Tuesday 31 July 2012

Industrial Design-Sony Style-Influence-Samsung-Iphone

Court rules Samsung can't show Sony's influence on iPhone; Apple reveals 2005 prototype

The battle royale begins in a California courtroom today, as jury selection begins in the case of Apple vs. Samsung. As part of the last-minute legal maneuvering before the trial started, Samsung attempted to show how certain iPhone prototypes were influenced by Sony designs. However, Judge Lucy Koh ruled yesterday that Samsung's lawyers could not bring up the topic in opening arguments. AllThingsD's Ina Fried reported on the decision on the eve of the beginning of the trial. Samsung wanted to have ex-Apple designer Shin Nishibori testify in the case, although Nishibori insistence that he will not appear as a witness. Nishibori made a mockup of a Sony-inspired iPhone (nicknamed "Jony" in honor of Apple's Industrial Design Senior VP Jony Ive) during his time at Apple, and Samsung wanted to use that design as proof that the iPhone design is not unique. The Sony-like design may be a moot point anyway, as Apple revealed a design code-named "purple" (seen in the image at the top of this post) that pre-dates it by several months. Purple looks surprisingly like the iPhone 4 design -- according to court documents (PDF document), Nishibori testified in regard to the "Jony" design "that the design exercise was to be an 'enjoyable' side project and that he merely applied details, 'buttons and switches,' to express the Sony style on a model phone Apple had already developed." In case you're confused about all of the courtroom craziness that has gone on so far, Fried has produced a "cheat sheet" that will hopefully make sense the insanity surrounding the case.#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }Continue reading Court rules Samsung can't show Sony's influence on iPhone; Apple reveals 2005 prototypeCourt rules Samsung can't show Sony's influence on iPhone; Apple reveals 2005 prototype originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Monday 30 July 2012

Management Consulting Firm-Millennial-Research

How Big Companies Are Becoming Entrepreneurial
What are the uses of collect the cord blood in future?
skunkworks

Editor’s note: Dan Schawbel is the managing partner of Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and management consulting firm. He is also the author of Me 2.0 and was named to the Inc. Magazine 30 Under 30 list in 2010. Subscribe to his updates at Facebook.com/DanSchawbel.You probably believe that big companies are anti-entrepreneurial because you assume they are slow growth dinosaurs that resist change, but history teaches us otherwise. Corporations have been run entrepreneurship-type programs for many years, like the fabled Lockheed Martin “Skunk Works" -- a small group of employees working on revolutionary products such as famous aircraft designs including the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird. Even today, some companies still refer to these projects as “skunkworks projects.” read more..

Server Functionality-Server Component-Server Software-Mountain Lion-Mac App Store

Apple Launches 'OS X Server' for Mountain Lion for $19.99 [Mac Blog]

Alongside Mountain Lion 10.8, Apple released the server component as a separate generic app called OS X Server. OS X Server is the next generation of Apple’s award winning server software. Designed for OS X and iOS devices, OS X Server makes it easy to share files, schedule meetings, synchronize contacts, host your own website, publish wikis, configure Macs, iPhones and iPads, remotely access your network, and more.
Server is now an application you can add to Mountain Lion right from the Mac App Store. Anyone can quickly and easily turn a Mac running Mountain Lion into a server that’s perfect for home offices, businesses, schools, and hobbyists alike.OS X Server requires Mountain Lion 10.8 and adds server functionality to OS X. [Mac App Store] read more..

Flagship Office Productivity Suite-Mountain Lion-Microsoft

Microsoft Confirms Office 2011 and 2008 Compatibility with OS X Mountain Lion [Mac Blog]

Microsoft today confirmed that the two most recent versions of its flagship Office productivity suite for Mac are fully compatible with OS X Mountain Lion. Office users are advised to ensure that Microsoft AutoUpdate is enabled so that their installations can be updated as needed to take full advantage of the new operating system.- Make sure you have Office for Mac’s AutoUpdate enabled – some updates will be needed to make the most of the upgrade to Mountain Lion. Initiate AutoUpdate in any Office for Mac application by going to your toolbar, then selecting “Help” and then “Check for Updates.”
- Mountain Lion ships with a new feature called Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper helps protect users by allowing you to choose to only download and install software from known developers, like Microsoft. Please note that due to the Gatekeeper architecture, updates will not run when you download and initiate them on your desktop; instead please use Microsoft AutoUpdate to keep your copies of Office for Mac current. read more..

Sunday 29 July 2012

2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony-The Ceremony-Tape Delay

NBCOlympics’ Opening Ceremony Tape Delay: Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

If you were paying attention to Twitter today, you were probably met with two conflicting sides of the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony this afternoon. On the one hand, you had those who were on the ground (or who had access to the live stream somehow -- more on that later), and those who were bitching about not being able to watch the ceremony live. The whole kerfuffle came about because NBC decided that, rather than broadcast or stream the ceremony live to those who might wish to see it, it would run the thing on a tape delay. While most of the rest of the world -- or at least Europe -- was watching the ceremony live, U.S. audiences were held hostage by NBC, which holds the rights to the games here. Rather than broadcasting the biggest event of the Games live as it happened, NBC decided it would air the ceremony on a tape delay, to capture a larger overall audience. read more..

Competitive Cyclist-Physical Therapy-Plastic Surgery-Hindsight-Rearview

Review: Cerevellum Hindsight 35 Rearview Biking Computer

We're very lucky that the creator of the Cerevellum is even alive. Evan Solida was a competitive cyclist until a major accident in 2007 left him unable to ride. After years of plastic surgery and physical therapy, he was able to get back onto his bike and now builds unique cycle designs, does contract work, and just released his first product, the Hindsight 35.This unique device is essentially a rearview monitor and race computer for cyclists. It connects to various sensors using ANT+ wireless technology and a small lens and light combo on the back of the bike gives you a full view of what's coming up behind you in brilliant color. The device also records the scene in five minute bursts and stops recording when you (or your bike) are suddenly interrupted by a collision. In short, it's a way for cyclists to find out what's behind them and, if they run into a spot of bad luck, see who's responsible. read more..

Friday 27 July 2012

Mac Os X Mountain Lion-Adobe Photoshop-Minor Issues-Software

Adobe and Avid Report Only Minor Issues With Mountain Lion [Mac Blog]

Adobe and Avid have reported only minor issues with their applications on Mountain Lion, in a pair of posts on their respective websites.
The main issue with Avid's software is related to the Gatekeeper security feature:
Avid is in the process of preparing code-signed versions of our applications and plug-ins that are compatible with Mountain Lion. We realize that users will temporarily wish to work with versions that are not yet signed. Unsigned software can trigger warning messages from Gatekeeper which Avid users can easily bypass, then proceed to install and run their software.Avid does report a few small problems when using Pro Tools 10.2 and lower, including a problem with Core Audio and another regarding some commands ceasing to function.
Adobe says that there are no known issues with Adobe CS apps and Mountain Lion.
Adobe and Apple have worked closely together to test Adobe® Creative Suite® 5, 5.5 and CS6 editions and individual products for reliability, performance and user experience when installed on Intel® based systems running Mac OS X Mountain Lion (v10.8). Earlier versions of Adobe Photoshop® (CS3 and CS4) software were also tested with Mountain Lion and there are currently no known issues.Adobe requests that users discovering problems report them to Adobe. read more..

Redemption Code-Mountain Lion-Replacement-Osx Server-Apple

Apple Mistakenly Sending Out OS X Server Replacement Up-to-Date Codes

Yesterday, we noted that Apple's Up-to-Date program allowing recent Mac purchasers to receive free upgrades to OS X Mountain Lion was experiencing some early hiccups, with users receiving Mac App Store redemption codes that were registering as invalid. Customer support representatives were advising users that Apple was aware of the issue and would be automatically issuing replacement codes but that the process could take up to three days.
While many of these replacement codes are already coming through, users today have begun reporting that Apple is mistakenly sending out codes for the OS X Server components of Mountain Lion rather than Mountain Lion itself.I just got my second code and was able to redeem it. The only problem is when it redeemed it came up with an error saying OSX Server cannot be downloaded because it requires OSX 10.8.0 to run. It seems they sent me a redemption code for server instead of mountain lion. The pdf with the code clearly says that the code is for mountain lion...
My purchased tab only shows OSX Server - no mountain lion...At least half a dozen users have reported the same problem, with the issue presumably affecting a much greater number of users receiving codes today. One user who called Apple about the issue was advised to file another request through Apple's uptodatesupport@apple.com support mechanism.
OS X Server is also available through the Up-to-Date program, but is limited to users who purchased server models of the company's Mac Pro and Mac mini lines. read more..

