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.
We were the first ones to report that Jailbreakme.com was live last night at about 2am ET. That was about 20 hours ago. Just a few minutes ago, @chpwn tweeted that they’d surpassed a million jailbreaks on Jailbreakme.com. That’s a pretty impressive distribution vector.
Although there was some concern going in that Comex was rushed in this jailbreak, commenters seem to be impressed with the results. The process couldn’t be easier as the below video shows.
Amazon today announced unlimited storage for music in its cloud drive. The catch is you have to upgrade your overall Cloud storage (also includes Docs, Pictures, movies, etc) to the 20GB plan which is $20 per year. Once you do that, you can upload “Unlimited” amounts of music and play it anywhere. So, this appears to be taking on Spotify, Google and Apple’s iTunes Match (though each service is slightly different).
Speaking of Apple, the Amazon Cloud web experience is now also optimized for the iPad. Full press release below:
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Facebook’s new video calling feature is specifically designed for each browser and OS combination out there. Unfortunately, Facebook didn’t account for those people using Lion (You’ve got a week Facebook).
The fix is easy however: Just change your Browser user agent to something a little more traditional and you are video chatting.
For instance, in Safari, hit up Safari 5.1-Mac and you are golden.
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The WSJ reports on the next generation iPhone due this fall:
According to some suppliers of components to Apple, the new version of the iPhone is expected to be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4 and sport an 8-megapixel camera. One person said the new iPhone will operate on Qualcomm Inc.’s wireless baseband chips. The current iPhone 4 uses memory chips made by Samsung Electronics Co. and baseband chips from German chip maker Infineon Technologies AG, according to a report by market-research firm iSuppli Corp.
Verizon execs have already said the next iPhone will be a GSM/CDMA world phone – which means it is likely that it will use Qualcomm’s Gobi chips (As the current Verizon iPhone and iPad currently do). Numerous reports have also said it will contain a 8megapixel camera – from Sony and other manufacturers.
There is some question about whether or not these devices will meet production deadlines, however…
Facebook is having an event tomorrow which many believe is a Skype tie in, which could lead to a Skype iPad app or a Facebook iPad app, or both! in one?! That’s well and good, but TechCrunch takes a look at some of the upcoming features of a bigger project that might also receive a mention tomorrow: Project Spartan.
It seems a bit sensationalized, but it comes off like this: Sometime in late July (soon!), Facebook will reveal a HTML5 platform with automatic Facebook logins using a new set of APIs which make a great iOS/Android social gaming platform. Facebook has a few developers signed up already, Zynga is probably one of them.
Notes one developer:
Facebook wants a cut of the Apple’s mobile app market, that’s been clear this entire time. Perhaps it’s not war against Apple — maybe Apple is just going to ‘gift’ Facebook the share of their market (the HTML5 share) in exchange an alliance being formed whereby Apple get’s some exclusive access to Facebook’s 600 million-plus users and thereby cutting out Google (exclusive to some degree, Facebook is too open for it to be fully exclusive). In this theory, it’s not Facebook Spartans vs. Apple, it’s Facebook/Apple Spartans Vs Google.
The Spartans have been told to code specifically for the iOS flavors of Safari — both iPhone and iPad.
So, it sounds like Facebook is going to build a nice HTML5 platform (like Chrome) for social gaming. Hopefully one of the games is 300.
As noted by Fortune, Steve Jobs’ biography now has a more pleasant sounding name than its previous working title: iSteve: The Book of Jobs *cringe*
It’s got a new title. But it isn’t the one that Amazon has listed above…
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Today’s comScore report shows that a full third of all US phone users are using a Smartphone and that is heading toward a majority pretty quickly. Perhaps that is why (with a little help from Verizon) Apple was the biggest gainer in the overall phone market in the Feb-May quarter. LG was up just slightly while Apple stole marketshare from Motorla and RIM.
I think it is important to keep in mind that Apple’s original iPhone goal was to capture 1% of the total phone market in the first year of release. They’ve done that many times over and now Apple is capturing over 1% of the total US phone market per quarter.
