Seth Weintraub

El Gato has a new product in the hopper today called the HDHomerun which is basically like a HD Slingbox for the home (or elsewhere if you are a VPN type).   It costs $180.

If you have a look a that logo up there,however, you’ll notice that there is a “powered by Silicon Dust” subtitle.

Silicon Dust has been making this exact same part and includes El Gato’s EyeTV Mac software as well since 2009. The original review of this product was on a G5.

And Silicon Dust sells it for $129 and less.  Zoikes.

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Image via Sean Percival

Our spidey sense has been tingling over the past few weeks on this “Late May, 10th anniversary meeting”  we’ve been hearing much about.  Today BGR lays the groundwork for such an event:

• There’s an overnight shift planned for around 10-15 individuals at each Apple Store to work from late Saturday all the way through mid-Sunday.
• During the overnight shift, it’s going to be required that employees lock cell phones in the main office. They will also have to sign an NDA with Apple.
• There are a wide variety of roles, we’re told, for the overnight shift. This includes all visuals staff, a manager, a business team member, a few Genius team members, one back-of-house employee, and a few generic Apple specialists.
• Apple stores have apparently already received hardware to install, and are expecting more hardware to come on Friday or Saturday. All materials that Apple stores have received have been instructed to be under lock and key until after close on Saturday night.
• Apple employees will be putting up black curtains at all stores so that people walking outside cannot see inside.
• Employees have had to download gigabytes of data from Apple corporate labeled, “training” in a password-protected zipped folder that won’t accessible to managers or anyone else until Saturday afternoon.
• Lastly, all Apple retail stores have mandatory meetings on Sunday, May 22nd. Most meeting are scheduled for the morning, but there are evening meetings as well.

Additionally, MacStories is reporting that the normal Sunday evening meeting has been moved to the morning.
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Just two bits of news here.  Remember that Toshiba is one of the companies that Apple is said to be working with on future displays, right?

Toshiba Corp will spend about 100 billion yen ($1.19 billion) to build a factory for making small LCD panels, mainly to supply to Apple Inc’s iPhones, the Nikkei business daily said.The company’s wholly owned unit, Toshiba Mobile Display Co, will construct the facility in Ishikawa prefecture and the plant will churn out low-temperature polysilicon LCD panels, which allow for high-resolution images, the paper said.Work on the plant will start by early next year, with the production due to begin in the second half of 2011, Nikkei said.Toshiba Mobile Display already makes low-temperature polysilicon LCD panels at a facility in the prefecture and its monthly production capacity of 8.55 million units is projected to more than double with the new factory, the daily said.  Apple will invest in a portion of the investment for the factory, the Nikkei said.

OK, good.  Now today’s news from Toshiba:

Displays for Mobile Phones and Portable Electronics: The mobile section of the booth will feature high-resolution LTPS displays, up to 367ppi (pixels per inch) resolution density, in sizes ranging from 3.3-inch to 4.0-inch with resolution formats ranging from Wide VGA (480 x 864) to HD (720 x 1280). In addition, these displays will demonstrate advanced technologies such as high-contrast (up to 1,500:1), high-color (up to 92% NTSC), and wide viewing angle (up to H/V 176º/176º). The displays are just a few representative examples of TMD’s broad line of thin and light displays for mobile smartphones and other portable electronic devices.

Of course, numerous reports have detailed a new iPhone with edge-to-edge 4-inch display panels.

OK, go ahead and start complaining about how Apple wouldn’t ever use a 720P display in an iOS device because of the application scaling stuff/additional fragmentation.  We’ll be over here dreaming about a 720P iPhone.
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Depending who you ask, the Tyson’s Corner Virginia or Glendale Galleria California Apple stores were the first and second Apple stores to open and have gained landmark status as a result.  This week, the LATimes is reported that Apple is opening an Apple Store right across the street from the original Glendale Galleria Store at the new Americana at Brand shopping center.  This is notable for at least one of the following two reasons:

1. It will be the first time Apple has opened a Store across the street from another Apple Store, which will surely be compared to the absurd density of some Starbucks locations.
2. If Apple is instead moving/relocating across the street, it will mean one of Apple’s original Stores will be closed down.  That would be especially tragic since many people view the Glendale Galleria Apple Store as the original.

Though the LA Times frames the situation as “An additional Store”, the second option is given some weight as the Nordstom at the Glendale Galleria is closing up shop and moving across the street.  Apple is already hiring for positions at the new store…
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We’ve spent the past few weeks using the Seagate GoFlex Slim 320GB portable hard drive and have come away with some mixed feelings on the drive.  On one hand, it is obviously the thinnest external hard drive in the market and it is plenty fast with its internal 7200 RPM internal drive.  In fact, it is about the same depth as an iPhone 4.

