Illustration from Apple's latest patent

Is this it? The illusive secret of Steve Jobs’ much-hyped iTV?

A patent filing discovered today describes an intuitive, touchscreen, handheld device that will replace your entire pile of TV-related remotes.

The patent, “Apparatus and Method to Facilitate Universal Remote Control,” describes a touchscreen device of unknown size that solves the main problem with TV, DVD, Blu-ray, DVR, and all other AV remotes: too many buttons. Replacing all of those buttons with a more intuitive gadget, a gadget that adapts itself on-the-fly to whatever device you’re using and whatever content you’re viewing… I mean, that sounds like every guy’s idea of absolute euphoria.

But the patent doesn’t stop there. It also claims that this potential device will be able to discover all of your AV devices and set them up entirely on its own. No more programming your universal remote, no more six different remotes. It’s all done in one, and the process is completely fluid and invisible to the user. When a device becomes unavailable, it will vanish from the remote. The filing also suggests that the remote could be used to control the multimedia content on your iMac, including music and video.

Apple fanatics will remember that Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs quoted Jobs as saying, “I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.” It certainly sounds like he’s describing this universal touchscreen remote to me, although many pundits have speculated that iTV could also make use of patents that have been found for motion sensing controls similar to Xbox’s Kinect game controller, or even Siri.

With Apple known for holding onto its secrets so tightly, I’m sure it kills them to have to reveal biggest ideas this way, but their policy of patenting every part of everything they create makes it impossible to have things both ways. If I was them, I’d hold on to those patent applications until the 11th hour before a new product reveal.

But that’s just me. This particular patent was first filed in September of last year.

Are we nearing the release of iTV? One thing’s for certain: Apple won’t unveil it until they’re absolutely certain that they’re ready to reimagine the entire paradigm of the modern television.

It was inevitable that the ongoing legal battles between Apple and Samsung will turn petty at some point, and it is evident in the new lawsuit Samsung is filing against Apple.

Samsung has filed a lawsuit against Apple because of the former’s claims that Apple has violated patents that Samsung allegedly has over emoticons – yes, emoticons. Samsung is leveraging four different lawsuits against Apple that are related to the WCDMA standard that is used for 3G. One of these is over the emoticon display.

The lawsuits were filed in Germany, which is also one of the countries where Apple has filed a lawsuit against Samsung over patent infringements regarding the design of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. These new lawsuits will be considered separate from the ones that were filed way back in April.

Based on the new lawsuit, Samsung plans to put Apple to task for the way users enter emoticons using the screen of the iPhone. This claim is, for all intents and purposes, quite shallow and is obviously one of Samsung’s attempts to harass Apple in turn in the courts. Apple will most likely not take this sitting down so expect the company to file further patent claims in other countries or even file new claims to add to the ones they have now against Samsung.

One’s things for sure though, it looks like both companies are now running out of things to throw at each other from a legal standpoint. The well from which they can draw out various patent infringement claims are drying up so they are looking for the flimsiest reasons to put each other to court.

Apple’s just released the newest version of its top-ranked mobile operating system iOS. Version 5 of iOS promises to contain a lot of goodies that will really compel Apple mobile devices to upgrade. If you’re still on the fence about it, here are some of the features you will see with iOS 5.

<h5>iCloud</h5>

Apple enters the cloud computing bandwagon with the integration of iCloud to iOS 5. This is one of the two top draws of iOS 5 and a service that Apple is investing on heavily. Taken for what it is, iCloud will allow you to save your different files and even apps on the cloud. You can then synchronize that data across all of your iOS 5 enabled devices. But more than synchronization, the iCloud service also offers you an additional level of protection against data loss. iCloud even makes syncing more convenient because all the data is located at one place and you an access it wherever you are. The iCloud service offers iOS capable device owners free 5 gigabytes of data which is sufficient for the average user, but you can choose to upgrade that capacity by buying a yearly subscription.

<h5>Siri</h5>

A lot of buzz surrounded Siri, or iAssistant as it was first refered to in the days leading to the iPhone 4s unveiling. Siri is voice navigation and control brought to the next level. Apple’s innovations in developing a voice assistant is nothing short of revolutionary. You can now control a lot of operations on your iPhone 4S using natural syntax. Gone are the days of talking like a stuttering robot in the hope that the device you’re talking to will get at least 70 percent of what you’re saying correctly. Talking to your phone using Siri can be quite unnerving at times because of the extremely high accuracy level. Unfortunately, Siri will only be activated on the iPhone 4S. Even though iOS 5 will be an update to the iPhone 3GS and 4, it won’t get the Siri feature. That’s one thing to consider if you’ll want to jump to 4S.

<h5>Updates untethered</h5>

One of the most requested features for Apple’s iOS is the ability to update a device without having to plug it into a computer. Apple has finally included this feature in iOS 5. You can now update your Apple device over the air (WiFi or 3G). The delta updates also mean that the file sizes are significantly smaller. Users will be notified with a badge if there are any new updates.

