As expected, Apple has updated its iBooks app to version 1.2. The new version has just made its quiet debut on the AAPL servers.
What’s new?
Yep, as we exclusively revealed hereand here: better organization and printing and emailing of PDF’s. And that’s only part of the mix.
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Google is about to change the music economy, preparing to hand over huge amounts of cash to win rights to offer the music locker service it has been trying to build for Google Music. However, confused internal politics and music licensing complexity mean Google, just like Spotify and Apple, isn’t set to launch its service before the end of the year.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVeKbsFL_tM&w=670&h=527]
While we wait for iTunes in the cloud, we may as well begin using an iTunes in the cloud service that isn’t from Apple, a free service for iPhones from mSpot, the app for which is now available via the iTunes App Store.
What’s it do? Essentially it is like a music locker service to which you upload your music in order to then enjoy streaming access to that music via your mSpot app.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geK7geL3I40&w=640&h=390]
Here’s a demo showing a 10X reduction in CPU usage:
The video is from November but Adobe’s John Nack reports that Flash video sites across the web are updating their content to be optimized for the new version of Flash which purports to deliver video with 1/10th the CPU utilization of the current Flash plug-in. YouTube, the biggie, is on board. The original Flash 10.2 beta was released two weeks ago.
Good news, though: the new Flash Player 10.2 (download the beta) offers a new, video-playback-optimized mode called Stage Video. Building on top of the GPU acceleration added earlier this year, Stage Video can leverage complete hardware acceleration of the video rendering pipeline, from video decoding to scaling/blitting, enabling best-in-class playback performance. Stage Video can dramatically decrease processor usage and enables higher frame rates, reduced memory usage, and greater pixel fidelity and quality.
Stage Video requires Flash developers to update the code in video players, so simply updating to the new player won’t automatically improve CPU usage on all sites, but YouTube has already updates its player & others will follow. If you’re a Flash developer and want to start experimenting, check out this tutorial from Lee Brimelow.
Here’s an iPad clone from China, a full 9.7-inch affair based on the Freescale iMX515 hardware. It is powered by a 800MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 512MB DDRII memory and 4GB Flash. Oh yes, and it is Android-powred with 3G, Wi-Fi and a camera. Cost? Around $277 (in China). See? Same Same
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Some may recall Unilever to be one of the big brand names to first jump onto the iAds mobile ads bandwagone way back in June, now Europe’s about to see the first Unilever iAds make their appearance as Apple’s ad system hits Europes this month — and the ads will feature the “Lynx effect”.
Unilever is launching a new campaign for Lynx’s Excite range, with a major push through Apple’s iAds, as part of a £8.3m marketing spend. The “Falling Angels” campaign launches next week and will be supported by print, TV, digital and other activity.
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http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/microPlayer.swf
From the Dive Into Mobile event. Interesting conversation and a first look at the Motorola Tablet.
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I can’t wait until my iPod touch/Mifi is my only phone. This is another step in that direction.
Google today announced Google Voice for iPad and iPod touch as well as some significant updates. No VoIP gateway yet, but you know it is coming.
What’s New in Version 1.1.0.636
* Support for iPod Touch
* iPod Touch and iPhone can now make calls using Click2Call
* Do Not Disturb setting
* Text forwarding is automatically disabled when registering for Push notifications
* Added Text forwarding setting to the app
* Easier to make calls from the phone Address Book
* Removed annoying OK dialog every time you send an SMS
* Fixed crashes caused by text messages that begin with a space character
* Fixed bug that caused the entire Inbox to load
* Fixed bug that caused Contact pictures to get mixed up
* Improved access to Contact groups
* Improved speed of Contact search
The Google Voice app is available to download from the Apple App Store today. You’ll need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch with iOS 3.1 or later and a valid Google Voice account to use the app. At this time, Google Voice is available in the U.S. only.
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COMPUTERWORLD: If you thought Apple had a busy year in 2010, expect even more in 2011, when at least one analyst is expecting significant acquisitions, a move into 3D, the introduction of its connected TV set and the emergence of multi-core processors in the iPhone and other mobile devices.
Apple will engage in what it is calling ‘scheduled maintenance’ of its MobileMe service beginning at 10pm tonight (PT). The maintenance will affect users attempting to access their accounts, and will also impact against those trying to sync data between devices.
Good news, bad news in Japan, where Apple climbed from seventh to fifth place in Japan’s cellphone market for the first time, boosted by its well-received iPhone 4 in the July-September period, local reports claim.
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olHpaFESFkk&fs=1&hl=en_GB]
Apple owns 9.3 percent of Imagination Technologies and uses its PowerVR SGX graphics chip inside its iPad — now the smaller firm has seen profits climb 131 percent and also made a critical $27 million investment in 3D technology for mobile devices.
