Founder, Publisher and Editorial Director of the 9to5/Electrek/DroneDJ sites.
Seth Weintraub is an award-winning journalist and blogger who won back to back Neal Awards during his three plus years covering Apple and Google at IDG’s Computerworld from 2007–2010. Weintraub next covered all things Google for Fortune Magazine from 2010-2011 amassing a thick rolodex of Google contacts and love for Silicon Valley tech culture.
It turns out that his hobby 9to5Mac blog was always his favorite and in 2011 he went full time adding his Fortune Google followers to 9to5Google and adding the style and commerce component 9to5Toys gear and deals site. In 2013, Weintraub bought one of the Tesla’s first Model S EVs off the assembly line and so began his love affair with the Electric Vehicle and green energy which in 2014 turned into electrek.
In 2018, DroneDJ was born to cover the burgeoning world of drones and UAV’s led by China’s DJI.
From 1997-2007, Weintraub was a Global IT director and Web Developer for a number of companies with stints at multimedia and branding agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Madrid and London before becoming a publisher/blogger.
Seth received a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California with a minor in Multimedia and Creative Technology in 1997. In 2004, he received a Masters from NYU’s Tisch School of the Art’s ITP program.
Hobbies: Weintraub is a licensed single engine private pilot, certified open water scuba diver and spent over a year traveling to 60 cities in 23 countries. Whatever free time exists is now guaranteed to his lovely wife and two amazing sons.
More at About.me. BI 2014 profile.
Tips: seth@9to5mac.com, or llsethj on Wickr/Skype or link at top of page.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0IiKaa8v9M&w=640&h=390]
I look at this thing, and as bad as it is, I can’t help but wonder if you can Hackintosh it. Ctrl-Alt-Del FTL via Giz.
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Apple made their iPad iWork apps a little more useful today by allowing the export to .xls and .ppt formats and better format support overall.
Another biggie is MobileMe iDisk and other WebDAV server support.
With the latest Keynote, Pages and Numbers for iPad, you can now transfer your documents directly to and from your MobileMe iDisk so you can work on them anywhere you have an Internet connection. For example, create a new Pages document on your iPad and copy it directly to your iDisk. Then, when you are back at your Mac, open the document from iDisk and continue editing right where you left off.
Everything new listed below:
http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:359744
The whole ‘kids wiping their identities when they turn 18 thing ‘ was a joke!
(anyone find an international/Flashless version? Hit us in the comments)
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From the Toys Section:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx8uE9wra0Y&w=670&h=400]
MacUpdate’s $50 promotion ends today. The bundle offered gives you Roxio’s Toast 10 and 10 other programs for one low price. If you like MacUpdate on Facebook, you’ll get another $10 application free. The offer ends on September 23rd at midnight.
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Seagate has upped the portable drive ante again with their new 1.5TB FreeAgent GoFlex. The new drive comes with their GoFlex interface connected through a USB 3.0 (which is also 2.0 compatible). Though that won’t be of much use to Mac users at the moment (maybe in October?), the size will turn some heads. It is 50% bigger than any other portable hard drive on earth.
If you are like us, you are wondering if you can pull this thing out of its case and plop it in your MacBook Pro. The good news is that Seagate’s Go Flex interface is just a snap on for a SATA connection and will work with any standard SATA drive. It also means that you can pull these drives out of their case and use them as internal drives.
I’ve contacted Seagate who’ve given me the dimensions of the external enclosure which are:
4.71in L x 3.51in W x 0.87in D (120mm x 89mm x 14.5mm), Weight: 0.62lb (0.28kg)
Update: Seagate has confirmed to me that the Internal Drive height is 12.5mm meaning that it will fit into a Unibody MacBook/Pro.
List price however is a hefty $249.
Press release follows:
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Adobe today updated its Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements for Mac and PC. Adobe is touting ‘magic’ in this upgrade saying:
“The Photoshop brand has been creating groundbreaking imaging magic for 20 years, and Photoshop Elements has been making that magic accessible to mere mortals for nearly a decade. The Content Aware Fill technology introduced with Photoshop CS5 is one of our most exciting innovations ever, so we’re thrilled to be able to make it accessible to photo and video enthusiasts in this latest Elements release.”
Content Aware Fill is a pretty awesome technology.
Abobe is offering a $20 rebate on each bring the price down to $80 each or buy both together for $150-$30 rebate = $120.
For an additional $50 Adobe offers a plus package which gives users 20GB of online space to share their media.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4qBZ5gPCHA&w=640&h=385]
The Mosspuppet gets into our Tips and Tricks section.
Update: Microsoft has a dummy howto page up here. The links don’t work but obviously Microsoft’s prepping itself
If you are quick and a Microsoft Volume License customer you can now download the Mac Office 2011 from Microsoft. It appeared on Microsoft’s Volume license page over night and readers have already downloaded their copies.