On the other hand…
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Remember the iPad case that could be thrown off a balcony or have a bowling ball dropped on it from a few feet in the air without hurting the iPad inside?

From the obvious “don’t try this at home” category, Mobile Syrup popped their iPad 2 into a G-Form Sleeve, abused it for awhile, then had a car run it over.

Result? The video stopped playing but the iPad was unharmed, at least as far as we could tell.

We’re looking forward to some more extreme iPad sports when these start getting into users hands.

We got ours a week ago (above) but haven’t figured out any good stunts (and frankly don’t have an iPad to burn).  Suggestions welcome.

The car runneth over video is below:
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Developers, hit your Software Update.  There is a new update available in a 1.07GB package

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Xcode 4.1 Developer Preview 5 also is in the Queue.  We’re restarting and will let you know what we find….
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via some Dutch Dude who didn’t have any issues installing an SSD in the Hard drive Bay

According to a blog post at OWC, the new iMacs have a temperature sensor in their hard drives which will restrict replacing with non-Apple hard drives.

For the main 3.5″ SATA hard drive bay in the new 2011 machines, Apple has altered the SATA power connector itself from a standard 4-pin power configuration to a 7-pin configuration. Hard drive temperature control is regulated by a combination of this cable and Apple proprietary firmware on the hard drive itself. From our testing, we’ve found that removing this drive from the system, or even from that bay itself, causes the machine’s hard drive fans to spin at maximum speed and replacing the drive with any non-Apple original drive will result in the iMac failing the Apple Hardware Test (AHT).

Here’s the thing though:  What if you order an iMac without a hard drive?  One iMac option is just the SSD which is mounted on the optical drive?  Perhaps there is a way to disable fans altogether and thats what ships with SSD-only iMacs?

Clearly some more investigative work is necessary.

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Patently Apple today details a patent in which Apple details some nuances of their current iPod Nano. Current, except for a few features like a camera and some screensavers. We’ve seen plently of additional evidence of iPad nanos with cameras, but as we know it doesn’t go official until Apple says so, likely in September.

The patent also details screensavers for Apple’s touch screen nano as well as additional sensors which hopefully will be able to communicate with the mothership (iOS device).

Head over to Patently Apple for the rest.
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http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oona/the-oona-whatever-you-need-it-to-be/widget/video.html

This $25 Kickstarter project seems like a nice way to knock out a lot of the gadgets you need for your iPhone in one go. It is already fully funded so there is no question of whether or not they’ll make it. Sometimes the best things are the simplest.
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Just over a month ago, we showed you the case of what seems to be the next generation Nano with a camera.  The leak’s proximity to April Fool’s day led many to be skeptical of the leak.  Fast forward to today where the same source produced a more complete picture of what Apple may announce in September.

The new photo shows a more complete picture with the clip pulled from the design. (Back shown on the left, front shown on the right)  The site says a 1.3 megapixel camera is slated to go into the new device.  While a camera of this size would have limited use, it would make a great addition to an already feature packed micro-device.

What isn’t clear is how this device will be held.  We’re considering a magnetic option or a iWatch attachement which seems to be all the rage. Thoughts?

The case closeup from last month is shown below:
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Ugh.  This is the kind of deal that you know is bound to fail in the long run.  Skype is treading water, having just released a horrific Mac update to its chat software but building passable software on iOS as well as other platforms.  Its major problem is that its innovation has slowed to a crawl since being picked up by eBay.

Which segues nicely to Microsoft, who is clumsily making purchases to cover its lack of innovation.  Instead of building a VoIP service for its Windows Live Messenger, they are scooping up Skype’s huge user base of users for a lot of money -$7B if the WSJ is correct.  Probably too much for a company that isn’t innovating and relying on old technology for its revenues.  Speaking of Revenues, Skype’s plan is to start advertising in its chat window if its IPO prospectus is to be believed.

A Skype purchase will kill innovation (what’s left of it anyway) in the Skype product as it gets integrated with Windows Messenger/Live Communications probably long enough for Facebook and Google (and even Apple) to render it useless with their own VoIP products.

But, one thing will stay constant.  Skype has always been behind on its Mac versions.  Look for Microsoft to continue that trend as it is their sweet spot (see Office or anything really).

Best reactions from around the web:

“Microsoft buying Skype for over $7 billion isn’t the craziest thing I’ve heard, but it’s damn close.” Nilay Patel

“Everyone jump on Skype” is about to become “Everyone jump on Microsoft P2P VoIP client for Windows Live Communications 7 Home/Pro/Ult” :-/ – Rene Ritchie

So Microsoft is paying $7 billion to lose even more money online each quarter. Makes perfect sense. – MG Siegler

Two turds don’t make an Eagle – Vic Gundotra

Updated to $8.5B per Kara Swisher with an announce tomorrow.

