According to Newsweek, both the iPod Touch and to a lesser degree the iPhone are increasingly being used by the U.S. military because of their versatility, ease of use and comparative low cost.

Software developers and the U.S. Department of Defense are busy developing military software for iPods in an attempt to gives soldiers even more functionality. A new program called Vcommunicator produces spoken and written translations of Arabic, Kurdish and two Afghan languages.

"Snipers in Iraq and Afghanistan now use a "ballistics calculator" called BulletFlight, made by the Florida firm Knight's Armament for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Army researchers are developing applications to turn an iPod into a remote control for a bomb-disposal robot (tilting the iPod steers the robot). In Sudan, American military observers are using iPods to learn the appropriate etiquette for interacting with tribal leaders," the report says.

According to an Army official in Baghdad, the devices have yet to be successfully hacked and at $230 a pop, the iPod may fit right into President Obama's 663.7 billion dollar defense budget.

Just looking at the smartphone market, Apple also continues to solidify its dominance. In America, the iPhone now accounts for 48% of all traffic to Admob's network, which is more than RIM (19%), Palm (9%), and Windows Mobile (15%) combined.

It's All About Usability

As we pointed out last month, Apple has created a user-experience that makes its users want to use the mobile web on its devices. It is probably safe to assume that most iPod touch users could easily have used their desktops or laptops to access the web instead, but for quickly looking up the news or reading email, the instant-on experience of a phone is often preferable over the more fully featured desktop experience.

To be in to win, leave a comment on last100 listing your top five digital lifestyle products and/or services.

• iPod touch
• BBC iPlayer (for iPhone/iPod touch)
• PlayStation 3
• Zattoo (Live TV on a PC)
• Pandora (Internet radio)

My current top 5 is:

• iPhone
• last.fm
• iPod / iTunes
• Playstation 3
• Skype

BuzzLogic has unveiled a solution today which helps marketers keep track of social influence. Based on your topic of interest, BuzzLogic software turns the chaotic world of blogs and web sites into a network of flows of influence. The software finds top influencers, measures the weight or importance of each source, and shows you incoming and outgoing influence flows.

The company used an interesting example on stage - Microsoft Zune's marketers need to compete against the beloved iPod. To do that, they need to tap into the blogosphere to identify iPod's top influencers. The BuzzLogic team tracked iPod, Zune and iPod+Zune influencers and literally got a picture of the situation (like the one shown below). They were able to identify a few key blogs that Zune should approach to help them turn the tide. Personally, I am skeptical that Zune can catch up at this point, but with the BuzzLogic service at least they can see what the need to.

Pics: dchurbuck

Today it seems like a lot of developers may have made the right move. At a press even this morning in San Francisco, Apple announced the iPod Touch, which is essentially an iPhone without the phone.

Image from engadget.

The iPod is the most successful portable music player line in history, having sold 110 million devices so far, according to Apple. Even if the current version don't fly off the shelves due to their smallish hard drive size (the regular video iPods also hit 160GB today for $50 less than than iPod Touch at 1/10th the storage size), they're an indication of where the platform is heading. Flash memory will eventually drop in price, and the iPod Touch and iPhone will undoubtedly grow in capacity and become more attractive to iPod devotees.

What that means for web developers is a much larger user base for those iPhone-versions of their web applications. Instead of 1% of the cell phone market, they might end up eventually with access to 70-80% of the MP3 player market -- or a whole bunch more people surfing those iWhatever-optimized web sites.

Conclusion

Last month a report from Forrester Research compared the iPhone and the traditional mobile web. Forrester concluded that the iPhone signaled the end of the mobile web as we know it, while Dave Winer disagreed, saying that the "iPhone view of the web is not optimal for the user."

Richard MacManus took a more even approach, coming to the conclusion that "the iPhone isn't quite a Mobile Web killer just yet." The iPod Touch, however, might be another nail in the coffin of the mobile web, especially given that iPhone-optimized sites take away the ease-of-use advantage of mobile web optimized sites -- and will not be more widely available because of Apple's latest device.

What do you think? Will you be getting an iPod Touch? Does it make sense for developers to be optimizing their sites for Apple's devices? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Update: Our network blog, Last100, has full and comprehensive coverage of today's entire Apple announcement, from the new iPod Touch, to the old iPod Classic, the new Nanos, to the iPhone ringtones and the Starbucks partnership. So be sure to check it out.