<h5>iMessage</h5>

A messaging app has been included in iOS 5. Apple device owners can now send instant messages to other device owners. The messaging goes through the app and nothing else. This is a great way of communicating with friends and doing it absolutely free, and free is always good.

So you’re a college student, and you need to buy the perfect computer for your 4 years of higher education. What will you go with? Mac or PC? Apple or Dell? Shiny, clean design, or cheap and fast?

When I was in college I went with the PC – it’s what I grew up with, what I was familiar with. But I had an iPod, an iPhone and any other Apple gadget I could get my hands on, and I lusted after all the coffee shop lurkers that had their Macs out in front of them doing work. But that doesn’t mean that Apple products don’t have their downsides.

The most obvious one? Cost. The base price of the Apple desktop is over $2,000. For that price you could get the one of the fastest PC’s on the market and probably a few additional screens if you’re a multi-tasker (or a gamer).

At the same time – Macs have only recently begun gaining market share, which means that most viruses are built and geared towards PC. So while getting a Mac does not mean you’re insulated from all viruses, it’s much less likely, and therefore, it’s less likely that you’ll get the (mac version of the) blue screen of death. Which is always one of the worst moments in the world, when you realize your entire life, for some people, is completely wiped. My advice – always back up your hard drive. Just do it.

Yet for the additional cost that you’re forking over for an Apple branded product, you’re getting the support and the culture of the Apple brand as well as the shiny, clean design. I’m a sucker for design – if you didn’t have any idea. Even with the recent resignation of Steve Jobs, the Apple culture (or cult, depending on how you look at the situation) will continue to go strong. Look at how quickly iPods became the norm, and became synonyms for ‘mp3 player’ in the general public of the US. And look how quickly iPads are taking over the tablet market. And see how quickly rumors spread about new Apple products.

The cult of Mac isn’t going anywhere soon – and with it you get a whole crowd of enthusiastic peers – and the great service of Apple employees. Does Dell have a Genius Bar? Nope. Another one of the big sellers for Apple branded products is the OS. As of September 2011, the OS is Lion – very clean and intuitive, and the multi-gesture trackpad on laptops seems like something out of a future movie like I, Robot or Minority Report. Though you can install the OS on non-Apple branded computers, and you can install the Windows system on a Mac, honestly, who would want to do either of those? With the former, you’d lose the clean lines of Apple design and the immediate envy that rises in your friend when they see that glowing apple on the front of your computer, and with the latter you’d lose the intuitive nature of the Mac OS. Either way, somehow, you lose. Either go full out Mac or go full out PC.

There’s no room on the fence when it comes to computers, at least not in today’s world. But my opinion. Take your money and go to your nearest Apple store. Especially as a young college student, you’ll earn the jealous stares of your colleagues and you can be very well protected – if you pick up an Apple Care protection plan your computer will be safe no matter what happens to it. Cherish your shiny Mac, laptop or desktop. Join the cult.

Alice Sweeny is a freelance writer who works with a federal credit union albany ny – finances and money has been something that fascinates her, though she will splurge every once in a while on that gadget she absolutely needs to have.

A judge in an Australian court, which is also another frontline in the current Apple vs Samsung battle, has decided that for Apple to succeed in banning the sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country, it will have to reveal an Apple secret, the regional sales figure for the Apple iPad and iPad 2.

Apple’s argument is that Samsung has copied a number of things from the iPad when it manufactured the Galaxy Tab and that sales of the Galaxy Tab will impact on the sales of Apple’s products. Judge Annabel Bennett has ruled that the only way for Apple to prove that Samsung’s products will negatively affect Apple’s sales figures is by showing its sales figures for both generations of the iPad and comparing it with the Tab’s sales figures in countries where both are being sold. Samsung has already went on record to say that the sales of the Galaxy Tab will not have an impact on the iPad’s sales.

Bennett does make very logical sense. The ball is now in Apple’s court. Will the guys at Cupertino be willing to divulge their sales figures – numbers they have been known to guard quite well.

The call, which starts at 2:00 PM, has analysts, investors and Journalists interested in Apple’s success with the iPad, iPhone, iPod and the Mac. It will be interesting to hear how much pre-holiday shopping has impacted Apple’s earnings and whether or not the AppleTV will move beyond hobby status.

Two very big things happened to Apple yesterday, both of which are good news for Apple fans. First, Apple stock rose over $300 for the first time ever. Now I’m not an Apple stockholder, but I have a friend of mine who bought stock when it was $80. I bet he’s thrilled.

The second big news is that Apple cracked the 10% barrier. That’s right, Apple is now officially 10.4% of the U.S. PC market, and is very close to becoming the third largest manufacturer of PCs in the United States.

This is a big deal for Apple, and I’m sure we’ll hear a lot about it at next week’s big Apple event. Maybe by the time the day is done we’ll have another reason to be crowing.

