Google buys reMail iPhone app, then pulls it from App Store
For reasons yet to be revealed, search giant Google has acquired San Francisco-based reMail, makers of the reMail e-mail client for iPhone OS. The company promptly pulled the application from Apple’s App Store, however, leaving users perplexed as to the reasons why.
reMail CEO Gabor Cselle explained in a statement on reMail’s website that the company, and thus the application, had been acquired by Google, and he was hired to work as a product manager on Google’s GMail team. The reMail website already reads “Copyright 2009 Google,” but not all of the links to the now-vacant spot on the iTunes Store have been removed.
reMail, which continues to work for individuals who purchased the application before its removal, was meant to be an alternative to the iPhone’s built-in mail client. The application allowed for full-text search and offline support, among other things. All mail was stored on the phone in such a way that it took up significantly less space when compared to the same amount of mail on Google’s servers.
It seems Cselle will return to Google where he first started as an engineering intern in 2004 working on the GMail team. On his personal blog, Cselle claims that reMail and Google came to the decision to “discontinue” the iPhone application together. He also reiterates that the app will continue to work for those who have already purchased it, and that all in-app purchase options have been made free. Technical support will continue through the end of March.
While it is unclear what exactly Google’s plans are for reMail on the iPhone, it seems unlikely that the company will rebrand and rerelease. Google already has a spotty history with App Store approvals, including a Google Voice application that still hasn’t seen the light of day, and an initial rejection of its Google Mobile application (which has since been approved).
Though Apple had already approved the application when submitted by reMail, would it really surprise anyone if Apple rejected the application due to duplication of functionality when submitted by Google? Sure it would be a PR nightmare, but Apple seems to have already drawn the line in the sand with regard to Google. In the end we may be more likely to see reMail’s technology make an appearance on Google’s Android OS, perhaps as the official mail client there.
iPhone hardware and OS beat Nexus One for 3D performance
The Google Nexus One originally wowed us with its 1GHz Snapdragon processor, handily beating the 600MHz ARM core that powers the iPhone 3GS on raw performance. However, it turns out that the iPhone’s combination of PowerVR SGX GPU and support for ARM’s Neon floating point optimizations still give it a significant edge over the Nexus One when it comes to 3D animation.
Mobile developer Distinctive Games used a 3D game engine that taxes both the CPU and GPU to compare performance between an iPhone 3GS and a Nexus One. With a rendered background and two characters, iPhone clocks 60fps while the Nexus One manages just 30fps. The Nexus One has a much higher resolution than the iPhone—800 x 480 versus 480 x 320—so the Nexus One was limited to the lower resolution, resulting in an increase to 40fps. As the number of on-screen characters ramped up to eight, however, the iPhone managed a just-playable 29fps, while the Nexus One dropped down to 21fps.
Distinctive tested the devices further and found that two things were limiting the frame rate. The GPU in the Nexus One appears to not be as robust as that in the iPhone for 3D performance, and the CPU is being limited because the Android NDK (native development kit—used for apps that need direct hardware access, like games) doesn’t utilize ARM’s Neon floating point optimizations.
There is a workaround that allows taking advantage of the Neon instructions, but it involves recompiling the whole Android OS using GCC, and updating to a newer version of GCC for NDK compilation. iPhone developers already gain the benefits of these optimizations using the Xcode tool chain.
Android uses a Java-based SDK and Google’s own virtual machine for standard app development. The NDK, which enables native hardware development, is still relatively new. An expected hardware revision to the iPhone this summer—which may include a custom Apple-designed ARM-based processor—along with its more mature SDK, should keep the iPhone platform at the forefront of mobile gaming for some time to come.
Week in Apple: Aperture 3, Mac Pro heat, and Macworld Expo
Apple released a long-awaited and surprising update to Aperture, addressed a long-standing audio-CPU bug affecting Nehalem Mac Pros, and told iPhone developers to steer clear of using location data just to serve ads. Meanwhile, Google released a new Chrome beta, and Opera bragged about an iPhone version of Opera Mini 5. Developer Erica Sadun explained the inner workings and potential benefits of Voice Control for the iPhone. And associate editor Jacqui Cheng is covering Macworld Expo 2010, even though our readers didn’t really expect much.
New Chrome for Mac beta syncs bookmarks, adds extensions
The Google Chrome team has announced another beta release of Chrome for Mac, adding a number of oft-requested features. Chrome for Mac now supports extensions, which allow adding a number of additional browser features as needed. The team also added support for Chrome’s cloud-based bookmark syncing feature, which works across Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux platforms.
In addition to extension support and bookmark sync, Google has created bookmark and cookie managers “that feel completely at home on the Mac,” according to engineer Mark Mentovai. There’s also a new task manager for keeping track of all your open tabs. However, feature additions haven’t taken away focus from providing a “snappy, safe, and simple browsing experience,” Mentovai said.
Google’s browser is generally available in three different versions: stable, beta, and developer preview. The new features have been available in Windows and Linux betas of the browser, and have been incubating in the developer previews for Mac OS X before bubbling up into beta. Google has yet to release an official stable release for Mac OS X.
