Microsoft executives faced a barrage of Apple-related questions during that company
Microsoft's Ballmer concedes Apple's gains; Dell income dwindles
Author
Pro apps: Autodesk Smoke 2010 comes to the Mac
Always nice to welcome a new high-end application to Apple’s computing platforms, and this one
SEGA makes iPhone promise as analysts predict Apple to drive mobile gaming
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-C-ut-P3pc&w=560&h=340]
SEGA has announced Super Monkey Ball 2 for the iPhone (video above), with the games development company stressing it has many more games in development for the Apple mobile platform, a platform expected to account for 24 percent of portable game sales by 2014. Read on…
That
Apple updates Boot Camp, no Windows 7 support just yet
Apple has updated its Boot Camp drivers, software which enables Intel Macs to boot up into Windows XP and Vista.
Boot Camp users must source their own copy of Microsoft Windows to employ within Boot Camp.
The 23.87MB update doesn
Jobs tells developer to chill
Short Version: Apple’s lawyers contacted the little App factory to change the name of its iPodRip product that pulls music and video off of CDs and DVDS. Because it has ‘iPod’ in its name, it is a violation of an Apple trademark. iPodRip’s developer wrote a diatribe to Steve Jobs on why this was unfair.
Jobs used his iPhone to respond:
Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.
Steve
Sent from my iPhone
The little App factory changed the name to ‘iRip’. Apple could save some time and lawyer bills using this tactic in the future.
Atom support now enabled by a hack in 10.6.2
Yep, we knew this would happen. Apple, for whatever reason (they didn’t test it and don’t care or they are trying to prevent Hackintosh) killed support for Atom in their latest 10.6.2 build.
All of you cheap bastard Hackintoshers can rest easy though. A Russian hacker was able to slap an old Atom-supporting OSX Kernel on the newer Mac OS 10.6.2 build and get it running on his little Atom netbook. Depending on how much Apple cares, we’ll probably see this shut down in 10.6.3. Rinse. Repeat.
Video demo of Google Chrome OS
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62iBuf2btVI&w=600&h=380]
A video demo of Google’s Chrome OS from TechChrunch.
Google today released information on its ChromeOS. Some fun facts:
- Released 2H2010 (Just like Apple’s tablet?)
- Will boot only from SSD, in 7 seconds
- Runs on ARM or x86
- Will only work on new Netbooks, not your current POS Netbook
- Is basically just an Internet Thin client -Just a HTML 5 Browser – Chrome
- Open Source so other browser makers could use it as well, and Microsoft already has an online version of Excel ready for it.
This is so slimmed down that it will run on extremely small laptops. That might give Apple’s tablet some competition. Feel free to comment below.
Fresh patent pushes GUI from Apple devices to remote controls
Fresh from MacRumors comes news of Apple
Apple exec's avant-garde backyard's an eye-teaser
This looks like a nice avant-garde backyard for an Apple exec. Fortunately, that’s just what it is – it belongs to Apple executive (Mobile Mac Systems), art collector Jeff Dauber, and was built for him by Berkeley-based architect Thom Faulders. By the way, despite what your eyes are telling you, the backyard is actually flat. It doesn
App of the day: Star Wars: Trench Run
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyK8_VPLMok&w=480&h=385]
Here
Apple tablet – two flavours, delayed till late 2010 – Digitimes
We
Amazon Slashes Palm Pre To $79.99 as smartphone wars intensify
Perhaps signal that sales are slowing, Amazon has slashed the price of the Palm Pre to $79.99 with a two-year service plan from Sprint and now include free activation of the phone in the box.
Amazon is also offering the Palm Pixi for just $24.99 (with free activation). In contrast, Sprint currently sells the Pre for $149.99 and the Pixi for $99.99.
Palm shipped an update to the Palm Pre
Wheelchair bound folk now have iPhone controls for their chariots.
Who put the iPhone in accessiblity? Dynamic Controls did. The company has integrated an iPhone into its power wheelchair electronics, enabling powered wheelchair users to use them as normal while also gaining access to detailed information and control system access of their chair using the device.
The solution connects a user
Wired is building content for non-existent Apple tablet
According to Peter Kafka, Cond
Flip cameras to get Wifi, take on iPod Nanos
Latest word out of Cisco is that they haven’t yet ceded the ultra portable video camera throne to Apple’s iPod Nano. In fact, they have a Wifi update planned for the Flip line. The new Flips will be able to upload videos to (assuming here) Youtube and Facebook type sites for immediate sharing with friends and family. Still pictures should also be uploadable as well. Pocket-Lint is also saying it won’t have a touch screen viewfinder and it should be an early 2010 release.
Details are thin on the ground at the moment, but we’ve been informed by a Cisco spokesperson that the new model will feature “a large screen that slides to reveal the record and menu buttons underneath” allowing users to see what is going on when they are recording video.
Overall, this leak looks like bad timing for Cisco. Having a new product outed the week before Black Friday isn’t a good strategy. To celebrate, Amazon has marked down the current Flip models by considerable margins.
