Google Now, an intelligent assistant service that has been a staple feature of Android for the last year, has come to Apple's iOS platform, with iPhone and iPad support now available as part of the Google Search app. ...
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Google Now, an intelligent assistant service that has been a staple feature of Android for the last year, has come to Apple's iOS platform, with iPhone and iPad support now available as part of the Google Search app. ...
| Read more »The goal isn’t to avoid mistakes, though, but to learn how to recover from them.
There’s some truth right there.
∞ Read this on The Loop
Last month, Google briefly leaked a video showing that its information aggregation tool Google Now would be coming to iOS. Several weeks later, Google chairman Eric Schmidt was asked about Google Now for iOS, and he noted that "you'll need to discuss that with Apple", although it was later confirmed that Google had not submitted a version of Google Now to the iOS App Store. Roughly a month later, Google Now has now appeared in the App Store as part of a revamped version 3.0 of the company's Google Search app.Get just the right information at just the right time with Google Now. - weather and traffic conditions before you start your day -...
| Read more »Apple has won a court ruling that it doesn’t infringe patent claims brought by intellectual property licensing firm Golden Bridge Technology, reports "Bloomberg" (http://tinyurl.com/bltvnws). The company sued Apple in 2010 over patents for boosting connections in mobile networks.
U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson in Wilmington, Delaware, also canceled a jury trial that was scheduled to begin today over two patents for 3-G network communications held by Long Branch, New Jersey-based Golden Bridge. Golden Bridge sued Apple in 2010 over patents for boosting connections in mobile networks.
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Instead of notes, scales and chords, we’re talking about fretting hand position, picking hand positions, strap-height, stance and how you hold your head, neck and shoulders. All of these things affect what you can do on the guitar.
Great video by Alex Vollmer about how we interact with our guitar. There is a preview video available — you can buy the full video for $5.
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Image: http://advertising.apple.com
Apple’s early decision to address privacy concerns about the collection of personalised data gives it a head-start in the new mobile ad race, argues marketeer Gregory Kennedy in a Gigacom blog.
Some background is probably useful here. Every iOS device sold has a unique ID code known as the UDID (Unique Device IDentifier). Many app developers used this 40-character code to identify you for various purposes, some of them perfectly legitimate, such as storing push notification settings and logging usage statistics …
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Where UDID got more controversial was when the data was shared with advertisers. If an advertiser knows that you’ve installed several airline apps, a...
| Read more »Google Now and voice search is available today for iPad and iPhone. Previously, the service was only available on Android devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and above, but now iOS users have the ability to utilize Google's context-aware search functionality. To take advantage, sign into your Google accounts and access the Google Search application. Cards will pop up within it and then you can tap the microphone icon to initiate voice-dictated search queries. “Our goal is to get you the right information, at just the right time,” said Google CEO and co-founder, Larry Page, in last week’s earnings call. “Voice commands are going to be increasingly important. It’s just much less hassle to...
| Read more »It's no secret that the iPhone is a hot commodity amongst thieves; so much so that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg went so far as to attribute the rise in New York City's 2012 crime rate to the increase in iPhone-related thefts.
Underlying the prevalence of iPhone thefts is an extremely lucrative resale market. Per Gerry Smith at the Huffington Post:
Police say stolen phones bought [in San Francisco] are often resold overseas -- in part to avoid a domestic blacklist being established by American wireless carriers -- eventually fetching as much as $1,000 at markets scattered from Hong Kong to Rio de Janeiro. The total value of lost or stolen phones in the U.S. is about $30 billion a year, according to the mobile-security firm Lookout.
While many nationwide...
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After a few months of waiting, Google has just released its Google Now service for iOS users. The feature is available via an update to Google’s existing Search app for iOS.
What’s New in Version 3.0.0
Get just the right information at just the right time with Google Now.
• weather and traffic conditions before you start your day
• updates on your favorite sports teams and breaking news stories as they happen
Find out more about all...
A patent lawsuit brought by Golden Bridge Technology against Apple has failed in court, with a U.S. District Judge deciding that Apple isn't infringing on Golden Bridge's intellectual property. ...
| Read more »9to5Mac shares some details on Apple's upcoming OS X 10.9 operating system, noting that the update will focus in large part on "power-user" features while also incorporating a few more concepts from the company's iOS operating system. Among the enhancements said to be included in OS X 10.9, codenamed "Cabaret": - New tabbed browsing and tags in Finder - Redesigned backend for Safari to bring "improved page loading, speed, and efficiency" - Ability to keep a dedicated Space or full-screen app open on a single monitor within a multiple monitor setup On the user interface side, the report suggests that there will be some changes, but that they "will not be drastic ones". As part of a management shakeup late...
| Read more »Lifeware Solutions has announced Deluxe Moon Pro 1.0, a lunar cycle application for Mac OS X (10.6 or higher). It costs US$0.99 and is available at the Mac App Store in the Education category (http://tinyurl.com/cezw5cz).
Featuring an animated interface, Deluxe Moon Pro provides comprehensive information on the Moon, moon phase times via animated interface and multiple interactive tools to explore the Moon. The app includes specific gardening advice based on the current moon phase, precise times of the moon phases, animated Zodiac circles, moon horoscope, calendar and more.
Apple needs to make a cheaper iPhone. That's what analysts are saying, which tells me they still don't understand Apple's market. The company has proven quarter after quarter through sales that consumers are fine with its price structure, and that it has no interest in following the overall market's make-it-cheap mentality.
Digital calendaring helps you get better organized, but it isn’t perfect – Jason Snell looks at how it can be improved.
∞ Read this on The Loop
Apple CEO Tim Cook spent both Friday and Saturday this weekend at Duke University, accounts note. The executive sat down to talk as part of a "Real Conversations with Real Leaders" session at the Fuqua School of Business. Cook is said to have shared business advice with the audience in attendance at his alma mater.... ...
| Read more »OS X 10.9, which is internally codenamed “Cabernet,” will focus on various “power-user” enhancements and take core features from iOS, according to our sources. Unlike operating system updates such as OS X Leopard and OS X Lion, OS X 10.9 will likely not be an overhauled approach to how the operating system feels and functions.
The new operating system includes major enhancements to the Finder application such as tags and tabbed browsing modes. Those additions are notable as many pro-users have relied on third-party solutions and hacks to enable these features. Additionally, the new operating system will include a new Safari web browser with a redesigned backend for improved page loading, speed, and efficiency…
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Third-party TotalFinder tool
The ability to keep a different “Space” or full-...
Apple released its quarterly financial results this past week, and it turns out the company is significantly less doomed that many had predicted. It looks like Apple lives to fight for another quarter... unfortunately, that also means three more months of gibberish from "analysts" and other galactically disreputable sources.
Apple profits may have fallen for the first time in a decade, says analysts (9to5 Mac)
This analysis of Apple's profit was off by "only" 30 million dollars, or 7 cents per share. Predicted revenue was $1.2 billion less than what Apple actually made for the quarter. But hey, what's a billion dollars here and there, am I right? Barely even worth quibbling over.
Apple rejects 5-8m iPhones supplied by Foxconn (9to5 Mac)
From the article: "Details of just what went wrong are...
| Read more »Zhengzhou Foxconn is currently producing Apple's iPhone 5 and is preparing to manufacture Apple's new products. It was at this plant where 2 employees plunged to their deaths late last week. ...
| Read more »The Square Register app was updated today with a number of new features for merchants on top of a redesigned UI for the iPhone app. Merchants running the Square Register POS app on their iPad will now have access to barcode scanning with the ability to sync a Bluetooth barcode scanner, new easy order modifiers, as well as customizable kitchen tickets.
iPhone users of the Square Register app are greeted today with an all new design that adds new features such as custom tipping, smarter payments with multiple custom amounts, and a customizable item library.
Square just posted the video above to coincide with the update showing off how owners of Piada in Midtown Manhattan are taking advantage of the Square Register solution.
A full list of of what’s new in version 3.0 of Square Register is below:
What’s New in Version 3.0
New on iPhone:
- Item library: Add...
The 2013 J.D. Power U.S. Tablet Satisfaction survey results are out, and Apple took the top spot with it's popular iPad. Apple's tablet also scored a five out of five circle rating, and this marks the second year in a row the iPad was ranked as the best tablet.
The Mac Observer Spin:
Apple's iPad is the top selling tablet, and also happens to have topped the J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey. That sounds like a call for Apple's competitors to step up their game.
Samsung on Monday announced its new third-generation Galaxy Tab, a modestly equipped 7-inch tablet with a 3G-enabled variant that will also double as a phone. ...
| Read more »Developers Objective Development just announced a nice update to its extremely popular network and application monitoring tool known as ‘Little Snitch’. For those of you unfamiliar, Little Snitch allows users to set up rules that control network access for specific apps and services, allowing you to control when and how apps on your machine talk to the internet. A previous update brought profiles to the app, offering users the ability to switch between different sets of rules for different workflows. Today’s update to version 3.1 enhances that feature by offering Automatic Profile Switching:
With the new Automatic Profile Switching these profiles now can be activated automatically when the computer starts using a specific network connection (e.g. the office, home or some public network) – thereby adapting your network security to the current environment…The first time you connect to a network, Little Snitch presents you the new Profile...
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested that Apple will be introducing new models across the MacBook range at WorldWide Developers Conference in June (via MacRumors). Previously the analyst said he didn’t expect Apple to continue with non-Retina machines but now he does.
