Jul 15, 2008 Jul 17, 2008 Wednesday July 16, 2008
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Apple: Dead Last In Exploited Horse Race?
By most accounts today's action was encouraging. After an initial rough start, the markets soared into the close. Most investors were expecting a bounce at some point, it's a normal occurrence in a Bear market as stocks get oversold and fear peaks. So, how was this Bear rally different from those that came before?The short answer is market internals. Advancers led decliners by a wide margin, with broad-based support across most sectors. This was exactly the opposite of previous failed rallies. But the real confirmation has yet to materialize. In order for this rally to stick, we need at least a few days to the upside. So we're off to a good start, but there were snags in this rally, especially if you're an Apple (AAPL) investor. Apple,considered the de facto leader of the Tech sector,one of four front runners known as the Four Horsemen of Tech, finished the day in the green at+3.17 (1.87%). The other Horsemen include; Google (GOOG), Research in Motion (RIMM), and Baidu (BIDU). But Apple didn't lead today, in fact it came in dead last. This was extremely troubling when you consider that just this past weekend Apple sold 1 million iPhones in 21 countries, and RIMM was downgraded. Yet RIMM trounced AAPL by finishing the day at+5.15 (4.87%).
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DoJ drops inquiry into Apple options scandal
Although the Department of Justice has been investigating shenanigans related to Apple's backdating of stock options, a lawyer involved in the case now says that the DoJ will not be filing criminal charges against Steve Jobs or other Apple executives.Read More...
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Apple makes amends with MobileMe users
Let's face it, MobileMe's first few days of life have been, well, difficult. It was problematic from the start, with the transition from .mac to MobileMe taking well over 24 hours, as opposed to the planned 6-hour outage. And when the web apps did go online, even though they were a step in the right direction, they were also slow and flaky at first. And then after a couple days it dawned on users that computer-to-MobileMe push was nonexistent. Well today, Apple made amends with its MobileMe subscribers by not only apologizing for all these issues, but extending every MobileMe user's subscription by 30 days for free, reports Macworld. Wow. Here's the full text of a letter being sent out to all MobileMe customers: We have recently completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Unfortunately, it was a lot rockier than we had hoped. Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially. Fortunately we have worked through those problems and the web apps are now up and running. Another snag we have run into is our use of the word “push” in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe “cloud,” changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word “push” until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too. We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks. We hope you enjoy your new suite of web applications at me.com, in addition to keeping your iPhone and iPod touch wirelessly in sync with these new web applications and your Mac or PC. Thank you, The MobileMe Team While I had hoped that Apple would acknowledge MobileMe's issues, at no point did I expect them to offer a free month of service to all subscribers. For that all I have to say is thank you, Apple.
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RSS feeds for the App Store
Filed under: App StoreJohn Gruber's heartfelt plea for iPhone App Store RSS feeds has now been answered. Hands up if you, like John and me and probably a TUAWload of others, were frustrated at the lack of an obvious, easy-to-subscribe-to RSS feed of the latest additions to the App Store. The only solution was to view the complete list of iPhone apps and choose "Sort by: Release date". Not good enough. No.The people at Pinch Media obviously felt the same way about this, and have announced a handy collection of four feeds (new apps; updated apps; top 100 free apps; and top 100 paid apps) for your subscribing pleasure.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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What Getting Buzzed Says About Yahoo
Om Malik: A story by Judi Sohn, who edits WebWorkerDaily, one of our growing portfolio of blogs, was featured on the home page of Yahoo last night. The story got voted up via Yahoo’s Buzz, a service akin to Digg, except much more powerful. In a few hours, the story about what to expect when switching from a BlackBerry to an iPhone was viewed over 200,000 times and attracted over 350 comments. That’s about ten times the traffic that I’ve seen from Digg. ★
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T-Mobile demands sipgate nix VoIP software
