May 5, 2008 May 7, 2008 Tuesday May 6, 2008
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Apple's market share explodes 52 percent in April...or does it?
Apple is either way up or slightly down in market share, depending on who you believe.
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Gallery: Psystar unboxing, innerds, maiden boot
I posted a gallery of 23 pictures of the Psystar Open Computer unboxing. Pictures include the shipping box, the innerds and the maiden boot. Some notes: The fan is quiet. Much quieter than is heard initial video of the Psystar someone posted. I think that that guy was vacuuming in the background. I didn’t order the $90 WiFi [...]
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Is Mac OS X Leopard, Safari 3.x too dark?
At one time, Mac OS X’s Aqua interface was light and colorful. Now it’s taken a darker turn, and at times, in some applications, on some displays and for some eyes, much darker. At the same time, Apple also lets us make lemonade from the digital lemons. I noted the beef in a thread on the Mac [...]
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Iconfactory's counting down to the new Indiana Jones movie. Now you can too.
Any geek worth his weathered fedora is eagerly anticipating the release of the new Indiana Jones movie. While arguments abound on the subjects of messing with the sacred original storylines and the use of CGI sets and effects in the upcoming film, fans still can't help but be jazzed about what is to come. It is with that very brand of geeky joy that the folks at The Iconfactory have re-themed... [read more at MacMerc.com]
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Add some flickin' scrolling abilities to your Mac
Do you like the way you can flick through long lists on the iPhone and iPod touch? Do you wish your Mac had the same functionality? Thanks to Marcmoini's Smart Scroll, you can bring the same flickin' scrolling abilities from the iPhone to the desktop. The USD$19 System add-on runs on Mac OS X 10.3.9 to 10.5.2 (PPC/Intel) and offers "Super Scroll" and something called "Grab Scroll" which allows... [read more at MacMerc.com]
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News: Apple posts iPhone SDK Beta release 5
Apple has posted the fifth beta version of its iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK). According to Apple's notes, the new release “fixes bugs and adds support for the latest iPhone OS.” The updated SDK, which is available as a free download for registered iPhone developers from the iPhone Dev Center, is a 1.08GB download, and is listed as build 9M2173a, beta 5. Complete release notes are available here. ...
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Switched On: The Linux ultraportable opportunity
Filed under: LaptopsEach week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment. The US smartphone market may continue to be dominated by mobile platforms from Apple, Microsoft, and RIM, but Linux has been creeping into ever more mobile devices in the last few years. Some Motorola RAZR 2 models have donned a Tux, Palm is looking to Linux to drive its next-generation consumer smartphones, and Android's backers hope to spread it to an even wider array of handsets. Linux is also driving many avant garde connected consumer electronics devices such as the Chumby, Nokia N810, Amazon Kindle, Dash Express, and whatever the fertile minds tinkering with Bug Labs' modules are envisioning,. Even the remote control that houses the user interface of Logitech's Squeezebox Duet is a Linux computer. However, none of these products are intended for as flexible a range of uses as a notebook PC, where Linux is being tested as a tool to achieve lower price points on a new generation of low-cost but style-conscious ultaportables. ASUS set the pace with Xandros on the Eee PC, and HP has tapped Novel SuSE Linux for the 2133 Mini-Note, but whereas the Eee's positioning has been somewhat of a loose hybrid between an adult OLPC and the Nintendo Wii's culture of global inclusion, the HP Mini-Note has been strongly focused on reckless, immature students while acknowledging potential for senior executives that have been known to share their temperament. Continue reading Switched On: The Linux ultraportable opportunityPermalink | Email this | Comments
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PC Magazine likes the new iMac
Filed under: iMacPC Magazine has been reviewing Mac for awhile now, but it still strikes me as rather novel when they recommend a Mac. That's just what they did for Apple's latest iMac. PC Mag doesn't find anything too groundbreaking on this new model, but the speed improvements are welcome.But why mess with success? The current design of the iMac is serving it well, and similar computers from other companies still haven't caught up with the iMac in terms of looks.However, not everything is rosy in iMac land. PC Mag disses the Mighty Mouse (I usually toss the included Mighty Mouse aside myself), and would like to see an integrated media card.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Flickr Find: Twitter in Mac OS X developer tools
Filed under: Flickr Find An avid reader of TUAW, Chris Thomson, sent us a link to a Flickr picture (being the nosy people we are, we clicked the link). What we found surprised us -- a Twitter Quartz Composer composition was included as a part of the Mac OS X developer tools for Leopard. "Twitterverse," when tweaked right, can be used as an OS X screen saver and display all of your friends tweets in a graphical way. You can find this Quartz composition in the ~/Developer/Examples/Quartz Composer/Compositions/XML/The Twitterverse/The Twitterverse.qtz. If you want to add it as a screen saver, just drag it onto the preview in the "Screen Saver" part of the Desktop & Screen Saver preference pane (in System Preferences.app). You can then add your username / password in the screen saver options.Thanks, Chris!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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BREAKING: New iPhone SDK & Firmware released
Filed under: iPod Family, Developer, iPhone Word is out: new versions of the iPhone SDK and firmware are available for download. Word about the details are still trickling in from developers. This is Apple's fifth beta release since the iPhone SDK was released in March. There's just under a week left until the end of the Apple Design Awards submission period. No word if iPhone developers who submitted under earlier firmware will be able to re-submit outside the 72 hour period that Apple allots for "re-dos".Readers report that this is a smaller download (just over 1 GB) and details are trickling in through the comments.Thank you everyone who sent this in!Continue reading BREAKING: New iPhone SDK & Firmware releasedRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Mac 101: use a tab to navigate dialogs
Filed under: Mac 101 Recently we here at TUAW were asked about navigating dialog boxes and applications with the keyboard. It is really easy to use the tab key to select different parts of the window and different buttons in a dialog box, if you know how to enable this behavior.Open System Preferences > Mouse and Keyboard, and click the "Keyboard Shortcuts" tab. You are presented with two options at the bottom of the window (in the "Full keyboard access" section): Text boxes and lists only or All controls. By default, "Text boxes and lists" should be selected, but if you want to be able to select other buttons in a window with the tab key then you need to select the "All controls" option. Now when you encounter a dialog box (or window), just press the tab key to switch between the various buttons on the screen. If you would like to go to a previous button, use shift + tab. When you've got the button you want highlighted, press the enter key or space bar. It's as easy as that! For more tips and tricks like these, visit the Mac 101 section on TUAW.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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3G iPhone again rumored for summer US/Europe launch, AT&T preps
After an announcement of expanded iPhone rollouts, rumors peg a 3G iPhone introduction in Europe by August. And while an internal AT&T memo points to a June introduction stateside, an AT&T spokesperson will neither confirm nor deny the rumor.Read More...
