May 31, 2010 Jun 2, 2010 Tuesday June 1, 2010
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Therese Poletti's Tech Tales: Jobs reminds us how far Apple has come
Steve Jobs reminds all of us how far Apple Inc. has come in the last 13 years or so since he came back to the company he co-founded.
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Pixel Qi Game-Changer: Transforms Tablets, Portables Into a Kindle
If you ever wished that screens on tablets (iPad, Android, etc) could switch to a Kindle-like e-paper mode (for power savings, ease of reading), yet still have all the benefits of standard LCD for power browsing and apps, early seasons greetings. The startup Pixel Qi, in some ways a spin-off from the OLPC project, is demoing its trans-reflective (transmissive-reflective hybrid) screens at Computex 2010 and is nearing production, outsourced at major production facilities. When there's enough ambient light, the screens can act in a passive reflective mode, much like e-paper devices such as the Kindle from Amazon (AMZN). This is great for a high-resolution black & white mode that can operate even in strong outdoor sunlight, enhanced with a form of "color hinting". But they can also operate in a more familiar active back-lit chromatic mode of LCDs.
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Steve Jobs' D8 interview: the video highlights
Sure, you read our liveblog of Steve Jobs' D8 conference -- and believe us, it's heavily quotable -- but don't you want to see and hear the Apple CEO claim HyperCard was huge in its day? Or perhaps your more interested in his thoughts on Flash, market cap, and the iPad origins -- either way, videos are after the break, with presumably more to come from All Things D.Continue reading Steve Jobs' D8 interview: the video highlightsSteve Jobs' D8 interview: the video highlights originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | All Things D (1), (2) | Email this | Comments
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Steve Jobs Muses on All Things Apple
In a wide ranging interview, Mr. Jobs pours cold water on rumors that Apple will do away with Google's search products or that it will soon revamp its ailing Apple TV product.
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D8 interview; Steve Jobs unfiltered
Although I couldn't be there in person, I was hanging on every refresh of the liveblogs from Steve Jobs' interview tonight at the D8 conference. (Kudos to Engadget and AllThingsD for the coverage!) If you haven't already, read the interview in its entirety.Kara Swisher assured me that no conditions were places on Jobs' interviews and that nothing was off the table. As a result tonight's interview was insightful and will provide plenty of fodder in the five day run up to WWDC. There are literally dozens of quotes by Apple's mercurial CEO that will be digested and dissected in the coming days, here are a few of my favorites.(These are paraphrased only and not exact quotes)On Flash:Apple is a company that doesn't have the resources that everyone else has. We choose what tech horses to ride, we look for tech that has a future and is headed up. Different pieces of tech go in cycles… they have summer and then they go to the grave. If you choose wisely, you save yourself an enormous amount of work. Sometimes you have to pick the right horses. Flash looks like it had its day but it's waning, and HTML5 looks like it's coming up.Wait, what?! $32B in cash isn't “resources?”There's no smartphone shipping with Flash…That's semantics, Google has been rolling out Android 2.2 to select Nexus One users (with Flash), and Friday Sprint ships the Evo 4G (with Flash).On the Valleywag email exchange:He never identified himself as a journalist. I was up late and working and this guy starts sending me obnoxious emails… and I wanted to straighten this guy out. I'm just enough of a sucker… and he publishes it!On the Gizmodo iPhone 4 prototype saga:There's an ongoing investigation. I can tell you what I do know, though. To make a product you need to test it. You have to carry them outside. One of our employees was carrying one. There's a debate about whether he left it in a bar, or it was stolen out of his bag. The person who found it tried to sell it, they called Engadget, they called Gizmodo.The person who took the phone plugged it into his roommates computer. And this guy was trying to destroy evidence… and his roommate called the police. So this is a story that's amazing — it's got theft, it's got buying stolen property, it's got extortion, I'm sure there's some sex in there (huge laughs)… the whole thing is very colorful. The DA is looking into it, and to my knowledge they have someone making sure they only see stuff that relates to this case. I don't know how it will end up.On the Foxconn suicides:We are on top of this. We look at everything at these companies. I can tell you a few things that we know. And we are all over this. Foxconn is not a sweatshop. It's a factory — but my gosh, they have restaurants and movie theaters… but it's a factory. But they've had some suicides and attempted suicides — and they have 400,000 people there. The rate is under what the US rate is, but it's still troubling.On Microsoft:We never saw ourselves in a platform war with MSFT, and maybe that's why we lost.On Google:They decided to compete with us… so they are. Well they decided to compete with us. We didn't go into the search business!On Android:Walt: So you just woke up one morning and heard about Android?Steve: Kinda.On Webkit: Almost every modern browser is based on webkit… Nokia, Palm, Android, RIM has one… and of course ours. We've created a real competitor to IE. In the mobile space it's number 1.On AT&T's network:Remember, they're handling WAY MORE data traffic than all of their other competitors combined.It really worries me to hear Jobs defend AT&T…On iPhone carriers:Kara: What about going to another carrier?Walt: Would there be advantages to having two in the US?Steve: There might be.Ok, I'm feeling a little better about the iPhone coming to other carriersOn tablet computers:I remember telling you I thought handwriting was the slowest input method ever. We reimagined the tablet, we didn't do what MSFT did. They had a totally different idea than us. And that drove everything. There tablet was based on a PC. It had the battery life, the weight, it needed a cursor like a PC. But the minute you throw a stylus out, you have the precision of a finger, you can't use a PC OS. You have to create it from scratch.On how the iPad relates to magazines and papers:Well I think the foundation of a free society is a free press. And we've seen what's happening to papers in the US right now. I think they're really important. I don't want to see us descend into a nation of bloggers.I don't even know where to begin with this one. Jobs believes in a “free press” but sues and raids the homes of working journalists? He released the iPad to save traditional print media? Cue the double standards while I vomit on my Magic Mouse.On content pricing:I can tell you as one of the largest sellers of content on the internet to date — price it aggressively and go for volume. That has worked for us. I'm trying to get the press to do the same thing. They need to do it differently than they do it for print. I think people are willing to pay for content. I believe it for music and video, and I believe it for the media.Thankfully Mossberg challenged Jobs on this one:Walt: But didn't your system drive prices of books upward? Isn't that opposite of what you just said?Steve: Yeah… hmmm… well it's complicated. The market right now is way more responsive to consumer demand than it was six months ago. If consumers want it to be less, they'll be more responsive to those signals.On the iPad as a notebook computer replacement:When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks. But as people moved more towards urban centers, people started to get into cars. I think PCs are going to be like trucks. Less people will need them. And this is going to make some people uneasy.Best analogy I've heard yet. On the App Store:Well let first say we have two platforms we support. One is open and uncontrolled — that's HTML5. We support HTML5. We have the best support for it of anyone in the world. We then support a curated platform which is the app store. It is the most vital app community on any platform. How do we curate this? It's a bunch of people, and they come into work every day. We have a few rules: has to do what it's advertised to do, it has to not crash, it can't use private APIs. And those are the three biggest reasons we reject apps. But we approve 95% of all the apps that are submitted every week.On Jobs' duties at Apple:I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get to come in and work with some of the most brilliant people in the world. We play in the best sandbox. One of the keys to Apple is that Apple is an incredibly collaborative company. You know how many committees we have at Apple? Zero. We're organized like a startup. We're the biggest start up on the planet. We meet for 3 hours every morning and talk about all the business, about what's going on everywhere. We're great at figuring out how to divide things up into great teams, and we talk to each other. So what I do all day is meet with teams of people. To get great people is to let them have great ideas. I contribute ideas — why would I be here if I didn't contribute them?On Flurry, the analytics company that leaked information about prototype iPads inside Apple:Well we learned this really interesting thing. Some company called Flurry had data on devices that we were using on our campus — new devices. They were getting this info by getting developers to put software in their apps that sent info back to this company! So we went through the roof. It's violating our privacy policies, and it's pissing us off! So we said we're only going to allow analytics that don't give our device info — only for the purpose of advertising.That's just a taste, there's a ton more. I can't wait for the video clips to get posted.What stood out most in your mind about the interview?Photo: Engadget
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Podcast #143: Spyware Warnings for Mac, Google Ditches Windows & Adobe's New Software
Robbie is out and Flo is hosting this week's show, along with Susie and Ray. Join the editors as they discuss the evil threats of Spyware looming over Macs everywhere, as well as Google's turn away from Windows machines and Adobe's new Digital Publishing Platform and what it could do for publishing on the iPad.Plus, we answer your hard-hitting Twitter and Facebook questions!Got a question and don't feel like leaving us a voicemail? Drop us a question via Twitter twitter.com/maclife.This week's Battlestar Applactica picks:We Rule - FreeGodfinger - FreeWired magazine - $4.99Don't forget, the Mac|Life staff would love to hear your thoughts, comments and ideas for the new podcast. Just leave a message on the Mac|Livequestion/comment line: (877) 404-1337, extension 622. Please limit thelength of your messages to 1 minute max. We'll review these calls eachweek and feature our favorites, along with responses, on that week'spodcast.To subscribe to the Mac|Live podcast series through an RSS feed, click here; if you want to subscribe through the iTunes Store, click here.
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Steve Jobs at D8: Post-PC era is nigh
In a speech at the D: All Things Digital confab, the Apple CEO says the day is approaching when not everyone will need a traditional computer. Plus, Jobs on Google, Windows, iPhonegate, AT&T, and more.
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Japanese Copperfield proves iPad is magic
In an extraordinary street performance, Japanese magician Shinya proves true magic can be created using Apple's iPad.
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News: Apple CEO Jobs: iPhone OS started as tablet project
Earlier this evening, Apple CEO Steve Jobs gave an on-stage interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher to open this year's D: All Things Digital Conference. Jobs touched on a number of subjects, ranging from the App Store approval process to the purchase and subsequent publication of details relating to the fourth-generation iPhone. Perhaps most notably, Jobs revealed that the basis for the iPhone OS originally started as a software project…
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Steve Jobs on TV: 'no one wants to buy a box'
Well isn't that a breath of fresh air. With no apologies given to its long-standing hobby, Apple CEO Steve Jobs provided a pretty honest and thorough assessment of what's wrong with the TV set-top box market. "No one wants to buy a box -- ask TiVo, ask Roku, ask us... ask Google in a few months" (in the spirit of competition, of course). In Jobs' opinion, "the only way that's going to change is if you tear up the [box], give it a new UI, and get it in front of consumers in a way they're going to want it." Frankly, we're pretty happy how quick and succinct he was able to respond in a Q &A session, seems like he's been mulling it over -- and given what we heard about Apple TV's future plans, we're not surprised. All the pertinent quotes, care of our liveblog, after the break.Continue reading Steve Jobs on TV: 'no one wants to buy a box'Steve Jobs on TV: 'no one wants to buy a box' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Steve Jobs Live From the D8 Conference
Interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Josh Topolsky has live coverage at Engadget, too. â
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Microsoft Fires Back At Google Move Of Dropping Windows
Even though there hasn't been official word from Google about their dropping Windows in favor of Macs, Microsoft still had some subtle words to issue about the news, according to CNET.As mentioned earlier, word came out about Google starting to phase out Windows PCs from their internal networks because of potential security issues, which are related to the attacks that occurred within its infrastructure last year. While Google has offered up nothing about having opted out of Windows PCs, Microsoft aimed to squelch out any claims by defending the security that Windows offers, saying it aided in derailing a Gmail deployment within Yale University."When it comes to security, even hackers admit we're doing a better job making our products more secure that anyone else. And it's not just the hackers; third party influentials [sic] and industry leaders like Cisco tell us regularly that our focus and investment continues to surpass others," Microsoft noted in its blog.Of course Microsoft doesn't mention Google particularly in the blog, but mentions "whether or not one particular company is reducing its use of Windows." Of course Google wasn't alone in receiving jabs. Microsoft also threw a punch at Apple, highlighting reports on Tuesdays in regard to spyware that had been targeting Mac OS X machines that are being downloaded within various free applications.Image courtesy of siliconvalleywatcher.com
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Steve Jobs live from D8
The liveblog is happening now -- hit read more and get into it!Continue reading Steve Jobs live from D8Steve Jobs live from D8 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Steve Jobs: iPhone OS 'started on a tablet'
Well, Steve Jobs just dropped a little nugget of history on us during his chat with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the All Things D conference. When asked by Walt why they originally put their new OS on a phone and not a tablet, Steve said, "I'll tell you a secret. It began with the tablet." After working on the tablet OS which had a glass display and multitouch, another idea occurred to Jobs. "My God, I said, this would make a great phone ... so we shelved the tablet and built the iPhone." And there you have it.Steve Jobs: iPhone OS 'started on a tablet' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Steve Jobs: 'there might be' advantages to two iPhone carriers in US
At Steve Jobs' conversation with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at D8 this evening, the Apple boss just threw out this weighty little gem when asked whether there'd be advantages to deploying the iPhone on two American carriers: "there might be." Naturally, you can interpret that any way you like, but it's interesting that he failed to say no to the concept of taking the phone beyond its usual AT&T playground. Speaking of AT&T, Jobs says that his company meets with the carrier once per quarter to get briefed on network improvements, and while he notes that they've got the fastest 3G around, he says "I wish they were improving faster" -- while also qualifying that any network receiving the iPhone back in '07 probably would've suffered the same kinds of problems AT&T has. When pressed on whether we'd see the iPhone on another carrier in the near future, Jobs hit them up with the expected "no comment" before turning to other subjects, so make of it what you will. Follow the break for another interesting snippet from the Q&A session at D8 where Steve muses on AT&T's network improvements.Continue reading Steve Jobs: 'there might be' advantages to two iPhone carriers in USSteve Jobs: 'there might be' advantages to two iPhone carriers in US originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Steve Jobs on Foxconn: 'We're all over this'
Apple CEO Steve Jobs is currently on stage at D8, and Walt and Kara aren't shying away from the hard questions tonight. Right after talking the stolen iPhone prototype, the trio moved on to Foxconn -- the massive factory in China where many, many Apple products are assembled -- and where at least 10 employees have committed suicide over the past few weeks. While Apple recently released a statement avowing its intention to monitor the situation, Steve just spoke about the situation a bit, and he made it pretty clear that Apple's seriously "all over" it. Said Steve: "We are on top of this. We look at everything at these companies. I can tell you a few things that we know. And we are all over this. Foxconn is not a sweatshop. It's a factory -- but my gosh, they have restaurants and movie theaters... but it's a factory. But they've had some suicides and attempted suicides -- and they have 400,000 people there. The rate is under what the US rate is, but it's still troubling." Steve also said that Apple's "got people" over at Foxconn currently trying to figure out what's going on -- we figured as much but it's always good to hear it straight from them.Steve Jobs on Foxconn: 'We're all over this' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Steve Jobs on lost iPhone 4G prototype: it's an 'amazing' story
We can't say we expected Jobs to do a ton of talking about that little "lost" iPhone prototype during his interview at D8, but he was of course asked about it, and he did do some talking about it. While he started out with the expected "there's an ongoing investigation" statement, Jobs soon got on a bit of a roll, saying that "this is a story that's amazing" -- that "it's got theft, it's got buying stolen property, it's got extortion, I'm sure there's some sex in there... the whole thing is very colorful." No discussion of the device itself, of course, but we're sure we'll be hearing more about it soon enough. Update: Well, it looks like Jobs couldn't quite let the issue rest there. Later on in the interview, Jobs said that he had gotten advice to just let it slide, that "you shouldn't go after a journalist just because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you" -- but he said he couldn't "change our core values and let it slide," that he'd "rather quit." Check out the complete back and forth after the break.Continue reading Steve Jobs on lost iPhone 4G prototype: it's an 'amazing' storySteve Jobs on lost iPhone 4G prototype: it's an 'amazing' story originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Steve Jobs live on stage tonight at D8 conference
Filed under: Steve Jobs Steve Jobs is scheduled to appear on stage tonight at D8 in Los Angeles, and Engadget is blogging live from the event. Steve will be on stage live at 6pm Pacific Time (9 Eastern), so if you're around, tune in over there to see what's happening live at the event. We'll have a wrapup back here on TUAW as soon as the event is over, and if anything crazy happens on stage, you'll see it here and/or over on our Twitter account this evening. It's very unlikely that Steve will actually make any product announcements (especially since WWDC is in San Francisco next week, and we're likely going to see the new iPhone there), but if the past interviews at All Things D are any indication, we'll see some frank discussion about Apple and its place in the market, and I'll bet we'll hear some behind-the-scenes information on how the US and International iPad launches went. Stay tuned. Update: Some choice sound bites, courtesy of Engadget's quick fingers, after the break.TUAWSteve Jobs live on stage tonight at D8 conference originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Steve Job - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Apple - IPad - iPhone
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The iPad could be the best mobile accessibility device on the market
Filed under: iPadIn 1995 Dr. Norman Coombs, a blind professor of history at the Rochester Institute of Technology and chairman of EASI: Equal Access to Software and Information wrote that the rapid adoption of a graphical user interface (GUI) would close the door on computing for the visually impaired. This was in largely in response to the Microsoft's Windows OS, but his point was well taken regarding all GUI based computing. Speech output systems, at that time, were based on character recognition and didn't work with a GUI that relied on icons and graphics. He wrote that many impaired users had lost their employment or found their positions downgraded because they could not function in the new GUI based environment. Jump to 2010 and the introduction of the iPad. Many solutions were created along the way, but comparing that early state of affairs to what is now available on the iPad dramatically shows how far the field of assitive technology has progressed. ATMac, posted a round-up of disabled user's experiences with the iPad, which according to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in the UK was found to be highly accessible and probably the best mobile device on the market.TUAWThe iPad could be the best mobile accessibility device on the market originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Unofficial Apple Weblog - IPad - Apple - Microsoft - Royal National Institute of Blind People
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We're on the ground at D8!
Hey cats and kittens, if you're into technology (and let's be honest, you are), and you love live coverage of tech-related events, you're in luck, because we're on the ground and reporting live from D8. We're kicking things off tonight with a liveblog of a very rare Steve Jobs interview, and then we'll be tracking the trials and tribulations of tech luminaries and thinkers like Steve Ballmer, Julius Genachowski, and HTC's Peter Chou. It's going to be a crazy ride -- so hang on tight!We're on the ground at D8! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Adobe Digital Viewer for Magazines
Adobe Adobe Systems Incorporated has unveiled a new digital viewer technology that enables print publishers to bring stunning digital versions of their magazines to life. This new publishing software was developed with input from CondĂŠ Nastâs Wired magazine, a publication that recently debuted a digital edition for Apple iPad, utilizing the new digital viewer technology. Wiredâs June issue Reader application, now available through the Apple iTunes App Store, is built using Adobeâs digital viewer software. â
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T'Light lamp for major nerds with good taste (should such a thing exist)
The T'Light lamp isn't the first one we've seen which boasts things like chargers, docks and USB. It is, however, the nicest looking one we've ever seen. The modern stainless steel lamp has an iPod dock in its base, plus a USB port and a jack for charging laptops -- though there's no adapter for MacBooks as of yet, apparently. The T'Light is available now for $90 -- hit up the source for more details.T'Light lamp for major nerds with good taste (should such a thing exist) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Macworld | T'Light | Email this | Comments
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Free apps install spyware on Macs
Spyware is downloaded along with free Mac OSX screensavers and an app, says Intego.
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Gene Munster: Apple could sell 6.2 million iPads in 2010
Filed under: iPadRight after the iPad's announcement, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimated the device would sell between three and four million units in 2010. Now that two million iPads have been sold in less than 60 days, Munster has revised his estimates upward. He now believes Apple will sell 6.2 million iPads in 2010. It's unlikely sales will exceed this number, but only because Apple can't seem to crank iPads out of the factory fast enough to keep up with demand. According to Munster's study, 74% of US Apple Stores were sold out of the iPad on May 21. International stores are expected to follow the same trend: strong early sales followed by limited availability of stock. For some perspective on the iPad's sales so far, it's worth looking at a Munster sales estimate from December of last year, about a month before the iPad's announcement. Munster then believed the iPad would sell 1.4 million iPads in 2010, at a rate of about 162,000 units per month. Instead, the iPad has far exceeded that 2010 sales estimate after only two months, and Apple has been selling an average of 34,000 iPads per day since its launch. Love it or hate it, there's no denying that the iPad has been a phenomenal success.TUAWGene Munster: Apple could sell 6.2 million iPads in 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Apple - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Piper Jaffray - IPad - Sales
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D8: The conference bag
CNET's Ina Fried take a look at what's inside the tech goody bag for this year's attendees of the D: All Things Digital conference.
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Reminder: Steve Jobs on stage at the D conference -- we'll be there!
That's right, readers: Apple's main man Steve Jobs is going to be on stage in just a few short hours at the 8th All Things Digital conference, also known as D8. You never know what's going to happen at D, and we do not have a full schedule of events yet, but our esteemed colleague Joshua Topolsky has touched down in beautiful Los Angeles, and he'll be liveblogging the Jobs interview right here. We hope Walt and Kara have an awesome list of questions (they usually do) -- and remember -- we'll be on hand for plenty of other events too, including an interview with Microsoft mad man Steve Ballmer. Tune in, right here. We'll see you on the other side! Things kick off around 6PM PT (or 9:00PM ET), so check out our liveblog landing page right here for the main event.Reminder: Steve Jobs on stage at the D conference -- we'll be there! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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The iPad Pulse Reader Scales the Charts
The Pulse News Reader, created by a pair of Stanford students, is the top paid app for the iPad.
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Analyst: iPad Sales to Slow Down
According to Charlie Wolf, an analyst for Needham & Co., Apple will see a slump in the sales of the iPad. Charlie Wolf has raised his shipping estimate from 1.5 million to 2.5 million, but for the September quarter, he believes Apple will only ship 1.5 million iPads.The reason for this sharp decline in iPad sales estimates after the September quarter is astonishing, but could be linked to a declining interest in the product or a return to school for students (one of the iPad's targeted audiences).This news comes just one day after Apple announced that they had sold 2 million devices in a record 60-days.via MacNN
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iPhone grew more than Android in May
Filed under: iPhoneAt least that's the word from Net Applications, the company that measures visits to clients websites. The latest report says the iPhone not only keeps a large lead over Android, but it actually enlarged its global share last month, going from 30.4% to 32.8 %. At the same time, Android increased from 5.3% to 6.2%. If you look at a percentage increase, Android is still moving up faster, growing its share 17% month after month, while the iPhone grew 8.25%. Java ME, still in heavy use by many older smartphones, including phones from RIM, Sony Ericsson and Nokia, keeps a number one position as the most popular platform for mobile surfing, but Net Applications says it is rapidly losing market share to both the iPhone and Android. Recently, Apple and Android made news when another research firm, NPD, reported that Android sales were much better than the iPhone in the U.S. But that wasn't unexpected -- there are many more Android handsets to sell, and even NPD admitted that report was "very limited."TUAWiPhone grew more than Android in May originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Smartphone - Apple - Android - Unofficial Apple Weblog
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Asus Climbs Into the Ring With Eee Pad
Leading what is likely to become a cavalcade of imitators, Asus debuted a tablet computer aimed squarely at the iPad market during the Computex computer conference. The Asus Eee will sport 10- and 12-inch models running Core 2 Duo processors. The 12-inch version will run Windows 7 Home Premium, while the 10-inch version is based on Windows Embedded Compact 7. Asus touts the 12-inch version for its multitasking capabilities and notes that it features an optional docking station that includes a keyboard.
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News: iLounge announces the Sound Earphones Giveaway
iLounge is pleased to announce the Sound Earphones Giveaway. In our Giveaway of the Month for June, iLounge and Sound Earphones are giving away five $100 Gift Cards good towards any product at SoundEarphones.com. To enter, simply fill out and submit the form on the giveaway pageâthe giveaway will end on June 30, 2010 at 11:59PM Pacific Time. Good luck! ...
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Apple's Steve Jobs kicks off D8 Conference
Steve Jobs will kick off the annual D8 event Tuesday evening in Los Angeles, one week ahead of a big company event in which the Apple CEO could ...
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News: Adobe unveils Apple-friendly digital viewer tech
Adobe has announced its new digital viewer technology for print publishers that allows them to create Apple-compliant versions of their magazines. Debuting with the iPad version of Wired Magazine, which is currently available from the App Store, the technology allows for the inclusion of video content, slide shows, 360-degree rotating images, vertical and horizontal content support, and touch gesture support. The new technology was developed “with…
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Rumor: Apple paying Foxconn workers directly
Filed under: Apple After all of the trouble last week at Foxconn, the Chinese factory suffering from worker suicides, rumor has it that Apple is stepping up to increase wages at the plant by paying workers directly. A Chinese website claims that Apple may eventually pay workers as a percentage of product sales, though the numbers aren't quite clear -- the website says the payout would be around 1 to 2 percent of product sales, which sounds high. The report also says that the iPad will be the first product under this plan, which is good news for the workers considering how it's selling. This is still just a rumor at this point -- Foxconn makes products for all kinds of companies, and while it would be excellent for Apple to contribute to the low wages these workers are paid, it seems unlikely that it would step in with more money. Most likely, Apple would simply pressure Foxconn to make more changes, which is what Apple and other clients have done so far. But obviously the suicides are a major issue, and if Apple can alleviate the problem by providing higher wages on its own, that may help. We'll have to wait and see if any officially announced plans come to light.TUAWRumor: Apple paying Foxconn workers directly originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Apple - Foxconn - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Wage - IPad
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Thumbplay comes to iPhone
Thumbplay is the first music subscription service to be available on the top three phone platforms in the U.S.: the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android.
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Some iPads Can't Take the Heat
Some Apple iPads are overheating in the sun, although its unclear if this is a widespread problem or confined to a small percentage of iPads.
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iPhone/iPod/iPad apps for June 1
Posted by Dennis SellersHere are the latest iPhone/iPod touch/iPod/iPad apps announced. You can find 'em at the Apple App Store.
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Macsimum Recommended Reading' for June 1
Posted by Dennis Sellers“Is Mac the future of computing? Opinion: Paul Nesbitt outlines why the best PC for the job is an Apple Mac and how Apple controls its computers more than Microsoft ever did”—PC Authority (http://macosg.me/2/by)
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[Sponsor] 1Password and Knox
Agile Web Solutions is celebrating this week’s Daring Fireball sponsorship with an unbelievable sale. This week only, save 50% on all Agile products for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
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Groking Airplane Mode on the iPad 3G
A recent Apple support note a describes the vagaries of Airplane Mode on the iPad 3G. It asks us to “understand” the mode better, which is a good thing, since its use is not a totally-on, totally off situation, depending on your flight.Of course, when you invoke Airplane Mode, all communications are cut off, including cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS signals. You might think that was that, but depending on the flight, Apple lets you restore some connections while still maintaining the Airplance Mode: WiFi and Bluetooth.If allowed by the aircraft operator and applicable laws and regulations, you can re-enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth while in airplane mode:Wi-Fi: While airplane mode is on, tap Settings > Wi-Fi, then turn Wi-Fi on and choose a Wi-Fi network.Bluetooth: While airplane mode is on, tap Settings > General > Bluetooth, then turn Bluetooth on.The user interface of this feature appears a bit counter-intuitive to me, since Airport Mode says to me that all communications are cut. Perhaps the icon should change.The note says that you can use applications, such as Maps, but the GPS capability won't work.
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Tuesday Options Recap
SentimentStocks are trading mixed; as better-than-expected economic data helped ease some of the recent worry about volatility in global equity markets. Stock index futures tracked overseas markets early Tuesday and had fallen deep in the red before the exchanges opened in New York. In Asia, a disappointing report on economic activity in China weighed on investor sentiment. Meanwhile, nervous European investors shed stocks after the euro made a run to levels not seen since April 2006 against the dollar. However, in the US, the major averages battled back from morning losses after the latest ISM Index fell less than expected in May and the latest April Construction Spending report also beat expectations. From that point forward, trading has been somewhat choppy and uneventful. Heading into the final hour, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 11 points and the NASDAQ down 6. The CBOE Volatility Index added 1.30 to 33.37. Trading in the options market is lighter than usual, with 4.9 million calls and 4.2 million puts traded so far.Bullish FlowApple Computer (AAPL) is up $8.73 to $265.62 and seeing relative strength after reporting that it sold 2 million iPad tablets since the product was launched two months ago. Shares are moving to session highs and options volume includes 151K calls along with 67K puts. The top trade of the day is a block of 1630 Jun 300 calls on the 48 cent bid, which looks like an AAPL Jun 290 – 300 – 310 call fly, bought at 47 cents, 815X. Meanwhile, implied volatility in AAPL is up 5.5 percent to 39.
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Making vacation videos on your iPad with ReelDirector 3.0
Filed under: iPadIf you're still on vacation and reading this on your iPad, it's time to get moving on editing those trip videos you've been shooting over the last four days. You know, all that video of the kids at the beach that you took with your AVCHD camcorder and iPhone. What? You don't have your Mac with you? No problem -- just install the new Nexvio ReelDirector 3.0 (US$7.99) app on your iPad and get to work. The updated version of ReelDirector is free to owners of previous editions and adds iPad compatibility to the mix. If you already own ReelDirector for iPhone, load it on your iPad as well at no extra cost. Nexvio added a demo project to help newbies get familiar with the app, and there are more powerful goodies. It's possible to pan, zoom, and rotate videos, mix videos of different resolutions and orientations into a single project, and add text overlays to any clip. Want to change the fonts for the title or subtitles? No problem. Nexvio has also removed limitations on the number of photos in a single movie project, so creating a fancy slide show of vacation photos is a piece of cake as well. ReelDirector 3.0 is the missing "iMovie for iPad," so if your summer trip plans include shooting a lot of video, edit your work on the go with ReelDirector on your iPad. A full review of ReelDirector 3.0 is forthcoming.TUAWMaking vacation videos on your iPad with ReelDirector 3.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Unofficial Apple Weblog - IPad - Apple - Video
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News: PC motherboard makers release iPad charging drivers
A number of leading PC motherboard manufacturers have released updated drivers that allow for iPad charging. Gigabyte, MSI, and ASUS have all released software updates that allow for iPad charging, as well as faster charging for iPhones and some iPod models, on recent motherboards. Engadget notes that although the software is designed for the respective manufacturers' products, some users of other companies' machines have reported that…
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hacksugar: CueCat barcode scanner on the iPad
Filed under: iPad What do you get when you combine an iPad, a camera connection kit, and a USB CueCat barcode reader? Awesome, that's what you get. Sure you can use an iPhone with RedLaser and read barcodes sans extra equipment, but where's the challenge in that? The Mac Museum put together this awesome little hack, which reads the codes via the CueCat and then creates keyboard events to type out the codes as they are read. We're told the solution is completely plug-and-play -- no hacking, no jailbreaking required. It should work with programs like Price Grabber, where you normally type in the UPCs manually, and with Numbers -- although apparently it doesn't seem to work with Grocery IQ. Cool stuff. The Mac Museum picked up their USB CueCat for $8.88 buy-it-now with $5.55 shipping on eBay. TUAWhacksugar: CueCat barcode scanner on the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - CueCat - Barcode - Unofficial Apple Weblog - RedLaser
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Hitachi working on cheaper, higher quality IPS touchscreens for cellphones
In case you haven't heard, IPS panels are making inroads into the lucrative mobile market this year, and Hitachi's been working behind the scenes on something that should keep that momentum going. In the mainstream, touchscreen IPS displays are currently only available on Apple's iPad (and expected to show up in its next-gen iPhone), but should Hitachi's new production technique pan out, we might be seeing this screen tech in much more affordable devices as well. The company has fiddled with the arrangement of the touchscreen elements inside the panel, which it argues has made them cheaper and easier to produce and replace. All good news, but these things do take a while to filter through into reality, until which time you might wanna sate yourself with the latest desktop IPS displays, those ain't too shabby or expensive either.Hitachi working on cheaper, higher quality IPS touchscreens for cellphones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Electronista | Email this | Comments
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More iPhone parts leak
A Portuguese blog claims to have taken delivery of parts of the upcoming iPhone 4G.
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Find Out What Flash is Like On the iPhone, Without Jailbreaking
Flash, for me, is not something that I miss or want on the iPhone platform. Sure, there are some sites, for movies and maybe the occasional awesome reinvention of a classic game that I wouldn't mind being able to see on my mobile platform of choice, but overall it's not something I'm losing sleep over. If you are losing sleep over it, or if you're just curious about what Flash on an iDevice would even look and feel like, there's a couple ways to try it out, one of which is available right now as an app that doesn't require jailbreaking. The other, which is actually much cooler, is only in preview release right now, but runs in your Safari browser natively without any extra steps required on a user's part. Cloud Browse is your first option. It's an app that connects you to a remote computer running on servers maintained by the Cloud Browse developers, AlwaysOn. The app lets you then control the browsing on the remote computer from your iDevice, and see any type of web content, including Flash. The sites you visit are streamed to your phone, but there is some trade off as you might expect. Video framerate is quite slow, and if you're not a paying subscriber, you only have a limited number of spots to connect. Free users can also get bumped by paying customers, as in unceremoniously disconnected mid-session. You can get a paid account for $9.99 a month that would give you 30 FPS video and 1GB of storage for saving offline data. Plus you can only use it in the U.S. and Canada, and it only works over Wi-Fi. Finally, playing Flash games with the iPhone's on-screen keyboard is absolutely no fun. The other alternative is Smokescreen, which is a web-end tech that developers and designers could use to make their Flash content visible on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. That means that it's currently far more limited (you can only see it in action in some demos released by the original developer), but that it has much more potential in terms of long-term usability. Smokescreen operates by a workaround process that isn't actually a plugin, so it there's really nothing Apple can do to stop it. Here's how the process works, as described by its creator Simon Willison: It runs entirely in the browser, reads in SWF binaries, unzips them (in native JS), extracts images and embedded audio and turns them in to base64 encoded data:uris, then stitches the vector graphics back together as animated SVG. The experience so far is somewhat hit or miss, with simple animations like those found in Flash banners working very well, but with more advanced things (like a Strongbad email animation) it runs rather slow. Also there was no sound when I tested it on my iPhone 3GS, which I assume is a limitation of the method used. Smokescreen is definitely off to an impressive start, though, and things will probably improve since it will soon be open sourced. It's compiled in JavaScript, and works perfectly in non-mobile browsers as well, which means you could be viewing Flash-based content on your computer without ever having to install the actual Flash plugin. I have a feeling that this tech will catch on far faster with advertisers looking to cut corners rather than redesign their ads from the ground up for iPhone OS consumption. You can view all the demos currently available here. Both these workarounds are a prime example of how if people really want their device to do something, they'll figure out a way.
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HTC Evo 4G teardown
iFixIt.com has posted its HTC Evo 4G teardown:Highlights:Removing the glass is not terribly difficult. This is great news for those unfortunate enough to drop their shiny phone and crack the glass. Like most reasonable phones, changing the Evo's battery is a snap. All you have to do is remove the back cover and unplug the battery.The 3.7 V, 1500 mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery contains 23% more capacity than an iPhone 3GS, 15% more than a Droid Incredible, and 7% more than a Nexus One. Look out! There's a liquid damage indicator on the battery's top edge — a first that we've seen. Of course, you can just replace the battery if you douse the Evo in water. There are other liquid damage indicators on the phone, however, so you can't fool the manufacturer that easily.The Evo's internal frame houses the stand, antennas, LED flashes, and speaker, and connects to the logic board via several ribbon cables.The dual LED flash assembly consists of no more than two LEDs soldered to a small interconnect board.The forward facing 1.3 Megapixel camera lifts right out of its enclosure in the top portion of the Evo 4G.Big players on the logic board include:Broadcom BCM4329 integrating Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM connectivity to provide speeds up to 50 Mbits/s in 802.11n.Sequans SQ1210 RF combo chip.Qualcomm's QSD8650 Snapdragon processor.Amtel's AMT224 Touchscreen controller.Qualcomm's RTR6500 CDMA2000 transceiver with GPS.Qualcomm's PM7540 power management IC.
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Barnes & Noble Offering Up Free E-Books
Free E-Books. What more do you need to know?No, we're not talking about the gazillions of classic texts available from stalwart sources like Project Gutenberg or the oft-times fuzzy tomes available from Google Books. We're talking high-quality, newish E-Books from your friendly neighborhood giant behemoth of a bookseller Barnes & Noble.There's only one catch--in order to get in on the freebies, you'll have to download the B&N eReader from the App Store. Once you've wrangled the App on to your iPad, all you need do is head on down to your local Barnes & Noble and show one of the store's staff that you've installed their App on your tablet. You'll be given a code for a free E-Book.Easy like pancakes.
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Iomega iConnect
NAS for people who don't know (or care) what NAS means Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices are often expensive and tough to set up. While centralized, always-on network storage is a huge win, collecting everything from all your various USB drives to stash on a NAS can be a royal pain. Fortunately, the storage masters at Iomega have come up with a user-friendly solution that will appeal to both networking geeks and newcomers: the iConnect Wireless Data Station, a simple device that allows you to attach up to four USB storage devices and then access them via your home network.Plug-n-play sharing of all your movies, music, and other files.Setting up the iConnect is pretty simple. Just pop in an Ethernet cable from your router and attach an external drive. The iConnect supports four USB storage devices--thumb drives or hard disks--and makes all their content accessible via the network. Thereâs even a built-in iTunes Server for sharing music to all the machines in your home. Browser-based software helps you set up remote access via your own custom URL, and you can adjust the security settings so that only registered users can access files. iConnect can also alert you via email if thereâs a rift in your internet connection at home so you can keep tabs on your network from anywhere. It plays nice with Windows drive formats, and it can serve as a Time Machine backup or share USB printers.We put about 350GB of music, movies, and photos on our hard drives and hooked up the device to our router to see how it performed. As soon as we fired up iTunes, our videos and music were instantly recognized as a shared library. We even managed to stream multiple video files simultaneously--without any lag at all. We moved files to and fro without a hitch, and the iConnect didnât conflict with any other devices on our network.That said, weâd like to see more than four measly USB ports. Still, if you only have a few drives, the iConnect is a great alternative to a dedicated NAS. Although remote access features are a bit confusing to set up if you donât know how to configure your router setting--and its file-upload capabilities are limited--it works for casual use. A final oddity: Iomega bundles a one-year subscription for remote access, but after that, youâll have to pay an annual fee of $9.95.
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Citrix: 84% of businesses surveyed will support personal iPads
Posted by Dennis SellersAccording to a new survey by Citrix—a company that specializes in centralization, optimization and virtualization— 84% of businesses polled will support personal iPads. The 494 respondents (so far) have indicated a high adoption rate and anticipation of the iPad as a business tool.
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Analysts Recrunch Numbers as iPad Rockets Past 2M Mark
Apple said on Sunday that it's sold 2 million iPads since the device's U.S. launch April 3. The device has only recently started to ship to countries outside the U.S., and demand for the tablet computers could accelerate as they're made available to new markets. Meanwhile Adobe, whose clout in digital publishing may be shaken by Apple's refusal to allow its Flash technology to run on the iPad, has unveiled a new digital publishing platform that supports HTML5, which Apple backs, in addition to Flash.
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Sunbelt Software announces Mac agent for VIPRE Enterprise
Posted by Dennis SellersSunbelt Software, a provider of security software, has added VIPRE Enterprise for Mac to its VIPRE Enterprise product line. This new client software is designed to provide virus protection against a wide range of Mac-specific malicious threats, leveraging Sunbelt's VIPRE engine.
