iPhone J.D.

In the news

There was a lot of iPhone related news this week, from new developments in the "lost" iPhone saga to essays by Steve Jobs to possible dates for the debut of the next version of the iPhone, plus many other stories along the way.

• Let's start with the updates on the "lost" iPhone that Gizmodo purchased for $5,000.  Last Friday night, as people like attorney Lauren Hirsch were analyzing whether Gizmodo broke the law, the police executed a search warrant and seized computers from Gizmodo reporter Jason Chen's house, and there are questions and more questions whether that search was legal.  For now, the police are not doing anything with the items they seized until that issue is sorted out.  Brian Chen of Wired figured out the identity of the person who sold the iPhone prototype to Gizmodo for $5,000, and McSweeny has a funny, imagined story of what he might have to say for himself.  And then CNET reporters discovered someone else involved with the sale of the prototype iPhone to Gizmodo.  The Daily Show's Jon Stewart had a long, funny commentary on the situation, and Niki Black even started an entire blog devoted to this story:  The "Lost" iPhone & Gizmodo Blog.  I suspect that this story is still not over, and probably won't be until Apple actually introduces the new iPhone.
• And hey, now we might have a date for them to do so.  WWDC is Apple's developer conference.  At WWDC 2008, Apple introduced the iPhone 3G.  At WWDC 2009, Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS.  So I'm wondering the same thing as Macworld:  at WWDC 2010, scheduled for June 7 to 11, 2010, will Apple introduce the next version of the iPhone?
• We won't have to wait until June 7 (or so) to hear from Steve Jobs.  Dan Moren of Macworld reports that on June 1, Steve Jobs will be the opening speaker at the D: All Things Digital Conference.  The last time Jobs spoke at D was in 2007 when he and Bill Gates sat down together.  
• And you don't even have to wait until June 1 to find out what is on Steve's mind.  Yesterday, Steve Jobs used the apple.com website as his own personal blog and published an extensive, well-written article explaining why Apple doesn't allow Adobe Flash to run on the iPhone.
• And if that is still not enough Steve Jobs for you, you'll be pleased to know that Time magazine has once again named Jobs in its Time 100 list of important people in the world.
• This past February, I reviewed Siri, an app that lets you speak a question and then gives you an answer, acting as sort of a digital personal assistant.  I was really impressed, ending my review by saying:  "I strongly encourage you to download this app today, not only because you will find it immediately useful, but also because I believe that this is a preview of the future of mobile technology."  Apparently I wasn't the only one impressed; Dan Frommer of Business Insider reports that Apple purchased the company.  I am excited to see how Apple incorporates and improves upon this technology.
• Mike Schramm of TUAW reports that 25% of all music sold in the U.S. is sold through iTunes.
• Mike Schramm of TUAW also reports on a presentation by Aaron Hillegass and Joe Conway on the lifecycle of an iPhone app.
• Although you can use Facebook on an iPhone either using the great Facebook app or via Safari (which can use either an iPhone-optimized version of Facebook or the full Facebook), until this week you could not view videos uploaded to Facebook.  But according to Sarah Perez at ReadWriteWeb, Facebook is now starting to direct iPhones (and iPads and iPod touches) to MP4 / h.264 versions of videos that the iPhone can play.  I've tested this myself and it works great ... but for now, only works in Safari.  I imagine that a future update to the Facebook app will add this same feature.
• On to some iPad news.  Should you get one?  Macworld writes about the surprises and disappointments of the iPad after a month of use.
• How do you justify buying an iPad, both to yourself and your law partners?  Colorado attorney Tomasz Stasiuk has some advice.  Stasiuk also has tips for better iPad web browsing.
• Riva Richmond of the New York Times suggests four ways to keep your iPad secure.  (The advice applies to an iPhone as well.)
• Need to count something, pretty much anything, an an iPad?  Then check out TallyPad for the iPad, a $0.99 app by attorney Dan Friedlander.
• And finally, a chocolatier in Paris came up with the perfect Mother's Day present, assuming that your Mom loves her iPhone:  chocolate iPhone apps.  Unfortunately, they are now sold out, but don't they look yummy?  (Link via iPhone Savior.)

11 Essential Apps for Lawyers Plus a Review of AT&T's 3G Microcell

Christel Burris started her legal career as a receptionist for a small law firm in San Francisco, and has held held numerous other positions in law firms over the years, including IT manager.  For the last 25 years, she has been a legal technology consultant.  She lives in Asheville, NC and her company, Push One Button, Inc., provides training, legal-specific technology, content development and consulting to businesses from California to the UK.

Earlier this week, the always interesting TechnoFeature newsletter from TechnoLawyer published a great article she wrote on iPhone apps for lawyers.  For any of you who missed it, Burris gave me permission to republish it here.

An Apple Skeptic Turned iPhone Fanatic:  11 Essential Apps for Lawyers Plus a Review of AT&T's 3G Microcell

by Christel Burris

INTRODUCTION

Some of you may remember a TechnoFeature article I wrote last year, Mythbusters: Should Your Law Firm Switch From Windows to Mac? It created a firestorm on the Mac legal Web.

You might surmise from that article that I dislike all Apple products. You'd be wrong. I have fallen in love with one Apple product — the iPhone. Not surprisingly, the iPhone now comprises more of Apple's revenue than any of its other products, including Macs.

I admit I'm a bit behind on the iPhone craze as I am very much an "anti-trend" kinda gal. But I finally caved in and switched to AT&T so I could have an iPhone … and there's no going back for me. The iPhone — from its display to the way it feels in your hand to the capacitive touch screen — is simply gorgeous.

While its business applications are definitely not what drives the iPhone (get a BlackBerry if that's all you need), it will give you both time-wasting and business functionality. During my research for this article, I asked three of my iPhone-using attorney clients which legal business apps they use and all three sheepishly replied, "None."

APPS, APPS, AND MORE APPS FOR LAWYERS: MY TOP 11 PICKS

What I really love about the iPhone is "there's an app for that." No kidding. Any function you can think of, search for it on the App store and you'll probably find it. What are my favorite apps for lawyers?

1. LogMeIn Ignition ($29.99).  If you have an account (fee-based or free) with LogMeIn, you can access your desktop using LogMeIn Ignition. Granted, the display is quite small but I've been able to log onto a client's desktop using LogMeIn Ignition and perform a quick task like attach a document to an email message or troubleshoot an error.

2. Ilium eWallet ($9.99).  I live and breathe by this app. Store all your passwords, credit card information, etc., and sync it to your Windows desktop.

3. Facebook (free).  If you're a Facebook junkie, this is one app you can't live without. Keep in touch with all your Facebook friends directly from your iPhone.

4. TaskTask ($4.99).  If you have an Exchange server (2003 or 2007) and you need to manage Tasks, try this app. Create and modify tasks directly on your iPhone, and synchronize wirelessly with your Exchange/Outlook account.

5. Dragon Dictation (free).  No set up or training required, and the accuracy is exceptional. This app is useful for composing email or text messages and even updating your Facebook status.

6. TouchMeeting (free but requires account).  A desktop and mobile Web conferencing service. Attend or host an online meeting from your iPhone.

7. InerTrak for iPhone ($4.99).  An easy-to-use app that can keep track of time and expenses spent on different matters. You can check off days as they are billed, and view daily totals for each matter as well as a summary view across all matters. Each matter can include an hourly rate, automatically showing the monetary as well as time totals. InerTrak for iPhone can synchronize data with InerTrak for Windows. You can also email your time entries.

8. DocScanner ($5.99).  Scan black and white and color documents to PDF or image files using your iPhone by snapping a photo. This app can also make scanned images searchable with its build-in OCR software. All image processing takes place on the iPhone, after which you can email the files.

9. Evernote (free but requires account).  Create text, snapshot, and voice notes that you can access from your iPhone or Mac or PC using the desktop software or a Web browser.

10 LawStack (free).  Looking for a "legal library in your pocket?" LawStack comes preloaded with the US Constitution, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. You can also download other materials from within the app.

11. Fastcase (free but requires account).  Search case law from anywhere you have access to the Internet.

IPHONE PROS AND CONS

The iPhone is not perfect, but it has more going for it than against it. Below you'll find my principal pros and cons.

Attributes of the iPhone worthy of praise include:

• Native Support for Exchange Server — works with no drama.
  
• Voice Memos (iPhone 3GS only) — a simple voice recorder for making notes to yourself.
  
• Voice Control (iPhone 3GS only) — Place a call or play a song using voice commands. To activate this feature, hold the "Home" button down for 3 seconds.
  
• Games — Stuck in an airport and don't want to work? Play every kind of game imaginable. Or just surf the net with the excellent Web browser.

I may love the iPhone but there is definitely room for improvement:

• Keyboard Navigation — What, no cursor keys? Editing can be quite cumbersome with no easy way to move back and forth through text.
  
• USB Support for Transferring Data — Most apps sync data via WiFi. I have set up an ad hoc wireless connection with my laptop but getting it to work reliably can be a challenge.
  