1) Zune will have a social network (iPod/iTunes doesn't)

This is clearly going to wake Apple up, because a social networking aspect is the one glaring feature missing from its otherwise excellent iPod/iTunes online music combo. Zune's social networking will be based in Zune Marketplace, the equivalent of iTunes. Songs can also be shared via wireless technology on the Zune device.

It also seems that Zune will have as good a selection of music as iTunes, although details are sketchy at this stage.

2) Zune is centered on connectivity

This is what Microsoft truly believes is its advantage over Apple - ability to connect Zune across a network of devices. Zune will no doubt over time hook into the PC, Xbox, TV, etc. While Apple announced its own inter-connection plans with iTV this week, in this case Apple is the follower and not the leader.

Of course the big advantage Apple has is its brand and design, which a lot of people think is enough to continue its success. And given the early screenshots of Zune, with its brown(!?), black and white colors and its monolith-like shape - well, let's just say that Apple designers won't be feeling the heat any time soon!

Summary: Zune Experience

Microsoft's vision for this is summed up here: "Zune is Microsoft’s music and entertainment platform that provides an end-to-end solution for Connected Entertainment."

It's a social platform, as well as a music one. This currently differentiates it from Apple, so it's a good move by Microsoft. It also promises a very connected experience across devices, which plays to Microsoft's strengths. Whether all this is enough to challenge Apple, which has already won over the hearts of the mass market with the iPod and iTunes, will be interesting to see.

Some things we didn't see:

• new iPod Shuffle
• push notification for iPhone
• one more thing...

TV Shows

With regards to TV shows on iTunes, Apple announced the availability of a select number of shows in HD, including Monk, The Office, and Heroes. Apple also announced the return of NBC to the iTunes store.

iTunes 8

The user interface of iTunes 8 only received minor cosmetic updates such as a flat album cover view and one-click automated playlist creation. The major addition to iTunes is the 'Genius' feature, that will make buying recommendation and suggest playlists based on your buying behavior and the music already in your library.

Apple also announced that iTunes will start sending data about the songs you listen to and your music preferences back to Apple. This is an opt-in service and, according to Jobs, completely anonymous, but privacy advocates are surely going to take a very close look at this.

iPods

Classic: The iPod Classic has been cut down to one model with 120GB. According to Jobs, most users only considered the 80GB model anyway.

Nano: The Nano received a major design overhaul, with a curved glass front and a larger screen and a built-in accelerometer. The UI for the Nano is now similar to that of the iPhone/iPod touch.

One nifty new feature: Thanks to the accelerometer, you can now just shake your nano and it will automatically go into shuffle mode.

The nano can now play 24h of music and 4h of video.

The new nano will cost $149 for 8GB and $199 for 16GB and should ship in the next few days. It's available in a whole rainbow of colors:blue, purple, orange, green, and pink.

It also looks as if the new headphones for the iPod's have microphones, though it is not immediately clear why. We assume that all the iPods now have voice recording built-in by default.

Ipod Touch: Apple also introduced a new iPod touch, which keeps the same design as the old one, but is a bit thinner and has a stainless steel rim with integrated volume controls on the side (hey - I want that for the iPhone as well!) and built-in speakers.

Nike+ now comes standard with the iPod touch, though you would still need a transmitter for your shoes.

According to Apple, the iPod touch can play 36hrs of music and 6hrs of video and the price points are: 8GB, $229, 16GB for $299, and a 32GB for $399.

App Store

According to Jobs, 100 million apps have been downloaded from the store in only 60 days.

Games: Apple is clearly trying to push the iPod/iPhone as a mobile gaming platform. Jobs stressed that there are now over 700 games available for the iPhone/iPod touch platform. To drive this point home, Phil Schiller demoed Spore Origins for the iPod (our review of Spore for the PC was mostly negative, but the iPhone game has gotten rave reviews so far). Phil also demoed 'Real Soccer 2009' and 'Need for Speed,' which both look like they are very good games as well.

2.1 Firmware

The updated firmware is available for the iPod touch for $9.99.

For the iPhone, Apple promises that this updated fixes the problems with dropped calls and crashes in Safari and other applications that have plagued the phone from the beginning. iPhone users can also expect better battery life, though Jobs did not go into any specifics. Apple also promises that backups will now be considerably faster (right now, some users are experiencing backups that can take hours).

The update will be available on Friday.

Summary

Overall, this was a bit of a lackluster event. While the updates to iTunes and the 'Genius' feature are interesting, the updates to the iPod line were, at best, incremental. The new look of the iPod nano is nice (though surely some will complain about it as well), but also nothing too revolutionary. Apple, of course, is in a hard spot, where it is constantly expected to surprise us. This event didn't hold many surprises, especially because 90% of the news had already leaked before the even even started.