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Internet Tools, iPhoneThilo Salmon, CEO of sipgate, Inc., wrote in to say that T-Mobile Germany has asked his company to cease and desist offering the company's flagship VoIP software. In the letter from its lawyers, T-Mobile claims that sipgate is making the jailbreak process appear more attractive, which could lead customers to breaching their contracts. According to Salmon, T-Mobile disallows jailbreaking, running VoIP, instant messaging, and VPN applications as part of its subscriber contract. Salmon notes, however, that sipgate only works via WiFi (and not GPRS or EDGE), and therefore does not run on T-Mobile's network. He says, "for the time being our users are safe." sipgate doubts the legal veracity of the argument, and said it does not plan to comply with the order. Salmon said "we may need to fight this all the way through the courts." He also suggests that it's largely a government policy issue for Germany, and wants to lobby for a net-neutral environment for telecom carriers. Tempest in a teacup? Apparently, it's a big deal in Germany. What, if any, "chilling effect" this will have on other VoIP software providers remains to be seen. Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple demands Psystar recall Mac clones
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Hardware, Apple FinancialWe noted yesterday that the Mac clone maker, Psystar, was sued by Apple for copyright infringement, among other things. According to a recent ZDNet post, Apple wants Psystar to recall all of the Mac clones sold since April. "Psystar's actions have been committed with intent to damage Apple and to confuse and deceive the public," Apple claims. "As a direct and proximate result of Psystar's infringing conduct, Apple has suffered and will continue to suffer lost sales and profits in an amount not yet fully ascertained in an amount to be proven at trial," Apple notes. I really don't see how Psystar will be able to recover all of the Mac clones sold since April. But, if you bought one, would you send it back? I certainly wouldn't. Engadget, our sister blog, is also looking deeply into this high-profile lawsuit. They take a look at what each allegation means for both Apple and Psystar.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Byline: Google Reader for your pocket
Filed under: App StoreAs someone who manages whole metric scads of information in Google Reader, I was excited to see Byline, from Phantom Fish software, in the App Store. Byline, as you might expect, fetches all your subscriptions from Google Reader and displays them for you to read. It also keeps track of the items you've read and starred. The greatest thing, though, especially for iPod touch owners and subway riders is this: Starring or Noting an item saves it on your iPhone or iPod for offline reading. If you star an item either using your desktop browser, Mobile Safari, or Byline itself, it saves it for later. Noting an item is even better, because you can save pages that aren't even in your RSS subscriptions for offline reading with Byline. They mention you can do this very easily with a bookmarklet. Now -- I can hear you screaming: NetNewsWire does all this, and it's free! Without boring you with detail, it's worth ten bucks to me to keep my Google Reader workflow the way it is, rather than spending time changing the way I work. Agreed: it's probably too steep for people who aren't heavily invested in Google Reader already. Additionally on the downside, Byline doesn't allow you to browse by tag, instead opting to lump everything together in one list by date. Phantom Fish says this is for performance reasons, as people with many feeds would experience sluggish behavior. They're looking into it, though, and I personally hope they figure it out. Byline is $9.99, awesome, and available through the App Store.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple to Psystar: It is Over.
Now that Apple has gotten over the stress of selling the iPhone 3G, they have turned their attention to other matters that are not as pressing as the activation fiasco. Apple sued Psystar on July 3rd (when everyone was too busy worrying about the iPhone launch) and asked that all the computers that Psystar has sold be recalled. It was not surprising to see Apple sue for damages from loss of sales, good name, etc., but it is surprising that they are requesting a recall of all computers sold. Many people have pointed out that just because Apple's EULA forbids putting OS X software on anything but an Apple, doesn't mean that it is actually legally binding. This will be interesting to see if Apple's EULA will stand up. They do lay out a pretty good claim in their filing. Apple claims that the success of their brand is largely due to the fact that they control everything. Yesterday Apple declined to have their case brought before a magistrate judge (a judge that helps and gets cases ready for a district judge) and requested that it be brought before a US District Judge. Apple is intent on fighting their case. We'll keep you updated as things progress.
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Apple Apologizes for MobileMe Launch, Extends Subscriptions
Pretty good way to handle this. A free month of service for four or five days of downtime. ★
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Apple Releases the Hounds on Psystar
Nearly three months after a previously unknown company called "Psystar" began selling Intel-based computers running a pre-installed version of Apple's OS X operating system, Apple filed a lawsuit against the computer maker alleging copyright infringement earlier this month. In addition to the multiple claims of copyright infringement, the suit also alleges inducement of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, breach of contract and trade infringement as well as unfair competition.