Kuo expects all the new models to be bumped up to Haswell processors, expected to give a modest performance bump in the 7-13 percent range, with likely a much better boost to battery-life, though we don’t expect this to be anywhere close...
Kyle Crawford has an interesting post that covers reloading LaunchAgents while a user is logged in without requiring them to take action (Log out/in, reboot, etc).While somewhat hacky, it is a novel way to ensure that a given LaunchAgent is reloaded without burdening the End User to take action.About Nate WalckNate is a Macintosh Systems Engineer at Tamman Technologies, Inc in Philadelphia, PA. He is the managing editor for afp548.com and one of the founding members of the ##osx-server IRC channel on freenode.net. He loves being involved in the Mac Admin community and using Open Source projects whenever possible, especially Munki and The Luggage.Mail |...
| Read more »If you are a loyal Quartz reader, and you visited the business news site on your PC or tablet last night, there’s a chance you might have noticed something different: A design tweak that made Quartz’s no-frills look even sparser.
Or maybe you didn’t notice it. The Quartz team told me about the change in advance, and even I have a hard time seeing much difference. The biggest change is that a black bar that used to run across the top of the site and then shrink down as you scrolled down is now just preshrunk.
You can see, sort of, by comparing some “before” shots (clicking the images should enlarge them):
And an after:
The more interesting thing to note about Quartz’s overhaul is that it is one of dozens of changes Atlantic Media’s newest property has made since it launched seven...
Executive dashboards are now common in business environments -- graphical interfaces that show managers key metrics about their enterprises like sales activity, inventory or financials. They tick and update in real time, and they require hooks into business data to work. Panic, Inc., has created a simple dashboard for real people. Status Board lets you create a snazzy widget-based iPad screen full of elements that matter to individuals. Clearly, I had to give it a spin.
Apple's Contacts app includes a lot of great shortcuts for initiating different forms of communication. Just click an email address, phone number, or URL field label to display a list of available options. You can send an email, show a phone number in large type, or start a FaceTime call, for example. Curiously, one shortcut that's absent from most of these popups is one for copying the email address, phone number, URL, etc. to the clipboard. Mailing addresses are one exception, as they provide an option to copy a mailing label. But, other fields don't include this option. Sure, you could just select a phone number, email address, URL, etc., and press Command+C to copy it. But, what fun is that? It sure would be nice if there were just more handy copy to clipboard shortcuts instead. With the help of AppleScript, you can add your own. Here's how...
Writing the Script
The following steps demonstrate how to add a Copy to Clipboard...
| Read more »Winter Wolves has released Bionic Heart 2 for the Mac. It's a "deep and dark, sci-fi visual" novel/game told from four points of view.
Here's how Bionic Heart 2 is described: "Take control of Luke, Tom, Tanya and Tina. Each character has their own personality, complete with quirky traits that could potentially whip the story straight into a plot twist. Bionic Heart 2 is the only visual novel featuring a scene with TWO talking brains! The game also features beautiful manga artwork, a full original soundtrack, and meaningful choices that will have repercussions on the whole universe."
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"The Total Economic Impact of The FileMaker Platform" (http://tinyurl.com/cvnsbpd) is the topic of a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of FileMaker, Inc. (www.filemaker.com)
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"The Total Economic Impact of The FileMaker Platform" (http://tinyurl.com/cvnsbpd) is the topic of a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of FileMaker, Inc. (www.filemaker.com)
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Universe Software has updated pdf-Office Professional, the PDF form creation software, to version 11. Created PDF forms can be saved locally without restrictions in Adobe Reader XI completed, or be sent as an email attachment.
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The iPad was rated by consumers as the best tablet for the second time running in the JD Power customer satisfaction survey, with no competitor tablet rated above About average. Back in March, the iPhone was rated best phone for the 9th consecutive time, a fact Apple includes prominently on its Why iPhone webpage.
Tablet owners were asked to give an overall satisfaction rating, as well as rank their tablet on five specific factors, each given a weighting from most to least important …
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Timelines from Ripple Training -- a plug-in designed exclusively for Final Cut Pro X -- is a cool collection of eight transition effects that create graphical timelines for videos.
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Apple’s iPad tablet has once again claimed top honors in J.D. Power and Associates U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study, besting rival tablets from Amazon, Samsung and others. But its victory was hardly a rout.
Conducted during February, J.D. Power and Associates’ survey asked 1,857 tablet owners to rate their devices on performance, ease of operation, design, features and cost. Respondents rated the iPad highest, giving it a score of 836 points out of a possible 1,000. That was enough for the device to nab the research house’s top tablet rank for the second consecutive time, though not by much of a lead. With a score of 829 out of 1,000, Amazon’s Kindle Fire came close to tying it. Samsung came reasonably close as well with a score of 822, though that came in lower than the industry...
Little Snitch sees what happens under the hood. A firewall protects your computer against unwanted guests from the Internet. But who protects your private data from being sent out? Little Snitch does! As soon as you're connected to the Internet, applications can potentially send whatever information they want to wherever they want. Sometimes they do this for good reason, on your explicit request. But often they don't. Little Snitch allows you to intercept these unwanted connection attempts, and lets you decide how to proceed. Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge. Little Snitch runs inconspicuously in the background and it can also detect network related activity of viruses, trojans and other malware.Version 3.1:...
| Read more »An allegedly authentic sales sheet from a Japanese telecom purports to confirm that Apple's next iPhone will be called the 5S, and will begin preorders on June 20 with a formal launch sometime in July. The new phone is said from the document to also include iOS 7 and include a 13-megapixel rear camera. The timing appears to contradict statements by Apple CEO Tim Cook that new products would not be seen until at least the fall, but his carefully-chosen words leave room for some interpretation.... ...
| Read more »A document reportedly meant for employees of Japanese telecom KDDI's "au" wireless service has been leaked, showing the carrier will begin taking preorders for Apple's iPhone 5S on June 20 ahead of a launch in July. ...
| Read more »Duplicate Annihilator takes on the time-consuming task of comparing the images in your iPhoto library using effective algorithms to make sure that no duplicate escapes. When found, the duplicate will either be marked with a description of your choice to make it searchable or simply moved to iPhotos trashcan. Duplicate Annihilator detects:
Version 4.6.1:
Notable software releases this week include PDFpen and PDFpenPro 6.0.2, CloudPull 2.4.1, DEVONagent Lite, Express, and Pro 3.5, and Typinator 5.5. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »Three quick bits for you this week: news of yet another massive data breach, a chance to hear the voice of Alexander Graham Bell, and the results of a study that proclaims the 13-inch MacBook Pro to be the most reliable PC laptop. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »Along with his recent research note addressing Apple's notebook launch plans, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also published a note examining Apple's iPad prospects. In particular, Kuo looks to the iPad mini as the future of the company's iPad portfolio, but with Apple's efforts to bring a Retina display to the device said to be pushing a launch back to the fourth quarter of this year, he suggests that Apple may be looking at a lower-priced iPad mini.Prior to iPad mini 2 launch, Apple might roll out a more affordable iPad mini to compete with Android products. To cut costs, Apple might push for lower component prices, use a more advanced process to produce the A5 processor, simplify metal casing production, remove the rear camera, cut storage to 8GB and find more component suppliers to lower costs. We think this cheaper iPad mini retail for US$199...
| Read more »Jalopnik:
Ever wondered what happened to the mall in The Blues Brothers after Jake, Elwood, and all those cops drove right through it? They actually left it just the way it was, but that’s only the start of the Dixie Square Mall’s decline.
One of the most iconic car chases ever filmed.
∞ Read this on The Loop
It's a big 1-0 for everyone's "favorite" music manager, which has evolved far beyond its humble Rip, Mix, Burn origins to become the digital hub for a new generation of digital devices. Happy birthday, iTunes, and here's hoping that you make it out of your adolescence wiser and more mature.
Also this week: The results of Apple's most recently concluded fiscal quarter are in the books, and while the company continued to make money hand over fist there are some troublesome signs for analysts: eroding margins and the possibility of the high-end smartphone market (where the iPhone owns the roost) starting to squeeze.
Apple's response, in part, is to return more cash to its shareholders (via dividends) and repurchase outstanding shares. Apple's even getting...
| Read more »Dave and John looked at the mailbag, and you're either going to love or hate what they found: so much Cool Stuff that they just couldn't not do a Cool Stuff Found episode this week. Yes, we know you say they're expensive to listen to, but don't worry: your two favorite geeks have made sure to include a healthy dose of free stuff in here this time around, too. Tune in, press play, and enjoy!
Talk about magical and revolutionary: the manual and unpredictable task of hailing a taxi is being completely overturned by mobile devices. In many American cities, app vendors like Uber are disrupting the livery and taxi business by providing quick and predictable service at the tap of a button.
The roster of cities with e-hailing service is missing a major entry, however; the Big Apple. With the largest US fleet of yellow taxis plus some arcane service regulations, New York's market is a huge prize for the app vendor that establishes early dominance. Several rounds of testing and potential rule...
| Read more »PDFpenPro allows users to edit PDF's easily. Add text, images and signatures. Fill out PDF forms. Merge or split PDF documents. Reorder and delete pages. Even correct text and edit graphics! Create fillable forms and tables of content with PDFpenPro! The Pro version adds three additional features that the regular version does not:
Features of PDFpenPro:
PDFpen allows users to easily edit PDF's. Add text, images and signatures. Fill out PDF forms. Merge or split PDF documents. Reorder and delete pages. Even correct text and edit graphics! Features:
Were you in Atlanta last weekend to visit the Apple Pop-Up Museum as part of the Vintage Computer Festival Southeast (VCFS)? Some Ars readers were there, and we now have some photos from them (and organizer David Greelish) to show off how it went. Put together by the Atlanta Historical Computing Society—and one member in particular, Lonnie Mimms—the VCFS and Apple Pop-Up Museum saw more than 1,100 visitors when it opened on April 20 and 21.
