Tech Industry

4,113 'Tech Industry' stories June 2007 - February 2013

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FTC recommends Apple, Google, BlackBerry, Microsoft, & app devs improve mobile privacy disclosures

Jordan Kahn Feb 1 2013 - 8:07 am PT

The Federal Trade Commission released a report today that recommends how owners of mobile platforms can better inform consumers about how their data is being handled. The FTC named a number of companies in its report, including: Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, and Microsoft, as well as “application (app) developers, advertising networks and analytics companies, and app developer trade associations.”

The recommendations follow the FTC updating its online child privacy law to require parental consent before collecting data from children under the age of 13. It also came as Path agreed to pay an $800,000 settlement to the FTC forviolations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protections Act. Path posted a response to the FTC settlement on its website.

In the report, titled “Mobile Privacy Disclosures, Building Trust Through Transparency,” the FTC issued a number of recommendations. The FTC recommended that all platform owners “Provide just-in-time disclosures to consumers and obtain their affirmative express consent before allowing apps to access sensitive content like geolocation.” It recommended app developers take the same measures in addition to having “a privacy policy and make sure it is easily accessible through the app stores.” The report also suggested that companies implement a ” a one-stop “dashboard” into their operating systems so consumers can easily view how their data is being handled by specific apps.

Other recommendations the FTC asked Apple and others to implement include new icons that “depict the transmission of user data” and a “Do Not Track” option for users to easily opt out of their data being sent to third parties.

“FTC staff strongly encourages companies in the mobile ecosystem to work expeditiously to implement the recommendations in this report. Doing so likely will result in enhancing the consumer trust that is so vital to companies operating in the mobile environment. Moving forward, as the mobile landscape evolves, the FTC will continue to closely monitor developments in this space and consider additional ways it can help businesses effectively provide privacy information to consumers,” the report states.

A full list of the recommendations made by the FTC for mobile platform owners, advertising agencies, and app developers is below:
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Valve’s Gabe Newell says Apple TV, not consoles, is the biggest threat to Steam Box

Jordan Kahn Jan 30 2013 - 3:23 pm PT

Polygon covered a recent talk today given by Valve’s Gabe Newell at the University of Texas, where he said Apple, not the big gaming console makers, is the biggest threat for the company’s upcoming Linux-based Steam Box hardware. Newell said he thought the biggest challenge for bringing the massively popular Steam service to the TV will be if “Apple moves on the living room before the PC industry sort of gets its act together.” He also said Apple could “shut out the open-source creativity” that Steam hopes to bring to the living room:

“The threat right now is that Apple has gained a huge amount of market share, and has a relatively obvious pathway towards entering the living room with their platform,” Newell said. “I think that there’s a scenario where we see sort of a dumbed down living room platform emerging — I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily. The question is can we make enough progress in the PC space to establish ourselves there, and also figure out better ways of addressing mobile before Apple takes over the living room?”

He continued:

“The biggest challenge, I don’t think is from the consoles,” Newell said. “I think the biggest challenge is that Apple moves on the living room before the PC industry sort of gets its act together.”

Tech Industry

First hands on with the Leap Motion developer edition – the $69 gesture controller for Mac and PCs

9to5 Staff Jan 25 2013 - 12:08 pm PT

By Alex Allegro

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.

Few innovations truly change the way we interact with our devices. Touchscreens—once just a fantasy reserved for science fiction—are now more common than ‘dead screens’. Just show any iPad-wielding, 3-year-old kid a screen, and he’ll try swiping it. In a few years from now, eye-tracking technology may have a similar impact on devices. Today, though, Leap hopes to make motion and gesture control the next big thing with the announcement of its first consumer product, the Leap Motion. Promo video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d6KuiuteIA&feature=player_embedded]

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.

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NAMM: Apogee updates USB interfaces with iPad support, Mackie launches 8-channel iPad mixer

Jordan Kahn Jan 24 2013 - 11:02 am PT

Today is the first official day of NAMM in Anaheim, and we are already started to see a few Apple-related products pop up. The most interesting is the new lineup of interfaces from Apogee, including updated One, Duet, and Quartet models that all include new features, specs, and iPad compatibility with support for any Core Audio app. iPad compatibility comes thanks to Apogee’s new Maestro app:

Apogee’s new free Maestro app for iOS brings total hardware control to iPad. Designed to create a seamless transition between Mac and iOS, Maestro’s design was customized for each device; iPhone, iPad and Mac, ensuring an intuitive user interface across every platform. The app includes all the same essential functions available on the Mac including low latency monitoring. Maestro can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store on your iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad.

