News Archive
Just so we’re clear, Steve Jobs DID NOT have a heart attack
Over the weekend I had an inbox full of reports that Steve Jobs had a massive heart attack, and was rushed to the hospital. There was report on CNN’s iReport.com - which turned out to be COMPLETELY untrue, that stated this.
Apple’s stock took a serious hit when the “news” broke, and closed at its lowest point in nearly 18 months. If its found that this was posted on iReport for the purpose of lower Apple’s stock price (which it certainly did) the person responsible could face jail time.
So, just remember - Steve is fine for now. When something does happen to him, however, it looks like you’re stock is going to tank. So - you know - keep that in mind.
Sources say that “The Brick” is a manufacturing process…
In an interesting turn of events it may be that Apple’s “Brick” rumor may not be a product at all - but a new manufacturing process that would involve 3D lasers and water jet cutting.
According to 9to5Mac this new process would have several advantages:
Carving out of aluminum eliminates the need to bend the metal and create weak spots or microfolds and rifts.
There are no seams in the final product, so it is smooth.
Screws aren’t needed to tie the products together.
The shell is one piece of metal so it is super light, super strong and super cheap.
You can be a whole lot more creative with the design if you don’t have to machine it.
They refer to it as a “game changer”. This could even lead to a U.S. based factory. Computerworld speculates that this could be the culmination of an 18 year dream of Steve Jobs that was first realized during the NeXT days.
This all sounds very interesting. The “Brick” itself would actually be a brick of aluminum that the computers would be cut out of…
What do you think?
Apple releases iTunes 8.0.1
Yesterday Apple released a new version of iTunes that has the longest description of changes I’ve ever seen from the company.
You can read the full copy here:
iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don’t already have.
With iTunes 8, browse your artists and albums visually with the new Grid view; download your favorite TV shows in HD quality from the iTunes Store; sync your media with iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (120GB), and iPod touch (2nd generation); and enjoy a stunning new music visualizer.
iTunes 8 and iTunes U are now accessible with VoiceOver on your Mac.
iTunes 8.0.1 improves stability and performance and provides a number of important bug fixes, including:
• Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
• Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
• Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
• Improves checking for updates from the App Store
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
• Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.
You can get the update now through Software Update…
Apple Gazette Daily 358 - Android rant
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Today’s Show: Android rant!
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Nokia reveals their iPhone rival - and it is priced to compete
Nokia today announced their first touch-screen phone - and frankly - they threw the gloves off and came out swinging for Apple’s iPhone.
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is a nice looking phone that has a resistive touch screen and a 640 x 360 display. Engadget have already had their hands on it and their review compares it directly to the iPhone. Based on their comments, its clear that the phone isn’t quite as impressive as the iPhone in performance and overall build quality - but it certainly doesn’t look like a terrible touch screen phone.
The real reason for the “gloves coming off” comment is not because the phone looks superior to the iPhone - it doesn’t. It does however, look comparable to the iPhone..and its priced WAY cheaper.
In fact, for many customers signing up for a 2-year contract the Nokia WILL BE FREE.
In a time of economic uncertainty some customers may be very interested in getting an iPhone-like experience without having to drop an additional $199.
Now before any of you start spewing hatred at me for being an iPhone hater…just stop it. The Nokia 5800 is not going to destroy the iPhone - and no one here is suggesting that it is. What this is, though, and what’s encouraging here, is that Nokia is pulling out all the stops and making their own touch screen phone one worth looking at. Competition is the key to innovation, and seeing Nokia create a phone like this, for a price this cheap ($395 unsubsidized…which, again…could make it FREE for people under new contracts) is a great sign.
Netflix “Watch Instantly” coming to Mac by year end
One of the best features of a Netflix subscription is the “Watch Instantly” service where you can watch any of their online titles for free online with the click of a few buttons. It’s a great feature that they’re expanding to the Xbox 360, select DVD players and digital boxes, and now - thankfully - to the Mac.
One of the only reasons I have Windows on my Mac (via VM Ware Fusion) is for when I had a Netflix subscription. I recently cancelled it because I was tired of having to load Windows to use this feature - which I found myself using far more than the actual DVD rentals.
Yesterday, though, Netflix posted something on their blog about the development of a Mac version of the Watch Instantly service - which should be available by the end of the year. When they get it up and running - I’ll be re-subscribing to the service…assuming the Mac player works.
Mac Sales up, even if the Economy is down
Register Hardware reports that even though the economy may be in a slump, Mac sales aren’t. According to their reports Apple’s market share now 35% (for revenue earned).
For a look at the actual percentage of people that own Macs vs. PCs Computerworld reports that the Mac marketshare is 8.2%. They reach these numbers by looking at over 40,000 websites monitored by Net Applications. This would mark the first time that Apple’s market share has gone over 8% according to TUAW.
Apple Gazette Daily 357 - iPhone NDA dropped! Develoment tips inside, plus more!
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Today’s Show: iPhone NDA dropped! Develoment tips inside, plus more!
You can subscribe via iTunes, or by RSS feed, or…
you can listen to the episode right here:
In addition to that, you can also download the Apple Gazette Daily Widget and listen to every episode of the show right on your Dashboard. Click Here to download.
Mac and iPhone both gain browser support
Tracking figures from Net Applications show a significant jump in Mac web browsing. Web site visitors browsing from Macs are now amounting to 8.23% of the market in Sept, which is up from 7.86% in August. That is the largest increase during the period, and could have resulted in lower numbers for Windows and Linux. Windows is at its lowest point market share wise in almost a year.
The iPhone is also doing well - and is actually the only major category aside from Macs to have gained share. The iPhone is up from 0.30% to 0.32%. The growth is obviously attributed to the high demand for the device which has sold an estimated 14 million units thus far.
Apple FINALLY drops the iPhone NDA
In a statement to developers on its website Apple has dropped the NDA agreement. Here is the full statement from Apple:
To Our Developers
We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.
We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.
However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.
Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear this.