Wednesday 25 July 2012

San Francisco Mayor-Andreessen Horowitz-Ron Conway

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee And Ron Conway Are Ready To Rock Out At Disrupt SF

We are pleased to announce our latest additions to the Disrupt SF agenda, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and the ultimate angel, Ron Conway. Add this to our earlier announcement of Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and former New York Schools chancellor Joel Klein and expect to walk away with unique insights and unexpected inspiration. Sign up to see these visionary leaders right here.Disrupt SF starts with a Hackathon where Hackers come from all over to share their skills and tricks with each other in order to build a product within 24 hours. Drinks and snacks are served, and as you can imagine with no sleep, things are known to get a little crazy. In a good way. The winners of the Hackathon are invited to share their creations on the Disrupt stage on the last day of the conference in front of all to see. Past Hackathon winners have included: Docracy who went on to raise $600,000 from First Round Capital, the judges' favorite Gilt-ii, and even the hilarious Venture Crapital. Be sure to check our all of our winners from our last Hackathon in SF. read more..

Mac Os X Leopard-Chrome Version-Google Chrome-Ars Technica

Google Chrome 22 dev release drops OS X Leopard support

Changes are coming for Chrome users who are running Mac OS X Leopard. According to reports in Ars Technica and CNET, Google is dropping support for OS X 10.5 with Chrome version 22.0.1201.0, which is now available in Chrome's developer channel. This version will make its way eventually into the public arena in the next few months. At that point, Leopard users will be stuck at the most recent version of Chrome. With Mountain Lion coming out later this month, now might be a good time for users to look into upgrading their OS if their hardware supports it (see Apple's Mountain Lion upgrade page) or start shopping for the new Mac hardware. I hear the new Retina Mac Book Pros are really nice. [Via CNET and Ars Technica]Google Chrome 22 dev release drops OS X Leopard support originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Virtualization Software-Desktop Software-Retina Display-Macbook Pro-Parallels

Parallels 7 for Desktop gets the Retina Display treatment

Parallels has announced that its popular virtualization software is ready for the Retina Display MacBook Pro. Parallels Mobile was updated for iOS device Retina Displays earlier this year. The desktop software has now followed suit and is ready to let you see OSes such as Windows 8 and Windows 7 running on your brand new MacBook Pro. And, if you need a copy of Parallels, you can grab it in this excellent bundle of software, featuring over $900 worth of apps for just $50. Someone asked me the other day how to find some excellent Mac apps, and I recommended they grab a bundle and start installing. Even if not all the apps are great, chances are there'll be something good in there well worth the purchase price. [via 9to5Mac]Parallels 7 for Desktop gets the Retina Display treatment originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Windows System Directory-Application Package-Antivirus Software-Windows Systems

Windows Malware Stows a Ride in iOS App Store App [iOS Blog]

CNET reports on the discovery of Windows malware embedded within an iPhone application available through the App Store. But rather than a directed attack at Windows users, the malware appears to have been accidentally included from an infected developer's system. The malware is also relatively old and easily detected by most antivirus software for Windows once the App Store package has been unwrapped.
The malware was first discovered by a user posting in the Apple support forums who noted that a download of Instaquotes-Quotes Cards For Instagram from developer Ilyas Hassani triggered warnings from the ClamXav antivirus software for Mac. While the Windows malware obviously could not harm the user's OS X installation, it was flagged as an infected file posing a danger to Windows systems. After learning about the discovery, CNET performed additional testing on the download to confirm that it was not a false positive.Since the downloaded .ipa file is a package, these executables could be extracted using the package manager Pacifist, and then more accurately scanned. Afterward, other malware programs like Sophos that initially missed detecting the malware instantly picked it up and described it as "Mal/CoiDung-A," a worm written in visual basic that installs files within the Windows system directory and then modifies the Windows registry to execute the malware when the system is restarted.
Copying the malware to a Windows virtual machine running the latest version of Microsoft Security Essentials resulted in the malware being immediately detected and removed from the system.It is unclear exactly how or why the malware came to be included in the App Store package, but it seems almost certain to have been an accidental inclusion. As delivered inside the application package, it appears to pose no harm to Windows users, who would have to decompress the package and manually run the infected file in order to expose themselves to the malware.
The infected application debuted in the App Store on July 19 and is currently still available for download after a temporary price drop from $0.99 to free over the weekend. read more..

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Processor Configurations-Other World Computing-Macbook Air Models-Aftermarket Ssd

Other World Computing Releases Aftermarket SSD Upgrades for 2012 MacBook Air [Mac Blog]

As it has for past versions, Other World Computing has released its aftermarket SSD upgrades for the latest MacBook Air models released last month.
Along with minor upgrades to memory and processor configurations, Apple also included a new SSD connector, likely to accommodate the new 500 MBps SSDs that Apple has built in to the new machines. As a result of this new connector, it took OWC a few weeks to build compatible aftermarket drives.
Other World Computing's Mercury Pro Aura Express drives are available for the 2012 MBA in sizes starting at 120GB at $167.99, running all the way to 480GB for $644.99. These prices are bit cheaper than comparable drives for the 2011 MacBook Air models. read more..

Monday 23 July 2012

Unique Identifier-Purchase Receipts-Purchase Requests-Purchase Content-Russian Hacker

Apple Now Including Unique Identifiers for In App Purchase Receipts to Combat Hack

Following last week's launch of a hack that allowed users to obtain In App Purchase content free of charge by routing their purchase requests through a server run by a Russian hacker, Apple began taking steps to thwart the method. The hacker has, however, continued to develop his method to skirt around Apple's roadblocks.
One of the suggestions for a method by which Apple could improve the security of In App Purchasing was to include a unique identifier in validation receipts, and we've received word that developers are now seeing something along those lines coming from receipts issued by Apple since late yesterday. The receipts carry a new field called "unique_identifer" that appears to include the Unique Device Identifier (UDID) for the device making the In App Purchase.
As one developer noted to us, apps are no longer supposed to be collecting the UDID and thus it is unclear whether Apple's use of the identifier for this purpose is simply a first step toward a broader implementation of unique receipt identifiers for increased security or if Apple is attempting to identify those users and devices who are sharing their receipts with the Russian hacker to allow the method to function. read more..

Saturday 21 July 2012

Trans-Siberian Railway-20Th Anniversary-Louis Vuitton-Shanghai

Shanghai Calling

Louis Vuitton powered into Shanghai's iconic Bund last night, not merely to celebrate the 20th anniversary of LV in China, but to demonstrate how much mileage the brand still sees in the country's luxury market. The same fabulous custom-made carriage that arrived at the Louvre's CourCarrée earlier this year was transported across two continents along the Trans-Siberian railway (as documented by The Selby),demonstrating just how far Vuitton will travel to give the likes of Chanel and Hermès a run for their top-tier clients' yuan.
Marc Jacobs masterminded a collection that played to two of the three main aspirations of wealthy Chinese—heritage and workmanship. Descending from the train, models wore this season's elongated silhouette in embroidered brocades and increasingly embellished fabrics, towering over the pint-sized porters who carried the luggage—handbags,portmanteaux, and suitcases made of rarities like python, crocodile, and mink. Afterward, actress Clémence Poésy gushed, "it had the same magic of a film set, when the train pulled in and the smoke." Alexa Chung was more direct: "Fucking phenomenal, it was amazing. There's only a few brands that get the opportunity to put on a full extravaganza. It's more like going to the theater." Perhaps 'rock show' is the best analogy. After the catwalk spectacle, Lana Del Rey performed.
But the runway show and concert were just part of the celebrations. On Wednesday, Chinese stars like Gong Li and Fan Bingbing and It girls, including Alexia Niedzielski and Poppy Delevingne toured the newly opened Louis Vuitton Maison, the largest store in China and 16th Maison worldwide. Guests were led through the Louis Vuitton Express exhibition, a nostalgic multimedia journey documenting the golden age of rail travel, before venturing into the four-story emporium. Then up an opulent gilded onyx staircase to a private "apartment" where only super-rich invitees are allowed. Catering to the third aspiration of the China-elite—exclusivity—here VVVIPs are offered "haute maroquinerie," the deluxe-luxe of leather crafts, to have their personal designs for shoes and bags custom made. As LV Chairman and CEO Yves Carcelle said, "The ultimate luxe is to commission rather than have a piece already made."
The train stops in Shanghai, but the brand's journey continues, with plans to open Maisons in Beijing, Hangzhou, Heifei, Shijiazhuang, and evenKazakhstan.
—Alice McInerney read more..

