Leander Kahney - page 33

UPDATE: Lenovo has taken issue with the timeline laid out in this post. Lenovo says its LePad Slate wil ship in China in Q1 and other Android slates will be available in the U.S. in 2011. The Windows Slate, pictured below, has not been officially announced, and may or may not ship. “There isn’t an expected date for this since it is a concept,” said a spokeswoman in email. In addition, the Notion Ink tablet just started shipping.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — I just walked out of a big Panasonic press conference where journalists swarmed all over the company’s just-announced tablet, but executives spent just three seconds discussing it.

That’s because Panasonic’s Android-powered Viera Tablet won’t be available till the end of the year.

End of the year? That’s 12 months away. By then, Apple will be selling the iPad 2, which is likely to be a blockbuster if it follows the same sales pattern as the second-gen iPhone.

Same story with Android tablets from Lenovo (end of the year), Asus (three Android tablets with first-half-of-the year ship dates), Notion Ink (no ship date), and Hewlett-Packard (as-yet-unnamed WebOS tablet promised mid year). In fact, Hewlett-Packard never shipped the tablet that made headlines at last year’s CES after Steve Balmer announced it at his keynote.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — Fittingly for a line of music accessories bearing the name of reggae legend Bob Marley, some of the product components are made from hemp.

The carrying pocket for the House of Marley earbuds, for example, are made from hemp fibre, a spokeswoman told me. Bob Marley famously used hemp for something else, of course.

The House of Marley launched a range of about a dozen music products here at CES, including a boombox, iPod speaker dock, and several headphones and earbuds.

It’s not just hemp; the products are made form a variety of eco-concious materials, including recycled plastic and aluminum.

They also sound pretty good. At least, they did in the cavernous press hall. The twin-speaker boombox pumped out a pretty hefty sound — but it’s impossible to give anything a proper listen at CES.

A portion of profits goes to 1Love.org, a charity supported by the Marley family.

Pictured above is Bob Marley’s son, Rohan, wearing a pair of Marley cans. Here’s some pictures of some of the other products:

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — Intel gave a detailed look at its next-generation Sandy Bridge chips that will likely make their way into Macs in 2011.

The chips boast four cores and integrated graphics processors that improve image-processing performance and power-management, according to Intel.

The new chips are up to 800% faster than the current generation Core Duo chips used in most of the MacBook line today. The chips are 60% faster than high-end i7 chips used in top-of-the-line iMacs and Mac Pros.

Made with a 32nm manufacturing process, the chips boast an incredible 1.16 billion transistors apiece.

“That’s a big number,” said Intel VP Mooly Eden, who walked a packed CES press conference through several benchmark tests showing off the new chips’ processing power.

Several PC companies here at CES unveiled new machines powered by Sandy Bridge chips, including Lenovo. Apple is usually several months behind and will likely introduce the new chips in the spring at the earliest.

During the preview event, Intel’s executives were extremely bullish about the Sandy Bridge line, portraying it as the biggest product launch in the company’s recent history.

The Sandy Bridge line comprises 29 chips that will find their way into more than 100 different “desktops, laptops and everything in between,” said Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini in opening remarks.

The most important addition to the chips’ architecture is the integrated graphics processor, which outperforms 45% of discrete graphics cards on the market today, said Eden. It certainly looked pretty impressive, displaying and streaming 1080p HD streaming wirelessly from a laptop to a connected TV; and conjuring up a 3D avatar of Eden that he said could easily be inserted into a game in realtime.

LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — Now you can monitor your blood pressure on your iPhone or iPad, thanks to a new health-oriented accessory from Withings.

Withings’ Smart Blood Pressure Monitor is a $129 arm cuff that makes it easy to monitor your blood pressure every day, away from the doctor’s office.

“It’s much more accurate to test at home,” said Withings spokeswoman Carole Lavault.

“Twenty five percent of the worldwide population has hypertension,” she added.

On show here at CES, the system looks dead easy to use. Just wrap the sleeve around your arm and plug it into your iPhone/iPad’s dock. Hit the onscreen button, and the sleeve inflates/deflates to measure your blood pressure. That’s it; nothing to give you a heart attack.

