even account for 1% of the total tweets during a given hour of the convention. To put these numbers in perspective though, Harry Potter, another movie with an established, active fan base, generated 4X as much buzz as the #1 movie in the box office this weekend, G-Force.

I’ve been using Google Voice for sometime, as I was former Grand Central user that migrated early. As more folks are getting on board, here’s a few tips and tricks I’ve learned to make it more useful right off the bat. If you have a Google Voice tip or trick, just add it in the comments below. I’ll also update this more over the next few days as time permits.

Keep your existing phone # with GV. In order to do this, you’ll need to have at least one other phone # you can use to forward calls to. I forward my old number to GV and then let GV direct that number to wherever I am on whatever phone I’ll be near. I use the present caller option to make sure that the only VM that gets used is GVs

If you’re in the car, answering can be hassle if you need to pick up the phone and press 1. Turn off call presentation before getting in the car and if you’re forwarding your number elsewhere, only forward to the one phone in the car you are using. Using only one phone will present GV from sending VM to the wrong phone.

If you have a GV number and want a new personalized one. You can change it under settings for a one time fee of $10.

The mobile web UI for GV leaves a lot to be desired. Google offers native clients for some platforms but not the iPhone. On the iPhone, the best app I’ve ffound so far is GV Mobile. It’s reasonably priced and makes GV a lot more useful on the iPhone.

If you set caller presentation to on, you can not only find out who’s calling but also send callers to voice mail directly and listen in on the voice mail as it’s recording. Yep, it’s like answering machine screening at home as you can pick up at any time if you choose.

Calls from a corp number seemed to get assigned an ID based on who makes the first call. That means just because GV says someone is calling from a particular place, it might not actually be them.

How do you use Google Voice? Add your tip or trick in the comments please.