Mar 6, 2008 Mar 8, 2008 Friday March 7, 2008
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Mahalo Daily visits the ModBook folks
Filed under: Hardware, Video, Hacks, Odds and ends, Apple, MacBookOur good friends at Mahalo Daily took this short look at the Axiotron ModBook, which (you've probably seen) is a modified MacBook that's been turned into a tablet computer. I learned a couple of interesting things about the device -- first of all, it's not a touchscreen, it's really a tablet, which means you need a stylus to use it. Also, Apple is approving, if not actually supportive, of these things. They're supplying the MacBook bases to Axiotron as an "Apple Proprietary Solution Provider." One could infer from this that Apple doesn't think there's a big enough market for these to make it worth Apple's making an iTablet anytime soon.The lovely and talented Veronica Belmont also runs through a few practical applications of the device, which I'd imagine are pretty standard on any Tablet PC -- the big draw here, obviously, is that it's a Mac, and you get all the software and UI-shininess contained therein. I don't know that I'm any more inclined to buy one after watching this (I kind of like my keyboard-laden PowerBook, to be quite honest), but it's cool to get a fun look at them in action.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple will allow VoIP over WiFi
If there’s one thing we were hoping to get from yesterday’ iPhone SDK event, it was VoIP support. I really didn’t expect Apple to support VoIP, as their agreement with AT&T is already showing its weaknesses, and letting customers forgo the network entirely seemed unlikely. Luckily, Apple went ahead and…
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Who should be thanked for the return of Mr. Jobs to Apple?
Microsoft is touting its Singularity OS, a fresh, built-from-scratch, non-Windows OS and in the past, Apple tried out similar efforts. But for its next-generation OS, Apple looked outside the company to choose between a built-from-scratch OS and Unix. And then there was Steve Jobs.
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AirQueue gives your MacBook Air's USB port more reach
Filed under: Peripherals Given the fact that most (all?) 3G USB modems won't even fit in the MacBook Air's ultra-cramped USB port, it's practically a foregone conclusion that some of that sex appeal is going to be forfeited when busting out a dongle to keep using your current wares. Enter the AirQueue, which is hailed as the first USB extender designed specifically to work with the MBA -- whatever that means. Truth be told, we can't figure out exactly what makes this any different than other extenders made for helping folks out in a squeeze, but at least it's only $6, right? Oh, and if you're aiming to make things extra unsightly, be sure and pick up the pictured $38 ExpressCard adapter -- your coffee shop style quotient will be tanked in no time.[Via MacsimumNews, thanks RD] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Spore for the iPhone coming in September
A few weeks ago, I published a list of the top games I’d like to see for the iPhone. In retrospect, I should have definitely included Spore. But who cares? Now, it’s a reality. Video game mega-developer Electronic Arts is bringing the massively anticipated game…
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New icons for iTunes and Calculator on the iPhone 2.0
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, iTunes, Apple, iPhone, Graphic Design We did catch this during our liveblog of the SDK talk on Thursday, but just in case you hadn't seen them yet, it seems both the iTunes WiFi store and the calculator will be getting new icons in the iPhone's 2.0 patch. Of course, the App Store will apparently have its own icon as well, and we would assume, at this point, that each app will be able to take its own place on the home screen.But while the Calculator icon change is kind of a strange one (does this mean the Calc buttons will also be square?), the iTunes change definitely makes sense. That will be the place to download music, while the App Store will be the place to download everything else. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Sun will make Java work for iPhone
The company will make Java Virtual Machine available by June to enable Java apps for Apple's smartphone.
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Sun will make Java work for iPhone
After the release of the software development kit for Apple's iPhone, Sun Microsystems says it's going to enable Java applications to run on the device, InfoWorld is reporting. Sun will build a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), based on the Java Micro Edition version of the programming language after ...
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Erica Sadun: Accessing all your onboard photos from your iPhone database
“Last weekend, I decided to expand Coverflow to work with my entire photo album,” said Erica Sadun in her recent post, Accessing all your onboard photos from your iPhone database. “This involved exploring the MusicLibrary and PhotoLibrary frameworks to find out how I could extract a complete set of albums and their pictures. The PLPhotoLibrary class proved to hold the key. With it, I could request an album list, and then build up a dictionary of photos that linked back from the image identifier to the album it came from.” She then goes on to post the code on how to accomplish this. Quite nice.
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The Beauty of 99¢ iPhone Apps
$.99 or $1.99 is indeed low, but I think Jens Alfke may have a point. It’s not that bigger, serious apps will sell for prices that low, but smaller, simpler apps that might otherwise have been released for free might generate real money with “cup of coffee”-level prices. It’s the App Store that makes this possible. ★
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Can’t Help Falling in Love
John Siracusa: Skilled Mac developers are uniquely positioned to be the first to market with the iPhone applications they’ve been designing in their heads since last year. They know the tools, they know the technology, they even know a lot of the APIs already, and those they don’t know look a lot like the ones they do. ★
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First fruits of the iPhone SDK: ToDo App
Filed under: iPhoneGallery: iPhone To Do AppSometime yesterday afternoon, as soon as her download finished, our friend and colleague turned up her iTunes, closed her office door and tore into the iPhone SDK with all the excitement of a kitten attacking a new skein of yarn. 24 hours, not much sleep and a diet of flat food later, she emerges with her quarry: a shiny new application for iPhone and iPod touch, ToDo App.This marathon initial effort provides basic todo list features -- adding, listing and deleting. Here's the catch: for now, the only place you can run it is inside the Aspen simulator in Xcode; as soon as Apple starts delivering signing keys to registered and paid developers, those will allow the app to be loaded and tested on physical phones.In addition to the coding frenzy, Erica found the time to revise her iPhone frameworks documentation and header notes to version 1.2, which reflects the SDK edition. After a long sojourn in the wildnerness of the community toolchain, the iPhone devs can see what appears to be the promised land. Here's to the crazy ones.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Which Apps Run in the Background?