• AT&T — At this point, the iPhone is only available through AT&T. I dumped Sprint (which has excellent coverage in my area) to move to AT&T and my experience with its network has been less than stellar. There is a rumor afoot that a Verizon iPhone is en route this year. We'll see.
  
  Also, AT&T does not offer insurance. Every smart phone I ever had from any carrier included the option to buy insurance through the carrier and have the cost appear on your monthly mobile bill. Insurance is useful for those of us who tend to run over, drop, or give swimming lessons to our smartphones. Not so with the iPhone. Break your iPhone, and you will dish out bucks for a new one. If you have a problem with it, take it to your local Apple store (if you have one) for a warranty repair. However, if you need a loaner, it will cost you. You can, however, purchase insurance through a service like SquareTrade.
  
  As an aside, AT&T offers a device called a 3G Microcell ($150). With AT&T coverage less than desirable, this device has made my transition to AT&T from Sprint relatively painless. Currently, the device is being tested in a few US markets (North Carolina being one of them). There are no per minute fees or any other charges whatsoever. There is an optional package ($19.99/month) that enables you to make unlimited mobile calls using your 3G Microcell connection. Also, there are some rebates available to lower the $150 price tag.
  
  The 3G Microcell is a device that acts like a wireless network extender (also called "femtocell"). It uses a broadband Internet connection to give you 5-bar 3G access in your home or small office. The set up process is simple and it just works. I've used it for three months, and have had to reboot (power off/on) maybe three times. There are a lot of complaints that the 3G Microcell is just AT&T forcing the customer to pay for extending their less-than-adequate network. The AT&T 3G Microcell will roll out to the rest of the US starting this month.

CONCLUSION

Bottom line? I love my iPhone despite a few drawbacks. It has all the functionality I could ever need (or imagine) in a handheld device. Would I give it up? You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands!

This article originated in TechnoFeature, a weekly TechnoLawyer newsletter containing in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in this newsletter that you'll find TechnoLawyer's oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. Learn more about TechnoFeature.

- - - - - - -

A big thanks to Christel Burris for sharing her thoughts on the iPhone.  Here are links to the apps that she recommended, many of which I also recommend and have previously discussed on iPhone J.D.:

1. LogMeIn Ignition ($29.99): 
2. Ilium eWallet ($9.99): 
3. Facebook (free): 
4. TaskTask ($4.99): 
5. Dragon Dictation (free): 
6. Touch Meeting (free): 
7. InerTrak for iPhone ($4.99): 
8. DocScanner ($5.99): 
9. Evernote (free): 
10. LawStack (free): 
11. Fastcase (free): 

MacLitigator wins trial with an iPad

I'm still on the fence on whether and when to get an iPad (and if so, whether to get the original or the 3G version) and I expect that many of you are in the same boat.  Thus, I'm always intrigued to read about how other lawyers are using an iPad to do things that they couldn't do with an iPhone.

Peter Summeril is a plaintiff's attorney in Utah with the firm Hasenyager & Summerill, and he also runs the website MacLitigator.  Summeril recently tried a case against a public golf course after his client's golf cart flipped in an area he alleged was steep, improperly banked and leaf covered.  The jury found the city 70% at fault and found damages to be $361,661.  But what really interested me about the trial is that he used an iPad to run his openings and closings, display admitted documents and display deposition transcripts during cross-examination.  As Summeril describes on his MacLitigator website, the iPad worked so well that his laptop "sat somewhat despondent at counsel’s table" only used once for a quick search during trial.

If you are an attorney trying to decide whether to get an iPad, or an iPad owner trying to decide how it can be used at trial, be sure to read Summeril's great post.

Review: GateGuru -- find restaurants, stores, etc. at the airport

As someone who travels a fair bit, I often have layovers at an airport while I wait for the next flight.  Typically there is just enough time to get something to eat or buy something I need, but the time is tight enough that I need to be efficient in doing so.  GateGuru is a very helpful app that lets you make the most of your time in the airport.  It used to cost $1.99, but now it is free.

 

When you start the app, if you are at an airport the app quickly figures out where you are.  Otherwise, you can jump the last airport at which you used the app or you can select from a list of airports.

    

Once you select an airport, the app allows you to select a particular terminal or concourse and then shows you all of the establishments at that concourse.  You can filter the list to only display food options, shops or services.  Each entry displays the name, category and location so you know where in the concourse to find the establishment.

    

You can tap on an entry to get more information such as reviews.  I rarely find the reviews helpful, but sometimes they are, such as this review indicating that the particular restaurant is one of only two sit-down restaurants at the concourse.

 

In addition to limiting your search to a particular concourse, you also can search the entire airport.  For example, let's say you are at the Atlanta airport (which has a great train making it easy to go from one terminal to another) and you feel like going to the Chick-fil-A.  Where is it?  GateGuru quickly tells you that it is on Concourse A, right next to Gate A10.  Instead of wasting time looking for a directory in the airport and then looking over other peoples' heads as they also try to figure out where to go, you can just head straight to the A10 area.

    

I've done a lot of traveling over the last few months, and this app has been a big help.  GateGuru makes it easy to quickly determine restaurant options or find a service, from an ATM to a shoeshine.  I see that the app has several other features — for example, it allows you to add bookmarks, review establishments, suggest additional entries for the app — but I haven't used any of them.  For me, the core function of the app, the ability to efficiently determine what is available at an airport, makes this a must-have iPhone app for the frequent or occasional traveler.

Click here to get GateGuru (free): 

Bunnell's Close Encounters with Steve Jobs

I've been a Macworld reader and subscriber for as long as I can remember, and today the magazine and its website are perhaps the best source of iPhone news and reviews.  The first issue of Macworld was released on January 24, 1984, the same day that the Macintosh itself was introduced by Steve Jobs.  Last year, on the 25th anniversary of Macworld, the magazine's current editor, Jason Snell, wrote about that first issue revealing, for example, that there is no date on the issue because nobody knew for sure which day the Macintosh would debut.  Kev Kitchens of Low End Mac wrote another good article about the first issue of Macworld, which apparently included an interview with Bill Gates.

One of the founders of Macworld magazine was David Bunnell, a media entrepreneur who founded other magazines such as PC World.  Earlier this month, he started a series of posts called "My Close Encounters with Steve Jobs" on his website in which he describes the origin of Macworld magazine.  The posts are very entertaining and include lots of humorous stories about Bunnell's meetings with a much younger Steve Jobs.

If you enjoy reading entertaining stories about Apple history, you will love this series of posts.  Here is a link to Part 1, and from there you can page through his website to get to the most recent entry, although along the way you'll have to skip through some other posts which are not part of the story.  Or, here are direct links to the entries so far: [I've updated this post to include links to all 15 parts.]

Part 1: Meeting Steve

Part 2: Seeing the Macintosh for the Very First Time

Part 3:  We Met with the REAL Steve Jobs and He Showed Us the Macintosh!

Part 4:  Steve Jobs Tells Us to "Belly Up to the Bar"

Part 5:  Steve Jobs Comes Up with a Weird, Outlandish, Bizarre, Puzzling and Stunning Ad to Introduce the Macintosh

Part 6:  Steve Jobs Poses for 1st Cover of Macworld, Then Changes His Mind, but...

Part 7:  Andrew Fluegelman Urges Apple to Delay the Mac's Introduction

Part 8:  Pat McGovern Meets with Steve, the Deal is Done

Part 9:  Steve is F*cking Great!

Part 10:  Steve Thumbs his Nose at the Apple II

Part 11:  The Macintosh Speaks for Itself (literally)

Part 12:  The Fat Mac Saves the Day

Part 13:  Steve Brings Tina to the Macworld Dinner Party

Part 14:  Ella Fitzgerald Sings Happy Birthday to a "Young Man Named Steve"

Part 15:  Steve's NeXT Big Thing

This is a great series of stories about Steve Jobs and the early days of the Mac and Macworld.

PLAC in San Antonio

I'm attending the PLAC conference in San Antonio in a few days.  If you are also attending and you want to meet up and talk about all things iPhone, send me an e-mail or just track me down at the conference.  I look forward to seeing some of you there.

In the news

The big iPhone story this week was the prototype iPhone purchased by Gizmodo for $5,000.  Heck, even I couldn't resist talking about it twice.  But believe it or not, that wasn't the only iPhone news of note.  Here is the other iPhone-related news that I came across and wanted to share with you.