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Brothers In Arms: Double Time
The not-as-great warâŚThe Brothers In Arms series is one of the greats in gaming--it stands out from the slew of generic shooters that trivialize World War II thanks to its perfectionist, respectful approach to historical accuracy and realistic squad combat. Which just makes this shoddy port all the more disappointing.Brains and brawn are required to survive Brothers In Arms' tactical battles.Double Time assembles the first two games in the series--Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood--under one roof, but it does little justice to these five-year-old games, which first appeared on PC and Xbox (as in, the first XboxâŚnot the 360) in 2005. The graphics havenât been updated a lick, and while they were remarkable in their day, in 2010 they hurt to look at even in 1920x1080. A ton of pop-in problems further disrupt the realism, and character movement feels trudgingly slow. Bizarrely, the games are installed as two separate apps that donât even share common preferences, so you have to recustomize everything when you start the second game.But if youâre cut from remarkably tolerant cloth, the core of what made these two games great can still be enjoyed. Unlike the boom-boom-pow of series like Call of Duty, Brothers In Arms focuses on tactical, squad-based combat in meticulously re-created settings. The original developer, Gearbox, put immense amounts of research into its virtual European theater, weapons, and combat scenarios, and youâll feel like youâre playing Band of Brothers: The Game.More importantly, this is anything but a spray-n-pray shooter. If you pop your head up from behind cover, your skull will be relieved of its contents. Instead, as the NCO in charge of two squads, you use a simple, speedy interface to issue commands. The tactics usually involve telling one unit to take cover and lay down suppressing fire while you lead the other unit on a flanking maneuver that finishes off the enemy. The games keep upping the ante with more and more challenging, interesting battles, and as it all progresses, you get caught up in the intriguing tale of these men and what it cost them to win this war.
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Digital Anarchy introduces Beauty Box Photo software
Posted by Dennis SellersDigital Anarchy has announced Beauty Box Photo skin retouching software. The plug-in provides a way of smoothing skin and removing blemishes in photographs. Beauty Box Photo 1.0 is fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop CS5 and earlier versions of Photoshop and Elements.
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iPhone OS 4 Beta Offers Up Geotagging
If you enjoy being stalked, does Apple ever have a treat for you! The latest build of the iPhone OS 4 beta includes geotagging capabilities. According to Macnn, the latest build of the OS 4 beta includes a mobile version of iPhoto's Places that will allow iPhone users to geotag their photos and view photo locations without having to first sync to their computers.AppleInsider was able to wrangle up a few screenshots of the Places interface, which upon inspection, would seem to share a lot of similarities with iPhoto's version of the feature.Whether or not the feature will be included in Apple's final build of the operating system, however, is anybody's guess.
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Apple, Microsoft retail stores playing tag
Filed under: RetailWe've mentioned how closely Microsoft's retail stores resemble Apple's, and now they're even physically close. At least in one Washington mall. Downtown Bellevue reports that Microsoft will open a store in the Bellevue Square Mall, just three spaces away from an existing Apple Store. Feeling a little cramped, Apple will relocate its store to a new spot that's further away from its rival, around a corner and down a long hallway. This isn't the first cat-and-mouse game that the two companies have played with their retail stores. Last October, Microsoft opened a store in a Mission Viejo, California mall with an Apple Store. Two months before the grand opening, Apple closed their location, enlarged and renovated the place and then re-opened one month after the Microsoft store opened. The two spots are just under 400 feet apart. [Via ifoAppleStore]TUAWApple, Microsoft retail stores playing tag originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Microsoft - AppleStore - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Retail - Apple
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News: Justice Department probe into Apple grows
The United States Justice Department's probe into Apple's business practices has expanded beyond digital music to include other types of media, according to a new report. Citing unnamed sources, the New York Post reports that the DOJ is now contacting large media and technology companies in addition to the major music labels and Internet music companies to learn their views on Apple. “The [Justice Dept.] is doing outreach,”…
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Tablet frenzy picks up with new products
The tablet fad kicked off by Apple Inc.âs iPad turned into a frenzy this week, as a host of manufacturers unveiled their version of the new computing device at a tech trade show in Taiwan.
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International iPad Release Leads to Higher Web Usage Share
Since the international debut of the iPad late last week, folks outside of America's borders have been cruising the interwebz with a vengeance. According to NetMarketShare--a company we can't thank enough for keeping track of internet traffic trends so that we don't have to--the iPad's release on May 28th has led to a spike in web traffic.Whoa.While we know that two million of Cupertino's tablets have flown off of store shelves in under two months, it's astounding to think that internet useage could be so dramatically affected by the device's entry into the market place, given the fact that most individuals who own an iPad should be no stranger to the internet as they more than likely own a home computer as well.What's your take on it? Is the spike in web traffic due to iPad owners fawning over their new toy. Is this a paradigm shift in how we consume content from the internet? Is the iPad the game changer it was first touted as being?
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Coming up: Steve Jobs speaks at D8 confab
CNET will have live coverage Tuesday evening at the Apple CEO returns to the D: All Things Digital conference.
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Holiday weekend giveaway: Early Edition for iPad delivers easy RSS
Filed under: iPad Who cares that it's Tuesday already? We're still going strong with our holiday weekend giveaways. Next up: the capable and pleasant 'Newspad' app The Early Edition, just revised to version 1.1. There's a lot of buzz today around a new contender in the iPad newsreader market, but it's good to see that one of the first apps out of the gate has now gained some big-time improvements. The new TEE takes the solid 'personal newspaper' metaphor of the first version and extends it with new features like Google Reader/OPML import, feed discovery from website URLs, custom sections, filtering and more. You can still skim and skip stories with ease, and quickly share articles via email or social networks. The app now gives you more feedback when stories are being fetched, and it will save your reading state so you come back to the same place when you exit and relaunch the app. The Early Edition for iPad will set you back US$4.99 in the App Store, but we have five promo codes to give away to five lucky readers. Just leave a comment below with your favorite non-Apple-related RSS feed (we don't want to influence your opinion by suggesting sites, and it's a random drawing anyway). Good luck! Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post. The comment must be left before Friday, June 4 at 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Five winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: One copy of The Early Edition app (Value: US$4.99) Click Here for complete Official Rules. TUAWHoliday weekend giveaway: Early Edition for iPad delivers easy RSS originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments App Store - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Apple - IPad - RSS
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Intego warns of new spyware: OSX/OpinionSpy
Posted by Dennis SellersIntego, a Mac security specialist, has issued a security memo saying it's discovered a spyware application that is installed by a number of freely distributed Mac applications and screen savers found on a variety of websites.
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News: Report 'confirms' 960 x 640 iPhone 4G display
A new report from Czech Republic-based SuperiPhone (Translated Link) claims to have confirmed the resolution of the fourth-generation iPhone's display at 960 x 640. Using a microscope, the publication compared a display component supposedly meant for the fourth-generation iPhone to the displays of an iPhone 3GS, iPod touch, and Google Nexus One. Based on their results, the report claims that the display does have a resolution of 960 x 640, which…
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Net Applications: Safari, iPhone gain market share; Mac OS X down slightly
Posted by Dennis SellersMac OS X, Safari and iPhone market share for Internet usage rose from April to May, according to the latest market share survey from NetMarketShare.
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Intego Issues Spyware Warning for Mac OS X Users
Itâs a given that Mac users have less to worry about with viruses and spyware than our Windows brethren, but the times they are a-changing, if a security memo issued today from Intego is any indication.Mac security expert Intego has issued a memo on Tuesday regarding OSX/OpinionSpy, a spyware application that is being âinstalled by a number of freely distributed Mac applications and screen savers found on a variety of websites,â including MacUpdate, VersionTracker and Softpedia.While OSX/OpinionSpy is not actually contained in the application itself, the spyware is downloaded during the installation process, then sets out on its nefarious course of action, ranging from scanning files to recording user activity, and even sending such information to remote servers or opening a backdoor on infected Macs.âThe information provided with some of these applications contains a misleading text that users must accept explaining that a âmarket researchâ program is installed with them,â Intego notes in their security memo issued June 1, âbut not all of these specify this. Some of these programs are also distributed directly from developersâ web sites with no such warning.âIntego notes that this type of malware has existed on Windows since 2008, but has upgraded the âmarket researchâ program to spyware based on the number of âinsidious actionsâ performed by the software.âThe fact that this application collects data in this manner, and that it opens a backdoor, makes it a very serious security threat,â Intego concludes. âIn addition, the risk of it collecting sensitive data such as user names, passwords and credit card numbers, makes this a very high-risk spyware. While its distribution is limited, we warn Mac users to pay careful attention to which software they download and install.âIf you download a lot of freeware or shareware from MacUpdate, VersionTracker or Softpedia, it might be worth your time to purchase and install Intego VirusBarrier X5 or X6 in order to detect and eradicate OSX/OpinionSpy -- but first make sure your threat filters are dated May 31, 2010 or later before checking your computer.
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The Pursuit for Movie Nirvana
I have a plan. It's not the best plan ever, and I'm sure it's not the best idea, but here's how it goes. I want to put my entire DVD collection on a hard drive and then have access to it via my AppleTV. Here's how I'm going to do it. First, let me talk about what I'm not doing. I've heard of Plex, and Boxxee, and all of those related items. I'm not doing any of those. I've purchased movies through the iTunes store in the past, and since I don't want to have to buy them again, I'm stuck within the iTunes infrastructure. It's not ideal, but it's how I have to run it for the moment. So to get everything in iTunes, I started by first using RipIt to copy all of my DVDs onto a portable drive. I did this for two reasons: One, I wanted a main copy of the DVD so that I could then use that to make whatever other conversion necessary, and two, so that my drive wasn't spinning constantly with every disc I needed converted to .m4v format. I figure that I'm saving my iMac's DVD drive, but also keeping things as quick as possible. This also provides me a way to rip my TV shows to iTunes, although I haven't yet figured out how to set it up as a TV show recognized by iTunes. Once RipIt is done, I then move on to Handbrake, where I rip everything under the AppleTV format. Whether or not this is the best format for me, I'm still not sure. But by having copies on RipIt, I can run through this process all over again should I have to. For now though, I think it will work out OK. Doing all that though loses all of the metadata for the files, so at first, I was changing the images manually. I would go on Amazon.com, find an image for the DVD that I was ripping, then spend a quick moment editing it to size. When the DVD was in my iTunes library, I would attach the image to the DVD, and I was good to go. But this wasn't the ideal result for me, as when I look at movies on my iPad, all the date on one half of the screen was blank. That's when I discovered another option. When I first found out about iFlicks, I heard it was essentially a replacement for Handbrake. It is, but not for raw DVDs like I'm trying to convert. But one thing it does exceptionally well is add metadata to my iTunes library. I highlight a film, go to the Applescript window in the corner and select Automatically Update Metadata of Selected. A few seconds later, the DVD has box art (or a movie poster), and all related metadata such as the director, actors, etc, are all appended to the file. Now when I look at the movie on my iPad or on Front Row, I've got everything I want there in front of me. All my movies now stream to my AppleTV, which is my temporary solution. Eventually, I'd like to get a Mac Mini for the living room, and I think that would solve a lot of my problems. This may not be the perfect solution, and I'm not saying that it is. In fact, I'm pretty open to suggestions. But since I need to use iTunes to keep my iTunes movies, I think this is the best option right now. Thoughts?
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Adobe Launches New Digital Publishing Platform
Adobe has announced that it is launching a new Digital Publishing Platform that will combine the mechanics and user interface of InDesign CS5 with other tools that will aid publishers in making their print content iPad friendly.The company is especially touting Wired's iPad application, which had a strong wave of positive reviews following its debut last week. "We aim to make our digital viewer software available to all publishers soon and plan to deliver versions that work across multiple hardware platforms," said Adobe, in a statement from David Burkett, vice president and general manager of Creative Solutions. "It's safe to say that if you are already working in InDesign CS5, you'll be well on your way to producing a beautiful digital version of your publication."The features included in its new platform include touch gesture support, zooming modes, embedded video and slideshows and interactive images, as well as integrated advertisement. The software is dubbed Adobe's Digital Publishing Platform and the company will market it to tablet, smartphone and other mobile device software manufacturers.
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Speaking of Guys for Whom Appleâs Success Does Not Compute
Rob Enderle: Is it possible that all the bungling that took place in Microsoft’s entertainment and hardware division was actually sabotage? In World War II, Germany sent a secret “fifth column” behind enemy lines to disrupt defenses during its invasions. Corporations have engaged in similar activities, and a series of “mistakes” that were beneficial to Apple has me wondering who’s really been calling the shots in Redmond. Uh-huh. Also: However the one saying I’ve made famous is that “perception is 100 percent of reality.” That actually explains a lot about Rob Enderle. â
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The Video Sandbox 149: still no flying cars
Posted by Dennis SellersAnother month has come and gone but still … no flying cars. I thought that Obama was going to take care of this before the BP screw-up!
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Kingston Digital releases 64GB SDXC memory card
Posted by Dennis Sellers Kingston Digital is shipping a 64GB SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 memory card. SDXC (Secure Digital eXtended Capacity) is the next standard from the Secure Digital Association (SDA) for SD cards with storage ranging from more than 32GB up to 2TB.