One thing that did surprise us was that Apple did not make any announcements about the availability of push notifications for the iPhone in the next release of the firmware. It could still be part of the update, but so far, there is no indication that this will indeed be the case.

In the June 2009 Mobile Metrics Report, the focus was on the geographic distribution of the iPhone OS - the operating system that powers Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. North America is still the largest region with a 58% share. Western Europe is in second at 26%. From there, the percentages drop dramatically, as the chart below illustrates.

As of June 2009, AdMob reports that 54% of iPhone OS users were in the U.S. However, this number has dropped from 61% in January of this year, implying that international growth is now outpacing U.S. user growth. Following the U.S., the other top iPhone/iPod Touch-owning countries include the U.K., Germany, and France, each having over 5% of users.

Not surprisingly, there are far more iPhones in use than iPod Touches. The worldwide ration of iPhone to iPod Touch is nearly 2 to 1, says AdMod. This ratio has remained consistent over the last several months.

iPhone OS Percentage of Smartphone Traffic

Another interesting metric from the recent report is the amount of traffic generated by Apple mobile devices. The iPhone OS literally dominates the charts when compared to the other smartphones worldwide - in fact, it's responsible for nearly half (47%) of smartphone requests. Nokia's Symbian OS is still in a respectable second place with 34% of requests, but then the numbers dip down quite a bit. Blackberry's RIM OS only accounts for 7% of requests, for example, and Android only has 5%. However, AdMob notes that requests from the Android operating system have increased 25% month over month and have, for the first time, pulled ahead of Windows Mobile, which dropped to 4%.

What we can learn from this recent round of data is that the iPhone OS could easily be on its way to becoming a worldwide phenomenon. Although the U.S. still retains the number one spot when it comes to the country having the most iPhones and iPod Touches, the rate of adoption here has slowed. As worldwide growth speeds up, the chart may end up being less lopsided than it is now as other regions gain more users.

Still, you can't count out Apple's competitors just yet. Android's rapid growth is something to keep an eye on, especially as more models of Android phones are introduced. The Palm Pre - only responsible for 2% of smartphone requests - is also too new to the market for anyone to form any definitive conclusions about just yet (although the fact that it registered at all on a chart that features only the major smartphone players is worth noting). All that being said, it's clear that the iPhone OS has a commanding lead when it comes to surfing the mobile web, and that's something that won't change overnight...if it ever changes at all.

Pic: Michael Arrington

Several pundits noted that Apple's strategy for their Internet-connected products, including iTV, is disarmingly similar to the one Microsoft employs: closed ecosystems built on proprietary, locked-down technologies. As Tristan Louis put it:

"...there is no DVR or traditional TV tuner built into the device. I believe that this was not due to a technical limitation but rather as part of a wider play to create an eco-system around the new device. Much like Apple initially allowed other companies to develop components that played well with the iPod, I believe they are trying to get a new ecosystem built around the new device. This will allow them to gage innovation in the space and identify which opportunities may be best for future integration or as components to add to the system."

Apple is betting that their design and marketing prowess will give iTV an edge in what is shaping up as a highly competitive market for online television and movies. Microsoft is taking a multi-pronged approach - with Media Center, XBox, the upcoming Zune (an iPod-like product) and other multimedia functionality built into Vista. Let's not forget other players either: Yahoo has been testing online TV and video services, Google hasn't done much yet but could easily enter the market, smaller players like Brightcove and Gotuit, the cable tv companies, Sony, plus there are the existing DVR products like TiVo.

Where Apple's Internet strategy is different from the others is that, as Om Malik put it, "content is what sells the hardware". And that has worked a treat for music - the iPod has 75.6% of the market and iTunes 88% in the US and number 1 most other places (it still hasn't released in New Zealand though!!). They've achieved that through a combination of a 'best of breed' design (for the iPod) and a large selection of music on iTunes, that is about as comprehensive as it gets for legal downloads (still nowhere near online music nirvana though).

Design: Yes; Content: No

I'd bet dollars to donuts that Apple can nail the design for iTV, just as they did for iPod. That's almost a no-brainer. The real question though is: can they get as wide a selection of video/tv/movies as they've managed to do with music? So far they only have Disney video, courtesy of Steve Jobs being on the board of Disney. Will the other Hollywood and major media tv networks be as willing to give Apple rights to their content? I doubt it. In fact, it'll be extremely difficult for Apple to get mainstream media content for iTV - which they need, given that it doesn't have DVR functionality.

