Deutsche Bahn and T-Mobile extend their traveling WiFi HotSpot service at the ICE train routes. Now, also the route Frankfurt am Main – Hanover – Hamburg is covered with WiFi internet access (“railnet”). Overall, we have WiFi internet connection within the train on most of the ICE routes in Germany:

• Dortmund – Düsseldorf – Cologne (also via Hagen and Wuppertal)
• Cologne – Frankfurt am Main Airport
• Frankfurt am Main – Stuttgart – Munich
• Frankfurt am Main – Hanover – Hamburg

The service offers laptop and especially iPhone users an internet connection even if the train travels at a maximum speed of 300 km/h – more than 180 miles per hour! Im always impressed about the quite stable and fast internet connection even when traveling that fast. And the best thing of all: as a (German T-Mobile) iPhone user you don’t even have to pay for the WiFi connection in the train!

Source/picture: Deutsche Bahn

Tim Pritlove talked about the iPhone and the native application development for that mobile phone with Martin Pittenauer and Dominik Wagner. Mac users may be aware of Martin and Dominik as the Coding Monkeys with their first Mac OS X masterpiece: SubEthaEdit, a collaborative text editor for the Mac. In 2008 the Monkeys also developed some iPhone applications, like Circulator or Big Clock. Tim, Martin and Dominik all together realized Blinkenlights Stereoscope a simulation of the Blinkenlights Installation Toronto 2008. That’s why they all can tell a lot of stories of the similarities and differences of programming for Mac OS X and the iPhone OS. Overall a great mixture for those interested in iPhone developement as well as experts.

The only downside for all international blog readers: The podcast is in German only. Here’s the link to the podcast!

Just read the letter from Steve Jobs and die Apple Community. It’s a pity, that Steve cannot give “his” keynote today, but no problem to get over that. But it’s shocking to hear that it’s because of health problems.
So: I absolutely appreciate his decision – health comes first! I wish you a speedy recovery! Great, that the Apple Board of Directors is just on the same track.

These days are really exciting: Tomorrow at 9:00 PST (18:00 CET) Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing bei Apple, will begin his keynote at MacWorldExpo … and today CompareMe, the first codedifferent iPhone application is released at the iTunes AppStore! The financial utility app is used to compare, convert and negotiate prices or bargain. The app makes use of touchscreen gestures to convert or drag and drop prices. But let’s cut the long story short: Click on the video at the CompareMe application webpage to get an impression of the look and feel.

… so now, I’m really thrilled about Phil’s talk in San Francisco about Snow Leopard and new hard- and software … what ever battery solution Apple is coming up with in the rumored unibody 17″ MacBook Pro

In the last days, there is a lot of whispering: Here a Chinese iPod skin manufacturer publishes a small iPhone skin on his website, an analyst wishes for an iPhone for the mass marked … and bang, everybody is expecting an iPhone nano to be announced. Then the news is spreaded, that Steve Wozniak – second founder of Apple – will join the presentation of the newest modbook at the Axiotron booth at MacWorldExpo … it’s a MacBook transformed into a tablet Mac. That increases the desire and spins the rumor mill even faster for an iPod tablet or MacBook touch. However, the market positioning of such a multitouch-gadget will be tricky:

• If Apple stays with the walled garden iPhone version of Mac OS X they would have the existing and vital iPhone developer community committed to multitouch and gesture control … and by the way an exclusive distribution channel for applications with the AppStore. The main focus probably would be gaming and entertainment. But the gadget will loose the “pants pocket factor”.
• If Apple uses a full Mac OS X version they could use the experiences of Axiotron and have to count on the Mac OS X developers, that they implement the benefits and potentials of multitouch and gesture control within their (existing) applications. The gadget would be more like a “MacBook Air Touch” than an iPod tablet and would more likely suite and target the business customers. En passent this would explain why there is so little spectacular information about the new Mac OS X Snow Leopard features leaked out.

What ever Phil Schiller will present on his Keynote at the Moscow-Center at MacWorldExpo in San Francisco on January 6th … and what is hidden behind the concealed exhibition banners … I’m thrilled and I’m really looking forward to it