Author: Blancer

You know that nice Cover Flow interface (above) that Apple uses on iDevices, in iTunes, and in Mac OS X? An East Texas Federal Court has ruled that Apple infringed on patents held by Mirror Worlds, a software business started by Yale University computer science professor and Unabomber victim David Gelernter. As a result, the court has ordered Apple to pay Mirror Worlds US$208.5 million in damages. The Time Machine interface, which shows a series of screen or application images “receding” back in time, was also part of the case filed by Mirror Worlds on March 14, 2008.

As Mac Observer has pointed out, many of the Cover Flow and Time Machine concepts of showing files or album covers moving back and forth were in use by Apple in HyperCard stacks many years before Mirror Worlds received patents for the idea. Whether Apple will appeal the verdict or not is unknown at this time.

Apple was granted a patent for Cover Flow in April, 2010, which makes this ruling even more questionable. Mirror Worlds, LLC was disbanded in 2003 due to lack of sales of its software products.

Apple has not made any comments regarding the verdict or a possible appeal.

TUAWOuch! Apple dinged for $208.5 million in patent infringement case originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iLife, the software suite that is included on every Mac and is made up of iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD, hasn’t been updated to a new version since January, 2009. That, of course, is making many of us in the Apple world curious about when the next version of the suite will appear on the market. Many Mac pundits believe the next edition will be iLife ’11, and we’ve already seen several of the rumored release dates fly past without sign of the new iLife.

Now some sharp-eyed Apple fans have noticed that there’s a book listed on the German Amazon site with the title “iLife ’11: Digital pictures, movies, music and more” and a release date of December, 2010.

The translated description notes that the suite is entirely 64-bit, and that iPhoto will receive integration with social networking. iWeb has been “rewritten” from the ground up, and iDVD is no longer included with the suite. There’s mention of a “new application,” but no word on what the function or name of the new member of the suite will be.

The red banner on the cover mockup at left reads “iPhoto, iMovie and more, with Apps for Mac, iPhone 4, iPod and iPad,” which implies that iOS versions of the applications will be available as well. At this time, of course, iMovie is available for iOS, and it would not be much of a stretch to assume that iOS-compatible versions of the other applications could be developed. After all, Apple made an iPad version of iWork available on day one.

The book is written by Uwe Nerger, who has no other published titles to his name. That brings up the question how an unpublished author has been given access to a suite of applications that many published authors of Apple tomes have not seen. Take this rumor with a fist-sized grain of salt.

[via AppleInsider]

TUAWRumor: iLife ’11 to be 64-bit, iOS compatible originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Business Insider is reporting that Adidas has dropped its plans for a $10 million iAds account. The reason? Apple’s demand for near total control.

Citing two unnamed inside sources, Business Insider claims that Apple rejected three consecutive proposals from Adidas. After the third rejection, the company pulled out. Intent on making the best mobile advertising experience possible, Apple oversees nearly every aspect of an advertiser’s campaign, and even designs the ads.

Adidas isn’t the first to complain, but this story highlights the first big money pull out we’ve come across. In August, the Wall Street Journal reported that other potential advertisers had grown frustrated with Apple’s hands-on approach. At that time, only four of the 17 partners revealed at the program’s start — Unilever PLC, J.C. Penny, Disney and Nissan Co. — had launched ads.

Personally, I’ve only seen one ad for the Nissan Leaf. We think John Gruber’s advice for potential advertisers is best: Get used to it.

[Via AppleInsider]

TUAWAdidas kills $10M iAd deal originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The USA’s largest shopping mall will be the setting of an epic retail battle as Microsoft opens a massive store mere yards away from an Apple Store. Your Tech Weblog, a part of Minnesota’s Pioneer Press, has posted some photos of the massive store-to-be.

It’s directly across the hall from Apple Store Mall of America and much larger. As the video above demonstrates, the store will be longer and apparently much deeper than the existing Apple Store. All is fair in love and tech retail, as blogger Julio Ojeda-Zapata points out, so may the best retailer win.

Microsoft has opened 4 retail stores in the US so far. There are two in California, one in Colorado and one in Arizona. This will be the first location in Minnesota. Some have accused to Microsoft of copying the Apple Store’s look and feel a little too closely. Check out these photos and decide for yourself.

TUAWFound Footage: Apple/Microsoft throwdown at Mall of America originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is it — the rumors were true! The last non-Mac holdout of Valve’s Source titles is Left 4 Dead, the zombie-killing shooter featuring four survivors and a whole lot of undead, but that’s about to change. The official site for the newest Left 4 Dead 2 downloadable content, “The Sacrifice,” confirms that the game’s sequel is coming to the Mac this very Tuesday, October 5th. Left 4 Dead 2 will be released, as have all of the Source games, under the Steam Play banner. That means if you own it on the PC, you also own it on the Mac, so all you’ll have to do is download and start shooting zombies.

Anyone who buys the game on Steam will get all of the DLC for free, which makes for the original five campaigns plus the three DLC levels to play through. That’s an excellent deal for sure.

Unfortunately, the first game is not yet ready for the Mac; apparently, it’s taking Valve a little longer than expected to get it OS X-compatible. But Valve promises that when it is released, Steam owners will get the same deal — all the DLC with the game itself. That’s good stuff. Of course, with Left 4 Dead finally coming to our platform, which game will we be stuck waiting for next? Civ V, where you at?

Thanks, Ben H!

TUAWLeft 4 Dead 2 coming to the Mac this Tuesday originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are lots of apps on the App Store for tracking numbers, like your weight, your golf score, and how many hours you’ve worked lately, but Dayta serves as one solution for all of those. You can simply create stats however you like, and then track them to your heart’s content. You can export them out to CSV files, or you can browse and visualize them directly within the app, doing whatever you want with the raw data that you collect from day to day.

Plus, the app was just revamped, so now you get full Retina Display compatibility, lots of new enhancements and performance updates, and even the ability to tweet any data that you happen to input. That seems like an excellent deal for US$1.99. Of course, if you already have a few apps set up for tracking the relevant data in your life (like apps for your calorie intake or your car’s gas consumption), that’s a fine way to do it. There are definitely apps on the store that will allow for more customization and more specialized tracking than Dayta. But if you enjoy pulling in a bunch of raw numbers and have a few spare stats to check, Dayta might be able to help.

TUAWTUAW’s Daily App: Dayta originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a recent interview with The Telegraph, UK Prime Minister David Cameron described (among other things) his personal love of Apple’s Macs, iPad and digital music:

TUAWMacs popular with UK Prime Minister David Cameron originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that the iPad is officially available at Target (a discount department store here in the US), attention has turned to a suggestion that Walmart will carry the device before the year’s end.

Back in May, Walmart’s senior VP of entertainment for US stores, Gary Severson, told Blooomberg that he expected iPads to be on Walmart shelves “…later this year.” With about 2 months worth of holiday shopping time left (not to mention calendar days for 2010), the clock is ticking on Severson’s suggestion.

As of now, there are five iPad retailers in the US: Target, Best Buy, Micro Center, Amazon and of course, Apple. Adding Walmart to the list would again greatly increase the number of customers who get to physically see an iPad just as they’re strolling the aisles with holiday dollars in their pockets. As Fortune reports, there are 2,815 Walmart Supercenters and 774 Walmart Discount stores in the US.

Keep your eyes peeled, Walmart shoppers.

TUAWIs Walmart the next iPad retailer? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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