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Apple granted design patents for the iPad, iPods, MacBook Air, more
Posted by Dennis SellersApple has been granted several design patents by the US Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.
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The iPhone 4's outer case makes it on camera... in Portugal
iPhone 4 parts just keep on dribbling out of China and turning up around the world -- this time it's the next-gen phone's outer case on a video from iPhone Portgual. The site actually has two cases, which it says were purchased by a reader in China, and while they look genuine enough, we obviously can't tell for certain whether they're real. In any event, at this rate we'll have enough leaked parts to assemble the entire damn thing by the time Steve takes the stage at WWDC to announce it in a few days -- or hey, maybe he'll just show it off at D8 tonight. Either way, we'll be there. Videos after the break. [Thanks, Mike]Continue reading The iPhone 4's outer case makes it on camera... in PortugalThe iPhone 4's outer case makes it on camera... in Portugal originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Huffington Post | iPhone Portugal | Email this | Comments
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Your Macsimum Podcast for June 1st
Posted by Frank PetrieToday on Your Macsimum Podcast: “Hewlett Packard Layoffs,” “This Is The iLife,” “Yeah, Sales Are OK,” and ”...Story 4.”
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Found Footage: Pulse News Reader for iPad
Filed under: Found Footage, iPad I've been looking for an iPad RSS news reader for a while, and was totally underwhelmed by what was out there. Fortunately, a reader pointed me to a video demonstrating Pulse News Reader (US$3.99), a new RSS reader from a couple of Stanford grad students. Ankit Gupta and Akshay Kothari have created an RSS reader that makes traditional readers look like, well, cluttered inboxes. If you're one of those folks who follows a few hundred RSS feeds, you may not like Pulse -- the current version has a limit of 20 feeds. The app makes it drop-dead simple to add feeds by searching keywords, and then picking feeds from the search results. The feeds show up as a series of tabbed rows of articles with the newest posts on the far left, oldest on the far right. Navigating posts is done by flicking left or right, and you can read the full post by tapping on the large post icon. Pulse 1.1 still needs some work -- the current version doesn't support video, so the post icon for this article would appear as text only. Still, it looks great and is easily one of the most usable news readers I've seen. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that TUAW is one of their featured sources in the app... We'll have a more thorough TUAW review of Pulse News Reader soon. Thanks to Graham for the tip! [via Cult of Mac]TUAWFound Footage: Pulse News Reader for iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Unofficial Apple Weblog - IPad - RSS - Cult of Mac - TUAW
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Apple shuts down Lala music service
Posted by Dennis SellersYesterday (May 31) Apple shut down the Lala music streaming service, which it purchased at the end of 2009.
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News: Share the iPad Guide, win prizes
To celebrate the release of The iPad Buyersâ Guide + Free iPod/iPhone Book 5, iLounge is offering our readers a chance to win some great prizes for sharing the Book with friends, family, and social network followers. To enter, simply retweet this message—complete with bit.ly link—to your followers. 50 retweeters will be selected at random to win CandyShell cases from Speck, while four additional readers will be selected based on…
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Paul Thurrott: âUnderstanding iPadâ
Paul Thurrott, yesterday: Flaws and all, the iPad is indeed in a class all by itself. It’s a new kind of computing device. Thurrott, back on April 3: Anyone who believes this thing is a game changer is a tool. I guess you can argue he was correct both times. A few more bits from this latest piece: When you go out and about with just an iPad, you’re sending a message that you’re not going to contribute. You’re just there to consume. This is why the iPad is, to my mind, uniquely unsuitable in the workplace. The old “it’s for mindless consumption, not creation” angle. And if you present the iPad as the next generation of a category of devices that previously included the Tablet PC and Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC), someone will point out the iPad’s lack of pen input, handwriting recognition capabilities, and general PC usage. (And of course most Apple people don’t even know that Microsoft and its partners had been innovating in this market for a decade already anyway.) Microsoft led the way to the iPad, they just happen to have nothing on the market or even on the horizon that competes with it. â
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Jim Ray: âUnderstanding Paul Thurrottâ
Whenever I post claim chowder against Paul Thurrott, I get a few emails from readers wondering how the hell he could be so wrong so often. Jim Ray’s theory: that Thurrott is a “full time huckster as blogger”. I’m going to disagree. I think it’s that he’d rather be wrong repeatedly in the short term than admit that his entire technology industry world view is wrong. His big picture perspective has remained very consistent since the ’90s: Microsoft is the undisputed king of the industry, and Apple makes some nice but trivial niche products. â
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Apple to divert small slice of iPad profits to Foxconn raises?
Posted by Dennis SellersApple is reportedly cutting 0.7% of iPad profits to give factory workers at Foxconn, a China-based unit of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, a 20% raise, reports “DailyTech”.
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Google reportedly bidding Windows adieu
Posted by Dennis SellersGoogle is phasing out the internal use of Windows because of security concerns, reports the Financial Times, attributing the info to “several Google employees.”
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TARMAC lets you integrate iPhones, iPads into IT infrastructure
Posted by Dennis SellersCompanies can now integrate the iPhone and iPad into their IT infrastructure with equinux's new TARMAC, a provisioning tool tailored specifically for the Apple platform. With TARMAC medium to large enterprises can securely set up and manage their iPhones and iPads over-the-air, says equinux CEO till Schadde.
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Apple's Marketing Strategy influences Business Strategy
Apple has long focused on providing the best user experiences in the world. The original Mac team labored over making the computer hide the complexity of the software underneath in order to become the "Computer for the Rest of Us." The same is true of course for the iPad, iPhone and iPods. What looks easy to use is of course very hard to create. An interesting story today in the Wall Street Journal about how this focus on great user experiences dovetails with Apple's M&A activity. This all goes back to the desire to do one thing better than everyone else - and that starts with focus.While Apple could improve lots of other consumer experiences it can't allow itself to be defocused or the areas where it does apply its magic may not succeed.All entrepreneurs should take note: fix something that's broken by focusing on making whatever came before much easier. The market will follow.
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Share the iPad Guide Contest
iLounge has released The iPad Buyers' Guide + Free iPod/iPhone Book 5, and as always, we have an awesome contest to coincide with our latest publication. Four people will win brand-new speaker systems from iHome, and 50 more will win iPad, iPhone, or iPod cases from Speck Products! How can you win? Share the iPad Guide! Retweet the following message in bold below—unedited, or preserving the bit.ly URL—to your followers. There…
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Tech Stocks: H-P, Apple lead tech sector gains
Tech stocks come to life in morning trading as the sector tries to start June on an upbeat note following what was one of the worst Mayâs on record.
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Typical Day With the iPad
My recent look at a typical day with the Sprint EVO 4G was well received and I started getting requests for a similar look at a day with the iPad. Not one to ignore good requests, this post covers a typical day with the iPad in Mobile Tech Manor. I should point out that the iPad is so different from most gadgets I write about and I'm not sure there is a “typical” day. Perhaps I should more accurately present a “recent day” with the iPad. It is still dark outside when the merciless alarm rouses me from a deep sleep and I stumble out of bed to greet the day. The iPad is lying on the night stand where I left it last night, having read an e-book before bedtime. It has not been charging overnight, as the extended battery life you've heard about on the iPad is not fiction. I rarely charge the iPad at night, which is a first with me for any gadget. Instead, I will plug it in while using it at my desk in a little while, and charge it until it shows a full charge after which it will remain untethered for the rest of the day. I grab the first cup of coffee and settle into the easy chair with the iPad in hand. It is nestled in the Apple case I bought along with the iPad, and I am glad I did. The brushed aluminum back on the iPad is extremely slippery, and I've almost dropped it a few times. The case adds a nice grippy cover for it without adding much bulk to the slim package. I also use the stand on the back of the case to prop up the iPad throughout the day. The first thing I do is catch up with email that has arrived overnight. We have a lot of site visitors located all over the globe, and the stream of email doesn't stop when I am getting my beauty rest at night. Using the Mail app on the iPad is easy to do, and sitting in the chair I typically hold it in portrait which is more comfortable for me. I spin through the night's email in just a few minutes, responding to mail as necessary via the onscreen keyboard. I use the keyboard by typing with my right index finger in portrait, and I find it fast enough for most messages I compose. For longer entries I spin the iPad around to landscape orientation which makes the keyboard big enough for easier typing. I have three different email accounts configured, and I'll be glad when that unified inbox appears in iPhone 4.0. NewsRack Once my inbox is back to zero I spin through RSS feeds that have accumulated new items overnight. I am torn between two apps to do this — NetNewsWire and NewsRack. Both apps handle RSS feeds in a similar fashion, and both sync with Google Reader which is mandatory for my needs. I am leaning more towards NewsRack as it is now faster than NetNewsWire since a recent update, and I like the interface a little better. I fire it up and start spinning through the hundreds of news items waiting for my attention. I pop from item to item using the “next item” button in NewsRack, and when an item deserves more attention I either hit the star button to mark it for reading later or I hit the button to open the item in the internal browser to read it right then. Either method works well, but usually I just hit the star and come back to the item later in the day. Calendar Once I have achieved inbox zero for my feeds, I get ready for some serious work. I make my 30 second commute to Mobile Tech Manor to begin my work day. I prop the iPad up to the left of my big desktop monitor and plug it in so it can be charging while I work at the Mac. I fire up the Calendar app on the iPad to check the day's schedule, and then I run the ToDo app to check my task list. ToDo ToDo is a great task manager and I sync it with my ToodleDo online account. I love the planner interface that ToDo employs, and I find it a good way to stay on top of things that need to get done. ToDo stays open much of the day on the iPad so I can refer to it as needed, and I mark things done as appropriate. That's one of my favorite things to do — mark a task as complete. I find having the iPad serve as my day planner in this way adds value to my work setup. Is it necessary to get my work done? Of course not; but since I have the iPad I find it is very useful to keep my planning methods separate from my work computer. I am able to concentrate on the work when I should, yet pop over to the planner to see what I need to think about next when appropriate. This is even more useful for me as I often change the work computer given all the systems that I test for work. Having the iPad function as a planner allows me to extend whatever work setup I am employing at a given time, without having to change things. It's all about getting my work done as easily as I can. iThoughtsHD I use iThoughtsHD as needed to map out longer articles I write. I like mind mapping and use it as a visual outliner. It's easy to lay out a project in a map, and refer to it while I write the article. There are several mind map apps for the iPad, but iThoughts does everything I need and I like it a lot. B&N eReader I work at my desk until lunch time when I shut down to grab a bite to eat. I head to the local sandwich shop after throwing the iPad and Sprint Overdrive into a little gear bag. I eat my sandwich while reading an e-book on the iPad. Today I am using the Barnes & Noble eReader app to read the book; other days I use the Kindle app. Which one I use depends on where I bought the e-book, of course. I buy most of the books from Amazon but I have been getting some from B&N as I am giving the eReader app a try. They are both functionally similar; I don't really favor one over the other. Twitterrific Pro Just before finishing lunch I hit the power button on the Overdrive to tap into the Sprint 4G network. In just a minute it connects and the iPad automatically connects to it, turning it into a 4G iPad. I check up on Twitter using Twitterrific Pro, my Twitter app of choice on the iPad. I also catch up with my email sitting in the lunchroom. The iPad makes it so easy to check my email that it has helped me keep up with my desire to maintain inbox zero. Sure I could do this with a smartphone but the iPad is faster and easier to use due to the larger screen. Once lunch is finished I head back to my office to finish up the work day. The afternoon is spent much like the morning, working at my desk with the iPad sitting alongside my big screen. I take a couple of breaks in the afternoon, as I believe it is important to maintain a work routine that mimics one in a “real” office. It is vital to take breaks from the computer screen, and I do that in my home office, too. I grab the iPad when I step away from the desk and read the e-book during these breaks. The iPad is my ereader of choice, and I haven't touched my Kindle since getting the iPad. When the work day is finished and I step out of the Manor, the iPad comes with me. The slim, light form of the iPad makes it easy to grab and go, and the fact is it is always within reach. It sits on the table next to my easy chair, ready to grab for jumping online quickly to check something. I jump on Twitter several times during the evening to keep up with my peeps, and I check the RSS feeds in NewsRack a couple of times. The real value provided by the iPad is how I can do any of these things by simply picking it up and jumping online in less than a minute. Hit the button, slide the toggle and I'm online. Is the iPad the only way to do this online stuff? Absolutely not, but it is so easy and quick that it is the best way for me. Is the iPad worth the price to everyone for this functionality? Probably not, that's a case-by-case situation. Is it the easiest and most enjoyable way to do these things? For me, yes indeed. Since getting the iPad I spend less time checking things on the web, yet I spend more time online. What the iPad lets me do is jump online to check a particular thing, and then shut it down instantly. It's not all work, I have been playing a number of games on the iPad. I try to limit the time spent playing, but some of the games are pretty good and that makes it easy to get lost in them sometimes. The game I am currently having fun with is BrokenSword HD. It is well executed on the iPad and is a great mystery that unfolds in front of my eyes. The iPad is not for everyone, mobile technology is a very personal thing. I'm sure many will look at a given task I've described and come up with another type of gadget that will do the task as well or better. In my case, when I look at the group of tasks I do each day, the iPad is the best single gadget to use. Over the course of this day I used the iPad to jump online at least 50 times. A simple tap of the on button and a tap of the browser app and I was connected to anything I wanted to be connected to. The iPad is my companion device of choice, it is not a primary system. But the utility it provides is augmented by the fact that more often than not it can do what I need, often even better or faster than my primary system. Related content on GigaOM Pro (sub. reqâd): Can Anyone Compete With the iPad?