Starting with the One, the refreshed USB interface now features two inputs, the ability charge your iOS device, Apogee’s Maestro control iOS app, optional battery power, and updated mic preamps and AD/DA converters. It also includes a built-in mic and breakout cable to connect a 1/4-inch cable or XLR. One will be available in March for $349.

The new Duet, a four output, two-input USB interface has been given a refresh, and, like the One, it now includes a USB port for device charging and iOS connectivity. It also works with Apogee’s new Maestro iOS app, and it includes a full-color OLED display like previous versions. It will be available in February for $595. It also includes a breakout cable for XLR and 1/4-inch connections.

Lastly, Apogee is updating its 4 IN x 8 Out USB Quartet interface to take advantage of Maestro control software for iOS and Mac and offer full iPad compatibility. The refreshed Quartet will be available in February for $1,295, and a firmware update will bring iOS support to existing users at the same time.

The One, like the other updated Apogee interfaces, comes with a 30-pin cable, so you’ll need an adapter for Lightning devices.

Another iOS-related highlight from NAMM: Mackie’s new DL806 8-channel digital mixer for iPad (pictured below). It is available now for $799:

(Apogee via mi-pro.co.uk)

How Apple stopped Verizon’s Droid handsets from adding Siri

Élyse Betters Jan 23 2013 - 7:43 am PT

Verizon once tried to add Siri’s technology to Droid smartphones long before Apple purchased the voice assistant app, according to a recent report by The Huffington Post.

The carrier inked a contract with the startup in 2009 to bring its functionality to devices, and it even went ahead and filmed commercials for the pre-installed product (Tipsters? Send it to us!). Then, Apple bought Siri. The deal with Big Red immediately went bust, as Apple now owned the rights to what has since become one of the iPhone’s most famous features and subsequently stopped the competition from adding the app to their devices.

According to The Huffington Post:

Verizon thought so, too. In the fall of 2009, several months before Apple approached Siri, Verizon had signed a deal with the startup to make Siri a default app on all Android phones set to launch in the new year. When Apple swooped in to buy Siri, it insisted on making the assistant exclusive to Apple devices, and nixed the Verizon deal. In the process, it narrowly avoided seeing Siri become a selling point for smartphones powered by its biggest rival, Google. (Somewhere in the vaults of the wireless giant, there are unreleased commercials touting Siri as an Android add-on.)

Its first and only app had barely been available for two full months. And now Siri — and its future — belonged to Apple.

“It was a storybook ending — or beginning, you can call it,” Kittlaus says.

Kittlaus is, of course, Siri’s cofounder, Dag Kittlaus, who also explained how he got a phone call from Apple CEO Steve Jobs asking to meet and discuss the future of his startup. After talking, Apple quickly made an offer to buy the technology.

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How does the $899 Microsoft Surface Pro compare to similarly-priced Apple products?

Seth Weintraub Jan 22 2013 - 12:19 pm PT

Microsoft announced today that its 10.6-inch display Surface Pro would début a month later than planned with specs that resemble a MacBook Air rather than a tablet including its $899 price tag. What do you get for your $899? AnandTech compared the specs of the Surface RT and Pro with those of Apple’s iPad:

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The interesting part is that AnandTech (of all websites!) wasn’t allowed to give the speed of the Surface’s Core i5 processor (think slow). Keep in mind: AnandTech is the website that does paginated novels on CPU speed of devices alone.

A better Apple device comparison might be one that BGR made with Apple’s base model 11.6 MacBook Air (note that prices are wrong):

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Although the figures are correct, the MacBook Air has been out for over half a year and prices have dropped significantly across third-party retailers.

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The $899 Surface price is the same price that Best Buy and Amazon are selling their MacBook Airs, according to our product pages. In fact, you can get a refurbished current-generation Air for $850 from the Apple Store. Or even better, you can get a new previous-generation MacBook Air for $699 (the same price as a 64GB iPad and a CPU that’s more likely on par with the speed of the Surface).

