If you are holding out for a MacBook Air, check back with us tomorrow, we’ll have the lowest prices you can find on MacBook Airs across the board. Expand Expanding Close
According to the latest preliminary market share numbers from IDC, Apple increased 48 percent and sold almost 23 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2012. The problem is that Samsung doubled its year-ago numbers with a mix of Android and Windows tablets, while Asus, and likely the Nexus 7, saw over a 4x increase over the year-ago quarter.
Apple’s iPad once again led the market, and the firm’s shipment total of 22.9 million units was exactly in line with IDC’s forecast for the period. A strong iPad mini launch, plus availability of the fourth generation full-sized iPad, led to solid 48.1% shipment growth over the same quarter last year. However, strong competition in the market led to Apple’s market share declining for a second quarter in a row (down to 43.6% from 46.4% last quarter). Number two vendor Samsung experienced 263% year-on-year growth, shipping nearly 8 million combined Android and Windows 8 tablets during the quarter to grab 15.1% of the market, its same market share total from the previous quarter. Expand Expanding Close
With each new release of an iPhone, jailbreaking becomes just one step more difficult. Throw in constant OS updates, and it’s amazing the hacker community is able to jailbreak it at all. So, it’s no surprise it has taken more than four months for an official jailbreak to be released for the iPhone 5.
On Sunday, that may change. A group of jailbreakers, known as the Evad3rs, plan to release its jailbreak tool: Evasi0n. The website, which claimed the team is “Processing the GUI”, has a very clean and simple layout. If all goes as planned and Evasi0n is released on Sunday, it very well may be the easiest jailbreak tool since JailBreakMe.
Evasi0n is an iOS 6.1 jailbreak said to support the iPhone 5, 4S, 4, 3GS, fourth- and fifth-generation iPod Touch, as well as the iPad mini and third- and fourth-generation iPad. Oh, and it is legal after all.
As we discovered yesterday, Apple is updating its Apple TV ever so slightly…soon. Today, the Federal Communications Commission released the dimensions of this new Apple TV product (via Engadget) in its labeling documentation. The 3,2 is 93.78mm square compared to the 98mm of the current model, but we’re not quite sure why Apple would go through the trouble of making it just a little smaller.
However, Apple likely accomplished the shrinkage with new hardware including the Broadcom BCM4334 Wireless chip (code, right) that can also incidentally pick up FM radio (just like the dormant FM radio receiver in the same chip inside iOS devices).
AnandTech says the new device might also sport an A5X processor. This would be similar to the chip found in the discontinued third-generation iPad. Rebooting production of this chip could help for that rumored Retina iPad mini.
Despite the information found in the FCC documents, an Apple spokesperson gave the following statement to TNW: “We sometimes make component changes which require an updated model number for regulatory approval. The component changes we made don’t affect product features and Apple TV customers will continue to have the same great user experience.”
The Verge also “learned” that there’s no redesign in the works, and the new Apple TV will look identical in size and appearance to the current one.
First, the good news. The legal shield for jailbreaking and rooting your phone remains up – it’ll protect us at least through 2015. The shield for unlocking your phone is down, but carriers probably aren’t going to start suing customers en masse, RIAA-style. And the Copyright Office’s decision, contrary to what some sensational headlines have said, doesn’t necessarily make unlocking illegal.
Carrier unlocking is murky, but it appears that phones bought before last weekend are fair game for unlocking. Go nuts!
But, new phones? It sounds like the risk is on the “unlockers” or the people who do the unlocking.
More likely, wireless carriers, or even federal prosecutors, will be emboldened to sue not individuals, but rather businesses that unlock and resell phones. If a court rules in favor of the carriers, penalties can be stiff – up to $2,500 per unlocked phone in a civil suit, and $500,000 or five years in prison in a criminal case where the unlocking is done for “commercial advantage.” And this could happen even for phones that are no longer under contract. So we’re really not free to do as we want with devices that we own.
What’s interesting is a cottage industry has formed around unlocking done by actually getting the carriers to unlock your phone. For instance, friend of the site, ChronicUnlocks is still in operation in the United States, and we’re hearing nothing but good things from readers who’ve bought unlocks. The site says:
Yesterday, a game that was developed in 1982 for arcade hardware, but never officially released, quietly landed in the App Store. Gridlee [Free] is a simple game where you maneuver a little green fellow about a grid that stretches off into the distance, blasting upwards at bouncy red figures that try and squash you. That’sGridlee, but that’s not the crux of the matter with this app.
As developer David Loureiro explains, Gridlee was developed for the Bally/Sente SAC I cartridge-based arcade machine. It has been brought to iOS devices by way of an emulation wrapper…namely MAME4iOS.
