Author: Blancer

A blog called Apple Bitch points to an Amazon Germany listing of Mac OS X 10.7 which says the Lion OS will ship on a DVD format. This hints that the update may actually be available as a more traditional DVD purchase, instead of the all-digital Mac App Store download that the preview was released as, but then again this could just be a default listing for the software, set to become available later this year. The US Amazon listing doesn’t mention a DVD format at all, instead promising that the page will sell Lion if and when it becomes available in the store.

Though the Mac App Store is clearly the future for Apple’s distribution of their software, if Lion were only a MAS download, Apple would be excluding many Macs that could run it. Why? Lion is set to require an Intel Mac with a Core 2 Duo processor or higher. There are many Macs which match those specs that are still running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Since the Mac App Store requires 10.6.6 or higher, having Lion as MAS download only would eliminate a lot people from upgrading to Lion, even though their machines would be more than capable of running it. So those of you who have never updated to Snow Leopard on your Core 2 Duo Macs need not worry, you’ll still be able to upgrade to Lion the old fashioned way. However, you’ll want to make sure you do, as I’m willing to bet Lion will be the last OS available on optical media.

Amazon Germany lists Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on DVD originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s been a lot of back and forth lately about Apple and RIM and their smartphone sales — of course, with the iPhone, Apple has laid claim on the “new and shiny” market. But RIM continues to be huge, with lots of users still stuck on the Blackberry and its various services. Jim Dalrymple at the Loop decided to break down the numbers and see who’s really selling more devices.

So what’s the truth? All told, it’s Apple. RIM has shipped 52.4 million devices in the last year, which is nothing to sniff at, and definitely in opposition to anyone claiming the company is washed up. But Apple edges RIM out, shipping 57.39 million iPhones. For all four quarters of the past year, save for the period between last May and June, Apple has shipped more smartphones than RIM.

Keep in mind, however, that these numbers, at least on RIM’s side are for shipped devices, not devices sold. Apple has announced that it sold 18.5 million iPhones in just the first quarter of this year, and it’s likely that RIM lags behind that number a bit. Apple’s pulling ahead, but there’s still some competition in the smartphone market among these two.

Comparing Apple and RIM smartphone numbers for the past year originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, you knew this was coming. After all, suing Apple has become something of a favorite past time for individuals and companies. Bloomberg reports that two iPhone users have filed a federal lawsuit against Apple alleging invasion of privacy and computer fraud regarding the iPhone’s ability to track and store cell phone tower data.

Right now details are sparse and there’s no word what kind of damages the plaintiffs are seeking and Apple has not issued a statement on the lawsuit. However, with more and more “Locationgate” stories hitting the news daily, you can expect that Apple is working on, if not a solution, at least a response to the matter.

UPDATE: Bloomberg has expanded its article, quoting an attorney for the plaintiffs as saying, “We take issue specifically with the notion that Apple is now basically tracking people everywhere they go. If you are a federal marshal you have to have a warrant to do this kind of thing, and Apple is doing it without one.” The plaintiffs (an iPad and iPhone user) are asking a judge to bar Apple from recording location data and a refund for their devices, saying they would not have purchased them if they had known about the location tracking in iOS.

Apple slapped with federal lawsuit over location tracking originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I doubt Steve Jobs will regard being called monomaniacal as an insult. My dictionary defines the word as ‘An inordinate or obsessive zeal or interest in a single thing or subject.” That sounds pretty much like the Apple co-founder and CEO.

The comments from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen came in an interview with The Sunday Times, where he also praised Apple’s almost unbelievable turnaround since Jobs returned to the company in 1997. The full article is behind a paywall, but the Guardian quotes it here.

There’s a lot more of interest in Allen’s recently-published autobiography, Idea Man. One passage from the book that will make Apple fans take notice is this one quoting Bill Gates in the mid-nineties:

“[The competition] can be taken. But the only way we’re going to take them is to study them, know what they know, do what they do, watch them, watch them, watch them. Look for every angle, stay on their shoulders, clone them, take every one of their good ideas and make it one of our good ideas.”

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen: Steve Jobs is “monomaniacal” originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some people don’t even try anymore. There’s a video circulating on many Asian tech sites (and now some English ones) that is purportedly Steve Jobs rehearsing the keynote speech for the introduction of the iPhone 5.

According to the fake video, the next iPhone 5 will feature digital scent technology and a battery that doesn’t need to be recharged. It’s not those wild claims that make this video obviously fake, it’s that the man who is supposed to be Steve Jobs doesn’t sound anything remotely like him. But the absolute best part of the video has to be when Steve Jobs stops to change his shoes. Total fail people.

[via MacRumors]

Fail: Video of ‘Steve Jobs’ rehearsing iPhone 5 introduction originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did you ever wonder what happens when the reality distortion field meets Star Wars?