The tradeoffs: Microsoft Surface has a smaller 10.6 but a higher resolution 1080p display compared to the MacBook Air’s bigger 11.6 but 1,366-by-768 res. The Surface also has a SDXC card slot like Apple’s bigger MacBooks (you can also pick up a USB-SD Card adapter for $2.50). You can hook it up via USB in your vehicle, an extra that can be installed by any bodyshop or windshield replacement houston company. The keyboard of the Surface is a snap-attached flat keyboard versus the Air’s built-on laptop display that makes the Surface lighter and thinner compared to the MacBook Air’s superior text entry. Apple’s MacBook Air will net you an additional hour of battery life (at least), as well.

The biggest difference obviously with the Surface is that you can use gestures like a tablet. The utility of Windows 8’s hybrid of touch and traditional input has been disputed, to put it mildly, so it isn’t certain if this is a pro or con.

Let’s see how this product does in the market. If it is a success, perhaps Apple will decide to enable touch and removable keyboards on future MacBooks.

Tech Industry

Samsung ‘fast follower’ mantra extends to marketing as well

Jordan Kahn Jan 22 2013 - 10:49 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nf5-Prx19ZM]

A story today from Fortune writer Michal Lev-Ram, titled “Samsung’s road to global domination”, told an interesting anecdote about the Samsung’s ad team on iPhone 5 launch day. The team, led by Chief Marketing Officer Todd Pendleton with help from ad agency 72andSunny, sat in a Los Angeles restaurant following real-time updates from Apple CEO Tim Cook’s iPhone 5 unveiling.

Two hours later, the team had crafted the now well-known ad campaign mocking iPhone line sitters:

They huddled around tables mounted with laptops and TV screens, carefully tracking each new feature and monitoring the gush of online comments on the new device via blogs and social media sites. As the data flowed in, writers from the company’s advertising agency, who were also camped out in the restaurant turned war room, scrambled to craft a response…

Two hours later, when Cook stepped off the stage, the Samsung group was already drafting a series of print, digital, and TV ads. The following week — as the iPhone 5 went on sale — the company aired a TV ad mocking Apple “fanboys” queuing up for the new phone. (“The headphone jack is going to be on the bottom!”) The 90-second commercial went on to become the most popular tech ad of 2012, garnering more than 70 million views online. More important, in the weeks following the launch of Apple’s iPhone 5, Samsung sold a record-breaking number of its own signature smartphone, the Galaxy S III.

Tech Industry

Microsoft may take major ($1-3B) stake in Dell as it goes private

Seth Weintraub Jan 22 2013 - 8:29 am PT

[tweet https://twitter.com/cnbc/status/293754860506058752]

The deal is probably just as much about keeping Dell afloat as it is about keeping them from making Chromebooks.

When it comes to the state of Apple Computer, everyone has an opinion.

And at the Gartner Symposium and ITxpo97 here today, the CEO of competitor Dell Computer added his voice to the chorus when asked what could be done to fix the Mac maker. His solution was a drastic one.

“What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders,” Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executives.

Tech Industry

Just Apple SVP Jony Ive eating pizza with CEOs of Yahoo, Yelp, Path, Dropbox, Twitter and execs from Facebook and Google

Seth Weintraub Jan 17 2013 - 4:03 pm PT

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The HTC M7 looks very iPhone-like in latest leaked renders

Jordan Kahn Jan 16 2013 - 8:17 am PT

From 9to5Google:

We have heard a lot about HTC’s upcoming M7 smartphone expected to replace the company’s One X line in recent weeks. The rumored 4.7-inch device has some pretty impressive specs, including “several industry firsts,” according to recent reports. However, it certainly doesn’t have an industry-first design, if this new leaked image from UnwiredView is legit, and I think Apple might agree.

The report quoted a “trusted source” and claimed the image above is clipped from “a short animation clip instructing new owners on first-time SIM card installation” for the M7. It’s likely we’ll get our first real look at M7 next month during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Analyst: Initial iPhone 5S production to begin in March for June/July launch

Jordan Kahn Jan 15 2013 - 10:22 am PT

Following reports from WSJ that Apple is cutting component orders for iPhone 5 due to “weaker-than-expected-demand,” Jeffries analyst Peter Misek is out today with a note to clients claiming initial production of the iPhone 5S will begin in March for a June/July launch (via StreetInsider):

“As word of the earlier production schedule starts to spread, we believe we could see a slight slowing of demand CQ1 in anticipation of the new product launch and Apple will likely start curtailing channel inventory. Therefore we tweak down our CQ1 iPhone shipment estimate from 48M to 44M, which is still well above widespread fears of shipments in the mid-30Ms.”