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Rumor: Another Blurry 3G iPhone Image
Will it ever end?
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‘Wrong, Wrong, and Wrong’
John C. Welch on Matt Freestone’s claim that Leopard doesn’t run well on three-year-old Macs: Matt is so far out in left field here, he’s in right field. While Apple does regularly cut off older hardware from the latest OS releases, that is still not, nor never has been the same as “You have to buy new hardware to get new OS versions”, nor is it even close. In fact, prior to Mac OS X, Apple would constantly provide for truly ancient hardware in their OS releases. Mac OS X 10.5 still supports a machine with at least an 867MHz G4, 512MB of RAM, and a DVD drive. You have to go back into 2002 to start hitting sub-867 MHz G4s. ★
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Vodafone to sell iPhone in 10 new territories
Vodafone finally secured its first deal to sell Apple's iconic iPhone yesterday, winning the distribution rights for 10 countries.
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Synchronoss Gives Rocky Outlook; Unlocked iPhones Take Their Toll
Snychronoss Technologies (SNCR) shares have dropped nearly in half in after hours trading on a disappointing outlook for 2008.
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AT&T: No vacation around the iPhone anniversary
The iPhone's U.S. carrier has reportedly blocked off a one-month period in which vacations are discouraged, most likely in preparation for the launch of iPhone 2.0.
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AT&T Purportedly Nixes Retail Employee Vacations Between June 15 and July 12
Leaked memo states they wish to ensure sufficient staffing for “an exciting Summer Promotional Launch.” They did the same thing last year for the original iPhone debut. So, question: Will there be tens of thousands of people across the country lined up all day waiting to buy the new iPhones, just like last year? I say yes. ★
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Phun 3.5
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Education, FreewareFor (let's say) "phans" of Crayon Physics, Phun 3.5 is a similar kind of physics simulator created by Emil Ernerfeldt for his thesis at Umeå University, Sweden. Not only is it Swedish, but it's just been released for the Mac. Sure, it's rough-around-the-edges, and it follows pretty much none of the Mac's interface or key-combination conventions, but it's sure a fun (with an F) toy. Phun is Universal Binary, and freeware.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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iMovie ’08: Don’t Use Periods in Project Name
Sad that in 2008, Apple is still producing OS X software with DOS-style file name limitations. (Bonus demerits for the verb-less “Resolution”.) ★
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Rumor: New iPhone June 12
Better speakers and camera expected, according to friend of a friend,
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AT&T clearing the decks for iPhone 3G?
Filed under: Rumors, iPhoneNobody keeps a secret like AT&T, and by that I mean nobody keeps a secret quite so poorly. Boy Genius Report and other sites are talking up an internal Death Star memo that asks employees to hold down the fort during the June 15 - July 12 window. Vacations should be moved if possible, says management, and no additional vacations are being approved during that period. Since AT&T pulled a similar Mr. Burns-esque maneuver last year prior to the iPhone launch, it's entirely reasonable to pin this year's lockdown on the arrival of the 3G iPhone after WWDC. It's probably not necessary to stake out your place in line just yet, unless you happen to be an elected official or have an injured knee from a previous iPhone queue. If you were planning an iPhone purchase in the next four weeks, however, this is some of the strongest evidence yet that you really should put your credit card down and think it through. [via Techmeme]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Opening up Psystar’s Open Computer
Macworld Lab wanted to see how Psystar’s Open Computer running OS X compares to a native Mac, so it placed an order for the controversial system. The machine has arrived, and Lab director James Galbraith shares his first impressions.
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Opening up Psystar’s Open Computer
Macworld Lab wanted to see how Psystar’s Open Computer running OS X compares to a native Mac, so it placed an order for the controversial system. The machine has arrived, and Lab director James Galbraith shares his first impressions.
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May 8 'Macsimum Podcast' now available
Posted by Dennis SellersThe Macsimum Podcast for May 6 is now available here and the RSS feed is here.
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Mac software updates for May 6
Posted by Dennis Sellers VMware has released VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1, an update to its VMware Fusion desktop virtualization software for Intel-based Macs. You can learn more, watch video demos of key features, and more here.
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'Macsimum Recommended Reading' for May 6
Posted by Dennis Sellers “Is this the rumored Apple Nanophone?” —Eye on Apple
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Howdy!