You get these cool/cheesy/ready-for-cease-and-desist Steve Jobs in Carbonite iPhone skins and cases from Society6. Until the Apple lawyers get ahold of this and breathily note “I am altering our agreement. Pray I don’t alter it further,” you can order an iPhone skin for just US$15, a stretched canvas art print (which is apparently free if you believe the pricing on the site), or a full iPhone case for $35.

Act now and get one of these collectibles before the lawyers strike back! And remember, when you tell Steve that you love him, he’s only going to reply “I know.”

No comment: Steve Jobs in Carbonite originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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South Park is starting its 15th season on Wednesday and Apple will be there. Comedy Central has posted a very short clip of Steve Jobs presenting the newest iThingy which seems to be a mash-up of an iPad and The Human Centipede. The latter is a movie so bad that it garnered a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 29 percent. The clip is slightly NSFW (Not Suitable For Work), so be forewarned.

Thanks to Keith M. for the tip

Continue reading South Park introduces the HUMANCENTiPad

South Park introduces the HUMANCENTiPad originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michael Dell is bullish on Android tablets [registration required]. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published today, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dell Inc. predicted Android tablets would one day overtake Apple’s iPad as the leading platform in the tablet market. Dell cited Android’s success in the smartphone market to support his theory.

“If you look at 18 months ago, Android phones were like, ‘What is that?’ And now there are more Android phones than iPhones,” Dell said. “I don’t see any reason why the same won’t occur with Android tablets.”

At the moment, Android faces the Herculean task of catching up to the device that defined a new class of consumer electronic. Unlike the iPhone, which entered an already healthy mobile phone marketplace with well-established rivals, the iPad set the benchmark for tablet computing. A recent report from IDC suggests the iPad represents 83% of the rapidly growing tablet market. IDC expects Apple to continue its dominance by winning up to 80% of tablet sales in 2011.

The iPad’s most well-reviewed rival, the Motorola Xoom, has done little to sink Apple’s staggering dominance despite its flashy marketing campaign and tablet-specific flavor of Android. One estimate from Deutsche Bank suggests Motorola has sold only 100,000 units of its flagship tablet. Similarly, Samsung has been disappointed with sales of its Galaxy Tab and its sales of about 2 million units.

Dell, of course, offers its own family of tablets called the Streak. The five and seven-inch tablets, powered by Android, were met with generally negative reviews and are widely considered flops. Dell is expected to release its 10-inch Streak Pro, in both Windows and Android varieties, later this year. Although Dell claims to be doubling down on Android, the CEO, who also expressed being surprised by the sudden rise of the iPad, may also be hedging his bets by releasing tablets on two competing software platforms.

[via CNET]

Michael Dell: Android tablets will overtake iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I find the Civil War to be one of the most fascinating periods of American history. The struggle that tore our nation apart 150 years ago occurred during a time of great social upheaval, continued westward expansion, and technological changes that shaped the next century.

When I saw that HISTORY had released The Civil War Today for iPad (US$7.99), I glanced at a description of the app and then bought it immediately. What I’ve been enjoying since April 12, 2011 is a well-designed interactive daily trip into the events that happened exactly 150 years ago. It’s as if my iPad has become a time machine taking me back into the past, and as the war heats up and comes to its inevitable conclusion over the next four years, I’ll be experiencing the battles, the tragedies, and the personal stories of the people who lived through the Civil War.

Read more to see my review of The Civil War Today, and be sure to check out the gallery below.

Continue reading The Civil War Today: An elegant interactive trip into American history via iPad

The Civil War Today: An elegant interactive trip into American history via iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news for the jailbreak community as Cydia is now back up and running. Along with many other companies, the alternative app store for iOS devices has been down for several days due to Amazon’s highly-publicized E2C Cloudfront server outage.

During this downtime, Cydia suspended all downloads, purchases and updates. Users of the jailbreak app store were greeted with a notice that all activities were down. The app repository came back to life last night and everything is back to business as usual. Woohoo!

[Via Razorianfly]

Cydia back up after multi-day outage originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has apparently decided to abandon its trademark application for the term “POD”. Apple filed for the trademark in Canada on July 2004. After a series of changes required by the Canadian government and extensions that span seven years, Apple has decided to abandon the patent. The abandonment procedure began on December 2010 and was finalized on April 13, 2011.

The term “iPOD” is still covered by an Apple trademark, but the word “POD” is now up for grabs. Look for the next ePOD eReader or aPOD mp3 player to hit the market in the coming months.

Apple abandons effort to secure “POD” trademark originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Companies like G-Form enjoy wowing people with their products that protect your device under the most extreme conditions. This time around the team took an iPad, slipped it into their Extreme Sleeve and dropped it from an ultralight airplane.

Similar to the iPhone which plummeted from a plane, the iPad fell over 500 feet, flipping through the air and landed with a resounding thud in a grassy field. After retrieval, the iPad emerged from the sleeve fully functional with nary a scratch. The helmet cam attached to the outside the Extreme Sleeve did not fare so well and unfortunately, broke on impact.