I was reading an article earlier today on ZDNet about what’s next for Apple, and it got me thinking. What top-secret project is Steve working on next? Jason D. O’Grady from ZDNet thinks it’s the car:

Car tech is still burgeoning, but moving rapidly, how many cars now have some form of screen and menu system for accessing multiple entertainment functions? Unfortunately, ALL are clunky, proprietary, and limited. I would be surprised if Apple didn’t snap up this opportunity for a new techopoly. They’ve been successful now in cutting deals with well established brick and mortar industries from film, to music, to books.

This would become a new opportunity to leverage Apple’s real bread and butter, iTunes. What are people increasingly accessing in their cars? Music? (iTunes) Video? (Podcasts) Radio? (Lala) Think of an Apple made solution for your car, it would do all these things magnificently but in typical Apple style, there would be that pragmatic, added benefit that so far hasn’t been explored much in Car Tech… in car diagnostics.

I don’t agree. As much as I love the car, and I think that Apple should get into it, I don’t think it’s Apple’s next destination. I think it’s the living room.

ITunes is huge. It’s the mammoth conglomerate that no one else seems to be able to crack, and one of Apple’s biggest money makers at the moment. But AppleTV just isn’t a big hit, and as of now, they haven’t cracked into the living room – one of the areas where Americans spend most of their time, zoned out in front of the tube. Steve has already expressed his contempt for adding another box to the living room, so I think that the next big move for Apple is a full fledged television.

I’ve said this before, but the more time passes, the more I think that I’m right. The iPad didn’t really come out of nowhere, as it was a device that we knew about for months before the release. That niche is filled now, and now Apple has something new to announce every January. So on the computer end of things, pretty much everything is covered except for a middle-of-the-line Mac Pro, which I don’t know if we’ll ever see. Sure, existing products will refresh, and new things could come down the pike on that front as well. But Apple is always wanting something new. What else makes sense?

The living room makes sense. It fits into their existing product line, and integrates with the iTunes as an all-in-one source for everything as well. Put iOS on it, and you’ve got the gamut covered. It’s a big market for sure, but imagine if Apple did come out with a television. Something with a built-in drive, iOS running the show and iTunes feeding the signal. And Apple has the money to make it happen, that’s for sure.

I could be wrong here – in fact, chances are, I am. But I’d like to think that just this once I might have guessed right. At this point, only time will tell.

I went over to my parent’s house for dinner last night, and as we were sitting around the table making conversation, my mother says to me, “Kevin, did you hear that Apple employs child workers?” To which I respond, “Well no, that’s not exactly the story. In fact, I’m writing a post about that tomorrow.”

And here we are.

Apple, like most companies, has a handbook which gives their suppliers rules to follow if they want to continue to do stuff with the company. In this case, it’s called the Supplier Code of Conduct, and Apple recently found 17 violations in various overseas suppliers, particularly the ones who make the iPhone. From Apple [PDF link]:

In 2009, our audits identified 17 core violations: eight violations involving excessive recruitment fees; three cases where underage workers had been hired; three cases where our supplier contracted with noncertified vendors for hazardous waste disposal; and three cases of falsified records provided during the audit.

Whoops. The big news here though deals with underage workers. Again, from the report:

Apple discovered three facilities that had previously hired 15-year-old workers in countries where the minimum age for employment is 16. Across the three facilities, our auditors found records of 11 workers who had been hired prior to reaching the legal age, although the workers were no longer underage or no longer in active employment at the time of our audit.

What’s interesting to me though, is how much press this is getting, like Apple did a bad thing. Read the report in whole, and you get a different story.

Apple routinely checks out their suppliers. And if they don’t follow the rules, they get the supplier to fix the problems, or stop working with them. They also follow up with these suppliers on routine audits, sometimes twice a year. Meaning, they know what’s going on as much as they can without being there.

Apple put out this report themselves. I’m not sure if there are legal reasons for them to report this, but it’s obvious to me that they’re going above and beyond what most other companies do. Take Wal-Mart for example, and their legendary draconian overseas facilities. The way I see it, Apple is doing a good thing for the company and stopping the problem before it gets worse.

This isn’t Kathie Lee’s sweatshop here, this is Apple finding a problem and nipping it in the bud.

Apple held their annual shareholder’s meeting yesterday, and as usual, some interesting things came out of the call. First, Apple’s opening up 25 stores in China soon. Then there was no talk of Verizon and the iPhone, but that’s no real big shocker. For me though, was a repeat of information that I already knew, I just didn’t have a number to quantify.

Currently, Apple has $40 billion in cash. I like to picture Steve having a Scrooge McDuck-esque vault somewhere that he goes swimming in while wearing that black mock turtleneck.

Now, that’s a ton of money – literally, and figuratively. What do they plan on doing with it? According to TheStreet.com, they’ve got a plan:

The consumer tech giant was somewhat more forthcoming when questioned about its massive $40 billion cash haul.