• MacUser UK reports that Google announced yesterday that it plans to bring free turn-by-turn navigation to the iPhone, although it didn't say when it would do so.  The free turn-by-turn directions that Google provides with its Android phones has gotten good reviews, so from that standpoint it would be nice to see it on the iPhone ... unless you happen to be one of the developers of an iPhone app that does the same thing.  I imagine that the more expensive apps on the iPhone will continue to offer premium features, but it could make it difficult for some of the less expensive iPhone apps which have more limited features.  (Link via Chicago attorney Dan Saavedra.)  [UPDATE:  Now Google is saying that they didn't really mean that it is coming to the iPhone, according to this report from PC World.  "We did not say we would bring it to iPhone, we said to date we've had it on Android and that in the future it may come to other platforms but did not confirm this will be coming to iPhone at all."  Hmm.]
• If you are a tax attorney, you might be interested in two "Law ToGo" apps from Jade Nile, LLC that came out over the last month.  One contains the Tax Code and the other contains the Treasury Regulations.  You can see videos of each app on the Law ToGo website, and attorney Martha Sperry has a review on her Advocate's Studio website that walks through the features of the app.
• Zusha Elinson writes for The Recorder / Law.com about Apple's outside IP litigation counsel.  Weil, Gotshal is handling a counterclaim filed by Apple against Kodak last week, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is handling a dispute with Nokia, and Kirland & Ellis is handling Apple's patent offensive against HTC over Google Android phones.
• Speaking of lawsuits, Charles Starrett of iLounge reports on a new class action filed against Apple alleging false-positive readings on the iPhone's moisture sensors.  I once stood in line behind someone at the Apple Store Genius Bar who was quite insistent that her teenage son had NOT gotten his iPhone wet and therefore it was still in warranty.  I didn't buy her story at the time, but who knows.
• Earlier this week, I discussed Apple's last fiscal quarter in which it sold a record number of iPhones.  Those sales benefited not only Apple but also AT&T, which sold 2.7 million of the 8.75 million iPhones last quarter.  Electronista has more details.
• Apple added a support article to its Knowledge Base warning people that if you jailbreak your iPhone, it may become unstable.  I agree, and that is why even though I know that there are some interesting things that you can do once you jailbreak an iPhone, I have never done so and I don't recommend that you do so unless you fully appreciate and accept the risks.
• If you want a really thin battery case for your iPhone, for a long time the Mophie Juice Pack has been the product of choice.  However, Engadget reports that MiLi has come out with a similar case that is a twentieth of an inch less thick.  So there.
• Apple has been running some new ads for the iPhone, continuing its theme of showing off great apps.  You can see all of the latest ads on the Apple website right here.
• Marco Tabini of Macworld looks at the feature currently in the iPad in limited fashion, and coming to the iPhone in 4.0 this Summer, that allows you select a document in an app such as Mail and choose to open it in a third party app.
• Greg Lambert at 3 Geeks and a Law Blog writes about Thomson Reuters offering prizes for app developers.  The focus of this contest is apps for financial professionals, but I hope that the company is also working on a useful Westlaw app for the iPhone.
• Paul Miller of Engadget writes a good report on what we know about the hardware features of the "lost" prototype iPhone that Gizmodo purchased for $5,000.  I imagine that we will see most if not all of these features in the next generation iPhone that I expect Apple to debut in June.
• Infamous bank robber Willie Sutton has been widely (and perhaps falsely) quoted as answering the question of why he robbed banks by saying "because that's where the money is."  You might expect that Apple puts Apple Stores in the areas of the country where there are the most people who buy Apple products, but as Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore reports, this is actually not the case.
• Tony Bradley writes in his Tech Audit column at PC World that the upcoming 3G version of the iPad could be the ideal mobile business tool.  I'm still trying to decide whether to buy an iPad, but my current thinking is that the 3G version makes the most sense for lawyers.
• On the other hand, the Wi-Fi version of the iPad will work just fine if you have a portable Wi-Fi hotspot such as the MiFi.  The MiFi, which gets great reviews, typically sells for anywhere from $50 to $250, but Amazon is currently selling it for ONE CENT if you get a two year Verizon contract ($40 a month for 250 MB of access, $60 a month for 5 GB of access).  Sounds like a great deal.
• Jeff Smykil of Ars Technica reports on data from advertising group Chitika which leads them to conclude that over half of all iPad users use Windows at home.  The data source sounds a little unreliable to me, but the conclusion may well be correct.
• Bill Gates on the iPad, as reported by Phil Bronstein of the San Francisco Chronicle:  "It's okay. The scenarios aren't that clear. But it's good looking. [Steve Jobs] does good design, and [the iPad] is absolutely a good example of that."
• And finally, would you like to turn your iPhone into a retro phone?  Then you'll want to get the iRetrofone Base being sold on Etsy for $195.00.  (Link via iPhone Savior)

Was acquisition of the "lost" iPhone a criminal theft?

Earlier this week I discussed the circumstances surrounding Gizmodo paying $5,000 for a prototype of a next generation iPhone that was lost in a bar.  As I noted in my earlier post, most of the Gizmodo articles say that the iPhone was "lost," but after Apple sent Gizmodo a formal demand for the return of the iPhone, Gizmodo's Brian Lam said to Apple:  "Just so you know, we didn't know this was stolen when we bought it." 

Stolen?  I don't practice law in California, but (non-attorney) John Gruber said on a podcast this week that he believes that this iPhone is "stolen" under California law, citing California Penal Code Section 485.  That provision states:

One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is guilty of theft.

You can imagine the argument that the person who found this iPhone in a bar knew who the true owner was and, by deciding to sell it for $5,000, appropriated the property without first making "reasonable and just efforts" to return the iPhone and, therefore, is guilty of theft.

What about Gizmodo?  Well, take a look at California Penal Code Section 496(a), which provides in part:

Every person who buys or receives any property that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing, selling, or withholding any property from the owner, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year.

If the person who obtained the iPhone in the bar is guilty of violating § 485, then that means that the iPhone was "obtained in any manner constituting theft."  Gizmodo bought that property for $5,000, so it would seem that it could be found guilty under § 496(a) ... if Gizmodo knew the property "to be so stolen or obtained". 

Did Gizmodo know that the prototype iPhone was stolen?  Gizmodo says that it learned that this iPhone was really an Apple product once it opened up the iPhone, but didn't learn that the owner was an Apple employee until the afternoon of Monday, April 19, 2010.  Here is what Gizmodo currently says on its website, and note that much of this language — I believe the part that Gizmodo is now placing in italics — was added or changed in this post after it first went up on the Gizmodo website at 8:10 p.m. on the 19th:

Gizmodo got it for $5,000 in cash. At the time, we didn't know if it was the real thing or not. It didn't even get past the Apple logo screen. Once we saw it inside and out, however, there was no doubt about it. It was the real thing, so we started to work on documenting it before returning it to Apple. We had the phone, but we didn't know the owner. Later, we learnt about this story, but we didn't know for sure it was [the Apple employee]'s phone until today, when we contacted him via his phone.

Gizmodo talked to Apple on Monday afternoon, so it appears that Gizmodo is taking the position that it didn't "know" that this iPhone was stolen from an Apple employee until the afternoon of April 19th, and soon after that Gizmodo talked to Apple and made plans to return the iPhone.  But if Gizmodo learned days earlier, when it took apart the iPhone, that it was a real Apple device, and depending upon what Gizmodo was told before it paid $5,000 for the device in the first place, you can imagine the argument that Gizmodo had the requisite knowledge before April 19th.

So did the person who found the iPhone in the bar break the law?  Did Gizmodo break the law?  I don't know, and none of us can know, without knowing all of the facts.  Indeed, the only facts that we have at this point are the facts disclosed by Gizmodo on its website, and as noted above, Gizmodo has at least once updated its post to change or add different facts.  Presumably there is another side to this story, and we are not hearing it.  Moreover, I don't even know the law because I don't practice criminal law in California.  There may be other applicable statutes that I am not considering.  If any California lawyers see something that I am missing, please let me know and I will update this post.

Apple now has the iPhone back in its possession.  Jason Chen of Gizmodo revealed on the Adam Carolla podcast that someone from Apple legal — perhaps Bruce Sewell himself? — came to Chen's house on Monday night and picked it up.  Even if the law was broken, we don't know whether Apple would press charges or pursue any civil remedies.  I can envision Apple deciding that it doesn't make sense to go after a journalist, even though paying for stolen property may be different from a journalist paying for information or photographs.

If you want additional perspectives on all of this, be sure to check out this post on Technovia by Ian Betteridge and this post by John Gruber on Daring Fireball.  Neither are attorneys, but both seem to have a good handle on the legal issues, and Gruber has some unique insights on the facts.

[UPDATE 4/24/10:  CNET reports that local police are investigating to determine whether a crime was committed.]

[UPDATE 4/26/10:  Gizmodo reports that on Friday, April 23, police seized the computers at the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, the person who obtained the "lost" prototype iPhone for Gizmodo after the company paid $5,000 for it.  Gizmodo reports that it wants to invoke the Journalist Shield Law.  John Gruber's commentary on this is:  "Journalist shield laws are about journalists being able to protect sources who may have committed crimes. They’re not a license for journalists to commit crimes themselves. Gawker is making an argument that is beside the point. They’re arguing, 'Hey, bloggers are journalists.' The state of California is arguing 'Hey, you committed a felony.'"]

Apple 2010 fiscal second quarter -- the iPhone angle

Apple's 2010 fiscal first quarter began on September 27, 2009 and ended on December 26, 2009.  The second fiscal quarter ended on March 27, 2010.  Thus, Apple's Q2 always falls after the big holiday sales season and before the big educational buying season, and historically, it is one of the lowest quarters for Apple.  But thanks to the iPhone, this year that is not true.  Last night, Apple announced its 2010 Fiscal Second Quarter results, and Apple had an amazing quarter of sales.