Unlike the Otter Box which is a rigid and bulky case, the G-Form Extreme Sleeve uses PORON XRD, a flexible and thin material known for its ability to absorb impacts. The sleeve is lightweight and flexible, yet protects your iPad 1 and iPad 2 from harsh falls and impacts. The Extreme Sleeve comes with a life-time guarantee and is available in black and yellow. Folks can pre-order one now for $59.95 and they will begin shipping on May 2.

Read on to watch the falling iPad and the reactions of the enthusiastic team at G-Form.

[Via ZDNet]

Continue reading iPad survives 500 foot fall from airplane thanks to G-Form Extreme Sleeve

iPad survives 500 foot fall from airplane thanks to G-Form Extreme Sleeve originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welcome to Ask TUAW, your favorite weekly question-and-answer column. Now, we can never have too many questions, so please, go to the comments of this post and ask away. To get fabulous answers, we need your fabulous questions. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or ping us on Twitter.

Now, off to the questions! Muhammad asks:

Is there any way to set up a mode in my iPhone that’s exactly like airplane mode but still allow phone calls to be received? When I sleep, I want everything like texts, email, push notifications, etc. to be off, but I still need to be available in case of an emergency.

Continue reading Ask TUAW: Where is the new Mac mini?, turning off iPhone noises and more

Ask TUAW: Where is the new Mac mini?, turning off iPhone noises and more originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last week’s news that relatively imprecise cell phone tower location data from iPhones is stored in a file that is backed up onto your computer seems to be gathering a lot of attention. It was even the main topic of discussion on last night’s TUAW Talkcast.

“Locationgate” began when two researchers released a Mac app (iPhone Tracker) that not only finds the file on your computer, but also displays that information. The iPhone Tracker plot of my location information seen above shows that I seem to spend a lot of time in the Denver area. That’s not surprising, since that’s where I live.

Bloomberg reported that the South Korean government has contacted Apple for information about location information collection. In South Korea, the collection of GPS coordinates violates privacy laws, so the government wants to know how the information is stored and whether users can choose to turn off the storage of location data. The Korea Communications Commission also wants to know why Apple captures the information and if it is stored on the company’s servers.

South Korea isn’t the only country in which privacy advocates are up in arms — French, American, German, and Italian regulators also want to know why Apple collects the information. Razorian Fly notes that Apple has already explained why they collect and store this data in a letter to the U.S. Congress last year. Basically, it’s done so Apple has its own location services and is not dependent on Google or Skyhook for that information. It’s this location data that your iPhone queries when it initially tries to figure out where it is, before the device locks onto the GPS satellite constellation.

Continue reading A roundup of today’s “Locationgate” news

A roundup of today’s “Locationgate” news originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We get purported product leak pics sent to us all the time, and of course, the vast majority of them are fake. In an era when anyone with free time and a copy of Photoshop can slap together something that’s convincing at first glance, we’re sort of jaded when we look at these Blurrycam photos. In fact, even Gizmodo’s epic iPhone 4 leak last year had me and half my TUAW colleagues saying, “Fake, fake, fakedy faaaaaake,” right up until Apple demanded the device be returned.

It’s only the truly spectacular pics that warrant us firing up our CSI rigs (Zoom. Enhance. Zoom. Enhance) in an attempt to prove if the pic’s been faked or not. Then, at the other end of the spectrum, there’s the monstrosity pictured here, which sent the entire TUAW team into paroxysms of laughter when we saw it.

A reader sent us this image after a friendly email where he said he had a line on the next iPod classic. “Contrary to what some people believe there will be a new one,” he said. “It will have an option for either a 256GB or 320GB hard drive. It will feature the interface of the iPod Nano all while keeping the clickwheel. Also, the screen size will increase by nearly eliminating the bezel. This device is catered to serious music lovers who still love keeping with the times.”

Sounded reasonable to us, so we requested pics. And the iPod wasn’t the only thing about this that was classic. “Worst. Photoshop. EVER,” one member of our team replied, and we didn’t even have to Zoom or Enhance to make that call. Check out some detail on the full-sized image, as it was sent to us:

All too easy.

I’ll forgive the pic’s blurriness, especially since the metadata (which our tipster forgot to scrub out) says the original pic was taken with an iPod touch. I’ll also forgive our photo prankster for neglecting to strip out the Adobe Photoshop CS3 markers from the metadata (P.S. to the sender: your GPS data is still embedded in the image you sent us, too. Nice house!). The pic’s onscreen icons are crooked with respect to the device itself, but I’ll even give that a pass. It’s that corner detail in the pic above, where the layered-on image from an iPod nano screen extends beyond the iPod classic in the background layer, that elevates this from your everyday Blurrycam photo to the high art of the Fakes Hall of Fame.

Blurrycam Theatre Presents: The classically fake iPod classic originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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