We’re not sure if this is a mistake or an early gift for volume customers. It weighs in at 972MB (not GB!) and no license key is required. It’s labelled as “Office for Mac 2011 Standard”. However, it includes the full package (including Outlook and Messenger v8). Look for:
SW_DVD5_Office_Mac_Standard_2011_English_MLF_X16-99088
The official release wasn’t expected until late October. Some screenshots below (Thanks Jared!)
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Wow. So MacSpeech is no more. First MacSpeech ditched their own speech recognition engine for the market and technology leader Nuance in 2008. Then, Nuance bought the Macintosh speech recognition program earlier this year, and the ‘MacSpeech’ brand was up in the air. Now it is officially Dragon Dictate 2 for Mac. (MacSpeech Scribe still exists)
Nevermind the name. The product is solid. I’ve been playing with the new Nuance Dragon Dictate 2 for Mac which uses the same best-in-class speech recognition engine as Dictate 11 for PC, and have to say this is a more than worthy upgrade.
The biggest difference for me, straight out of the box, is that you don’t have to use a USB/Bluetooth microphone. I was able to set the program up to use my MacBook Pro’s built in mic. At a normal distance it is able to recognize my voice in a quiet room. If there is any kind of noise in your work environment or you need better accuracy, use a USB or Bluetooth headset. A cheap but functional USB headset is supplied with the boxed version but you’ll be much happier with a $20 Plantronics from Amazon.
The accuracy with a headset seems at least as good as the previous version and probably better. I usually go a few paragraphs between missed words, and that is often the result of my mumbling or using a word that no dictionary would recognize. There is a 20 minute training program at the beginning but you’ll be impressed at the results even if you don’t spend the time training (I imported my profile from a previous version).
Another nice thing about this version is that it allows multiple microphone profiles per user. I use the built in Mac mic in my office but a Logitech headset when I’m out and about. I could add one of those in ear Bluetooth headsets if I wanted to look like a douche…but I’ll pass.
One other interesting new feature I’ve been playing with is the ‘mouse movements’ via speech. You can actually move your mouse around the screen with voice commands (see directions below).
Overall, a great product gets even better. Let’s hope they get to name parity with the PC version next time around.
Dragon Dictate 2 for Mac is available for $199 retail package or $179 for software download only and $49 for an upgrade from MacSpeech 1.x.
Fortune reports that Rovi Corp. announced Monday (in a filing with the SEC ) that it had signed a mulityear deal giving Apple access to undisclosed portions of its TV-related intellectual properties.
Rovi Corporation (the “Company”) announced today that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with Apple Inc. whereby Apple shall license intellectual property from the Company. The specific terms of the license agreement are confidential.
Rovi already provides entertainment metadata to iTunes (and this news could just be a re-up on that front) so the news might not be that awe-inspiring.
Nevertheless, Gene Munster also uses the news to push his all in one…
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4CHkHtUJ8w&w=640&h=385]
Your .AVI and .MKV on iPad prayers have been answered. VLC is now (or will soon be) available from the App store via this link. It is already live in New Zealand and is making its way across the globe. via
See our previous coverage for the backstory.
Update: We’re not getting much for our videos on our 4.2 iPads. How are ya’ll makin’ out?
Google Docs/iPad users, it is almost time to break out the champagne. Google announced today that Docs would soon be editable (and creatable?) form the iPad (and iPhone/iPod?).
We’re launching new cloud-powered capabilities: two-step verification to help enhance security and soon, mobile editing in Google Docs on Android and the iPad™.
..today we demonstrated new mobile editing capabilities for Google Docs on the Android platform and the iPad. In the next few weeks, co-workers around the world will soon be able to co-edit files simultaneously from an even wider array of devices.
Only cloud computing is able to deliver the whole package of productivity-enhancing collaboration, superior reliability and virtually unlimited scale at a price that’s affordable for any size organization. Our Atmosphere event is a nice opportunity to step back and fully appreciate the power of the cloud with customers and future customers alike.
This is a big win for iPad users, especially those who use Google Docs/Apps for business.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHOZZJ_2Wjg&w=670&h=401]
Here’s the first iPad competitor from a known brand. I’m not so sure how ‘pocketable’ this thing is (see video below) but I do know that it will have Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay and run Android 2.2. Also the screen is widescreen (for better or worse) and is about half the size of the iPad.
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http://www.viddler.com/player/e372d463/
According to Norwegian Mac Site Mac1, Apple has bought up all of the shares of a Swedish face recognition company called Polar Rose. An example of their technology can be seen above (Flashless). Google translated:
The Malmö-based company specializes in developing technology which makes facial recognition, not unlike what Apple already has and uses iPhoto for Mac OS X. Through sophisticated algorithms, manages the software of the Arctic Rose to recognize faces in images and the company offers three different products using this solution. Two of the (Face Cloud and FaceLib) them seem to be very interesting for Apple.
The big news this weekend was TechCrunch’s supposed revelation that there will be a FaceBook Phone. A few hours later, Facebook released a statement saying “we aren’t building a phone”. Like all of these things, the answer is probably in somewhere in between.