Jobs said that the money provides enables Apple to “think big” in terms of its product development, says Reuters, suggesting that the company has no immediate plans to offer a share buyback or pay a dividend.

“We want to take risks, technical risks,” he said, according to CNBC.”We want to know the ground is still beneath us when we jump.”

Take a moment and soak in that statement. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Recently it’s been speculated that it cost Apple around $1 billion to produce that A4 chip that’s in the iPad. I spoke a few weeks back about that processor, and the larger implications it had for Apple in general. Now I’m not saying that Apple’s going to take that $40 billion and take on Intel, but if they wanted to, they could. In fact, they could do a lot of mind-blowing things with that cash, and frankly, I think that’s exactly what they’re going to do.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The next few years are going to be very interesting for Apple. I think we could be seeing products out of Cupertino the likes of which we’ve never considered before. HD TVs with AppleTV built in? New monitor technologies for MacBooks? Some other new revolutionary device we’ve never considered? Frankly, they’re all on the table now. And with the amount of cash they have, Apple could have a Waterworld-size flop on their hands and not even stress about it.

Apple had their big earnings call yesterday, and although I didn’t hear it – I had more important things to do, like, anything – I can read the internet, and that’s where this little tidbit came about. From Gigaom.com, who actually listened to the call:

Tim Cook said corporate usage of the iPhone has doubled since this summer’s 3GS release, noting “This is a key focus of ours.” Some 70 percent of Fortune 100 companies are actively piloting or deploying iPhones, and 50 percent of the FTSE 100, according to Cook, who added, “Those are some pretty staggering numbers when you think that the time frame we’ve been in the business is only two and half years.”

This is some pretty huge news. The corporate phone industry has been dominated by the BlackBerry for the past 5 years, mostly because of its ease of integration into an Exchange server, which a lot of big businesses use. Although the BlackBerry brand has some great devices, there’s definitely more demand for the iPhone, and knowing that people who use these things every minute want one, is a step forward. Many people argue that the keyboard on the iPhone isn’t good enough for big users, but it seems like Tim Cook has evidence to back up the contrary.

Now let’s see what happens next year after the Unicorn Tablet has been out for a year.

[Image from The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs]

Apple’s been in a good financial position for a while now, with a butt-load of cash in the bank and lots of income coming in during one of the worst recessions since the great depression. But this news from their quarterly report call, well this is big. From the great Steve Jobs himself:

“If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.”

Of course, there’s this little tidbit that he snuck in, too:

“The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”

Well coat me in chocolate and call me a snickers bar.

There’s no doubt it anyone’s mind that he’s referring to the Unicorn Tablet, but it will be interesting to see how it all goes down. Is the tablet the first thing that he talks about, or will it be his famous “one more thing?” Either way, I’m about to go into cardiac arrest with all this info. I’ll be lucky if I make it to Wednesday without getting on blood pressure medication.

 

There are some days that I feel like a very important person. Today, is not one of those days.

That’s because out there, in the wilds of journalism land, people are receiving invitations from Apple to: “Come see our latest creation.” Who got those invites you might ask?

• The LA Times
• USA Today
• NY Times
• PCWorld

And me? The guy who makes the fancy Unicorn Tablet graphic? Zilch. Nada. Zero. So while others are off in Cupertino, playing with whatever shiny new Toy Mr. Jobs has come up with, I’ll be at home, scotch in hand, drying my tears with a shammy made from Unicorn hide.

Or I could be in line at the Apple Store. Who knows!

 

The revolutionary sound system has arrived! It has a name, it has a subwoofer, it has tweeters, it has wireless-integrated technology, it has superior sound, it has pure qualitative quality: it is the Sonos “ZonePlayer S5” music system.

In an age that has adopted digital music, the Sonos “ZonePlayer S5” cannot be overlooked, or go unheard! Sonos makes listening to digital music simple. For a party, turn on the “ZonePlayer S5,” and control the swinging songs via an iPhone or computer that is safely stashed away from the swaying party dancers and the clumsy fraternizers.

Sonos seems to bring to its company many of the amazing attributes that have made Apple so successful over the decades, minimalist design, functionality, quality, innovative technology and intuitiveness. As one opens the “ZonePlayer S5” packaging, that same mystique surrounding the minimal but attractive packaging of any Mac product takes over…yet it’s a Sonos.

The music player is sleek and small measuring less than nine inches tall, less than 15 inches wide and less than five inches from front to back; it fits almost anywhere. The “ZonePlayer S5” is a shining silvery gray, reminiscent of MacBook Pros and iMacs, and the minimalist design echoes the distinctive speaker set-up within, which contains five speakers: two tweeters, two speakers and a subwoofer.

There is no need to hook up a mp3 player or iPod to the Sonos music system, because the Sonos integrated program, for Mac’s and Pc’s, will allow a listener to access any music folder that is on a computer network, or iPhone. Simply install the software and plug in either a “ZonePlayer S5,” or a Sonos “ZoneBridge” to a router via an Ethernet cable (which is provided). The software disc quickly logs a user into the network and projects the listener’s music to the “ZonePlayer S5” (which is also backwards compatible with all Sonos products).