If you want to hear the full call yourself, you can download it from iTunes or you can read the transcript provided by Seeking Alpha.  You can also read a short Apple press release here.  But if you just want the iPhone-related highlights of the call, then you are in the right place.  As usual, the questions were answered by Apple's Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer and Apple's Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook.

• Oppenheimer said that Apple had an "outstanding March quarter" that "exceeded our expectations."  He explained:  "Revenue was $13.5 billion, a 49% increase over the prior March quarter’s results. This very strong performance was due primarily to the more than doubling of iPhone sales and the strong momentum of our Mac products."  The quarter before the last one (which included the holiday season) was Apple's best quarter ever, but 2010 Q2 was the second best quarter in Apple's history, and the best non-holiday quarter ever.
• The iPhone was a huge reason for Apple's amazing quarter.  Apple sold 8.75 million iPhones during the quarter.  This is the largest number of iPhones that Apple has ever sold in any quarter, and was even 50,000 more than Apple sold last year in the 2010 Q1 holiday quarter (September 27, 2009 to December 26, 2009), which held the prior record for the most iPhones sold.
• Apple received, on average, about $620 per iPhone sold in the quarter.  (Carriers like AT&T subsidize the iPhone price so that consumers pay far less than $620, and AT&T makes up the difference through its monthly fees.)   This compares to the around $170 that Apple makes for each iPod sold and around $1,275 that Apple makes for every Mac sold.  (Apple make more when the sale is from an Apple store instead of a third party reseller.)
• The iPod touch — which many call the iPhone without the phone — also had a sales increase of 63% over last year.
• As a result, a full 40% of Apple's revenue last quarter — $5.445 billion — came from the iPhone.  To put this in perspective, Apple's Macintosh computer sales were up compared to this quarter last year, but as a percentage share Apple's revenues Mac sales were down to 28% because of the phenomenal iPhone sales.  Nobody can dispute the significance of the iPhone to Apple.
• To further put this in perspective, this time last year Apple was thrilled and surprised to have sold 3.8 million iPhones during the quarter.  They more than doubled that this year.
• To further put this in perspective, although there was growth in the overall smartphone market this past quarter, the iPhone unit growth of 131% outgrew the market by three times.
• To further put this in perspective, check out the yellow line in this great chart prepared by Macworld in its excellent article on the conference call.  (You can also read a transcript of live chat by Macworld writers and a few others that took place during the call.)

• The iPhone is now sold in 88 countries and is available on 151 carriers.
• Customers once again ranked the iPhone #1 in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Wireless Smart Phone Customer Satisfaction survey.
• Apple is looking forward to the release of iPhone OS 4, which Oppenheimer said is coming "this summer."  No specific date or month was revealed, and instead Oppenheimer merely confirmed that there will be two improvements to the iPhone this summer:  (1) software, the new iPhone software 4.0 that was recently previewed, and (2) hardware, the "new iPhones that will be coming this summer."
• There have been over 4 billion apps downloaded from the App Store.  There are over 185,000 apps available, including over 3,500 for the iPad.  Apple confirmed that it operates the App Store, like its iTunes music store, at essentially a break-even point making only a small amount of profit.  The money that Apple makes from the App Store for the most part goes right back into improving the App Store because the primary reason for the App Store is to promote iPhone (and iPod touch and iPad) sales.
• Tim Cook answered a question about why Apple has multiple carriers in many countries but only one carrier in some countries, such as the U.S. which has only AT&T.  Cook said that every time Apple has changed a country from a single carrier exclusive to a non-exclusive with multiple carriers, iPhone growth has increased and market share has improved.  However, Apple does not believe that this would be the result in every country, and there re still three main counties with a contractual exclusive relationship:  the U.S., Germany and Spain.  Cook did not give any indication of when or whether the iPhone would ever become available on multiple carriers in those three countries.
• When asked about how the price of the iPhone affects sales, Oppenheimer said that even when the $99 version of the iPhone 3G came out last year, Apple was surprised at the large number of people who still opted for the more expensive iPhone 3GS.  Price is important, but Oppenheimer said that it is not the only factor that determines what people buy.
• There was also some discussion of the iPad on this call.  Apple did not reveal any specific iPad numbers because the iPad started shipping in April, after the 2010 Q2 quarter ended.  Nevertheless, Oppenheimer said that "we feel very, very good about the start of iPad."  He also said:  "I think it is a new category and certainly it is early but we really, really like what we see right now.  We had what we thought were high hopes and it exceeded those."  Tim Cook added:  "We will see where this thing goes but it has shocked us the level of demand at least initially."
• When asked how an iPad compares to a netbook, Tim Cook said that there is no comparison.  "To me it is a no-brainer.  iPad/Netbook, it is sort of 100 to zero.  I can’t think of a single thing the netbook does well.  iPad does so many things very, very well.  I am already personally addicted to mine and couldn’t live without it."
• Apple plans to open 40-50 new stores during fiscal 2010, half of those in international locations such as London, Paris and Shanghai.
• And finally, Apple was asked how much it spends on legal expenses, but Oppenheimer ducked the question, merely saying:  "We have certainly factored into the guidance we have given you for the June quarter and results we have reported for March our legal and other expenses.  Whatever we are incurring in that area is included."

It really wasn't that long ago that you frequently saw articles in the press about how Apple was dying as a company.  Many companies and law firms (such as mine) that had traditionally been all-Macintosh shops switched over to Windows.  But thanks first to the iPod, and now with the iPhone, Apple is stronger than ever.  Time will tell whether the iPad proves to be as important as the iPod and iPhone have been, but for Apple products as a whole, the future looks bright, and I can't wait to see what Apple brings us next.

Prototype of next gen iPhone lost (stolen?), purchased by Gizmodo for $5,000, requested by Apple

Apple is famously secret about the new features coming in its unannounced products.  As a result, there is always a lot of speculation about what is coming in its next generation products and a lot of (free) publicity for Apple when the product is finally announced, especially when Steve Jobs himself unveils the new product.  For example, everyone expects a new iPhone to be unveiled by Apple this summer, perhaps in late June, so normally we would expect a lot of speculation for the next two months, followed by the big reveal, followed by a ton of buzz and excitement.  Presumably, the end result would be a boost in sales of the next generation iPhone.

For this sequence to work best, Apple needs to keep the details of a new device secret.  It is difficult to generate buzz when people already know what is coming.  However, this past Saturday, Engadget posted blurry photographs of what it claimed to be the next generation of the Apple iPhone.  And then yesterday, Gizmodo revealed that it actually had the device in question because it paid $5,000 to a person who picked it up in a bar after an Apple employee mistakenly forgot the device on a bar stool.

The story that has unfolded over the last 48+ hours is fascinating, as reflected in the following:

1. Original Engadget story on Saturday with blurry pictures purporting to show the next generation iPhone.
2. Followup Engadget story on Sunday asserting that the pictures are real.
3. Monday morning post on Gizmodo revealing that the site had acquired the device, including video and photos of the device, and listing the new hardware features such as a camera on the front (presumably for video chat), a flash next to the camera on the back, a possible secondary mic on the top of the device for noise cancellation, split buttons for volume, and improved display, a flat back made of glass or ceramic, a larger battery and a more squared off design.
4. Monday morning tweet by Nilay Patel, an attorney who is an editor at Engadget, stating that "in California, the finder of a lost item is required to tell the police and turn it over to rightful owner."  Patel subsequently tweeted that he was referring to Cal. Civ. Code § 2080.
   
5. Monday afternoon tweet from Nick Denton, head of Gizmodo's parent company Gawker, confirming that Gizmodo had paid for the device.
6. Monday night post on Gizmodo identifying the Apple employee who they assert lost the device and the alleged details on how it was left in a bar on a bar stool by mistake.
7. Monday night AP story saying that Gizmodo paid $5,000 for the device.
8. Monday night online New York Times story (printed this morning on page B1 of the newspaper) outlining the sequence of events.
9. Late Monday night post on Gizmodo by Brian Lam stating that the Apple had called during the day to ask for the device back, Gizmodo responded it wanted a formal demand [in other words, something that Gizmodo could publish on its website], and that in response Apple's Senior VP and General Counsel Bruce Sewell sent a formal demand letter.  Note that Brian Lam says in his reply to Apple:  "Just so you know, we didn't know this was stolen when we bought it."  Stolen?  By the way, if you want to know more about Bruce Sewell, I posted about him last September when Apple hired him as its new general counsel.

[UPDATE:  This is an interesting post by Ian Betteridge, who is not an attorney, about the potential civil and criminal liability of Gizmodo and the person who the site paid $5,000.  Link via Daring Fireball.]

Thus, it appears that the device that Gizmodo asserts was left in a bar on March 18, 2010 is indeed Apple's property.  Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that the device is exactly what Apple will reveal this summer.  It could be just one of several possible prototypes with some features that will not be included and missing other features that will be included.  One can only speculate.  But whether or not the device itself is what we will see this summer, I agree with John Gruber who noted on his Daring Fireball website that "the story behind this unit is almost certainly more interesting than the device itself. And the device is fascinating." 