Filed under: TUAW BusinessHowdy, TUAW-ites. My name is Steve Sande and I'm the new kid on the block here at TUAW. Saying that I'm the new kid is a bit misleading, since I'm over the half-century mark in the age column. I've been writing online since 1986, when I started up a Mac/Apple IIGS Bulletin Board System called MAGIC. That BBS continued for 8 years until 1994, when I began publishing a blog-like website called PDAntic.com on the web, writing about the Apple Newton MessagePad. That site went through various incarnations, ending with the latest - MovableBeast.com. I also blog and podcast occasionally on TalkingWordpress.com, and I can be heard on the MacJury podcasts as a regular jury member.My first Mac purchase was in December of 1984; a Mac 512K with an ImageWriter II printer. My latest? A MacBook Air! My next dream machine is going to be a 3.06 GHz 24" iMac with 4GB of RAM and a 1 TB HD. I'm not sure how many Macs I've owned since 1984...So, what do I do when I'm not blogging? I'm currently an ACN (Apple Consultant Network) member, which means I'm a certified Apple consultant. I write documentation for several commercial Mac applications, I've written a couple of ebooks for Take Control Books, and I teach Business Analysis classes all over the country.I'm thrilled to be part of the TUAW team, and I look forward to your comments and story tips.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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NBC cozies up to iTunes UK and Zune, but not iTunes US
Don't miss this pulse-pounding episode of All My NBC. The studio once again recognizes the value in licensing its content, but a return to the US iTunes Store is nowhere to be seen—yet.Read More...
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Flickr find: 1Password icon shows up in the strangest places
Filed under: Odds and ends, Flickr Find If you're an independent Mac software developer, having a wicked cool icon for your application is both a blessing and a curse. Users will remember you for the sleek, Leopard-ready goodness of your icon ... and other unscrupulous marketers will rip you off shamelessly to promote their own products, rather than ponying up for an original design. The all-time champion victim (self-reported) of icons ripped off is Panic's Transmit FTP tool; the little truck shows up just about everywhere you could possibly imagine. New to the underground icon market, however, is the 1Password browser-key logo -- it may make you think "Hey, I could drive Safari to the supermarket!" but apparently the makers of ProductKeyFinder, a Windows serial number app, found it too delicious to pass up. The purloined product identity is visible on PKF's eBay sales page and on Flickr. It looks like the packaging has been updated (and the product renamed to Product Key Explorer), so this tale of icon swiping has a happy ending. Thanks Roustem! Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Zune Gives Marketplace a Makeover
Microsoft's challenger in the digital media player market, the Zune, received a major update Tuesday. New features will bring a host of TV shows and other changes to the Zune online store and its music-sharing community, Zune Social, according to Microsoft. The update will give depth to the Zune's video offerings and also deepen the social components of its music sharing community. Zune users can now head to the Zune online store for more than just music.
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The Computer (Manufacturing) Revolution Continues...
Take value added by manufacturing industry in 2000, project it forward using the BEA's chain-type indices for real value added by industry, and here is what you get: click to enlarge
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Sprint: watch the Instinct smack the iPhone around
Posted by Dennis SellersSprint has posted a video pitting its Instinct against the iPhone. The ad says to “watch the Instinct smack the iPhone around.”
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Did Apple invest in PA Semi prior to its acquisition?
Posted by Dennis Sellers On April 23 it was announced that Apple was buying PA Semi, a fabless semiconductor company that makes PWRficient processors for the embedded-computing markets. Now a source has said that Apple was an investor in P.A.Semi prior to the acquisition, according to Peter Clarke of EE Times Europe.
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Analyst ups his Mac, iPhone sales predictions
Posted by Dennis SellersCaris & Co.'s Shebly Seyrafi today raised his earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Apple on revised expectations for Mac and iPhone sales, reports Barron's.
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iPhone vs. Instinct
Not your animal instinct, but the new Samsung Instinct, offered by Sprint. We will have some embedded video on Thursday hopefully, but until then, hit this link to go to Kansas City's video site to see a side-by-side comparison of Apple and Sprint's “find my location” features. The video is one of five that will be launched before the Instinct is launched, and will compare the two phones among their internet surfing speeds, capturing video, streaming TV, and downloading music. The $100 million advertising campaign kicks off on Thursday on those hip, new video websites. TV ads are so passé. You would think that kind of change could have bought some better quality, even the YouTube iPhone commercials look better than this. It will be interesting to see if this $100 million budget is killed before by the rumored new features of the 3G iPhone, allegedly coming out in June, also. If it has GPS, 3G, and other great features (renting movies from the phone, anyone?), this could be a wasted advertising campaign. The Instinct will supposedly have live streaming TV as well, and I don't think Uncle Steve will be throwing that in to his “One more thing…” part of the keynote. The Instinct site starts with “Finally, an amazing touch-screen phone with the network to back it up.” So, from that it looks like Sprint is saying that the iPhone still rocks, but the network (AT&T) stinks. I don't think many people will disagree with that statement. I know that I would buy an iPhone in a second if I could have it on a different network. The other thing that gets me about this campaign is that it was probably created in Overland Park, KS, at Sprint Headquarters. That means that the coverage for Sprint in that area, where nearly everyone is on Sprint, is exceptional. The screenshot below shows AT&T's coverage for Sprint Headquarters. AT&T's coverage viewer claims that they have “good” reception in this area which means GOOD: The areas shown in the medium orange should be sufficient for on-street or in-the-open coverage, most in-vehicle coverage and possibly some in-building coverage. This AT&T owned network provides GSM, GPRS, and EDGE service. Even with 3G, it would be hard for AT&T to have better times if they have “possibly some in-building coverage.” I wonder if Sprint thought about that and intentionally set it up for them to do better, or if the Sprint network really is that much better than the AT&T network. Both carriers don't work at all in my basement. Anyone had any experience with both that would like to vouch for either one?