We wrote about the museum and the VCFS last month before its opening to the public. "The festival was a huge success, and my group is intending on making this an annual event," Greelish told Ars. "The Apple Pop-Up Museum is a semi-permanent one, so Lonnie Mimms and his team are deciding how to proceed, but for now, they will be arranging tours by appointment. They are also...
DesktopLyrics is an application that displays the lyrics of the song currently playing in "iTunes" right on your desktop. The lyrics for the song have to be set in iTunes; DesktopLyrics does nothing to fetch them if they aren't available in iTunes. If you don't want to type-in all your lyrics manually you can use an application like "Harmonic", "GimmieSomeTune" or "Get Lyrical" . Note: As of version 2.0.0, DesktopLyrics is no longer free and costs $3.99. A 'Lite', unsupported version of the app is available here.Version 2.2.0:
Postbox is a new email application that helps you organize your work life and get stuff done. Read the Wall Street Journal review of Postbox It has all the elegance and simplicity of Apple Mail, but with more power and flexibility to manage even the most demanding workloads. Key Features
...
| Read more »Last month I posted Geekbench 2 scores for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the Qualcomm 600 processor. Scores for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the Exynos 5 Octa processor were unavailable at the time:
We have no idea how the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the new Exynos 5 Octa SoC will perform, but given how the different Samsung Galaxy S 3s performed I imagine the Geekbench score will be similar.
Now that Geekbench 2 scores for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the Exynos 5 Octa processor have started to appear in the Geekbench Browser, it turns out "similar" means "15% faster":
Some new points to consider:...
| Read more »Apparent screen yield issues will prevent Apple from producing a second-generation iPad mini with Retina display before October, according to one well-connected analyst. ...
| Read more »If you’re an Apple stockholder, there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is the stock is once again an attractive investment — especially after plunging from September’s $705 peak all the way down to $417. The bad news is that many of its most loyal fans might be holding it for the wrong reasons.
Read the rest of this post on the original site
There’s a big trade in stolen iPhones, but SF cops are trying to do something about it.
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Notness is a modern, fast and easy to use Multiple Sclerosis diary App for iPhone and iPod Touch. Noteness is tailored to the requirements of a MS-Diary and goes without unnecessary gimmicks.
The app was written by Martin Hartl, a 21-year-old from Germany, who suffers from MS.
∞ Read this on The Loop
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a new report forecasting that the product highlight of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which kicks off on June 10, will be the introduction of new models of the company's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lines based on Intel's latest Haswell processors. The projection is in line with previous reports from Kuo and other sources, as well as recent claims that Apple will begin ramping up production of the new models in mid-May. On the MacBook Pro side, Kuo is reversing his earlier predictions suggesting that 2013 would see Apple discontinue the non-Retina MacBook Pro lineup and shift consumers to the slimmer and more expensive Retina line introduced at last year's WWDC. Kuo believes that continued strength of non-Retina MacBook Pro models, particularly the 13-inch line, have led Apple to continue...
| Read more »An anonymous reader writes "On April 28, 2003, Apple launched the iTunes Music Store. In their original press release, they called it 'revolutionary,' in typical PR fashion. As the service reaches its 10th anniversary, it seems they were actually correct. From The Verge: 'At launch, it was Mac-only and offered a relatively tiny catalog: 200,000 songs (it currently has 26 million). But it did have the support of the major record labels of the day: Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony, and BMG. The partnerships were key to helping Apple take control of music distribution — without the songs, the iPod was a nicely designed but empty box. ... Jobs certainly had his challenges. Vidich said he's the one who suggested that iTunes charge 99 cents per track and he remembers Jobs nearly hugged him. At the time, Sony Music execs wanted to charge more than $3 a track, according to Vidich. No doubt a $3 song price would have tied an anchor around iTunes' neck, stifling growth. 99 cents, on the other...
| Read more »Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities believes Apple will showcase updated MacBook Pro models at its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in June, with the most notable upgrade being the move to Intel's next-generation Haswell family of processors. ...
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Apple CEO Tim Cook spent Friday and Saturday at Duke University during one of the school’s “Real Conversations with Real Leaders” sessions. Cook gave business advice from his perspective as one of the most powerful executives in the world to the crowd at his alma mater.
photo by csinar
Tim Cook graduated from the Fuqua School of Business in 1988. Other Duke alumni at Apple include Senior Vice President of Internet Services Eddy Cue and Senior Vice President of Operations Jeff Williams…
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@beijingdou PS tim cook is coming to duke fuqua this friday and saturday for the speaker series that i co-chair. i'm pretty excited.— Jennifer (@aTexanAbroad)...
| Read more »Apple's iPad is the best tablet on the market in terms of consumer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power and Associates' new 2013 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study. The survey looked at the opinions of 1,857 tablet owners who've had their devices for less than a year, and Apple's bestselling tablets came out on top for the second time in a row. Apple devices hold the top spots in J.D. Power rankings for both tablets and smartphones.... ...
| Read more »Gotta love The Macalope.
∞ Read this on The Loop
J.D. Power and Associates released its most recent study on customer satisfaction in the tablet segment this week, with Apple's iPad taking the top prize for the second consecutive time. ...
| Read more »Thanks to the guys at Chromatic Labs, we've got three copies of Tabular for Mac to give away, worth US$19.99 each.
Tubular is a comprehensive application for reading, editing and writing tablature music on a Mac. If you're a musician, music teacher or composer of music who's looking to use tablature, Tabular has all the tools you'll need.
To find out more about Tabular, check out the review I did of it a little while ago here.
Here are the rules and how to enter:
With Google Reader closing down, it’s nice to see Reeder adding support for some new services. I have a Feedbin account and tried it out earlier today — it worked great.
∞ Read this on The Loop
Apple on Friday posted a new message on its developer news site stating that the company will be "hitting the road" this fall with Tech Talks set to take place in a number of cities. Enthusiasm for WWDC 2013 has been incredible, with tickets selling out in record time. For those who can't join us in San Francisco, you can still take advantage of great WWDC content, as we'll be posting videos of all our sessions during the conference. We'll also be hitting the road this fall with Tech Talks in a city near you. Hope to see you there. The initiative is likely a response to the overwhelming demand for WWDC tickets which continue to sell out at a faster clip with each passing year. This week, tickets to WWDC 2013 sold out in minutes, leaving many developers out of luck. To help remedy that, Apple in recent years started posting free videos of developer sessions online, something it will continue to do this...
| Read more »Here are three simple stories worth noting on Saturday April 27, 2013. ...
| Read more »GraphicConverter is an all-purpose image-editing program that can import 200 different graphic-based formats, edit the image, and export it to any of 80 available file formats. The high-end editing tools are perfect for graphic manipulation as well as the ability to use Photoshop-compatible plug-ins. It offers batch-conversion capabilities, a slide-show window, and so much more.Version 8.6: Note: The downloadable version is 8.6. The Mac App Store version is currently 8.5.3. New features
Why struggle with a decision when you can have your friends, family and even strangers help you? That is the idea behind Seesaw, a new social app that lets you share your dilemmas with the world. Seesaw is a visual app that lets you share photos of two choices that you are about to make. It could be the food you plan for dinner, the clothes you want to wear for a date or the haircut for your next stylist's appointment. You can share your choices with your friends via text message, Facebook or Twitter. As soon as you post your quandary, you immediately start receiving feedback from your friends, who can respond without signing up for the service or even installing the app. If your friends can't give you enough feedback, then you can share your post with the Seesaw community. Seesaw is an interesting concept that'll take off among folks who are accustomed to sharing everything with their friends. Be patient with it as it's a relatively new app,...
| Read more »Tech columnist David Pogue shares ten simple, clever tips for computer, web, smartphone and camera users in a brief six minute video. While you may know some of these tricks, there's probably one or two you don't. ...
| Read more »After a decade of significant growth, Apple's Mac sales have flattened out as the larger market for PCs has begun to collapse. What future is there in the Mac business, and why is the company now designing a new Mac Pro? ...
| Read more »Skype allows you to talk to friends, family and co-workers across the Internet without the inconvenience of long distance telephone charges. Using peer-to-peer data transmission technology, Skype eliminates the central server as a middle manager. Today, millions of individuals and businesses are taking advantage of Skype's diverse communication features:
Skype-to-Skype calls, video calls and instant messaging are free, 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world. Users can make phone calls and send SMS messages at great value Pay-As-You-Go rates, or make unlimited calls to certain countries with a subscription.Version 6.3.60.602:
New features:
In case you missed anything, here’s a quick weekend roundup of the news that powered AllThingsD.com this week:
The Verge directs our attention to an extremely curious bug in iMessage which works to erase the last word of certain sent messages. The end result is that some messages appear truncated to both the sender and the recipient.
For example, two phrases which bring the issue to light include "I could be the next Obama " -- with an empty space following the 'a' -- and "The best prize is a surprise".
While a thread on Apple's support forums claims that the issue only manifests when a message is sent from iMessage on a Mac to an iPhone, I was able to replicate the bug using iPhones exclusively.