Tom Krazit: The SDK item drawing the most attention Friday, however, is that third-party applications will not be allowed to run in the background. To be fair, I don’t think many of Apple’s first-party apps run in the background, either. The Phone, SMS, Clock, and Mail apps do. Or at least they have helper app background tasks that do. But the other ones all seem to quit when you go to the home screen — you don’t really notice because they launch fast, quit fast, and save automatically. ★
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Podcast: Apple iPhone, Microsoft's syncromesh, and Facebook's new hire
ZDNet Editor in Chief Larry Dignan and CNET News.com Editor in Chief Dan Farber discuss the news of the week in their new podcast, EIC Squared.
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Friday Apple Links: post-SDK event edition
BBC and Ballmer on iPhone, more Penryn rumors, and Blu-ray reports for Macs; it's the end of another week of Apple news.Read More...
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Here comes your man (viewer)
Filed under: Software, UNIX / BSD Man pages have been around since before I was born (circa 1971, actually). The people who will take an interest in this post are most likely familiar with the 'man' documentation format for most UNIX commands. While little has changed in the form and function of the man page - besides spawning some offshoots like GNU's info - the options for reading them in a more pleasant GUI environment have grown more diverse. Mac OS X users have a few options beyond typing 'man xyz' into the Terminal or using man pages on the web... There are Cocoa applications like Man Viewer, Man Handler and ManOpen which allow you to search for and browse man pages in a way more familiar to OS X users. They all perform text searches within an opened page, Man Handler having the most Leopard-friendly results. To the best of my knowledge, only ManOpen allows for Apropos searches which allow you to find man pages based on their subject matter. I also like the ability to open several man pages simultaneously, which ManOpen and Man Handler provide but Man Viewer does not. Rather, Man Viewer provides a single-window interface, which has its upsides as well. Most of the Cocoa viewers do not handle hypertext links within the man pages (ManOpen provides related links). For a fluid solution in that area, there's Bwana or Sogudi (the Safari 3 version of Sogudi is currently a beta), tools that integrate with Safari to allow the opening of man pages right in the browser with code highlighting and links to related pages. While Bwana is an application, Sogudi is an InputManager which allows you to type man:mdfind in the url field to load a pretty (man2html) version of mdfind's man page. With both, you get a tabbed interface and great search features to boot. If you've already got Safari open for other purposes, it's a great way to make use of the browser. By the same token, it's a lot of app to load if you just want to remember an ls switch. Another option - which may be great in some instances and fairly worthless in others - is Man2PDF. Basically, it produces a well-formatted PDF of the selected man page. Perfect for printing and viewing with Preview, but not the best choice for quick consultation. Were I asked to pick a winner, and Safari was already running, I'd say Sogudi wins for good looks (inherited, in part, from Safari) and great usability. ManOpen wins in the standalone category with its Apropos search and hypertext links. Of course, a vanilla man command wins for easy accessibility where you need it most.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The i's Have It: The BBC’s iPlayer on the iPhone
Apple has not made it easy for the iPhone to view most Web video. But the BBC has decided to convert 400 hours a week of programs into Apple's preferred format to make an iPhone version of its iPlayer video site.
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Apple Gazette Daily 223 - Aftermath of the SDK event
podcast sponsor link:http://www.audiblepodcast.com/applegazette Click the link above to get your free audio book from Audible, and help support Apple Gazette at the same time! Today's Show: Steve Ballmer is a moron, and more follow up from the SDK event You can subscribe via iTunes, or by RSS feed, or… you can listen to the episode right here: In addition to that, you can also download the Apple Gazette Daily Widget and listen to every episode of the show right on your Dashboard. Click Here to download.
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News: Third-party iPhone apps: one at a time, never in background
According to the official iPhone Human Interface Guidelines recently published by Apple, only one iPhone application may run at a time, and third-party iPhone applications will not be able to run in the background, posing a potential challenge to developers. “Only one iPhone application can run at a time, and third-party applications never run in the background,” the document states. “This means that when users switch to another…
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News: Gameloft to release over 15 iPhone games in 2008
Gameloft has announced its intentions to develop games for the iPhone, with plans to release more than 15 titles by the end of 2008. Utilizing the newly-released SDK, the company's development teams have already begun working on the games. “The iPhone gaming environment opens a new era in mobile gaming and is exactly what we've been waiting for,” said Michel Guillemot, President of Gameloft. “The Apple iPhone has changed…
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CBS, AOL Stream Together in Radio Deal
CBS Radio is hoping to step up its Internet presence through a deal it announced Friday with AOL. CBS, the second-largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., plans to offer advertising-supported streams from 150 online radio stations to listeners free of charge over AOL's online radio portal. CBS Radio, second in size only to Clear Channel Communications, will sell ad spots for AOL's network of 200 stations, and the two partners will launch a new media player and support for Apple's Macintosh computers.
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The iPhone SDK: The day after
Now that they've had a chance to review Apple's iPhone software development kit, prospective developers seem mostly happy with the terms and conditions of the program but have a few questions.