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Why run a family pictures website, DNS or any other low CPU-use server on power-hungry Intel-based hardware when an AppleTV2 does the trick? The folks at MacMinivault.com have set up a webpage on a AppleTV 2 (go ahead, try to take it down) jailbroken with httpd as an example of what can be served off of the little 6 watt, A4-powered dynamo. Put 10 of these together and you’ll be using the same power as a single 60 Watt light bulb.
The Apple TV is running iOS 4.2.2 (obviously jailbroken) with lighttpd for a web server. You can see the webpage we set up by visiting atv.macminivault.com. We’ll keep an eye on the CPU load and watch the analytics to record how much traffic the Apple TV receives.
They say this won’t be a cost effective solution for their customers (8 GB of storage won’t cut it) but is a ‘fun experiment.’
What’s interesting is that Apple likely has an dual core A5-platform AppleTV coming out shortly which may push a little more into the Intel server space. Perhaps more interesting is that the A5 chips could also make nifty little ChromeOS-busting terminals or even cheaper laptops.
If you want to create your own little AppleTV 2 server, they recommend the following:
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Skype dropped a new Mac Client on us today, a day ahead of the Super “Awesome” Facebook announcement that is rumored to include Skype. New features for the unpaid version include “super awesome” background video chatting control bar. Pony up a few bucks and get yourself up to Windows level (they got a head start on Microsoft tactics!) with Group video conferencing that looks and acts nothing like Apple’s built in iChat group teleconferencing (this was in 5.1Beta as well). Also, screen and document sharing.
The Windows version – just to make sure it is one step ahead of the Mac version – got Facebook integration with the 5.5 update.
If you aren’t still at the standard 2.8 like us, have a look at the tips and tricks to see if you’re a good update candidate (we’re staying put).
We were pretty stoked two weeks ago to see the iPad version demoed only to have Skype go silent on the product last week. We’re thinking it might be happening at the Facebook introduction on Wednesday….about the same time as the Google Plus App hits. Via TechCrunch
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From 9to5toys.com:
Today only, Amazon has the Phillips DC315/37 Dual Alarm for $49.99 with free shipping. That’s the lowest total price we could find by $26. It features an AM/FM tuner with 20 station presets, dual alarm, weekday/weekend alarm settings, base reflex speaker and more. The built-in dock can accommodate most iPod and iPhone models.
Last week’s leak revealed that @Comex had another iOS PDF exploit in the works. Looking at Jailbreakme.com this evening, it appears that a new version of the famous iOS untethered jailbreak is about to be unleashed. The ‘coming soon’ yellow sticky looks like the sticky Apple puts on its store right before new products hit the virtual shelves.
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VZBuzz today posts a purported image of upcoming sumer deals from Verizon.com. Among the cheap Androids and Blackberries, it shows an iPhone for $150.99. While the source is certainly untested, the move would make sense to clear out excess inventory for the next iPhone, due in the Fall. Walmart offered the iPhone 4 for $147 in the month of June so the move wouldn’t be unprecedented either.
Verizon currently offers the refurbished iPhone 4 for $150.
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Did you know 9to5mac is on Google Plus?
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According to Google Employee Erica Joy, the Google + app is awaiting Apple’s approval in the App Store. It also sounds like it is a iPad univeral app. Hopefully it gets through quicker than Google Voice which took over a year to clear the gauntlet. Cross posted from 9to5google.com
We’ve heard a few reports in the past that Lulzsec hackers had broken into Apple. Now, however, the WSJ is reporting that the AntiSec hackers that have been joyriding around the internet using SQL injectors to steal username and password have hit Apple’s servers and taken usernames and passwords.
