Appletell

If you can’t beat ‘em, develop for ‘em!  At the moment, that it what Research In Motion, producer of the BlackBerry, may be doing.  The company has seen falls in sales of elephantine proportions since the introduction of the iPhone, and they seem to be in a hole out of which they cannot be dug.  Some analysts even predict the iPhone to totally make the BlackBerry an after thought in the world of SmartPhones. 

With that in mind, RIM may be hedging their bets in terms of an BlackBerry fallout.  A recent company memo called for applicants for a special team, and although the exact memo is nowhere to be found, an unidentified RIM employee did leak the following to Electronista. 

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Though most seem to be happy with Mac OS X 10.5.2, a select few, Steve Jobs apparently included, aren’t. Mac OS X 10.5.3 is on the fast track to release, as yet another developer build was seeded over the weekend.

While 10.5.2 had widely publicized bugs it was fixing, 10.5.3 has but one: WiFi issues, most recently exemplified when New York schools halted Mac shipments due to the issue. Two other issues it is known to have fixed are shutdown hangs and system mode issues. The others are anybody guess. Or anybody’s guesses, as the list of bugs fixed by this update is apparently longer than 170. This specific build, 9D22, fixes 15, and has no known issues.

Update: After this writing was finished, Apple released Build 9D23, adding 8 more fixes. Once again, no known issues.

Given the rapid succession of build releases, the consensus is that 10.5.3 will be available by mid-May. Perhaps this will give way for 10.5.4 in June?

Have you had any 10.5.2 issues? Or would you just like them to leave well enough alone? Sound off below.

Via [World Of Apple]

With the Apple SDK event happening within less than an hour, people are suspecting pre-made iPhone and iPod Touch apps for the SDK. The BBC is reportedly working on a version of its iPlayer software for the iPhone and iPod Touch. When visiting the BBC iPlayer website through the portable devices, a link appears in the corner of the window, showing that a beta tag. No details have been released, but I hope the BBC will officially launch the beta version of their iPlayer for the iPhone/iPod Touch at today’s event.

The BBC is also working on a Mac version of the iPlayer software, due for release in late 2008. Currently, the only way to view iPlayer videos is through the website, using Adobe Flash (similar to Hulu). BBC TV Shows have also just been released on the iTunes UK Store - although these do cost the normal £1.89. As we mentioned before, they are also exploring the possibility of putting BBC content on to the Apple TV.

Via [MacNN]

Apple has sent out an invitation to press contacts inviting them to an iPhone/ iPod Touch SDK “Roadmap” meeting.

In an invitation sent to reporters, Apple wrote, “Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features.”

9to5Mac reports that “the event will largely cover enterprise topics like Exchange and Lotus Notes syncing.”

Apple on Tuesday released iPhone and iPod Touch Firmware 1.1.4, which was listed as 165 MB of bug fixes, but also likely laid groundwork for the SDK, which will allow for third party iPhone/iPod native applications. Currently the onyl way to get applications on the iPhone is through web-apps, which run through Safari and are not native, or Jailbreaking your iPhone/iPod Touch, which voids your warranty.

Leopard is an awesome upgrade for consumers. There is a ton of iCandy that makes your computer more beautiful, and usable, as well as some really cool features that I use every day. But the real power of Leopard is when you look under the hood. Developer tools in Leopard make coding and developing applications easier than ever. And it’s free. Just grab your Leopard disk, and install the additional Developer tools onto your Mac, and start playing with them. While all these apps and demos are fun to play with, they are a little hard to get your head around. That is why Apple has just introduced Coding Headstarts.

Coding Headstarts is a section in Apple’s Developer Connection. It provides you with an introductory video, along with step-by-step lesson guides, and even Xcode sample projects for you to follow along with. These Headstarts are good for both the first time coder, and the first-time Leopard coder. most of the videos are online and free, but if you want all the details (and you are probably a full-time coder if you do), you have to have a paid-for ADC Premier or Select member.

[Coding Headstarts] Via [AppleGazette]