Back in December Misek also claimed the 5S is coming in June and at the time said he expects Apple to ship the device with multiple colors, improved battery life, and possibly a 4.8″ Retina/IGZO display. However, in today’s note Misek said there has been no additional evidence for the 4.8″ prototype signaling the design could be for the iPhone 6. Today he also added his thoughts on rumors of a low-cost iPhone, claiming Apple could release a low-cost device made of polycarbonate with no LTE and a 4″ non-retina display.

As for the rumors of less than expected iPhone 5 demand contributing to cuts on component orders, which is also impacting the company’s stock price this week, Misek provided his thoughts:
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Steve Jobs’ yacht spotted in the Canary Islands en route to US

Jordan Kahn Jan 14 2013 - 5:43 am PT

After a small dispute with French designer Philippe Starck over an unpaid 3 million euro bill, we heard last month that the Jobs’ family yacht was free to set sail after Steve Jobs’ estate paid Starck to free the ship from impound at a port in Amsterdam. A reader sent an image today of the yacht sailing in the Atlantic Ocean close to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It was most likely en route to its final home somewhere in the United States.

Last week, local publication ciaotenerife.it confirmed the ship was for a time docked in the harbor of Los Llano.

Thanks, Victor and Manuel!

(Images via nauta360.expansion, lovecanarias.com)

Just months after being ejected from Microsoft, former Windows Head Steven Sinofsky is already Tweeting from iPhone

Mark Gurman Jan 13 2013 - 4:02 pm PT

Immediately following the release of the Microsoft Surface in November, Microsoft sent its Windows head Steven Sinofsky packing. Just a couple of months later, he is already trying out a new platform: iOS.

We were tipped to a tweet from Sinofsky (@stevesi) from January 11th that was sent from Twitter for iPhone. We soon discovered a second tweet from the same platform on January 4th. Sinofsky is still tweeting from his Microsoft Surface and the Web, but we don’t see as many Windows Phone-based tweets as we do earlier in his Twitter timeline.

Sinofsky spent the last week at CES where he documented the 15 hours he spent on the show floor.

After all of those years using the required Windows Phones, it sure didn’t take him long to hop over to iOS.

Update: Sinofsky has commented on Twitter about his use of the iPhone:

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Just a monster CES 2013 roundup [Gallery]

Jordan Kahn Jan 11 2013 - 2:06 pm PT

International CES 2013 is officially ending, so we decided to share some of what we saw from the show floor and surrounding events. 9to5Mac has tons of CES coverage for some of the most interesting new iOS accessories, advancements in display technology, and new Apple-related products we saw at the show right here, but below we have put together a collection of photos and video we shot while walking the many acres of CES exhibits at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Enjoy.

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Best of CES iOS device accessories [Gallery]

Seth Weintraub Jan 11 2013 - 11:43 am PT

: Bang and Olufsen iPad speaker

: Speakers from JBL and Zagg

: More speaker shapes and sizes from TDK

: Bluetooth Keyboard from Logitech

: Recreation of classic Harmon Kardon soundsticks

: can put this waterproof keyboard in wash

: Solar Keyboard case

: We love Logitech’s ultra-thin too

: 30-pin+Lightning dock

: Send your weight to social networks

: Great gaming for iPhone

: Scoche controlFREQ remote for car

: Speck sleekly replaces wallet

: 3D headphones via 30-pin

: Mobile Joose boosts cell signal

These were voted by the CEA to be among the best at CES 2013. We see some old faves and some new stuff.

Amazon’s AutoRip is too little, too late

Jordan Kahn Jan 10 2013 - 1:18 pm PT

From a bygone era, Amazon today announced AutoRip. It is a service that will let customers that purchase AutoRip enabled CDs from Amazon access MP3 versions from Cloud Player. The service isn’t just for newly purchased CDs, it includes over 50,000 albums for CDs since the launch of Amazon’s music store in 1998, but we’re not sure how many people have stacks of CDs lying around since ’98 that they’ve yet to rip. If for some reason you’ll still purchasing physical CDs from Amazon’s music store, and you’re located in the U.S., you can start taking advantage of the AutoRip service today.

@9to5mac More useful if they would offer Kindle versions of the books you buy.