The hackers said in a statement posted to Twitter that they had accessed Apple’s systems due to a security flaw used in software used by the Cupertino, Calif.-based gadget maker and other companies. “But don’t worry,” the hackers said, “we are busy elsewhere.” A spokesman for Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The posted information comes as part of a two-month campaign of digital heists targeting corporations including Sony Corp. and AT&T Inc., as well as government agencies such as the U.S. Senate, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Specifically, they say they’ve got the username and passwords from this server:
http://abs.apple.com:8080/ssurvey/survey?id=
While this looks to be a pretty harmless server with only local usernames, previous postings have claimed a much bigger bounty:
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Update: October 26th: Seagate just released a firmware update
The Post PC age is upon us and we’ve now got new iOS devices in all shapes and sizes in our homes. But getting and sharing media to all of these many devices starts to become a chore, especially when on the go. One solution is moving media into an Internet-connected NAS or the (i)Cloud.
Unfortunately, pulling that data down to your iDevice when you are on the go, especially high quality video, can be an expensive burden on your wireless data plan. Just a few movies can put you over your monthly data limit. And that’s where you have a speedy Internet connection that can handle a full screen movie. And what do you do when there is no signal (camping?) at all?
Seagate thinks they have a solution to this problem with their new $200 Goflex Satellite 500GB hard drive. Read on for the full review:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGbeakalXa4]
These bits are amusing but even after a few watches I’m not left with any desire to pick one of these up.
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Google Analytics, which is used on millions of sites worldwide to show web publishers who is visiting their sites, today published its first report on Web traffic. Among other interesting tidbits was the above chart showing Windows losing a staggering 5.1% of its market year over year.
At the same time, the Mac OS actually gained almost a percentage point of the market. But the groundswell was in the “Other” category which includes iPads, iPhones, Android and other non-Mac/Windows/Linux machines. That category was up almost 5 %.
The “Post PC Era” seems to be fast approaching.
Google conveniently also found a 1% gain in Search Engine referral traffic, below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAYLSfeE0wI]
SupermanofSteel reports that as part of their new refresh of their lineups called “52”, DC will do “Day and Date digital” which means the same day that comics are available in the store, they will be on the iPad. Double good news for digital comics fans.
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A consortium including Apple Inc, Microsoft, EMC Corp, Sony, Ericsson, and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion bought bankrupt telecommunications gear maker Nortel Networks Corp’s remaining portfolio of 6000 patents for $4.5 billion, in an auction that began early this week.
RIM reportedly paid $770 million, Ericsson paid $340 million. It wasn’t immediately clear how much Apple paid.
Google had originally opened bidding with a $900 million bid. The consortium of strange bedfellows will split up the portfolio based on the split of the purchase price.
The sale is subject to Canadian and U.S. court approvals which will be sought at a joint hearing expected to be held on July 11. Full press release follows:
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Droid Life got their fingerless Android paws on this shot of merchandising material from within Verizon.
What we’ve got in the image above, is a box full of new marketing materials for Verizon stores that mention the word “4G” and “iPhone” in the same sentence. We’re not saying this means that an iPhone 4G is planned or on the way, but that could be one possibility. Truthfully though, we’ve heard from two sources with the box that say it’s misleading as hell and that the materials included only mention the 3G iPhone. So what we’re really thinking, is that this is the launch of a new campaign which will try to sell customers on the idea that a 3G iPhone 4 is better than any of the 4G Android offerings currently available.
Can’t wait.
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At this point, it seems pretty obvious that Google means business with the Google Plus platform. Besides all of the other areas Plus has engulfed, it looks like Google is heading into the gaming realm. The above snippet was found in the Plus web page code
“have sent you invites and more from Google+ Games”
So now Google is taking on Microsoft’s Xbox and Apple’s Gamecenter? Perhaps Google might want to lower the barrier to entry.
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New MacBook Airs are right around the corner and just about everyone is expecting to see a Thunderbolt port, FaceTimeHD and Sandy Bridge processors. Apple could even update storage and RAM pricing.
But what else could these new Airs have under the hood? Put your answers below and any additional items in the comments.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwnJ5Bl4kLI]
You have to be intrigued by Google’s ambitious attack on Facebook here, in much the same way they are competing with Apple in mobile devices, Microsoft in DesktopOS and Office and Oracle/Microsoft in Enterprise Apps. It feels like if there is a big market in technology, Google is there.
More coverage at 9to5Google.com
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Standouts from 9to5toys.com (Twitter, Feed) today: