Apple

6,136 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - December 2010

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Apple News and Brief History

Before you can properly understand Apple News, it’s important to know its history. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976. In 1977, Apple’s sales were growing with the success of its early computers. Within a few years, Jobs and Wozniak hired designers and a production line crew. Apple went public in 1980 and was an instant success. Over the next few years, Apple shipped new computers featuring new graphical user interfaces, such as the original Macintosh in 1984. As the market for personal computers expanded through the 1990s, Apple lost market share to the cheaper Microsoft Windows on PC clones. Eventually, Wozniak and Jobs both left Apple. Jobs would go on to found NeXT and would return to Apple when NeXT was acquired in the late 90s. Apple then began a journey to the great second act in the history of the business world.

Since the release of the iPod in 2001, Apple has become a major player once again in the technology industry. After releasing the iPhone in 2007, the iPad in 2010, and the Apple Watch in 2015, Apple is now one of the largest companies in the world. Apple’s worldwide annual revenue totaled $274.5 billion for its 2020 fiscal year.

Today, Apple operates retail stores all across the world, has a growing services division, and an ever-expanding hardware lineup. The technology industry follows Apple news to see where the company is headed in the future.

Keep reading for the latest Apple news

Surprise: iOS 4.2 Mobile Safari quietly enjoys augmented reality secrets

9to5 Staff Dec 22 2010 - 1:33 am PT

We just love surprises here at 9to5Mac, from the news that the MacBook Pro is the biggest-selling laptop on Amazon at time of writing (second-best in the UK) to the peachy-keen deals on Apple Protection there, but that’s not what this story is about — this surprise comes from the developers at Occipital who have uncovered secret augmented reality capabilities within Mobile Safari for iOS 4.2, woot!!
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That iPad mini rumor just refuses to die

9to5 Staff Dec 22 2010 - 1:08 am PT

From the “I can’t believe this ain’t viral advertising” dept comes the heart-warming tale of Taiwanese pop star, Jimmy Lin, who has posted a pic of himself holding a proper iPad along with a device he claims is the first prototype of an iPad mini. (It’s not). Never mind Steve Jobs recently said that seven inch tablets are “dead on arrival” and that you’d need to sandpaper your fingers down to use them…
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Microsoft to build version of Windows for ARM processors?

Seth Weintraub Dec 21 2010 - 12:39 pm PT

Bloomberg today reports what would have seemed unthinkable a year ago. Microsoft is building a version of its Windows OS (not Phone 7) for the ARM processor design, the very same that powers Apple’s lineup of iOS devices.

The operating system would give Microsoft another way to attack the market for tablets and phones, where it’s lost ground to Apple Inc. and Google Inc. ARM chips — made by Qualcomm Inc., Texas Instruments Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. — are used in most smartphones, as well as Apple’s best-selling iPad. A full-featured version of Windows for ARM chips is the best way for Microsoft to make a dent in the iPad’s lead, said Robert Breza, a Minneapolis-based analyst for RBC Capital Markets. While Windows is dominant in the personal-computer market, it hasn’t parlayed that into tablet success yet. “They’ve got to come back with a product that’s better than ‘me too’ and is equal if not better in features,” Breza said. He has an “outperform” rating on Microsoft’s stock, which he doesn’t own. “A lot of tablets today are inferior to PCs.”

Microsoft became a licensee of the ARM architecture earlier this year but at the time it seemed to be for embedded devices such as the Zune. Apple is also an ARM licensee and builds its A4 lineup of chips using ARM designs.

Is this really a good move for Microsoft? The problem with Windows 7 on tablets hasn’t really been an Intel problem necessarily. Whatever the case, this has to be bad news for Intel/AMD who now may see competition from ARM processors like the Nvidia Tegra 2 in netbooks running Windows.

Another Question: Will Apple port Mac OS to ARM?
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New Apple TV Sales to Top One Million This Week

9to5 Staff Dec 21 2010 - 7:10 am PT

Even while it emerges Google’s Google TV plans seem to be foundering (FIRE SALE!), Apple has announced that its new Apple TV will ship its millionth unit later this week.