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Giles Turnbull says hello
Filed under: TUAW BusinessHello. I'm Giles Turnbull, and I'm the new boy round here. You can find out everything you could possibly wish to know about me from gilest.org, but to be honest the good stuff is buried in Google's archives. All the embarrassing posts, bad photographs, journalistic howlers, self-pitying confessionals, they're all there. I gather there might be a few people reading this who enjoy using Macintosh computers. What a stroke of luck! I can waffle on about them for hours.Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple Gazette Daily 307 - iPhone App info, speculation and more!
podcast sponsor link:Click Here to check out Audible! Today's Show: iPhone App info, speculation 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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MobileMe says sorry with a month of free service
Users of Apple's MobileMe will get their subscription extended by 30 days, but there are no promises as to when the service will actually be usable.Read More...
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Mac 101: Managing Dashboard widgets
Filed under: Mac 101Is your Dashboard cluttered with tons of widgets that you don't want to see any longer? You can easily hide widgets from your Dashboard by holding down the option key while mousing over top of your widget and clicking the "x" button that shows up. Clicking the "x" button does not, however, delete the widget -- it will only hide it. To delete a widget, click the "+" button in the bottom left corner (or hit the command and + key combo) then select the "Manage Widgets..." button. From this widget manager, you will be able to click the red minus button beside the widget to completely remove it from your Mac. The deleted widget will show up in the OS X trash can.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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RSS Feed of New Apps
Pinch Media is a small company that serves iPhone developers (and iPhone users). They are located in New York and get a kick out of tracking and analyzing App Store data. They measure the percentage of free apps and things like that. They don't have any of Apple's sales data, or anything like that, but they do organize a lot of user-side data. It is pretty interesting, and fun to watch. Today, however, they released something that will benefit a lot of users: an RSS feed of new apps. Whenever a new App is updated, this RSS feed tells you. It gives you the name of the app, the category, release date, price, and a link to the app's page in the App Store. They are working on including the description as well. Pinch media offers a similar feed for updated apps as well. In addition to those two feeds, you can also get a daily list of the top 100 paid and top 100 free apps. Be forewarned: the top 100 apps will show up as 100 different items, so your reader might explode.
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AOL Radio for iPhone - Review
AOL has released an AOL Radio app for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Now, normally, I don't really pay attention to anything with the letters “AOL” at the front of the title. I've never had a lot of use for AOL services, and came at this app with some preconceived notions about what it might be…I'm not sure why, I just did. Still, when a Twitter buddy suggested that I review it for the site, I decided to download it and see what it was all about. What I found was an easy to use, very impressive, streaming radio application that really surprised me. The interface is very simple and easy to use. With the press of a button the AOL Radio application will find your local stations and put them at the top of your list. You don't have to listen to just those, however. You can listen to stations all over the country in a variety of genres. Music stations will even show you the album artwork of the song you're listening to, and the app will remember you recent songs. If you find one you really like, you can select it, and then grab the song in iTunes or on AOL Radio. Its simple additions like this that make the app so much more than some of the other offerings from major companies. The PayPal app, for example, gives your balance and lets you send money - that's about it. This thing, though, is feature rich, and essentially gives you a satellite radio experience in your car…FOR FREE. I've listened to the audio over 3G and it sounds pretty good. You'll find that some stations are not available while streaming over 3G and EDGE, but a good number of them are there for use in the car. The sound isn't the greatest audio you'll ever hear in your life to be sure, but its very listenable (particularly for talk radio…which is about all I listen to anyway). Overall, if you listen to the radio (CBS owned radio stations in particular) this application is a must have download…and it's free. You can get it here.