Combined with a free app, the sleeve can record months of blood pressure data, which can be shared electronically with health care professionals.

Withings also makes the WiFi Body Scale, a net-connected scale, which can also send weight data to the blood pressure app.

Here’s a picture of the iPad app in action:

Apple has been granted its first patent related to Liquidmetal, a space-age metal alloy. But the patent isn’t for a new iPad enclosure or iPhone antenna, as experts have predicted. Instead Apple’s Liquidmetal patent is for an internal component of a fuel cell.

Apple’s new patent describes “amorphous alloy” collector plates for fuel cells, an electrochemical battery that uses hydrogen to generate electricity. Although the patent doesn’t reference the Liquidmetal trademark, the material is an amorphous alloy or “metallic glass.”

Last year, Apple signed an exclusive agreement to use the Liquidmetal Technologies’ IP in consumer electronic products. But of course, the ever-secretive company hasn’t hinted at its plans for the material. The possibilites are endless. Liquidmetal is a super lightweight, high-strength, scratch-proof metal that NASA says is “poised to redefine materials science as we know it in the 21st century.”

Scientists who helped develop Liquidmetal have previously predicted that Apple will use it to build the next iPhone. So why is Apple interested in fuel cells?

Here’s more evidence that the iPad is a day-to-day computing device, not just a media consumption toy.

Silicon Valley supergeek Jack Dorsey says he’s using his iPad for most of his computing needs.

“90% of my computing is now on the iPad (with a keyboard dock),” Dorsey said on Twitter. “And I love it.”

Dorsey is the creator of Twitter, and serves as the company’s chairman. He’s also the CEO of Square, a startup that turns the iPhone into a personal credit card terminal.

It’s not all roses though. There are a coupe of things Dorsey says he can’t do:

“Only thing I can’t do are big presentations & code,” he says.

It’s already being dubbed Apple’s biggest glitch of 2011: iPhone alarm Clockgate.

Apparently, iPhone alarms aren’t ringing as clocks shift into the new year, according to users in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

“We were the first to find out in New Zealand with thousands of shift workers late to work for relying on their iPhones as alarm clocks!” wrote reader Greg Ball.

Twitter is awash in frustrated users screaming about the problem. Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac has already dubbed it iPhone alarm Clockgate.

It sounds similar to the Daylight Savings Time alarm problem that surfaced in November, except the problem affects with users with one-off alarms, not repeating alarms.

The fix is to set a recurring alarm (select multiple days). See the screenshot:

Happy holidays everyone! This video summary of Apple’s past year is pretty cool. The launch of the iPad and iPhone 4; iOS 4 and The Beatles on iTunes? It was a pretty big year.

Made on a Mac with Final Cut Studio by Kelvin Choi.

Earlier this week, Apple removed a WikiLeaks app from the App Store and joined the shameful ranks of U.S. companies that oppose press freedom.

Here’s the disgraceful episode as seen through the eyes of Next Media Animation, a Taiwanese tabloid that animates the news.

Jobs kicks WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange out of the App Store. He returns to hug other companies that have tried to privately censor WikiLeaks (Amazon, PayPal, Visa and Bank of America etc.). Outside, Assange pulls out an Android phone and fires up the banned WikiLeaks App.

As Next Media shows, you can’t suppress the truth. My Christmas wish is that Steve Jobs would get on the right side of this immensely important story. Unfortunately, he’s not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfOZ58USCyI

Via MICGadget. Thanks Chris.

Check out this 800-horsepower Mercedes S600 outfitted with a bunch of Apple gear. There’s Macs, iPads and iPhones galore. The car is a custom job by Brabus, the famous German aftermarket customizers.

Thanks Gustav.

Hiphop star Dr Dre is suing a headphone rival for allegedly knocking off his designs.

In a lawsuit, Dr Dre charges Fanny Wang’s new headphones with knocking off the Beats Solo and Studio models. Dr Dre’s headphones are made by Monster and sold under  the “Beats by Dr Dre” brand.