So just what, exactly, is going on here?
Well, a user on a MacRumors forum writes that the bug rears its bizarre head when the ...
| Read more »John Martellaro, Senior Editor for Analysis & Reviews at The Mac Observer, will be a guest on The Tech Night Owl LIVE with Gene Steinberg, Saturday night, April 27th on GCN Radio. He'll talk about the 'power and scope' of Apple and how, even when there's a product lull, the company can't be underestimated. And more.
The Engage (iPad mini; $20) is the perfect companion for Apple’s Smart Cover: The case provides protection for the back of your device, adding a splash of color without hiding the iPad mini’s beautiful design.
The Engage comes in clear, smoke, green, or red.
| Read more »JBL’s $99 Flip, $99 OnBeat Lightning Dock and $149 Charge
When we did our Best Bluetooth speaker mega-review (TL;DR: ...
When you're coding, it's always nice to have a friendly helper ready to pop up at any moment and give you inspiration. In this case, Caturday model Herman the Birman seems to be imploring owner and TUAW reader Tom King to spend less coding and more time playing.
If you've got a Caturday nominee to share, let us know via our feedback page. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link.
Thanks, Tom!...
| Read more »Sandro Cuccia answers the question, "can I email multiple photos on my iPhone?" by showing two ways to do this. Plus… a caveat.
With its June Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco selling out immediately, Apple said that — along with posting videos of the event — it would also be hosting “Tech Talks in a city near you.” No details yet for the mini-WWDCs, it sounds like the tech giant is going into the concert business for geeks again — it had done such talks with Apple developers at the time of the iOS 5 release.
| Read more »Last May, after some residents voiced concern about Apple’s planned Spaceship Campus 2 project, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer sent out a brochure/mailer to local residents, hoping to alleviate concerns about the huge new office building and surrounding Campus 2.
Click to enlarge, via Macrumors
Apple...
The great thing about the iTunes Store is that you can buy just about any song you can imagine, cheaply and easily. And the worst thing about the iTunes Store? Sometimes you can buy those songs a little too easily.
Apple’s retail store for digital downloads has been open for a decade now, and in that time, you’ve probably loaded up on a lot of music. And you don’t have to tell us that some of those downloads probably seemed like a good idea at the time. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the iTunes Music Store, I combed through my purchase history to find some of the instances where I could have spent my 99 cents more wisely. Perhaps my confessions of regrettable musical choices will make you feel better about your own iTunes indiscretions over the last 10...
| Read more »Every once in a while I check out various databases around the world for new trademark and patent filings and every now and then I'm rewarded by finding something interesting or something that somehow slipped through the cracks. One of these surprises has once again surfaced and it's an interesting one that touches on the subject of Liquidmetal. The Material's extraordinary ability to bond contrasting materials together with stunning precision will no doubt ... ...
| Read more »After a slow start, it appears that every accessory manufacturer on the planet is now up to speed on pumping out shiploads (that is spelled correctly, BTW) of iPad mini cases. Today, for your amusement and my employment, I'll take a look at three of the cases that have come to the attention of TUAW recently and give you a chance to win one.
The three iPad mini cases of the week are:
Gallery: iPad mini Cases...
| Read more »Coming on the heels of Apple's filing of its most up-to-date Campus 2 build plans, the company has once again sent out mailers to neighbors in the surrounding Cupertino area, updating them with the latest news and asking for input regarding the mammoth project. ...
| Read more »Apple today announced on its developer news website that it will be "hitting the road" with individual Tech Talk sessions for developers this fall (via The Next Web). The news comes a day after tickets for the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) sold out in two minutes.Enthusiasm for WWDC 2013 has been incredible, with tickets selling out in record time. For those who can’t join us in San Francisco, you can still take advantage of great WWDC content, as we’ll be posting videos of all our sessions during the conference. We’ll also be hitting the road this fall with Tech Talks in a city near you. Hope to see you there.With the quick sellout, even some developers who thought they...
| Read more »Earlier this week, Apple filed another revised plan for its "Campus 2" project in Cupertino, a new headquarters for the company focused on a massive ring-shaped building and designed to house 13,000 employees. In line with that revised plan, Apple has once again solicited residents of Cupertino for feedback on the project now that additional details on environmental sustainability and neighborhood enhancements have been fleshed out. Apple made a similar mailing last May when the project was in an earlier stage of conceptualization. Click for larger This week's mailing includes a new letter from Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer...
| Read more »Apple, Amazon and a host of other technology firms scored a win in a suit brought by patent licensing firm Golden Bridge Technology. The firm sued the two tech giants and a long list of other tech firms (including Lenovo, Dell, Motorola Mobility, Sony Ericsson, Pantech, LG, HTC and HP) over two patents for 3G network communications. In the court's summary judgement, US District Judge Sue Robinson found that "the record evidence remains consistent with the finding of non-infringement," and cancelled a jury trial set to begin on April 29.... ...
| Read more »In a post to Apple's developer portal, the company announced that it will be "hitting the road" with a number of Tech Talks this fall, possibly in response to overwhelming demand for WWDC 2013 tickets. ...
| Read more »WWDC 2013 sold out in a matter of minutes likely cutting out a few developers who wanted to head to San Francisco for the show. For those who who missed out or who can’t make the trip to San Francisco, Apple will again be offering Tech Talks this Fall in a number of cities. (Apple will also be offering videos of WWDC session videos as they unfold.)
In 2011, Apple’s Tech Talk hit 9 cities though it is far from certain that Apple will be hitting the same places this time around:
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Related articles
Messages leaves users hanging, Apple wants to school you on in-app purchases, and Eric Schmidt is back with some more awkward truths. The remainders for Friday, April 26, 2013 are on the edge of their seats.
Bizarre iMessage bug deletes last word of certain texts (The Verge)
In a very odd bug noticed by some users, iOS will blank out the last words in certain phrases—those discovered so far include “The best prize is a surprise” and “I could be the next Obama”—when they’re sent via Messages. I just have to say: This is the weirdest movie marketing campaign I’ve ever seen.
Apple Updates App Store With New ‘Learn More About In-App Purchases’ Page (AppAdvice)
...
Enthusiasm for WWDC 2013 has been incredible, with tickets selling out in record time. For those who can’t join us in San Francisco, you can still take advantage of great WWDC content, as we’ll be posting videos of all our sessions during the conference. We’ll also be hitting the road this fall with Tech Talks in a city near you. Hope to see you there.
| Read more »Enthusiasm for WWDC 2013 has been incredible, with tickets selling out in record time. For those who can’t join us in San Francisco, you can still take advantage of great WWDC content, as we’ll be posting videos of all our sessions during the conference. We’ll also be hitting the road this fall with Tech Talks in a city near you. Hope to see you there.
| Read more »Apple's recent "partial backtrack" on a plan to deprecate the "always on" feature in its implementation of VPN could indicate possible negotiations with VirnetX, which won a $368 million District Court ruling that Apple was violating its patents. However, new information discovered by Computerworld in an SEC Form 10-Q filing suggest that Apple is also be preparing to appeal the ruling. Documents filed by the iPhone maker say it will not yet record the court's award as a loss, because the company "is challenging the verdict."... ...
| Read more »In a blast of tweets on Thursday, the developers behind Mailbox revealed that they are currently working on an iPad version of the iOS app, as well as a number of other features like support for non-Gmail and POP accounts, landscape mode and an OS X client. ...
| Read more »Earlier this month, Apple posted a support document on its website with details on how settings would change for iOS users connecting to virtual private networks (VPNs). Now the company has done an about-face, updating the document to inform the public that the changes will not happen.
The changes were made following a patent infringement lawsuit by VirnetX against Apple in which Apple was found to have violated a patent through the design of the popular FaceTime software. That loss in court cost Apple US$368 million, and the company made a minor change in the iOS VPN On Demand feature as a result. As Jacqui Cheng of Ars Technica explains, "The change was going to be relatively minor-devices with VPN On Demand configured to "always" would instead...
| Read more »Former Xerox CFO Luca Maestri officially joined Apple as Corporate Controller in late February and a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published earlier today reveals that he received 38,091 restricted stock units (RSUs) in March of this year. As with most RSUs handed out by Apple, these carry staggered vesting dates with 1/8 of the total number of units converting to actual shares every six months over a four year period. Apple's restricted stock grants are often issued as incentives to stay with the company because the shares vest over time and require employees to remain employed through each vesting date. At Apple's current stock price, Maestri's RSUs are worth approximately $15 million, but that total will shift depending on the stock price...
| Read more »Jailbreak developer Adam Bell has just published a new tweak that allows Facebook users to access their Chat Heads from anywhere. The tweak is called Message Box and it works remarkably well. It’s not 100% perfect yet, but it functions well enough to use full time without much of an issue.
Keep reading for more info on the tweak, including where you can get it before it hits Cydia.
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I did notice a few little bugs in my testing, mostly involving the Facebook app itself. For example, opening the multitasking bar or Notification Center while the Facebook app is active will cause the app to turn black. There is no real side effect to this, and the problem resolves itself once you close the multitasking bar or Notification Center. Occassionally the Chat Heads don’t show message previews or new messages in the chat thread when they should, but it’s usually only a slight delay between when the message comes in and the Chat Head shows it.
Aside from those...