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News: PDO intros CarFM transmitter + charger for iPod, iPhone
PDO has introduced its new CarFM combination car mount, FM transmitter, and charger for the iPod and iPhone. CarFM features an adjustable iPod and iPhone mount attached to a flexible gooseneck extension that plugs into the vehicle's cigarette lighter to provide power to the transmitter and attached device. It also features the ability to tune in any FM frequency between 88.1 and 107.9 MHz, four “Quick Select” FM frequencies of 88.1,…
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iPhone 2.0 supports playback of WAV voicemail
Filed under: iPhoneIf you've been aggravated at your iPhone or iPod touch in the past for its inability to play back WAV voicemail files from home phone services like Vonage or AT&T (synergy foul! yellow card), you may now breathe easier. TJ Luoma was 95% through building a rather elaborate script to convert incoming WAV voicemails to MP3 for iPhone playback (and, while he was at it, add some reverse lookup magic) when he discovered that the 2.0 firmware now includes the ability to play back the particular flavor of WAV file used in these voicemails. Problem solved.It may not be a headline feature (or even a stealthy but universally acclaimed UI addition) but for those of us who need it, it's going to save a lot of time and trouble.Thanks to TJ & to Curt for independently sending this one in.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Needham Cuts RIM Rating on iPhone Threat
Needham's Charlie Wolf this morning cut his rating on Research In Motion (RIMM) to Underperform from Hold and cut his estimates on the company to reflect the growing threat from explosive sales of the Apple (AAPL) iPhone 3G. “Sales of Apple's iPhone 3G appear poised to blow through everyone's forecasts,” Wolf wrote in a research note this morning. “While RIM's dominance of the enterprise market appears secure, at least for now, the company's great growth driver—the consumer market—is bound to come under siege because of the iPhone.”
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iPhone's Mail lacks no-images switch
Filed under: iPhoneMost desktop messaging clients (Apple's Mail.app and Microsoft's Entourage among them) give users the option to skip loading images when reading rich-formatting emails, which both speeds up the loading/reading process and limits exposure to spammer scavenging, which can leverage embedded images to verify that the evil emails were received by a valid address. The iPhone's version of Mail, however, doesn't give users the option to turn images off, as pointed out by Stefan Seiz. This has been the case all along and hasn't been corrected in 2.0, unfortunately.While this exposure is less of a problem if you've got good spam filtering in place, it does raise an interesting question: wouldn't an optional images-off mode be ideal if you wanted to speed up your iPhone's mail performance, or (perish the thought!) limit your data usage on a less-than-ideal service plan. Unfortunately I don't think adding features and options to Mail is within the official capacity of third-party devs, so we're going to have to wait for Apple to address this directly.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple issues MobileMe apology, adds 30 days to existing subscriptions
Apple has issued a formal apology to MobileMe users not only for the rocky start to the new service, but also for using the word “push” to describe the MobileMe service when it does not, in fact, push to your Mac. You can read the full email below. In spite of all this, people are still reporting quite a few problems with MobileMe. I have noticed an issue where email that I send isn't arriving for hours, and sometimes not at all. Others have reporting syncing problems, multiple copies of email, email not deleting, and more. Are you still having problems with Mobile Me?
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Apple Sues Psystar to Block Macintosh Clone Sales
Apple has sued Psystar, a Florida-based maker of Macintosh clones, claiming that the company makes poor-quality machines that infringe on Apple's trademarks. Apple wants the company to stop making the clones and recall the ones already sold.
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10 Must-Have iPhone/iPod Touch Games
Despite the issues Apple had with product launches this past week, the launch of the App Store has been an overwhelming success, with over 10 million downloads in the first weekend. The App Store is home to a plethora of applications in over a dozen different categories. Some applications do make you wonder how Apple ever approved them, but for the most part the selection really is top notch. The most entertaining category (and certainly the one that has wasted most of my time and money) is the Games category. With over 40 different games currently in the store, it can be a bit overwhelming to know what is worth your money and what is not. I took a go at quite a few of the games and have put together my top 10 favorite ones (some free, some not). Check out the list and then let me know what games you have been enjoying. (more…)
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News: Macally rolls out slew of iPhone 3G cases
Macally has introduced its upcoming line of cases and screen protectors for the iPhone 3G. The mCase is a slip-on, hard shell leather case for iPhone 3G. It offers a “slip-up” loading design that allows for easier docking of the phone, as well as access to all controls and ports, micro-suede inner lining, and an included screen protector. It sells for $20. The Metro is a 1mm thick, snap-on protective cover for iPhone 3G made from ABS plastic.…
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Found footage: The Soup's iPhone parody
Filed under: Humor, iPhone We love a good parody, and E!'s The Soup has produced a winner. For the unfamiliar, The Soup is a television show on the E! network that pokes fun at TV and pop culture in America.Here's a parody iPhone ad that ran on the show earlier this week. It's really funny, with an emphasis on the pricing changes the iPhone has experienced in its first year of existence.While we're on the topic, here are a few other Apple parodies you'll enjoy The "Fruit" ad in Grand Theft Auto The Thinkpad MacBook Air ad Futurama's parody of the 1984 commercial If Microsoft designed the iPod packaging They iScrewed Me Again from MadTV Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Playtime for the iPhone
Well, I guess Apple does care about games. The flood of titles on the new online App Store for the iPhone and iPhone 3G is a good sign for gamers eager to see someone other than Nintendo or Sony in the portable-gaming space. Although the first crop of iPhone games is mostly of the sort that cell phone owners have been playing for a decade ("Tetris," sudoku, poker, etc.), there are some cool, high-end titles, such as the racing game "Cro-Mag Rally," that look as good as anything you'll get on the DS.