While many hope the A4 chip inside Apple TV might be enabled to run some apps one day, many also consider the Netflix support within Apple TV to be the big win for sales.

Press Release follows:
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Apple kicks Wikileaks app out of the App Store

9to5 Staff Dec 21 2010 - 3:52 am PT

So much for Thinking Different™: Looks like Apple may have joined Amazon, Banc of America, Paypal and other corporations which have evicted Wikileaks from their servers — the briefly-available Wikileaks app for iPhone and iPad has been kicked out of the App Store.

The Time person of the year public vote-winning Julian Assange-founded Wikileaks has attracted controversy with the leak of a series of US diplomatic cables which illustrate the seamier side of international diplomacy.
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YouGov survey shows rise of the two iPad household

9to5 Staff Dec 21 2010 - 3:41 am PT

We all know this is set to be an iOS Christmas — now it is interesting to discover that Apple’s iPad is so popular there’s an increasing wave of two or more iPad households, according to reputable research from YouGov.

Researchers found nearly a fifth (17%) of Apple iPad owners state that there is more than one tablet in their household, either owned by themselves or another family member.
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Apple will close Mac OS X downloads site on January 6

Mark Gurman Dec 20 2010 - 5:04 pm PT

Apple has informed developers of applications and widgets on Apple’s downloads website that the site will be closing down come January 6th when the Mac App Store opens for business. Apple believes that the Mac App Store will truly be the best place to get Mac apps and this is another indication of that. One feature the downloads site has is access to Dashboard widgets. No word on whether the Mac App Store will be home to dashboard widgets and if not, Apple should think about leaving that portion up online.

Thank you for making the Mac OS X Download site a great destination with apps that offer users new ways to work, play, learn, and create on their Mac. We recently announced that on January 6, 2011, the Mac App Store will open to users around the world, presenting you with an exciting, new opportunity to reach millions of customers. Since the introduction of the App Store in 2008, we’ve been thrilled with the incredible support from developers and the enthusiastic response from users. Now we’re bringing the revolutionary experience of the App Store to Mac OS X. Because we believe the Mac App Store will be the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download your apps, we will no longer offer apps on the Mac OS X Downloads site. Instead, beginning January 6, we will be directing users to explore the range of apps available on the Mac App Store. We appreciate your support of the Mac platform and hope you’ll take advantage of this new opportunity to showcase your apps to even more users. To learn how you can offer your apps on the Mac App Store, visit the Apple Developer website at <http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/>.

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Oh snap! AirPlay runs on Linux. Windows coming

Seth Weintraub Dec 20 2010 - 4:05 pm PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oBfC8Lqumo&w=100&h=100]

The Airplay boundaries just keep falling today and now it looks like the XBMC project has Airplay running as a service on their product.

That is interesting news because services like Plex which will be the back end into LG televisions are based on AirPly. Long story short, AirPlay will probably be on every TV made in a year. Oh and Windows boxes too.
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AirFlick lets you AirPlay anything compatible on the Internet (update: AVIs too)

Mark Gurman Dec 20 2010 - 12:14 pm PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOrn3aoc8yo&w=480&h=385]

Erica Sadun has put together a new Mac application called AirFlick . To put it simply, AirFlick lets you watch any video stored on your Mac or any video from the internet that is compatible with the AppleTV/iTunes ecosystem (.mov, mp4, etc.). Simply launch the application (screenshot after the break) drag a file path from your Mac or an internet video URL. As soon as you hit the play button the video will start playing on your TV via the Apple TV.

The first time we tried it we got an error message but then we left the error window and tried again and it worked. AirFlick is a bombshell piece of software for your Mac and if you’re like me you will find it extremely useful. AirFlick sort of turns your Apple TV into a video web browser as you are no longer limited to the built in YouTube or Netflix player. You get way more now.

Sadun notes that AirFlick is “quite alpha” with 0.01 as its version number. AirFlick has worked as it should so far for us, and you can give it a try here too. A third party developer has proved that the Apple TV can act as a “data server” and as an internet browser to a point. So why is it taking Apple so long?

Update: Erica Sadun figured out how to get AVIs streaming too. Video after the break.

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Clamcase for iPad has finally arrived

Seth Weintraub Dec 20 2010 - 7:17 am PT

“Turn your iPad into a laptop”

Remember back in May when Clamcase said they’d ship their (awesome-looking) product in the Fall? Guess what tomorrow is? Winter. That means today they are finally releasing their Clamcase iPad case/keyboard. It works via Bluetooth and is available for $120.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4IbgCLzazw&w=640&h=390]

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Nokia and Microsoft seek smartphone alliance?

9to5 Staff Dec 20 2010 - 7:00 am PT

Yet more fascinating action in the smartphone space with an unholy rumored combination between Nokia and Microsoft set to potentially change the structure of the market.

What’s happening?
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Namco joins the Xmas iApp price war

9to5 Staff Dec 20 2010 - 4:10 am PT

Electronic Arts set off an iApp price war last week when it discounted many of its games to just $0.99, sparking the release of Tap Tap Revenge 4 for free and a big games sale from other iOS heavyweight, Namco.

All the app makers are engaged in a stiff fight to populate the iTunes App Store top ten lists in time for Christmas — after all, Apple’s lists won’t be updated from December 23, so grabbing a good slot on those lists now is likely to translate into great sales opportunities as all those new iPads hit the store.
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After $2500 sale, Steve Jobs action figures popping up all over eBay

Seth Weintraub Dec 19 2010 - 12:57 pm PT

That lovely Steve Jobs action figure you see up there went on auction for $2500 recently. Only 100-300 were sold through MIC Gadget before the operation was shut down by Apple, making the items a rare find for collectors. More have cropped up on eBay fetching prices from $1000.. to.. $2500.

BTW, is anyone interested in ours? We may have a charity auction or something later this month. Check twitter for updates.
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Facebook app updated, still no iPad

Seth Weintraub Dec 19 2010 - 6:48 am PT

Facebook, who count 55,060,129 monthly active iOS app users, today updated their iPhone/iPod touch app with a few new features but mostly bug fixes, listed below:

– Improved reliability in chat and messages
– Improved notifications UI
– Fixed memory usage
– Fixed some crashes
– Walls you cannot post on no longer show the text field at the top
– Restore ability to post as a page that you admin
– Fixed group photos
– Various Places improvements

Is it silly to expect a iPad app at this point?

All 55 million of you, hit the App Store updates or head over here.

Screenies below…
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Apple Store employee: “There is no iWork on the shelves, no iWork in stock and none on the way”

Seth Weintraub Dec 17 2010 - 3:36 pm PT

We might be due for an iWork refresh pretty soon. We’re hearing from a few Apple Store employees that “there is no iWork on the shelves, no iWork in stock and none on the way”. A quick check to Amazon shows none in stock there (but family packs are available).

Ingram Micro shows a few hundred retail boxes available and Amazon’s secondary sellers have some in stock. The online Apple store has them in stock but there is a fresh “new” label on the product (see above).

We’re not sure if this is a inventory blip or a sign that new products might be coming but we do know that iWork is coming as apps in the Mac App Store and we know that is coming January 6th. Anyone else heard anything?

Update: Also, the Apple Search page also autocompletes “iWork ’11” (thanks Pete!):

Update 2: TUAW points out that iWork ’09, the latest version of the software suite, was released on January 6, 2009. Coincidence?

Update 3: Video below of Apple store Employee saying wait for iWork ’11 soon:
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MacTech: Parallels smokes VMWare

Seth Weintraub Dec 17 2010 - 3:16 pm PT

We haven’t put the two head to head (been on Parallels exclusively for about a year personally), but the folks over at MacTech had a chance to run the latest versions of VMWare for Mac against Parallels 6 which was released just a few months ago (VMware Fusion 3.1.1 and Parallels Desktop 6.0.11828.615184) It appears that Parallels is the winner in both general and 3D tests.

Parallels 6 is available in Box form ($63) or for immediate download.

Full results will be posted in MacTech magazine next month. More below:
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TK Maxx (UK) selling iPads £100 off

Mark Gurman Dec 17 2010 - 11:59 am PT

We have been told that TJ Maxx in the UK, TK Maxx, has started selling iPads at a discounted price. The discount appears to be £100 on all models making the entry level 16 GB WiFi iPad £329.00 instead of £429.00. We’re not exactly sure which models are in store but readers have spotted both the 16 GB and 32 GB WiFi models. These discounted iPads at TK Maxx are of course not authorized by Apple and are in extremely limited quantities. Let us know if you spot them in your local UK store.

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3-in-1 iPad adapter? Pah! How about 5-in-1?

Seth Weintraub Dec 17 2010 - 9:10 am PT

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.
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iPad 'Daily' Mag to drop Jan 17th

9to5 Staff Dec 17 2010 - 8:48 am PT

News Corp sources tell News Corp reporters that News Corp’s iPad app, the Daily will drop on January 17th.

Given that News Corp. has hired dozens of blabby journalists for the Daily, and interviewed many more, lots of other details about the app/service have leaked out already: It will come out daily, it will sell for 99 cents a week, it will use lots of video and it will have cool multimedia bells and whistles, including some kind of 3-D effect that lots of people are very excited about. And Apple CEO Steve Jobs may or may not participate in a launch event.

The date has moved around a lot but it appears that it will be coming at some point in the future and carry a $.99/week price. Other billionaires launching iPad publications recently include Richard Branson.
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iPod Nano as a watch? Great idea, here's a million dollars…

Seth Weintraub Dec 17 2010 - 7:52 am PT

People have been prognosticating the iPod Nano as a watch since before it even debuted. Steve Jobs mentioned in the keynote that an Apple board member was wearing his (or her) nano as a watch and the Apple Store has started selling them. Is it mainstream yet?

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.

Still!

RIM round-up: Mac software, results, PlayBook delayed

9to5 Staff Dec 17 2010 - 6:22 am PT

Research In Motion’s in the news today: not only is its iPad-killing PlayBook delayed until around the time iPad 2.0 is expected to ship, but Mac users with a BlackBerry can now download the latest desktop connection kit. Meanwhile the company’s financial results were alright but nothing supercalifragilistic.

By the numbers then:
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Component shortages say no AMOLED for iPad 2.0

9to5 Staff Dec 17 2010 - 3:48 am PT

In case you’ve any doubt left, you can forget the notion of AMOLED screens in the next-generation iPad, there simply aren’t enough components to go round — indeed, Apple competitors who made the leap to the tech are already facing steep component shortages.

There’s an inevitability about all this. Even as Apple competitors attempt to leapfrog iOS devices by fielding more advanced technologies in their gadgets, they forget the need to serve mass market products up in reliable quantity.
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iTunes dominates US music retail, Amazon fails to dent share

9to5 Staff Dec 17 2010 - 3:35 am PT

The figures are in and they confirm that iTunes remains the biggest US digital music retailer, with Amazon failing to grab too much of Apple’s digital music heartland.

NPD tells us AAPL’s iTunes took 66.2% of the digital music market in the third quarter of this year – that’s up from 63.2% in Q3 2009. Easy still beats free.
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EMI poaches key iTunes exec to lead A&R

9to5 Staff Dec 17 2010 - 3:15 am PT

Apple has lost one of its leading iTunes execs to UK major, EMI, which has announced that Alex Luke – content lead for Apple’s iTunes – has been appointed to a senior A&R position at EMI Music’s Capitol & Virgin Label Group.

During his seven years at iTunes, Luke has been responsible for the digital platform’s music programming, music content acquisition, and artist and industry relationships.
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