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.
The hacks keep coming…Brandon Holland has created a VNC server hack for the new AppleTV which allows you to control the box via remote desktop. You could even theoretically use a VNC client like Screens on your iPad.
Finished a quick and dirty vnc server plugin for the 2G that I call “Exposed”. It’s method for getting screen data isn’t great and lacks some effects and animation, but it does work without HDMI plugged in. So if you want to try it out, grab Exposed and place it in the Lowtide Appliances directory. I think it is also important to note that this does require a jailbroken AppleTV 2G running Dustin Howett’s beigelist.
These iPad adapters are starting to look like mini docking stations. Earlier this week, we showed you a simple $25 3-in-1 adapter that simply pales next to this latest adapter which has USB, mini USB, SD, MicroSD, and a AV-Out port with an included RCA-jack adapter (below). You simply need to buy at least 50 of them an arrange for shipping from China. Again via MICGadget. Expand Expanding Close
Perhaps the biggest indication of the iWatch phenomenon to date is that Kickstarter funded TikTock has raised a million dollars to produce its LunaTik watch bands for the Nanos. WTF.
Well, it is a little more complicated than that.
The project has clocked in nearly $1,000,000 in funding, helped in large part by a $25 pledge getting you first in line for a $35 MSRP TikTok watch kit, while $50 scored you the metallic LunaTik, which will go for $70.
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Hey, wait a minute. Can you actually play games with this? It doesn’t appear that you can.
The Playstation app will be available for iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.x and above and in the following countries: UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and The Netherlands at launch and more next year (WTF, no USA USA USA?). The app will be free.
Fortune reports that a Flextronics executive was taped by FBI officials revealing iPhone sales numbers two and a half weeks before the official announcement as well as the existence of the iPad. Flextronics director Walter Shimoon had a conversation with an an unnamed “cooperative witness” in late 2009 in which he revealed:
Apple, he is heard telling CW-2, was “coming out next year” with a new iPhone that’s “gonna have two cameras … It’ll be a neat phone because it’s gonna have a five-megapixel auto-focus camera and it will have a VGA forward-facing videoconferencing camera.” Apple announced the iPhone 4 — with its two cameras — eight months later.
Then he is heard telling CW-2 that “they [Apple] have a code name for something new … It’s totally … It’s a new category altogether… It doesn’t have a camera, what I figured out. So I speculated that it’s probably a reader. … Something like that. Um, let me tell you, it’s a very secretive program. … It’s called K, K48. That’s the internal name. So, you can get, at Apple you can get fired for saying K48.” The iPad — code named K48 — was unveiled four months later.
Flextronics supplies Apple with camera and battery components for its iOS devices (or at least it did). Shimoon and his three co-defendants were arrested Thursday on several changes of wire fraud and securities fraud. Expand Expanding Close
Some interesting survey results from Changewave today: While the iPad is mopping up in the enterprise today (satisfaction levels above) , it looks like next quarter is going to be even more lucrative for Apple, who have 80% of the market already..
A 1st Quarter Explosion in Corporate Tablet Demand
While 7% of business respondents say their company currently provide employees with tablet devices, an astonishing 14% of businesses report their company will be buying Tablets in 1st Quarter 2011.
In other words, the total number of companies making use of tablet devices is set to double in just the next three months – an explosive surge in demand going forward.
This release provides a number of important bug fixes, including:
• Addresses an issue where some music videos may not play on Macs equipped with NVIDIA GeForce 9400 or 9600 graphics.
• Resolves an issue where iTunes may unexpectedly quit when deleting a playlist that has the iTunes Sidebar showing.
• Fixes a problem where iTunes may unexpectedly quit when connecting an iPod to a Mac equipped with a PowerPC processor.
• Addresses an issue where some music videos may not sync to an iPod, iPhone, or iPad.
It would appear that NFL Sunday ticket is coming to AppleTV, Boxee and Roku players if a survey dug up by Engadget has any merit. Not surprising as it is a natural extension of the AppleTV experience. But will it be delivered as an app or as a built in module in the way Netflix is currently delivered. Notice there is no mention of GoogleTV? Expand Expanding Close
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geK7geL3I40&w=640&h=390] Here’s a demo showing a 10X reduction in CPU usage:
The video is from November but Adobe’s John Nack reports that Flash video sites across the web are updating their content to be optimized for the new version of Flash which purports to deliver video with 1/10th the CPU utilization of the current Flash plug-in. YouTube, the biggie, is on board. The original Flash 10.2 beta was released two weeks ago.
Good news, though: the new Flash Player 10.2 (download the beta) offers a new, video-playback-optimized mode called Stage Video. Building on top of the GPU acceleration added earlier this year, Stage Video can leverage complete hardware acceleration of the video rendering pipeline, from video decoding to scaling/blitting, enabling best-in-class playback performance. Stage Video can dramatically decrease processor usage and enables higher frame rates, reduced memory usage, and greater pixel fidelity and quality.
Stage Video requires Flash developers to update the code in video players, so simply updating to the new player won’t automatically improve CPU usage on all sites, but YouTube has already updates its player & others will follow. If you’re a Flash developer and want to start experimenting, check out this tutorial from Lee Brimelow.
At 4:12 ET today Apple updated its AppleTV firmware. It should be hitting devices shortly or can be downloaded for fun below. There is no update list as of yet.