A chance to spend some one-on-one facetime with the CEO of the world's most influential and profitable technology company is worth a lot; far more than anyone expected, as it turns out. Apple head Tim Cook has offered a half-hour "coffee" at Apple headquarters to the winning bidder in a charity auction that was initially valued as being worth $50,000. As of 6:45PM ET on Friday -- with 18 days remaining in the bidding -- the bidding has reached $580,000 after 81 bids. The auction benefits the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.... ...
| Read more »Apple recently updated Safari with a new security feature for managing Java plug-in usage on a site-by-site basis, and also updated Java itself to the latest versions for Mountain Lion, Lion, and Snow Leopard. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »It's an app Audubonanza as Audubon discounted all its nature and field guide apps to honor John James Audubon's birthday on April 26. The sale extends to both its single subject apps, now 99-cents, and its regional guides, which are $1.99.
You can find the full list of Audubon apps that are on sale on the NatureShare website. NatureShare, previously known as Green Mountain Digital, is the developer behind the Audubon apps. The sale started yesterday and runs through 4/29/13.Audubon field guide apps on sale for Audubon's birthday originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog...
| Read more »This week Vern Seward offers you a mixed bag, a small potpourri of apps that you might find useful and interesting. This week's Free on iTunes takes a look at Quotes!, Dribbblr, and Fotopedia Reporter.
The Yankee Group's Carl Howe has some bad news for Google, Samsung, and the rest of the Android ecosystem. The Group published the results of a survey that found more than twice as many smartphone owners intend to buy iPhones, and Mr. Howe predicted based on this buyer intent, iPhone will eclipse Android by 2016.
Square Enix has launched a Japanese site for an upcoming mobile game called Final Fantasy Tactics S, and it sounds intriguing. Final Fantasy Tactics, of course, is the excellent tactical strategy game based on Square's old Final Fantasy series, which arrived on iOS a little while ago. The "S" version appears to be a social version, which will have you fighting monsters tactically while your "clan" competes against others.
This is both good and bad news. The good part is that Final Fantasy Tactics is a great series, and it's always nice to see Square return to tactical strategy and the world of Ivalice, especially on smartphones like the iPhone. The bad news, however, is that Square Enix has had sort of a tin ear when it comes to iOS lately. The...
| Read more »Apple will challenge a November 2012 jury verdict that awarded $368 million in damages to Nevada patent-holding company VirnetX, a filing with U.S. regulators showed -- as noted by "Macworld" (http://tinyurl.com/bwfn5qv)
In a Form 10-Q filed this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Apple said it had not yet recorded the millions owed to VirnetX on its balance sheet. "The Company is challenging the verdict, believes it has valid defenses and has not recorded a loss accrual at this time," Apple said in the SEC filing.
read more
A peculiar bug has been discovered that apparently cuts off the last word of certain phrases sent through iMessages. The word appears invisible to both the sender and the recipient.
A MacRumors screenshot shows the words "Obama" and "surprise" left off of the two sent messages. In an effort to emulate the bug, our own Senior Apple Editor Jacqui Cheng sent out the same two messages, and both were mysteriously missing the same words, despite then being seen as the messages were being composed.
The bug screenshot from MacRumors. MacRumors
The bug emulated on our iPhone 5. Jacqui Cheng
Evidence of the bug is making the...
| Read more »Often, it's good to be reminded of things that get lost in the Internet storms. This week, we were remind by some calm, cool heads about things we have forgotten to appreciate about Apple. John Martellaro recaps.
A notation in Apple's latest Form 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveals the company has not recorded a $368 million court ruling that awarded VirnetX damages for patent infringement as a loss, and suggests a challenge to the decision is in the works. ...
| Read more »Readers ask about tackling rapid storage space loss in OS X and more.
| Read more »I've been a fan of GateGuru since I first tried it in 2010. It's a travel app for the iPhone that provides a plethora of information of flights, airlines and airports. It's great having all of that in your pocket. The version 4.0 fixes some problems and makes GateGuru even better.
Version 3 was nice but had nagging problems. For example, it required me to enter flight details, even when that's not the information I'm after. For example, sometimes I simply want to review the amenities that are available at a certain airport. GateGuru 3 needed flight info before sharing that data.
With version 4, released today, all is forgiven. The free app now allows you to browse airport information with no restrictions. The entire app has been redesigned and it looks very modern. Plus, the...
| Read more »A peculiar iMessage bug is making certain words disappear from the end of messages. The phrases “I could be the next Obama” and “The best prize is a surprise,” when followed by a trailing space, are sent with the last word deleted; both sender and receiver see a blank space…
| Read more »Two days ago, we reported on a Charitybuzz auction which was auctioning off coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple's headquarters. Since the 'item' first became available for bidding, the price to sit down with the Apple CEO has continued to rise to incredibly high levels.
At the time of this writing, there have currently been 78 bids with the leading bid now checking in at a whopping $560,000. Benefits from the auction will be going to the RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights. Note that Charitybuzz keeps 20% of each winning bid.
Incredibly, the $560,000 bid for a sit-down with Cook is an all-time record for Charitybuzz and becomes all the more impressive when one looks at the current bids for other celebrity meetings. For example, the current high bid for lunch with Francis Ford Coppola in Napa...
| Read more »The latest edition of iLounge Weekly, our weekly newsletter covering all things iLounge, will be arriving in subscribers’ inboxes early next week. iLounge Weekly is a summary of the week’s best news, reviews, and feature articles we’ve published, and it also features giveaways and accessory discount offers from various companies.…
| Read more »If your backlit keyboard characters are fading to illegible blobs, you can halt the damage with a small piece of household tape.
| Read more »A strange bug in Apple's iMessage service is manifesting itself. Messages of a certain length are rendering the final word of the text invisible (but still present) following sending the message to both sender and recipient. Two phrases induce the bug for some users -- "I could be the next Obama" followed by a space causes the display oddity. The phrase "the best prize is a surprise" also causes the odd display problem.... ...
| Read more »With Apple generating tens of billions of dollars in revenue each and every quarter, analysts have long been asking how Apple will be able to not only maintain, but increase its growth in the years to come.
While there is always speculation surrounding great new mythical products the company may or may not have in its pipeline, Apple for the time being remains focused on getting its current products in front of as many customers as possible.
To that end, China continues to represent an increasingly important part of Apple's ongoing efforts to generate significant revenue growth.
During Apple's earnings conference call this week, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty claimed that Apple's growth in China was stalling and asked if Apple was hitting a wall.
On the contrary, Apple CEO Tim Cook answered that Apple's recent quarter in China was the company's best yet. iPad sales were...
| Read more »Today in the MacNN forums, Grizzled Veteran "PeterParker" was wondering if it would be a good idea to build their own USB charging station that could be used to charge Apple devices among other things. Mac Elite "CIA" started a thread earlier this week trying to find out if the maxed out Mac Pro setup that they are using will fry the power supply.... ...
| Read more »At Apple's online store this week, take advantage of price cuts on refurbished iPods and iPad minis. The refurbished, current-generation 16GB iPod nano has been reduced by $20 to $129, and is available in yellow, silver, slate, green, purple, blue and pink. Also available now are refurbished current-generation iPod touch models. The 32GB Touch is priced at $249 after a $50 discount, and comes in white, blue, pink, black, or yellow. The 64GB touch is priced at $349 in blue, pink, black, yellow or white.... ...
| Read more »Deals from DealNN this week include price cuts on MacBook Pros, iPods and more. Today's deal of the day from MacMall.com is on the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro which has been reduced by $549, lowering the cost from $2,649 down to $2,099. This MBP features a 2.7GHz Intel quad-core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive with Bluetooth, FaceTime camera, USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt. A one-year warranty on parts and labor is included from Apple.... ...
| Read more »Jeff Gamet, The Mac Observer's Managing Editor joined MacVoices host Chuck Joiner on MacJury to look this week's quarterly earnings report from Apple, and to dig into the thinly veiled messages the company's executive team tossed our way.
As part of an ongoing response to the challenges enabled by in-app purchases, Apple has added a new section to the App Store explaining the ins and outs of app purchases. ...
| Read more »Apple will challenge a November 2012 jury verdict that awarded $368 million in damages to Nevada patent-holding company VirnetX, a filing with U.S. regulators showed.
In a Form 10-Q filed this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Apple said it had not yet recorded the millions owed to VirnetX on its balance sheet.
“The Company is challenging the verdict, believes it has valid defenses and has not recorded a loss accrual at this time,” Apple said in the SEC filing.
VirnetX filed its lawsuit against Apple in August 2010, claiming that Apple’s FaceTime and Message, a video chat application and SMS text-replacement, respectively, infringed on four of its patents. A jury awarded VirnetX $368 million in damages.
To read this...
An iPad edition of Mailbox is in development, as are Android and desktop versions, tweets by the app's development team indicate. The iPad app is said to be "coming soon," while the Android and desktop apps are on a longer-term roadmap. Support for other platforms may also be possible.... ...
| Read more »Apple has added a new section to the App Store to help consumers “Learn More About In-App Purchases.” The informational section describes what in-app purchases are, the different types of in-app purchases, how in-app purchases work, and how to restrict a child’s ability to make in-app purchases using parental controls.…
| Read more »Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson isn't happy with T-Mobile's recently-instituted plans to replace the traditional two-year contract for an iPhone with an installment plan. Ferguson's main beef with the magenta network? That although T-Mo tells customers on the new plan that they can cancel their service at any time, the company has not made it clear that customers have to pay the remaining cost of the phone if they cancel service.