And if the device really was mistakenly left in a bar by an Apple employee as Gizmodo asserts (although its latest post does say "stolen"), I feel bad for the Apple employee who made that mistake.  We've all had moments in our life when we wish we could go back and change just one thing that we did that causes a big fallout.  This would be one of those moments.

Review: Note Taker -- handwrite notes on your iPhone

Lots of apps allow you to jot down a note on your iPhone, but the text is typically entered by using the virtual keyboard.  Note Taker is an app that allows you to jot down notes by using your handwriting — or perhaps I should say your fingerwriting.  The app allows you to create a blank page of notes, each page being approximately the size of an index card.  You use your finger to draw letters in red ink on the full screen, and then whatever you write appears in black text on the card as a whole.  This way, you can use the entire screen as a writing surface, but then what you have drawn only takes up a small part of the screen.  It's a pretty ingenious system.

 

 

It's a little hard to describe the process for writing notes, but this video shows you how it is done:

Buttons at the bottom of the screen let you move the blue box (which is the part of the card where what you write will appear), change to a larger or smaller pencil to draw on more on the card at once, erase using an eraser and delete the last letter that you wrote.  And you can tap the button at the bottom left to make all of the writing area disappear so that you can just see what you wrote.

 

The app keeps tracks of all of your notes and lets you name them or tag them.  When you are finished with a note you can e-mail it or save it to your Photos on the iPhone.

 

This is a really neat app but, for me at least, it doesn't seem very useful.  I find that it is much slower to write text using my finger than it is to just type on the iPhone virtual keyboard, and thus I cannot see ever wanting to write out a note using this app instead of any of the countless apps that have a virtual keyboard such as the iPhone's built-in Notes app.  But fortunately, the developer offers a free lite version (which is the version that I tried) that lets you create up to four notes, and then if you find the lite app useful you can upgrade to the full version which costs only $1.99.

One interesting tidbit about this app:  it was developed by Dan Bricklin.  In 1979, Bricklin was the co-creator of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program for a personal computer.  For a time in the early 1980s, VisiCalc was the #1 reason for many business to get a computer in the first place.  One might argue that the Apple II, and thus Apple itself, would not have been an early success but for VisiCalc.  There are not many iPhone app developers who can say that they also wrote software for the Apple II, and none who can say that they wrote software nearly as important.  Bricklin's Note Taker app will not have the same impact on the iPhone as VisiCalc did on the Apple II, but it is great to see Bricklin still writing innovative software for Apple's products over 30 years later.

If you think that you might enjoy the ability to write out, instead of type out, your notes, try the lite version and see what you think.

Click here for Note Taker Lite (free): 

Click here for Note Taker ($1.99): 

In the news

Sorry for the failure to post yesterday; it's been a busy week for me at work.  And now as I catch up on iPhone news, there are bright lights coming through the window in my study because they are filming an episode of the great new HBO show Treme next door to me.  So in a few weeks, if you watch the show and you see a scene with someone writing a blog post in a house in the background, that's me.  Hi Mom!  Anyway, it's Friday, so that means it's time for another installment of In The News — indeed, the 50th such installment, the golden anniversary, for those of you counting at home.  And yes I realize that we just did one of these.  Here we go again.

• Minneapolis attorney Barry Edwards explains why lawyers will like iPhone software 4.0, a topic on which I also have an opinion.
• Gizmodo has some screen shots of the current developer build of iPhone 4.0 if you want to get a sense of how the new features are likely to look when the final version comes out this summer.
• John Welch writes for Macworld about what iPhone 4.0 will mean for large companies with IT departments.  I count large law firms in that category.
• Gizmodo also has a review of the AT&T MicroCell, the $150 device that lets you use your broadband internet to improve AT&T 3G service, noting:  "It's nothing short of revelatory, to suddenly have full reception where there was none, to make calls where one couldn't before."  If you find that your law office or home has poor AT&T reception on your iPhone, this looks like a good solution.  
• Tennessee attorney Mark Cowan wrote to me about a bizarre problem on his iPhone — suddenly, all of his third party apps started crashing when he tried to launch them.  What to do?  He finally located this comment on a blog post which explains that problems can happen if you lose Internet access while syncing your iPhone.  The solution is to download another app — any app, even a free one — on the iPhone to restore your iPhone's ability to run any third party apps.  A strange problem and an non-intuitive solution, but now if you experience it yourself you will know what to do.
• I cannot count the number of times that people have written to me saying that they want to add an iPhone J.D. bookmark on their iPhone Home Screen but they are waiting for a nice custom icon.  (My inability to count them is related to the complete lack of any such requests.)  Nevertheless, the wish that you didn't even realize that you had is now granted.  I've set it up so that when you are viewing the home page of iPhone J.D. on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, just tap the plus at the bottom of Safari and select Add to Home Screen, and you will get a custom iPhone J.D. icon with a shortcut to this website on your Home Screen.  Thanks to attorney Megan Erickson for the post on her great website, Social Networking Law Blog, which alerted me to this trick, and to Dan Dickinson for posting the technical information for how to make this work.
• For the Louisiana attorneys who read iPhone J.D., attorney Matt Miller is updating his iPhone apps containing Louisiana laws to version 2.0, adding the ability to change the font size and improving search and text readability.  The Civil Code app was updated in late March and the Code of Civil Procedure app was updated last night.  My review of the original version of the apps is here.  Click here to get La. Civil Code ($6.99):    Click here to get La. Code of Civil Procedure ($9.99): 
• And now for the iPad news of the week.  I had my first chance to play with an iPad earlier this week when attorney and app developer Dan Friedlander came to New Orleans and the three of us — me, Dan, and the featured guest, his iPad — met up for lunch.  Dan wrote the useful law-related iPhone apps Court Days, Workdays and myMCLE.  One of the most useful iPad apps that Dan showed me is GoodReader, and on his blog he explains why it is a must-have app for lawyers using an iPad.
• Jason Calacanis of Mahalo started a video podcast on the iPad, This Week in Pad (TWiiP).
• Attorney Brian Malcolm writes about the pros and cons of the iPad for lawyers on the Young Lawyers Blog.
• Utah attorney Peter Summerill bought an iPad and believes that is has potential, but recommends that lawyers wait to buy one:  "Bottom line: wait to buy the iPad. There is no specific 'need' for attorneys to have this device at this time. While the future of the iPad may hold magical and amazing things in store for attorneys, the inability to do any significant work and the complete lack of applications which support the workflow of an attorney" are reasons not to buy today.
• And finally, if you are looking for a sleeve-style case for your iPhone with a fun picture on it, check out the designs of Etsy merchant Coolbeans717 who offers lots of choices that cost $20 each such as the ones pictured below.  And for $26, she can even create a custom case for you with your own picture.

 

 

How to redial on the iPhone

Here is a very quick tip, probably something that you already know, but if not then now you do:  the way to redial a number on the iPhone.  This was one of the dozens of tips that Ben Stevens and I discussed last month during our ABA TECHSHOW presentation.  There are two ways to redial in the Phone app.

First, you can tap the Recents tab at the bottom.  This will show you all of the people who you have recently called or who have recently called you.  Just tap a name to call.

Second, you can redial from the keypad.  You won't see a redial button on the screen, but if you don't type any number at all and just hit the Call button, the iPhone will present you with the last number that you dialed.  Tap the Call button a second time and the iPhone will redial that number.  Thus, two taps of the Call button get you a quick redial of the last number that you called.

Review: Opera Mini -- fast alternative to Safari web browser on the iPhone

Apple has traditionally been reluctant to approve of third party apps that duplicate built-in functions on the iPhone, and thus Safari has been the only web browser on the iPhone.  There are third party web browsers in the App Store, and many apps include a built-in web browsing function, but all of those apps have used Apple's WebKit, the same engine that powers Safari.

Late last night, that changed when Apple approved the Opera Mini web browser and added it to the App Store.  Just the fact that this app was approved in the first place is a significant event.  As noted in the New York Times back in 2008, Opera had started working on a web browser for the iPhone soon after Apple allowed third parties to write apps, but the company stopped development once it became clear that Apple would not approve an alternative to its own Safari browser.  But for whatever reason, Opera went ahead and wrote the app anyway and submitted it to Apple last month, Apple surprised everyone by approving the app yesterday, and now we have the free Opera Mini on the iPhone as an alternative to Safari.

The main advantage of Opera Mini is speed when you are connecting via Edge or 3G.  Unlike the Safari app which presents you with the "full internet" on the iPhone, when you request a web site in Opera Mini the request goes to the Opera server, which gets the page, compresses it up to 90%, reformats it for a mobile phone screen, and then sends it to the iPhone.  Because much less data is sent to the iPhone, pages display faster.

 

The difference is most notable if you are on an Edge connection, where Opera displays a website much faster than Safari; Opera claims up to six times faster.  On 3G, Opera still feels faster but the effect is not quite as dramatic, and on Wi-Fi there is virtually no speed advantage.  For example, Greg Kumparak of Mobile Crunch ran a speed test and found that on 3G, sites loaded two or three times as fast as Safari, but on Wi-Fi, sites loaded just about as fast on both Opera Mini and Safari although Opera Mini had a very slight advantage.  In addition to the speed advantage there is also a data advantage; if you are not on an unlimited data plan (for example you are traveling internationally), you will appreciate using less data to view the same website. 