For those of us who still use a Mac Mini (or other Mac) as a MediaCenter connected to our TVs, today’s hack from Erica Sadun is a blessing. She created a Mac Application that can catch Airplay from iOS devices and output the video on the screen. For all intents, AirPlayer lets your Mac do what an AppleTV does naturally.
The interesting question is: Does Apple want us doing this? They make much more money selling Minis (and other Macs) than they do on AppleTV units. However, it would seem easy enough for Apple to include this type of Application with Mac OSX. So why does Sadun have to build it instead? Are we in for another cat and mouse chase?
(update: it is a .01 release and we did have some trouble getting it to work with a YouTube video over wifi) Expand Expanding Close
OK, we’re excited to see this, even if it is just an ad. Adage says that it is the only iAd we’ll see on iPad this year. Next year we’ll see plenty more. On iAds, digital agencies are gushing about the quality even if it takes a lot of time and effort to bring the ads to fruition.
“I think as a media format it has the potential to surpass anything that has come before,” said Carrie Frolich, digital director at WPP unit MEC Global, which bought iAd inventory for Citi, AT&T, Chanel and Campbell Soup. “It delivers all the emotive qualities of television or video advertising with the interactivity of a website, plus the functionality of location and all the bells and whistles of Apple devices like the accelerometer.”
M.I.C. Gadget today is advertising a new triple interface 30-pin connector for iOS devices. Instead of swapping out the USB and SD card slot with the iPad camera connection kit, this adapter puts it all together. (It even adds a microSD card slot). The convenience will set you back $25 (less than Apple’s iPad camera connection kit) and is available in black and white.
I can’t wait until my iPod touch/Mifi is my only phone. This is another step in that direction.
Google today announced Google Voice for iPad and iPod touch as well as some significant updates. No VoIP gateway yet, but you know it is coming.
What’s New in Version 1.1.0.636
* Support for iPod Touch
* iPod Touch and iPhone can now make calls using Click2Call
* Do Not Disturb setting
* Text forwarding is automatically disabled when registering for Push notifications
* Added Text forwarding setting to the app
* Easier to make calls from the phone Address Book
* Removed annoying OK dialog every time you send an SMS
* Fixed crashes caused by text messages that begin with a space character
* Fixed bug that caused the entire Inbox to load
* Fixed bug that caused Contact pictures to get mixed up
* Improved access to Contact groups
* Improved speed of Contact search
CNN just released their iPad app and it looks like a pretty good offering. Oh, and it is free.
Experience the new CNN App for iPad. Share and comment on news & insights, watch live and breaking news video, and take yourself deeper into the stories.
Welcome to the bigger picture.
Features:
– Go beyond breaking news with top headlines, in-depth feature stories and video
– Choose your view from different navigation options; quickly scan the headlines or immerse yourself in a slideshow
– Take part in the conversation by commenting on stories and reading others’ responses
– Share stories on Facebook and Twitter or via e-mail
– Save stories for offline viewing
– Watch live video streams of breaking news and other major news events
Hit iOS games are starting to venture into the realm of movie sales type numbers.
Infinity Blade (iTunes $5.99) is reportedly seeing 271K users (or more) on Gamecenter meaning that after four days on the market, it has grossed more than $1.6 million dollars. That is quite a chunk of change and the news should only spur investment in high quality games on.
If you are the adventurous type and want 4G wireless (and it is available in your place of residence), you now have a few more options, thanks to your friendly neighborhood hackerz.
If 4G WiMAX from Sprint is what your are after, you can pick up the Clear iSpot for $100 and connect all of your (up to 8 ) iOS devices to it for $25/month (deal!). However a simple hack allows you to take it a bit further and connect those bandwidth-heavy Macs (and PCs and Androids and Linux if you are into that sort of thing) to your $25/month iSpot. The hack releases the MAC address restrictions which ironically include the latest batch of iPads…yes that’s right, it will only work as intended if hacked. Be warned however that Sprint could take it all away with an over the air update to their little iSpot…unless you are savvy enough to change your Mac MAC address.
If, for whatever reason, you were after Verizon’s USB 4G Wireless service on your Macs, you are officially out of luck. However, a hack developed within the gardens of Howard Forums allows one of the two USB Modems (Pantech) to work on the Mac. Verizon is said to be working on an official Mac version of the drivers for both modems so this would just be a holdover until the better drivers/setup come along.
Now, is anyone thinking about replacing their Broadband connection with 4G Wireless? Expand Expanding Close
(I checked the date. It says today.) The NYTimes says that Microsoft is going to announce some iPad competin’ Slates at CES:
Next month, at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft will present a slew of new slates that it hopes will offer some competition to the Apple iPad, which has quickly become the leader in this market.
According to people familiar with Microsoft’s plans, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, is expected to announce a number of these devices when he takes the stage at C.E.S., showcasing devices built by Samsung and Dell, among a number of other manufacturing partners.
Here’s the video from the Dive Into Mobile event last week. I think the mistake that a lot of people make is that they think the PlayBook is competing against the iPad (which would be a feat unto itself).
That’s going to seem easy compared to reality.
The PlayBook, when it is finally released, will be competing against the iPad 2. Expand Expanding Close
