• Read more about Intridea Insider: Chris Selmer

He runs really, really fast. He can live without sleep. And his first memory of a computer comes from playing Zork in the 4th grade. He's our Senior Partner, Co-Founder and valiant leader of client services. Meet Chris Selmer in this week's Intridea Insider.

Chris graduated from college with a degree in Mathematics, but not before considering several different majors, including Exercise Science, Chemistry and Physics. Although his first job during (and after) college was writing PHP for a web design studio in DC, he wasn't formally trained in web development. "I minored in CS, but everything I learned for the web was self-taught."

Chris discovered the world of Ruby while he was at an Intro to Ajax class, offered by the Pragmatic Studio. "A lot of people were talking about how Ruby had great ajax shortcuts built in." His interest was piqued and shortly thereafter he began using Ruby on Rails professionally; "I started doing some Ruby on Rails work and some ColdFusion development for the Academic Technologies department at George Washington University. Our department was in charge of classroom technology and researching innovative new ways to use technology in the classrooms."

His position at GWU was able to benefit the Ruby community in DC; when he met Dave Naffis, (also a co-founder and Senior Partner at Intridea), Dave was looking for a place to host the DCRUG. Chris was able to find him a space at GWU and he has been helping to organize the DCRUG event ever since, with help from fellow Intridean, Joe Grossberg.

Intridea was in its infancy at the time Chris came on board in 2007. He spent the majority of his time programming in Ruby on Rails for clients, but at the same time he was working hard to bring in some big, new projects. It wasn't long before he found himself running the services wing of the company. In 2007 Intridea was a start-up company of only eight employees. We've since grown to nearly 50 employees in three years, and Chris played a pivotal role in that growth by acquiring and managing a lot of projects from awesome clients.

Chris is known as the "Intridean that never sleeps". He makes time to nap and eat when he must, but he's a work-force to be reckoned with. "I tend to do my most productive work from around 11pm - 2am, just because there are fewer distractions that demand my attention. So I'll often sleep 2-5 hours at night and then have a couple of 20-minutes naps during the day." Most of us marvel at how he can be so productive on so little sleep, but Chris's Mom (and fellow Intridean), Kathleen Selmer, reveals that he never slept much as a child either; "He was always too busy to sleep. In high school, he ran cross country and indoor/outdoor track, and was captain of the teams from sophomore-senior years. He won several state championships. He was also involved in a few school plays." She also raves about how intelligent Chris is; " Chris was always an avid reader from the time he started to read. I would say he found school unchallenging. He got good grades, but didn't have to work too hard for them. He relied on a great recall of information."

Chris was born at home in Green Meadows, Maryland with the assistance of a midwife and is the oldest of four children. He spent a good portion of his youth playing with his brothers and sister on their 6 acres of land in Pennsylvania. "About half of our land was wooded, so we spent lots of time making tree forts and running around wild." Chris now lives in Takoma Park, MD. He prefers to work in his basement office, where his Mac Pro lives.

Before I sat down with Chris for this interview, several fellow Intrideans wanted me to ask Chris whether he misses coding now that he's in a management role and a Senior Partner; "I miss getting in the zone and having hours pass by just writing code." Even though Chris isn't doing much coding anymore these days, he enjoys being able to kickstart meaningful projects, like Tradui and Oil Reporter. Plus, he likes solving client problems; "Solving problems was one of the things I really liked about coding, but it's just done on a different scale now."

Chris has a side dream of one day being able to buy old houses and fix them up for a living. He got a chance to do one a few years ago and looks forward to doing it again some day. But until that days comes, we need him here at Intridea, as our unwavering, super-human battle-hardened leader of client services.

• Read more about Why Apple's New FaceTime Video Chat is Game-Changing

Apple, Inc., loves to be a game-changer, and the new Apple iPhone 4, announced yesterday, will be one both for some of the hardware aspects as well as for the video chatting feature, FaceTime. In fact, FaceTime might have even more of a social impact than people realize, given that it's intended to be an an open standard. This is a brilliant move by Apple. Why? Well first let's look at the current situation.