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Macnification new microscopic image tool for Mac OS X
Posted by Dennis SellersOrbicule has released Macnification, a Mac OS X tool that lets you organize, edit, analyze and annotate microscopic images. It requires Mac OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”) and costs approximately US$400.
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Anticipating Indiana Jones? Your Mac is, too
Filed under: Features, Cult of MacForget WWDC, the iPhone App Store and the Apple Design Awards. The one thing we want to see this summer is the new Indiana Jones movie!We're sure some of you feel the same anticipation, so why not let your Mac in on the fun? The workers at The Iconfactory have launched their month-long tribute to Dr. Jones with Indy-themed freeware icon sets, one for each movie. So far, the Raiders of the Lost Ark set has been released, while The Temple of Doom, Last Crusade, and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull icon sets will debut later this month.If your using CandyBar (we've written about CandyBar several times), you can make use of the Indy-themed Dock. Finally, round things of with this great desktop picture (it's also available for the iPhone!).Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple Gazette Daily 262 - iPhone in 10 new countries, NBC in UK iTunes, and more!
podcast sponsor link:Click Here to check out Audible! Click the link above to get your free audio book from Audible, and help support Apple Gazette at the same time! Today's Show: iPhone in 10 new countries, NBC in UK iTunes, and more! 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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You're gonna have to face it ...
Filed under: Blogging, TUAW BusinessHello everyone! My name is Robert Palmer, and I'd like to first thank you in advance for letting me blog for you here at TUAW. I've been using a Mac since 1992, and have owned five Macs since. By day, I'm a web developer, specializing in clean, honest, standards-compliant XHTML and CSS. By night, I am asleep. Here's me a dozen years ago, photographed with my high school girlfriend.*Up until I started working for myself last November, I was the de-facto IT guy for a 15-workstation Mac network in a graphic design studio environment. I plan to cover plenty of ground for you at the crossroads of the design and Mac worlds. Cheers to everyone, and be so kind as to leave your best "Addicted to Love," "Simply Irresistible," or "Looking for Clues" jokes in comments. That's right, get it all out of your system now. *First commenter to correctly name the model pictured wins at the Internets. Hint: It was photographed in a classroom.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Rumor: AT&T Issues Suspicious Internal Memo
Memo points to summer event
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iTunes: Free Tuesday
Filed under: iTS, Features, Deals Once again, TUAW is pleased to present you with a selection of free songs and videos from around the world. Many of these iTMS items won't be free for long, so grab your copies before the week is up. And don't forget: If you want to buy these on your iPhone or iPod touch, make sure to sign into your account in iTunes before you sync.Continue reading iTunes: Free TuesdayRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple on the rise following new iPhone deals
Apple shares climb to their highest point in four months after British wireless giant Vodafone reaches a deal to sell the iPhone in 10 new international markets.
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iPhones in Italy
Another short press release. In fact, the URL is longer than the PR itself. ★
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'Consumer Reports': Apple tech support is aces
Apple's retail stores help the company quickly solve problems and satisfy customers far more often than the competition, according to the magazine.
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Corrections: Apple breaks new ground with multiple networks
A MarketWatch story dated May 6 incorrectly said that Apple's iPhone is available in Spain, which it currently is not. See corrected story.
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The philosophy of iMac
Filed under: Cult of Mac, iMacLet me tell you something about my mindset. When I bought an iPhone, one of my first thoughts was: "How do I hook up a bluetooth keyboard to this thing?" It's that kind of thinking that has always stood between me and the iMac. Because in this world, there are two kinds of people[1]: the iMac people and the tower people. iMac people love the all-in-one package that their system brings. It's hard to look at an iMac and not think that it's smiling at you. The iMac delivers the entire computing experience in a single friendly unit. Customization? They do it at the store. Buyers decide what kind of memory and hard drive space they want. And then they buy it. And they're done. Tower people don't think that way. Memory, drives, peripherals -- these are all things that ebb and flow throughout the lifetime of the unit. More USB ports? Throw in a card. Widescreen monitors just went on sale? Buy one and eBay the current screen. Coming from an tower perspective, the iMac has always puzzled me. It makes people happy without ever needing to be disassembled and reassembled. Sure, there are hobbyists who do exactly that but they are usually tower people playing with iMac-shaped toys. Most iMac users I know are perfectly happy to use their Apple system for the entire lifetime of that unit -- often a very long lifetime indeed -- and never crack it open and mod it. Ever. Astonishing. So here I am raising a glass to the iMac on its birthday and to all the iMac users whose lives have been enriched by this little puzzling unit. May your systems be reliable and long-lived. And may you continue to enjoy your all-in-one system. Cheers! [1] That is, other than the people who divide people into two kinds of people and the people who don't.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Leaked AT&T memo points to 3G iPhone release in late June?