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Millennial Media just released their monthly mobile device trends report and here is our breakdown. For the month of November Apple led all devices manufactures with 25% of Millennial Media’s network with Samsung and Motorola coming in 2nd and 3rd with 17.3% and 15.33%, respectively. Apple’s iPhone came in first place for the most used mobile device on the network with 14.28% and Apple’s iPod touch came in second place with 8.96% of the network. Motorola’s Droid finished in third with 7.48% of the market and the Apple iPad topped Apple’s offerings with 1.76% coming in at 7th place.
In terms of the most used mobile application categories, games account for 28% of the network while music and entertainment apps came in second with a combined 22%. In terms of what the Millennial Network adverstises on, Android apps represented 54% of the network and iOS represented 38%. Getting into the Android vs. iOS portion of the report Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android tied at 38% for overall ad impressions.
Ad publishers and app developers were surveyed about the platform they intend to support the most in 2011 and the leading response was Google’s Android operating system. Apple’s iPad and Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 platform both tied for second place on the survey. Be sure to check out the top thirty devices graph after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En7cdBhlrGU&w=640&h=385]
(I checked the date. It says today.) The NYTimes says that Microsoft is going to announce some iPad competin’ Slates at CES:
Next month, at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft will present a slew of new slates that it hopes will offer some competition to the Apple iPad, which has quickly become the leader in this market.
According to people familiar with Microsoft’s plans, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, is expected to announce a number of these devices when he takes the stage at C.E.S., showcasing devices built by Samsung and Dell, among a number of other manufacturing partners.
This apparently has been an anual event since 2000.
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We already know that Xserves will be officially discontinued come January 31st and today Apple already started the process. They’ve removed the SSD option from custom ordered Xserves. The option is still listed on Apple’s Xserve promotional literature, but is gone as a configurable option. A 9to5mac reader contacted Apple business representatives and they reportedly don’t know the reason for the change either.
COMPUTERWORLD: Apple is already evolving a unified user experience. In future, there will be ever less difference when controlling an Apple device, whether it be a phone, a tablet or a Mac. The experience will feel the same.
Apple’s next edition of iWork may set a landmark as being among the first major Apple software releases to ship first online, as it seems books explaining how to use the productivity suite have been delayed for release in January 2011 — around the time Apple opens its Mac App Store.
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Asymco has an interesting report today in which analyst Horace Dediu argues that Verizon may need the iPhone more than its letting on, and suggests Google Android may not be as big a business as many think it to be.
To be fair, while Dediu makes a good argument for his points, critics are already pointing out that they are based on data which may not be 100 per cent accurate, and that Verizon’s best month was in August, two months after iPhone 4 shipped. (Though it was only a slightly better month on back of hype around new product from Samsung).
We’ve had an update from the sources of the orginal data, which is posted at the foot of this article:
Google Latitude has finally arrived on Apple’s iOS, nearly two years since Google first revealed its technology.
Latitude lets you see friends on the map, share your own location (or not), or even hide your location should you feel uncomfortable. Apple blocked the app initially in order to avoid confusion with Maps on the iPhone,” said Google.
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Apple is the key name in tech as iPad beats Android in this year’s Twitter Trends chart, reports the Twitter Blog, where the company today revealed its list of the top trends of 2010.
Apple’s iPad was the sixth biggest overall top trend,just ahead of Google Android at number 7. iPhone never made the overall list, which is headed by Golf Oil Spill and the FIFA World Cup.
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Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s patent trolling lawsuit filed against Apple, Facebook, Google, YouTube and others has been dismissed by the courts.
“Plaintiff has failed to identify the infringing products or devices with any specificity,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman in her order to dismiss. “The Court and Defendants are left to guess what devices infringe on the four patents.
Allen was claiming that the companies had violated four patents developed by Internal Research (a research firm he funded).
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COMPUTERWORLD: Fresh research from the Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) offers us a few insights into the behavior of iPad users, suggesting the device may well diminish newspaper print sales in future. Overnight reports also confirm weve been on track with our predictions for the iPad 2.0, which, it appears, will indeed host cameras front and rear.
Apple’s iPhone and iPad supply partner, Foxconn, this morning claimed its China workforce now exceeds one million workers — and the company continues to expand. A huge recruitment drive is taking place as the company rushes to build numbers to meet anticipated heavy demand for products to serve the Christmas market, a report claims.
Gorillaz will release their recorded on an iPad new album for free on Christmas day, the band confirmed.
“At the moment, we’ve got an Advent calendar on our website, and there is a daily door that opens to reveal a gift,” said Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett speaking to Perth Now. “On Christmas Eve, a video for one of the new songs from the iPad album will be released. Then, on Christmas Day, fans get the whole album downloaded to their computer for free as a gift.”
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