Once the “Sonos Controller” App is downloaded for free in the Apple Store, the iPhone, or iPod Touch, becomes a customizable remote control. One can access all of the music from the network, make play-lists, tweet their friends, change the volume, or access Internet radio from the palm of the hand (all of this can be done from a computer also).

Sign in to Pandora Radio, and listen to high quality customized radio stations for free on the Sonos “ZonePlayer S5” seamlessly. The Sonos Player is preprogrammed with Pandora Radio, and the album art from Eric Clapton’s “After Midnight Live” album will leap onto a display, along with the song title, song length, artist, and Pandora radio station name.

As a recommendation, the Sonos “ZoneBridge” is a near necessity to have with the “ZonePlayer S5,” as it allows one to take the player anywhere. The tiny four inch square device, the Sonos “ZoneBridge,” is an additional $99, and without it there has to be at least one S5 player hooked up to an Ethernet cable from a router (essentially keeping the player by the router); the entire Sonos system is based on this wireless technology. Though it might seem a drawback, with a single “ZoneBridge” in place, all of the actual players are then free to roam anywhere there is space and an open outlet.

The extraordinary tunes that soar from this unique surround-sound-like device cannot be put into words. The Sonos engineers put all of the necessary home audio components into a single cabinet design with the “ZonePlayer S5” and the result is a home run! The music sings, as though Sonos wishes to battle with Bose for speaker superiority, for the S5 has outstanding sound that stuns.

Where one player is a must have, two or more “ZonePlayer S5” devices is an effective way to provide top-notch audio throughout the home, without the mess of speaker wires, audio components, or even audio cables, because its completely wireless. It is true that the Sonos “ZonePlayer S5” is a bit pricey, retailing at $399, but this pays back tenfold once it is up and running, five minutes after opening the box. It is of the highest quality sound, and if one has a family, or multiple spaces where different music needs to play then multiple S5’s will truly provide a priceless experience.

When the Sonos “ZonePlayer S5” is in multiple rooms, then any iPhone or computer logged in to the Sonos devices can access all of the vast treasures of music and Internet radio. One can control the volume and songs of each room, individually, so go ahead and control an entire house, castle, mansion, or backyard with the palm of a hand!

Grade: A

Soon to be a #1 seller in Apple’s App Store, “Boxed In 2” is an amazing array of everyone’s favorite box-moving robot at work again with improved graphics combined with some incredibly catchy background music. There are now sound effects, epic tunes and more mystical mazes than ever.

Get the robot through the red portal to enter the next diabolical maze full of impeding crates. The little robot player now raises arms, as one hears gears cranking; the sound effects add a surrealistic element to a game that was already addictive.

This game was designed specifically with iPod and iPhone users in mind, and with a swipe of a thumb numerous hours of gameplay greet the robot/box lovers. The added 50 levels of this version of the game are all more difficult than the previous game’s 50 levels meaning that the goodness is near impossible to beat, and therefore the fun does not end.

If you like easy to play, yet challenging puzzle games “Boxed In 2” is the best of the best. Simply move boxes to get the robot out of the maze; such simplicity is so very awesome!

Grade: A

Boxed In 2

NASA App

The Mars Odyssey has been exploring the red planet for 3129 Days, 05 Hours, 57 Minutes, 28 Seconds…30 seconds…32 seconds. On the “NASA” App, one can easily view an in-depth description of the orbiter that is part of a “long-term effort of robotic exploration.”

In the free “NASA” application, the NASA program powers an iPhone-sized look into all of the United State’s space missions. View images of the Mars surface from the App, or peruse the translucent rings of Saturn and the icy satellites of the Milky Way planets.

Fly on the Space Shuttle section, as “the most complex machine ever built… [was] instrumental in building the International Space Station” beams down to the mobile phone screen in high quality video, streaming from NASA. There are also news updates, links and emails to contact NASA, as if gray-faced googly-eyed aliens have landed.

The “NASA” App is a gorgeous display providing intriguing, concise and comprehensive information regarding the massive space force that is NASA. It might not be Star Wars, but the “Force is with” this one!

Grade: A

The free version of the application provides a limited array of vehicles to start, VW hatchbacks, but the detail of the cars and the tracks is breathtaking. The game is played with the iPhone sideways and used as a spur-of-the-moment steering wheel of sorts; it is simple and works quite well.

The gameplay is fantastic and fun, as the player steers a speeding rubber burning cruiser through a variety of road courses designed to throw the vehicle into sharp explosive turns. Crashes and broken glass all but come through the iPhone screen and into one’s lap!