Friday 20 July 2012

Prototype Device-Ipad

Apple's Early Prototype iPad Had a 12-Inch Display

Earlier today, we pointed to some grainy photos of an early iPad prototype dating back to the 2002-2004 timeframe, revealing a much bulkier but otherwise fairly similar design to that seen in the device that was ultimately launched in 2010.
Buzzfeed has now posted new photos showing the prototype in full color next to an iPad 2, a comparison which shows the prototype to carry a much larger screen than seen on the iPad to date. Measuring pixel counts against the ruler shown in several of the photos reveals that the prototype device had a display measuring almost exactly 12 inches diagonally.
Compared to the eventually-released iPad's 9.7-inch screen, the prototype device would have had roughly 40% more screen real estate, although it is unknown at what resolution the early device was projected to run.
The prototype otherwise bears a distinct similarity to Apple's iBook of the time, carrying a white plastic shell with rounded corners and a 4:3 aspect ratio for the display. The prototype iPad measures in at just under 1-inch thick, compared to 1.35 inches for the white iBook models and the 0.34-0.50 inch range of the iPad models released to the public so far. read more..

Mac Software Engineering-Board Of Directors-Parallels Desktop-Bertrand Serlet-Apple

Bertrand Serlet Joins Parallels Board of Directors [Mac Blog]

As noted by AllThingsD, former Apple senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet has joined the board of directors at software virtualization company Parallels. Serlet left Apple in March 2011 and was revealed just weeks ago to be working on a new cloud-focused startup called Upthere.Serlet will serve as a non-executive director, bringing to Parallels his distinctive professional experience of having led the development of Mac OS X from its inception until his departure from Apple in 2011. Serlet’s distinguished background and unique insights will help Parallels accelerate growth and continue creating software that simplifies life for consumers and businesses. [...]
"With Parallels Desktop, Parallels became a critical developer for the Mac platform, and I got to know and appreciate the Parallels leadership team. I also discovered Parallels deep involvement with the cloud, represented by its rich portfolio of products. I look forward to drawing on my career at Apple to help guide Parallels as it continues on its impressive growth trajectory," said Serlet.Parallels has been one of the most popular software solutions for Mac users seeking to run Windows in a virtualized environment rather than relying on Apple's Boot Camp solution. read more..

Purchase Content-Apple

Apple Fighting Back Against In App Purchase Hack, But Service Still Operational

Late last week, we reported on the launch of a new method to allow App Store users to bypass Apple's In App Purchase mechanism and receive additional content free of charge. At the time, we noted that use of the method involved theft of content from developers and exposed iOS device users to dangers as their account and device information was being routed to servers under the control of the Russian hacker running the service, but we felt that reporting on the issue to bring it to light was the responsible thing to do in order to alert developers to the issue and perhaps spur Apple into action.
The Next Web now follows up with a report outlining some of the steps Apple has been taking to combat the issue, including issuing a copyright claim to have the original video showing the hack in action pulled from YouTube.Over the weekend, Apple began blocking the IP address of the server used by Russian hacker Alexey V. Borodin to authenticate purchases.
It followed this up with a takedown request on the original server, taking down third-party authentication with it, also issuing a copyright claim on the overview video Borodin used to document the circumvention method. PayPal also got involved, placing a block on the original donation account for violating its terms of service.The hacker, Alexey Borodin, remains committed to the service and has been working to skirt around the roadblocks being thrown up by Apple, in part by moving the service to a server in another country, but it is clear that Apple is working on the issue and addressing it through multiple routes in order to improve the security of In App Purchase content. For now, however, the service remains operational. read more..

Thursday 19 July 2012

Teenie Weenie-Lorenzo Lamas-Kickstarter-Dalai Lama

Kickstarter: Blink(1) Is A Teenie Weenie Thinger That Lights Up Because Something Happened

Imagine this: you get an email message. Maybe it's from someone important, like the Dalai Lama or Lorenzo Lamas. But how do you know that it came? Easy. The Blink(1). The Blink(1) is a little LED that lights up when something happens on your computer. You can run as many of these things as you have USB ports and, with a little creativity, you can really start to see the value.For example, you can program the light with Applescript to blink in weird ways when a contact signs into Skype or when someone contacts you in chat. You can set it as a Linux command-line alert so it will turn red when your hard drive is on fire. You can make it turn green when you're done downloading Furry porn on your Windows machine. The possibilities, as they say, are endless. read more..

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Management Service-Management Company-Technology Assets-Deutsche Telecom-Global Telecom

WAC Whacked: Telecom-Backed Alliance Merges Into GSMA, Assets Acquired By API Management Service Apigee

Apigee, the API management company that was most recently spotted powering that new "print to Walgreens" feature in half a dozen or so mobile applications, is now acquiring the technology assets of WAC, aka the Wholesale Applications Community. WAC, an alliance of global telecom companies, like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Deutsche Telecom, China Mobile, Orange, and others (and pegged by TechCrunch writer Jason Kincaid back in 2010 as "a disaster in the making") was intent on building a platform that would allow mobile developers to build an application once, then run it on any carrier, OS or device. The group also developed network API technology, which is another key piece to today's acquisition.WAC itself is now being folded into the GSMA, while its assets and the personnel behind the program (14 or 15 folks) are being acquired by Apigee. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Apigee CEO Chet Kapoor confirms that there are no new investors as a result. read more..

Monday 16 July 2012

Thorsten Heins-Blackberry

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins: “We Will Continue To Make The People That Use A BlackBerry Successful”

Blackberry's future is the tech debate du jour, with pundits on either side promising either a BB10 renaissance or a slow-motion tailspin. While the jury was still out, we had a few moments to speak with RIM CEO Thorsten Heins about RIM's way forward and where BB10 was going to put the company when it launches. He was unsurprisingly forthright and more than accommodating even when we asked him the questions any BB fan would ask today: Why should I buy a new Blackberry device?TC: In this interview we wanted to see what was in store for the consumer, what RIM is doing to maintain the energy that a lot of the BlackBerry users currently have, especially at work or in academia. What do you see as the best way forward for those folks?Thorsten Heins: What we are doing right now is, if you look at the installed base, specifically in enterprise, corporate and consumers worldwide, there is still a lot of phones running BlackBerry 5, mainly in Asia-Pacific. So we are still working on a program to upgrade the installed base to BlackBerry 7, which from today’s view and perspective still is competitive, and I think an exciting platform. read more..