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iPad Case Roundup
We gathered the most promising prospects from the first round of iPad cases and tested them mercilessly to determine which ones reliably protect your precious. Less than an hour after the iPad was announced back in January, we began getting press releases for protective cases and sleeves for Appleâs then-unreleased tablet. We tested many of that first round of protective accessories, and these were some of the most interesting options. For its minimal weight and good overall protection, we liked the LA robe iPad Allure from be.ez best, but there are as many iPad sleeves and cases as there are ways to use an iPad. The array of iPad protection shown here covers plenty of different uses and styles, and our ratings will help you balance form with function to select the one thatâs right for you.Click to embiggen and view callouts. 1. Pixelshield COMPANY: Speck CONTACT: www.speckproducts.com PRICE: $39.95 REQUIREMENTS: iPadSoft neoprene material offers bump protection. Available in black-and-gray or red.Everyone we asked thought the handle was useless because theyâd carry the PixelShield in another bag anyway. 2. 1337 COMPANY: Incipio CONTACT: www.myincipio.com PRICE: $34.99 REQUIREMENTS: iPadMolded grips are perfect for iPad gamers. Comes in three colors. Can charge in sleeve.Too heavy for everyday use (10.8 oz). Rotation-lock switch is hard to operate with sleeve in place. No screen protection. 3. La Robe iPad Allure COMPANY: be.ez CONTACT: www.be-ez.com PRICE: $29.99 REQUIREMENTS: iPadSnug fit doesnât waste any space in your bag. Foam material absorbs bumps. Available in four different colors. Cool striped pattern. Lightweight (4.5 oz).Zipper may scuff the edge of your iPad. 4. Boa Skin XS COMPANY: Booq CONTACT: www.booqbags.com PRICE: $29.95 REQUIREMENTS: iPad Super compact. Hard backing provides additional screen protection. Stretchy fabric secures iPad without requiring a zipper. Three colors. Leaves one edge of iPad exposed. Minimal padding. 5. Bubble Sleeve COMPANY: Hard Candy Cases CONTACT: www.hardcandycases.com PRICE: $49.95 REQUIREMENTS: iPad Well-padded protection. Cool design. Three colors. Rubber âcornersâ mounted inside with weak, extremely sticky adhesive that got all over the inside of the case. Corners donât actually provide the intended snug fit. Bulky.
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TechUniversity: iMovie 101
Apple's iMovie video editing software, part of the iLife software suite, allows users to quickly and easily create professional looking movies. In this TechUniversity iMovie 101 screencast (subscription required) we'll walk you through, from start to finish, how to create an edit a movie in iMovie. Topics covered: The projects and events window Adding and editing video Titles, transitions, sound and maps Sharing your video Below is a sample of the video. The full screencast clocks in at just over 20 minutes.
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News: Apple to pay Foxconn employees direct subsidies
Following a rash of suicides that has drawn widespread attention, Apple will soon begin paying direct subsidies to Foxconn employees involved with manufacturing the company's products in an effort to improve employee happiness. Citing unnamed sources, Chinese-language Zol.com reports (Translated Link) that Apple already pays Foxconn 2.3% of final product prices, but will expand this by paying an additional amount, reportedly in the 1-2% range,…
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Apple shares jump on iPad sales as rivals emerge
Apple shares jump following news over the holiday weekend that sales of its recently launched iPad tablet have topped the 2 million-unit mark.
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Samsung Galaxy S set for simultaneous launch in 110 countries, probably this month
According to the Korea IT Times, Samsung will be taking quite an unusual route with the launch of its upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S, by releasing it simultaneously in 110 countries around the world. Sure, it seems as much a publicity stunt as anything else, but this move indicates both a confidence in Super AMOLED supplies and, more importantly, a rapidly approaching date for the Galaxy S' retail availability. We already knew that it'll be arriving in Asia this month, so assuming this global debut is working to the same schedule, most developed countries will get their taste of Samsung's latest before the first half of the year is through. Neat, then we can pit one of these against an iPhone 4G and figure out which has the more gorgeous display. [Thanks, Martin]Samsung Galaxy S set for simultaneous launch in 110 countries, probably this month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink AndroidOS.in | Korea IT Times | Email this | Comments
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Adobe unveils digital viewer technology for magazines
Posted by Dennis SellersAdobe has unveiled a new digital viewer technology that enables print publishers to offer digital versions of their magazines.
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Skype Calls Over 3G Now a Reality
The wait is over. It's been a long time coming, but you can now finally make calls using Skype over 3G. Version 2.0 of Skype's free iPhone app can be downloaded from the iTunes store now. However, despite making 3G VOIP calls a reality, it's not all good news: the feature will soon become a premium option. Skype has detailed that starting late August 2010 the company will introduce a small fee that users will be required to pay on a monthly basis in order to use the Skype-to-Skype 3G call making feature. From now until the unspecified August date users can try the new feature free-of-charge. Our early tests have proven the service works well with voice quality being surprisingly crisp and clear. Skype has described the quality of calls as near “CD-quality sound”; of course this all depends on how good your signal is. When in a call the typical speaker, mute, hold and number pad options are available, users can also navigate around the Skype application at leisure. Sadly, pressing the iPhone's home button to access other applications is not available, although running the Skype app in the background is something which will hopefully be introduced once OS 4.0 arrives. Other improvements to the updated application include an improved start-up time and the ability to access Skype's dial pad quickly from the iPhone's home screen. Skype's Russ Shaw, General Manager for Mobile, said the following about the new Skype features: Using Skype on iPhone without being restricted to the availability of a WiFi network will open up new ways for Skype customers to stay connected and make free or low-cost calls whenever they want, wherever they are in the world. You can download the updated iPhone application from the iTunes store now. If you give the app a try, be sure to let us know your thoughts on the new 3G call capabilities in the comments.
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Study: iPad's success not slowing eBook reader market
Posted by Dennis SellersIn a new report, IMS Research says the success of the iPad is not slowing down the eBook reader market.
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Apple: iPad sales top 2 million since launch
Apple said Monday that iPad sales have topped 2 million since its launch almost two months ago.
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Block an annoying Javascript that affects Copy/Paste
Rob Griffiths points out this article: Tynt, the Copy/Paste Jerks by John Gruber, as a solution to an annoying web site 'feature.' Here's a brief description: 'Over the last few months IÂve noticed an annoying trend on various web sites, generally major newspaper and magazine sites, but also certain weblogs. What happens is that when you select text from these web pages, the site uses JavaScript to report what youÂve copied to an analytics server and append an attribution URL to the text.' Please refer to the linked article for more background. The following is derived from that article. The relevant portion for us is: How to block Tynt on a Mac. If you use Chrome, you can install this Tynt-blocking extension, which does just what it says on the tin. However, you wind up getting ...
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Fix an iPad/MobileMe problem with subscribed calendars
If you have subscribed in iCal on the Mac to a password-protected calendar hosted on a WebDAV server and sync with your iPad using MobileMe, chances are that youÂre unable to authenticate to the WebDAV-based calendar on the iPad. After turning on calendar synchronization on the iPad an authorization dialog might appear. Tapping Cancel in this dialog has the effect that no calendar data is being synchronized, not even for the non-WebDAV calendars. Depending on when the authentication dialog appears in the synchronization procedure, your Calendar application on the iPad may either stay empty or any new information will not sync. The only available solution is to unsubscribe from the calendars in iCal. [crarko adds: I haven't tested this one. Presumably this is a bug in iPhoneOS 3.2 that will be addressed in some future release.]
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Migrate print jobs between printers
Often one prints mistakenly to the wrong printer, or sends a print job to a printer, but later wants to change which queue it's in. Fortunately, there is a solution. To migrate print jobs between printers, simply select a job in one queue, and drag it to the window of a another printer's queue. This removes the job from the first printer, and adds it to the second. [crarko adds: I tested this in TextEdit, and it works as described. I expect this may not work if the print queue is hosted on a server.]
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First Looks: SwitchEasy RibCage for iPad
To say that RibCage ($35) is a break from SwitchEasy's past collection of iPod, iPhone, and iPod cases would be only half-correct: the bony styling of this new iPad case is somewhat familiar from the company's CapsuleRebel M, but the rest -- the simple, sleeve-style design, the use of faux leather, and the absence of playthrough functionality -- are all surprises given SwitchEasy's past releases. Inside the case is a hard plastic frame to protect…
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Adobe's Digital Publishing Platform behind Wired app, uses CS5 tools and will be available to all
So, despite all that hubbub about Flash, Adobe managed to still deliver iPad magazine publishing tools to Wired after all... and it's not stopping there. Adobe's "digital viewer software" is the crux, which Adobe says it built in Apple's Objective C and will continue to maintain for the iPad while considering other platforms like the iPhone. Meanwhile, anything built matching this vaguely defined spec (Adobe's keeping a lot of details close to its chest right now) will be able to publish to this iPad reader software, along with any Flash 10.1 or AIR 2-compliant devices. HTML 5 will also come in to play somehow. Adobe will be releasing the publishing tech to Adobe Labs later this year, but you'll have to have Adobe InDesign CS5 to take advantage of it. Of course, none of this really solves the debate over 3rd party development tools for building iPad and iPhone apps, but it seems to sidestep it pretty handily.Adobe's Digital Publishing Platform behind Wired app, uses CS5 tools and will be available to all originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Gizmodo | Adobe | Email this | Comments
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iHome releases dual kitchen timer/speaker system for the iPhone, iPod
Posted by Dennis SellersiHome has introduced the USS$99 iP39 Dual Kitchen Timer and Alarm Clock Radio Speaker System for the iPhone and iPod.
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Morning Edition: Google directs you into traffic?
A new Kindle may arrive this summer, Skype for the iPhone with 3G calling launched, and Google Maps allegedly tells you to walk along freeways.
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Apple iPad Sales, Upgrades Help Shares Buck Market Selloff
Monday Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) announced that iPad sales have topped two million in less than 60 days. This morning Wall Street analysts are racing to upgrade their darling as UBS and Barclays raised their price target to $320, Broadpoint AmTech raised its target to $340 from $320, Piper Jaffray raised to $330, and Kaufman Bros. upped its iPad sale estimate to 2.7M from 2M. The good news is spreading as Apple looks to cause a global Gutenberg moment. This weekend Apple began shipping iPads in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. iPad will be available in nine more countries in July and additional countries later this year.
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Apparently, Everyone Either Wants or Has an iPad
The iPad was released internationally recently, and with that, came yet another record for the iPad. In just under 60 days, the iPad has sold over 2 million units. From the fancy Apple press release: CUPERTINO, CaliforniaâMay 31, 2010âAppleÂŽ today announced that iPad⢠sales have topped two million in less than 60 days since its launch on April 3. Apple began shipping iPad in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK this past weekend. iPad will be available in nine more countries in July and additional countries later this year. âCustomers around the world are experiencing the magic of iPad, and seem to be loving it as much as we do,â said Steve Jobs, Appleâs CEO. âWe appreciate their patience, and are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.â Translation: People are buying more iPads than they can make. This is a pretty big deal, as the iPad has sold more than the iPhone in the same period of time. But more importantly, it's a pretty big statement about the product itself. When the iPad was first introduced, the tech community collectively said, “bleh. No USB, no Flash, no thank you.” Yet there they all were, lined up on opening day, plunking down a credit card for their new purchase. And a few days later, some people returned them, and a few people returned them so they could buy a 3G model a month later. There were quite a few iPad doubters out there, and this proves them wrong. I think though, my personal experience with the iPad is clouding my judgement a bit. I bought my mother an iPad for mother's day, and she can't stop talking about it. I was at her house on Sunday, and she wanted to play with my iPad so she could check out the Barnes & Noble app. She's working on figuring out a way to sync all of her devices, and for that, I'm working on a MobileMe subscription for my mom. It's completely changed the way she works and does things, and now you can't get it away from her. This is just my experience, but if my mom loves it this much, there have got to be others who do as well. Two million sold in under two months means that not only does Apple have another hit on their hands, but it's here to stay.
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Protect your browser from "tabnabbing"
Filed under: Software, iPadHave you heard about "Tabnabbing"? It is the term for a new kind of attack, which can be summarized as grabbing a Web browser tab when you aren't looking and making it appear as another site. Aza Raskin, lead designer for Firefox, created a page that illustrates this. If you click on that link and then ignore it for awhile (create and switch to another tab), Aza's page will turn into a lookalike for Gmail. He claims this will work in "all major browsers," and I confirmed it in Safari, Google Chrome, and Firefox on the Mac. It even worked -- albeit poorly and less regularly -- in OmniWeb and Opera. However, before users of either of those browsers claim some sort of victory, please realize that my testing was not scientific or extensive, and Aza's "proof of concept" may not be as thorough as some other sites. Aza's example isn't too difficult to spot; if you look at the Address Bar you will see this URL still points to his domain, but he could easily redirect you to a non-Latin domain name that looks like a different website which would be harder to spot. What should you do to protect yourself? Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, Aza things you should use Firefox, which has an Account Manager feature that is supposed to help protect you from this kind of attack. But what about the next phishing attack? Or what if you prefer a different browser? Read on for a better solution that will allow you to use just about any browser you choose...TUAWProtect your browser from "tabnabbing" originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Google Chrome - Aza Raskin - Safari - Firefox - Apple
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iPad to fly Australian budget airline
Qantas subsidiary Jetstar says passengers will be able to rent the Apple device to access content including movies, e-books, TV programs, games, and music.
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3G Calling on Skype is Free … For Now
Got Skype on your iPhone? Well check for updates, because now you can officially use Skype over your 3G connection. That's going to save you a ton of money, right? Well, kinda. PC Magazine has the scoop: With the release of Skype 2.0 for the iPhone, users are no longer restricted to WiFi only calling. Skype-to-Skype calls over a 3G connection are freeâfor now, at least. The company has indicated that it plans to begin charging users for these kinds of calls beginning in September, but the service won't come in the form of a “buy a chunk of minutes” option akin to the company's Skype-to-landline or Skype-to-mobile calling services. Instead, users will pay an undisclosed monthly fee for the ability to fire up Skype on their iPhones and call out to other Skype users. That's in addition to whatever fees or prices they already pay as part of their various calling plans with AT&T. Skype-to-Skype calls over a WiFi connection will remain free, and it's unclear whether users will pay a fee in addition to paying for Skype minutes or unlimited calling plans when trying to make Skype calls to landline or mobile phones over the iPhone's 3G connection. This is most likely not Skype's fault, and I say that because Verizon users don't have the same issue. So ultimately, this comes down to the evil empire, AT&T. They don't want you to use their network – the one you already pay for a data plan on, by the way – to make a phone call that they could charge you for otherwise. Apple needs to move away from AT&T. I'm sick of it, I have friends who are sick of it, and I'm sure that Apple is tire of putting up with their crap as well. I just hope the next provider has some common sense.
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TUAW's Daily App: Barnes & Noble eReader
Filed under: iPhone, App Store "But Mike," I can hear you say,"I've already got iBooks on my iPad -- why would I want to download another eReader?" Try free books for an answer. Barnes and Noble is holding a promotion this month: every week, you can show up in their retail stores, and if you show someone on staff that you've got their B&N eReader app on your mobile device, they'll give you a code for a free eBook. This week, they're giving away Lee Child's One Shot, and next week it's Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg. Sure, neither of those are probably your favorite novel, but if you're just looking for something to read, they definitely seem like something you can bring to the beach this summer. If you've already paid for a few reads in iBooks, that's fine -- read away. But if, like me, you're still not quite sure how to jump into the eBook thing (I kind of still like turning paper pages), a few free eBooks to read might help you get a handle on the experience. Since the Barnes & Noble app is free, the only cost is a quick stop by a bookstore. Read on!TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Barnes & Noble eReader originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Barnes Noble - iPhone - IPad - Apple - App Store
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Appleâs Maiden Voyage Into the Cloud
Apple's billion dollar data center being constructed on a 225 acre site near Highway 321 and Startown Road in Maiden, North Carolina could play host to a number of services. So, what are the likely candidates for what Apple will be doing with this new facility? With WWDC just one week away, Apple staffing of the new facility, and given the fact that all of the hype about what everyone already knows that Steve is going to introduce before he has a chance to introduce it, there are six very likely candidates for what Apple will announce as to what their intentions are in North Carolina. Free MobileMe for Everyone! Well, Almost Everyone When Apple first launched iTools back in 2000, the service was free to users of Mac OS 9. Then in 2002 it became a subscription based service and was renamed as .Mac. The trend continued and the online service now known as MobileMe continued as a subscription based service. Just recently Apple opened up a Beta program to show off some of the new features of this service. In order to compete with several of the online services that come bundled with many of the Google supported Android devices, Apple my in fact return this to a free service for its customers. MapKit replacement for Google Maps Not much has been said about Apple's 2009 acquisition of online mapping service PlaceBace. At the time, rumors ran rampant that Apple would be replacing Google Maps on the iPhone, iPod and now the iPad with this service. This shouldn't be too terribly difficult to do in the iPhone's SDK and the MapKit has abstracted such low-level services into an easy to use API. iTunes in the Cloud Recently Apple decided to shut down Lala, an online music service it acquired in 2009. Having a commanding lead in the iPod marketplace has not made Apple complacent in the least. Apple has continued to innovate its devices as well as its iTunes marketplace over the years. Perhaps its latest enhancement of the service was not as Genius as previously thought, and Apple is looking to continue its competitive edge by hosting its customers purchases in the cloud. Having iTunes in the cloud would make all purchases, past, present and future, all available to all devices from anywhere in the connected world. iWork Beta Almost two years in beta, and with the release of the now best-selling collection of iWork apps for the iPad, the future of iWork has never been brighter. The question remains, how long will this beta last? With some of the enhancements going on in the MobielMe space with the mail beta that is underway, and given the fact that successful services like DropBox are nipping at Apple's iDisk heals, there is likely to be something announced, soon. It would not take much to best Google's online document service, and shut Microsoft out of this market for good by enabling even a halfway decent solution for the growing number of mobile customers that Apple has earned. iAd Let's not forget the purchase of Quattro Wireless. This may have helped Google out here in the short-term, but Apple needs to make a long term investment in this endeavor. With the premiums that Apple is allegedly ready to charge companies that sign up for ad space on this service, that price tag had better include complementary hosting of the ads themselves. With one-hundred million devices likely to be in the hands of consumers when this service goes live, it will need some serious cloud power to handle the storm that is brewing come launch day. Sync Just recently, it has been discovered that Apple is interested in investing in sync capabilities with the cloud. Breaking away from the USB sync paradigm is something that all iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users would enjoy. This could be full sync, or be limited to its investment with Lala, or iWork, or both. For those interested in cloud computing or data centers, check out our Structure conference in June.
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Tim Cook's commencement speech:Â 'I believe in work, hard work'
Posted by Dennis SellersBy Gaurang Donovan Apple's Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook gave a commencement speech as his alma mater Auburn [Georgia] University on 14 May. It received a modicum of media coverage but that is not totally unexpected given how Apple is often covered in the past.
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Steve Jobs Takes the Stage Tuesday Night at D: All Things Digital Event
Apple CEO Steve Jobs will take the stage Tuesday night as the annual D: All Things Digital event kicks off today at an exclusive resort in Ranchos Palos Verdes, California, just 30 miles south of Los Angeles.MacRumors kindly reminds us that tonight is the night for Apple CEO Steve Jobs to return to the stage at the annual D: All Things Digital conference (or âD8,â as they call it). Hosted by The Wall Street Journal tech gurus Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, the conference runs June 1-3 and has quite a lineup this year, including Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and HTC CEO Peter Chou.D8âs opening session starts promptly at 6pm PST, with Steve Jobs taking the stage sometime after that. The Apple CEO will be interviewed by Kara Swisher, who has already hinted at several topics of discussion on her BoomTown blog back on April 27.âThere is much to talk to Jobs about, obviously, including the new iPad, the mobile market and the iPhone, its tense relationship with Google (GOOG) and the next innovations from the Silicon Valley computer icon,â Swisher teases.Jobs has appeared at the D conference in the past, with the last visit at D5 back in 2007, only a few weeks before the original iPhone went on sale. At the same appearance (video embedded below), Jobs showed off a free software update for the Apple TV which added YouTube playback, so itâs not out of the question that heâll be on hand with something new tonight as well.Engadget will be on hand at D8 and liveblogging the event, and the D8 website will be updated shortly after the interview with video as well.
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Google Ditches Windows in Favor of Mac Over Security Issues
It may not be a love-fest between Google and Apple these days, but internally at least, the search giant is showing Cupertino some love by phasing out Windows-based systems and replacing them with Macs.Financial Times is reporting that Microsoft Windows is on the outs inside Googleâs hallowed halls, according to several employees. The move comes on the heels of Googleâs Chinese operation being hacked earlier this year.âWeâre not doing any more Windows,â said one Google employee. âIt is a security effort.ââMany people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,â another Google employee elaborated.It seems that new employees at Google are given a choice of running Appleâs Mac-based systems or PCs running Linux -- Windows is not an option. âLinux is open source and we feel good about it,â one employee explained. âMicrosoft, we donât feel so good about.âYet another employee noted that those who want to stick with Windows require clearance from âquite senior levels. Getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval.âNot surprisingly, the move away from Windows is also seen as a bridge toward the company adopting Googleâs own Chrome OS. âA lot of it is an effort to run things on Google product,â an employee stated. âThey want to run things on Chrome.âIn the meantime, Macs appear to be in favor inside Google HQ, although the shift away from Windows has been âa long time coming,â according to another employee.Somehow, we donât see Google employees getting iPhones or iPads just yet, thoughâŚ
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Charges for Skype 2.0 calling on iPhone put off until 2011
When Skype 2.0 for the iPhone was released, our first reaction was: "It supports free calling over 3G, hooray!" That was, of course, followed quickly by: "It's only free until August, boo!" However, there's some slightly good news on that latter front, with free calling receiving something of a stay of execution. You can now stick it to the man until the end of 2010, at which point the whole "mobile subscription" thing comes into play. Why the delay, and what will you be paying for the privilege when the new decade really starts rolling? That we just don't know.Charges for Skype 2.0 calling on iPhone put off until 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | The Unofficial Apple Weblog | Email this | Comments
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Vitamin-R 1.11 runs as a dockless application
Posted by Dennis SellersPublicspace.net has announced Vitamin-R 1.11, an update of its Mac OS X compatible productivity tool for creative professionals. The new version allows the tool to run as a un-intrusive dockless application.
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VideoFlash Converter for Mac OS X updated to version 3.3
Posted by Dennis SellersMacvide has updated their VideoFlash Converter, a video to Flash conversion utility for Mac OS X, to version 3.3. The upgrade offers some “fixes” for the video engine, interleaved video and DV video.
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Exibia for Mac OS X gets redesigned interface, more
Posted by Dennis SellersPlymix has updated Exibia, broadcast scheduling software for Mac OS X, to version 2.0. The upgrade sports a redesigned web interface and complete web-based administration of all Exibia settings. Other new features include:
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POP3it Pro update for Mac OS X fixes some bugs
Posted by Dennis SellersComm-Unity Networking Systems has released POP3it Pro 4.1.9, an update of the email downloading and importing plug-in for FileMaker Pro. The upgrade fixes some bugs.
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HSC Edit for Aperture updated to version 2.0
Posted by Dennis SellersHuman Software has updated HSC Edit for Aperture (Apple's software for pro photographers) to version 2.0. HSC Edit is an edit plug-in to Apple Aperture that offers more than 4,000 effects to apply on one or a set of images.
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Sanyo introduces waterproof full HD dual camera
Posted by Dennis SellersSanyo has released what it says is the world's first waterproof Full HD Dual Camera that can be used underwater. The DMX-CA100 will be launched at the end of June in Japan. No word on US availability or pricing.
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The history and future of computer/human interface
Posted by Dennis Sellersby Greg Mills Back in the beginning of computers putting information in was hard work as numerous switches had to be thrown a certain way to generate results. The punch cards had to be cut and processed. Then keyboards were used (about this time IBM screwed up and helped Microsoft take...
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WWDC: Looking for This Year's 'Boom' Moment
While Apple CEO Steve Jobs will almost certainly officially unveil the next-generation iPhone at the company's hotly anticipated Worldwide Developers Conference next week on Monday, speculation abounds as to what Jobs might also reveal. Jobs will, of course, highlight new features in iPhone OS 4, which also powers the iPad and iPod touch. But what about a new version of Mac OS X? New Mac Pros, MacBook Airs, and Xserves? How about a cloud-based Apple TV? And what of the annual juggernaut -- an iPhone that runs on Verizon?
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Intel unveils new product plans for high-performance computing
Posted by Dennis SellersDuring the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC), Intel announced plans to deliver new products based on the Intel Many Integrated Core (MIC) architecture that will purportedly create platforms running at trillions of calculations per second, while also retaining the benefits of standard Intel processors.
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Acer eBook concept preview: Qualcomm MSM7227 and Android onboard
My, how the tablets have turned. Despite valiant efforts, even Acer can't resist the temptation of diving into the ever-expanding e-reader market, but rather than going head to head with Amazon's Kindle, the company seems to be readying at least one unique creature for release into the mainstream. Thanks to a stop at Qualcomm's lair here at Computex, we think we may have found the company's numero dos. In just about every respect, the simply-titled eBook is nothing at all like the LumiRead; in fact, it looks (sort of) like an iPhone 4G after pulling a Mark McGwire. We weren't told just how large the screen was, but as you can tell from the gallery below, it's quite long. The device was reportedly made as a way to showcase Qualcomm's aging MSM7227 processor, and while there's obviously no way to know if this thing is / isn't headed for the production line, it was running Android underneath. Unfortunately, responsiveness wasn't this thing's strong suit, and it was fairly obvious that the software wasn't exactly fully baked (we surely hope not, anyway). That said, the form factor could certainly be honed into something practical, and we're sure they could get the UI humming along a bit smoother if they really put their minds to it. For now, it's the gallery below... or nothin'. Gallery: Acer eBook concept at Computex 2010Acer eBook concept preview: Qualcomm MSM7227 and Android onboard originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Trailrunner for Mac OS X runs to version 3.1
Posted by Dennis SellersTrailrunner, a Mac OS X solution for folks doing long distance sports, has been updated to version 3.1. You can now send Trails to the iPhone and iPad versions of the app.
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RapidweaverTemplates releases new Rapidweaver themes collection
Posted by Dennis SellersRapidweaverTemplates has added new Rapidweaver themes to be used with Realmac Software's web site building application. They are: YellowPages, Summertime, Sunset, Nature and Sunny.
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Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
AIG, Pru deal in danger. Prudential (PRU) failed to persuade AIG (AIG) to lower the price of their AIA deal to $30.4B from $35.5B, imperiling the future of the deal. Pru had spent the last few days trying to convince AIG to renegotiate the sale of its Asian unit after several of Pru's largest shareholders called the takeover too expensive. Following AIG's rejection, Pru said it's considering its position and will make a further announcement "when appropriate." Many analysts believe Pru's best move now is to abandon the bid rather than push through with the original terms, while sources said AIG is moving forward with plans for an IPO of the unit in October. News of the failed negotiations sent Pru's shares +4% in London, AIG -3.2% premarket (7:00 ET). Covidien buys ev3. Covidien (COV) agreed to acquire ev3 (EVVV) for $2.6B, or $22.50 per share. The acquisition will enable Covidien to significantly expand its presence in the vascular market, Covidien said. The deal will dilute Covidien's 2010 earnings per share by 5 to 8 cents, but the underlying strength of Covidien's existing businesses is expected to offset some of the dilution. BP: Everybody scared as 'top kill' fails. After three days of pumping heavy drilling mud into the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, BP (BP) said Saturday that its 'top kill' efforts had failed. The company is now preparing to use remotely operated vehicles to cut the leaking pipe and cap it, but the move could end up making the spill worse and the only guaranteed solution is still more than two months away, prompting BP CEO Tony Hayward to comment that "this scares everybody, the fact that we can't make this well stop flowing." Meanwhile, Rep. Bob Markey said he's not sure if BP was "lying or incompetent" in its initial estimate that 1,000 barrels/day of oil were escaping into the sea. Given BP's tainted track record, said Markey, he has "no confidence" coming measures will be successful: "I think they do not know what they were doing." Premarket: BP -14.7% (7:00 ET). Eurozone faces 'hazardous contagion.' The eurozone is facing “hazardous contagion” effects from the region's debt crisis, said the ECB in its latest report, as growing government deficits could raise borrowing costs and clip economic growth. The ECB forecasts another €195B in bank writedowns this year and next, while the U.S. plans to urge Europe to publicly disclose the results of bank stress tests. Euro -1.4% against the dollar (7:00 ET). iPad sales break two million. Sales of Apple's (AAPL) iPad have topped two million in less than sixty days, exceeding the sales rate for the company's Mac laptops and desktops and for the original iPhone, though falling short of the sales rate for the iPhone 3G. The news could prompt analysts to upwardly revise their sales projections, giving an already buoyant stock a further lift. Competitors are racing to join Apple in the newly-created tablet computer market, with Asustek unveiling a new tablet called the Eee Pad that will run on Microsoft (MSFT) software. Premarket: AAPL +0.1% (7:00 ET). Healthscope heats up with second bid. Australian hospital operator Healthscope has become the subject of a private equity bidding war, after KKR and an unnamed firm made separate offers yesterday, each valuing Healthscope at A$1.84B ($1.54B). Sources said the unnamed firm is U.S-based Tenet Healthcare (THC), while private equity firm CVC Asia-Pacific is reportedly in talks to join KKR's bid. Monday's offers top an earlier A$1.74B bid from a consortium including Blackstone Group (BX), TPG and Carlyle. EU takes closer look at Unilever, Sara Lee deal. The European Commission has opened an investigation into the $1.3B bid by Unilever (UN) to buy Sara Lee's (SLE) personal care brands. "This merger creates significant overlaps in a number of products used by consumers on an everyday basis," said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia. "We need to make sure that if there are competition concerns these are duly addressed." Premarket: UN -1.35%, SLE -0.7% (7:00 ET). Deutsche error sends Nikkei down. Deutsche Bank (DB) said it accidentally sent out erroneous sell orders for Nikkei futures contracts because of a system malfunction, causing the Nikkei to plunge briefly just seconds after the market opened. Deutsche discovered the error within minutes and canceled the trades, but not before the Nikkei average sank 1.1%. The Nikkei rebounded slightly over the rest of the day, closing -0.6%. France fights to keep credit rating. France admitted that it faces a challenge in maintaining its triple-A credit rating, and announced some controversial cost-cutting measures in an effort to soothe market anxieties. France's actions follow a Friday downgrade of Spain to AA+ from AAA. Canada's growth picks up. Canada's GDP grew a better-than-expected 6.1% (annualized) in the first quarter, beating forecasts of 5.8% growth and more than double what the U.S. economy reported for the same period. The data sets the stage for what is likely to be the first post-crisis interest-rate increase among the G-7 nations. Friday's failures. Three affiliated Florida banks were closed on Friday, bringing the year's total failures to date to 76 and costing the FDIC's insurance fund an estimated $203M. The banks' owner, Bank of Florida (BOFL), isn't part of the transaction, but its shares closed -60.9% in after hours trading on Friday. Today's Markets In Asia, Japan -0.6% to 9712. Hong Kong -1.4% to 19497. China -0.9% to 2568. India -2.2% to 16572. In Europe, at midday, London -2.1%. Paris -2.3%. Frankfurt -1.7%. Futures: Dow -1.1%. S&P -1.4%. Nasdaq -1.1%. Crude -2.6% to $72.06. Gold +0.8% to $1224.20. Tuesday's Economic Calendar May Auto sales 10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index 10:00 Construction Spending 5:00 PM ABC Consumer Confidence Index Notable earnings before Tuesday's open: GAME, PSS Seeking Alpha editors Eli Hoffmann and Jason Aycock contributed to this post.
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Midnight Mansion game update for Mac OS X fixes some bugs
Posted by Dennis SellersMidnight Mansion 1.2.0b, an update to ActionSoft's action/exploration game, has been released. The upgrade squishes some bugs.
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Sync Android with Outlook and iCal with Missing Sync updateâ¨
Posted by Dennis SellersMark/Space has updated their all-in-one Android PIM and media synchronization software, The Missing Synv for Android. Version 1.4 brings phone-to-desktop calendar synchronization to Android phones.You can now synchronize Microsoft Outlook or Apple iCal calendars wirelessly over a Wi-Fi network or via Bluetooth.â¨â¨
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Of SSDs and sticker shock
Posted by Dennis SellersIn my recent review of the OWC Extreme Pro RE SSD [Solid State Drive] I said I loved the drive but “only” gave it an 8-out-of10 rating (I rarely bestow a nine and almost never a 10) because the price is somewhat prohibitive (the 100GB model is US$400). Was I being...
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'MUG Event Calendar': iPad, TypeStyler, Daylight, more
Posted by Dennis SellersJune starts off with a bang at the “MUG Event Calendar.”
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Ebook publishers seek universal format, lament Apple and Amazon's closed ecosystems
You don't need to sit down, we're not about to hit you with any shocking news, but a recent BookExpo America convention has given publishers the chance to air out their laundry list of complaints. Seriously, do these guys ever have anything positive to say? Now they've managed to pinpoint a flaw in the Kindle and iPad's resounding success, identifying the two ebook reading platforms as closed, and expressing a yearning for a universal and open format that all books can be published and consumed on. Of course, they wouldn't be publishers if they didn't also lust after robust DRM measures, which might explain why they're not roundly supporting the readily available EPUB format. It has DRM options, but perhaps they're not gnarly enough for the dudes responsible for bringing us the psychological horror of the Twilight series. We still don't like the suggestion that the people, Amazon primarily, who popularized this market should just open it up out of the goodness of their own hearts -- maybe we would if publishers ever showed themselves capable of doing similarly noble things.Ebook publishers seek universal format, lament Apple and Amazon's closed ecosystems originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Wired | Email this | Comments
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Music Is Still 90% of Apple's iTunes Business
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTunes is an online store for digital content like music, TV shows, movies and eBooks. Users can download content from iTunes and synchronize it with devices like iPods, iPhones and PCs. We estimate that iTunes constitutes around 3.5% of the $296 Trefis price estimate for Apple's stock. We estimate that Apple earned around 90% of its iTunes revenues in 2009 from sales of music. We expect that demand for sales will shift to to eBooks over time as a result of the iPad launch and the availability of eBooks on iTunues.
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Confessions of an Apple Lover
Why is Apple (AAPL) able to sell so many iPads and iPhones? If Dell (DELL) tried to sell a new tablet, there would be no frenzy and few sales.In order to answer, I have to confess a secret. I'm so embarrassed. It's something I haven't owned up to in print yet. Although I use a MacBook Pro, I am the keeper and protector of 3 Dell laptops, courtesy of 3 college-attending daughters who all demanded PCs over Apples. When I acquiesced to their requests for PCs, I didn't know what was in store for me. Now, I do. I'm the guy who has to keep those 3 PCs running which means I have a 24 hour-a-day job calling Dell service. Usually, it takes 4 to 5 hours of calling and being transferred from person to person until I reach the right department. During that time, I'm on hold with service people who barely speak English, call me "Mr. Steve", and know less about PCs than I do. Ultimately, I get nowhere, exasperated, screaming. No one in the family wants to get near me during these times. I swear I'll never purchase another Dell product. When one of the girl's Dell printers died, I became ecstatic. I figured I just saved myself a week's worth of phone calls.
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Exclusive: LG UX10 tablet preview at Computex
Microsoft isn't kidding around about showing Apple it's serious in regard to competing in the tablet space, and while most of the devices surrounding its Computex booth were locked down tight, we were able to spend a few exclusive minutes with a brand new LG that showed some serious promise. Boasting a 10.1-inch LED capacity touchscreen, the UX10 was one of the most solid tablets we've had the opportunity to touch. The prototype on the floor was equipped with an Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing webcam, an SD card slot, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 7200mAh battery and a micro-HDMI output. The entire front was smothered in glass, with an itty-bitty bezel and a striking pearlescent white paint job around back. Though, we couldn't help but notice the similarities in the logo when thinking of a certain Streak. Microsoft representatives couldn't comment on an estimated price, though they did affirm that the device will escape the prototype stage and ship to consumers at some point in the future. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look, and peek past the break if you're a fan of videos.Gallery: LG UX10 prototype hands-on at Computex 2010Continue reading Exclusive: LG UX10 tablet preview at ComputexExclusive: LG UX10 tablet preview at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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Mac OS Ken: 06.01.2010
âApple Sells Over 2 Million iPads in Less Than 2 Months / Fortune Looks at the International iPad Launch / Vodafone UK Struggles with Micro SIM for iPad on Launch Day / Bell Joins Rogers in Offering iPad 3G Service to Canada / RBC Analyst Sees Big Sales for iPad Through CY2010 / BofA/Merrill Lynch Ups Apple Target to 325 Dollars / Shaw Wu Says Cloud-Based iTunes and New Pro Hardware Possible for WWDC / New York Post Says DoJ Probe of Apple Expanding Past Music / Telefonica Reportedly Out of iPhones in Spain / BGR Says A T and T to Offer iPhone Insurance Soon / Skype App for iPhone Now Makes Calls Over 3G Networks / Skype Moves the Goal Posts on How Long Free 3G Calls Will Be Free / Google Closes AdMob Acquisition / webOS UI Chief Duarte Leaves Palm for Google to Work on Android / NVIDIA CEO Praises Potential of Android for Tablets / All Things D says Microsoft Is Looking for Prominent Placement on iPhone / iPhone First (Moto Droid Strong Second) in ChangeWave Survey / Engadget Spins the Tale of a New and Tiny and Cloud-Focused Apple TV
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Report: New Apple TV to Cost $99, Subscription Service Needed to Go With It
Last week Engadget reported that Apple (AAPL) is working on its next-generation Apple TV, described as an "iPhone without a screen" saying it will retail for only $99. The report says the device will have capacity for 16GB of storage via flash memory and will support 1080p streaming. While any Apple device priced at $99 will sell well, if Apple offers a monthly subscription service similar to Netflix (NFLX), then this truly could be a game changer for the industry.Clearly the big difference with this new Apple TV is the fact that Apple is going to focus on delivering movies via streaming for rental or via some kind of subscription service, rather than consumers purchasing the content for download. With only 16GB of storage, the new Apple TV can't hold many movies but can act as the streaming gateway between iTunes and your TV. This also make sense since Apple has already said it plans to bring a lot of its content into the cloud when the new data center in North Carolina opens later this year.
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Sound Earphones Giveaway
iLounge and Sound Earphones are giving away five (5) $100 Gift Cards for use at SoundEarphones.com. You can purchase any of their products using the gift card. For more information about Sound Earphones please visit SoundEarphones.com. Enter now by filling out the form below. Good Luck! {exp:freeform:form form_name=“sounde_form” form_id=“freeform” return=“contest/success” required=“name|street1|city|state|postalcode|phone1|email”…