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.
As rumored last night, Google Voice is now embedded within Gmail, allowing users to make and receive calls to their Google voice numbers, from right within their browser. Â That’s pretty impressive.
Fire up your browser to enable this feature here. Google’s video, below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2EaIWf4mA&w=685&h=400]
Admittedly, I’m more into this technology than perhaps the use case here, but check out the video above. You wave your magic little barcode scanning iPhone over the product you wish to evaluate, then in a few seconds, you get a readout on how terrible it is.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhgfz0zPmH4&w=700&h=400]
According to El Reg, Google is building an iPhone version of its Google Goggles product.
“We’re working on an iPhone version, and hope to have it out by the end of the year,” David Petrou, a Google staff engineer working on the Goggles project, told his keynote audience at Monday’s Hot Chips conference at Stanford University in California.
A web app for Goggles, Petrou said, isn’t current;y an option, even with HTML5’s enhanced media-capture abilities. “There is a new part of HTML5,” he said, “that allows you to acquire an image from a camera. And that’s really nice and really useful, but we don’t think it’s sufficient for something like Goggles that needs very fine control over the camera.
While it doesn’t seem immediately useful, I’m looking forward to playing with this on my iPhone.
Patently Apple does what they do and today found some patents related to a touch based iMac-type computer. These patents cover the sensors in the hinge that would change settings based on the orientation of the iMac Touch. For instance, if the thing is upright, it would accept input based on keyboard/trackpad but if laid flat, it would accept touch input. Now, when can we haz? 10.7!
Fortune reports that analyst Charlie Wolf has broken down IDC numbers on Apple’s Mac sales for June and shows incredibly high growth in government spending.
Not only did Mac share triple in government, but it doubled in large business as well:
Wolf also points out that Mac sales are booming in European homes, likely a benefactor of the iPhone halo effect. He notes the halo effect is much stronger in Europe because the iPhone has grabbed a much larger market share. That, he says is due to the fact that the iPhone is available on all carriers.
Digg founder, Kevin Rose is jumping on the iTV bandwagon. He doesn’t have any new technical news but he does think Apple will launch the new device in September.
“From what I hear we should expect to see the iTV launch in September. Also, keep an eye onGoogleTV – this is going to be a hot space in 2011.”
Engadget has had two posts on the new device. Rumors have been floated that the event would be in mid-September (14th?).
Rose also thinks the iTV will change everything. Why?
September can’t come fast enough!
Even though Apple says the (recently shipping!) Mac Pros max out at 32GB of RAM…
According to OWC, those new Mac Pros can handle 64 GB of RAM conveniently using 8 of OWC’s 8GB RAM modules. A bargain (compared to Apple) at $2400. (Yes, the older Mac Pros can do this too)
An interesting opinion (and data, if true) from the Author of the Facebook Effect:
The Facebook application is by far the most important application on both the iPhone and the iPad. Without the Facebook application, my own opinion is the iPhone would never have become as important as it is. It’s the single most widely used application. It’s so heavily used compared to other apps that I have been told by someone who thought he knew the data — this is highly secret data and I don’t know the actual numbers — that more than half of all usage of the iPhone of apps, other than those provided by the phone itself like telephony and email, is coming from Facebook. And on the iPad, too, it’s just a huge, huge part of usage. So in a way, Apple and Facebook are joined at the hip, and I think that’s one reason why Zuckerberg and Jobs have been spending time together.
That is kinda depressing. But if you don’t believe it, check these numbers: Remember how Steve Jobs announced in June that there were over 100 million iOS devices sold? Considering a few percent of those were lost, broken or decommisioned, what percent of those 100 million+ iOS devices would have active Facebook accounts? 99,125,680 is Facebook’s current tally.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdk2cJpSXLg&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
Although Steve Jobs said it was rude to post ‘intimate’ emails with customers, this one could use some spreading. For those who are stuck with an iPhone 3G running iOS, there is some good news:
The new email came in response to feedback sent by a customer who expressed frustration over the performance of his iPhone 3G, calling it “dog slow” and pointing to problems with system responsiveness when scrolling, zooming, and typing.
I’ve waited patiently through 4.0.1 and 4.0.2, looking for a fix that will make my phone work again. I’ve read the forums that advise me to jailbreak my phone or use some other method so I can downgrade back to a version of iPhone 3, however I’m not prepared to use a method that is not supported by Apple.