When word of this hit our forums, readers were quick to pull out iExplore and begin digging about the app’s directory structure looking for a ROM folder. Well, it’s in there, and sure enough, if one copies other MAME ROMs into that folder, theGridlee app starts up with the standard MAME4iOS ROM listing, allowing for a great many games beyond just Gridlee to be played on the iPhone or iPad in this Universal app.
So, download the game, throw a bunch of ROMs into the ROM folder using an application such as iExplore, start, and you have a fantastic MAME emulator. Expect this to be gone soon. Oh, and it works with iCade! Expand Expanding Close
Disclaimer: This is a developer unit of the Leap Motion and not the final stage of the product. Therefore, this review is not on the final hardware that has yet to released.
Due to the “overwhelming response” from developers, who say their app idea will help make the Leap a better product when it launches sometime this year, Leap has decided to send out over 10,000 beta units to developers. Fortunately enough for us, we were able to get our hands on one, and, after a few hours of somewhat extensive testing, I have my verdict on the Leap Motion.
Coming in a sleek black box with a hand-pasted sticker only reading “Leap Motion”, it’s no secret Leap took a cue from Apple on how to make a minimalist package. Opening the box reveals the Leap along with a letter from the CEO that briefly explained how valuable the developers are to the Leap’s success. You will find a micro USB-to-USB cable, as well. Plugging the Leap in and seeing your motions visualized on the screen only takes a quick download of Leap’s SDK (now at version 0.7.1) that is available to developers from their online “Dev Portal.”
The software is extremely “thinned out,” as once downloaded, the Leap software doesn’t open an app, but it instead reveals a small icon in the task bar with a pull-down menu. The only way to tell if your Leap Motion device is working is to open the visualizer and test it. The visualizer is a 3D grid that displays your finger movements with a long colorful tail. Each finger has its own color, but the device has trouble recognizing which finger is which, so you’ll usually get a different color for the same finger each time.
Just in time for the first deliveries, the Pebble app hit the App Store this evening. While use of the watch doesn’t require an app, it is a requirement for software updates, updating watch faces, and troubleshooting.
Description
PEBBLE – E-PAPER WATCH FOR IPHONE AND IPOD
Pebble is the first watch built for the 21st century. It’s infinitely customizable, with beautiful watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps. Pebble connects to iPhone and iPod using Bluetooth, alerting you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. While designing Pebble, we strove to create a minimalist yet fashionable product that seamlessly blends into everyday life.
Note: This app is intended to be used with a Pebble smartwatch. To purchase one, please go to: http://www.getpebble.com/
The Pebble app provides a dashboard for your Pebble smartwatch:
– Notifies you when software updates for Pebble ready to install
– Installs and remove custom watchfaces onto your Pebble
– Sends ping test messages to your Pebble
– Helps you troubleshoot issues
The biopic, directed by Joshua Michael Stern andwritten byMatthew Whitely, chronicles Jobs’ ascension from college dropout to one of the most revered entrepreneurs of the 20thcentury. Part of the film was shot in the historic garage where Jobs first set up shop at his family’s home in Palo Alto, Calif.
The post says that April 19 is also the anniversary of the founding of Apple, but that was, as far as we know, April 1, 1976.
Apple refurbished products are packaged and look like new and come with the same one year of AppleCare. See all of the best prices on Apple Products on our Apple product pages. Expand Expanding Close
Steve Jobs needed some advice. It was 2006, and Apple was working on the design for its first smartphone. Jobs had questions about its radio. So he called up Ralph de la Vega, Cingular Wireless’ chief operating officer, who had helped broker the exclusive deal between Jobs and the telco, soon to be part of AT&T Inc., to carry the phone. ” ‘How do you make this device be a really good phone?’ ” de la Vega recalls Jobs asking. ‘ “ I’m not talking about how to build a keyboard and things like that. But I’m saying the innards of a radio that worked well.’ ”
AT&T had a 1,000-page manual that detailed how suppliers should build a mobile radio optimized for its network. “
He said, ‘Well, send it to me.’ So I sent him an e-mail. Thirty seconds, he calls me back. ‘Hey, what the … ? What’s going on? You’re sending me this big document, and the first 100 pages have to do with the standard keyboard,’ ” de la Vega says, laughing. ‘ “ Sorry we didn’t take those first 100 pages out, Steve. Forget those 100 pages. Those don’t apply to you.’ He says, ‘Okay,’ and he hangs up the phone.”
Honestly, this sounds exactly like something AT&T would do.