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Minireview: Scrabble for iPhone/iPod Touch
Electronic Arts wants to be on your iPhone with its new Scrabble port. Ars examines Scrabble for the iPhone and iPod touch and found that, while there is a minor annoyance toward the end of the game, it is otherwise a win for Scrabble fans.Read More...
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iPod touch 1.1.5 software also available
Filed under: iPod Family Apple yesterday released an update for iPod touch for those users who don't want to pony up the ten bucks for the 2.0 software update. However, Macworld could discern no difference between 1.1.4 and 1.1.5, and no release notes are available. I'd conjecture that the same security fixes that were included in the 2.0 update are included in this one, similar to the way Tiger is still updated with security patches. At least, I hope that's the case. Obviously, no functionality is offered as a part of the update: you'll have to spring for the 2.0 update for that. You can download the update via iTunes by clicking "Check for Updates" with your iPod connected to your computer, and opting out of the 2.0 upgrade. Thanks, David and Toon, for the tip!Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple apologizes for its MobileMe "push" service (Update)
Apple has struck out on its MobileMe service. It's not what it claims to be.
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App Store alphabetical listings quietly fixed
Apple has put an end to the practice dubbed "App Store line cutting." Now to fix the App Store review system.Read More...
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iPocalypse: The Aftermath!
So much has been written already about the devastating blow to Apple's PR machine following the huge nightmare of the iPhone 3G launch. One reader pointed out Seth Godin's great perspective on this and I've had many people contact me to discuss what marketers can learn from it. I've decided to do a free, live webinar next week to talk about Apple's marketing, the 5 secrets they have used to become the world's best marketing machine and their recent missteps. To join this session, simply click here at 11 am EDT next Tuesday, July 22nd. Through the magic of Dimdim Web Meeting you will be able to see, hear and chat with me and others right in your web browser - no install required. I'll walk through some Keynote slides I've prepared related to my eBook and then we can have a frank and open discussion about Apple's marketing prowess. I hope this new medium will afford us a chance to discuss - together - some of the issues that impact all of us and how we can learn from it. See you (literally) there! P.S. If any Apple marketers want to join, please let me know and we'll be sure to give you a chance to respond - LIVE!
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Apple extends MobileMe subscriptions by 30 days
Filed under: MobileMe Apple has extended every MobileMe subscription by a month, due to the exceptionally ornery transition this past week. "The .Mac to MobileMe transition was a lot rockier than we had hoped," Apple spokesman Bill Evans told Macworld. "We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge." An email sent to subscribers noted that "we have worked through those problems, and the web apps are now up and running," but several pages of comments from our readers suggest otherwise. TUAW staff with MobileMe accounts agreed yesterday that the service is mostly working, but still quirky. Also in the email, the MobileMe team has promised to stop using the word "push" to describe some aspects of MobileMe's functionality "until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too." This might suggest they're closing the loop on MobileMe's push technology for all connected devices. Hopefully this goes a long way to assuage the burning, burning rage that MobileMe users have been feeling recently. (You can read the full letter, after the jump.) Thanks, Rick, Frank, Mark, Chuck and James for the tip!Continue reading Apple extends MobileMe subscriptions by 30 daysRead|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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iPhone stock dwindling with 24 states empty, rest nearly so
iPhone stock in continues to dwindle around the country, even as Apple and AT&T ship more stock daily.Read More...
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Apple's free pass on open source
Why does Apple get to borrow from open source but give little back? Because it's shiny.