Filed under: Cellphones A friendly neighborhood AT&T employee forwarded us a purported memo for AT&T retail store employees that could provide a rather telling clue about the next-gen iPhone's release date this summer if it proves true. A similar memo went out last year around this time requesting that employees not take any vacations between June 15 and July 15, and this year those dates are June 15 and July 12 -- which seems suspiciously early, but that's what the man says. The memo cites "an exciting Summer Promotional Launch," which we're guessing doesn't refer to some new Motorola flip phone. Also telling is the fact that employees might be able to take some vacations later within that window when things die down a bit, which seems to imply that Apple could be aiming for a launch date right around the iPhone's one year anniversary of June 29th. How romantic.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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FinePix S 8000FD
Shoot the Moon -- Literally
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Planbook Educational Software
Many schools foot the bill to get good Macs into their teachers' hands. Mac developers know this and there are many different educational apps that teachers and students can use to make learning better. Pass this review along to your educator friends and let them taste a little bit of the good life. Overview The tagline for Planbook is “Making one part of your day a little bit easier…” Planbook by Jeff Hellman is a digital planbook, and a little more. Useful Features One of the best uses of this program is a digital file folder. I do so much on the computer because it the only part of my life that is organized. Below is a screenshot of the main interface. You can click it to see a bigger picture. It is very easy to add lesson plans. You just click on the day, and a drawer opens that allows you to enter in plans, homework, public/student information, and upload files or attach web addresses. You can divide it up by class. Many teachers don't make actual lesson plans, but this program makes it so easy and useful, why wouldn't you? The demo version allows you to make up to 20 lesson plans; everything else is fully functional. I did that for a little, deleting the first lesson to make another, etc., but then, after a while, I realized that it would be better to just pay the $30 to buy it. It is very intuitve, easy to use, and responsive. It doesn't bog the computer down, either. Some other features include the ability to run weekly and lesson reports that you can give to your administrators, students, students' parents, or just to post on the wall. You can also add as many files and links as you want so you don't have to worry about all your filing cabinets overflowing. The best feature though, is that you can use publish your files to FTP, .Mac (which I don't have), or to a local folder. The really great thing about this is that I can publish all the lesson plans to my website and then I just direct kids there when they are absent or lost a paper. It is a great tool for teachers because the calls from parents, complaints from kids, or anything that slows down the teaching process gets really annoying. I know there are a lot of other systems out there, that teachers use to keep their makeup work process easy and accessible, but this system works the best of the four I have tried. When kids leave on vacation, and I don't have the lesson plans ready, I can just tell them to check the website while on vacation (like their going to do any work anyway!) and then it is their and their parents' responsibility. This is also especially useful for when a teacher needs a substitute. All you need to do is call in for your sub and have the secretary print out the directions for class that day. Below is a picture of what it looks like on the web: I love that all the handouts are on there. You can also change the themes so that it looks different. You can even make your own theme, if you know CSS. Speaking of handouts, you can print a list of all the handouts you have given throughout the year and sort it by class, name of handout, whether or not it was published, the description, and the link address. In addition, you can tag each lesson plan so that you can link each plan to a standard that the kids must know. When they don't learn something they should, you can find lesson plans that will help them learn certain standards. Opinion It is pretty apparent what my opinion of this software is. I love it. I do have a few suggestions, though, that would make it better. But first, I digress: Apple has the Apple Design Awards but I don't think that they have anything for exceptional customer service or excellent tech support for developers who go above and beyond. If they did, this developer should win that award. Jeff Hellman is a teacher. He does this in his spare time. Earlier this year, when I first bought it, I had a hard time publishing the lesson plans to the web. It was really frustrating, and I emailed Jeff, and he helped me out within a couple hours. It was the fastest customer service I have ever received. On his website, he mentions that people lost data when they upgraded to Leopard. He says As a teacher/developer, my goal is to save my users' time. If your planbook file loses its data, I'm not saving you time and I'm probably making you miserable. Data integrity is my number one priority and this is why the data loss bug that several users reported on Leopard was so disconcerting to me. He runs a Yahoo Group that discusses problems, and you can tell that he reads every single post that someone puts on there. Each time I have had a question or concern, he has responded. Jeff really cares about making a quality product, and that is a great thing. Here are my meager suggestions: An RSS feed for the new updates so parents (or administrators, if they are like that) can see what needs to be done each day. Or, it would be neat if the program could email some information on each day's lesson plans to the parents so they wouldn't have to check the site every day. The email would also help teachers who don't have a domain name or a .mac account. The dialog box for uploading files should go to the last folder used. When you attach a file, the dialog box opens up to your home folder every time. This can get kind of annoying since I have a folder that contains all my handouts. If I add more than one file to a lesson plan, it is inconvenient to go through all my folder hierarchy to get to that one file I need. These two additions are really the only things that I have been bothered by since using this program. Everything else has been resolved so fast by Jeff Hellman, that I don't remember the problems.
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iMac turns 10
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iMac, AppleIt was ten years ago today that Steve Jobs mounted the Flint Center auditorium on Apple's campus and revealed the product that would save Apple, and become the best selling computer of all time: the iMac. It is had to believe that this cute little guy is ten years old, but it is true.The original iMac came stocked with a 233MHz G3, 32MD of SDRAM (though you could bump it up to a whopping 128MB), a 4 gig harddrive, 2 USB ports, a CD-ROM drive (not a CD burner, Apple was late to that party), and an IrDA port. These specs might not make your heart skip a beat nowadays, but the iMac is the product that started Apple's amazing turn around. It was the first mainstream computer to break with the past and offer only USB ports, no legacy connectors here. And it is worth nothing that the iMac can also be attributed as the killer of the floppy disk.I recall the howls from the tech community about the iMac's lack of a floppy drive. 'People love their floppies!' 'This is nothing more than an expensive toy!' All charges leveled against the iMac, but the decision actually helped create a market for USB accessories as most people bought their iMac and a USB floppy drive (I know I did. I used that floppy drive twice: once to make sure it worked, and another time to copy a file).The iMac wasn't available for purchase until August of 1998 (for the base price of $1299), but today is a date that should be circled in Bondi Blue for any true Mac fan.Check out our gallery of screenshots that show Apple's website the day after the iMac announcement. All screenshots was taken using the Wayback Machine.Gallery: iMac 1998Thanks, Shane, for reminding us of the date!Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Chinese handwriting functionality added to iPhone firmware
Following the release of an unofficial character recognition application, Chinese character handwriting recognition functionality has appeared in the firmware included with the latest version of the iPhone SDK.Read More...