Sunday 15 July 2012

Apple Store-Refurbs

Where have all the refurbs gone? Apple's online cupboard is bare

Was there a run on last year's MacBook Pro models? A surge of orders for the factory certified, previously owned iPod nano? The reasons may be mysterious, but the symptom is oddly clear: everything -- yes, everything -- is out of stock in Apple's refurbished product section of the online Apple Store. Readers Charles and Joel tipped us off today that something was up, and sure enough when we looked there was nothing at all to buy in the discounted departments. Macs, iPads and iPods are all showing as "out of stock" in the US store special deals section. It's likely that the refurbished models will show up again soon, although there's always the chance that Apple is reworking the way it handles sales of those items. Refurb products are generally sold after having been repaired to Apple's standards, and carry a one-year warranty; they're often a good bargain for slightly older gear.Where have all the refurbs gone? Apple's online cupboard is bare originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Ced Program Director-North Carolina-Dhruv Patel

CED Program Director Dhruv Patel On North Carolina’s Startup Scene

Over the past week, we took TechCrunch on the road for our Southeast Meetup tour. Of the five cities we visited in seven days, Durham had one of the hungriest entrepreneurial scenes. But the majority of the city is relatively run-down, aside from the lovely American Tobacco Center facility you see in the background. But North Carolina's tech scene is on a mission, and it's not just about cleaning up the city, it's about branching out of the usual life science industry to have a varied portfolio of young companies in the Raleigh-Durham area. I pulled aside Dhruv Patel, who is the program director of CED (what's known by most as the TechStars of the South), and he said that about $7.7 billion has been invested in Raleigh-Durham startups in the past 12 years. He says most of it comes from a huge increase in activity out of angel investors (with a hat tip to the Triangle Startup Factory). He also said that in the past year the state has gotten a lot more interest from out-of-state investors who are willing to turn an ear to the south. read more..

Saturday 14 July 2012

Digital Training-Fitness System-Nike

New Nike+ shoes further enhance digital training

The Verge has a long look at the latest improvements to Nike's Nike+ fitness system, which uses sensors in your shoes (and on the company's very popular Fuelband peripheral) to calculate fitness and workout information, and attempt to help keep you motivated while working out. The whole system sounds very complex: There are multiple sensors in the shoes designed to track exactly what you're doing and how, and all of that movement is broken down into a single number that aims to push performance. Unfortunately, Nike is somewhat skittish when it comes to actually explaining what that number means -- while getting out and moving around will almost always be good for your health, Nike's reluctance to pin down its formula does reveal that this is still all marketing for shoes, despite what the PR department may say about just trying to encourage fitness. Hey, if the system gets you out and running, or playing basketball, or whatever you can do to exercise and move, then it's working, right?New Nike+ shoes further enhance digital training originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Renewable Energy-North Carolina-Energy Usage-Data Centers-Apple Credit

Greenpeace Under Fire Again After Regrading of Apple's Data Center Energy Plans

Earlier this year, environmental activist group Greenpeace made waves with a report taking Apple and other companies to task for not doing enough to eliminate the use of dirty coal-sourced power at their data centers. Apple quickly responded at the time to note that Greenpeace had greatly overestimated the power needs of the company's flagship data center in Maiden, North Carolina, thereby understating the impact of Apple's solar and fuel cell power generation occurring at the site.
In that statement, Apple refuted Greenpeace's estimate of peak power demand of 100 megawatts for the data center, revealing that power demand would actually peak at 20 megawatts. And a month later, Apple published additional details on its efforts to run all of its data centers on 100% green energy.
Greenpeace announced yesterday that it has prepared an updated report on Apple's energy usage based on the new information, but as noted by Data Center Knowledge's Rich Miller, the group still seems to be being overly critical in its grading of Apple, even continuing to make up its own estimates of the North Carolina data center's energy usage rather than believing Apple's public statements.In its initial report in April, Greenpeace estimated Apple’s power use in North Carolina at a whopping 100 megawatts. The group has reduced that slightly to 81 megawatts, dismissing the company’s disclosure that it expects draw about 20 megawatts at full capacity.Miller goes on to note that Apple has clearly disclosed in regulatory documents that it intends to install backup generators capable of producing 41 megawatts of electricity in an "N+2" configuration that keeps at least two generators as spares, meaning that Apple is only planning for peak demand of 35-36 megawatts at an absolute maximum.
Miller points to two possible reasons for Greenpeace's continued refusal to acknowledge Apple's statements and other official documents addressing the data center's power needs:Greenpeace’s continuing use of this methodology, in light of Apple’s disclosure and permit data, raises several possibilities:
- Greenpeace is having difficulty developing estimates that accurately incorporate data center operations and power usage.
- Greenpeace is predisposed to cling to estimates that make Apple look less “green” because it generates more headlines for its awareness campaigns.For its part, Apple has continued to stand by its earlier comments, issuing a statement to Forbes:We’re committed to building the world’s most environmentally responsible data centers and are leading the industry in the use of renewable energy, including the nation’s largest private solar arrays and non-utility fuel cell installation,” Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokewoman, said today. “As we’ve said before, our North Carolina and California data centers will be coal-free as of February 2013 and our newest data centers in Oregon and Nevada will be designed to meet that standard from Day One.”Greenpeace's revised report gives Apple no additional credit for transparency, despite the company having explicitly revealed the power requirements of the data center, and the group's insistence on sticking with an 81-megawatt estimate of peak power capacity brings Apple's usage of renewable energy at the site down to just 22% as opposed to the 60% figure explicitly stated by Apple.
Greenpeace is also reluctant to give Apple credit for its fuel cell installation, waiting to hear whether Apple will actually be using biogas to directly power the cells or if it will be using natural gas and instead purchasing biogas to be inserted elsewhere in the distribution system to offset the company's natural gas usage. But given that Apple's biogas commitment would have the same net effect on overall natural gas consumption regardless of where exactly in the distribution system it is used, it seems that Apple should be pursuing the most cost-effective strategy for deploying that b read more..

Friday 13 July 2012

Kindle Reader-Amazon Kindle-Ipad

Convert an old iPad into a dedicated e-reader

When iOS 6 arrives later this year, iPad pioneers who are still using their first-generation devices will find that they can't upgrade to the new operating system. If you're not handing that iPad over to your kids (or parents), you might wonder what you can do with the device. Sure, you could still run iOS 5 and all of your previous apps, but Macworld's Lex Friedman has a better idea -- turn that old iPad into a dedicated e-reader. While you can buy an Amazon Kindle for as little as US$79, there are some advantages to using an iPad as an e-reader. Compared to its one-trick brethren, the iPad has a more powerful processor, a brighter display, and the advantage of multi-touch gestures. On the other hand, that inexpensive Kindle is much lighter and more readable in daylight... Should you decide to keep the iPad as a Kindle substitute, Friedman suggests paring the distracting apps down to a minimum, disabling notifications (or even setting the device to Airplane Mode so it can't access the Internet), and locking the screen orientation. For software, there are plenty of reading apps -- Amazon's Kindle Reader, Apple's iBooks, Newsstand, Zinio, and even Nook and Kobo. Reading content from the Web is easy with apps like Instapaper ($3.99), Pocket (free), and Readability (free). What about you? Do you have a first-generation iPad that you'll be replacing? What are your ideas for repurposing that hardware? Leave us a note in the comments.Convert an old iPad into a dedicated e-reader originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Unexpected Characters-Yves Saint Laurent-Eye Shadow Palette-Francois Hollande-Nicolas Sarkozy

Facebook inspires YSL eyeshadow palette

The cosmetics world has been inspired by an array of unexpected characters of late, ranging from Betty Boop for Lancôme to Miss Piggy for MAC, but Yves Saint Laurent has taken things to the next level with a limited edition eye shadow palette inspired by Facebook. read more..


Francois Hollande Suffering from Serious Family Twitter Drama
Umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking
Francois Hollande Suffering from Serious Family Twitter Drama

When Nicolas Sarkozy left office, most thought French politics would become way less interesting without him and his beautiful wife, Carla Bruni. The Hollande family are proving to be quite capable of filling the hole with some serious family Twitter drama, though. read more..

Business Cards

Hashable, The App That Aimed To Replace Business Cards, To Shut Down On July 25

Seems it's not time to throw those business cards out just yet. Hashable, the startup that launched back in fall 2010 with the aim of replacing business cards with mobile and web apps that helped people meet and exchange information, is shutting down its service.The company announced the move via an email to users sent this evening. read more..

Speakers

TechHive: How many speakers is enough?

The right speaker setup depends on your specific needs and what you want from your audio. You need to take into account space, volume (loudness), and how the speakers will be used. Do you have a big room or a small room? Do you live in an apartment or house? Do you watch a lot of movies or spend most of your audio time listening to music? How much money do you have to spend? We cover the basics. read more..

