Tech Industry

Every time you do a Maps.app search on your iOS device (or on a Mac) and see a brand logo, Google gets some cash it was revealed today.

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Samsung seems to be emerging as a leading Apple competitor, with its A4-style processor-powered Galaxy smartphone and tablet devices — now news it intends introducing an Android OS-powered range of television sets, even as Apple seems to be foundering slightly with its Apple TV “hobby“.
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IDG and GSMA Mobile World Congress are coming together to bring an Apple mobile presence to the yearly parade of mobile devices in Barcelona held every February.  Just like Macworld in San Francisco, this one won’t have an official Apple presence, but Macworld will be on hand to shepherd mobile apps developers and accessory makers who want to showcase their wares on the world stage.

We’ve always wanted an excuse to go to Barcelona in February!  Full press release below:

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As expectation of the Google Music service grows, the search giant has despatched invitations to a September 8 press event to sundry US journos, reports claim.  The event will be held at the SF Moma.
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Long-standing Mac developer, DataViz is this morning rumored to have been acqiuired by Research In Motion for a $50 million fee.

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Computerworld: There’s so much hysterical coverage of the great Apple versus Android war it sure is easy to get confused by all the claims and counter-claims: is the iOS really six times more popular for Web browsing than Android, or is it really only twice as popular? And is Apple now selling 6 million iOS devices each month?

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I just threw my iPhone 4 away because this thing looks so excellent.  Think Zune+Kin and then add AT&T as the launch network provider.  I only wish they could have squared the edges a little more and made a less beautiful homescreen.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ROL2_czpW0&w=640&h=385]

In all seriousness, Microsoft is going to spend boatloads of money on Windows Phone 7 so expect ads like this from now until Christmas.  The one area where this OS will be able to compete is in gaming with its XBox Live connection.  We’ll see if that’s enough to bring people over.

Apple’s iPad has broken into yet another enterprise sector, this time the insurance industry with internationally-known insurer, Lloyds, working with brokers to test use of the Apple device in its underwriting room.

The trial began this month and will see iPads used instead of the more traditional underwriting slips. Brokers, Marsh, Cooper Gay and RK Harrison Group are testing the Apple devices.
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We’ve been ordered to take this post down.  For legal reasons, we’re complying.

We knew something was up when Amazon dropped the price of Parallels Desktop 5 to $20 yesterday.  It looks like a new version is now shipping to stores, though nothing has been announced from the company.

In the past, Parallels has given people who’ve purchased the previous version within the past two weeks of a new release a free upgrade, so it may or may not make sense to buy now for $20.

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That’s an iPad testing next-gen firmware in the field and those settings are for video call debugging. You may recall iPhone 4 field-test devices having a similar menu.

Update: Apple changed the September 8th launch date back to “Coming Soon” on both the UK and France iPhone software update websites. Release date changing? Was Sept. 8th a mistake? Who knows?…

According to both Apple’s United Kingdom and France websites, iOS 4.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch is set to publicly launch on Wednesday, September 8th. For those counting down, that’s just 5 short and magical days away. In case you haven’t heard, iOS 4.1 ups the ante with Game Center, HDR Photography (awesome btw), $.99 TV Show rentals, iTunes Ping support, WiFi HD video uploading, and all the bug fixes Jobs told us all about via e-mail.

Apple did not officially announce a set launch date for iOS 4.1 but did state it would launch next week complementing the launch of their new iPods. Maybe the new kit will hit retail on the 8th too? Who knows? In case you’re wondering, iOS 4.1 is already out for those with the new 4th gen iPod touch… pity that doesn’t apply to many of us.
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So, the Magic Trackpad will kill the mouse?

Amazon’s listings seem to disagree, putting the Magic Mouse at #1 and a Magician’s choice of trackpad at numero 36.

No folks, you can’t get iOS 4.1 on your current kit unless you’re a developer and are up for installing the Golden Master seed. What is available though, is iOS 4.1 for the just announced 4th generation iPod touch. So who does this apply to? Folks who have the yet to be shipped 4th generation iPod touch that are in need of restoring to a fresh copy of 4.1. If you do happen to have one of these new toys laying around, drop us a line.

Oh, and if for some reason you feel the need to download iOS 4.1 that only will install on a 4th gen touch, be our guest.
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It’s only been around 48 short hours since the launch of Apple’s Ping social music network, and the service has already managed to get one million users. According to Apple’s Chief of Internet stuff, Eddy Cue, those one million Ping accounts make up 1/3 of iTunes downloads. If you crunch those numbers you’ll find out iTunes 10 has already had 3 million downloads.
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Apple has opened a Trailer Showtimes site today that uses browser location settings both on desktop and mobile devices to deliver showtimes.  You’ll be prompted to let the browser access your GPS information, whether that is your geo-located IP or your device’s dedicated GPS.

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This one is for the Google h8rs:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouof1OzhL8k&w=640&h=385]
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Plex.app has been a fantastic media center option for Macs for a few years and as of last week, also on iOS devices.

Interestingly, Plex today announced a huge deal with LG which will have the Plex software built into future  LG HDTV displays, free of charge (except LG obviously has to cover the cost of additional hardware).  At some point in the future, Plex will be ported to Windows (how about that!) as well.

That is an interesting option vs. Apple and GoogleTV’s especially with the Plex iOS client running around and Plex’s ability to do 1080P, Flash and non-H.264 format videos.

Great news for Elan, Cayce and the guys at Plex!

Press release below:
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Facebook has moved to reassure people affected by last weekend’s iPhone scam hack that their account data wasn’t compromised, while Apple’s new Ping service becomes a haven for spammers, according to two separate reports.
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Apple’s iOS has become the third most popular platform on the Internet with marketshare that’s nealry six times larger than Android. Indeed, iOS is bigger than Linux, says Net Applications.

Collectively the devices that run iOS — the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad — accounted for 1.1 per cent of all hardware on the Internet last month. Windows and Mac OS were the first and second place OS’ used on the net, with 91.3 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.

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Google is in talks with music labels and aims to introduce its own music service by Christmas, Reuters reports.

The company intends offering a la carte music downloads alongside a digital song locker, the report explains. The latter feature would let song owners play their music anywhere. Negotiations have been led by Google’s Andy Rubin (Vice president of engineering).
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