The acceleration, shifting and braking are left to the computer, as the default, so that a player merely has to concentrate on the steering of the roaring racecar that is scraping steel fenders down the track. This App makes for an interesting addition to any bank line that has crept up and kidnapped one’s time from the life’s hourglass; do not think beyond turning and hurling to victory!

Grade: B+

R. Racing GTI App

The “Truth or Dare” App for the iPhone is exactly what the name suggests, a Truth or Dare game. Download the free version, or splurge $1.99 on an 18+ (ages) version, either one is sure to lively up either a party, or date.

The simplistic design of the program makes the iPhone an easy initiator of the game: Choose the number of players and input names (if one wants to), then shake the phone and it will choose a player. That someone has to choose Truth or Dare.

Once the player makes the choice in “Truth or Dare” the App chooses the truth to be told, or the daring act that must be performed by the participant, such as “Choose a player to go into the next room with, turn off the lights and give them a kiss.”

Choosing Truth could result in having to answer a question like, “Have you ever stolen anything?” Or the embarrassing question could nail an unsuspecting person by quipping, “Did you brush your teeth this morning?” There is even an “Open Truth” that will come up where “You have to leave the room and the group decides…” So loosen up on that date already!

Grade: A

I know, really riveting stuff.

You can read the full press release after the jump.

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today filed an amendment to correct the Form 10-Q it submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, April 23. Last week’s filing incorrectly reported the voting percentages for shareholder-submitted proposals because abstentions were counted as “No” votes. Very shortly after the original filing, the company learned that these votes had been incorrectly tallied and an internal investigation confirmed the mistake was due to human error, which Apple regrets. Today’s amendment correctly reports the voting results.

As a result of the corrected vote count, Shareholder Proposal No. 5 Regarding Advisory Vote on Compensation, known as “Say on Pay,” was approved with a majority of votes cast. The Compensation Committee of Apple’s Board of Directors has been closely following the Say on Pay issue, and anticipates that new laws or regulations will require some form of Say on Pay vote at all public companies in the near future. Even if that does not occur, Apple is committed to implementing an advisory Say on Pay vote next year.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

© 2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Here’s the full press release…

Apple’s Revolutionary App Store Downloads Top One Billion in Just Nine Months

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that customers have downloaded one billion applications from its revolutionary App Store, the largest applications store in the world. The one billionth app, Bump created by Bump Technologies, was downloaded by Connor Mulcahey, age 13, of Weston, CT. As the grand prize winner of Apple’s one billion app countdown contest, Connor will receive a $10,000 iTunes® gift card, an iPod® touch, a Time Capsule® and a MacBook® Pro.

“The revolutionary App Store has been a phenomenal hit with iPhone and iPod touch users around the world, and we’d like to thank our customers and developers for helping us achieve the astonishing milestone of one billion apps downloaded,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “In nine months, the App Store has completely revolutionized the mobile industry and this is only the beginning.”

Today, the groundbreaking App Store has more than 35,000 applications available to consumers in 77 countries, allowing developers to reach tens of millions of iPhoneâ„¢ and iPod touch users around the world. This summer the iPhone OS 3.0 software update will provide developers with over 1,000 new developer APIs enabling In-App Purchases, Peer-to-Peer connections, App control of accessories, and Push Notifications. The iPhone OS 3.0 release will also add over 100 customer features including cut, copy and paste; Spotlightâ„¢ search; landscape keyboard and view for all key iPhone apps; MMS* support; and expanded parental controls for apps, TV shows, and movies from the App Store.

*MMS messaging is available only on iPhone 3G; fees may apply. MMS may not be available in all areas.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

© 2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iTunes, iPod, Time Capsule, MacBook, iPhone and Spotlight are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Last week CNBC had a panel discussing stocks and how they were performing in the recession. The video clip above is from their discussion on Apple, which seems to be invincible right now as it has grown 40% so far this year. While they may have a hard time understanding what makes it “untouchable” I think we all know the potential weaknesses in the stock price.

Right now, health issues with Steve Jobs could easily play Kryptonite to the stock. Disappointment over the next version of the iPhone could also be a factor, and if the most amazing thing in the world isn’t announced at WWDC (and probably even if it is) the stock will take at least a temporary plunge.

All that aside, though, if you’re looking for a stock that seems to have some ironclad protection in these tough economic times, Apple might be the way to go. If any of the things I mentioned above DO happen – they’ll only be temporary setbacks.

Apple issued a press release early this morning announcing that an update to Xserve is now available that delivers “up to twice” the performance of the previous system.

Using Intel “Nehalem” Xeon processors and a next generation system architecture, the 1U rack-optimized Xserve delivers up to an 89 percent improvement in performance per watt.** Xserve is available with up to two 2.93 GHz Intel Xeon processors and industry-leading storage options that include a low-power solid state drive (SSD) and up to 3TB of internal storage. Starting at $2,999, Xserve includes an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.