Jobs’ response was unsurprisingly terse:
Software update coming soon.
Sent from my iPhone
iOS 4.1 Betas on iPhone 3G devices have shown steady speed improvements, though there are limitations with older hardware. Apple was selling the iPhone 3G up until a few months ago ($99 option) so getting a fix in place is important.
Although the original patent appears to be focused on stolen phones and methods of finding the people who stole them (and getting the phone back), Slashdot opines (seriously?!)Â that Jailbreakers could fall into Apple’s net:
“Apple yesterday applied for patent to allow remotely disabling electronic devices when ‘unauthorized usage’ is detected. The patent application covers using the camera to take pictures of the unauthorized user and using GPS to determine location, and it involves ascertaining whether the phone has been hacked or jailbroken, using that as criteria for detecting ‘suspicious behavior.’ The patent would allow the carrier or any other ‘authorized’ party to disable or restrict the functionality of the device. Is this Apple’s latest tool to thwart jailbreaking?”
Maybe a little net can come out of the phone too? Or poison gas?
“But I wanted to FaceTime over 3G?!” Too bad punk!
The maker of many of Apple’s displays including the iPhone 4 Retina Display had some not so kind words for their other iOS product today. Speaking to the PayWall St. Journal Chang Ma, vice president of marketing for LG’s mobile-devices unit said,
The first LG tablet, which will run on Google Inc.’s Android software, will set itself apart from Apple Inc.’s iPad by focusing on the ability to create content, rather than simply display it. The iPad is a great device, but he doesn’t do much work on it. The tablet will include content focused on creation such as writing documents, editing video and creating programs. It will also have “high-end features and new benefits,” many of which will focus on productivity, Mr. Ma said. “It’s going to be surprisingly productive. Our tablet will be better than the iPad.”
Uh huh. These things usually pan out.
Apple has seeded a second build of Mac OS X 10.6.5 to developers.
iPhoneinCanada.ca informs us that this new version fixes two outstanding issues noted within the last build and seemingly notes no new matters that need resolving.
The current build focuses on AFP, Mail, Printing, 3D Graphics, QuickTime, and X11. It weighs in as a 558MB download.
“Apple began the seeding OS X 10.6.5 project in July 2010. The first two builds were seeded in August 2010 with the build period expected to last into Fall 2010,” the report informs.
From the seed notes:
Known Issues
* None
Focus Areas
* 3D Graphics
* AFP
* Mail
* Printing
* QuickTime
* X11
Within testing the next iteration of iOS, v4.1, Apple may be testing a shadowy third product along with the expected future iPod touch and iPad. Is this a new 7-inch iPad, an Apple TV or a completely new product?
The latest beta of iOS 4.1, due to ship in the coming weeks, includes three new “Configuration Descriptors” within its USB configuration files. These descriptions all relate to products described as made by Apple Inc.
We know to expect an iPod touch revision, and this is referred to in the description as iPod 4.1. The new model is expected to include an A4 processor, a high quality display, Facetime support and dual cameras.
The second code refers to an iPad, the third relates to a product with the unique ID of 20547, but — teasing the faithful — is referred to within the software as “Unknown – Add device descriptor info for this device.”
Interesting huh? What do you think this might be?
Via: MR
So let’s assume that after all of this time, Apple is indeed going to end its US exclusivity and put the iPhone on Verizon.
OK! $199 Verizon iPhone 4! Sign me up!
Not so fast. That exclusivity comes at a price. AT&T is subsidizing more of the iPhone 4, than it is, say for a Samsung Captivate Android device.
Why? Exclusivity.
What is AT&T’s part in this whole game? They get exclusive rights to the iPhone and in return, they subsidize more of it than they would otherwise. More than they do for any other phone running any other OS or any other hardware manufacturer. But having a monopoly on the iPhone in the US is worth it. They get smartphone customers that would (will?) go elsewhere if the iPhone is carried on other networks.
When the monopoly ends, so does that special AT&T subsidy. Is it $50/phone? $100? In France, a totally open iPhone 4 costs $800 vs. $600 in the US, but Apple charges Europeans more (taxes, etc).
