Leander Kahney - page 30

The great iPad 2 screen resolution debate rages on, this time with a downer rumor from Digg’s Kevin Rose.

There will be no change in the iPad 2’s screen resolution, said Rose on Twitter, citing his “iPad source.” (The tweet seems to have disappeared, but Rose posted a screenshot of his IM on Instagram).

Rose, of course, has a spotty record when it comes to predictions. Less than two week’s ago, he was saying it would have a Retina Display. The news is sure to a bummer for those of us holding out for a Retina Display, or something close.

Apple’s increasing use of tamper-resistant screws is a form of planned obsolescence, says one critic.

As previously reported, Apple is using proprietary five-point security screws in the iPhone 4 and new MacBooks Airs. The special screws were first used in the 2009 MacBook Pro to stop users from replacing the battery.

The screws are unique to Apple and serve one purpose only: to keep users out.

The plan, says iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens, is to force customers to upgrade their gadgets sooner than necessary. They also make them reliant on Apple for expensive repairs and upgrades.

“It’s a form of planned obsolescence,” says Wiens. “General Motors invented planned obsolescence in the 1920s. Apple is doing the same thing.”

Designer Charis Tsevis built this photo mosaic of Steve Jobs for the Italian magazine Panorama. Look carefully: it’s all Apple products. Can you spot the original iSight camera? Check the detail of the eye below.

Reader Adam from Cape Town thinks Apple should call the next iPad the “iPad 2x.” Here’s his reasoning:

Calling the next iPad the iPad 2x makes a lot of sense. It can be used effectively in their marketing messages, to differentiate it from the current iPad, and also to set it apart from its competitors.

It’s the iPad 2, twice as good as the original iPad, with:

2x resolution per axis (even if the camera will take smaller resolution pics).
2x the speed, with dual core processing.
2x the RAM, to achieve the above.
2x cameras. And if one of the cameras were 8.3MP, it would by 2x full HD…
One could add even more to the list.

I’m pretty sure they won’t get 2x docks, but it would be a nice! Similarly, I doubt they’ll squeeze 2x battery life out of the new iPad.

Of course, the one thing that’s difficult to market is 2x as thin and/or light, makes more sense to say half as thin and/or heavy…

What do you guys think? Anyone got a better name?

This render is supposed to be Hewlett-Packard/Palm’s upcoming web tablet — or rather, two tablets.

According to Engadget, HP/Palm is working on a pair of tablets for launch February 9 and available later this year, likely September.

There’s a 9-inch webOS tablet codenamed Topaz and a 7-inch model named Opal, which will be pitched as an e-reader.

They feature a front-facing camera, micro USB port and a Touchstone back for wireless charging. There may be versions for different carriers: WiFi-only, AT&T 3G, and Verizon LTE in September; AT&T LTE in July 2012.

Most interestingly, the tabs are buttonless. There’s no Home button. The Home button is something that Apple is also interested in doing away with — and Apple has just introduced system-wide multitouch gestures in the latest iOS beta.

Apple’s blowout holiday quarter included the sale of more than 16 million iPhones.

That may seem like a lot, but look at the chart above from The Atlantic: it looks like Apple’s just getting started.

In the last two quarters, Apple sold 30 million iPhones — half of what it sold in the previous three years (60 million units). In other words, iPhone sales are starting to seriously kick up.

Some analysts predict 100 million iPhones sold next year. Yeah, that’s right: One. Hundred. Million.

That’s a big frickin’ number.

Apple COO Tim Cook is a bit of a cypher. Despite being the number two guy at Apple for a good dozen years, his public appearances have been few and brief.

To get better acquainted, check out this video of a commencement speech he gave at Auburn University, his alma mater.

In it, Cook thanks Steve Jobs for changing his life and how joining Apple in 1998, when the company was on the ropes, turned out to be the “best decision of my life.”

Thanks Les!

I hate to say it, but I have a bad feeling about Steve Jobs’ latest leave of absence. I’m not optimistic he will return to Apple. He’s been gravely ill and has cheated death, but there are some hard numbers about cancer and transplant survival rates that even someone as charmed as Jobs can’t escape.

I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but I get a feeling this is the start of Steve Jobs moving on from Apple. There will be a slow phasing out this year as he hands the reigns to Tim Cook. I expect it will be drawn out, a gradual transition of power. But I don’t think Jobs is returning to Apple.

The big question, of course, is how Apple will do without him.

The news of Steve Jobs’ latest medical leave is the top story on the New York Times‘ website right now. The Times‘ top slot is usually reserved for big international news stories, indicting the importance of Apple’s news to the business and technology world. It has pushed out news about Tunisia’s new government and a fresh Wikileaks scandal about offshore banks and alleged tax cheats.