And if you are into the Flip, you might want to check out the slightly more expensive but way cooler Casio Exilm EX-G1 camera. It is waterproof, takes 12 megapixel stills and wide format video.
TomTom does what we thought they'd do: Support iPod
Forget the naysayers. We knew TomTom would support the iPod touch and today’s software update confirms it. With Google’s Free Navigator scaring all of the GPS software makers, it doesn’t hurt their bottom line to avail the $100 TomTom to work on 20 million more devices. Oh, but you’ll also need the $100 car kit for this to work with the iPod (or the original iPhone), which doesn’t have its own GPS.
AT&T suffers setback in court case but fires back at Verizon in an ad
Well, you knew this was coming. First news is that the Judge denied AT&T’s request to remove Verizon’s ads from the airwaves. No big shocker there. AT&T didn’t even disagree with the maps that Verizon was showing. But AT&T have vowed that they’re going to keep fighting. Good luck with that.
Secondly, they’ve made their own ads with (a slightly pudgey?) Luke Wilson and a bunch of X’s. It isn’t quite the Misfit Toys level of cheekieness but it is certainly a start. They’ve also put up a website at http://www.truthabout3G.com full of fun facts.
We’ve got over a month until Christmas and we don’t think the mud will stop slinging any time soon.
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Firefox 3.6 Beta 3 released, Camino 2 goes Final
Mozilla just released Firefox 3.6 Beta3. This one features Component Directory Lockdown which will disable support for incompatible add-ons, theoretically making Firefox more stable. Make sure your important Add-ons are Kosher before installing. Other fun new stuff in this version.
Update: In other Mozilla/Apple News, Camino 2.0 has gone final.
Apple in talks with Qualcomm for iPhone chips
G-phone rumor rears its ugly head again
Update: It might just be a VoIP phone.
Forgive us if we don’t take this one at face value. Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch says there is a Google-branded phone in the works. They don’t have many details except that it will be heading to market in January, and that is only because it is taking longer than expected.
Sure, they might be doing another level of co-branding like Microsoft is doing with Sharp on their Pink phones. But they’ve already gone down that road. Verizon already sells the Droid with Google branding and Tmobile has sold the G1 “with Google” branding since day one. Expanding on that isn’t what we are talking about here.
What Arrington is talking about is a Google product, sold by Google with no other branding on it. The OS won’t have to go thru carriers’ systems. It will be maintained by Google. Just like the iPhone is maintained by Apple.
But Google obviously doesn’t have some secret high tech phone manufacturing facility somewhere in China. They will likely outsource the building of the product to one of the mega factories that do this sort of thing, also just like Apple does with the iPhone – again, if this is true.
There’s just one problem: Google Android head Andy Rubin, who would know about such a product went on record saying that nothing like this exists just two weeks ago.
“We’re not making hardware,” Rubin said. “We’re enabling other people to build hardware.”
Now, Google has played a role in designing phones that have emerged with Android, such as the G1. For example, Google advocated the infamous hinge design on the G1 based on its desire to offer a phone with a five-row keyboard, Rubin said. That design was not popular with reviewers, however, and Rubin joked that perhaps that’s why Google shouldn’t make its own hardware.
But pushing for a design feature is a far cry from designing an entire phone, contracting with a manufacturing partner to build it, and working the distribution channels to get it to market. That would be “a fundamental shift” in Google’s business model, Rubin said, and one the company does not seem prepared to make at this time.
Obviously there is room for maneuvering here with words but the bigger issue is with handset partners.
Google has somehow convinced just about every handset maker in the industry to jump on the Android bandwagon. Clearly these manufacturers wouldn’t have signed their product line away to Google without a provision that Google wouldn’t be competing directly with them within a year. At least, we’d hope not.
So, with all this in mind, we don’t expect to see a G-phone. If anything, we would expect to see another level of Google branding on the next Android Uber-phone…or Tablet.
iPhone app turns speakers into world's weakest fan
If you were looking for an additional I/O on the iPhone, we think we’ve found one. ‘Blower’ turns the iPhone’s built in speaker into a fan that can blow out birthday candles and ‘refresh your skin on hot summer nights’. Uh huh.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18RuLED2nQM&w=600&h=385]
Sure, it is a gimmick, but so are fart apps and those have made more than one person rich. Speaking of which, this one is $.99 at the App Store (via Gizmodo)
Phishing scam hits Mac users – stay safe online
We received word this morning of what could be a brand new phishing attack that
Apple begins Mac OS X 10.7 development, MR claims
Apple has quietly begun development of Mac OS X 10.7, the next iteration of its OS and an as-yet completely unknown animal, MacRumors informs.
That Apple
Up to 60% of Apple suppliers violate company's conduct codes
Apple spends time and money policing its manufacturing partners to ensure they maintain a strict code of conduct, but the reality for many involved in manufacturing consumer electronic products is very different from anything most of us would tolerate.
For many factory workers, the reality is one in which hourly wages don