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Apple prepping iPhone 2.1 software
Filed under: Rumors, iPhoneThe folks at The Boy Genius Report spent some time poking around server logs and found references to iPhone OS 2.0.1. It seems that build 5B101 is the 2.0.1 software for first-generation iPhones, while 5B103 is for 3G iPhones.No word on what's included, of course, or when this might hit iTunes. According to AppleInsider, some people are having trouble with the camera and the accelerometer since the update. Have any of you 1st generation iPhone owners had software trouble since the update? Here's hoping this update will solve the problem.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple abandons UK iTunes price cut, blames exchange rate
Although Apple said earlier this year that it was planning to lower song prices on the UK iTunes Store to bring them in line with euro prices, the company now says it is abandoning in the plan because changes in the exchange rate now mean that songs cost the same in British pounds as they do in euros. Nevermind that the exchange rate will probably keep changing in the future.Read More...
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Easily add lyrics to iTunes songs via AppleScript
Often programs like PearLyrics or SingThatiTune just don't find the song I am looking for, and I have to find the lyrics manually. I found it tedious to find the lyrics in Safari, switch back to iTunes, highlight the song I want to add the lyrics to, open the song's info panel, paste in the lyrics, and finally, close the window. So I wrote this simple AppleScript instead: tell application "System Events" set sel to (the clipboard as text) end tell tell application "iTunes" set lyrics of current track to sel end tell I then bound this AppleScript to a keyboard shortcut using iKeys (any macro-capable program should work just as well). It will copy any text currently in the clipboard to the currently playing song's lyrics.
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Work around an iChat 'login details rejected' issue
I was helping a friend set up a MacBook. When we entered his username xxxx.yyyy@mac.com and password into iChat, the credentials were rejected by the server ("Incorrect password"). Though I was sure the password was correct, I reset it via the web, but to no avail. Finally, having run out of other things to try, I entered the account as an AIM account, with "@mac.com" appended to the username. It worked straight away.
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Jump to search field in Contacts on iPhone
One of the new features in the iPhone 2.0 software is the ability to search your contacts (as well as an actual Contacts icon, instead of being forced to reach them from the phone section of the iPhone). The search field, however, is located at the top of the contact list, and is (strangely) not fixed in place. So if you scroll down, it scrolls off the top of the screen. To get it back, you can scroll up, of course, but that's time consuming. Instead, just tap the status bar (carrier, wireless strength, etc.), as you can do in Safari to jump to the top of a web page. This will take you to the top of your Contacts, bringing the search field back into view. I can't remember where I heard this one, though I think it was from a fellow Macworld writer during an iPhone 2.0 software conference call. Best as I can tell, though, it's not documented in the latest version of the iPhone user's manual (which is some 22 page...
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Convert MagicISO UIF images in OS X
If you have Windows-using friends who have sent you CDs burned in MagicISO's proprietary UIF format, there's now a way to handle them directly on the Mac. UIF2ISO (free and open source) will convert UIF images to Mac-usable ISO images. Just drag-and-drop the UIF image onto the UIF2ISO application icon, and it's converted into a usable ISO image. [robg adds: I haven't tested this app. According to the program's home page, source is available via git. The program is based the open source command line tool uif2iso by Luigi Auriemma, available on his tools page.]
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Use iPhone Remote while in Front Row
You can add a soundtrack to a podcast, or play any two iTunes tracks simultaneously, by using Apple's iPhone Remote app while in Front Row on your Mac.
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News: iSuppli estimates materials cost of $174 for iPhone 3G [updated]
Market research firm iSuppli's Teardown Analysis Service has taken apart the iPhone 3G and has issued a preliminary estimate of $174.33 for the cost of materials and manufacturing of the 8GB iPhone 3G, compared to its estimate of $227 for the original 8GB iPhone. iSuppli found several chips from Infineon AG in the phone, including the HSDPA/WCDMA/EDGE baseband chip, an RF transceiver and a GPS solution, along with a Samsung ARM processor,…
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Survey: Who's buying all these iPhone 3Gs, anyway?
Sure, millions of people already stood in line to get an iPhone 3G, and there's plenty more where those nuts came from. But who, exactly, are all these people?Read More...
