Apple predicts Mac-cell phone link
Willem Poterman, Apple Europe senior manager of mobile products, told Macworld UK that Apple has been working with mobile-phone giants Nokia Corp. (nok) and Ericsson Inc. (ericy) for a year. Poterman said this collaboration was essential because "PowerBook users want their phones to work with their portables via infrared and, later, Bluetooth via third-party cards."
Bluetooth is a short-distance wireless networking technology that uses a many-directional radio signal to connect multiple devices. A Bluetooth consortium now includes hundreds of vendors interested in releasing products using the technology. Apple has, so far, not joined the Bluetooth bandwagon.
Defending accusations that Apple is ignoring Bluetooth in favor of its own AirPort wireless-networking technology, Poterman pointed out that AirPort's 11Mbps data rate and 150-foot range are "10 times greater" than Bluetooth. Third-party developers are likely to step in and fill the Bluetooth gap left by Apple, Poterman suggested.
Poterman said he expects the first fruits of Apple's development work with Nokia to appear in April. "A lot of people will be able to benefit from that," he said.
Poterman also alluded to the Viventus Wireless Application Protocol-compatible plug-in for FileMaker from Norway-based developer Viventus AS. Users can now access, enter and update information to desktop-based FileMaker Pro databases directly from cellular phones supporting WAP using the $500 FileMaker Pro Tool-Kit.
Although Poterman was short on details, it's likely that the plug-in converts the back-end data into Wireless Markup Language for delivery to mobile phones over a WAP gateway. It could also be used to convert data into HTML format for Web access.
Poterman was in London on a worldwide "Mobile Solutions for the Mac" tour with Apple worldwide product managers Sandy Green (PowerBook) and Linda Frager (iBook).
Showing off the new iBooks, Frager hinted that FireWire and DVD would eventually make it onto Apple's best-selling consumer portable. "Eventually you'll see all key technologies transfer across all Apple's product lines," she told Macworld.
The reason that the iBook stands alone - except for the entry-level iMac -- without these two key technologies is the "cost of complexity," Frager said. Adding DVD and FireWire to the iBook now would have been "impossible" while maintaining the product's attractive price point. They will, however, be added "over time."
During a Q&A session, Green said she'd like to see some of the iBook's design implementations transfer across product lines to the PowerBook. Some people have criticized Apple for not making the new PowerBook's case design like the iBook. Green defended the black pro portable as a "different generation" from the iBook. The new PowerBook has adopted a few iBook elements, including the yo-yo cable wrap and the amber/green glows on the power-socket ring.
With a nod to the idea of design elements "migrating across product lines," Green dropped the rather large hint that the PowerBook's case design would adopt more innovative styling in a future build: "I'm absolutely sure, because I'm working on them right now.
"The design group is full of some very cool ideas."
Apple refuses to comment on future products, so there's no time scale for the new-look PowerBook or feature-added iBooks.
Green also added that, when testing is completed, she expects the 500MHz PowerBook to outperform PC laptops running 650MHz Pentium III chips for a range of core Adobe Photoshop tasks. She also claimed that 75 percent of all PowerBook owners use their pro portable as their main computer, proving the days of desktop hegemony are well and truly over.
Apple's Mobile Solutions for the Mac tour was also attended by key mobile developers. Digicom showed off its USB GSM modem; Farallon, its range of wireless solutions, including the SkyLine PC Card; FreeCom, a portable CD RW drive; Horus, PhoneManager 2.0; IBM, ViaVoice for Mac; LaCie, storage solutions including the handy PocketDrive; and E-Pac, its iBook and PowerBook bags. Also present were VST, Option, Keyspan, Lucent and Route 66.
Distributor AM Micro showed off Digicom's Palladio USB-GSM modem, which connects a mobile phone to your USB Mac without requiring a PC Card slot. The company also demonstrated iRez's Kritter SV video camera, which connects to a Mac's S-Video port for high-resolution moving pictures.
Simon Jary is editor in chief of leading British Mac monthly Macworld UK.