Day Lyons, aka Fake Steve Jobs, has retired his online satirical column on news of Steve Jobs’ medical leave of absence. Lyons did this last time Jobs took medical leave, saying it was in bad taste to impersonate the CEO while he was sick.

This time around, Lyons has some harsh words for reporters who will inevitably pry into Jobs’ health:

Everyone here is shocked and saddened by the news that Steve Jobs is taking another leave of absence.

Whatever ails him, we hope he is treated successfully and makes a speedy recovery. Our sincerest best wishes go out to him and his family.

However, subtle differences in his two leave-of-abscence letters make us wonder whether things aren’t a little more serious this time around.

When will Apple sell its 10 billionth app? Next Friday morning (PST), according to my calculations.

Here’s how I worked it out. We took a screenshot of Apple’s app counter at about 8am on Jan 14th for our first report about the sweepstakes. It showed ~9,775,350,000.

At 8am this morning (Jan 16), it showed ~9,830,422,000. That’s a difference of about 55,072,000 apps in 48 hours, which means apps are being sold at a rate of ~1,147,333 apps an hour. (CNet says Apple is selling 1,000 apps every second, or 1,200,000 apps an hour).

The counter is approximately 170,000,000 apps short of 10 billion. At a rate of ~1,147,333 apps an hour, it would take 148 hours — or 6 days — to hit the 10 billion mark. Hence, early Friday morning.

Now, I’ve flunked math all through my life, and I am in no doubt I’m totally wrong (plus I’ve done a ton of rounding). So please help me out. When will the 10 billionth app be sold?

UPDATE: Reader Allan in the comments reckons it will be Saturday evening PST. Here’s his reasoning: “The counter is running at about four seconds per 1,000 apps (watching the counter), or 15,000 per minute. That’s 900,000 per hour, or 21,600,000 a day. When the counter hits 9.862 billion, there will be 138 million to go. At 21.6 million a day, it will take 551,232 seconds to go another 138 million, or 6.38 days, which is six days and a bit over nine hours. Set your alarms.”

Macworld is coming up fast and what better way to get attention than wearing our brand new, limited-edition MILF shirt?

The CultofMac team wore these shirts at CES last week and got a ton of compliments. We’re not exaggerating — everyone noticed this shirt. It’s perfect attire for a tech conference: smart, funny, stylish. And best of all — distinctive.

Available in slimming black and just $22.99, the limited-edition CultofMac MILF t-shirt is printed by Seattle-based MightTees. It’s 100% sweatshop-free. Designed, made, and printed in the USA.

Here are some more pictures:

Chris Chang of MICGadget blog has uncovered a new iPad 2 case with a pair of mysterious new holes.

The new openings are a rectangular slot on the upper right side (when viewing the iPad from the front), opposite the volume rocker and lock; and a smaller, squarer opening on the top of the iPad in the middle.

The makers of the case say it fits the iPad 2 “perfectly,” which means the new device may have capabilities.

Chang guesses that the top opening is for HMDI or mini-HDMI, and the side opening for a SD Card. Engadget on Friday claimed the iPad 2 will have an SD Card slot, although it places the opening on the bottom right of the new iPad, not the side.

Check out more pictures below.

Great news music fans: the excellent European streaming music service Spotify will be coming to the U.S. very soon.

According to the New York Post, Spotify has already signed one major music label and is about to snag Sony Music.

“Spotify is launching in the US, for sure … They’ve got the deals now,” a music industry insider told the Post.

Spotify is “the best desktop music player ever.”

New York Post: Spotify leaps to US. Euro music service near Sony deal

Willy Wonka would soil his britches! Chocolateer Timothy Childs controls his entire chocolate factory with his iPhone!

Childs in the co-founder of Tcho along with Wired’s Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalf.

Tcho (“technology” and “chocolate”) has a 30,000-square-foot factory on San Francisco’s waterfront.

It includes a chocolate “lab” where Childs cooks up new flavors. It’s all controlled by a custom iPhone app. “Using iPhone, I can actually log into each of the machines and control the times and the temperatures, turn them on and off,” he says.

Check it out in the video above.

Via Apple: Chocolatology meets technology and Gizmodo.

Apple made big gains in Q4 2010, increasing Mac shipments by a whopping 23.7 percent — the highest gains of any PC maker in the U.S.

And if you factor in the iPad, the gains would have been even bigger.

Meanwhile, the overall PC industry grew only 3.1 percent during the holiday quarter, according to the latest estimated numbers from the market research firm Gartner.

We’ll all be videoconferencing like crazy in 2012, predicts Barclay’s analyst Ben Reitzes.