Unfortunatley, you pay a price for the speed and reduced data.  Pages frequently look worse in Opera than they do in Safari, with text not wrapping around graphics the right way or graphics not being sized correctly.  Websites are still completely functional, just sometimes not as pretty and less legible when you are viewing the entire page.  Here are two examples with Opera on the left and Safari on the right:

    

  

Although it is difficult to read a webpage in Safari in full page view, you can still double tap on a column of text (just like in Safari) to zoom and read that text.

In addition to the speed advantage on Edge and 3G, Opera has some other unique advantages.  First, the default blank page in Opera can hold shortcuts up to nine of your favorite sites.  Hold down on one of the icons and a pop-up menu will appear letting you change the shortcut.

 

Second, the app has an interesting method of using multiple tabs so that you can have different websites open at the same time.  Tap on the tabs button and a strip will pop up with overlapping square icons that you can tap to jump to a page.  Unlike Safari, which limits you to 9 tabs, you can open many more tabs in Opera Mini.  (If there is a limit, I haven't figured it out yet.)  And switching between tabs in Opera Mini seems to be faster than doing so in Safari.  If you like tabbed browsing on an iPhone, I suspect that you'll be a fan of Opera Mini.

 

Third, the app has some very useful tools that you access by tapping the wrench icon.  Three that I particularly like are (1) the ability to save a webpage so that you can instantly load it again later and (2) a useful Find in Page feature that gives you the ability to search for text within a webpage, with the terms highlighted and a Next button that lets you quickly find each instance of the word.

  

You can pinch to zoom in Opera, but unlike Safari where you can zoom to any level, in Opera you only have two zoom levels — the entire webpage, or zoomed in on the text.  You can select text, but the implementation is more cumbersome than in Safari; you have to hold down your finger, then choose select text from a pop-up menu, then drag to select the text.  And sometimes, the app doesn't correctly register that you are trying to select text.  On the plus side, Opera does give you a fast option to run a Google search based on selected text.  When you scroll down a webpage, you will see that pictures further down are not fully loaded although they do load as you scroll.

The Settings screen gives you several options to make Opera even more efficient.  For example, you can adjust the image quality to make pictures load even faster (or turn off loading images completely).  If you use Opera on your desktop computer, you can also use Opera link to sync between the two (although I didn't test that option).

 

Opera is new to the iPhone, but Opera Mini has been around on other smartphones for a while.  Indeed, the debut version of Opera Mini for iPhone is version 5.0.  While Opera Mini has been around the block and thus you would expect a solid app on the iPhone, I still consider Safari on the iPhone a much more polished browser overall.  Nevertheless, I encourage you to download Opera Mini, especially considering that it is free.  If you ever find yourself on a slow Edge connection, web browsing can be much faster on Opera Mini than on Safari.  If you ever want to save a bunch of webpages to view later (perhaps when you don't have a web connection), Opera Mini lets you do that.  And the Find in Page feature is great, and I am sure that I will use Opera Mini at times in the future just for this feature — at least, until Apple adds it to Safari, which I hope that they do soon.  (Yes, I know that there are currently javascripts that you can use in Safari to find text in webpages, but they always feel like hacks to me.)  It is significant that Apple approved Opera Mini at all, and because of the unique features of Opera Mini, I am sure that lots of people will download it for occasional use at those times when the unique advantages of Opera make it a better choice than Safari.

Click here to get Opera Mini (free): 

In the news

The big news late last week was, of course, iPhone software 4.0, so I did not post an "In the news" segment this past Friday.  Thus, today is a special Monday version of the latest iPhone-related news that has caught my eye.

• Palm Beach, Florida lawyer Christopher Hopkins wrote a free app containing the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct, plus the Southern District guidelines and local bar rules for Broward/Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach.  Click here for CLaw — Florida Rules of Professional Conduct (free):
• Today, Adobe is releasing Flash Professional CS5, software used to write Flash apps.  One of the marquee features of this new version was supposed to be the ability to write an iPhone app using Flash, but late last week Apple prohibited this in its developer rules.  John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote an interesting article speculating on why Apple was doing this, and according to Engadget, Steve Jobs himself seems to like what Gruber said.
• There are lots of different iPhone GPS apps out there to assist you when driving, and Engadget recently tested and rated some of the more popular ones.  Note that they did not test MotionX GPS Drive, the one that I have been using.
• Dan Moren of Macworld reports that actor Justin Long says that the "Get a Mac" ads that he does with John Hodgman may be over.
• Did you ever notice that all of the official Apple pictures of the iPhone display the time 9:42 and the official iPad pictures display 9:41?  Have you ever wondered why?  iPhone developer Jon Manning ran into Apple Senior VP Scott Forstall at an Apple Store on iPad launch day and asked him.  To get the thrilling answer, read Manning's blog entry, and then read Harry McCracken's article on Technologizer for the rest of the story.
• I always enjoy reading stories of people using MobileMe to track down a stolen iPhone, and C.W. Nevius of the San Francisco Chronicle has a new one.  Unfortunately, he also reports that iPhone crime is very frequent in San Francisco, and he quotes San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Brian Buckelew as saying:  "Probably half the robberies in the city are iPhones. Some days there are three iPhone robberies on the court calendar.''
• Last year, I reviewed Gogo, a Wi-Fi service that you can use with your iPhone on many airplanes.  If you travel often, you may be interested in this Electronista article which notes that you can now get a $35 per month unlimited plan that works on all Gogo flights, even services offered on different airlines.
• Marco Tabini of Macworld reports that the iPhone was easily the winner of the 2010 J.D. Power smarphone satisfaction survey.
• The Week has created a list of "The 10 Stupidest Apple Apps Ever."
• The iPad continues to dominate the news, and here are a few iPad stories that I think are worth reading.  First. TUAW reports that someone placed an iPad for sale on eBay for $5,000 with the provision that the seller would personally deliver the iPad to any international airport in the world on April 3, the day that the iPad came out.  Apparently the offer appealed to someone who doesn't live in the U.S. but wanted an iPad on Day 1, as the eBay listing shows that the item was sold for $5,000.  The TUAW article also reports that someone else in the UK reportedly spent $5,500 for an iPad.
• Dan Frakes of Macworld has an excellent post on how the iPad works with existing accessories that were made for the iPhone or iPod.
• Attorney David Shulman writes about the use of the iPad by lawyers.
• iPad Notebook is a blog about the iPad by lawyer Justin Kahn.
• Dr. Joel Topf speculates that the iPad may be the "next great thing" that Steve Jobs first spoke about in 1996.
• PC World stress tested the iPad and found it to be rather strong.  You can damage it by dropping it or getting it wet, but not by scratching it.  "Its well-coated screen is literally scratch-proof: We couldn’t produce any scratches on the display even when we tried to etch it with a nail; you definitely won’t need to buy one of those stick-on screen protectors.  The glass did start showing signs of physical damage after a couple of drops onto concrete. But even in those extreme circumstances, the screen cracked only after we dropped the iPad face-down onto the pavement."
• Bob Tedeschi of the New York Times describes some of the best iPad apps.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball has an excellent review of the iPad.
• And finally, Blendtec answers the question, will the iPad blend:

Why lawyers will love iPhone software 4.0

Yesterday, Apple previewed the next version of the iPhone operating software, version 4.0, which is due out this summer.  You can watch a video of the presentation by Steve Jobs on the Apple website.  Jobs announced that there are now over 185,000 apps in the App Store, that users have downloaded over 4 billion apps, and that Apple has sold over 50 million iPhones (plus another 35 million iPod touches).  Scott Forstall of Apple announced that over 80 of the Fortune 100 companies are using iPhones.

But the star of the show was the new features in iPhone software 4.0.  Apple says that there are over 100 new features for iPhone users, and here are the ones that I think that lawyers and other professionals using iPhones will really love.