TUAW has discussed the no-contract Simple Choice plans previously. A T-Mobile iPhone 5 can be purchased for a $99.99 down payment plus $20 monthly payments for 24 months, or a customer can choose to purchase the phone outright for $579.99 (for a 16 GB iPhone 5). Only if a customer has paid for the phone up front can they just walk away from T-Mobile's plan without any form of cancellation fee.
...
| Read more »Chitika Insights published a new report today showing Apple's iPad share of Web traffic in North American is holding firm at 82% as we reported on last month. The new report illustrates iPad stats over the last six months where iPad Web traffic has slid from 92% to 82%. In that same time frame Samsung had rung up an anemic 2% growth in their tablet Web traffic to a total of, drum roll please, 4%. ...
| Read more »As noted by The Verge, a strange iMessage bug is causing the final word of certain phrases sent via Messages to an iPhone to be invisible to both the message sender and the recipient. When the following two phrases are sent using iMessage, the last word is not displayed on the iPhone: - I could be the next Obama (with a space after Obama) - The best prize is a surprise Both messages look complete when they are being composed, and the full text shows up in notifications, but within the Messages app itself, the words Obama and surprise are both invisible. Copying and pasting the message displays the original text. Many Twitter users have been able to confirm the problem, which only appears to affect the iPhone. The bug was first noticed back in December and posted on the...
| Read more »According to several recent news reports, an iPhone's GPS chip was used to help track the Boston Bombers to Watertown. Time, the New York Times, and Boston.com all have reported that after the bombing the two suspects stole a Mercedes and proceeded to flee the crime. However, what the thieves didn't realize is that the car itself was equipped with an mbrace tracking system and that an active iPhone had been left inside. None of the sources directly mention Find My iPhone, but it is likely that the device finding service played a part in the location of the stolen car.... ...
| Read more »A strange issue with Apple's iMessage service deletes certain words when they are used at the end of specific sentences, with two cases already found pertaining to the words "Obama" and "surprise". ...
| Read more »From 9to5Toys.com
Find the best deals/buying advice at 9to5Mac.com/products
Update: As is often the case, Amazon has matched Best Buy (which could save some tax $)
Best Buy is taking...
A free, unofficial developer event, AltWWDC, has been announced as running parallel to Apple's 2013 developer conference. Like WWDC, AltWWDC will be active June 10th through the 14th in San Francisco. The gathering is being hosted at the SF State Downtown Campus, only a block away from WWDC's venue, Moscone West.... ...
| Read more »In our continual quest for better publishing tools, we’re trying a new service called Leanpub, starting with Markdown-formatted text files in a Dropbox folder and ending with the click of a Publish button. (Well, it wasn’t quite that easy, so read on for the details.) Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »Natural language processing startup Wavii confirmed on Friday that it has been acquired by Google, and some sources report that the search giant bought the startup from under Apple for more than $30 million. ...
| Read more »In what should be one of those no-brainer decisions, the developers behind Mailbox have plans to bring the app to iPad, with desktop and Android clients not far behind, TechCrunch reports. There is no ETA on a desktop version, Mailbox developers tweeted, but it did confirm that the iPad version is in development.
Mailbox did away with its reservation system last week, the first key step in expanding to the iPad and other platforms. While the app initially gained a lot of users, expanding beyond the iPhone is imperative for users to keep using it. It was...
| Read more »A really funny post about Google Glass.
∞ Read this on The Loop
It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD).
Deals from Dealnews
Apple's market share of the worldwide smartphone market may have slipped, but a new Yankee Group survey (via AllThingsD) shows some promising data points for the company. In a survey of 16,000 U.S. smartphone users, the company found 91 percent of iPhone owners plan to purchase another iPhone when it's time to upgrade, while for Android the number is just 76 percent. And, three quarters of those looking to switch from Android plan to buy an iPhone. Yankee Group believes the incredible customer loyalty that Apple holds will drive market share gains well into the future. The firm predicts that, if these loyalty numbers hold, Apple will surpass Android in U.S...
| Read more »When Apple's developer event, the World Wide Developer Conference, sells out in less than three minutes, something is broken. Developers that TMO contacted weren't happy with the process and strongly urged Apple to make changes, both to the sign up process and to the event. Here's a vivid and articulate collection of developer responses that's full of insight and provides serious food for thought.
AppleInsider, which has long teamed with Apple Authorized Reseller MacMall to offer the lowest prices anywhere on Apple's MacBook family through the addition of exclusive 3% discount coupons, is pleased to announce that those coupons have now been extended to the iMac family. ...
| Read more »Collective (US$1.99) is a clipboard history utility for Mac. It keeps track of everything you copy to your Mac's clipboard, which in turn allows you to paste different items without having to go back and forth copying and pasting over and over again.
Since I've not used a clipboard utility app before, I know this frustration all too well! So when I got the opportunity to try out Collective, I jumped at it.
To use Collective, copy items as you normally would to the clipboard, whether it be an image, file or text. When you come to paste an item, hit Shift + ⌘ + V instead of the usual ⌘ + V, the Collective window will appear with a history of all you've copied to the clipboard. Either click and drag what you want to paste or select it and press ⌘ + V. If you're pasting multiple items the click and drag technique will be the easiest and quickest.
Of course, with copying so many...
| Read more »A new poll of smartphone users reveals that loyalty to the iPhone is chipping away at Android's market share lead, and could lead to the iPhone overtaking Android in the U.S. in just a few years. ...
| Read more »The Seattle-based newsfeed company Wavii has closed, after confirming earlier reports that Google has bought the company. Its website has been updated to confirm the purchase by the search giant, while also shutting the service down in order to work on using its natural-language research within Google itself.... ...
| Read more »Apple will not be changing the behavior of its VPN On Demand services for some iOS devices, despite having lost a $368 million judgment to VirnetX. ...
| Read more »This week’s roundup of iOS apps includes immersion in the world of DC Comics, help with your cooking, and a great new way to track your package deliveries.
| Read more »eduPad is known for its iTooch line of educational apps for elementary and junior high school students. The apps have a clean, ad-free interface and extensive problem set that adheres to the Common Core Standards. They are also on sale through April 28 for up to 80 percent off.
The iTooch series covers math, language arts, science and health for grades 3 through 8. You can buy individual subjects or a multi-subject pack that is grouped by grade level. Each subject includes over 1,500 exercises to reinforce the skills students need to master that subject. With the multi-subject app, you'll get 4,500 problems that'll challenge your child throughout the school year.
The iTooch apps usually cost $9.99 each, but eduPad is offering its series for up to 80 percent off this weekend. You can grab the individual subject apps for 99-cents and the multi-subject apps for $2.99. Links to all the...
| Read more »Apple has added a "Learn More About In-App Purchases" section to the App Store, AppAdvice observes. Tapping on the option explains what in-app purchases do, and the way the in-app purchase scheme works, specifically pointing out that while an Apple ID password is needed for an initial purchase, a 15-minute window exists during which more things can be bought without re-authorizing. Apple also places an emphasis on the Parental Controls menu under Settings, where people can turn off access to in-app purchases entirely.... ...
| Read more »Textual is a popular, lightweight IRC client for the Mac from Codeaux. Now three-years-old, the app was recently updated to version 3.0. To celebrate these milestones, the developers have dropped the price of Textual to US$3.
The latest version of Textual has a long changelog that includes new commands for encrypted chat and support for new scripts like moto that'll give you easy access to commonly used emoticons. There's also new messaging feature that'll playback up to 100 messages after each restart. You can read the full of list of changes on Codeaux's website.
You can download Textual from the Mac App Store. The $3 sale starts today and ends April 28.Textual celebrates three years and...
| Read more »Apple has walked back its decision to make changes to how iOS devices handle VPN following a $368.2 million patent verdict in favor of VirnetX. Apple originally posted a support document to its website earlier this month detailing how the settings would change when iOS users connect to VPN networks, but it updated the document this week to say the changes are no longer happening.
When Apple first posted the document, it specifically pointed to the lawsuit by patent firm VirnetX as the reason for the behavior change on iOS's VPN On Demand feature. The change was going to be relatively minor—devices with VPN On Demand configured to "always" would...
Apple has backtracked on a prior decision to change the way VPN On Demand connects in iOS. An updated support article notes that “Apple no longer plans to change the behavior of the VPN On Demand feature of iOS 6.1 for devices that have already been shipped. The ‘Always’…
| Read more »Research firm IDC yesterday released its estimates on worldwide mobile phone sales for the first quarter of 2013, showing Apple losing some ground in the smartphone market with only 6.6% year-over-year growth compared to 41.6% growth for the entire market. Still, Apple maintained a firm grasp on the number two spot behind Samsung, as challengers LG, Huawei, and ZTE were unable to reach the 5% mark during the quarter. Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 1Q13 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)Apple's smartphone shipment volume hit a new first-quarter high thanks in part to the iPhone 5, with volume growing 6.6% year over year. However, the last time the iPhone maker posted a single-digit year-over-year growth rate was 3Q09. The iPhone maker has held the second spot in the smartphone rankings for the past five quarters. Apple's mix of models shipped to market is increasingly diversified as it tries to reach new...
| Read more »Fujifilm has shipped a new compact camera in its FinePix range. The FinePix JZ700 has a 14-megapixel CMOS sensor instead of a CCD sensor used in previous FinePix JZ models, said to help with low-light situations, paired with an 8x optical zoom lens that has a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 24mm wide-angle to 192mm telephoto.... ...
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The bad news: There’s yet a new malware strain going around on the Mac.