Current Usage Situation

When the 4th-generation iPhone becomes available in the first round of countries on Jun 24th (preorders online in those countries starting Jun 15th), FaceTime will work only over WiFi, between two 4th-gen iPhones, only. There are consumers who will get the iPhone 4 for that reason alone. That's a very limited usage scenario and not necessarily enough to win over sales of iPhone 4.

What's Coming

However, there are some other parameters to the usage equation that are not yet taken into account.

1. Cellular networks: Availability over 3G or higher cellular networks. FaceTime over 3G has already been promised by Apple. I honestly don't care about this given AT&T's change in data plan pricing. So unless Apple gives AT&T a stern talking to about the data plans, or gives other U.S. carriers the iPhone, I don't see this as a big deal.
2. Other phones: Usage over any other handset makers' smartphones that are capable of replicating a similar experience.
3. Other mobile devices: Usage over any other mobile device with a front-facing camera, such as an iPad of the future, say in early 2011.

Apple is great a creating market demand where it didn't even exist. Look at the iPod. Did we need iPods, given there were other mobile audio players? Of course we didn't. But they created what became a classic consumer electronics device, and the technology behind the iPod seems to have helped fuel the development on the iPhone/ iPod Touch and iPad mobile devices.

History of Video Calling

FaceTime is not hardware, of course, but video calling has been something that at least North Americans have been promised for decades, and which seems to have stayed in the realm of science fiction, at least for the masses. Until now. We really do need one calling protocol to make it work, with the least technical difficulties, and by being first, Apple has the advantage.

Okay, Apple's not first with video calling. A number of VoIP desktop applications -- e.g., Skype -- have had it for several years now. Also, video calling has been available for conferencing systems -- but such systems are costly and definitely not for the mass market. Apple's not even first with video on calling on smartphones, since a couple of devices were announced within the past few weeks. However, Apple will be perceived as first because of the open standard offering.

Mass Market Video Calling

I have no doubt that Apple can get most or all of the big players such as Microsoft and Google on board to support the FaceTime standard, and in doing so, they stand to further the company's brand. Even if they don't immediately convert non-Apple device FaceTime users to hardware purchasers. How could they get them to convert? By offering additional FaceTime features available only on the iPhone. By offering enterprise integration for FaceTime on the iPad (a future model, with a front-facing camera). By constantly reminding non-Apple app developers and users that 3rd-party apps get access to FaceTime features only with the Apple iPhone SDK.

However, Apple creates the market demand for FaceTime, I'm very certain they'll do it, and video calling will likely be integrated into iPhone OS apps very quickly. Imagine gaming, social network, healthcare, distance education, tech support, service calls and many other niches having next-generation mobile apps with video calling integrated. Even social interaction will be forever changed. (For example, imagine families spread across the globe who will now be able to see each other during those long periods when they cannot meet in person.)

If Apple can convince the right players to join in, FaceTime is going to have a huge impact on mobile application usage and on the way humans interact.

Want to discuss a mobile app with video calling features for your business or projects? Feel free to contact us to discuss your app or mobile campaign needs.

• Read more about WWDC 2010 Keynote & iPhone 4 Details

The Keynote given by Steve Jobs was set to start at 10:00am PST. I decided to arrive a little early and get there around 7:30am, thinking that being nearly three hours early would yield me some great seats. I guess I underestimated just how many people would be getting there even earlier to see Steve Jobs unveil the new iPhone and announce other goodies that have been rumored. When I arrived at Moscone West, the line was wrapped all the way around the building. There were probably close to over a thousand people already in line that had the good sense to arrive even earlier than I did.

This was my first time attending WWDC and also my first time being in the presence of Steve Jobs. As the line started moving and I finally got inside the Moscone Center, I noticed all of the banners showcasing the new features of iOS 4.0, like multi-tasking and folders. I was most excited to hear all the juicy details about the new iPhone, which Gizmodo famously showed off to us a few months earlier. There were speculations about announcements of other items like iTunes.com, a new Mac Pro, a new Apple TV, and upgraded Mac Minis. Sadly, there was nothing new mentioned that wasn't for iPhone or iPad.

In the room where the Keynote was held, we all sat in chairs, iPads out, waiting with great anticipation for Steve Jobs to show up. When Steve finally appeared on stage we all cheered in a rush of excitement. After welcoming everybody to WWDC, he proceeded to recap on the launch of iPad and showed us a nice clip of the International launch. Then he announced some great new things, which are recapped below.