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Article: Twenty-Nine Apple-Shown iPhone Apps: Some Real, Some Possible, Some Not?
During the iPhone Software Roadmap Event on March 6, 2008, Apple showed a total of 29 applications—10 in some demonstrated form, 9 on a list of additional sample programs, and 10 on what appeared to be a mocked-up list of third-party applications. Though these applications won't be available until late June or later, if at all, we've assembled a complete list of what was shown for curious readers and developers to consider. Some…
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iPhone SDK MiniBarCamp at SXSW Austin
Filed under: iPod Family, Developer, iPhone Want to get your hack on with the iPhone beta SDK? If you're in Austin, TX, you're in luck. As part of BarCamp in Austin, a bunch of iPhone SDK hackers are putting together an iPhone track tomorrow (Saturday). There will be tutorial sessions, demos and hands-on hacking.The fun starts at 10AM and goes until 10PM and will be held GSD&M|idea city, 828 West 6th Street in Austin. For more information, contact Bart Decrem of Gogo Apps, an iPhone startup (bartd@gogoapps.com). Confirmed attendees include Daniel "Pumpkin" Peebles, Sean "iAppADay" Heber, Thomas Muldowney, and Layton "Polarbear Farms" Duncan.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The Newton Virus spreads joy
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops Remember back in the old days, when men were men, dogs ran free, and computers were the size of small countries? It was a time when viruses weren't malicious, rather, they delivered cherry popsicles, unicorns, and nuclear joy-beams. Well, now you can return to a simple time of laughter and love thanks to the Newton Virus and related dongle, created by the design collective Troika. Instead of gnashing your files, spamming your address book, or giving you "The Finger" repeatedly, this virus engages just once, and creates a playful desktop mishap that will undoubtedly inspire the victim to hug the nearest person. Though the virus was coded way back in 2005, it's now being shown at the MoMA's Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition. Watch it all go down, literally, in the video after the break.[Thanks, H&M]Continue reading The Newton Virus spreads joy Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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How a MacBook Air baffled airport security
Filed under: Humor, MacBook AirAlternate title: The MacBook Air is a device, but it's not a "Device."Programmer Michael Nygard is used to travel. He's got the process down, from airport to hotel. Unfortunately, the TSA isn't as prepared. While passing through airport security recently, he was pulled aside and made to sit in the holding area. He watched as a gaggle of TSA workers examined his things, especially his laptop ..."'There's no drive,' one says. 'And no ports on the back. It has a couple of lines where the drive should be,' she continues...."As you've probably guessed, Michael's MacBook Air had them all baffled. Fortunately, a younger member of the team eventually arrived and explained that it's not a "device," but a computer with a solid state hard drive. It's good to know they're keeping up with this kind of thing.Here's a warning to everyone traveling to SxSW this weekend with a MacBook Air: schedule a few extra minutes for the airport.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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iFund Gives iPhone Devs a $100M Leg Up
Alongside Apple's launch of its software development kit and roadmap for its iPhone 2.0 beta software Thursday, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs introduced a "one more thing" announcement -- a $100 million private investment fund earmarked just for iPhone and iPod touch development efforts. Dubbed the "iFund" by the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the money will be invested in companies that have "market-changing ideas and products that extend the revolutionary new iPhone and iPod touch platform," KPCB noted.
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Trouble for NPR
It looks like bad news for Public Radio and its fans: CEO Ken Stern has been forced out. It appears that the stations did him in as they gun for his digital strategy because they fear the internet will hurt them. Well guess, what, local yokels, hate to tell you this but… You're screwed! You bet the internet is going to hurt you. There is no need for you as a distribution arm anymore. Unless you add valuable local content and service to the mix, you might as well tear down the tower now. Or in a year or two. Getting rid of Stern et al won't get rid of reality. This is the problem I see in all media: They think that protection is a strategy. It's not. The story on NPR's site explains: In addition, Stern led a major push in digital ventures. It stemmed from his often-repeated conviction that the old way of doing business wouldn't work. Other diversions — such as cable television, online news sources, iPods, books on tape, video games and social networks — are siphoning audiences away from traditional broadcasters, including public radio stations. Stern argued that NPR shows and news and cultural segments increasingly had to be available on whatever platforms people wanted to hear them. NPR is considered a leader in news and music podcasts. And under Stern it has also struck deals to deliver its content new ways, such as through cell phones. But that push has aggravated anxiety among local stations about their relationship to the network. NPR member stations rely heavily on popular shows, particularly Morning Edition, to generate donations. But if people can listen to them through NPR's Web site or even their own cell phones, why would they stay loyal to stations still reliant on pledge drives? Interviews with eight current and former public radio officials suggest Stern failed to convince local stations — and especially their representatives on the board — that he saw a clear and healthy role for them in the digital future. That's because there may not be one. I said that at NPR sometime ago when I visited with other graybeards of the social media world, giving them our solicited advice. Here was my prognostication then about local radio. It was crystal clear to me at the time that the stations — especially those that served only as distribution outlets — had no viable future. I advised that they should figure out how to shift the local stations to new roles in their communities. I loved the NPR strategy — Stern's strategy — of getting maximum distribution for programming. That, after all, is also part of the mission of a publicly supported broadcaster. Isn't it? And there are other models for local support. When I wrote about reverse syndication as a model for national coverage in newspapers, served up by the New York Times and its competitors, John Proffitt suggested that this could be a model for NPR. I’ve begun to promote a similar idea, specifically in the public media world. Local public TV and public radio stations today pay hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions to NPR, PBS, APTS, PRI, APM and other content providers (with NPR and PBS being the most obvious). This has stifled the local public media companies’ ability to produce local content. They blow all their cash paying the networks. Reverse syndication in this world, to my thinking, is to have the networks sell their content to the public (ads, membership revenue) and give all the content to the local media outlets for free — with the caveat that embedded ads pass through with the content. Local outlets could then produce local media and still pick from the best national media and arrange it into locally-relevant streams/blocks on the web, on transmitters, etc. This would also clean up the nasty co-dependent relationships between the local stations and the networks, as it would clarify the roles of each. That's the kind of thinking NPR and its stations desperately need. Not protectionism of the past. : Here's Robert Patterson, who brought me to NPR, on today's news.
