Apple

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Apple’s iOS has won a big thumbs-up from the Angry Birds themselves, who say that when it comes to mobile devices, Apple’s going to excel against the rest.

“Apple will be the number one platform for a long time from a developer perspective, they have gotten so many things right,” said Peter Vesterbacka, Angry Birds development lead.
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Perhaps you’ve been wondering if Apple will feel much impact once those Android and Chrome-powered tablets ship in 2011 — now a pair of reports suggest the magical iPad is set to maintain dominance for some time yet.

Report one tells us LG Display shipped 1.5 million iPad panels in November, while Samsung delivered 1.2 million units, suggesting Apple might have sold nearly three million iPads this month.
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iPad 2.0 activity continues to heat up with the latest report claiming Apple will offer multiple configurations of the new product, with an accent on provision of pervasive Internet access.

Apple is expected to ship over half a million iPad 2.0 units in January with mass production set to begin then, the report claims. It seems Apple will offer Wi-Fi-equipped units alongside UMTS and CDMA-savvy iPads, maximizing the always connected Internet device proposition.
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Facebook welcomed an additional million iPhone owners on Christmas (Facebook for iPhone includes all iOS devices?).  In fact Apple had a pretty impressive December all together. via DF.

From Fortune:

Tran says that [Android] phones made from the BCM2157 chipset will retail for under $100 and may dip as low as $75. Those devices should debut in just 3-6 months (and we might hear about them next month at CES).

That means that popular pre-paid Android devices that currently can be found as low as $180 will drop by half in the next half year.

Apple’s low-end strategy so far has been to offer the last year’s model for $99 with a two year contract.  That contract is at least worth $350 (AT&T’s ETF) which puts old retail iPhones at $450. Buying an iPhone 4 off contract costs $650.

What’s more important is that with Apple’s AT&T agreement, you have exactly one data plan option in the US (soon to grow).  Even with Verizon and maybe even Sprint and T-Mobile, there isn’t going to be a $25/month data plan for the iPhone anytime soon.  For the budget conscious, Android is the only smartphone game in town.

So how does Apple respond?

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According to Setteb.it, Apple will have its Q1 2011 conference call on January 18th.  Tune in here to find out how many Macs and  iOS devices Apple sold during the holiday and perhaps we’ll get another cameo by CEO Steve Jobs.
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A prototype of Apple’s first portable Macintosh has just been posted for sale on eBay. The device is said to have not been intended for sale and is clearly marked as a prototype unit with a label stating “this device is a demonstration unit only. Production units will comply with all applicable Federal Rules and Regulations.”  The device itself is in “perfect condition” but does not power on. By perfect the seller means the outside as the inside contains a defunct acid battery.

The Macintosh Portable is the basis for the laptop computers we use today. It ran on a rechargeable battery , included a screen which flipped shut and had an input device. In the case of the Macintosh Portable is was a trackball. More photos of the protoype device are at eBay.

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Ever get the feeling that these companies like to mess with us?  After the reported Skype iPhone video conferencing ‘leaked help document’ Skype took the document offline.  Today however, it is back up with some new company joining in the fun:

Verizon.

So there you have it: Skype, Verizon, iPhone.  CES. Join us for coverage on Jan 6th.

Also, Skype is hyping an iPad only version of their software as well.

Even though the iPhone application is fully compatible with the iPad, we’re still always striving to bring the best to our Skype users, which is why we’re developing a Skype application designed specifically for the iPad. Watch the website for further updates.

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It appears that an upcoming update to Skype will allow iPhone and iPod touch users to video chat with desktop Skype users or other iPhones (an iPod touch 3rd Gen) users with Skype installed.  Skype hasn’t released the software just yet but maybe they have a Christmas surprise?

Help page saved below.

Via Engadget

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been named 2010’s ‘Person of the Year’ even while US President, Barack Obama, speaks up for the wealth of the Apple co-founder.

The Financial Times named Jobs its person of the year, saying the introduction of the iPad marked the moment when the ‘rebound’ in Apple’s fortunes “was complete”.

The iPad is the culmination of an approach that he has seemingly been perfecting for his entire career,” stated the newspaper’s opinion writers.
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Pretty much everything on any Apple product is playable on any other Apple product now…I think…

What’s New in Remote.app Version 2.1?

• AirPlay video support to control iTunes on your computer to stream videos to an Apple TV
• Internet radio control to play thousands of internet radio streams in iTunes on your computer
• The ability to control iTunes on your computer to play Movies and TV shows that are rented from the iTunes Store
• Addresses issues connecting to an iTunes library or Apple TV
• Includes stability and performance improvements

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Concerned about net neutrality and hold a little inner fear that one day access to the Web will involve tiered access with the ‘real’ Web almost impossible to get to?

Then be glad Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has taken time to tell an FCC net neutrality hearing to do the right thing and enact net neutrality rules that favor the people.
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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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