One of the first new items that he announced was notes for iBooks. You can now add notes within anything you're reading in the iBooks application. Also, something that almost everyone wanted was the ability to view PDFs in iBooks. Steve showed off a demo of both of these features and they looked great. This update will be available later on this month.

After a presentation from Netflix, who announced Netflix for iPhone, and Zynga, who announced Farmville for iPhone, Steve went on to talk about the current smartphone market share. Nielson released a new study and found that the iPhone is still leading with 35% and Android is trailing with only 9%. Steve also showed off some stats revealing that iPhone is also number one in mobile browser usage with 58.2% and Android at 22.7%. He went on to talk about how Apple re-invented the phone in 2007, and referenced a quote he made that year: "in 2010 we're going to take the biggest leap since the original iPhone." And with that opening, Steve announced iPhone 4 with over 100 new features. Obviously referencing the Gizmodo leak, Steve said, "I don't know if you've ever seen this", which elicited huge cheers from the audience.

The new iPhone is definitely gorgeous. It's glass on the front and back, and steel around the sides. It's a nice departure from the older designs while still being something that feels like it should be called an iPhone. iPhone 4 is also very thin, exactly 24% thinner when compared to the iPhone 3GS. It also has the front-facing camera. Steve claims it's the thinnest smartphone on the planet with a thickness of 9.3mm. When Gizmodo got their hands on the prototype iPhone there was a lot of talk about the seams along the side of the device. People argued that this wasn't really something Apple would do. Steve went on to explain that these seams or lines around the steel band are actually part of the antenna system, which should hopefully help us out with our reception.

The next item that they announced was the Retina display. They've increased the pixel density in this new display by four times. The new display has 326 pixels per inch, which is the highest pixel density of any phone on the market. Steve then showed off comparisons between the traditional display on the iPhone and the new Retina display. It's so clear that you basically cannot see any pixels at all. The specs on the new display is an 800:1 contrast ratio (4x better than the 3GS) and a 960x640 display using IPS technology.

iPhone 4 also has a new A4 chip, designed by their own team. They've also increased the size of the battery and are now using a Micro SIM versus a traditional SIM. There is up to 32GB of storage, quad-band HSDPA, dual mic noise suppression, and 802.11n WiFi. With the A4 chip and the bigger battery, battery life has definitely increased. Also announced was a new gyroscope, which is being added to iPhone 4. It's a 3-axis gyro which should give game developers much more accuracy when dealing with motion. This will translate into much more immersive and realistic game controls when combined with the existing accelerometer and compass.

Another big announcement was that iPhone OS has been renamed to iOS. After proceeding to going through most of the new iOS changes that we all knew about, Steve announced that iBooks would be coming to the iPhone along with the PDF and notes support that was announced for the iPad earlier. Along with this, iPhone users get the iBook Store. It was great to hear that we can download the same books to all of our devices for no extra charge. A great new feature as well is that iBooks automatically syncs your place, bookmarks, and notes.

After going through some iAd examples, Steve did his famous One more thing.... In 2007, when they launched the iPhone, Steve called Jonathan Ive to demonstrate the phone. This time, Steve did the exact same thing but demonstrated a video call. It worked great on stage and everybody was excited to see it in action. You can switch from the front to the back camera by just pressing one button. The feature is called FaceTime and you can only use it on WiFi when you and the party you're calling are both on iPhone 4. There is no setup needed. We were then presented with a commercial exemplifying how people would use FaceTime. The whole crowd nearly choked up when they saw the two people speaking in sign language on the phone.

Steve mentioned that there would be two colors, white and black. The pricing will be $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB. AT&T is allowing upgrade eligibility up to 6 months early. iPhone 4 will be released in the US, France, Germany, UK, and Japan on June 24. We then saw a video about how the iPhone 4 was made with commentary from the usual guys at Apple. After this, Steve thanked everybody who made this possible and ended the Keynote.