News quickly spread inside Cingular that Apple didn’t have to adhere to the specs, an act deemed blasphemous by the carrier’s CTO, who rang up de la Vega and called him “crazy” for “giving in to Apple.” De la Vega had signed a nondisclosure agreement in Jobs’ office that was so secretive it prevented him from describing the device to his bosses except in the most general terms. Board members didn’t even get to see one until after the deal was signed. “I said, ‘Trust me, this phone doesn’t need the first hundred pages.’ ”
And then the quick switch around:
During the first year of the deal AT&T sold the iPhone starting at $499 and agreed to give Apple an unheard-of cut of its customers’ monthly bills, estimated to be a $720 million slice of revenue. Some wags inside AT&T predicted the iPhone would be mostly a Wi-Fi device with little cellular data use. Once early reports on surging traffic came in, Stephenson knew he had an expensive hit on his hands. “It went beyond any rational expectation we could have ever put together,” he says. He renegotiated with Jobs to end the revenue share and buy the phones up-front for a reported $400 apiece and subsidize the new $199 cost with a two-year contract.
Adding to an earlier report, the Wall Street Journal today says that chip giant Intel’s TV initiative isn’t nearly ready for primetime. Intel, which has little background in developing consumer-friendly experiences, seems like a long shot at cracking the digital TV nut.
The Intel Plan:
Intel has pitched media companies on a plan to create a “virtual cable operator,” which would offer U.S. TV channels nationwide over the Internet in a bundle similar to subscriptions sold by cable- and satellite-TV operators, people familiar with the effort said previously. The company, besides expertise in chips for set-top boxes, has expertise in server technology that could help serve up video programming and other content.
Interesting idea…but not so fast, says the cable operators!
Persuading companies to license individual channels would require far higher fees than the companies currently receive, this executive said, noting that his company and Intel were far from reaching an agreement on financial terms.
But Intel has so far reached at least one content deal, one of the people familiar with Intel’s plans said, without identifying the partner.
One content provider does not a cable TV replacement make. And this is the problem not just for Google and Intel but also for Apple. How do you convince the cable companies to let you have content in a more consumer-friendly format that will make them less money and take their power position away?
Steve Jobs may have been able to convince the music industry to do so, but it is pretty clear Eddy Cue is having a hard time cracking the TV biz (Jobs’ bio notwithstanding).
If you are still trying to get in on the 20% off iTunes gift cards, two new options sprung up over the break. GiftCardMall via Ebay Daily Deal offers a $50 iTunes gift card for $40 with tax only in Colorado, today only. Without tax, that’s the lowest price we’ve seen to date on an iTunes gift card. You can also pay via Paypal.
So you waited too long and you need a last second gift for that last person on your shopping list? No problem Apple fan! We’ve got some great options for you.
2. Amazon has a load of Printable and email-able gift options including embedding your own photos and videos for a personal touch. You can even send gifts over Facebook if that is your thing. Amazon carries lots of Apple products and peripherals which your giftees will love. Best Buy offers the same services.
Update: Best Buy is now down to 15%. Still worth your time.
Today only, Best Buy knocks 20% off the price of physical iTunes gift cards across the board from $15 -$100 (including the very handy $10 three-pack). iTunes gift cards are good for music, videos, iBooks, movies, and iOS/Mac Apps. They can be ordered site-to-store for pick-up up until 3PM on Dec 24th or ship for free if you don’t need them by Christmas.
Starting today, StackSocial offers The Mac Music Bundlefor $39. That’s $316 off and the lowest price we could find for this 8-app bundle. It includes MegaSeg DJ, The T-Pain Engine, Tracks, Flip4Mac Studio, Boom for Mac, Ondesoft Audio Recorder, SOS Online Backup, and TuneUp. Head below for descriptions or over to StackSocial.
Today only, Best Buy offers the $100 iTunes gift card for $85 with free shipping (which will arrive before Christmas) or in-store pickup. iTunes gift cards are good for music, videos, movies, iBooks, Mac and iOS Apps and much more.
9to5Mac will be at CES from Jan. 7 to Jan. 10 this year, and we’re hoping a lot of you will be there too.
This year, there’s a great deal about Apple products and technologies at CES and the first time this year, CES asked MacTech to provide a full day of Apple content, insight, and expertise. They’ve put together some of the best in the business to help CES attendees to understand what Apple is doing, where the opportunities are, and how they can make the most of what Apple and the Apple community have to offer. It’s the first time those in the general technology market can get insight from those people that live the Apple market every day – up close and personal.
This is not just for techs or geeks—it’s for the technology minded.
Aside from the MacTech Insight keynote, the sessions that fill the Jan. 10 day include:
Registration for MacTech Insight at 2013 CES is $350 $262* on the pre-registration until Jan. 2 and $500 on site. The registration also gives holders access to the CES Expo floor. *9to5Mac readers get 25 percent off by using the coupon code of MT25P. Information, registration, and more
The glass panes on the new Flagship store span three stories, as you can see, and locals continue to tell us the site is breathtaking. Hysan Place is Apple’s third store in Hong Kong and is set to open tomorrow. Thanks to Tim LaTour, Galen, Dawvon, and everyone else.
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However, Apple likely accomplished the shrinkage with new hardware including the 
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