View the rest of the press release after the jump

Apple Updates Xserve with Twice the Performance

Features Next Generation Architecture and Intel ‘Nehalem’ Xeon Processors

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced an updated Xserve® that delivers up to twice the performance of the previous system.* Using Intel “Nehalem” Xeon processors and a next generation system architecture, the 1U rack-optimized Xserve delivers up to an 89 percent improvement in performance per watt.** Xserve is available with up to two 2.93 GHz Intel Xeon processors and industry-leading storage options that include a low-power solid state drive (SSD) and up to 3TB of internal storage. Starting at $2,999, Xserve includes an unlimited client license for Mac OS® X Server version 10.5 Leopard®.

“The Xserve is the best workgroup server for our education, business and creative customers,” said David Moody, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Mac Product Marketing. “With up to twice the performance, better power efficiency and an innovative SSD drive option, this is the best Xserve we’ve ever made.”

The new Xserve includes Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 2.93 GHz, each with an integrated memory controller with three channels of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC memory that delivers up to 2.4 times the memory bandwidth while cutting memory latency up to 40 percent.*** Using high-efficiency power supplies and intelligent thermal management, Xserve delivers a 19 percent reduction in idle power use.

Xserve’s industry-leading storage capabilities include a 128GB SSD boot-drive option that requires a fraction of the power of a hard disk and delivers up to 48 times faster random access times without occupying a drive bay. Xserve’s three 3.5 inch drive bays support both 7200 rpm SATA and 15,000 rpm SAS drives and can be configured with up to 3TB of internal storage. Two PCI Express 2.0 x16 expansion slots provide massive I/O bandwidth to support the latest high-bandwidth expansion cards. The Xserve RAID card option now delivers improved performance up to 497MB/s**** and supports RAID levels 0, 1 and 5 with 512MB of cache without using a valuable PCI Express expansion slot. A 72-hour backup battery is included for enhanced data protection.

Every Xserve ships with an unlimited client edition of Leopard Server, offering support for Mac®, Linux and Windows clients without the added cost of client-access licenses. Leopard Server extends Apple’s legendary ease of use with Server Assistant and Server Preferences, which allow even nontechnical users to quickly manage users and groups on the server and easily set up key services. Leopard Server includes Podcast Producer, the ideal way to automatically publish podcasts to iTunes® or the web; Wiki Server, allowing people to collaboratively create and modify their shared websites with just a few clicks; and iCal® Server, the world’s first commercial CalDAV standard-based calendar server. Leopard Server is fully UNIX compliant and LDAP and Active Directory support allows Xserve to fit right in to existing IT environments.

The new Xserve joins Apple’s latest hardware products in setting new standards for environmentally friendly design. Xserve uses PVC-free internal cables and components, contains no brominated flame retardants and features a power supply with an average energy efficiency of 89 percent.

Pricing & Availability

The new Xserve is immediately available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com) and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The Xserve standard configuration, with a suggested retail price of $2,999 (US), includes:

· a single 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Xeon 5500 series processor with 8MB of fully shared L3 cache;

· 3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC RAM;

· a single 160GB 7200 rpm SATA Apple Drive Module;

· dual Gigabit Ethernet on-board;

· two PCI Express 2.0 x16 expansion slots;

· Bonjour®-enabled Lights-Out Management processor and Server Monitor Software;

· internal graphics with Mini DisplayPort output;

· two FireWire® 800 and three USB 2.0 ports; and

· an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.

Build-to-order options and accessories for Xserve include: dual 2.26 GHz, 2.66 GHz or 2.93 GHz Intel Xeon processors; 160GB and 1TB 7200 rpm SATA Apple Drive Modules; 450GB 15,000 rpm SAS drives (third party option); internal Xserve RAID card; Gigabit Ethernet, 4Gb Fibre Channel cards and a 750W redundant power supply.

*Testing conducted by Apple in February 2009 using a preproduction 2.93 GHz 8-core Xserve (2 chips, 8 cores, 4 cores per chip, 2.93 GHz; SPECjbb2005 bops = 203,439, SPECjbb2005 bops/JVM = 50,860) and a shipping 3.0 GHz 8-core Xserve (2 chips, 8 cores, 4 cores per chip, 3.0 GHz; SPECjbb2005 bops = 103,387, SPECjbb2005 bops/JVM = 25,847). SPEC® and SPECjbb2005® are trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC); see www.spec.org for more information. Competitive benchmark results stated above reflect internal Apple testing and were submitted to SPEC in February 2009. For the latest SPECjbb2005 benchmark results, visit www.spec.org/osg/jbb2005. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve.