1. Multitasking: fast app switching.  Instead of closing one app to launch another app, you can now quickly switch between apps with each app freezing its current state until you return.  This will increase your efficiency using multiple apps at the same time on your iPhone, such as switching back and forth between Mail, Safari and a third party app while you are drafting an e-mail, just to pick one example.
2. Multitasking: VOIP in the background.  With 4.0, Voice over IP will be supported in the background, which makes the Skype app 100x more useful.  With 4.0, while you are doing something else on your iPhone, Skype will still be able to ring you when a call comes in.  Plus, you can continue talking to someone over Skype while switching to another app, such as checking your e-mail or your calendar.  For people traveling internationally who want to use Skype to talk to people in the U.S. for pennies instead of paying expensive roaming fees, this is huge.
3. Multitasking: audio in the background.  The iPod app has always been able to play audio in the background while you use another app.  With 4.0, third party apps can do this too — making the Pandora app all the more useful.  
4. Other multitasking features.  Those first three multitasking features will probably be the ones that lawyers find most useful, but in addition it is nice that under 4.0 (1) apps will have improved abilities to send you pop-up notifications, (2) apps can complete certain tasks (like upload a picture or video) while you switch to another app, and (3) social networking type apps will be able to track your location even when the app is running in the background (and Apple will notify you of this so that an app cannot track your location without your knowledge).  These three features are less important for attorneys, but may be useful at times.
5. Mail: attachments and third party apps.  We spend a lot of time in the Mail app, so it is great to see some major improvements.  First, with 4.0 you will be able to open an attachment to an e-mail directly into a third party app.  I hope that this means that 4.0 will let you choose from among several possible apps, so for example if you have a Word attachment you can choose to open it directly from Mail into apps like Quickoffice or Documents to Go.  Those apps currently have creative work-arounds for accessing attachments to your e-mails, but direct access would be much more efficient.  I much prefer viewing Word, PDF and Excel files that are attached to an e-mail in Quickoffice or Documents to Go, so anything that makes it easier to do so is a welcome improvement.
6. Mail: unified inbox.  Most of us have multiple e-mail accounts such as Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc., and 4.0 will let you have a single Mail inbox to view all of your e-mails at once, much like the Mail application on a Mac does.  Or if you want to keep your accounts separate, 4.0 will give you much faster inbox switching.
7. Mail: threaded messages.  With 4.0 you can organize e-mails by thread, making it much easier to view an original e-mail and all of the replies.
8. Mail: better MS Exchange support.  Most large law firms, and many smaller ones, use Microsoft Exchange for e-mail.  iPhone software 4.0 adds support for Exchange Server 2010, plus adds the ability to access multiple Exchange accounts.
9. Mail: spell check.  Mail and other apps have spell check in 4.0. The iPad already includes a spell check feature, and I imagine that the feature will work the same way in 4.0 for the iPhone.
10. Mail and other apps: external Bluetooth keyboards.  If you need to write a long e-mail or a significant insert for a document on an iPhone, with 4.0, you can pair your iPhone with a Bluetooth keyboard to make it much easier to type all of those words.  This makes it easier to decide to leave your laptop at home and just travel with an iPhone and a small keyboard to use when you need to type something long on your plane or in a hotel room.  There are already many small, portable Bluetooth keyboards such as the iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard or even Apple's own Wireless Keyboard, but I imagine that very soon we will see some nice portable keyboards specifically designed for an iPhone running 4.0.  This will make apps like Quickoffice and Documents to Go even more useful because, for the first time, you might actually decide to use those apps as word processors.
11. Organize apps into folders.  The only way to organize your apps now is to move them to separate pages, but this is not ideal when you have a lot of apps.  Under 4.0, you will be able to drag one app onto another one to group those apps into a folder, and then drag other apps into that folder.  Thus, you can keep all of your legal statute apps in a single folder, one which remains on your first or second home screen (or even in your dock) but which doesn't take up numerous spaces.  I have been wishing for a feature like this for a long time, and I can't wait to use it. 
12. Display more apps.  Folders are not just an organizational tool; they also let you display more apps on your iPhone.  If you are an app junkie like me with tons of apps, you know that the iPhone can currently display only 11 pages of 16 apps per page, which is 176 apps, plus the four apps at the bottom for a total of 180 apps.  You can store more than 180 apps on your iPhone, but they do not show up on your home page screens so you can only access them using search.  Jobs said that the folders in 4.0 allow you to display up to 2,160 apps on your iPhone.  (2,160 divided by 180 is 12; so perhaps that means that each folder can hold up to 12 apps.)
13. iBooks.  The larger iPad is far superior for reading iBooks, but if you have both an iPad and an iPhone, it will be useful to be able to read a book on the iPhone as well.  Your current page will sync, so if you are up to page 156 in a book on your iPad and then you have a few minutes of down time with your iPhone, you can read a few more pages and the iPhone will know where you left off.
14. Improved security.  Security is important for lawyers, and in 4.0, all of the e-mails and attachments on your iPhone can be encrypted with your PIN code.  (It was unclear whether this was automatic or a feature to be turned on.)  Plus, app developers will be given the tools to encrypt all data in their apps as well.  Another security enhancement in 4.0 is improved tools for a company to manage all of the iPhones used by employees.  Additionally, 4.0 supports SSL VPN for improved security in VPN sessions.

There are many other new features in iPhone software 4.0 that lawyers might enjoy, although they are unlikely to improve your billable hours.  For example, with 4.0 you can add a wallpaper to your home screen.  If you like games, 4.0 enhances support for multiplayer games and makes it easy for your friends to send you a message on your iPhone asking you to join a game, plus you can compare your high scores with those of your friends.  

If you like to take videos on your iPhone, with 4.0 you can tap to change the focus while you are recording a video.  If you take a photo in the wrong orientation, with 4.0 you can rotate a picture on the iPhone.

4.0 also supports a slick advertising feature that Apple calls iAds.  You may question whether adding ads to your iPhone is a "feature."  As John Moltz humorously noted on his website:

iAds. AWESOME. Now we can watch ads on our iPhones. YES. At long last. The feature we’ve all be asking for. Our long national nightmare is over. All hail our wise corporate overlords who always have our best interests at heart. We have always been at war with Eurasia.

The counter argument is that iAds will encourage developers to create more free, ad-supported ads.  Time will tell whether iAds bring us better free apps.

Note that not all iPhones will be able to support iPhone software 4.0.  It doesn't appear that the original iPhone will run 4.0 at all.  [UPDATE 4/12/10:  Engadget reports that Steve Jobs confirms this.]  An iPhone 3G can run some features, but not the ones that require more horsepower such as multitasking.  An iPhone 3GS can take advantage of all of the features in 4.0.  If you don't own an iPhone 3GS, 4.0 will be a compelling reason to upgrade once Apple releases the next version of the iPhone this Summer.  4.0 will also come to the iPad, but not until this Fall.

Developers can now download iPhone software 4.0, and as they tinker with it over the next few months, I'm sure that we will learn more about the great new features in 4.0.  But from what we learned yesterday about 4.0, it is clear that lawyers and other professionals using the iPhone will see a lot to love.

Live coverage of today's iPhone announcement

Apple is announcing details on the new iPhone Software 4.0 today at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern.  If you are in the Central time zone like I am, why not have lunch at your desk on Thursday and read about all of the exciting announcements as they happen.  Many websites will be providing live coverage of the Apple event.  Here are the ones that I recommend, based on the quality of their prior coverage of similar Apple announcements, including the links to where the sites should provide their live coverage:

• Engadget
• GDGT
• Macworld
• Technologizer
• Gizmodo
• CNET
• Ars Technica
• TUAW
• TWiT (live video commentary)

Review: Touch-Fill-Go -- easily scan documents and annotate PDF files

If you ever have the need to annotate documents, such as fill out a form or add some text to a document, Touch-Fill-Go is a neat iPhone app that can scan a paper document to create a PDF file or import a PDF file, add annotations such as text or a signature, and then e-mail the annotated PDF file or send the file to another iPhone via Bluetooth.  There is room for improvement, but this app is very handy.  It regularly sells for $4.99, but it just went on sale for $2.99 for a limited time, and at only $3 I think it is an app that many lawyers and others will want to get.

You add a document to Touch-Fill-Go one of two ways.  First, if you have the document in paper form, you can use the iPhone camera to scan the document.  To assist you in making the scan straight, the app displays a white grid on top of the document that you are scanning, and the app turns the grid green at the best time to take the picture.  In my experience, it was very difficult to tap the screen and take the picture at exactly the moment that the grid is green, but the camera still did a decent job capturing the image.  Once the image is captured the app will analyze the image to try to optimize the image quality and orientation.

     

Once the image is analyzed, you can then adjust the image by cropping the sides (useful to make sure that only the document itself remains, cutting out the edges), by rotating the image and by manually adjusting the brightness and contrast.

    

Alternatively, you can import a file that is already in your Photo Library on your iPhone, or you can import a PDF that is available at a website.  To use that last feature, you enter an address in the app's web browser and then find a PDF that is online.  For example, I downloaded an attorney admission from from the U.S. Supreme Court website.

    

Once the file is ready, either because you scanned it or you imported it, you can then annotate the file.  If you are filing out a form, the app does a decent job of automatically detecting most fields such as lines and checkboxes, or you can manually tell the app where you want to type.  If you start to enter text that you have typed in the past, the app offers suggestions so that you don't have to fully type the text again.  You can control the font and size, and after text is entered you can easily move it around or scale it larger or smaller.

    

In addition to adding text, you can place a checkmark in a box, and you can even add a signature, which you can scale so that it is the right size on a line.

    

Once you are done, you can store the file in the app itself, and the app includes folders to keep files organized.  You can use Bluetooth to send the file to another iPhone.  Or, and most usefully, you can send the annotated file as a PDF attachment to an e-mail.