The good news: If you’re up to date, it’s not a concern.
Per CNET, security company F-Secure has located spam e-mail laced with backdoor Trojan horse malware has been continuously delivered to members of Uyghur activist groups in an Advanced Persistent Threat attack.
Like prior ones, the new variant takes advantage of old vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word, by sending attachments that will embed the malware in the affected system if the document is opened in an...
Apple has been steadily beefing up its in-app purchasing policy to prevent children and adults from inadvertently buying items from within an app. As spotted by App Advice, Apple recently added a new disclaimer about in-app purchases to its App Store on the iPad.
The new "Learn More About In-App Purchases" page explains what in-app purchases are and how they work. Apple also gives tips on how to limit in-app purchases using parental controls.
You can find this page in the featured section of the iPad App Store, directly below the "What's Hot" section. There you will see a "Learn More About In-App Purchases" card. Tapping on it will...
| Read more »Jeff Gamet, The Mac Observer's Managing Editor, discussed reviewed Apple's quarterly earnings report from earlier this week, and got all chatty about Facebook's new Chat Heads on this week's We Have Communicators.
Apple has partially reversed course on its decision to change the way iOS 6 handles VPN connections, a modified Apple support document reveals. "Apple no longer plans to change the behavior of the VPN On Demand feature of iOS 6.1 for devices that have already been shipped. The 'Always' option will continue to work as it currently does on these devices," the company says.... ...
| Read more »A handy update never let anyone down.
On Monday, Elgato Systems released version 3.6.1 of its EyeTV software application, which finds and tracks all television programming you want to see and allows users to pause live television and save content to file.
The update, a 148.8 megabyte download via MacUpdate, offers the following fixes and changes:
- Improved EPG data display and search.
- Faster Gracenote EPG data download.
- Improved HDMI display support.
- Improved application performance after system sleep.
- Miscellaneous bug fixes.
EyeTV 3.6.1 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later to install and run. If you’ve tried the new...
The Whistle (iPhone 5; $30) features sturdy construction and a special contour for a superior grip. Its most defining characteristic, however, is the fact that it incorporates a whistle that you can use to attract attention or call for help.
The case is available in white, red, or black.
| Read more »"MacRumors" (http://tinyurl.com/ba8bg) says that Apple is offering some developers a second chance at tickets to the 2013 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, which is slated for June. The tickets sold out in under an hour after they went on sale Thursday.
However, developers who tried to purchase tickets got error messages stating that their purchase requests were unable to be processed. Red Sweater Software founder Daniel Jalkut told "MacRumors" that Apple contacted some registered members of its developer program to offer them a second chance to purchase a WWDC ticket.
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Sometimes clicking the "Show or hide panels" (the top-right icon on right pane for Tools or Comments) in Adobe Acrobat Pro XI v.11.0.2 on OS X 10.8.3 does no work. Clicking it does nothing. Here is the fix:
1. Select View > Read Mode.
2. Select View > Full Screen Mode
3. Press the Escape key
[kirkmc adds: I don’t have Acrobat Pro, so I can’t test this.]
| Read more »Seriously, one stunning revelation after another.
| Read more »In March Apple decided to add “offers in-app purchases” warnings in iTunes and on the App Store following a class action lawsuit brought on by parents arguing the iOS freemium model, i.e. in-app purchases, allowed children to easily rack up thousands of dollars. Today, as noted by AppAdvice, Apple has now added a new “Learn More About In-App Purchases” section on the App Store detailing how in-app purchases work and how parents can manage they preferences through Parental Controls (pictured below). On a related note, in the video above IGN shows off how kids could easily spend thousands of dollars in apps that...
| Read more »With a flurry of activity today, bidding on the charity auction for a coffee meeting with Tim Cook at Apple's headquarters has passed $500,000, nearly doubling the previous record for a CharityBuzz "experience" auction set last year when a bidder paid $255,000 to spend a day with Bill Clinton. The bid list seems to be a combination of serious bidders and those likely simply seeking visibility for their names or brands and relying on the fact that there are 18 days left to bid to hope that they won't actually win the auction. CharityBuzz notes in its FAQ that all bids are legally binding and can not be retracted.Can I...
| Read more »Due to a loss in a patent lawsuit that awarded patent holder VirnetX $368.2 million, we reported earlier this month that Apple would be changing the behaviour of its VPN on Demand features for devices running iOS 6.1 and up. The changes would mean a downgrade in functionality for users effectively forcing them to start the VPN client before they run an app, or before they open mobile Safari to access an intranet site.
Now, in a recently updated knowledge base article (via MacRumors), Apple appears to be backtracking on that decision informing customers it “no longer plans to change the behavior of the VPN On Demand feature of iOS 6.1 for devices that have already been...
Apple's plan to take out a loan for its $60 billion stock buyback is about saving taxes, notes the Washington Post. Although the company has $145 billion in cash reserves, roughly two-thirds of that is situated outside the US, and Apple has so far avoided repatriating the money in order to bypass a 35 percent tax rate. Taking out a loan for $60 billion means the company must still pay interest, but this is offset by not having to pay out dividends on the shares it's reclaiming.... ...
| Read more »As noted by AppAdvice, Apple yesterday added a new "Learn More About In-App Purchases" feature to the iPad version of the App Store, marking yet another step in the company's efforts to make users aware that some free and paid apps may offer the ability to purchase additional content from within the apps. The document includes four sections, addressing what In-App Purchases are, types of In-App Purchases, how they work, and how Parental Controls in iOS can be used to turn the feature off entirely.On devices running iOS 4.3 or later, you must enter your password to make an In-App Purchase. Once you enter your password to make that purchase, additional In-App Purchases can be made without reentering your password for 15 minutes. To change your settings to require a password entry with every purchase, open Settings, tap General, then tap Restrictions, and change...
| Read more »Of course the CEO of a mobile mapping company is going to say maps are super important. But Waze CEO Noam Bardin has an interesting way of putting it.
“What search is for the Web, maps are for mobile,” Bardin said at our D: Dive Into Mobile conference last week.
The latitude and longitude of a location, he argued, are the equivalent of the URL for a Web page.
Doing maps well is quite hard, as demonstrated by Apple’s troubled iOS mapping app launch last year. People really, really don’t like it when their maps are wrong — and rightly so.
Bardin argued that crowdsourcing is the cheapest and most effective way to keep maps up to date, as well as real-time navigation. Waze’s 44 million users, who both actively and passively...
CommandQ is a Mac utility that stops you from accidentally quitting apps when using the keyboard shortcut "⌘" (or command) and "Q".
Unfortunately, we are all susceptible to moments of human error. This means, with the ⌘ + Q shortcut, we sometimes quit apps we don't mean to. Perhaps when we're meaning to hit ⌘ and W or ⌘ and the TAB key. I know I've done it too many times to count!
Thankfully, there's an app for that! CommandQ is a Mac utility app that stops apps from quitting unless you press and hold down the ⌘ + Q shortcut for a short period of time. This gives you a moment to catchup with your mistake and let go before the app quits. It's a straightforward concept, but has the potential to save you a lot of frustration and stress.
CommandQ lets you customize the period of time it takes for ⌘ + Q to take effect, from half a second to two seconds. You can also...
| Read more »Worldwide PC shipments totaled 76.3 million units in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13), down -13.9% compared to the same quarter in 2012 and worse than the forecast decline of -7.7%, according to the "International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker."
The extent of the year-on-year contraction marked the worst quarter since IDC began tracking the PC market quarterly in 1994. The results also marked the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year shipment declines.
read more
Charles Edge and TJ Houston have a new book out on using Apple Configurator. Charles’ technical documentation is top notch and TJ’s articles on Configurator are fantastic as well. This book is a must have if you currently deploy iOS devices or are planning to deploy and manage iOS devices in the future.Instant Apple Configurator How-to is available on Amazon and ships today, so grab a copy!About Nate WalckNate is a Macintosh Systems Engineer at Tamman Technologies, Inc in Philadelphia, PA. He is the managing editor for afp548.com and one of the founding members of the ##osx-server IRC channel on freenode.net. He loves being involved in the Mac Admin community and using Open Source projects whenever possible, especially Munki...
| Read more »Earlier this month, we reported that Apple had announced upcoming changes to the behavior of VPN On Demand for devices running iOS 6.1 or later. The changes, which were planned to be deployed in a software update later this month, were necessitated by a $368 million judgment against Apple in a patent lawsuit brought by VirnetX. Virtual private networking (VPN), which is most commonly used by corporate users to access company networks, allows a user to securely connect to a private network via public networks as if his or her device were directly on the private network. Apple's changes to the feature were to see the removal of the "Always" configuration option for VPN On Demand, with the behavior defaulting back to an "...
| Read more »Bidding is still open for a coffee break with Apple CEO Tim Cook, but it will cost interested parties at least a half-million dollars to get into the running [updated] ...
| Read more »Apple released a new iPhone commercial on Thursday that's takes a slightly different approach at showing off its smartphone, but still does what the company's ads are targeting: Eliciting an emotional response.
We reported earlier this week over on our sister site 9to5Google that the extremely popular Swype keyboard was now available for Android users on Google Play. Unfortunately its arrival came after the implementation of the similar Gesture Typing feature that Google introduced in Jelly Bean. While we know Swype owner Nuance has a pretty tight relationship with Apple through its voice recognition technology being used in Siri (although Siri’s co-founder told us Apple could “likely replace Nuance without too much trouble”), a Swype exec has now confirmed the company has had talks with Apple over its revolutionary keyboard tech.
iFans points us to a ...