Multiple Graphics-Graphics Cards-Macbook Pro

gfxCardStatus Allows Easy Control of MacBook Pro Graphics Cards [Mac Blog]

gfxCardStatus allows users to control which graphics card is enabled -- integrated or discrete -- on MacBook Pro models with multiple graphics cards. By more precisely controlling when each graphics card is enabled, users can improve system performance or battery life. gfxCardStatus is a menu bar application for OS X that allows MacBook Pro owners to view which GPU is in use at a glance, and switch between them on-demand.
Ars Technica has much more, including the fact that the Retina MacBook Pro can be pushed to nearly 10 hours of battery life with some minor battery saving techniques:
I was consistently able to get between 8 and 8.5 hours of continuous use from the Retina MacBook Pro when running integrated graphics only. Turning down screen brightness to just two "dots," a technique I often use to maximize battery life when using a MacBook Air during conferences, caused OS X to report potential battery life as high as 10 hours. I simply didn't have the stamina to test that claim, but I did make one nine-hour run with OS X reporting a nine percent remaining battery capacity.gfxCardStatus is a free download from creator Cody Krieger's website. read more..

Ipod Shuffle-Form Factor-Ipod Nano-Apple

Revamped iPod Nano to Include Oblong Body with Home Button?

Japanese blog Macotakara reports that Apple will be redesigning the iPod nano later this year with a new form factor that more closely resembles an iPod touch. According to the report, the iPod nano will apparently sport a rectangular screen and a home button similar to that found on iOS devices.
Given that the screen size on this redesigned iPod nano would appear to be substantially smaller than the iPhone/iPod touch, it seems unlikely that the iPod nano would run iOS apps. Instead, Apple is likely to use a custom operating system and apps skinned to resemble iOS as found on the current incarnation of the iPod nano.
The report also indicates that Apple will be bringing a "dedicated new iTunes service" to the device, but there is no word on what that service would entail.
Apple's iPod lines have generally trended to smaller form factors with each redesign, but this rumored redesign would appear to mark a substantial increase in size from the current form factor, which was introduced in September 2010. Several leaked photos have suggested that Apple planned to add a camera to the smaller form factor, but it appears that the company may have ultimately scrapped those plans.
It would not be unprecedented, however, for Apple to decide that smaller is not necessarily better, particularly if the iPod nano can see increased functionality with the new design. Apple famously removed virtually all buttons from the iPod shuffle in March 2009 as it moved controls to the headphone cord, but a September 2010 redesign saw the return of the click wheel and other on-device buttons. read more..

Thursday 12 July 2012

Hundreds Of Thousands-Production Agency-Videographers-Crowdsource-Mk Capital

With 50,000 Videographers, PopTent Raises $5.5 Million From MK Capital To CrowdSource Ads

High-quality video ads can be expensive to produce, running in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, depending on the ad format. But rather than hire a production agency to do their dirty work, Poptent proposes a better way for agencies and brands looking to produce video ads and other messaging: Crowdsource them. And it's raised a $5.5 million round of funding led by MK Capital to get more advertisers and videographers on board.Poptent has built a platform for crowdsourcing videos from users around the world, which allows brands and agencies to submit various assignments and receive finished videos in return. It's also got a pretty huge network of videographers from around the world -- more than 50,000 from 140 different countries -- who can respond to those assignments, giving advertisers plenty of content to choose from. read more..

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Apple-Ipad

Why Apple's 7.85-Inch 'iPad Mini' Isn't a 7-Inch Tablet

With rumors of an "iPad mini" launch in the coming months ramping up, there has been much discussion about just how usable such a device would be running at the 1024x768 resolution of pre-Retina iPad models. In particular, some commenters have pointed to Steve Jobs' October 2010 discussion of the 7-inch tablets from competitors that were just then hitting the market, where he outlined Apple's belief that such tablets were too small to be useful.
While we argued as long ago as last December that scaling the iPad display down to a rumored 7.85-inch screen would still maintain usability and we provided iPad- and print- friendly examples to allow users to test for themselves, many have remain unconvinced of the benefits of a smaller iPad.
Daring Fireball's John Gruber now takes another detailed look at what an iPad mini would entail, arguing that a 7.85-inch display on an iPad mini would be a very different experience from the 7-inch screen being used by competitors such as Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7.So, how can we square the idea of Apple making an iPad Mini with Jobs’s remarks from just a year and a half ago? We could point out (again) that 7.85 inches is closer to 8 inches than 7, and that the exact size of the purported iPad Mini display offers 66 percent of the surface area of a 9.7-inch iPad, not 45 percent [as is the case with a 7-inch display]. We could point out (again) that, assuming Apple-recommended 44-point user interface tap targets on a display with 163 points per inch, it should offer tap targets of the exact same physical size as every iPhone made to date, thus avoiding the need for Apple to include sandpaper with the device.
Comparison of "iPad mini" to 7-inch tablets and full-size iPad (Source: @trojankitten, via Daring Fireball)
Gruber goes on to note that Jobs was panning small, expensive tablets running a version of Android never intended to be used on devices larger than phones and that the tablets hitting the market today are very different products. He also points to Jobs' repeated efforts at misdirection in which he publicly spoke out against certain ideas even as Apple was pursuing them, as well as Jobs' ability to quickly and decisively change his mind at times.
Beyond the size of the iPad mini, Gruber also addresses the topic of a non-Retina display in the device, suggesting that with Apple seeking to keep pricing down the display will be one of the main ways it can achieve its desired pricing while retaining significant margins. The iPad mini would naturally gain a Retina display a year or two down the road as pricing continues to drop.
Finally, in addressing pricing on the rumored iPad mini Gruber suggests that Apple could approach the $199 pricing seen on the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 by leveraging its massive supply chain and economies of scale to bring its own costs down to the neighborhood of $150 and still maintain profitability. But even pricing of $249 could be competitive depending on hardware features and factoring in the benefits of Apple's extensive iOS/iTunes/App Store ecosystem for customers. read more..

Social Network-Glam

Glam Upgrades Social Network Builder Ning With Premium Ads, Mobile Web, And A VIP Version

Glam Media is announcing a flurry of new features today centering around Ning, the social network building service that it acquired last year. Collectively, they give some sense of what Ning looks like once it has been integrated into Glam's business and products.Since Glam is primarily an ads business, perhaps the most important change is the fact that Ning creators can now run Glam ads in their community. Previously, if you had a network on Ning and you wanted advertising, you were mostly on your own. (In fact, Glam CEO Samir Arora says there were already two Ning networks had decided on their own to join Glam's advertising program.) Now, assuming you fit into one of the company's ad verticals, you can start monetizing in a more serious way, by running premium advertising from the network. read more..

Tuesday 10 July 2012

App Store-Creators-Iphone

Daily iPhone App: Outwitters is the new app from Tilt to Live creators

Tilt to Live was a fairly early hit on the iOS App Store. It used the iPhone's accelerometer to make a frantic but fun and addictive shooter. Now, developer One Man Left has released a very different game called Outwitters. We first saw the title at GDC earlier this year, and the final release version is just as nice as the one that was in development. The game offers up asynchronous turn-based strategy combat, in the same vein as Robot Entertainment's great Hero Academy. But there are a few big differences, the first being that the board is much bigger, and allows for a few new moves and turns. The backend is also built out a lot more. In addition to the usual games with friends and random players, there's a whole matchmaking league system, so the best players have a huge, well-run ladder to climb. There are three different races (one is free, and the others you'll need to buy), each with its own units and resources to deal with. In short, the game is gorgeous, perfectly designed and offers much turn-based action for players (like me, ahem) who really enjoy moving units around a board like this. Outwitters is a free, universal download, and everything in the in-game store is on sale right now for a limited time.Daily iPhone App: Outwitters is the new app from Tilt to Live creators originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Incubator Program-Nokia

Nokia Bridge: Nokia’s Incubator Gives Departing Employees €25k And More To Pursue Ideas That Nokia Has Not

Nokia may still be fighting some pretty major fires on its burning platform, but it's also building some bridges -- namely the Nokia Bridge incubator program -- to help those running from the flames, with financing of up to €150,000 ($185,000) to pursue new startups, before they've even paid a visit to VCs and angel investors.The activities in Nokia Bridge are a small but encouraging counterpoint to the fairly-constant, grim updates on the state of the Finnish mobile company, once the world's biggest by a long shot, and now under the gun with falling handset sales and dwindling cash reserves as it struggles to compete against the Apple/Android smartphone juggernaut. It's understood that there are already some 100 companies in the incubator -- dozens in the UK alone -- although Nokia has not published a list of them anywhere. Jolla, the startup formed by ex-Nokia execs that will try to give MeeGo phones another shot, is one of them. read more..