By the end of 2012, Apple’s installed base of FaceTime devices will exceed 200 million, Reitzes predicts.

That’s based on more than 85 million FaceTime-enabled devices by the end of 2011:

• 50 million FaceTime iPhones
• 15 million FaceTime iPods
• 12 million FaceTime Macs
• 10 million FaceTime iPads

In 2012, Apple’s video conferencing platform will only gather momentum, driven by what he’s calling the “FaceTime networking effect.”

“While Android and competitive devices either have or are working toward incorporating a similar feature, we believe this particular feature benefits from Apple’s vertically integrated model,” Reitzes said. “Experiences across disparate hardware platforms tend to vary–with Apple’s one of the most reliable in our trials. Also, this feature allows Apple to mine the millions of iTunes users who have Apple ID’s–and provide an attractive feature across devices that can be put into use immediately. We believe the ‘FaceTime networking effect’ could enhance a halo effect on Macs and iPads as the feature becomes available.”

AllThingsD: 200 Million FaceTime-Enabled Devices in 2012?

Play around with this cool online iPad simulator, courtesy of developer Alex Wolkov.

Not everything works, but it’s made with JS & CSS3. Impressive!

Via MacStories.

The SoPhone is such a good knockoff of the iPhone 4, it’s making headlines and TV news reports in Hong Kong. Check out this entertaining news segment where the reporter takes the fake to the streets to see if anyone can tell the difference (subtitled):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu1Xj6Ign30&feature=player_embedded

Thanks Chris! The Greatest Fake iPhone 4 Changes Everything Again (video)

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — Incipio had a hit on its hands here at CES with a free iOS app that allows you to make your own custom case.

Using Incipio’s Bespoke Case Customizer app, you can upload your own photo and have it printed out on a custom case — right from your iPhone or iPod touch. Normally the service costs $30, but Incipio was printing out free cases at its booth instantly. Here’s some video of the app in action.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — The new iChair case for the iPhone 4 comes with a screen protector for both the front and rear screens.

The case includes two transparent screen protectors, front and rear, even though the case itself protects the rear screen. The idea, of course, is to protect the iPhone’s glass back from the case itself.

“Our customers were asking for it because of the Glassgate issue,” explained CEO Vindi Sedey. “We had to have it.”

Glassgate is the debatable issue of trapped dirt scratching or shattering the iPhone 4’s back when used with slide-on cases. The issue doesn’t seem to be real, but Apple is wary of it and has suspended sales of slide-on cases in its stores.

iChair is a new company based out of Dallas, launching its line of iPhone and iPad cases at CES. The iChair features an integrated stand built into the case that functions in both portrait and landscape mode. The cases are slim and well-made — and go the extra mile in protection.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — A lot of people complain about Apple’s stonewalling, but be thankful you’re not iKlear.

The popular screen cleaning company was horrified when Apple retail suddenly dropped its products from the stores — without a word of explanation.

“We’d been with them for more than eight-and-a-half years,” said Monica Younghein, spokeswoman for the family run business.

The company’s business halved overnight. It’s at CES trying to build business back up.

What made the blow especially painful, is that 11 months earlier Apple had chosen iKlear as the exclusive worldwide supplier of cleaning products in Apple stores. Apple retail is now selling similar cleaning products from a competitor. The competing products are inferior, said Younghein.

“It’s a disservice to Apple users to sell products that don’t work well,” she said. “And we don’t know why they did it.”

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — In a world grown tired of identical iPod speaker systems, TDK has dared to think different.

Here at CES the company debuted three iPod boomboxes that dispense with the ubiquitous speaker dock in favor of a simple USB port at the back. That means the boomboxes are still iPod/iPhone compatible (via the standard USB cable), but aren’t dominated by a dock on top or up front.

So why dispense with the dock?

“The iPod really dictates the design,” explained TDK spokesman Tren Blankenship. “You have to put it front and center. Losing the iPod allowed us to make something nice and clean.”

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — Here’s a sneak peek at Boxee’s upcoming iPad app from the show floor of CES.

Boxee is the super-slick video software that makes online video easy and social. It’s the single best reason to own an older Apple TV: you hack it to run Boxee, and suddenly it’s useful because it can play local video files, no matter what the encoding format.

The iPad app is just like Boxee on a Mac or Apple TV: it makes it easy to find and share online video on your iPad. You can even stream video from your iPad to your TV (a la AirPlay). Best of all, the app will come with a media server (Mac and PC) that will transcode video files on the fly and stream them to the iPad app.

Should be available before the end of the quarter. Free, of course.

Update – Andrew from Boxee wanted us to know that the expected arrival date is actually Q2, not Q1 as Avner says.