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News: Mix: NLU Products, Universal on iTunes UK, Payless, Proporta Dock
BodyGuardz maker NLU Products has launched a new customer appreciation program called Advantage. The program, which will be open to all customers, will offer free lifetime replacements, a 30-day money back guarantee, special offers, and a referral program. “We are dedicated to ensuring that every device our customers own, and even those that they purchase in the future, is properly protected,â€? said Kirk Feller, President of NLU Products. “Our…
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Another Mac clone maker spotted on eBay
Psystar's exploits have been well-chronicled, but another Mac clone maker springs up on eBay offering a Leopard desktop not made by Apple.
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iPhones All Over the World, Microsoft Cozies Up With NBC and the Psystar Story
Apple and Vodaphone to bring iPhone to multiple markets, NBC shows up on iTunes UK and Japan wants to tax iPod sales.
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First Looks: Boston Acoustics Horizon Duo-i
We aren't commonly excited these days by the exterior designs of iPod speaker systems, but we are extremely enthusiastic about the look and feel of Boston Acoustics' new Horizon Duo-i ($200), an upper-end iPod dual-alarm clock radio with significant speaker power, a very clean on-screen interface, and cool styling. You choose from dark gray ("midnight") or white ("mist") versions, each with soft touch rubber bodies and cool metal grilles that make…
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First Looks: JBL On Stage 200ID
As the first substantially redesigned version of the On Stage in years, JBL's new On Stage 200ID ($150) is the second official "Works with iPhone" speaker on the market, and the most affordable. Capable of performing interference-free music from the iPhone and also Dock Connector-equipped iPods, On Stage 200ID is the family's first to use fabric speaker grilles, and preserves top-mounted volume controls and a rear power button. The system features…
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Fusion 2.0 beta intros multiple monitors, DirectX 9, more
Mac fans running VMware Fusion now have a new beta to play with, as Fusion 2.0 public beta 1 has been released. Multiple monitor support, DirectX 9, seamless importing of virtual machines. Oh my!Read More...
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Vodafone to Offer Apple’s iPhone in Ten Markets
On the newswire today: Vodafone today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe. Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network. Best press release I’ve seen in years. 56 words, short and to the point. ★
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A little more on HTC's Touch Diamond
Filed under: Cellphones We've got a few more details on the Touch Diamond to keep your motor running. Check it out! The Touch Diamond makes use of GPU accelerated procedural graphics, so you will not see a backward-compatible TouchFlow 3D update for the current Touch. It's capable of doing 7-8mil polygons per second (not that many games or apps will make use of that right now). HTC has made hiding WinMo away something of a priority; CMO John Wang stated, "You wouldn't even know this device was Windows Mobile. You would just think it's TouchFlow 3D." HTC totally reworked the WinMo virtual keyboard (as you can see above). Definitely not the best laid out we've seen (okay, it looks kind of messy), but it's instantly lightyears ahead of what WinMo had before. Opera "reflows" web formatting, which HTC is pitching hard. Basically it just reformats and wraps text on zoom -- unlike, say, the iPhone. Unfortunately, the device still uses a resistive touchscreen, while the controls below are capacitive. That really ought to be flipped around. And of course, we had to ask about Android: the first device is (still) coming later this year, but it will not br in the form of the Diamond. Oh, and don't forget to check out the hands-on (with video).Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Italy will have two iPhone carriers
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Rumors, iPhoneEarlier today we learned that Vodafone has been tagged to carry the iPhone in ten countries, including Italy. Shortly after that announcement Italian communications company Telecom Italia announced that they, too, will carry the iPhone. Neither company provided any more detail than that, so exactly what those plans will look like and how they'll co-exist is unknown. However, we understand that Italians love pay-as-you-go plans. In fact, Vodafone reports that 91% of their current Italian customers lack contracts.Perhaps a paid vs. contract-free option? Only The Shadow knows. We'll keep you informed, readers.[Via MacNN]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Japan to propose copyright fees on iPods
Posted by Dennis SellersThis week the Japanese government will propose a plan to charge copyright royalties on sales of iPods and other portable digital music players, as well as on digital hard disk recorders, according to the Associated Press.
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Apple tech support ranks #1 yet again with Consumer Reports
The latest Consumer Reports rates tech support from major computer manufacturers between September of 2006 and January of 2008. Apple again ranks on top, with a commanding lead against the competition. Read More...
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Ableton releases Orchestral Instruments
Posted by Dennis SellersAbleton has released Orchestral Instruments, four sampled instrument collections representing the four sections of an orchestra. The instrument collections are available individually or as an attractively priced bundle and are for use with Ableton Live.
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Boston's Apple Store to open May 16
Filed under: RetailWe've been following the story of Boston's upcoming Apple Store for a long time, and now it's scheduled to open on Friday, May 16th at 6:00 PM. Yes, I'll be there. Say "Hi."When complete, it will be the ninth store in Massachusetts and certainly the largest ... or will it?According to Gizmodo, the Boylston St. store will be the largest of all Apple retail stores. Citing "a store employee," Giz reports that an average 1,500-2000 customers/hour will visit the store.Not so fast, Giz! Our friend Gary at ifoAppleStore shared this tidbit of information with us:"...the [Boylston Street] lot is only 6,384 square-feet, so the store would have to be at least five stories to be larger than Regent Street (London), at 28,000 s.f."At four stories high, it cannot be declared the biggest. Sorry, Boston. What we can say is that it opens soon and it's very, very big.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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More on passion and pop
The post about the gulf between passion and pop touched a chord. A few readers remembered Geoff Moore’s classic Crossing the Chasm. This is a super book (particularly the original (used) edition, not the updated one). Geoff has a different take on the curves, but his approach is well worth a look, especially for technology related products. A few other readers wrote in, pointing out that they are going for both. Both passion and pop because the flexibility of the web makes it easy to do that. Of course, it doesn’t, not really. Going for both is rarely the right strategy. Most germane: the two humps are not static. They move. Sometimes you can move them (I think Apple did) and sometimes the market moves on its own (music, for example). Most businesses don’t have the patience or the resources to move the Pop hump on their own, and I think it’s usually foolish to try. Passion, on the other hand, is always fast moving, and if you have something extraordinary and there’s a cadre of believers, the passionate will find you.