Monday 9 July 2012

Public Alpha Version-Android Apps-Beta Version-Mac Version-Bluestacks

BlueStacks Allows You to Run Android Apps on a Mac

BlueStacks announced a public alpha version of their Android App Player for the Mac today at Google I/O.
The company had originally released a beta version of their App Player for Windows back in March. The software allows users to run Android apps directly on their Windows PCs, and the newest version begins to extend that functionality to the Mac.
While the Windows version allows you to run any Android app without modification, the early Mac version seems to be limited to 15 initial apps that comes bundled with the download. The bundled apps include Air Control Lite, Alchemy, Basketball Shot, Drag Racing, Elastic World, Facebook, Glow Hockey, Guns'n'Glory, Paper Toss, Pulse, Robo Defense, Seesmic, Twitter, Whatsapp, and Zebra Paint.
Their support page claims that "in the very near future", they plan on opening the Mac version up to over 400,000 Android apps:The BlueStacks App Player for Mac OSX (alpha) supports both Lion and Snow Leopard. You can test drive a fixed set of curated apps for the first release (alpha-1). In the very near future, BlueStacks will let you select from over 400,000 Android apps to play on your Mac.The alpha version is available as a free download from the BlueStacks website. read more..

Apple-Ios

Apple Cracking Down on Sites Selling Access to iOS 6 Developer Betas

Late last month, Wired covered the emergence of a cottage industry of businesses selling access to iOS developer betas prior to their official launch. Apple offers these developer betas to registered iOS developers. The fee for such a registration is $99/year. Some enterprising individuals have turned around and started selling their 100 possible device slots to users looking to install the iOS betas prior to their official launch.Behind the scenes, each service uses the same simple backdoor: Registered iOS developers can activate up to 100 unique device IDs (or UDIDs) for their account, an essential tool for testing apps on multiple devices. Once registered with Apple, the activated device is also able to run pre-release versions of iOS, though developers are forbidden from sharing pre-release software outside their own team.
Ignoring these warnings, activation services charge a small fee to add a customer’s device to their developer accounts. When they hit the 100-device limit, they just register a new account with Apple.This has been going on for a couple of years with no particular intervention from Apple. As Wired notes, it seems Apple just didn't seem to care, despite their wide availability.
That may have changed since the publication of the Wired article. MacStories has noted that many of the services listed in the original Wired article are no longer available. After reaching out to the sites, it seems that Apple has started taking action against these services. While most of our emails bounced, we heard back from one of the site owners (who asked to remain anonymous), who confirmed his hosting provider took down the site after a complaint for copyright infringement by Apple. Similarly, the CEO of Fused tweeted in a reply to Andy Baio that Apple had been “fairly heavy-handed” with DMCA requests to UDID-selling sites hosted on their network.MacStories exchanged emails with the owner of one of the services which made $75,000 since the release of the iOS 6 Beta in June. read more..

Running Windows 8 on your Mac

Running Windows 8 on your Mac

Whether it's for work or just out of curiosity, here are four options for flirting with the latest rough beast to shuffle out of Redmond. read more..

Patent Dispute-Lengthy Battle-Technology-Yahoo

Yahoo, Facebook settle patent dispute, ad alliance

Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a patent dispute, averting a potentially lengthy battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. read more..

Sunday 8 July 2012

Video Game Consoles-Component Video-Video Footage-Hd Pvr

Hauppage's HD PVR Gaming Edition works, but with some issues

Game capture is a bigger and bigger business lately -- with YouTube views earning money for partner channels, indie devs needing to capture video footage of their games, and lots of players just wanting to record their own gameplay for various purposes, there's a big call these days for full, HD video of gameplay captured from video game consoles. Hauppage has been making the HD PVR for a little while now: It's a run-through set-top box that's designed to capture video footage, specifically from a satellite or cable box (so you can record an HD TV signal as it comes in). But just a few months ago, Hauppage also introduced the HD PVR Gaming Edition, basically the same box, but designed to work directly with the top video game consoles: The PS3, Xbox 360, and the Nintendo Wii. And with the help of an app called HDPVRCapture, Hauppage's box works with your Mac computer. I've run the system through its paces, and I can say that despite some issues I had with setup (and a few missing features), the HD PVR Gaming Edition is an excellent way to capture high quality video game footage. Getting the unit plugged in was the hard part: All of my video game systems are well-ensconced in my entertainment center, so having to dive back into that tangle of wires was probably the hardest issue I had. For most of the capture, I used my PS3, so I had to pull the component cables out of my television, and then run the included cables with the HD PVR from the PS3 to the unit, and then a separate component cable from the PVR to the television. To go from the box to my Macbook, there was just a simple USB cable, so that part was super easy in comparison. The HD PVR itself has plenty of options: You can run through the component video hookups as I did (along with right and left audio), or run with Optical video out and in. On the front of the unit, there are also connections for SVideo, if you happen to be running that, or composite video from another console. The hookups on the box are solid, and the component video worked well. The HDPVRCapture software allows you to set a bitrate for recording the video, which mainly just affects hard drive usage (more video information obviously means more hard drive space used). To test, I first set the bitrate super low (at 1000 kbps), and as a result, the output video was grainy and hazy, albeit still usable. Running at a higher bitrate, however (I kicked it up to around 10000 kbps), creates really beautiful video -- full 1080i footage, perfect for playing on any HD television or projector (or, more likely, YouTube's HD settings). In fact, the video file that I created by running the device for about 30 minutes was so big and so HD that my little years-old Macbook actually had trouble running it, at least until I closed some other apps. Editing or even viewing video of that quality could be a problem if you have an old computer to work on. But most video editors will have computers much more powerful than my little laptop, so high quality video shouldn't be a problem. The HDPVRCapture software has plenty of options for recording and converting the video afterwards (the streams I recorded came out as .m2ts files, easily converted into .mp4 for playing on most video systems), and there are also controls for video light levels and sharpness, along with an option to hook up to iCal for a recording schedule (in case you do want to use this with a cable system to record TV shows). There's also a few network options, so you can hook up the software to automatically send recorded footage to a network drive, streaming it live or later on. I did have a few issues with Hauppage's box, however. First and foremost is the lack of an HDMI connection -- the component video looked great, but I usually run my PS3 with an HDMI cable, so to set the box up, I had to actually switch the system's video back over to component to use it. Elgato makes a competing box that only runs on HDMI, and since Apple sells an a read more..

Nsfw

Paul Carr’s NSFW Corporation Has Officially Launched And There Is Much Rejoicing

Paul Carr's NSFW Corp has officially launched, bringing us all from the doldrums and despair of the Age of Pisces and into the majesty of the Age of Aquarius. The site, essentially the news of the day with jokes, launched a few months ago in beta and is now a 17-person strong comedy juggernaut putting out stories like "UK WORRIES ABOUT SPIRALLING COST OF FREE HEALTH CARE >> Run, America. Run while there's still time //" and "KUWAIT ARMY STRUGGLES WITH OBESITY >> Are we heading for the first real Golden Arches war? A Gastric Band of Brothers? //." read more..

Patent Dispute-Lengthy Battle

Yahoo, Facebook in ad alliance, end patent dispute

Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a patent dispute, averting a potentially lengthy battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. read more..


News Summary: Facebook, Yahoo settle patent fight

WORKING IT OUT: Facebook and Yahoo have settled their months-long patent dispute, averting a potentially lengthy battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. read more..


Yahoo, Facebook strike patent truce, ad alliance

Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a months-long patent dispute, averting a potentially expensive battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. read more..