**Testing conducted by Apple in February 2009 using a preproduction 2.93 GHz 8-core Xserve (SPECpower_ssj™2008 result of 464 overall ssj_ops/watt; 173W at Active Idle; 227,974 ssj_ops and 334W at 100 percent target load) and a shipping 3.0GHz 8-core Xserve (SPECpower_ssj™2008 result of 245 overall ssj_ops/watt; 213W at Active Idle; 141,739 ssj_ops and 353W at 100 percent target load). All units were configured for optimal memory performance (18GB for 2.93 GHz 8-core units and 16GB for 3.0 GHz 8-core units). SPEC® and the benchmark name SPECpower_ssj™ are trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC); see www.spec.org for more information. Competitive benchmark results stated here reflect internal Apple testing and were submitted to SPEC in March 2009. For the latest SPECpower_ssj2008 benchmark results, visit www.spec.org/power_ssj2008. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve.

***Testing conducted by Apple in February 2009 using preproduction 2.93GHz 8-core Xserve units and shipping 3.0 GHz 8-core Xserve units. All units were configured for optimal memory performance (18GB for 8-core 2.93 GHz units, 12GB for 4-core 2.26 GHz units, and 16GB for 8-core 3.0 GHz units). Results are based on the STREAM v. 5.8 benchmark (http://www.cs.virginia.edu/stream/ref.html) using OMP support for multiprocessor-compiled builds. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve. Memory latency data provided by Intel.

****Testing conducted by Apple in February 2009 using preproduction 2.93 GHz 8-core Xeon-based Xserve units configured with Xserve RAID Card. Testing conducted using Iometer 2006.07.27 with a 30-second ramp-up, five-minute run duration, 512KB request size, four outstanding IOs, and using non-OS-cached reads and writes. System configured with the operating system on Xserve SSD drive. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve RAID Card. Drive average read latency data from manufacturer’s published data sheets.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

© 2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, Xserve, Leopard, iTunes, iCal, Apple Store, Bonjour and FireWire are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

I will be providing some updates during the event which will be pulled from Gizmodo, Engadget, and GDGT coverage. So feel free to stop by and discuss the iPhone 3.0 event as it happens.

NOTE: Kevin Rose started talking iPhone 3.0 predictions at the live Diggnation taping this weekend and let a few things out of the bag that are very likely to happen. I had these 5 predictions in mind before reading that article, but there’s no way of avoiding it now…so take them for what you will…

Tomorrow we’ll get a chance to see just what Apple has in store for iPhone 3.0. Many people (myself included) have high hopes for some exciting announcements. The iPhone OS is amazing…but the Palm Pre has laid the gauntlet down (although with no price point yet announced for that device, there’s still good reason to question what its success is going to be).

So will Apple be responding to the Palm Pre (and for the record, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I’m sure many fanboys will want to dismiss the idea that Apple would “respond” to anyone, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen).

Here are 5 Predictions that I hope/expect to see from Apple for iPhone 3.0 tomorrow.

1) Copy and Paste – let’s just get this one out of the way up front. It’s time. It’s become an ongoing joke, and its time that Apple stepped up and provided some sort of copy and paste.

2) Organize with Stacks or Folders – The iPhone has SO MANY applications now, that better organization is a must. If we could organize our apps under one icon (i.e. all Games under a “Game” icon, All Utilities under a “Utility” Icon etc.) we could keep our iPhones much more organized and not have to scroll through 9 pages of apps. Of all the possible updates this is the one I hope for the most. It’s essential to taking the OS to the next level in my opinion.

3) Laptop Tethering – Apple and At&t are due to announce this at some point, and it makes perfect sense to do it tomorrow. It won’t be free, and it won’t come with your current plan, but it will be an option.

4) Multitasking Applications – Keeping multiple applications open at once is one of the most interesting things that the Palm Pre has managed to add to their roster. I full expect Apple to respond with a way to do this beyond their messaging system that appeared and then disappeared last year.

and finally…

5) Changes to Developer Contracts – Something is stirring in regards to the developer community. Contracts are starting to expire, and Apple has said it “needs more time” to get those contracts out. That seems odd. Developers has gotten emails saying that their contracts have been extended…which is good…but what is the hold up?

Sure, you could say that its going to take a massive undertaking to renew all the contracts from the thousands of iPhone developers. I would agree with that…but that has nothing to do with sending out a contract.

You only have to write a contract once to send it out…assuming that there will be only one contract that needs to be sent out. It make take months to process them all, but it doesn’t take months to write one…especially if nothing is changing.

So it seems logical to me that we’ll see some kind of change for developers on Tuesday. Perhaps it will be in the form of a “premiere partnership” where Developers can pay an additional fee and get fast tracked service, or better control over things like release dates…who knows? It just seems odd to me that this event is popping up right as contracts are expiring…so we’ll see.

Well, that’s my take…what do you think?

The event will be held at 10am PST (12pm CST, 1pm EST) and, unfortunately, Apple Gazette will not be their, but we may do a live discussion or something to that effect during the event.

Apple is calling this an “advance preview of what we’re building” so don’t expect to get your hands on anything on Tuesday. The new version of the SDK MIGHT become available to developers, but even that is pure speculation on my part.

Hopefully it will be a nice evolution of the iPhone OS. As much as the interface has been knocked-off since the launch, it would be nice to refresh the look a bit.