I was very impressed with the abilities of this app.  The annotation feature is impressive, and the ability to take a physical document and easily create a digital PDF file is very useful.  Having said that, there are several areas for improvement that would make this app even better.  First, I wish that there were additional ways to get PDF files into the app, such as the ability to e-mail a file to the app.  The Zosh app that I reviewed last year is similar to Touch-Fill-Go and it allows you to do just that.  Zosh does not let you scan physical documents to create a PDF, but if you already have a file in PDF form, it is a lot easier to get that file into Zosh.  Similarly, it would be nice if Touch-Fill-Go could access PDF files on cloud storage services such as Google Docs, MobileMe, Dropbox, etc.

Second, it is difficult to add a signature to a document because you are limited to the width of the iPhone screen in landscape mode.  Zosh solves this problem by automatically scrolling a window while you are signing.  It would be useful if Touch-Fill-Go could do the same thing.

Third, I wish that the app would let you crop or adjust the brightness/contrast on a document AFTER you start to annotate it.  Adjusting any of those settings results in the app erasing all of your annotations.

The developer of this app is EarthLink.  Yes, that EarthLink, the internet service provider.  I don't really understand how this iPhone app fits into the company's core business.  I imagine that one of its employees just developed this cool app on his own, perhaps just because he wanted to use it himself, and the company decided to sell the app under its name.  EarthLink was kind enough to provide me with a free copy of this app for review purposes, but has not yet responded to my question on how this app fits in with the rest of the EarthLink business.  I mention this only because I hope that EarthLink recognizes the value of this gem of an app and continues to improve it, even if it is just an ancillary business for the company.  Indeed, I wish that there was some way to merge the best features of Touch-Fill-Go and Zosh, because the result would be an amazingly powerful app.

If you need to annotate a PDF file that you can access on the internet, or if you have a physical document that you want to scan and fill out, this is an incredibly useful app.  And if EarthLink adds a few more features, then this app could become essential for many lawyers and others who work with a lot of documents that need to be annotated or filled out. 

Click here for Touch-Fill-Go ($2.99 sale): 

iPhone Software 4.0 will be previewed on Thursday

In March of 2008 and 2009, Apple took the opportunity to preview the next version of the operating system for the iPhone.  The target audience has always been developers, who need to start getting their iPhone apps ready before the new operating system comes out, but mere iPhone users also have a chance to learn what is coming next.  On March 6, 2008, Apple announced iPhone Software 2.0, which allowed third party apps for the first time.  This was the single biggest change that Apple ever made to the iPhone, and today it is hard to imagine the iPhone without apps.  The picture on the invitation for the 2.0 announcement was:

On March 17, 2009, Apple announced iPhone Software 3.0, disclosing a slew of new features including copy and paste, spotlight and search, updates within apps, push notification, GPS turn-by-turn directions, the landscape keyboard, and many others. The picture for the invitation to that announcement was:

A few weeks ago on March 17, in addition to thinking green, I also thought about the fact that Apple had not yet announced anything about iPhone 4.0.  Of course, at the time, everyone was focused on the iPad and not the iPhone, but I did wonder whether we would see an announcement soon.

Yesterday, two days after the iPad first went on sale, Apple announced that this Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 10 am Pacific, Apple will preview iPhone OS 4.0.  The picture on the invitation sent to selected members of the press is:

 

I'm sure that Apple has known for many weeks that they would have this announcement, but the company didn't tell the world because Apple wanted the focus to remain on the iPad.  But now that the iPad is out there, developers really need to know about the new software ASAP, so Apple cannot wait much longer to have this announcement.

What will we see on Thursday?  Considering how major the iPhone 2.0 and 3.0 announcements were, people are expecting quite a bit.  Probably the #1 feature being requested for the iPhone and the iPad — I presume that iPhone 4.0 will work on both devices — is the ability to run multiple apps at the same time with some apps running in the background.  Who knows whether this feature will be announced, but I do notice that the picture on the invitation for this Thursday includes the number four IN THE BACKGROUND.  I know, I know, I'm probably reading too much into a picture, but you have to admit that this is at least a possible explanation.  We'll see in a few days.

As important as the Thursday announcement will be, it is really only one half of the big iPhone news for 2010.  I also expect to see new iPhone hardware this year, perhaps announced around June 28, 2010 because that is when an anonymous "corporate event" thought to be Apple is scheduled for the Moscone Center in San Francisco.  But because I expect that iPhone OS 4.0 will work on most or all current iPhones in addition to the iPhone that Apple will announce this summer — which I'm guessing will be called the iPhone HD — the announcement this Thursday will be more important for a greater number of iPhone users. 

I am excited to see what we learn on Thursday, and you can be sure that I will discuss it here on Friday.

In the news

The big iPhone-related news of this week was the iPad, and the anticipation is  growing for the big launch tomorrow.  But the news wasn't all iPad, and here are some of the iPhone-related items of interest that caught my attention over the last few days.

• Earlier this week, I posted a list of the apps discussed during the 60 Apps in 60 Minutes presentation that Reid Trautz and I gave at ABA TECHSHOW.  Rachel M. Zahorsky of the ABA Journal (who you may know from Twitter as LawScribbler) wrote this article on our presentation, giving more info on a few of those apps.  By the way, I met a ton of great people who work for the ABA Journal at TECHSHOW, including editor and publisher Ed Adams (Twitter), Molly McDonough (Twitter), Sarah Randag (BlawgWhisperer on Twitter), the person who anonymously posts on Twitter as ABAesq (who told me that he/she may reveal himself/herself soon), and many others.  I included the Twitter handles because all of those people are worth following.
• Speaking of the ABA Journal, its most recent (and very unscientific) online poll asked what smartphone lawyers carry.  The results show that 27% use an iPhone, right behind 34% who use a Blackberry.
• Writers for The Chicago Lawyer were also in attendance at the 60 Apps in 60 Minutes presentation.  They — I'm not sure whether it was Paul Zelewsky or David Glynn — posted this article identifying a few of their favorite apps for lawyers from the over 60 we discussed in our presentation.
• Ben Stevens, my co-presenter at my other TECHSHOW presentation last week, posted some interesting reflections on TECHSHOW.
• The U.S. Army is talking to Apple about using iPhones.
• Brad Stone of the New York Times writes about Tony Fadell, one of the key creators of the original iPod, who severed most of his formal ties with Apple in 2008 and has now officially ended his remaining consulting relationship with Apple.  Thanks, Tony, for all that you have done.
• Ryan Ray of iPhone Nuts discusses iPhone apps that are useful for students.
• I have never jailbroken my iPhone and have no plans to do so.  Thus, I won't be able to use this app, but as a former Treo 650 user I can't help but be amused at an app for jailbroken iPhones from StyleTap that emulates a Palm on an iPhone, as reported by Josh Topolsky of Engadget.  Every useful program that I ever ran on my Treo 650 exists in a better form on the iPhone, so I don't see much use here, but it does bring back memories.
• Ross Rubin of Engadget discusses Zosh, a useful app that I reviewed this past December.
• Do you use Quickoffice?  (My most recent review is here.)  Would you like to win $250?  If you go to this thread on the Quickoffice Facebook page and post a story of how Quickoffice helped you to accomplish an important business or personal task, you have a chance to win a $250 iTunes gift card or a $250 Visa gift card (your choice).  That money would be useful to help you pay for a new iPad or to save for the next version of the iPhone.
• And for the record, as I told folks at TECHSHOW last week, my prediction is that the next iPhone will be announced this June and will be called iPhone HD, based on nothing more than my guess that we will see an HD camera in the next iPhone, just like you now see in the tiny Flip MinoHD.
• Yukari Iwatani Kane, Ting-I Tsai and Niraj Sheth of the Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article on the iPhone and AT&T.  First, they predict that the iPhone is coming to other carriers this year.  That's possible, but I won't believe that rumor until I see it.  Whether you believe that rumor or not, there are lots of other interesting tidbits in the article such as "According to comScore Inc., AT&T has over 43% of all U.S. smart-phone customers, compared with 23% for Verizon" and "For several quarters, AT&T's growth has come almost single-handedly from the iPhone."
• Niraj Sheth of the Wall Street Journal also reports on AT&T's efforts to improve its network to deal with iPhone users.  The article notes:  "In mid-December, AT&T executives set up a 100-day plan to dramatically improve the company's network in densely-populated cities, according to people familiar with the plan. Since then, AT&T has added new network spectrum to better handle traffic, repositioned antennas to improve reception in office towers and wired more neighborhood cell towers with faster connections."  And he reports that it is not just AT&T making changes; Apple has been as well:  "Apple rejiggered how its phones communicate with AT&T's towers. As a result, the phones now put less of a load on the network for such simple tasks as finding the closest tower or checking for available text messages."
• If you subscribe to MobileMe, you will be happy to learn that Apple updated the iPhone MobileMe Gallery app this week to make it easier to see your friends' pictures, as noted by Serenity Caldwell of Macworld.
• The iPhone may not have the most powerful camera in the world, but it can still take some pretty powerful pictures as demonstrated by Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder's pictures of Afghanistan.  (Link via Daring Fireball)
• And finally, a company called Jailbreak Collective is selling iPhone app magnets.  The website says that they are currently sold out but will have new shipments in late April.  They cost $12.99 and allow you to make your refrigerator look like your iPhone.  They also sell a cute app T-shirt, but the magnets are my favorite.  (Link via iPhone Savior)