Betting against Apple on this one

The online video and tv market is wide open right now. Will Apple's iPod/iTunes strategy work as well for movies/tv shows as it did for music? If I was a betting man, I'd give that a resounding NO. There are too many other players - and none of them are as ill-informed and ignorant of the Internet as mainstream music companies were/are. Plus of course Microsoft missed the boat with online music (Zune is a very belated attempt at catch-up), but they won't make the same mistake with video/tv.

He goes on to talk about "lots of added value" on the network, citing telecommunications carriers / network operators who give away mobile phones in order to sell services. He used the phrase "cost compression" several times near the end to emphasize that businesses (like Sun and Microsoft) need to find new business models on the network.

A lot of what Schwartz said (especially that last point) complements the ideas that came out of my interview with Tim O'Reilly. Web services business models is a fascinating subject, but rather than focusing on the bigco's I prefer to look at how the little companies are creating new opportunities in this Web 2.0 world. Companies like Bloglines, Flickr, Feedburner, The Robot Co-op.

And by the way (as Jonathan might say), an eBook Reader is one device begging to be attached to the network. One problem is that there's no iPod-equivalent for eBook Readers. There are many reasons for that, which I won't go into right now. My point for this post is that there are many potential business opportunities for new companies to create network services around eBooks, should the right platform ever be put in place (in the same sense that the iPod is a platform for music services).

MojoPac got a round of applause here at DEMOfall for demonstrating portable technology that looked like pure magic. MojoPac allows Windows users to save their entire PC onto a USB or iPod. The users can then plug the portable storage into any other PC and that PC will have exactly the same software and settings their original PC had.

During the DEMO show, the company had 2 computers - one running a standard English version of Windows and another one that was running a localized Windows version in, I think, a flavor or Arabic or Hindu. In other words, they were totally different system with different configuration, settings and locale. The demonstrator copied the contents of the English-version of Windows onto an iPod - then walked over, plugged it in and in a matter of a few seconds, the entire PC was restored and ready to go. This looked more like a Houdini trick than technology, except that it is real. Here is how RingCube describes it:

“With MojoPac you can turn any portable storage device - an iPod, USB flash or hard drive, even a cell phone or digital camera memory card– into your PC. Simply install the MojoPac software on your favorite device, copy your files, select the applications, settings and environment preferences you use regularly, and MojoPac will mirror the capabilities and functionality of a private and secure PC. Whenever you plug your MojoPac enabled storage device into a Windows XP based PC, MojoPac will automatically launch, magically turning the host PC into the customized and private PC you enjoy at home, work or school. Instead of lugging your computer/lap top, you can pack up your entire PC and carry it in your pocket wherever you go.“

- MediaPost: Mainstream Media Warms To 'Web 2.0' (WashingtonPost guy: "We're trying to lengthen the interaction between reader and content." NYTimes calls it a "nexus of content and community")

- BubbleGen on tools and audiences (Umair says WSJ, WaPo, NYT and Economist audiences could give him content of relevance and depth, but they haven't been given the tools to connect and create)

- Can MySpace be Beaten? (great analysis on how MySpace/News Corp has "essentially captured the entirety of Americas youth" (!). Also check out Marc Canter's response, in which he says open standards could be the answer)

- BusinessWeek on social networking systems (thinks niche-oriented networks is the future, because " advertisers may have an easier time reaching such a targeted audience.")

- Here Come the Edge Aggregators! (interesting overview from Pete Cashmore of some of the other 'edge aggregators' out there, apart from edgeio)

- Jason Fried on Web 2.0 thinking ("It’s about value — something the new web set seems afraid to 1. create, and 2. charge for.")

- Union Square Ventures: Web services and devices ("When web services integrate with devices in a open architecture, we believe that the consumers' interest in innovation and integration will trump the vendors' interest in preserving control over limited proprietary channels.")

- Kevin Marks on Internet generations ("My generation draws the Internet as a cloud that connects everyone; the younger generation experiences it as oxygen that supports their digital lives." -- via Susan Mernit)

Flickr pic by berbercarpet

The company says "Any Windows Mobile device is now essentially an iPod, but streaming." That's putting it lightly; if this app works well then any Windows Mobile Device becomes an iPod with all the free music posted around the web on it.

It's a bold move from one of the most innovative companies in online music. The SeeqPod API is already one of the most popular for 3rd parties to integrate streaming music into other apps and the company seems to launch something unexpected every month. This has got to take the cake, though.

