It isn’t well-remembered, of course, but Apple had made an early stab at being an online service: EWorld. The successor to AppleLink, it licensed the platform from AOL, syndicated a lot of content, and made some stabs at leveraging the huge Apple community. At a time of forced cutbacks in 1997, and uncomfortable being tied to AOL for technology, Apple gave up on EWorld.

At that time, it seemed to retreat from media and community — our world — to a world that focused on technology innovation. But that was, of course, before it came full circle with iTunes and then its ingenious App Store, which enfranchised thousands and thousands of content entrepreneurs.

A couple of summers ago, there I was in the middle of Yellowstone, miles from anywhere, on a horseback riding adventure. I was enjoying the solitude and nature’s delights. And the lead cowboy pulls me aside, and pulls out an iPhone. He had something to show me: a beautiful Yellowstone app he had created in the off season.

Apple gets criticized for creating a new walled garden, perhaps rightfully so. But I suspect that the legacy of Steve Jobs will ultimately be about his technology of freedom, and his pursuit of excellence. All of it, of course, “designed in California.”

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Steve Jobs might be as adept at captivating a live audience as he is at innovating game-changing media products. For nearly the first hour of Apple’s “September event” earlier today in San Francisco, Jobs made nary a mention of Apple TV. And then, just as the invite-only crowd suspected that the festivities may be ending, Jobs pulled his latest, famed “one more thing” trick, quipping that the final “hobby” (his notorious description of the company’s philosophy toward TV) was on the agenda — a $99, rental-centric upgrade of Apple TV that streams movies and TV shows in HD and is compatible with portable devices. 

ABC and FOX are already on board as partners, and Netflix and YouTube streaming are also available. Jobs announced that commercial-free TV shows are 99 cents for a 48-hour rental, while first-run movies cost $4.99. The 99-cent price point is in-step with the iTunes song pricing model that has radically disrupted the music industry. 

Courtesy: Engadget

Also, because all premium content is rented and streamed (rather than downloaded), there are none of the storage capacity or management concerns that have weighed down iTunes video files in the past.   

The Apple TV box itself is staggeringly small — one-fourth the size of the original model — and features three simple outputs: power, HDMI and ethernet. “Silent, cool, and tiny,” to borrow Jobs’ words. He also believes that the iTunes content repository can create a sufficiently delightful user experience to prevent consumers from viewing it as merely “a computer on their TV.”

Courtesy: Engadget

Also, the AirPlay 4.2 that is featured as part of the iOS 4.2 due out in November will allow streaming of videos and pictures over Wi-Fi to mobile devices and vice-versa — from iPads to Apple TV. Apple TV debuts in four weeks.

Other announcements from the jam-packed program included:

– The iOS 4.1 for iPhone and iPod Touch will be released next week, highlighted by a game center (both an API and an app) designed for “multi-player games” and HD video over Wi-Fi. IOS 4.2 introduces a host of iPad enhancements, including multitasking within multiple apps (similar to the iPhone’s folder system).

– New designs for each of Apple’s three leading iPod brands — Shuffle, Nano and Touch. Nano in particular receives a slick makeover, ditching the clickwheel and moving to a small multi-touch interface.

– A re-branded iTunes 10 was unveiled (bye-bye CD logo), replete with a new social music network called Ping that creates a recommendation-driven chart of songs that an iTunes user would like based on the music preferences of that person’s “circle of friends.” The essence is musical discovery.

Courtesy: Engadget

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Depending on what you read, Apple’s iAd program is either a revelation for national marketers or an inconvenience. 

The platform, which Steve Jobs announced in early April and which officially debuted July 1, aims to improve mobile advertising for businesses, publishers and consumers by building out ad units that reside wholly within existing applications.  

If this vision is executed, the ads — veritable mini-apps replete with audio, video and mapping capabilities — would help advertisers develop more dynamic experiences for users in a single location that doesn’t require them to launch a separate browsing page. The net result is a more satisfying user experience that also delights publishers by retaining customers within the native apps.  

On one end, only two of Apple’s 17 initial launch partners, Nissan and Unilever, had actual campaigns running in July (three others have since joined the fold). The Wall Street Journal reported that Chanel SA has tabled its iAd plans for now, while other partners are struggling to adapt to Apple’s demands for control. Apple singularly handles all ad-unit production and does not specify where the ads actually appear, which can leave agencies in the dark as to the platform’s capabilities. Ad development and integration can take up to 10 weeks, which has forced marketers and agencies to adjust their traditional timeframe for mobile ad production.

On the flip side, early returns from those using the service have been stellar. Nissan reports that customer time spent with its Leaf car iAd is tenfold the interaction time with comparable online ads. Clickthrough rates are five times higher than the automaker’s online banner ads. 

Publishers are raving, too. Dictionary.com President Shravan Goli heralds the service for delivering eCPMs that are 2-3x higher than other mobile ad networks. This, in turn, puts a surge into mobile ad rates. 

All told, Apple touts that it enlisted more than 10,000 developers in the first month alone, buoyed by an undeniably strong value proposition that bundles software development for applications with subsequent iAd placement.

Criticisms notwithstanding, Apple has a fleet of advertisers ready for launch. These early adopters are reportedly paying up to $1 million for packages, a price-point that isn’t feasible for down-market businesses at this early stage. Apple already boasts $60 million in iAd commitments through the rest of the year, leading the company to state that it will own more than half of the mobile ad market in 2010. 

The race in the mobile advertising space is only beginning, and iAds must still answer many longer-term questions. Will advertising partners renew? Taking it a step farther, can Apple induce a bigger buy from traditional agencies that are only beginning to streamline mobile marketing strategies? Will users continue to engage iAds with such depth, effectively driving higher ad rates and headier buys? And how will competitors such as Google’s Ad Mob factor into the marketplace?

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