Patent Dispute-Bitter Battle

Source: Yahoo, Facebook have settled patent fight

Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a patent dispute and avert a potentially bitter battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations, according to a person familiar with the matter. read more..


Yahoo and Facebook announce they have settled patent dispute, forged advertising alliance

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a patent dispute. This averts a potentially bitter battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. read more..


Developments in Facebook-Yahoo patent dispute

On Friday, Yahoo and Facebook said they have agreed to settle their patent dispute and drop lawsuits against each other. read more..

Azure Accelerator-Microsoft

Microsoft’s Azure Accelerator In China Debuts Inaugural Class

As you may recall, Microsoft recently got into the startup accelerator game, launching its first self-directed and self-run accelerator in Israel. The program is different from Microsoft's Kinect Accelerator, for example, because Microsoft is the owner and operator of these new programs, which are now rolling out elsewhere in the world, including India and China. Unlike your typical YC clone, Microsoft is not snagging an equity stake nor providing funding for the startups it hosts. But it also doesn't plan to run out of cash for its programs, either. (See Mike's deep dive into the Israel-based incubator here).This Friday, the Chinese accelerator will announce its inaugural class of startups, a unique group because of Microsoft's focus on cloud computing businesses which already have products and end users. read more..

Preliminary Injunction-Samsung Galaxy Nexus-Social Networking

GM talking with Facebook about advertising again: sources

DETROIT/SAN FRANCISO (Reuters) - General Motors Co and Facebook Inc are discussing the return of the U.S. automaker as a paid advertiser almost two months after GM said it would stop running ads on the social networking website, sources close to the situation said on Tuesday. Although the two companies remain far from reaching an agreement, Facebook executives have assiduously courted the world's largest carmaker. One source said Facebook was not pushing for GM's immediate return, but offered to provide data showing the effectiveness of the website's paid ads. ... read more..


US court refuses to stay injunction on Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone

A court in California denied Samsung on Tuesday a stay on a preliminary injunction against sales in the U.S. of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone running Android. The ruling follows a similar decision over the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. read more..

Unix Operating System-Android Apps-Data Center-Ibm Servers-Apple

App Player lets you run Android apps on your Mac

BlueStacks is teaming up with a number of developers to bring Android Apps to the Mac, so you can have the best of both worlds. Or something. read more..


Help wanted: Apple using Oracle, IBM servers in data center

Apple is running servers from IBM and Oracle with flavors of the Unix operating system at its Malden, North Carolina, data center, according to a job entry posted on the company's website. read more..

Catherine Deneuve-Arc De Triomphe-Place Vendôme-Louis Vuitton-Kirsten Dunst

À Bientôt, Ritz

Louis Vuitton unveiled its new haute joaillerie boutique on Place Vendôme yesterday evening, giving passing tourists yet more reasons to raise their cameras. Catherine Deneuve and Kirsten Dunst were among the famous faces that stopped by for a look at Peter Marino's interiors, which include a dangling ceiling installation by artist Teresita Fernandez. Located mere footsteps from the original Louis Vuitton store on Rue des Capucines, the jewelry shop (the brand's first such devoted retail space) goes nicely with designer Lorenz Bäumer’s third collection, which is inspired by architectural landmarks the house's founder would have encountered strolling from the Arc de Triomphe to Place Vendôme.
The walk expected of guests on this night was considerably shorter: from the store a door over to the Ritz, where coupes of Ruinart rosé sat piled on a table in the garden. Deneuve received admirers in a corner, while nearer the center of things, the Traina sisters stood chatting with Caroline Sieber. The highlight of this particular trio's Couture week? "Dior," they said in unison.
After dinner in the columned pool room, pianist Jamie Cullum took requests. His spirited playing couldn't keep Anna Dello Russo from departing early, leaving her croquant au chocolat untouched. Sofia Coppola was in no hurry, though; later on, she could be found back in the garden, catching up with Dunst. The director has a film to edit in New York and was eager to have one last evening at the Ritz before it shutters for renovations later this month, she told Style.com. But as the folks at Louis Vuitton will tell you, as a bunch of doors close on Place Vendôme, another opens.
—Darrell Hartman read more..

Saturday 7 July 2012

The Lost Interview-Unedited Interview-Landmark Theaters-Steve Jobs-Itunes

Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview ready for rent from iTunes

Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview hit Landmark theaters last year and made a second run again in May of this year. Now, the documentary is available on iTunes. The 1:12 film captured a 1995 interview of Jobs conducted by tech journalist Robert X. Cringely. During this time, Jobs was in between his positions at Apple and serving as the CEO of NeXT. Apple fans can rent the original and unedited interview for US$3.99.Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview ready for rent from iTunes originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Friday 6 July 2012

Macbook Pro-Modbook

Modbook introduces the Modbook Pro

Who remembers the Modbook? We looked at an early iteration back in 2008, and today the company has introduced the Modbook Pro. It is a tablet, but the Modbook Pro does not run iOS. It's essentially the hardware of a 13" MacBook Pro inside a tablet case with a touch screen, running OS X. The company notes that the screen uses a Wacom digitizer for "512 levels of pen pressure sensitivity," which it claims is more than any other tablet. As for the screen itself (1280 x 800 pixel resolution), the Modbook says it's "etched" for a paper-like feel. So what's inside this beast? You'll find a 2.5GHz dual core Intel i5 processor ( 2.9GHz dual core i7), up to 16GB of RAM, a 2.5-inch SATA drive (up to 1TB HDD or up to 960GB SSD), DVD burner, an Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. On the outside you'll find a Gigabit Ethernet port, one FireWire 800 port, one USB 3.0 port, one Thunderbolt port, one SDXC card slot and one audio line in/out. The device ships with a digitizer pen, which can be tucked away inside a magnetic "pen garage" when not in use. The company hopes to ship the Modbook Pro in "fall of 2012," and has promised sales info within the next few weeks.Modbook introduces the Modbook Pro originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Google Street View-Navigon

Navigon adds Google Street View and other features, lowers prices

Navigon is releasing a solid update to its iOS navigation app on Tuesday morning that should please holiday and nonholiday travelers. The app adds Google Street View, providing users with a street-level image of their destination before starting a route. Before starting the journey, users can look at a full screen 360° view to get a better understanding of their destination's surroundings. Shortly before arriving at the destination, the Google Street View image slides in again, making it easier to identify the correct location. This new version also adds Navigon Cockpit as an in-app purchase. It displays relevant driving data in real time on a cockpit-like screen. Captured data includes G-forces (current and maximum value), speed, horizontal and vertical position, and an adjustable speed and altitude graph. Drivers can use this information to see a snapshot of their driving habits. Also included is a dedicated off-road screen with compass and altitude information for off-road driving. The update also includes performance enhancements and support for the Retina display on the latest iPad. Starting Tuesday and running until July 16, the Navigon USA app has been reduced to US $29.99 from $49.99. The three regional versions, where you can download just a certain section of the country, drop to $19.99 during the sale. The Navigon Cockpit add-on is $3.99 now, and after the sale will be $5.99. I think Navigon and other providers will be pushing and enhancing their apps in response to Apple's free mapping and turn-by-turn navigation offering due in the fall with iOS 6. Check the gallery for screen shots from the new version. Gallery: Navigon version 2.1Navigon adds Google Street View and other features, lowers prices originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Mobile Accessories-Ipad

Enter to win a trio of mobile accessories from Just Mobile

It's July, and TUAW is starting off the American and Canadian summer holiday week with a review and giveaway of three useful accessories from Just Mobile.

Highway Pro

The Highway Pro (US$39.95 MSRP) is hands-down the nicest-looking car charger I've ever seen. Featuring a knurled aluminum cap that not only makes it easier to pull the charger out of your car power adapter but also looks sharp as well, the Highway Pro can charge your iPad and iPhone at the same time. There's a 2.1 Amp port for your third-generation iPad, as well as a 1 Amp outlet for your iPhone. Just Mobile includes a coiled USB cable that won't tangle -- I just wish they had thrown two into the box instead of one. With all of that power flowing out of this charger, it's nice to know that there's an integrated fuse to provide protection to your favorite devices.