“Fanny Wang’s headphones, color scheme, packaging, and overall advertising campaign directly infringes Beats’ trademark and patent rights,” says a legal letter sent to Fanny Wang, which launched its new ‘phones earlier this month.

“I can honestly say the tactics they are pulling are clearly intended to squash competition,” said Tim Hickman, Fanny Wang’s CEO, in an email.

What do you think? Look at the picture above. On the left is Dr Dre’s Solo; on the right is one of Fanny Wang’s new models. Both are folding headphone designs. Here they are in more detial:

Apple has joined the shameful list of companies that have denied support for WikiLeaks.

Apple confirmed that it removed a WikiLeaks App from the online App Store, as reported earlier, and did so because it “violated our developer guidelines.”

“Apps must comply with all local laws and may not put an individual or group in harm’s way,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told the New York Times.

However, exactly how or why the app doesn’t comply with the law, or puts people in harm’s way, Muller didn’t explain. She also didn’t discuss the First Amendment or the freedom of the press.

The $1.99 WikiLeaks App let users view the WikiLeaks site and its Twitter account.

The app was taken down on Monday after being available for only three days. Apple joins Amazon, PayPal, Visa and MasterCard, Bank of America and others in denying services or support for the WikiLeaks organization.

I for one am pissed. I support WikiLeaks and believe strongly that it is conducting the most important journalism of the last several years, and in a stunning, ballsy fashion. I’d love to see Steve Jobs, who has nurtured an image of a revolutionary, speak up in support. Little chance of that though.

We’ve already reported how Apple is working on a remote computing system that will be enabled by the iPhone 5.

Equipped with a Near Field Communications (NFC) chip, the iPhone 5 may allow user to load their Home folders on guest Macs when they travel, or log in at school or work. All the user would have to do is tap their iPhone 5 on a NFC-equipped Mac, and the machine would load their Home folder files, settings and preferences.

But if Apple equipped all of its products with NFC chips, which are used for short-range authentication, the technology could be used for super-easy set-up of a new Apple gear, or for easily transferring files and media between different Apple devices.

For example, users could easily connect a new iPad to their home Wi-Fi network, say, just by bringing the tablet within four inches of a NFC-equipped AirPort base station.

“Imagine you touch an AirPort with a new iPad and the Wi-Fi is connected — with full security — in less than a second,” said Gerald Madlmayr, a NFC expert based in Vienna. “No configuration is necessary any more. This makes this technology pretty useful.”

Stuck for a gift for the Mac lover in your life? How about our brand new, limited-edition MILF T-shirt?

Just in time for the holidays, we’ve launched our first venture into fine geek apparel: a limited-edition shirt designed just for fans of the Mac. (If you don’t get it, hit the jump for a clue).

Just $22.99, the shirt is limited to 100 copies, so it’s super exclusive. Order it before the 19th you’ll get it in time for the big day.

We’ve teamed up with MightTees, the Seattle-based t-shirt empire famous for classics like His Steveness and Say Anything.

The CultofMac MILF shirt is totally custom branded. 100% designed, made, and printed in the USA. 100% sweatshop free. It’s awesome. A very fine tee indeed.

As we previously reported, Apple has ambitious plans to put users’ Home folders in the cloud to make them available on any machine.

The system will use the iPhone 5, which will likely include a Near Field Communications chip, as an authentication mechanism. Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range wireless connection technology that would turn the iPhone into an electronic wallet or security passkey. Bump the iPhone 5 near a compatible NFC-equipped Mac, and the computer will load the user’s home folder and preferences.

However, it was unclear whether users would be able to load all their files onto the host machine. After all, iTunes and iPhoto libraries can get pretty large. Loading a massive iTunes library onto a guest machine from the cloud could be a lot of heavy lifting. And how about the applications to run them? What if the host machine didn’t have Photoshop installed?

Apple’s solution is that only a subset of user’s data and content libraries will be made available, according to a source familiar with a test version of the system. Specifically:

A controversial art show featuring photographs of destroyed Apple products is coming to Steve Jobs’ home town this weekend.