The app will include links to purchase songs, a fully skinnable player and it will be Bluetooth capable for streaming to car stereos and home audio systems. There will be affiliate sales opportunities as well.

SeeqPod has faced some substantial legal pressure from record labels that don't like the way it unearths MP3s around the web, many presumably posted illicitly. Selling a mobile app strikes us as incredibly gutsy.

Full details can be found at this page and requests for early access can be made via this link.

We hope to get our hands on the app later today so we can give the UI a look. A public announcement and availability is expected tomorrow. We love using SeeqPod and we're very interested in this mobile app.

During the presentation, Jobs stressed that the Genius feature in iTunes will now be applied to other areas in iTunes. Jobs also announced that Apple has received over 27 million libraries from its users, each with about 2,000 songs. Building on top of this database, Apple is introducing 'Genius mixes' in iTunes 9. You can now basically create Pandora-like radio stations with the music you already own by giving iTunes a few songs or artists to start out with. Update: Looks like we misunderstood this feature at first. 'Genius mixes' are actually build automatically after Apple looks at your library. iTunes simply creates 12 Genius playlists based on the kind of music you have on your machine (Alternative Mix, Classic Rock Mix, etc.). Users can't control these playlists or even see what song will play next.

The iTunes store is also getting a make-over, though the most important new feature here is that Apple is introducing 'iTunes LPs' - the much rumored 'Cocktail' feature that will bring artwork and liner notes and other 'memorabilia' back to digital music (as long you purchase it through iTunes, of course). The price of these digital LPs will be around $20. Apple is also extending this concept to movies and will bring DVD extras to movies in the iTunes store.

The store itself now looks a lot cleaner, and it does feature the rumored ability to send out tweets and Facebook status updates about songs.

We will have a closer look at the new iTunes and iPhone 3.1 update once Apple releases them later today.

Home Sharing

In addition, Apple announced that users can now share songs, movies, and TV shows with up to 5 authorized computers in a household. Apple always allowed users to share songs on a local network, but this new feature takes this a bit further as it also allows users to automatically transfer purchases between different computers on a home network.

Manage iPhone Apps in iTunes 9

iPhone and iPod touch users will also be happy to hear that iTunes now allows you to manage your apps directly in iTunes, making it far easier to arrange icons on the small screen than ever before. iTunes will now give you an overview of all the pages you have filled with apps on the iPhone and lets your reorganize those apps right from within iTunes. You can also move a complete page around.

iPhone Games

During the second part of the event, Apple gave iPhone and iPod game developers a chance to showcase a number of new games, including the upcoming iPhone version of Madden 2010, Riddim Ribbon (a new take on the Guitar Hero/Tap Tap Revenge music genre and maybe the most interesting game demoed today), Assassin's Creed, and Nova, a new first-person shooter from Gameloft.

iPod News: Cheaper & Bigger

Schiller also announced new prices for the iPod touch: $199 for 8GB, $299 for 32 GB and $399 for 65GB). The 32GB and 64GB version of the touch will now also support OpenGL ES2.0, making games on the iPod a lot smoother. Apples says these iPods are now "50% faster."

As for the iPod classic, the rumors of its demise came a bit too early. Instead of taking it out of Apple's lineup, the classic now features a 160GB hard drive for $250.

The iPod shuffle will now also come in a 2GB version for $59 and Apple introduced a special edition (with 4GB of memory) that is made out of polished stainless steel for $99.

iPod Nano Now With Video Camera

The iPod nano will now get a video camera  - the other iPods, despite all the rumors, will not. Apple also built an FM radio and a pedometer right into the nano, which will also now sport a slightly larger display (2.2 inches). In addition, the nano now has a built-in microphone and speaker. These new iPod nanos will retail for $149 with 8GB of memory and $179 with 16GB.

Maybe the rumors about the delayed cameras for the rest of the iPod lineup were indeed true. It seems odd that Apple would only introduce this feature in the nano.

Tip of the hat to the team at GDGT for providing the best live coverage of the event today!

It would be nice if Apple gave us a better breakdown of the kinds of apps it actually delivers (free vs. paid, games vs. utilities, etc.). This kind of transparency is obviously not in Apple's DNA, so we depend on data from third-party services like AdMob for this information. According to AdMob, iPod touch and iPhone users are more likely to buy apps than users of any other mobile platform and are also more likely to interact with mobile ads.

For developers, no matter the grumblings about the App Store approval process, the App Store is simply the largest and most lucrative marketplace for their work right now.