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Apple sells over 1 million iPhone 3Gs; Over 10 million downloads from App store
Apple has reason to celebrate. The company reported that it had sold over one million iPhone 3G’s by Sunday. “iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.” The launch of the much hyped iPhone 3G wasn’t without problems. Apple servers, due to excessive traffic, had reached the breaking point and in some cases stopped working. People purchasing the iPhone 3G in Apple and AT&T stores were sent home to activate it at home via iTunes. At home, some users still ran into problems activating their new phones. I have to admit I was slightly surprised when I heard this news. Apple has had months to prepare for opening day. Based on the reaction to the first generation iPhone, Apple should have expected this type of reaction. Perhaps it exceeded Apple’s wildest expectations. It makes you wonder what type of sales Apple would have this past weekend if it hadn't run into problems? Another hot place to be while surfing the net was Apple's App store. Over ten million applications were downloaded over the weekend. I joined the masses that flocked to the App store. I did experience a few delays on opening day however this past Monday when I purchased applications for my newly purchased 32GB iPod touch I didn’t experience any issues. IPod touch users have the option to download iPod touch software 2.0 for $9.95 which will enable them to gain access to the App store, and have access to MobileMe. When the App store opened its virtual doors, it had just over 500 applications. Now there are over 800 applications to choose from. The majority of the apps are less than $10 and there are also 200 free applications available. For those who purchased the iPhone 3G did you run into any problems? Did any of you iPhone or iPod touch users download any apps? Let us know in the comments section.
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New iPhone Apps for July 16, 2008 (37 New or Updated Apps!)
This is exactly what I was afraid of - today the App Store has 37 new or updated applications listed. Obviously if I highlight each one that's going to make a small book, so I'm going to list all of them here, then spotlight a few that I find particularly interesting. Here's the full list first (again, some are NEW some are UPDATED - the App store doesn't distinguish between the two): Bloomberg, Bluepulse, Boom!, BreakTouch 3D, Catholic Calendar, Cro-Mag Rally, D20 Gaming Dice Set, Disney's All Star Cards, Drum Kit, Fahrplan, FatWatch, FlatLux, Finger Scan, Fire Words, Fit, Flashlight, Fortune Ball, Go Figure Lite, HaHaHa, Handy Randy, iSoroban, Mandelbrot, Mecrets, Mocha VNC Lite, Moonlight Mahjong Lite, More Cowbell, myTo-Dos with email support, Oxxo, Plum, Riddler Racer Lite, Solitaire Top 3, SplashShopper, Tipper, TouchPoker, tvGuide, Twittervision, Units Out of the smorgasbord of new content there are a few gems that stand out… Moonlight Mahjong Lite - A free version of one of the best Mahjong games on the iPhone. Twist, zoom, and pan your way around a 3D Mahjong board. The Lite version here has 4 title set ups. If you want more, you can get the non “Lite” version of the game for only $4.99. Price: Free Twittervision - If you're a fan of the Twittervision website, you'll probably dig this iPhone version of the popular destination for twitterholics. Its not a full featured twitter client (mainly because it doesn't give you a great way to check on your friends) but it does allow you to update and see who's tweeting around you. I'd love to see this updated into a full Twitter client in a future update. Price: Free
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Ruling the world requires an iPhone
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhoneI'm pretty sure that the SDK license agreement explicitly forbids super-villainous activities, but no silly piece of paper (or PDF) is going to stop Dr. Horrible. The would-be world ruler who can't catch a break (either from his laundromat crush or from arch-nemesis Captain Hammer) is seen using his iPhone to remote-control a van in the debut episode of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the three-part Internet mini musical from Buffy & Firefly creator Joss Whedon. Clearly, the grand cinematic iPhone tradition of Journeyman lives on.Close examination of Doc H's UI indicates that he's actually using Mobile Safari to steer his van, so perhaps that's how he's remaining on the right side of the EULA -- although that radioactive icon on the left is quite ominous. If you want to see it in action for yourself, check the gallery below, watch Act I for free on drhorrible.com (which is getting Captain Hammered itself right now, so you may have to wait a while) or pick up the episode on iTunes.Thanks EricGallery: Doctor Horrible's iPhoneRead|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Options Trader: Wednesday Outlook
The Consumer Price Index is up 1.1% for the month - that's a 13.2% run rate! Of course the "core" CPI, for all you consumers who don't use food or energy and simply exist to purchase other things (sort of like Buddha with a gold card) is up "just" 0.3%, a run rate of 3.6% but the overall core is now up 5% year over year so the truth is probably somewhere in between. Well I say Jimmy crack corn and I don't care because oil prices are still down this morning and THAT is the ONLY reason we have a high CPI in the first place.