Perhaps Facebook will brand an Android phone with Facebook tied to all parts of the OS.
But really, do you need any more Facebook in your phone? Or in your life?
BTW, we’ve obtained a secret prototype image of the FaceFone, below:
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Full story here. Short version: Kindle.app, Nook.app and iBooks.app are more similar than different.
If you are wondering what is coming around the bend in Apple-land, you’ll be happy to know that October/November is becoming MacBook update season. Notice how Apple is settling into yearly schedules on its products almost like the fashion industry? November is Apple’s first fiscal quarter and the run up to the holidays makes having new kit much more tantalizing.
While the MacBook and MacBook Pros aren’t terribly out of date, holy@%#$! the Airs could use an update.
What if MacBooks’ optical drive went USB-external making the consumer line very Air-y? For the pros, 8GB of RAM, Core i3, 512GB SSD, 3G card built in…oh and how about a 15-inch MacBook Air with 1080P HD screen?
Wishful we are…
Finally!
The Apple Store has stock of its factory-refurbished Apple iPad Wi-Fi Tablets, with each model priced at $50 off the cost of a new one. That’s the first time we’ve seen any discount on the Apple iPad. Each qualifies for free shipping. Sales tax is added where applicable. This 0.5″-thick tablet weighs 1.5 lbs. and features an Apple A4 1GHz processor, 9.7″ 1024×768 LCD touchscreen display, 802.11a/n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, accelerometer, compass, up to 10 hours of battery life, and more. Each carries a 1-year Apple warranty, the same as new units. The iPads:
Jobs’ war on Flash video and growing iOS device line have all led up to this…
[vodpod id=Video.4289468&w=650&h=425&fv=videoGUID%3D%7BFF922002-FA63-4B68-A326-EA12EC800612%7D%26amp%3Bplayerid%3D4001%26amp%3BplyMediaEnabled%3D1%26amp%3BconfigURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fm.wsj.net%2Fvideo-players%2F%26amp%3BautoStart%3Dfalse]
Steve Jobs told the AllThingsD audience a few months ago that the reason no one including Google and Apple have been successful in the TV space is that they lacked a successful ‘Go to market TV strategy’.
Apple has that strategy. They’ve been working on it since the original iPhone release three years ago. But you won’t find much of it on their website touting the new AppleTV.
The new AppleTV in its current form is basically a Roku box that streams content from various places on the Web. It does Netflix, iTunes, Youtube photo albums, etc. and it also can stream media from computers around the house. It costs a paltry $99. That is close enough to the ‘almost free’ that Steve Jobs talks about above. But it isn’t really bringing all of the video on the Internet to your TV is it?
Sure, you can search YouTube directly from the AppleTV. But it is a hassle too pull over YouTube URLs when you find something cool while browsing the web with your iPad?
The stated use above isn’t how people are going to use their AppleTVs the majority of the time. In fact, what’s on Apple’s site right now is a red herring. This will be just one way people use AppleTV. I think a much bigger use will be what puts these in almost every house in America – or at least gives it the market share that the iPod enjoys.
AppleTV is a Airplay-compatible device, meaning it can stream video/sound from other Apple devices. We found out last night that it isn’t just iTunes content that it will be able to broadcast. Any H.264 content from the web can be broadcast over Airplay to your HDTV.
That includes any video that can play on your iOS 4.2 device, like: Facebook video, YouTube, Netflix, Videos, BBC News, MLB and really anything else you can watch on your iOS device. That also includes videos built into Apps and magazine subscriptions too. All of this can be beamed to your AppleTV via Airplay.
You know what won’t play over Airplay? Flash…
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You know that ratings organization that has trouble recommending its top-rated smartphone? Turns out it can’t make an iPhone app. When the electronics section (of all things) is opened, you get the above.
Some reviews:
Oh, the irony!
Sure, You’ve been able to get an iPad through Hong Kong or other gray market channels in China for months. But the official launch got the Chinese Apple fanboys (and that’s a good thing!) fired up. Check the videos below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krakOMTsITA&w=640&h=385]
Translation from iPad I Buy #1 (and 2) guy: “I love me some iPad”. It is nice to see to see the appreciation of Apple products going global.
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Hasn’t been a bad week for ol’ Apple. They hit an all time closing high today and are up another point in after hours training. Watch out Exxon!
Yes commenters, AAPL was at a 279.1 intraday high earlier this year.
Business Insider details the new look Yahoo homepage (not yet active) and Yahoo iPad app (bottom). Looks good over here but maybe a little to Windows Mobile 7 tiley-y. They’ve been spending too much time with the Bing crew. I wonder if Yahoo will use iAds?
According to a heavily retweeted tweet by Microsoft Blogger Paul Thurrott, Microsoft is working on iPad Apps. They are probably similar to their iPhone apps (which all work on iPad)…except bigger!