— Mark Jowett Tan (@jowett) January 10, 2013

Tech Industry

Steve Jobs tried to save Mark Hurd’s job and HP

Élyse Betters Jan 10 2013 - 8:58 am PT

Bloomberg Businessweek shared a story today about Steve Jobs having contacted Mark Hurd, the displaced CEO of HP, in 2010 to offer support and help the executive mend relationships with HP.

Hurd’s expulsion, although allegedly for different reasons, is often likened to Jobs’ departure from Apple in 1985. As MacRumors noted, Jobs gave advice to many people in Silicon Valley. He apparently felt Hurd’s presence strengthened HP and supposedly did not want the company to flounder after ousting him:

“Hurd met Jobs at his home in Palo Alto, according to people who know both men but did not wish to be identified, compromising a personal confidence. The pair spent more than two hours together, Jobs taking Hurd on his customary walk around the tree-lined neighborhood. At numerous points during their conversation, Jobs pleaded with Hurd to do whatever it took to set things right with the board so that Hurd could return. Jobs even offered to write a letter to HP’s directors and to call them up one by one.

“Over the previous five years, Hurd had built HP into the largest technology company in the world; sales in 2010 were $126 billion. Shares were on a tear, and profits kept rising. Yet Jobs told Hurd and other friends that he thought the board would unwind HP’s progress and send the company spiraling into chaos.

“By offering Hurd counsel, Jobs wasn’t merely lending a friend psychological support. Rather, he was going to bat for the legacy of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. A healthy HP, Jobs urged, was essential to a healthy Silicon Valley. “It’s the founding company of the Valley,” says Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit (INTU) and an Apple board member. “You don’t want to see it go away.”

“Jobs ultimately could not pull off a reconciliation between Hurd and HP.

Jobs and Hurd seemed close, and they were both tight friends of Oracle’s Larry Ellison as well, but history shows Jobs’ attempts at helping the fallen executive eventually failed and he would pass away just a year later.

Get the full report on HP at Bloomberg.

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Patent troll Personal Audio LLC sues iTunes’ top podcaster Adam Carolla’s Ace Broadcasting

Jordan Kahn Jan 10 2013 - 8:43 am PT

In July 2011, a federal jury in Texas awarded “patent licensing company” Personal Audio LLC $8 million in its patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. The jury found Apple infringed two valid patents related to downloadable playlists with its iOS devices as far back as the original iPod. One covered an “audio program player including a dynamic program selection controller,” while the other covered an “audio program distribution and playback system.” 9to5Mac has now learned Personal Audio LLC is attempting to target content creators directly, starting with a new patent infringement case in Texas against one of iTunes biggest podcasters, Adam Carolla’s Ace Broadcasting.

If the outcome of the case is anything like Personal Audio’s previous cases, it could have a major impact on podcasters and other content creators on iTunes and elsewhere. Personal Audio also sued and entered licensing agreements with Sirius XM Radio, Archos, Coby, RIM, Samsung, Amazon, and Motorola related to its downloadable playlist patents and others.

The new patent, issued just last year on Feb. 7, 2012, is quite broad and describes a “System for Disseminating Media Content Representing Episodes in a Serialized Sequence.” Personal Audio is also suing the popular Howstuffworks.com series, which like Ace Broadcasting, is a large podcasting presence on iTunes and across the web…

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FreedomPop’s 4G case for iPhone delayed by FCC

Mike Beasley Jan 9 2013 - 12:35 pm PT

FreedomPop, the company that makes 4G-capable cases for the iPod touch, announced today that a version of its case compatible with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S has been delayed by the U.S. Federal Communication Commission’s certification process. FreedomPop reportedly has 5,000 of the cases in the United States, but it cannot ship them to customers until the FCC certifies them.

The devices are stuck in the certification process due to their design that puts the case’s cellular radio directly next to the cellular radio inside of the iPhone. The FCC has never tested a device with this configuration before, and it has had to conduct extensive (and expensive) tests before giving FreedomPop the green-light to sell them inside the U.S.

Neither the FCC nor FreedomPop have given an estimate as to when the cases will finally be available.

Intel talks new Thunderbolt innovations at CES: thin and optical cables

Seth Weintraub Jan 8 2013 - 11:11 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-iT5pqQs9E]

We’ve already seen 100-foot (30 Meter) Thunderbolt Optical cables from Corning and others, but we had a chance to drop into Intel’s CES booth this morning to discuss their Thunderbolt products. While there wasn’t much new to us, we did note the new “thin” one-meter cable. It is as thin and flexible as any USB cable we’ve seen and still carries a bus-powered charge for devices. We’re told they will begin to drop in price significantly as volume production picks up.