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In the run up to Google I/O tomorrow, Google is releasing information on its Cloud offerings for both video and Music.

Earlier today, Google said it would be renting 3000 Hollywood feature videos through its Youtube service.  There will be more to come and some videos will be free with advertisements – just like regular old TV, which YouTube aims to replace.  That news isn’t exactly new but it has finally become official.  It will likely be demoed at I/O tomorrow.

Additionally, Google just released the news that its “Music Beta by Google” (horrible name) would allow users to upload up to 20,000 songs to the Cloud.  The service, like Amazon’s Cloud (but 10 times bigger), doesn’t have the blessings of the record labels so buying and sharing music through the service has not yet been activated.  Google’s purchase of SimplifyMedia will allow users to upload the music to Google’s oceans of Cloud storage.

Apple is reportedly working with the labels to get their iTunes Cloud legitimized by the labels and by last count, had two of the four signed on.  An announcement would likely take place at Apple’s annual September Music event.

There will be full coverage of Google I/O 2011 at 9to5Google, our new sister site.
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Now that one analyst thinks that Apple is going to ARM for its laptops (notice we didn’t say “Mac”), another one says that Apple could be moving its MacBook lineup to ARM as early as next year.  Barclays Capital hardware analyst Ben Reitzes says through Barron’s:

And, drum roll please …. “We believe that Apple will be the first in our sector to embrace ARM for some Macs, as early as C2H12,” writes Reitzes, with a nod to speculation last weekApple may ditch Intel chips for ARM chips.

We believe that Apple is already working hard on the software to accomplish this feat within the MacBook Air line-up. Through its own development of ARM-based processors and ARM-based iOS software, this migration would be rather natural for Apple. Apple is already moving toward enhanced battery life and ultra portability with its current MacBook Air line, which uses NAND instead of HDDs.

I still think Apple would rather build an iOS Air.
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From the Toys section:

MacMall via eBay Daily Deals offers the Apple iMac Intel Core i3 3.06GHz 21.5″ Desktop, model no. MC508LL/A, for $979 with free shipping. That’s $70 under our mention from a month ago and the lowest total price we’ve ever seen for a new one, this time by $40. (It’s also only $50 more than a refurbished unit at the Apple Store.) This iMac features an Intel Core i3 3.06GHz dual-core processor, 21.5″ 1920×1080 widescreen LCD, 4GB RAM, 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, ATI Radeon HD 4670 256MB video card, SuperDrive, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, AirPort Extreme, iSight, Apple Magic Mouse, and Apple Wireless Aluminum Keyboard.

Note: This machine is brand new in box but is the previous model without Sandy Bridge Chip or Thunderbolt ports.
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The ‘not really endorsed by the labels but its ok because the Cloud is really just a hard drive partition that you own’ Cloud Drive service by Amazon is now working on iOS devices according to a report by TechCrunch/iFans today.

If you visit Amazon’s Cloud Player through the Safari web browser on an iOS device, you’ll see that it does in fact now work. You’ll first hit a warning page telling you that your browser is not supported, but just ignore that. Click into the music in your drive and it will begin playing. It works flawlessly — even to the point where if you get a Push Notification or incoming call, the music will be paused.

Amazon will probably announce the new compatibility at some point soon.

That’s all well and good but you know Apple is going to have a similar service, perhaps even endorsed by the record labels, ready by September at the very latest.  Still, if you are already an Amazon music purchaser, this puts your Cloud collection on your iOS device.

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Update: we just got the following unverified account:

According to my friend who was at the Sanlitun Apple Store when the incident took place, there were dozens of resellers outside the store trying to get the white iPhone 4, they were told to wait in line and was not allowed to go inside. Resellers got pissed and smashed the glass door, which costs about 300,000RMB or 46,000USD, according to an apple employee at the store. Then a foreign(non-Chinese) employee came out from the store with a metal club and hit 4 people, including 2 young men and 2 middle age women. All 4 people are hospitalized right now and no money was paid by apple for medical purposes.