I thought I'd be disappointed that nothing else was announced, but I wasn't. There were no other hardware upgrades, cloud-based iTunes, no new Apple TV, etc. Clearly, iPhone and iOS was the focus of this year's WWDC and Apple seems to have done an amazing job the new iPhone. I'm excited to see how FaceTime ends up changing the way the world communicates with their mobile phones. People will say that this has been around for a while, but Apple is going to be putting it in the hands of millions and making it easy enough for anybody to use. Overall, I had a great time at my first WWDC Keynote. Hopefully, I'll be able to come see Steve speak again and announce a new product in only a way that he can.

• Read more about ABCs of Apple iPhone 4 and iOS 4: 25 Details and Features

If you've been off the planet for the past month or so, you can be forgiven for not knowing there's a new iPhone, and much of its feature set was confirmed today by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in his keynote address for WWDC in San Francisco. This 4th-generation iPhone is packed with new features -- some of them catching up to competing phones, some surpassing competitors. Here's a  quick list of what's new, hopefully ending much of the speculation that's been going on.

1. Availability: The release plan seems a little different than for the iPad, with five countries given first crack: US, UK, France, Germany and Japan being allowed online pre-orders on Jun 15th, and availability on Jun 24th online, at Apple and AT&T retail stores, and Best Buy and Wal-Mart. The rest of the release plan calls for 24 more countries in August, after the first five, then the remaining countries for a total of 88. According to the press release, the phone will be available in numerous countries by the end of July, including: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
2. Battery: Larger battery, 40% more talk time. Specifically, 7 hours talk time on 3G; 10 hrs Web browsing on WiFi and 6 on 3G; 10 hrs of video playback; 40 hours of audio playback. Standby mode: 300 hours (nearly two weeks).
3. Bing search. While Google is still the default search engine for mobile Safari, the new iOS allows for you to switch over to Bing if you want.
4. Cameras: 5MP camera with 5x digital zoom and LED flash for low light conditions. Front-facing and rear-facing cameras.
5. Color: Black and white models.
6. Developer support: Over 1500 new APIs for developers to access 100 new features.
7. Display. The predictions were right: the iPhone 4 has 4x the pixels, for a whopping 960x640 screen resolution, at 326 ppi (pixels per inch). The new "Retina" display gives it a much higher contrast than 3GS -- apparently 800:1 contrast ratio, giving it an almost paper-like quality for display text. (Print magazines often have a resolution of 300 or 600 dpi -- dots per inch.) The 3.5 inch screen has a resolution that is almost 80% the size of the iPad.
8. Email, enhanced: Unified email inbox. Attachment support.
9. Form factor: It has a more squared-off form factor than before -- but you probably knew that from all the photos of "leaked" prototypes. It's supposedly 24% thinner than before and claims to be the thinnest (9.3 mm) smartphone on the planet. Overall, it's 4.5 inches tall, 2.31 inches, and just under 5 ounces. Unfortunately, the new form factor means the iPhone 4 has to have a new dock. The iPhone 4's alloyed metal rim is not only strong (5x stronger than steel), it acts as the the phone's antennae (plural), to improve reception.
10. Gyroscope. The iPhone 4 has a 3-axis gyroscope that can more accurately detect phone motion in 6 axes -- a plus for video gaming.
11. iAd ad network. Apple says that they have advertising commitments through their new iAd ad network for $60M in 2010 alone. Steve Jobs claimed this morning that iAds will steal 48% of the mobile advertising market.
12. iBooks. iPhone will get its own iBooks, which will allow for bookmarks and user sticky notes to be added to digital books.
13. iOS iPhone OS. Despite some talk about the name "iOS" being owned by Cisco, iOS is what iPhone OS 4.0 is being called. It'll be available for download on older 3G and 3GS phones on Jun 21st, and (probably) preloaded onto iPhone 4. (However, some new OS 4 features will not be available for 3G phones.) The iPad will get an upgrade this fall.
14. Keyboard support, Bluetooth. Just as with the iPad, the iPhone 4 will allow you to add a Bluetooth keyboard.
15. Memory: 2x128 = 256 MB RAM. 16GB and 32GB models. Looks as if they did not manage to use the new 64GB flash drives made recently available -- meaning predictions of storage capacities of 64GB and 128GB were unfortunately incorrect.
16. MicroSIM. Uses the new microSIM.
17. Microphones: Two, for noise-cancelling.
18. Netflix: Netflix is coming to the iPhone App Store free of charge, and it'll allow starting a movie on the iPad and finishing viewing on the iPhone, or vice versa.
19. Networks: 802.11n WiFi, with added quad-band HSUPA.
20. Pricing: The phones are $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB. Wonder what they're saving the $399 price slot for. The new 8GB 3GS model will be available on Jun 24 for $99.
21. Processor: A4 processor, just like the iPad.
22. UI features, enhanced. Multitasking, Folders, enhanced Mail, "deeper" enterprise support.
23. Upgrades: If your AT&T contract is up any time in 2010, you are apparently eligible to upgrade to a 4th-gen iPhone immediately (as in Jun 24th or whatever date depending where you live). You have to extend your contract for two more years. If you're merely eligible for a phone upgrade, you probably don't qualify. However, I called AT&T and the very helpful CSR concluded that while my non-iPhone line's contract, and that of my wife's, ends Mar 2011, our LG Vu phones qualify for upgrades in Aug and Nov of 2010. We are eligible for a partial discount immediately. Meaning, we might have to pay $200 extra per phone over the new prices to change the LG Vu phones into iPhone 4, as well as get new iPhone data plans. However, according to what Engadget says that AT&T told them, if you already have an iPhone and want to upgrade it, you are eligibility immediately if your contract allows an upgrade any time in 2010. So please check your online account or talk to an AT&T CSR for verification. You can also dial *639# from your AT&T phone, but the resulting text message is not all that detailed. Ultimately, you might just have to walk into your nearby AT&T store and on Jun 24th and find out for sure.
24. Video chatting: It's called FaceTime, and it allows two 4th-gen iPhones to video chat, but only over WiFi for now, with 3G support coming in the future. Given AT&T's cellular data pricing plan changes, maybe that's a good thing. Either camera can be used for FaceTime chats, in both portrait and landscape modes.
25. Video editing. Not only will the phone have HD video recording (720p@30fps), you'll be able to edit video with a built in app, or with the upcoming iMovie for iPhone ($4.99).

So there you have it. There are all sorts of other features and details that are not listed here, but these are amongst the most important. The FaceTime commercial by director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, Jarhead) is below.

• Read more about Intrideans at RailsConf 2010

This year we have three Intrideans giving presentations at RailsConf 2010 in Baltimore, MD, as well as several other teammates attending the event. We're thrilled that our developers are active members of the Rails community and we support their endeavors to share their knowledge with the larger ecosystem. If you're at RailsConf this week, be sure to say hello to one of our guys, or attend one of their presentations:

Jeremy McAnally
Presentation: Rails 3 Deep Dive
When: 1:30pm Monday, 06/07/2010
Location: Ballroom I

This workshop will tour through a number of advanced, in-depth topics on Rails 3. We’ll take a tour of many of the new additions to Rails 3, talk about how to exploit Rails’ new focus on Rack to your advantage, dig around in the source to really understand how many of the pieces work (and how to use that understanding effectively), and take a look at how to bring some common, advanced patterns used in Rails 2.x into the world of Rails 3.

Michael Bleigh [view profile]
Presentation: The Present Future of OAuth
When: 1:50pm Tuesday, 06/08/2010
Location: Ballroom I

OAuth 2.0 brings together many best-in-breed ideas for authentication into one specification, providing a powerful and flexible method for standardized authorization to RESTful APIs. Attendees will learn:

• What the OAuth standard represents.
• Who uses OAuth.
• How OAuth 2.0 is different.
• How to access resources from OAuth 2.0 compatible sites.
• How to become an OAuth 2.0 provider.

Flip Sasser
Presentation: Persistence Smoothie: Blending SQL and NoSQL in Rails Applications
When: 2:50pm Wednesday, 06/09/2010
Location: Ballroom II

Participants will learn about a number of available NoSQL persistence engines (including document-oriented databases such as CouchDB and MongoDB, key-value stores like Tokyo Cabinet and Redis, and more) and when they might be appropriate for a Rails application. In addition, attendees will learn good practice techniques for blending these systems together with traditional SQL for a “best of all worlds” implementation with real-world examples.

• Read more about Google AdMob Beats Apple iAd to iPad Advertising SDK

Google's newly acquired AdMob has beaten Apple's iAd to market with an SDK that allows iPhone OS mobile apps developers to specifically target the iPad. AdMob's iPad SDK was released on Jun 2nd, whereas iAd SDK is not expected to be announced until Monday's WWDC 2010 keynote address by Steve Jobs.

AdMob's SDK supports two formats: (1) text and tile ads; (2) image ads. Both format types are available in three IAB (Internet Advertising Board) standard sizes: 300x250, 728x90, 468x60. Personally, I'd think that these sizes are inappropriate for the iPad and really more suited to websites and blogs. It'll be interesting to see what Apple's iAd offers.

The two companies are now competing at yet another level. AdMob has the advantage over iAd, being the largest ad network on the iPhone. However, Apple is unlikely to block the AdMob's iPad SDK, possibly because Apple is the target of an antitrust review by the U.S. Justice Dept and FTC. On the other hand, iAd has a development advantage, being able to access iPhone OS features for the iPad that may not be available in public iPhone APIs. Under the Apple App Store's current guidelines, iPhone OS apps must not use "private" iPhone APIs.

Regardless, both companies ad networks stand to gain.

Want to discuss a mobile campaigns or a native mobile app for your business or projects? Feel free to contact us to discuss your mobile platform needs.

• Read more about DIY iPad Mounting Solution: Velcro

If you don't want to shell out bucks for some of the iPad accessories available for improving viewing and user experience, there's an inexpensive option: velcro. Jesse Rosten offers video proof that velcro is an accessible, affordable solution for mounting the iPad on multiple surfaces, for multiple purposes, including: (1) on your car dashboard for a navigation system; (2) on your wall for a dynamic digital picture viewer; (3) on your stove for viewing cooking lessons; and several more.

Not sure I'd ever take the risk of trying one of the last solutions: mounting the iPad on your bedroom ceiling, above your head, for who knows what purpose. Sounds a bit too risky, but most of the other solutions seem workable. Does anyone know if velcro efficiency is affected by steam? Of course, as Rosten says, the video shows the possibilities, not necessarily practical solutions.

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

• Read more about AT&T Gives Customers Some Leeway on iPhone/iPad Data Plans

If you were non-plussed to hear that AT&T was changing their data pricing plans for the iPhone and iPad come Jun 7th -- the very day many of us expect the announcement of the 4th-generation iPhone during the WWDC keynote address by Apple's Steve Jobs -- then you might be happy to know they're giving consumers some leeway. Some, but not much.

Looks as if AT&T doesn't want too much bad publicity. Despite of one threat of a cease and desist to a blogger who wrote to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson [contact details] about the new iPhone/ iPad data pricing plans, they're making some concessions. If you really really want the previously promised $30/month unlimited data plan for the iPad 3G, you can still get it, but with some conditions. If you don't already have an iPad 3G, you have to order one before Jun 7th. When you get it, even if it's after Jun 7th, you'll be eligible to sign up for the original $30/mth data plan. Of course, if you already have the iPad 3G, you can get the data plan now, before Jun 7th.

So for some of us, that means we'll have to race to order an iPad 3G. No word on whether any similar concession is available for the next iPhone, other than if you upgrade a current iPhone. (For example, as mentioned previously, I have an iPhone 3GS that I intend to keep, and thus my plan will stay at the 5GB/month cap. But I can upgrade my LG VU phone in August to a new iPhone. Unfortunately, I do not believe I'll be able to get the 5GB/mth plan for that phone -- which is a disappointment since my wife's LG VU can be upgraded in October, and we were looking forward to video calling on the new iPhone. E.g., a feature that'll eat up data.

• Read more about AT&T Disappoints iPad/iPhone Power Users Yet Again

AT&T just announced new iPhone/ iPad wireless pricing plans which while costing more for future iPad power users, had some ray of hope: iPhone tethering. That meant you could now connect to the Internet from your iPad (whether from a WiFi-only model or a 3G model) using your iPhone's data plan. Or so we thought.

