Video Interview with Pandora Founder Tim Westergren

Last year, Pandora released it's iPhone app, and quite possibly changed internet "radio" forever. Suddenly personalized radio, previously only available to the masses on computers, was free from any Mac or PC, and in the wild.

I had a chance to talk to Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, about the effect the iPhone app has had on the company (spoiler: it now accounts for 15% of daily listening) and the dark days last fall as internet broadcasters were facing a potentially game-ending music royalty hike.

Enjoy, and my apologies for the bad video quality. (That might be another blog post all in itself.) Also, to put this in context, the interview took place prior to the launch of the Palm Pre, another device aimed at massive adoption that sports a Pandora client.

Fake Calls for iPhone (and iPod Touch, Actually)

I suppose in an ideal world, we wouldn't need an app like Fake Calls. After all, what good can come from lying to others about getting a phone call. And if you're like me, you'll be so anxious to show your friends how it works, they'll never believe you really have a phone call in the future.

The premise is simple. You select a contact from your contacts list, or a phone number. Then select a time up to one hour in the future, and the ringtone you'd like to use for your "call." The ringtones include the iPhone standard rings (except for the alarm, which is one I actually use) which adds authenticity to the experience.

I've had the most fun having people call me while they're sitting in front of me. I sell it as a mind-over-matter exercise. Of course with this blog post, the jig will be up.

For $0.99, you could do worse as iPhone apps go, and it might just get you out of tight spot someday. Oh and a bonus for iPod Touch owners: I haven't tested it, but reports are it will work with the iPod Touch as well. Voila! an instant fake iPhone in your hand!

Did Jon Rubinstein Just Save Palm and Sprint

Apple Vet Jon Rubinstein landed at Palm awhile back. I believe the collective reaction was, "good luck with that." But today, Palm unveiled the fruits of Rubinstein's labor, the Palm Pre. The name is rough, and the design is quite thick, but when you look at the features, you see a device that does everything an iPhone does, but does it without coming off as mimicking the iPhone. And there are plenty of improvements many of would like to see in the iPhone already in the Pre.

Engadget did a thorough job of blogging the Pre unveiling. Click here for a look at what could become the biggest competitor to the iPhone. And it's from Palm. Who would've thought!?

photo: engadget

Platypus for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

So what does it take to bring new life to a side scrolling game on the iPhone? Well, a fun twist on a space shoot-em-up, and a retro soundtrack are a great start. Platypus for the iPhone and iPod gives you a modern-day Defender, but with a twist: All of the ships (and landscapes) are made of clay. It's amazing how much such a seemingly small change makes the game play more fun. Combined with a retro 8bit-ish soundtrack Platypus proves to be one of the most addictive iPhone games we've tried yet. Take a look, then give it a download.

Four Potential Positives of a Jobs-less Apple

First a few disclaimers. 1. We do not wish any ill will to Steve Jobs. 2. We have no reason to think his departure is imminent. 3. We're not calling for him to leave Apple, not in the least.

However, when Jobs is no longer with the company, be it next week, month, or decade, there are some potentially positives that could come along with the change:

1. Lower Cost Market Entry
It's been said time and time again, that the average price paid for a PC is falling. Other than the foray with the Mac Mini (let's hope for an update there, soon) Apple has all but ignored this market. Years ago Jobs made the point that luxury automakers are doing just fine with a sliver of the auto industry. His point at the time was to show that Apple wasn't in peril if it didn't have 15 percent of the market. While true, times have changed. No one is sitting around wondering whether Apple will survive these days. Instead the question becomes where can Apple find more growth. Like it or not, the low-end of the market is the answer. Plus there's a practical reason: Apple has created a largely successful ecosystem of iPod/iPhone/Mac. While many wannabe iPods have come and gone, if another company is successful at dominating the growing low-end market, they could potentially launch a legitimate competitor to the whole Apple environment. Without Jobs, Apple would have even more pressure from outside, and from what we hear, more support internally for aggressively pursuing this market.

2. Partnerships
One of the great premises of web 2.0 is the community sharing, and community experience. Companies also realize they can be leaner and more competitive when they work together. Sure, Apple could bury Netflix if they wanted to, but why re-invent the wheel? Partner with them instead. Apple is always set to "go it alone." If Apple does lose it dominance in music, for example, i would expect it to come at the hands of some sort of partnership among many companies, rather than a single competitor. Fortunately for Apple, so far these companies have shown themselves as inept at working together. (See "Plays For Sure")

3. Employee Blogs / Openness
The end of Apple's participation in Macworld will leave a giant void for the Mac faithful, who want to be in on what's going on. One way to satisfy that curiosity, and control the flow of information at the same time would be employee blogs. I think most Mac fans would find it fascinating to read a post from Johnny Ive for example, talking about the trial and error of creating the aluminum unibody. Let's see some videos of testing. Let's see some prototypes. We're talking about revealing this info after the fact, in a manner that would keep the faithful tuned in, and wouldn't reveal anything to put the company at a disadvantage. No one's asking for a three-year product roadmap, just some glimpse into the process of creating the products.

4. iPhone as a (more) open platform
I've seen the future. In five years we may be living in a world in which all phones with the exception of the iPhone run some variant of Android. These are the two mobile platforms of the future. Android will presumably be comprised of many of the concepts described in the other suggestions: several handset manufacturers agreeing/partnering on a single OS, an OS created in an open-source manner, and meticulously chronicled in blogs across the web. Over at Apple, we'll have updates pushed out when Apple says they're ready, and app developers in the dark, with their hands tied in what their apps can do. The iPhone has an impressive processor, and one can assume it will only get better. Consumers will wonder why can this $79 phone have touch capabilities, AND flash, AND copy and paste, and yet the (then) $149 iPhone doesn't?

So there you have it. The best news is, none of these changes would require Jobs to be gone from the company. He could decide at any minute to implement these changes. Given Apple's history though, don't hold your breath.

What do you think? Are there other potential positives of a Jobs-less Apple? Are we off our rockers this time?