Pictures are just coming in but it appears that there was some sort of incident between “foreign Apple Store Employees” and some locals during the iPad 2 launch.  One account:

The afternoon of May 7, Beijing SanLiTun store Apple, crowds queued to buy the iPhone4 conflict with in-store staff. One stands more than 1.9 metres for expatriate staff armed with iron rods Brawl wounded four customers. A glass door of the store were hit and destroyed by excited crowds. Are 4-bit the injured have been admitted to hospital

Another account has another poorly translated view:

Sanlitun Apple Store bloodshed, because too many people queuing waiting suddenly closed shop, where the weather is so hot multi-line Burongyia, Apple stunned party to a foreigner and a Chinese man actually hands-on, people with the scene confirmed the man was wounded also the guests lined up to buy Apple products.We look at the quality of foreigners, but also that, to earn the money we have in China is also the name of our people.

We’re not sure exactly what went down but it doesn’t look too good.

In other Apple Store glass smashing news, the Westlake Cleveland Apple store was robbed.  24 MacBook and 1 iPod stolen.  Perpetrators were last seen heading east (1999?)

More pictures of bloodied people and one final account below:

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In a strange slip up last November, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said that Apple had purchased Nuance Communications for its Speech recognition technology.  Apple, of course hadn’t, but the reason it was such big news was because the deal, on many levels, did make sense.

Nuance is the recognized global leader in speech recognition technology (and patents) and importantly provides the speech recognition capabilities behind the Siri Artificial Intelligence application that Apple purchased last year (which likely accounts the confusion in Woz’s statements).  Siri is expected to be a huge part of Apple’s iOS 5 which is due to be previewed at WWDC next month.  One significant current advantage of Google’s competing AndroidOS over Apple’s iOS is its OS-level integration of speech technologies and the resulting Voice Actions features.

Apple’s acquisition of Siri is seen as a way to not only match Google’s speech recognition but then leapfrog Google with Siri’s Artificial Intelligence (shown below):

The problem is that Apple doesn’t own the underlying speech technology and if you’ve followed Apple, you know that it likes to own and control the important technology it uses.  We discovered in December (just a month after the Woz slip up) that Apple was hiring all kinds of speech recognition scientists.  But is Apple building its own Speech recognition engine from scratch to take on the likes of Google and Nuance (who has been at this for decades)?  Probably not.

According to TechCrunch, Apple is significant negotiations with Nuance to either licence the software or even an acquisition of the company.

Apple has been negotiating a deal with Nuance in recent months, we’ve heard from multiple sources. What does that mean? Well, it could mean an acquisition, but that is looking fairly unlikely at this point, we hear. More likely, it means a partnership that will be vital to both companies and could shape the future of iOS.

At the time of the Woz slip up, the company was valued at $5B (though shares went a little nuts that day, sorry).  Today, Nuance is worth $6B and an acquisition would likely be much more costly.  Apple however, has been building up a cash horde for just such an occasion and now has ten times more than Nuance’s value in the bank.

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Former Inquirer writer Charlie Demerjian at SemiAccurate (via MacRumors) today posts that Apple’s laptop transition from Intel to ARM is a “Done deal”

The short story is that Apple is moving the laptop line, and presumably desktops too, to ARM based chips as soon as possible. With A15/Eagle allowing more than 32-bit memory access, things look up, but it seems silly to do so before the full 64 bit cores come in the following generation. Nvidia is directly telling certain favored analysts that they will have Denver out in Q4 of 2012, maybe Q1/2013, and that uses the full on 64-bit ARM instruction set. It won’t be out by then, but that gives you a good estimation of when that ISA will break cover from one vendor or other. Think mid-2013.

Scholars of recent history would point to Apple’s two earlier architecture transitions as examples of Apple’s hardware flexibility.  That being said, two-three years from now iOS might be more of a laptop-capable OS from which Apple could build some, if not all of its laptops on.

Interestingly, nowhere in the post is any mention of the words ‘Mac’ or ‘Macintosh’.

SemiAccurate was even more so on their previous assertion that Apple was heading away from NVIDIA as a GPU/chipset provider, though with NVIDIA’s “bumps” issue and growing competition with Apple and its Tegra line, it wasn’t a hard assertion to make.
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lines in Shanghai

iPad 2 goes on sale in China today.  That means fewer gray market people waiting on line in the US…which means it should be easier to get one everywhere.

It also goes on sale in Thailand today, lines below: (thanks @aunonline)

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From the Toys section:

MacMall via eBay Daily Deal has the 13-inch MacBook Pro dual-core Intel Core i5 2.3GHz for $1049 with free shipping.  That’s $150 off and the lowest price we’ve seen for a new unit.  Features include an Intel Core i5 2.3GHz dual-core processor, 13.3″ 1280×800 LED-backlit widescreen glossy LCD, 4GB RAM, 320GB 5400 rpm hard drive, Airport Extreme (802.11a/n) wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, multi-touch trackpad, iSight webcam, Mac OS X 10.6, and more.

Apple has last year’s MacBook Pros refurbished starting at $929
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