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New iPhone design leaked on iTunes? Highly unlikely.
Filed under: Cellphones Knowing how rampant the Apple rumor community can get, we try not to stir the pot too feverishly, but iLounge has made a bizarre little discovery that we thought you might like to see. Apparently, it's already possible for iPhone / iPod touch developers to create pages in iTunes offering content to limited groups of users. While perusing these pages, they apparently stumbled upon the Education First Educational Tours page, where international travel tour registrants can download TourCast audio and video content. Strangely, an odd, almost Zune-like device can be seen in the corner of the graphic for this page bearing the Apple logo. Could this be some wild slip? Is what we're looking at a rendering of a new iPhone or touch device, or is this some random mockup meant to suggest a "general" Apple product? We're strongly, strongly leaning towards the latter, though maybe Jobs let one slide through the cracks this time. See the full view after the break.[Thanks, Christian]Continue reading New iPhone design leaked on iTunes? Highly unlikely. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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iPhone Plans Will Cost a Pretty Penny in Ireland
Irish iPhone users will pay up to four times more for the running costs of their new gadget than their tech-loving counterparts in Britain, it has emerged. News of the inflated charges for Irish customers comes only eight weeks after Apple, maker of the iPhone, was reprimanded by the European Commission for not harmonizing the fees iTunes charges for music across Europe. The iPhone, the latest iconic product from trendsetter Apple, went on sale in Britain last November, available exclusively from O2, after making its world debut in America last June.
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Apple blogger dominates shareholder meeting
The author of Roughly Drafted, a passionately pro-Apple blog, asked several questions of Apple CEO Steve Jobs during this week's shareholder meeting without disclosing his affiliation, or disclosing his ownership to readers.
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Homebrew Bejeweled game used to initiate marriage proposal
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds Although this is far from being the weirdest union (or proposal, for that matter) we've ever seen, Xanga user p3ng decided to throw tradition to the wind (at least momentarily) when proposing to his now-fiancée. Put simply, he built a custom version of Bejewled (the lady's favorite game in the whole wide world) in which a pixelated engagement ring scrolled onto the screen once a certain score was hit. Needless to say, his awestruck girlfriend could barely contain her excitement as she uttered "yes," and we absolutely expect the Guitar Zeros to be the house band at the forthcoming reception.[Via DSFanboy] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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First Looks: Atlantic EGO iceBar2 Waterproof Speaker System
Winner of one of our 2008 Best in Show awards, Atlantic's new EGO iceBar2 ($80) does two things: it combines a waterproof, shatterproof case for your iPod nano with a pair of waterproof speakers that are safe to float in a pool. The all-in-one enclosure runs off of four included AAA batteries for up to 24 hours, and also includes a detachable buoy and flexible wrist strap, each made from white plastic. Interestingly, the EGO iceBar2 permits full control…
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TypePad talks iPhone app
Filed under: Internet Tools, iPhoneI've been a happy user of Typepad of nigh on 4.5 years now, and I was quite tickled when Six Apart released their iPhone/iPod touch web app. Now only a few months later, and iPhone/iPod touch Typepaders can now check their blog's stats right on their iPhone by visiting i.typepad.com.I tried it with my very own blog, and it works well. It loads quickly over EDGE, and is easy to navigate with one finger.But the news doesn't stop there. The good folks at Six Apart also mention that they are hard at work with the iPhone SDK to produce a native iPhone app for Typepad blogging. I used a previous Windows Mobile native client from Typepad, and it worked well so I can only imagine what they will be able to do on the iPhone.You can check out all the mobile features of Typepad, and sign up to get notified about the iPhone app, here.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Article: Ask iLounge 3-7-08
This week's Ask iLounge topics: Transferring MP3 files to new iTunes library, iPhone ringtones on Windows, Wired remotes for iPod classic, Sharing iTunes with multiple users on one PC, iTunes library and Time Capsule, Chargers for 3G iPods
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Ballmer MIXes Serious Talk With Silly Dance
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer offered frank answers -- and a few dance moves -- on a host of topics Thursday, addressing his company's bid for Microsoft and sharing his thoughts on rivals such as Google and Apple. Venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki interviewed Ballmer at the Microsoft MIX Conference -- a gathering of developers who work on the Microsoft platform. The result was a wide-ranging discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing the software giant.
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Backstage: The Cube Project, Part 1
If you believe that computers are merely the sum of their chips, hard disks, and ports, the following picture may not make sense to you. Welcome to iLounge, Power Mac G4 Cube. We are anxious to rebuild you. ...
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Possible Beatle Mania at iTunes, iPhone the Biggest Player and Hearts and Minds
Blue-ray on Macs and Goggle Broke The Rules
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iPhone Goes Corporate, Jobs Trash-Talks Adobe, Nine Inch Nails Bucks the System
So the iPhone can't run Flash -- sorry, you can't use it to watch Homestar Runner cartoons. However, that's not necessarily the biggest concern in the world for people who'd love to run an iPhone on an enterprise network. Their concern is usually that the things just don't have robust enough features or security for a business environment. Now, Apple has answered those concerns. The iPhone will support Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, which includes enterprise e-mail, contacts, calendar and remote wipe capabilities. It'll also have Cisco IPsec VPN for accessing private corporate networks.
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Apple Plans for Custom Enterprise App Distribution
So said Phil Schiller yesterday. ★
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Tempered optimism greets Apple's iPhone push
Apple shares rise slightly on steps by the company to make the iPhone more attractive to the corporate market.
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Chip Hype: Intel, AMD flops
Featured links from the CNET Blog Network Chip Hype: Intel, AMD flops -- First in a series about silicon gone sour. The iPhone will be the best cell phone of all-time -- Don Reisinger was impressed by Apple's announcements on Thursday and believes it did all the right things to ensure its success going forward. But will it be the best cell phone ever made by June? Freshaire Choice: the only tinted paint with zero VOCs -- The Freshaire Choice Paint is a zero volatile organic compound (VOC) paint that comes in in 65 colors and three different sheens. Using Open Source to fight porn -- Open source content filters can be effective both at home and throughout the neighborhood.
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This Day: March 7, 2003: R&D Is Here to Stay
Fans of Apple computers have been called everything from “informed buyers� to “kool-aid drinking fanatics.� The reasons Mac users exhibit such astonishing amounts of loyalty are not easily quantifiable but no small part of the reason must surely be Apple’s commitment to research and development. Apple’s continuing R&D…
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VOIP applications on iPhone a possibility
According to Steve Jobs, WiFi-based VOIP applications will be allowed on the iPhone.Read More...
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Ballmer on the iPhone announcements
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple, iPhoneSure, we've had a lot to say about Apple's iPhone announcements yesterday but what does Steve Ballmer think? Ballmer is the CEO of Microsoft (a small software company based in Washington state), and during Mix '08 he was asked about the iPhone SDK, ActiveSync, and if Silverlight (Microsoft's Flash-like web technology) will make an appearance on the iPhone.Ballmer said that Silverlight on the iPhone is interesting, but hasn't been discussed much with Apple. He, of course, welcomed Apple's use of ActiveSync (hey, Microsoft likes money), and he hinted that the 30% cut that Apple is taking in the App Store might be a little high.[via Engadget]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Samsung, Adidas Partner to Put Personal Trainers in Cell Phones
Adidas and Samsung have teamed up for a new twist in training -- a mobile phone that can coach. The companies announced Thursday a mobile phone that works with Adidas shoes and apparel to plan, track and motivate users in training. The device directs and motivates users during workouts by combining a mobile phone, heart rate monitor, stride sensor, MP3 player and the voice of an electronic "personal coach." MiCoach hits retail stores in Europe this month and will roll out in the United States in 2009.
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Steve Jobs interviewed by Fortune
The iconic CEO speaks out on everything Apple, and a little bit about himself Read More...
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News: BBC launches iPlayer for iPhone, iPod touch
The BBC has launched a beta version of its iPlayer for iPhone. BBC iPlayer allows UK residents to browse and watch TV programs from the last week via streaming or download. The new iPlayer for iPhone uses H.264 encoded videos instead of the Flash format used by its PC counterpart. Anthony Rose, head of Digital Media Technologies for BBC, explains that the iPhone was the first browser-enabled device to get a custom iPlayer application “because…
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Assign keyboard shortcuts to NeoOffice menu items
If you use a given NeoOffice menu item all the time, like Tools » Word Count, you may want to assign a keyboard shortcut for it. If you use the Keyboard tab of the Keyboard & Mouse System Preferences panel, however, it will not work when you try to use it in NeoOffice. Instead, you need to do assign a shortcut using NeoOffice's built-in keyboard shortcuts tool. Follow these steps:Select Tools » Customize from the menubar. In the new window that opens, click the Keyboard button.Choose a key that hasn't been assigned yet in the upper section. Then choose a function in the lower section and click Modify.Click Save and save the configuration file somewhere.Click Load and open the configuration file you saved, then click OK.You should be able to use your newly-assigned shortcut now.[robg adds: Confusingly, using the Keyboard Shortcuts tab looks like it works -- t...
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10.5: Change the Finder's default Find window
Want to tailor the Finder's Find (Command-F) window? Copy the following into TextEdit, make it plain text, and save it to the Desktop as default_smart.plist: CompatibleVersion 1 RawQuery ((_kMDItemGroupId > 6)) SearchCriteria CurrentFolderPath /&...
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10.5: Check CUPS config if having shared printer issues
I have been trying to get my iMac (Intel, 10.5) with both of my printers attached to share them since I installed Leopard. My two PowerBooks and my Linux box lost remote printing capability after the 10.5 upgrade.My firewall was setup correctly, the printers were shared, and the laptops (now installed with 10.5) had CUPS browsing turned on like every other hint and discussion board posting.After trying many things and reading many man pages, I found an old copy of cupsd.conf in /etc/cups/. I read the following comment in that file about BrowseInterval, which Apple sets to 0 by default.# BrowseInterval: the time between browsing updates in seconds. Default# is 30 seconds.## Note that browsing information is sent whenever a printer's state changes# as well, so this represents the maximum time between updates.## Set th...