Our look at the last beta release revealed a fairly stable and fast browsing experience, only hampered by some missing features—namely extensions and bookmark syncing. If you haven’t yet given Chrome a chance, you may want to download the latest beta and give it a try. Current beta users should be automatically updated to version 5.0.307 within the next 24 hours.
Google Email Uploader now available for Mac
Google today released a Mac version of its Google Email Uploader, an application geared toward easing the transition to a Google Apps account. The application is designed to simplify the process of uploading hundreds of messages at a time from any three of the major Mac e-mail applications: Mail, Eudora, and Thunderbird. Currently, the Email Uploader will not transfer mail to an ordinary Gmail account; it requires a Google Apps for a business account.
This is good news for Mac-based businesses looking to outsource their e-mail and take advantage of Google’s system, but have dreaded transferring years’ worth of old messages. The application is far from perfect, though: for instance, the system limits the uploader to one message per second after 500 messages, but the automation might make it worthwhile to do 500 messages at a time.
One can only hope that Google will soon allow the same thing for regular users of Gmail. Painlessly uploading thousands of old messages from one of my older e-mail accounts would not only be a good use of the space Google provides, but it would allow me to use Google’s search to sift through them all.
First look: Google Voice’s improved Web app for iPhone
Google still can’t seem to get a Google Voice application onto the iPhone, so the company went ahead and launched it as a Web app. The mobile page was rolled out on Tuesday, optimized for both the iPhone and Palm’s WebOS devices, bringing users some of the same functionality that Android users already enjoy natively.
The Web app is an extension of Google’s already-existing mobile offerings for Gmail and Google Calendar, and requires the user to log in using his or her Google account. We gave the offerings a run through on an iPhone and came away happy with what Google has been able to accomplish without a native app.
etc: Google’s Eric Schmidt downplayed the company’s competition with Apple this week, noting that Apple has a "special spot" in his heart.
Google’s Eric Schmidt downplayed the company’s competition with Apple this week, noting that Apple has a “special spot” in his heart.
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AppleInsider
Apple may demote Google in favor of Bing for iPhone search
Apple is reportedly in negotiations with Microsoft to replace the default search engine in mobile Safari on the iPhone with Bing. Those negotiations may even result in Bing being added as one of the search engine options for the desktop version of Safari, according to a report by BusinessWeek. Google is the current default on both platforms—and would likely remain a user option—though increasing contention between Apple and Google may be the reason behind a possible switch.
Apple and Google have long been collaborators and patners, with Google CEO Eric Schmidt sitting on Apple’s board of directors until recently. Schmidt gave up his position amid an FTC investigation and increasing competition between the two companies. “Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy,” one anonymous source said.
etc: Steve Wozniak shocked the tech world by saying that the Nexus One is his favorite gadget du jour. Keep in mind he regularly uses two iPhones and cuts his steaks with stainless steel business cards.
Steve Wozniak shocked the tech world by saying that the Nexus One is his favorite gadget du jour. Keep in mind he regularly uses two iPhones and cuts his steaks with stainless steel business cards.
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NBC Bay Area
Apple acquires its own mobile ad firm to one-up Google
Not long after Google announced it had acquired mobile advertising firm AdMob, Apple has announced the acquisition of its own mobile advertising firm, Quattro Wireless. The announcement came today just after All Things D broke the rumor that the deal was imminent. Quattro cofounder and CEO Andrew Miller has been named vice president of mobile advertising for Apple as part of the deal.
Apple paid a reported $275 million for Quattro, a much better deal than Google ended up paying for rival mobile ad firm AdMob. Google ponied up $750 million in an attempt to outbid Apple, which had also reportedly made an offer for the company. That price is approximately 16.7 times AdMob’s sales, “the sort of price rarely seen in takeover deals since the heady days of the dot-com boom,” according to Reuters.
Google contends that its acquisition of AdMob is meant to complement its own search- and Web-based advertising, though it’s worth noting that AdMob ads are featured prominently in many free, ad-supported iPhone applications. The FTC is currently investigating the deal between AdMob and Google, and there is an implication that Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s recently vacated position on Apple’s board of directors may have made him privy to Apple’s plans to move into mobile advertising.
Meanwhile, shortly after Google announced a partnership with streaming music service Lala, Apple announced that it had acquired the company. It is believed that Apple plans to incorporate Lala into iTunes and extend the iTunes Store with streaming-based options in addition to downloads. In the meantime, the deal with Google remains in place.
Given Apple’s foray into cloud-based services such as MobileMe and iWork.com, and the company’s integration of services with its mobile devices, it’s certain that the acquisition of Quattro will fit into Apple’s growing mobile strategy. The company may be leveraging mobile advertising opportunities for a long-rumored tablet product expected to be announced later this month. It could also be offering a way to advertise on the iPhone. Apple did not respond to a request for comment on its mobile advertising plans.
With Google’s plan to offer the Nexus One smartphone directly to consumers, its Android smartphone OS, and its array of online services and online advertising, it’s clear that the rivalry between Apple and Google is kicking into high gear.