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Warner Music Group to experiment with digital music pricing options
Posted by Dennis SellersThe price of digital music “could be in flux” as Warner Music Group plans to run a test starting this month that will alter the price of certain songs on a number of unspecified online music stores to reflect demand, reports Wired.
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NBC is back in iTunes…in the UK
The UK iTunes Store has added several NBC/Universal television shows, in spite of their absence from the US iTunes store. The current selections include “Heroes”, “House”, “Eureka”, “The Incredible Hulk”, and “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”. Even more signifigent than the addition of NBC in the iTunes store is the pricing of the programs. Unlike the traditional iTunes pricing model, where all shows are priced the same, current shows are being priced at £1.89, while classic shows are £1.19. Will a return to the US store be far behind?
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Wild West Online: Gunfighter available for Mac OS X
Posted by Dennis SellersTenderfoot Games has released an open beta version of Wild West Online: Gunfighter. It's available for Mac OS X 10.4 and higher.
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Acer expands LCD monitor offerings
Posted by Dennis SellersAcer has expanded its professional display offerings with the introduction of two new LCD display families—the Business (B) series and Value (V) series.
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Apple Takes the Gold for Tech Support
Based on 10,099 notebook and desktop computer owners who contacted customer support between January 2006 and January 2006, Consumer Reports found Apple to be No. 1 in technical support. Lenovo came in second for notebook computers, and Dell was second for desktops. Apple's tech support solved the problem more than 80 percent of the time, according to the report. This was much higher than the typical 60 percent achieved. Apple's Genius Bar solved the problem 90 percent of the time, and the assistance is free.
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Review: New AOL Desktop for Mac
I have to commend the team at AOL that have developed the new AOL Desktop for Mac. They have created an interesting all-in-one mail, messaging, and browsing experienced that is clearly been well thought out, and designed specifically for a great Mac experience. The new AOL Web Bowser, which is based on Webkit and looks very similar to Safari, is the fastest browser I've ever used on my Mac. It beat out Safari and Firefox in tests on my Macbook Pro. I was shocked - to say the least. The new Mail App looks very much like Apple Mail (with the notable exception of an extremely annoying banner ad at the bottom of the application.) It's easy to use, and efficient. I won't be switching to an AOL email account anytime soon because I have .Mac - but if you're a current AOL user, or looking for a more desktop like experience with a web-based email address, you may want to give it a look. The new AOL Messenger is a vast improvement. The last version of AIM on Mac that I tried was a jumbled mess that I couldn't even use because of the constant advertising bombardment on it, but this new version is slick, lean, and has nice features like tabbed chat that make it very useable and friendly. The software will work with Tiger or Leopard, and both Intel and PPC Macs. Its free, and a must-have for current AOL users. New users may want to give it a try as well. I was surprised by how much I liked it. If you ever want to chat, you can find me under my AIM ID - applegazette You can download the new AOL Desktop for Mac right here.
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Under The Radar News - Tuesday
End of story. Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo (YHOO) are done, Microsoft International president Jean-Philippe Courtois says. "That's the end of the story." Courtois says Microsoft will focus on becoming a leading provider of internet services, advertising, and social media. Not the kind of guy you want to get angry. Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang may be toast after bungling the Microsoft deal, if 16% stakeholder and legendary money manager Gordon Crawford has anything to do with it. AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case was gone within a year of its fiasco. Nextel sale may only net $5B. Sprint (S) may only get $5 billion if it decides to sell off Nextel, just 1/7 of the $35B it paid in 2005. Cowen & Co.'s Tom Watts estimates a selling price of $5-8B. A sale or spinoff, however, make Sprint a more attractive acquisition target. Taiwan firm aims to put Touch on iPhone. Taiwanese High Tech Computer unveiled a sleeker, more powerful version of its Touch smartphone that takes direct aim at Apple's (AAPL) iPhone. The Touch Diamond runs on Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile. HTC says it sold more than three million Touch units over the past 11 months. iPhone exclusivity unraveling. New deals that will see Vodafone (VOD) and Telecom Italia (TI) selling Apple's (AAPL) iPhone on a non-exclusive basis could see carriers in countries bound by exclusivity deals pushing for similar treatment. A picture's worth... Idee says its upcoming image search engine will do for images as what Google (GOOG) did for text search. Map rap. Chinese officials are worried Google's (GOOG) online maps will expose state secrets and damage its territorial integrity. It's also investigating Sohu's (SOHU) and Baidu's (BIDU) maps. Smaller Bear. JPMorgan (JPM) may layoff more than 10,000 Bear Stearns (BSC) employees over the next several months. Flight cutbacks. American Airlines is eliminating some flights due to high gasoline prices. Delta (DAL) tacked on a $110 fuel surcharge to its LA-Honolulu flights. JetBlue (JBLU) cancelled the opening of four daily Boston/JFK flights due to high fuel costs. Gassing sales. Chrysler (DAI) is offering car purchasers guaranteed gasoline below $3/gallon for three years. Hedge funds hoard cash too. Hedge funds are sitting on their hands, and their cash, according to Deutsche Bank's annual Alternative Investment Survey. 33% of respondents say they're holding an unprecedented (for hedgies) 5-10% in cash, vs. a typical 1-3%. The survey finds 80% of investors are bearish for 2008, but 40% expect a 2009 rebound. For the first time ever, investors are weighing Risk Management as a criteria for choosing a money manager. Oh how to finance that JetSki. GE Money (GE) will no longer finance the purchase of recreational vehicles and most watercraft, which it considers a low-margin business. The move may impact clients such as Coachmen (CINC), Thor (THO), and Monaco Coach (MNC). "The loss of a major lender is never good as the remaining players pick over the exiting lender's originations stream and it tends to lead to tightening in the arena," BB&T Capital Markets analyst John H. Diffendal says. Murdoch's costly silence. Rupert Murdoch's refusal to testify in a trial that accuses the company of hacking into EchoStar's (DISH) security code and posting it on the internet could cost the firm hundreds of millions of dollars, the trial judge says. EchoStar CEO Charles Ergan says Murdoch hacked the DISH network in revenge for failed merger talks between the two. Flash in the can. A JV between Micron (MU) and Intel (INTC) to produce NAND flash memory is being pushed off for about six months due to oversupply in the NAND market. GMAC helps ResCap bide time. GMAC (GM) may lend struggling ResCap another $3.5B (on top of the $2B it already injected) in order to help it avert bankruptcy. Rambus (RMBS) is climbing this morning on rumors of a possible acquisition by Intel (INTC).