Techflash is reporting that an AT&T spokesperson told them via email that iPhone-to-iPad tethering won't be possible and mentioned something about the iPad not having USB ports. (AT&T are also saying it's an iPad/ iPhone issue, not their policy.) Sounds kind of unusual. The iPhone also has no USB port. How are other wireless devices to tether from the iPhone? This of course means that the iPhone will not have a "Mobile Hotspot" feature, unlike Android phones and Palm Pre Plus.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball suggested that the good outweighs the bad in AT&T's new iPhone/ iPad data pricing, but I'm really not so sure, in light of this -- at least not for a power user like myself. Let's look at some numbers. My iPhone costs me $70/mth (phone + data costs) to get online and has a 5GB/mth cap. Maybe I don't use all of that cap on my iPhone like AT&T says, but I expected to use close to 5GB or more than that on my future iPad 3G (I have a WiFi-only model right now). After the cost of the iPad 3G, I'd have to pay $25/mth for 2GB, plus $10/GB overage. So for 5GB, that's $55, but only if I use that much data.

On the other hand, my Palm Pre Plus costs me $80/m for phone and data, with a 5GB cap and free Mobile Hotspot. I can connect any 5 wireless devices to the Internet with the Mobile Hotspot feature. Yes, it's expensive in comparison, especially if I don't use my cap every month. Other "personal WiFi" options cost anywhere from $40-60/month, according to my research, with typical 5GB/month data caps -- though who knows if this will change.

For now, it does seem that non-power users are getting a better deal with AT&T's new pricing plans -- though power users (i.e., many early adopters) are being cheated out of what was promised: unlimited 3G for $30/mth. And even if AT&T says it's Apple's fault re iPhone-to-iPad tethering, I'm not sure everyone is going to view it that way. AT&T is the bearer of bad news in this case, and will be perceived as such, at least until there's more clarity as to what iPhone tethering means, what exactly you can do with it and what you can't.

• Read more about Reviewing Apple's Increased Mobile Device Market Share

Since the launch of both the WiFi-only and 3G models of the iPad, Apple has sold about 2M units in less than 2 months, and they're sold out at many of their Apple retail stores - proving that there is a market for tablet devices and thus a need for more apps. But will these sales levels be sustained past the current hype? Retrevo did a Pulse Report study [via Mashable] of over 1,000 respondents about consumer attitudes towards tablet computers and e-readers and over 50% said they're not interested in making such a purchase. Of non-iPad owners surveyed, over half said that they don't need one.

Let's look at some other stats. At an average of 1M units/month, they can easily top 8M units this year, beating out estimates of 5-7M units for 2010. The overall market for web-enabled tablet computing devices is estimated to hit over $8B by 2015, despite Retrevo's study. Such contradictions often exist, and sometimes it's a matter of creating the need or at least the desire. Apple managed it with iPods -- I remember being part of a group of people that held out. I in fact never bought an iPod but both won a Shuffle and was given an iPod as a gift. The latter ceased to function after a year of heavy use; I'd fallen in love with it. Can Apple repeat their iPod success and make people fall in love with iPads, even when they don't need them? (I believe so.)

Apple is already leading Android with  mobile devices in general. According to AdMob (which Google just purchased), iPhone OS-based devices are leading Android OS-based devices in the U.S. by more than a 2 to 1 ratio. Worldwide, the ratio is 3.5 to 1 in favor of iPhone OS. (With market advantages like this, is it any wonder that Apple stock price predictions for 2010 -- made in Dec 2009 - Jan 2010 -- suggest a $250-300 range?)

Whether Apple is maintaining any lead in the tablet market is hard to say without actually figures, given that tablet computer have existed for a while. Where Apple is lagging is with iPad-specific apps compared to iPhone-specific apps. Developers had to work with only a software simulator for the first round of apps accepted by Apple for the Apr 3, 2010, launch of the iPad. That probably hindered development significantly, and my own observation is that many such iPad-specific apps crash on occasion.

So if Apple can reboot the tablet computer market and create a demand, there'll be room for loads more iPad-specific apps and maybe even 3rd-party peripheral devices. Whether or not that means the possibility of Windows-based tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 or Silverlight Web application plug-in for developing iPad/ iPhone apps remains to be seen. For now it seems it's not the case, even with suggestions for Apple to be more open.