So, when the monopoly breaks, either consumers pay more for the iPhone (to make up for the lost AT&T subsidy) or Apple gets less money for every iPhone sold in the US. Will Verizon charge $250 for an iPhone? $300?
It wouldn’t be hard to see Apple dropping its carrier price on the iPhone 4 to make up for the special subsidy, knowing they are going to be selling ooodles more when Verizon signs up. More.
Dell Home offers the Western Digital Elements 1TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, model no. WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN, for $59.99. With free shipping, that’s $0.06/GB and $5 under our mention from three weeks ago as the lowest total price we’ve seen, this time by $18. Sales tax is added where applicable.
Both Apple and AT&T don’t have no-commitment pricing options on their websites. Apple states on its US website:
At launch, AT&T said that they’d sell iPhone 4s without contract for $599 and $699 for the 16 and 32 GB versions. Now you can’t buy it without a plan online at Apple or AT&T for any price.
(Update: AT&T has contacted us and stated that there is no difference in policy on their end and they can’t account for Apple’s website. Also, you can only buy a no-commitment iPhones in an AT&T store, there is no way to do so online [which seems insane because less paperwork has to be filled out])
(Update 2: Apple contacted us to first say that you could buy the no commit iPhone 4 in a store but not online)
Below, is Nokia’s new N9 phone (hadn’t heard of it) sitting on what has to be its ‘inspiration’. Too bad iOS wasn’t more of an inspiration as well.
From the Toys Section:
Today only, Dell Home offers the Toshiba Canvio Plus 1TB Portable USB 2.0 External Hard Drive in Raven Black, model no. E05A100PBU2XK, for $94.99. That’s the lowest price we’ve ever seen for this drive, which can be pulled from its enclosure and installed in many Unibody MacBooks.
Dell also offers a Western Digital 1TB desktop USB Hard Drive for $60.
Today, Facebook invited the media to their Palo Alto headquarters to show off their new “Places” feature. Places is Facebook’s version of a social check-in service similar to foursquare. Places will intuitively be integrated into the desktop version of Facebook.com and Facebook isn’t leaving their gulp of the mobile social networking space behind. The iOS application will receive Places integration tonight, and it’s yet to be known whether this will be a proper App Store update or something Facebook will push out over the air.
Here’s the last person in the world you want telling you about the new Facebook:
http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/microPlayer.swf
TechCrunch got a peak at a few slides showing off the Place app-integration and they state there will be a Places button on the Facebook home screen and the whole mobile system is very seamless. You can easily check in, add venues (if they’re not already there), see where your fellow friends are checked in, and even tag which friends are at the place with you.
We will be sure to update when we find out whether Place will come via a full App Store update or over the air. Be sure to let us know via the tip e-mail or comments if you find out first, Okay?
Korea’s exclusive iPhone 4 carrier, KT, reportedly sold 130,000 iPhone 4 pre-orders within 13 hours today. Pre-orders were issued via KT’s website and their 2900 retail stores across Korea. Like the initial iPhone 4 pre-order launch in the U.S. and other initial launch countries, the website servers crashed and many people were not able to get their order through. 130,000 pre-orders in Korea is a major rise from the 14,500 first day iPhone 3GS pre-orders in 2009. As a comparison 600,000 pre-orders were issued on the first day of initial launch in the U.S. and other launch countries.
KT was initially set to launch the iPhone 4 on July 30th, until they were omitted from that international launch due to government certification reasons. The iPhone 4 will officially get into Korean consumers hands in September, but an exact launch date is yet to be announced. As Fortune reports, the Android Samsung Galaxy S Android phone sold 300,000 units in its first 19 days on sale in Korea. So that’s more than double the iPhone 4 pre-orders but it took 18.5 more days.
Office 2011 will be so compatible with Windows that you can hold up overlaid printouts from both platforms to the light and if there are any differences, that will be a considered a bug. –K. Schmucker
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDjsyNi8tD8&w=700&h=400]
You know what that lady above has in her hands? That’s 64GB of speedy SATA interfaced-iSSD goodness. That little postage stamp sized chip, which weighs about as much as a paper clip can be plopped on a computer motherboard (or an iPhone, iPod, etc) and act as a boot drive or as speedy storage.
What I’d like to see is a kit (OWC?) that allows one of these to be inserted on top of a hard drive in a MacBook, allowing a dual drive system. Seems reasonable, right? Press release below:
