Author archive: Ed Sutherland
12:38 pm, November 6th, 2009



We close out the week with deals on iMacs, including a desktop Mac with 3.06 GHz processor, 27-inch screen, 8GB of Ram, plus Parallels with Windows 7 for $1,977. Also on tap: a number of iPhone cases and a deal on VMWare’s Fusion 3 for the Mac.
For details on these and other bargains (such as Apple’s 500GB Time Capsule), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.
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12:02 pm, November 6th, 2009

Credit: el frijole/flickr
Apple is the defendant in a number of lawsuits, the latest from Nokia. However, a bizarre lawsuit has appeared, naming the Cupertino, Calif. company and ‘Sex in the City’ actress Sara Jessica Parker in a lawsuit claiming the two attempted to steal trade secrets involving the iPhone, iPod and iTunes.
The lawsuit brought by Miami, Fla. resident Franz A. Wakefield claims after a 1989 meeting with Parker, the self-described “trade secret and copyright owner” “made a trade secret deal” with Parker to commercialize the iPod classic, nano, mini, shuffle, video, touch and photo, along with iTunes and the iPhone. As part of the deal, Parker supposedly would get 2 percent of gross revenue. Wakefield, who claims he named all of the products 20 years before their release by Apple, asked the FBI to watch over his security, according to the lawsuit.
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11:29 am, November 6th, 2009

Credit: William Hook/Flickr
With hackers feasting on the iPhone, Apple appears to be looking for a new sheriff. The Cupertino, Calif. company is advertising for an “iPhone Security Manager” passionate about understanding security exploits. The move may be aimed at the latest round of jailbreak software released on the Internet.
Appearing Oct. 16 on Apple’s Web site, the ad seeks “a very technical and hands-on leader, someone with a passion for understanding security exploits and coming up with innovative methods to create secure platforms.” The chief goal for the new security chief: to “set the roadmap for the iPhone OS platform security.”
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9:38 am, November 6th, 2009
AT&T and Apple may be preparing a pre-Christmas launch of a $99 8GB iPhone 3G in response to the Droid, according to unconfirmed rumors. “One source said this was AT&T’s way of combating the DROID madness,” wrote BGR, citing two unnamed sources.
The report comes as Verizon launches its family of Droid Android-based cell phones meant to compete with the iPhone from AT&T. The recently-announced Droid Eris will cost $99 and use Android 1.5 rather than Android 2.0, the latest version of Google’s handset operating system.
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12:01 pm, November 5th, 2009

Apple today opened the first of a series of stores planned for Paris. The first, located near the famous Louvre art museum, coincided with the release of the Musee du Louvre iPhone app showcasing among other exhibits, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
The Paris store, first reported in 2008, includes a 7,700-square foot two-story layout with diamond-shaped windows.
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11:42 am, November 5th, 2009



Today’s deals include MacBook Pro laptops with 15-inch screen and 1.83 GHz processor starting at $779.99. Next, buy an iPhone accessory at the PC Micro Store and get a free Lux iPhone leather holster. Finally, the Apple Store is offering its 30-inch Cinema HD widescreen LCD displays.
For details on these and other bargains (such as new price drops at the App Store on iPhone or iPod touch apps), check out the CoM “Daily Deals” page after the jump.
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10:29 am, November 5th, 2009

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was named “CEO of the Decade” by Fortune Magazine. The magazine calls the 2000s “the decade of Steve.”
Despite surviving a very public death watch, being tossed out of his own company in the 1980s and what Fortune calls “his own often unpleasant demeanor,” Jobs “has transformed American business.”
Apple’s come-back under Jobs spans 2000, when the company was worth $5 billion through today’s $170 billion valuation, edging out even the mega-bucks of Internet giant Google. In August, Apple reported having $31.1 billion in cash, a record for a technology company. Over that period, the Cupertino, Calif. company has become involved in music, videos and cell phones.
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9:23 am, November 5th, 2009

The Droid provides Verizon Wireless a ‘more credible alternative’ to Apple’s iPhone, according to Walt Mossberg, a technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal.
“Like the iPhone, the Droid is really a powerful handheld computer that happens to make phone calls,” Mossberg wrote at All Things Digital. After testing a review version of the Droid, the Wall Street Journal writer told readers the Motorola-made device using Google’s Android 2.0 software has some advantage, as well as disadvantages to the iPhone.
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Posted by Ed Sutherland in News | 7 Comments »
2:10 pm, November 4th, 2009