The Packt book I did with TJ Houston is finally shipping! WooHoo!!!
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| Read more »I am not a fan of the Apple EarPods that come with the iPhone 5, so when id America sent a pair of their new Metropolitan In-Ear Headphones (US$29.95) I was eager to give them a try.
My main complaint with the EarPods is that they refuse to stay in my ears, preferring instead to pop out at inopportune times during important phone calls. Then again, I've never been fond of in-ear headphones either, since they're usually quite uncomfortable. But my frustration with the EarPods was enough to make me give the Metropolitans a try.
Design and Functionality
The headphones come with four sets of tips -- one made out of memory foam, the other three made of a rubber material. I tried the memory foam tips first, basically treating them like the pair of memory foam earplugs I own -- squishing them down, inserting them into my ear canal, and then letting them expand to fit.
The memory foam tips...
| Read more »I don't know about you, but I found that Apple's last batch of TV ads were really annoying. Apple has now introduced a refreshing new kind of TV advertisement that says very little and yet says so much. It's simple. It's about taking photos every day. What's your take on the new ad? ...
| Read more »DisplayMate has run an in depth analysis on the new Super AMOLED 5-inch 1080p display in the Samsung Galaxy S4 giving its seal of approval. According to the site, the quality of AMOLED displays is starting to ìchallenge the best performance of the best LCDs.î Compared to the display in the superseded Galaxy S III, the new Galaxy S4 display is said to be better calibrated and brighter.... ...
| Read more »You know those email addresses that you've sent to in the past? The ones that you misspelled or no longer need? Well, you can prevent your iOS 6 device from offering them as suggestions when you're composing, just like you can on your Mac. We're pretty excited about this, as now we can get rid of all of those ".con" addresses we've accidentally emailed over the years. Hey, we never claimed to be rocket scientists.
hackingbear writes "The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled in favor of a group of Chinese authors, and Apple will have to pay them in excess of 730,000 yuan (US$118,000) for infringement. Apple had not gotten permission before selling their books on the Apple App Store, it noted. These cases were the second batch of lawsuits filed against Apple by the Writers' Right Protection Union, which includes prominent members like prolific blogger and novelist Han Han who have become a pop culture star through his creative and cynical writings criticizing the (Chinese) government." ...
| Read more »Photo: Tagscape.com
Detailed tests of the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4 screens by display calibration and testing specialist DisplayMate has declared the result a draw.
The detailed test results cover color gamut and accuracy, brightness, power efficiency and performance in high ambient lighting. DisplayMate compared the S4′s OLED screen to the LCD screen of the iPhone 5, highlighting the strengths & weaknesses of each and overall declaring it a tie.
The iPhone 5 is now more than half way through its product cycle, which is important to keep in mind for our comparison. However, high-end LCDs like the iPhone 5 are a very mature and refined display technology, so other than screen size, resolution, and the Pixels Per Inch not much is likely to change in the...
Driven by its profitable smartphone division, Samsung saw its net profit grow 42 percent year over year in the just-concluded March quarter, the company reported on Friday. ...
| Read more »So, Android’s seemingly inexorable ascension over the iPhone? Not quite so inexorable anymore. Apple’s smartphone continues to gain share over devices running Google’s mobile OS in the U.S.; so much so that, according to the Yankee Group, iPhone ownership in the U.S. will exceed Android ownership by 2015. The reason: Platform loyalty.
Yankee Group surveyed 16,000 consumers over the past 12 months regarding which smartphones they own and which they intend to buy within the next six months. And, broadly, it found what you’d expect. About half of smartphone owners use an Android handset, while 30 percent use an iPhone. Of respondents who intend to buy a new smartphone within the next six months, 42 percent say they plan to buy an Android phone. Another 42 percent plan to purchase an iPhone. Again, about what you’d expect from the Google-Apple smartphone duopoly, with one exception: Buying intention versus...
With tickets to WWDC 2013 selling out in mere minutes, Apple has reportedly been reaching out to select developers who couldn't secure tickets in time and offering them another chance to purchase tickets to Apple's annual developer conference.
Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater Software sent out a tweet on Thursday afternoon noting:
Adding a bit more detail to the story, Eric Dolecki explained on his blog how Apple contacted him:
I pick up and a nice guy tells me he's from Apple Developer Support and that they noticed that I tried to purchase a ticket today and that the transaction didn't go through. I told him that was true. I thought the next thing out of his mouth would be an apology or something - just to be nice....
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Fingerprints may do more than smudge the screen of the next iPhone. They may be holding up its production. There reportedly has been some grumbling in Apple's supply chain due to delays in getting the next iPhone on the assembly line. Production originally scheduled for June may have to be pushed back. Contributing to the delay is a new feature in the handset that allows it to read fingerprints. It seems Apple is having trouble finding a coating for the phone that works with the fingerprint sensor.
Mementum from AllGoritm (www.allgoritm.com) is a stylish voice reminder that lets you record vocal memos, then sort your recordings by categories. With it you can also write additional text notes.
Voice reminders -- or any other sounds -- can be recorded via your Mac's mic as a new Mementum reminder. Just click the Record button.
read more
According to a new IDC report, Apple's smartphone shipment volume hit a new first-quarter high thanks in part to the iPhone 5, with volume growing 6.6% year over year. The last time that Apple posted ... ...
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Apple’s share of the global mobile phone market grew by just 6.6 percent in the past year, from 35.1m to 37.4m units, according to new data from the IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. This is the first time its growth has been in single digits since 2009.
Apple’s worldwide market share is now 8.9%, behind Samsung at 27.5 percent and Nokia at 14.8 percent. Apple is the market leader in the USA, with a 35 percent market share, but worldwide competes with both low-cost smartphones and featurephones. Apple is rumored to be working on its own low-cost...
New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that smartphones and tablets are expanding their role in video second-screen experiences, with 22% of U.S. broadband consumers checking or updating their social network on a smartphone or tablet while watching TV.
The research group reports instances of mobile activities while watching TV increases significantly among Millennials, where consumers 18-34 are 70% more likely than other age groups to look up TV listings via a mobile device.
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New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that smartphones and tablets are expanding their role in video second-screen experiences, with 22% of U.S. broadband consumers checking or updating their social network on a smartphone or tablet while watching TV.
The research group reports instances of mobile activities while watching TV increases significantly among Millennials, where consumers 18-34 are 70% more likely than other age groups to look up TV listings via a mobile device.
read more
Smile (www.smilesoftware.com) has announced PDFpen 6.0.1, the latest version of its all-purpose PDF editing tool. The upgrade supports toggling autosave, reduces memory usage, and includes numerous fixes.
The changes in PDFpen 6.0.2 have also been made in PDFpenPro 6.0.2, the pro version that can also convert websites into PDFs, create fillable PDF forms, automatically create form fields in non-interactive PDF forms, construct document table of contents, and set document permission settings that restrict saving, printing, and copying.
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Quark says Quark XML Author now supports the Japanese language with a fully-localized and integrated user interface.
Quark XML Author is the add-in to Microsoft Word that enables the creation of structured XML content through the familiar Word interface. With Quark XML Author all content creators, not just technical experts, can create valid XML-based content components.
read more
Washington Post columnist Allan Sloan observes that Apple’s plan to buy back $60b of its own stock will reduce the company’s tax bill by more than the cost of the loans it will take out to fund the share repurchase program.
If you’re wondering why a company with a cash balance of $145b would need to borrow $60b, it’s all about tax …
//
Around two-thirds of that cash hoard is held by Apple subsidiaries outside the USA, and if Apple brought the cash back home it would have to pay 35% corporation tax. Borrowing the money means Apple pays interest, but the tax saving more than cancels this out, points out Sloan...
| Read more »As I write this paragraph, I’m enjoying a playlist that I created from among the thousands of songs on my iPhone, and it’s no big deal. It wasn’t always so simple: Once upon a time, crafting the perfect playlist for your MP3 player felt like an epic project. You had to rip the songs from a CD onto your computer, find sources—legitimate and otherwise—for tracks you didn’t own, and then hope everything was in the right format to play on your portable device. Apple changed all that, thanks to a series of musical moves right at the dawn of the 21st century—not the least of which was the launch of the iTunes Music Store.
It was only ten years ago—on April 28, 2003—that Apple opened the iTunes Store (then called the iTunes Music Store) and changed the way we buy music. The store arrived with just 200,000 tracks; in the ensuing decade, that library has grown to more than 35 million songs, from the Beatles to Jay-Z. You can even download those tracks over your phone if you want—no...
| Read more »If you're old enough to remember the Polaroid SX-70, celebrating its 41st birthday this week, you may remember how it felt to instantly, miraculously see the images you captured with one of Polaroid's cameras appear right before your eyes. Now that we all have superpowered cameras in our pockets, we may not be as tuned in to how photography, especially instant or digital photography, changes the way we see the world around us.
Apple's still tuned in, though. That sense of wonder in photography is fully on display in the newest ad for the iPhone, which highlights the remarkable claim that every day "more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera."
That stat may be based on the longstanding #1 rank...
| Read more »Marshall has released its latest branded headphones dubbed the Monitor. The headphones are the first from Marshall that utilize an over-ear design, but is also relatively compact and features a collapsible design. Designed with studio listening in mind, the Monitor also incorporates an F.T.F insert that can be removed to allow a user to tailor their listening experience.... ...
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