AluCube Mini

While the Highway Pro is meant for your car, the AluCube Mini ($16.95 MSRP) is designed to keep your desktop free of cable clutter. It's a small aluminum cube (hence the name) with a soft rubber-lined slot in the middle. Want to coil up excess charge/sync cable footage? Just run it through the middle of the AluCube Mini and you're set. If you're really anal and want that cable RIGHT THERE and nowhere else, there's an adhesive patch you can use to glom the AluCube Mini onto your desktop fairly permanently.

AluPen Pro

The last of the three cool accessories from Just Mobile is the AluPen Pro ($39.95 MSRP). You might be sensing a trend right about now -- these well-constructed accessories are all made of aluminum. A number of Just Mobile's products are designed by Tools Design of Denmark, an award-winning design show that is responsible for the AluPen and AluPen Pro styluses. What makes the "Pro" different from the regular AluPen? It also features a "high-quality retractable ballpoint pen." That's right, you can use one end to sign checks or scribble down notes, then flip the device around to paint or write on your iPad. The stylus end of the AluPen Pro has a soft rubber nib that provides precise control of your iPad's capacitive touch screen. The AluPen Pro comes with a replacement nib should you wear one out, and also has a leather pouch to reside in when it's not being used.

Conclusion and Giveaway

Just Mobile does an amazing job of creating mobile accessories that are built to last. They look good, they work well, and they're not going to fall apart. Even the boxes that the accessories come in are well-designed, with front "covers" that latch close magnetically. Now it's your chance to win these three mobile accessories courtesy of Just Mobile and TUAW. Here are the rules for the giveaway:
  • Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
  • To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button.
  • The entry must be made before July 4, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • One winner will be selected and will receive a package consisting of a Just Mobile AluPen Pro, AluCube Mini, and Highway Pro valued at US$96.85
  • Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Loading...Enter to win a trio of mobile accessories from Just Mobile originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..

Thursday 5 July 2012

Investor Relations-Calendar Quarter-Earnings Release-Fiscal Quarter-Stock Trading

Apple to Announce 3Q 2012 Earnings on July 24

Apple today updated its investor relations page to note that it will announce its earnings for the third fiscal quarter (second calendar quarter) of 2012 on Tuesday, July 24. The earnings release typically occurs just after 4:30 PM Eastern Time following the close of regular stock trading, and the conference call is scheduled to follow at 5:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM Pacific.
MacRumors will provide running coverage of the earnings release and conference call.
The release should provide a look into the status of iPhone 4S sales after more than 8 months of availability -- and, perhaps most importantly, the strength of Apple's sales in China. Apple reported strong results three months ago and provided guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 expecting revenue of $34 billion and earnings per diluted share of $8.68. If it meets that guidance, it will be the third consecutive quarter with total sales of more than $30 billion. read more..

Flash Open Letter-Android Devices-Flash Player-Adobe

Adobe to End New Installs of Flash on Android as of August 15

Last November, Adobe announced that it was ending development of Flash Player for mobile platforms, opting not to optimize the plug-in for new browser, operating system, and device configurations. Adobe's announcement came roughly a year and a half after Steve Jobs penned his "Thoughts on Flash" open letter outlining why Apple had decided not to allow Flash to run on its iOS devices.
Now nearly eight months after Adobe's announcement, the company is officially pulling Flash from the Google Play marketplace for Android for new users. Those users who already have Flash installed on their Android devices will, however, be able to continue receiving updates.Beginning August 15th we will use the configuration settings in the Google Play Store to limit continued access to Flash Player updates to only those devices that have Flash Player already installed. Devices that do not have Flash Player already installed are increasingly likely to be incompatible with Flash Player and will no longer be able to install it from the Google Play Store after August 15th.Adobe also notes that Flash is officially not certified for use with the upcoming Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" previewed earlier this week, and users are encouraged to uninstall Flash if and when they update their Android devices to Jelly Bean. read more..

Apple Retail Store-Retail Stores-China Proper

Apple's Retail Push into China Still Limited, But Ramping Up

Back in February 2010, Apple's then-retail chief Ron Johnson noted during the company's annual shareholder meeting that it was planning to open up to 25 retail stores in China over the following two years. At the time, Apple operated only a single store in Beijing that had opened in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics held there.
Apple's IFC Mall retail store in Hong Kong
Well more than two years later, Apple still has only six retail stores in its Greater China region, with five in China proper and one in Hong Kong. And as noted by Reuters, Apple has more stores in Pennsylvania (eight) than it does in Greater China.The shortage of retail stores and authorized re-sellers leaves ample room for unlicensed re-sellers to move in. Bad consumer experiences at these unauthorized shops are common and they run the risk of eventually eroding confidence in Apple's products, said David Wolf, chief executive of Beijing-based consultancy Wolf Group Asia.
If Apple doesn't expand its network of stores and authorized re-sellers, it "loses not only near-term sales, it also endangers the sustainability of its success in China," he said.The report does not pin down the reasons behind Apple's slower-than-planned pace of retail store expansion in China, only suggesting that the company may be running up against bureaucratic hurdles that have complicated its plans.
Apple may, however, be nearly ready for a substantial expansion of its retail footprint in China, as M.I.C. gadget just yesterday posted a summary of six more stores that are currently in the works. Most of the locations have been discussed at one time or another in recent months, but the new summary provides a consolidated picture of what Apple's Chinese customers can expect. The forthcoming locations include:
- Shenzhen: One of Foxconn's major hubs for iOS device production, Shenzhen will see a new Apple retail store going in at the Yitian Plaza shopping mall, according to M.I.C. gadget. The report includes photos of a boarded-up section of the mall where Apple is rumored to be building a two-level store, with an opening predicted for late this year or early next year.
- Chengdu: Apple appears set to open two retail stores in Chengdu, another of Foxconn's manufacturing hubs in China. The first may open as soon as September in the high-end Raffles Square district while the second is said to be a major store opening at the MixC shopping center. That location may open in December.
- Guangzhou: Relatively few details on this location are known, but according to the report Apple is preparing to open a store in the Grand City Plaza district. Major renovations for the area have, however, yet to take place.
- Dalian: As we previously covered, Apple is said to be planning its world's largest retail store for Dalian in northeastern China. No details on an opening are yet known, but previous information suggested that work was indeed underway on the store.
- Hong Kong: In February 2011, reports claimed that Apple would be opening two retail stores in Hong Kong: a 15,000 square foot location at the IFC Mall by the end of 2011 and a 20,000 square foot location at Hysan Place by the second or third quarter of 2012. The IFC Mall store did open in September 2011, and M.I.C. gadget indicates that Apple should at least come close to meeting its target for the Hysan Place store with a late 2012 or early 2013 opening. read more..

New Pen-Based 'Modbook Pro' Tablet Launching in Early Fall

New Pen-Based 'Modbook Pro' Tablet Launching in Early Fall

Five and a half years ago, a company by the name of Axiotron unveiled the Modbook, a MacBook that had been converted into a pen-based tablet by repackaging the internals into a new casing to yield the one-piece tablet form factor. Two years later, Axiotron introduced the Modbook Pro based on a similar concept, but delays in delivering its products ultimately led Axiotron to fade away.
Earlier this year, one of Axiotron's founders returned with a new company carrying the Modbook name, and today the company is announcing the new generation of Modbook Pro products.Built from a unique enclosure conversion kit, the Modbook Pro incorporates and completely encases the original hardware of a new Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-inch base system. Its Wacom digitizer delivers 512 levels of pen pressure sensitivity — more than any other tablet computer on the market. And its ForceGlass screen provides an etched, paper-emulating drawing surface.
The result is a sleek tablet computer run by a powerful Mac base system, with a highly sensitive pen interface and a natural drawing surface, all fused into one device you can take with you and use anywhere.
The Modbook Pro components connect to the original MacBook Pro through one of its two USB 3.0 ports, with the entire assembly being enclosed in a new casing for an integrated OS X-based tablet solution that also supports Windows 7.
The Modbook Pro is scheduled to launch in "early fall 2012", with pricing and retail partners yet to be announced. read more..