We’ve reached mid-week and to celebrate, we lead off our top trio of deals with an offer on 15-inch MacBook Pros for $1,594 and a 27-inch 2.66 GHz iMac with AppleCare for $2,198. To mark Apple’s 100,000 available apps, we also feature the latest list of App Store freebies.
For details on these and other items (such as an 85 percent-off deal on iPhone accessories), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.
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10:15 am, November 4th, 2009

The App Store, not even two years old, has crossed the 100,000 mark for apps available to iPhone and iPod touch owners, Apple announced Wednesday. The milestone comes less than two months after the Cupertino, Calif. company said users downloaded more than 2 billion apps.
In September, the App Store reached 85,000 available applications.
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Posted by Ed Sutherland in News, iPhone Apps | 4 Comments »
2:08 pm, November 3rd, 2009

Whether funky or fashionable, protective or passe; made of titanium or cardboard, most iPhone cases are predictable. IvySkins Tuesday introduced an interesting twist on the ho-hum case: integrated energy. The SmartCase ($79.99) claim to fame is an integrated an interchangeable battery that supposedly will extend your iPhone 3G or 3GS’ battery by 200 percent.
The key is the case will signal your iPhone to first feed off the SmartCase’s battery, then your handset’s. The device includes a five-LED indicator, built-in power charger and a USB cable. The case itself is made of a polycarbonate and a polysilicon coating protection.
If you’re looking for something a bit more basic, iaPeel has a print-and-peel alternative for $21. You use the included designer software to create your own ’skin,’ print it out on any inkjet printer and then apply it to a generic case.
[Via IvySkin and Gadget Lab]
Posted by Ed Sutherland in News, iPhone | No Comments »
12:33 pm, November 3rd, 2009



We start out with a number of deals on MacBooks and MacBook Pro laptops. The deals are flying off the shelves at the Apple Store, with a 13-inch MacBook for $899. A similar MacBook from PC Connection is selling for $925. A 17-inch MacBook Pro with AppleCare is offered for $2,348. Also on tap are a number of deals for iPhone and iPod accessories, along with various cases. Finally, we round out the top trio with a number of software deals, including price cuts from the App Store and other bargains.
For details on these and other items, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page for the complete information right after the jump.
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Posted by Ed Sutherland in Daily Deals, News | 1 Comment »
12:04 pm, November 3rd, 2009

Customers check out the iPhone at a Beijing launch event. (photo: Bloomberg)
China Unicom executives said Tuesday the carrier has added one million subscribers since Oct. 30, but only 5,000 of those are for iPhones. The numbers from Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing are far less than the 500,000 iPhones Apple had expected to initially sell. The disappointing figures are prompting many to question whether pricing is to blame.
Although Hong Kong’s China Unicom Ltd. President Lu Yimin said the 6,999 yuan ($1,025) price was not too high for the iPhone 3GS, so-called gray market versions cost around $800 locally. The disparity may serve as “an interesting exercise in how to sell an inferior product at a higher price,” Duncan Clark, a Beijing consultant, told Bloomberg.
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10:54 am, November 3rd, 2009

Not every touchscreen device is alike – or liked, according to new survey findings. Although 54 percent of Western European cell phone users think touchscreens are a nice idea, the number of touchscreen owners who say they’ll buy another slips below that 50-50 mark to 47 percent.
Apple iPhone owners are among the device owners most likely say they’ll buy another touchscreen device, announced research firm Canalys. HTC touchscreen owners were also highly satisfied. Least likely to purchase another touchscreen device: Sony Ericsson, with just 27 percent of owners reporting they’re next cell phone will use a touchscreen inteface.
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9:26 am, November 3rd, 2009

Orange UK Tuesday promised to review its terms of service that could effectively ban iPhone users from conducting anything but telephone calls. The uproar comes a day after British iPhone owners complained the carrier had placed a 750MB limit on its “unlimited” data plan.
In the latest turn of events, a BBC correspondent pointed to language in Orange UK’s Terms and Conditions which said its 3G network is “not to be used for other activities (eg using your handset as a modem, non-Orange Internet based streaming services, voice or video over the Internet, instant messaging, peer-to-peer file sharing, non-Orange Internet based video).”
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