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Apple cuts iPhone 3G cost by over $50, says iSuppli
According to market intelligence firm iSuppli, Apple has reduced its iPhone manufacturing cost to $174.33, a savings of just over $50. The figures are based on an iSuppli teardown of the device, which also revealed Infineon as being a primary supplier of components for the device.Read More...
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Ask TUAW: DJ software, concatenated RAIDs, Migration Assistant, Remote Desktop Connection and more
Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAWThis time in Ask TUAW we're looking at DJ software, catenated RAIDs, Spaces, Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection Client, tab options in Safari, Spaces, and more.As always, your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X, as certain answers will vary between different Macs and Tiger vs. Leopard, etc. (we'll assume you're running Leopard if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!Continue reading Ask TUAW: DJ software, concatenated RAIDs, Migration Assistant, Remote Desktop Connection and moreRead|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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News: Apple offers special pricing on refurb 8, 16GB iPod touch
Apple is currently offering special pricing on certified refurbished 8GB and 16GB iPod touch units. Listed as having the current software release, the refurbished 8GB model, which previously sold for $249, is now being offered for $199, while refurbished 16GB models are now priced at $299. Refurbished 32GB units sell for $429. ...
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iPhone 101: Batch mail deletion
Filed under: iPhone, iPhone 101Here's a very handy feature of the iPhone 2.0 software. Previously, deleting many email messages at once was a real pain. You could either swipe across your messages one at a time (invariably selecting a few by accident), or enter edit mode and select a message, touch the Delete button and then touch the Confirmation button. Not exactly speedy.The 2.0 software makes this much easier. First, touch the Edit button. Next, touch every message you want to delete. When you're through, touch the Delete button at the bottom of the screen.Alternatively, you can use this method to bulk move messages.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Score a refurbished iPod Touch for $199 shipped
It's the 8GB model, and you may have to drop another 10 bucks on the 2.0 software update, but you'll get to own the world's coolest media player.
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iSCSI: The Perfect Storage Complement to OS X?
Mac OS X users who face growing storage requirements due to larger, more complex projects and ever-expanding file sizes often turn to storage area networks to help overcome their challenges. With benefits such as leveraging existing IT equipment and expertise, and a lower-cost of entry when compared to other storage networking protocols, many Mac users are turning to Internet SCSI SANs as an easy, low-cost way to reap the benefits of a SAN in an OS X environment.
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The Good Old Analog Customer
On my blog, I have been writing about my experience with my new computer: an iMac. In addition to the usual functional comparisons, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the whole cultural difference between the Windows world and the Apple world. As a longtime user of Windows, I felt I knew and understood that platform pretty well and the jolt of cutting over cold turkey was both surprising and refreshing. The surprises came in discovering some pleasant differences between where I had been and where I was going and that was mostly on the cultural side.
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Mac OS Ken: 07.16.2008
Apple (Finally) Sues Mac-Cloner Psystar / Complaints Over the Slow Push from MobileMe / Days in Court Could Still Come for Jobs Over Options Backdating / Apple Updates iPod Touch Firmware to 1.1.5 (If You Skip Update 2.0) / Rising Euro Negates Need to Lower iTunes UK Single Prices / Hot Topic to Try Online Music Sales
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Apple's 3G iPhone Appears Profitable
Apple's (AAPL) 3G iPhone appears to be quite profitable. The fully subsidized price from AT&T (T) is $199/$299 for the 8GB/16GB models, respectively- requiring a 2-year contract. If a current AT&T customer has recently purchased a discounted phone, then the price may increase up to $399/$499, depending on how much subsidy AT&T needs to recover on the old phone. Without a 2-year contract from AT&T, the iPhone will cost $599/699. The actual amount Apple receives per iPhone is uncertain. Wall Street analysts estimate AT&T is paying a $300-$350 subsidy. The AT&T pricing scheme suggests the subsidy may be as high as $400 per unit.