We went hands-on with a 30-meter optical cable (below). It is thick but lighter than you’d expect from a cable that size. Also, I’m guessing it doesn’t carry a charge—contrary to the information provided by the spokesperson.
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IDEO founder David Kelley talks design, Steve Jobs, cancer, and the importance of empathy

Seth Weintraub Jan 6 2013 - 7:40 pm PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9TIspgTbLM]

CBS posted an excellent interview of David Kelley this evening. Kelley discusses Steve Jobs at 3:00 and then again at 7:40, but the whole video is definitely worth a watch. A longer Jobs clip and the transcript is below:

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Turn your iPad into a real hardware DJ controller with Ion Audio’s ‘Scratch 2 Go’

Jordan Kahn Jan 6 2013 - 7:26 pm PT

Straight from the CES Unveiled event in Las Vegas, audio accessory maker Ion just introduced us to one if its latest creations— a hardware DJ controller kit called “Scratch 2 Go” that puts a physical crossfader, two sets of three control knobs for pitch, EQ, etc., and a two small platters right on the display of your iPad. The company also announced updated versions of its other DJ and Guitar controllers for iPad and iPhone…

The hardware controls attach to your iPad’s display via suction cups and essentially work like a stylus, allowing you to control elements of several DJ apps on the App Store. The hardware controls are designed specifically for the iDJ 2GO app that will also work with Ion’s just announced updated Lightning version of its iDJ 2 Go hardware DJ controls. However, Ion confirmed to us that it would also work with the popular djay app for iPad.

It could also work with other iOS DJ apps provided the stylus-like tip of any particular element of the 5-piece kit lines up with the controls inside the app you’re using. Ion is making the new Scratch 2 Go kit available in April for $30 through select retailers.

A video of the kit in action from the CES show floor below:

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Packing up for CES 2013: Here’s what we’re looking forward to

Jordan Kahn Jan 4 2013 - 10:47 am PT

This is what CES looked like the last time Apple attended. J/K. Via the Verge

The 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show is almost here, with official CES show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center opening up next week on Jan. 8. To kick things off, hundreds of companies and the press will invade Las Vegas this weekend for three days of pre-show product demos, press conferences, and more from the majority of the tech industry’s biggest names. Samsung, Sony, NVIDIA, Intel, Toshiba, and LG are just a few of the companies with scheduled announcements, but there will surely be more than a few surprises with over 3,000 exhibitors setting up shop. Apple’s last official appearance at CES was in 1992 with John Sculley’s keynote introduction of the Newton, but its presence at the show remains with hundreds of new Apple-related products unveiled every year.

9to5Mac is on its way to Vegas to bring you full coverage of the best products from the show. But, until then, here’s a wrap-up of what we already know will be there and what else you can expect to see at CES 2013:

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Corning and Sumitomo unveil 100-ft optical Thunderbolt cables ahead of CES

Jake Smith Jan 3 2013 - 2:25 pm PT

Corning Thunderbolt Cable

Ahead of CES 2013 taking place in Las Vegas next week, Corning has unveiled a new optical Thunderbolt cable for folks who need extra long-reaching Thunderbolt access (perhaps to storage closets or for dummy terminals). Corning’s new cable, perfect for plugging peripherals into supported Macs and moving away from copper core cables, will ship in lengths of 10, 20, and 30 meters and boast the same data transfer speeds of up to 10GBbps. Corning plans to unveil a USB 3 cable as well. No launch date or pricing has been provided for the cables—only that they will be available sometime during the first quarter of this year. At any rate, you bet we’ll stop by Corning’s booth for a closer look next week’s CES.

Just last week, Sumitomo Electric got the “world’s first” Thunderbolt optical cable certification and announced it would mass-produce the cables immediately. The cables are as thick as current copper cables (4.2 mm), can be bent 180 degrees or tangled in knots, and they still perform just like shorter copper cables.

A 100-foot Thunderbolt cable could let Mac users put their whole rig in a closet, run just a Thunderbolt cable to the desktop, and connect to peripherals via the Thunderbolt display. If only there were a Thunderbolt-enabled Mac Pro…

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