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Zune TV lineup gets some NBC love
Filed under: Portable Video While we're still waiting for the early year flirtations of NBC and Apple to sprout into a renewed relationship, it looks like Microsoft is picking up the ball and running with it. The new Zune Marketplace TV lineup includes NBC favorites "The Office, "Heroes" and "30 Rock," in addition to popular shows from Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and Sci Fi Channel. Over 800 episodes in total are available at the moment, and all of them are going for 160 Microsoft Points -- about $2.00. A more complete list is after the break.Continue reading Zune TV lineup gets some NBC loveRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Cramer's Four Horsemen Back in the Saddle
After Cramer turned his back on his four horsemen (with the exception of RIM) in March, the stocks have been on a tear. As shown below, Apple (AAPL) is up 55% from its bottom, Google (GOOG) is up 44%, RIM (RIMM) is up 58%, and Amazon (AMZN) is up 22%. Cramer recently said he was sorry for turning negative on Google and relying on comScore's unreliable data. As shown in the charts below, AAPL, GOOG and RIMM have each reached extreme overbought territory, all trading more than two standard deviations above their 50-day moving averages. While it's great that these things have made solid comebacks, the risk/reward tradeoff for the bulls favors the risk side in the short-term.
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Apple Store Boston to become the biggest ever!
The Apple Store Boston will open in just a couple of weeks, and will be the largest Apple retail store to date. Read More...
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T-Mobile admits that 3G iPhone will be tested in Austria
Filed under: Cellphones derStandard, the same publication that announced that the iPhone would be sailing into Austria via T-Mobile is now reporting that the same carrier will be testing the 3G iPhone in the aforesaid country. During a press conference in Vienna, T-Mo Austria reportedly affirmed that a UMTS version of Apple's handset would "soon be available," and that Austria would be the "testing ground" for the new mobile -- not to mention "among the first countries in the world with the UMTS iPhone." Furthermore, bigwigs stated that "more flexible" offers would be made available, but details beyond that were scant.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple patent is for multi-language document search, retrieval system
Posted by Dennis SellersAn Apple patent (number 7369987) for a multi-language document search and retrieval system has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The invention is directed to the indexing and searching of text in documents for information retrieval purposes, and more particularly to an indexing and searching system that is...
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'Early bird' pricing available for FileMaker Developer Conference
Posted by Dennis SellersAttendees of this year's FileMaker Developer Conference can save US$200 by registering by May 16.
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Apple announces deadline for Design Awards
Filed under: Software, WWDCApple has announced the submission deadline for the Apple Design Awards (ADA). The ADA take place every year during the World Wide Developer Conference, and recognizes the best efforts in several categories including user experience, overall application, student project and more. Previous winners include Coda (best user experience 2007), CSSEdit 2.5 (Best Developer tool, 2007) and Comic Life (Best New Product for Mac OS X, 2005). New this year is the iPhone category, which should be very exciting. The deadline for the 2008 ADA is May 12.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Vodafone and Telecom Italia get the iPhone
Apple is expanding iPhone distribution throughout Europe and other parts of the world through new deals with Vodafone and Telecom Italia.
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17-year-old creates impressive Mac OS X multi-touch table
Were you making multi-touch tables at 17? We weren't, but Utah-native Bridger Maxwell has created one based on Mac OS X for a science fair.Read More...
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Apple patent involves restoring color, enhancing electronic images
Posted by Dennis SellersAn Apple patent (number 7369999) for methods and apparatuses for restoring color and enhancing electronic images has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The invention relates to color correction, and more particular to color restoration and enhancement for electronic color images.
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'setteB.IT': NBC Universal is back on iTunes—in the UK
Posted by Dennis SellersBy Fabio M. Zambelli Today five TV series produced by NBC Universal group quietly appeared on the UK iTunes Store. NBC Universal shows disappeared from the US iTunes Store five months ago because of contract issues between NBC Universal and Apple.
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Proporta releases Universal iPod Dock
Posted by Dennis SellersProporta has released the Universal iPod Dock. It works with the iPod classic, third gen iPod nano, iPod touch and iPhone.
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Apple patent involves energy conservation and processors
Posted by Dennis SellersAn Apple patent (number 7370216) for conserving power by reducing voltage supplied to an ins