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Steve Ballmer talks ‘Silverlight’ on iPhone (what a moron)
At a Keynote at Microsoft's Mix Conference yesterday afternoon, Steve Ballmer responded to a question from the audience about Silverlight appearing on the iPhone. He said the idea is certainly “interesting.” Then proceeded to be an idiot. He expressed concern over the fact that Apple was taking a 30% cut from applications sold through the iPhone App Store. He suggested that Apple might charge Microsoft similarly to have Silverlight on the iPhone saying: “It sure seems like they're trying to charge a whole lot more money for it,” he said. “Maybe Apple isn't welcoming open and royalty-free runtimes on it.” Which, of course, is completely stupid. Why? Because Apple clearly stated yesterday that freeware will be available through the App Store AT NO COST TO THE DEVELOPER!!! Dear LORD - I just wish that ONCE…just ONCE…that this man would think before he speaks!
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News: Mix: Video, Carmack, Ballmer, Freeverse
Apple has posted a QuickTime streaming video of yesterday's iPhone Software Roadmap event. The video is available for viewing now via Apple's website, and is roughly 80 minutes in length. ID Software co-founder John Carmack has posted his thoughts on Apple's iPhone SDK announcements. “Just based on the blurbs, it looks very good—a simulator plus debugging on the native device is the best of both worlds, and a 70% royalty…
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iPhone 2.0 to give Mail mass management, PowerPoint viewer
Now that we're done flipping out about the iPhone SDK, it's time to highlight some other quieter announcements from today.Read More...
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Dude, where's my iPhone SDK remote debug mode?
Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone Some of you may have been confused about a key issue in the iPhone SDK, I know I certainly was. You may have seen the iPhone SDK intro video that Apple released last night, in which Scott Forstall demoed syncing an application to your iPhone through the 30-pin iPhone dock connector. This allows you to do live debugs on your code, while using the application on it's native hardware. Well, if Apple didn't make it clear in their video, or on their website, you must pay the $99 (standard) or $299 (enterprise) in order to transfer an application to an iPhone for testing. You use the certificate to sign your code. You can find information about the developer certificates on Apple's DevCenter (login required). You can still use the iPhone simulator, but running it on the hardware is part of the fun.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Sony Ericsson files patent on haptic gaming device, doesn't call it PSPhone
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming It's nice to know that Sony Ericsson is plugging away on making our crazy, dare-to-dream fantasies a reality. The latest proof that someone up there (and by up there, we mean Japan) likes us comes in the form of a new patent for a touchscreen handheld that forgoes physical buttons for a haptic-feedback scheme. The design mandates that the phone / game device would be free of the pesky clutter of regular buttons, and would instead by configurable to any number of forms (PSP, phone, MP3 player, digital camera) by arrangement of on-screen controls. The device would vibrate in accordance with button-presses, though it's unclear whether this will just be a standard vibration, or a more advanced, location-specific feedback system. Even with a little buzz, we're not quite sure you can replicate the feeling real gaming controls provide -- and that could seriously interfere with our typical success in games.[Via Unwired View] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Article: iDesign: Power Support + Miyavix, on Originality and Partnering
While there are many reasons we have never featured iPod cases in an edition of iDesign, they boil down to one thing: case designs are rarely original, and almost never inspirational. What company has designed cases so unique that competitors couldn't resist the temptation to just copy them? If you look back far enough in iPod history, there's actually an answer to that question. Back in September 2002, an iLounge contributing editor described…
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SDK event now available for viewing
Apple has made yesterday's iPhone SDK announcement available for viewing online.Read More...
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GTD with the Mac and a cool custom setup
Filed under: SoftwareLeo Babauta at Zen Habits has posted a nice overview of Getting Things Done on the Mac, including many of the applications you'd expect, like iGTD Kinkless GTD OmniFocus Things Midnight Inbox We've written about all of these applications before. What's interesting is the custom solution that Leo describes. He's created four simple text files -- today, ideas, errands and todo -- which he updates with Quicksilver's "append text" command. Finally, he uses GeekTool to display his files on the desktop.That's pretty nice; simple and effective (I use Backpack myself). Part of the fun of being a geek is learning how other geeks do things.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Is it just me, or did Apple do EVERYTHING right with the iPhone SDK?
I don't often GUSH about Apple. I try not to, at least. Most of the time I try to take a critical look at things and try to figure out what's wrong with them before what's right about them. Perhaps I'm just naturally negative - but stilling here 12 or so hours after the fact, I can't help but be ecstatic about yesterday's Roadmap event. Apple if fine with VoIP, Apple is fine with free apps, Apple is fine with just about anything as long as its legal - Apple is being very cool about what it's going to allow on the iPhone. Developers have to be going insane - I can't wait to see what people come up with. There will be some truly amazing stuff on the iPhone, there's no doubt about it - but yesterday's announcement took the iPhone and iPod Touch to a completely new level. Before they were a great phone, and a great media player - now…now they're something completely different. I'm not even sure what to call it - but we've NEVER seen applications like we're going to see on the iPhone/iPod Touch before. These things are two steps away from being Star Trek PADDS. I can't find anything to complain about here. I can't find anything that I think was a bad move…the only thing that I can even come close to griping about is having to wait until JUNE! I'm fanboy levels of excited - and I don't get that way often. How about you? Do you think this was a great move, or do you have reservations? Sound off in the comments below.
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iPhone in Your Business: Pondering the ROI Case
Apple has dressed the iPhone up in a business suit, but the real work is just beginning. Apple needs to convince chief information officers that there’s a return on investment in a switch to the iPhone.
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8 Reasons To Buy Apple Stock Now
Bear Stearns analysts Andy Neff, Bill Hand and Ted Chung sent a note to clients this morning following Apple's (AAPL) announcement of a new developers' platform for the iPhone. Key excerpts:
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iPhone SDK and Restrictions: Some of the Details Aren't Great
Obviously Steve Jobs and team didn’t go through all the details today when they announced the availability of the iPhone SDK. It was more of a high level pass. But details are what third party developers need to think about before jumping into the iPhone with both feet.
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Under The Radar News - Friday
Markets fall, Fed fixes. Fed funds futures Thursday implied a 76% chance of a 75 BP cut at the March 18 FOMC meeting, which would bring short-term interest rates to 2.25%. On Wednesday, odds were as little as 44%.
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★ More Questions
So it seems like the answer to my question yesterday about how users will be prevented from running apps downloaded directly from developers (rather than through the App Store) is that unsigned apps will only work on your iPhone if you pay (and get approved) for a $99 iPhone developer account. But does that mean that approved developers will be able to freely exchange unsigned apps with each other? Is there any way for developers to provide demo periods for apps? On the Mac, a “try before you buy” period is practically universal. But if you have to pay before you download from the App Store, that seems out of the question. Maybe developers can supply separate “free” trial versions of each app? Do developers get customer info from Apple? If so, how much? Developers are free to set their own app prices. It’ll be interesting to see where these settle. My guess is $9.99-14.99 — roughly the price of an album. Maybe less for simple games geared toward impulse purchases.
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60 "iStores" will open across India
Filed under: RetailThere's a huge push in India right now by Reliance Digital to open 60 iStores across the nation's top twenty cities. The iStores will sell Apple products exclusively, and carry the full line, from consumer products to pro hardware.Expect to see all sixty stores up and running within the next 18 months. We wonder how the interior design will look, and if it will resemble official Apple Stores.If you visit one of these stores, please let us know! We'll be happy to share your photos and stories.Thanks, Ravi!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Catching some AIR (apps)
Do you Twitter, Pownce or Jaiku? Looking for an app to do all three at once? How about a web-based data collector that you can add to without launching your browser? These are just a couple of things you can get done with AIR applications, thanks to talented programmers and a framework from Adobe. Join me for this week's look at Freeware goodies and find out about these and other very useful... [read more at MacMerc.com]
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Market Comes Full Circle: Winners and Losers
The S&P 500 broke to new closing lows Thursday and is now down 0.5% from the prior lows seen on January 22nd.
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Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
Foreclosures: Worse and worser. The rate of mortgages entering foreclosure hit its highest recorded level, and loans past-due hit 20-year highs. During Q4, 0.83% of all loans entered foreclosure, up from 0.78% and 0.54% in the previous quarter/year. 2.04% of all loans are in foreclosure, vs. 1.69% and 1.19%. With delinquency rates now at 5.82% (up from 5.59% and 4.95%) -- expect more of the same.
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Mac Bloggers Go Delirious for Dev Kit, Tear Apart Time Capsule, Harangue Hollywood
The biggest Apple news this week is the company's unveiling of its iPhone software roadmap and software development kit, which will let third-party developers create standalone applications for iPhone. In other news this week, bloggers mulled over insights from Apple's annual meeting for shareholders, tore apart the Time Capsule, figured out that Hollywood has been slow to deliver movies to Apple, and are talking about 3G iPhone delivery predictions. iPhone 2.0 Software Apps and the Enterprise.
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Apple Store Baton Rouge: Your reports
Filed under: Apple Corporate, RetailApple opened a new retail store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana -- the state's first -- on Thursday. As usual, we asked any TUAW operatives who may have attended to share their reports and/or pictures. Reader frelix was kind enough to share some photos he uploaded to his Flickr account. Thanks! If you visited this store, too, let us know in the comments.If you haven't, when you do get there, show us a little love and set the in-store machines to TUAW for their Safari homepage! Just don't say we told you to.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Mac OS Ken: 03.07.2008
Apple Unveils Plans for iPhone Developers / Apple Aims iPhone at Enterprise (and against BlackBerry) with ActiveSync License / Apple Outlines Plans for App Store: Apps Bought Through Phone / KPCB Sets Up $100M iFund for iPhone/iPod Touch Developers / Watch the March 6th Event at Apple.com / Ken interviewed on this weekâs Mac Radio Podcast
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HTC launching MID devices in 2008?
DigiTimes is back with another Taiwan industry rumor. This time they have HTC launching MID handsets in 2008. No surprise there as HTC jumped into the UMPC game long ago with the Shift. Of course, the whole thing becomes suspect when their source claims that MIDs will be "squeezing the market share currently enjoyed by UMPCs." Everyone and their monkey knows that UMPCs don't account for enough market share to warrant joy. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Fast Money Recap: 3/6/08: Obituary for the Yellow Pages
Recap of Fast Money, Thursday March 6. Click on a stock ticker for more analysis.
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Ballmer answers iPhone SDK questions, revisits Monkey Boy dance
Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets It's always interesting to hear execs chime in on the competition following big announcements. So it's no surprise to hear that Steve Ballmer was peppered with questions about the iPhone during yesterday's Mix '08 event with Guy Kawazaki. When asked about Silverlight -- Microsoft's attempt at usurping Adobe's Flash -- on the Flash-less iPhone, Ballmer said, "Silverlight for the iPhone is of course interesting," adding, "I can't say there's been extensive discussion with Guy's old boss." He also wondered aloud about Apple possibly digging too deeply into developers pockets with its 30% share of application revenue. Ballmer said, "it's a good business if you can make it." A jab at Jobs' claim that Apple doesn't plan to make any money off the App Store. The highlight though came with Ballmer's compliance to recreate his Monkey Boy Dance for Web Developers. Bill, we're going to miss you.[Thanks, Bryant] Read -- Q&A on iPhone Read -- Monkey Boy dance, take 2 Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple's iPhone SDK: This is Brand New Big Sh*t, But
Jason Fried ended his enthusiastic post on the iPhone SDK with those words (I added the ",But"). And so it is. Very big shit. But there are a few things that I just don't understand about Apple's iPhone strategy.
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Apple's iPhone Dev Kit: That's How You Launch a Platform
I'm in the midst of writing an analysis piece for Yankee about what Apple's announcement of its iPhone Software Development Kit means for enterprises. But here's the short version:
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Apple's iPhone 2.0 'Bigger than the Personal Computer'
“Bigger than the Personal Computer.� Those were the words John Doerr used to describe iPhone 2.0 yesterday at the Apple (AAPL) SDK conference.
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Sarotech's Wizplat NAS-20 makes stealing fun
If you've grown tired of the cold corporate design sensibilities of most NAS products (uh hem, Buffalo), then check the Wizplat NAS-20 from Sarotech. This 2-bay NAS box supports a pair of SATA disks for what should top-out at 2TB of roll-your-own storage on your gigabit Ethernet network. It features a pair of USB jacks, built-in iTunes and print servers, and even a BitTorrent server which should allow your home PC to take a rest from your 7 x 24 downloading scheme. Color us impressed while we wait for the price and ship date to be announced. [Via Akihabara News] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The iPhone Industry: Kleiner Perkins Announces $100 million iFund
John Doerr took the stage Thursday at Apple’s announcement of its iPhone software developer kit and announced a $100 million fund to invest in startups that create apps for the iPhone. “�I can’t wait to see the great new companies that we build together,� he says.
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PosiMotion's G-Fi: another WiFi GPS accessory for the iPhone
Filed under: GPS Although we just saw the Nav N Go / Gomite prototype demonstrated yesterday, a company called PosiMotion claims that it has the "world's first wireless GPS" accessory for the iPhone. To prove it, they've launched a two-page website. Fishing for some of that iFund dough are we boys? Anyway, according to the site the G-Fi WiFi GPS receiver will support the iPhone and iPod touch and is expected to ship this summer. Really though, how much confidence will VCs have in an upstart still running on the ol' Cingular network? Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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First AirMail sleeves interofficed to MacBook Air types
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets The manilla envelop stunt pulled with the introduction of the MacBook Air is destined to go down as the stuff of marketing legend. Now, at least one happy Swede has his piece of consumer history with the receipt of the ManillaMac AirMail sleeve. It arrived with a spare red string and button and the added touch of his name hand written on the shipping label -- nice. According to Michael, his "high quality" sleeve fits the MBA "perfectly" and features "very good" stitching with white cotton innards which should keep his MBA looking just as glossy clean his new sleeve. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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RIM Dominates the Corporate Smart Phone Market
In a January consumer survey, ChangeWave reported that Research In Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry was “continuing to take the smart phone market by storm.�
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Apple and RIM Battle for the Corporate Mobile Market
Cell phones are getting more and more sophisticated and along with the changing technologies, mobile usage patterns are starting to shift.
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Opening up: Has Microsoft Saved Itself or Shot Itself in the Foot?
From a variety of sources, I'm hearing the same thing that Robert Scoble is; that Microsoft (MSFT) under Ray Ozzie is making major strides in giving Web developers what they want, opening the client-side stuff well with IE 8, putting core productivity apps as services online, and assembling the cloud-supported infrastructure to make a compelling new case for keeping Microsoft on the short list of premier tools, runtime vendors AND service providers.
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Mr. Jobs Loves iPhone Users… iPod Touch? Not So Much.
Today was a great day! Steve gave us our first look at the iPhone SDK and a look at some new features that will be coming with Firmware 2.0. Our iPhone community gets all of this for free. But what about the Touch Community?…
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Apple's iPhone vs Smartphone Software Makers
Daniel Eran Dilger In the smartphone business, Apple is like a Microsoft combined with a Motorola and a RIM; it makes money on software, hardware, and services. It also makes money at retail and with accessories, and software and media sales, and earns money back from its service partners. Other hardware makers can't compete with Apple in all these areas because they're all fixed into position as pawns of the mobile providers. Apple’s iPhone Vs. Other Mobile Hardware Makers: 5 Revenue Engines But what about pure software makers? Will Microsoft or Google or the open source community deliver a good enough equivalent version of the iPhones' software features to enable generic hardware makers to catch up in the same way that Microsoft ported Apple's unpatented Mac technology to the PC in the late 80s? Here's a look at the threats posed by rival smartphone software makers, and how well the iPhone will be able to compete against them. (more…)
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Flying Meat Acorn 1.0.1
Image Editor for Your iLife
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Epocrates answers call of iPhone-wielding healthcare professionals
Epocrates, Inc., the developer of mobile applications used by more than 500,000 healthcare professionals, has announced plans to bring its clinical software products to the iPhone. The popular prescription management software was highlighted by Steve Jobs during the iPhone Software Roadmap media briefing alongside demonstrations by Salesforce.com, AOL's Instant Messenger service, and games from EA and Sega. “By putting so much computing power into such an elegant mobile dev