Featuring 12 ultra high-resolution digital prints of bullet-riddled MacBooks and blowtorched iPads, the 12LVE exhibit opens Sunday in Palo Alto.

No word on whether Jobs plans to attend the three-month show. “I am not sure whether he’s even aware of the show opening in Palo Alto,” said Tompert. “But who knows.”

Check out all 12 photos here: What Happens When You Shoot A MacBook, And Other Pictures

The opening reception is Sunday, December 12, from 3 to 9 pm at “WhiteSpace” gallery in Town & Country Village in Palo Alto (855 El Camino Real).

Here’s a preview of what what the gallery will look like:

The New York teenager who made a small fortune making white iPhone 4s has shut down his website.

“We have closed the site, possibly permanently,” said Lam, 17, in an email to CultofMac.com.

It’s not clear why Lam shut the whiteiPhone4now.com website down. He didn’t elaborate. But Apple is the obvious suspect. Lam has already received a threatening letter from a private investigator representing Apple, who accused Lam of “selling stolen goods.”

Lam reportedly earned more than $130,000 delivering white iPhone 4s using grey market parts.

Good piece from music writer/analyst Bob Lefsetz on why he’s an Apple fan:

That’s what’s selling Apple. Friends. People hear these amazing stories and take a chance. And they become members of the cult and have insanely great experiences and drag their friends in too. To the point where anything Apple sells, people will buy. Just like you’ve got to have the latest work of your favorite act.

Bob Leftsetz: Customer Care.

Looks like Apple will be offering offering about 10% off for Black Friday — if Apple Australia’s prices are anything to go by.

Apple has posted sale prices down under, offering 10-15% off many items, including iPad (A$50 off),, iMac and MacBook Pro (A$121 off) 13-inch MacBook Air (A$121.00 off), iPod nano (A$25 off).

The best deal looks like the iPod Touch at about 20% off (up to A$51). Also on sale are the Time Capsule, Magic Trackpad, and a range of iPad accessories. The same savings are likely to carry across to U.S. sales, which are one-day only.

Here’s details of Apple Australia’s other sale items:

Body Dysmorphic Disorder from flight404 on Vimeo.

Check out this awesome video of Kinect hacker Robert Hodgin manipulating the Kinect feed in realtime with Cinder, a C++ programming environment for creative projects. (Hodgin posted the source + OSX project here: https://code.google.com/p/ruisource/downloads/list)

And here’s one with his cat:

Fat Cat from flight404 on Vimeo.

Via Kottke.

Here’s AirPlay working on the new Apple TV streaming from an iPad. It works great in Apple’s Video app and YouTube, but I can get audio only to work in iTunes — video isn’t working.

When I select the AirPlay popup, it shows a speaker icon for the AppleTV — not the normal screen icon. Audio streams fine but it won’t play video. Puzzled.

UPDATE: It’s audio only in Netflix too.

UPDATE 2: It looks like video playback is disabled in certain apps, including iTunes on iOS devices, which is more of a storefront than a multimedia app. Video bought through iTunes and played back through the iPod app on an iPhone (and the Videos app on an iPad) work fine. Jason Snell at Macworld had the same experience.

Here’s video of Apple’s new AirPlay video streaming running on an AppleTV updated to iOS 4.1. The Apple TV is playing a Family Guy trailer streaming from a MacBook Air. Pretty cool. The big question about AirPlay is whether it will play video that hasn’t been obtained from iTunes. The Family Guy trailer was downloaded from the iTunes store. I’ll be testing non-iTunes video shortly.

Neuhaus Laboratories recognizes that many people’s music collections are on their computers, not racks of CDs.

And so unlike other amplifier manufacturers, Neuhaus’ tube amps are designed first and foremost to be hooked to a computer as their main music source, not a CD player or turntable.

Now Neuhaus has taken the next logical step. It’s the first company to add Bluetooth to an audiophile-quality tube amp. Now you can enjoy super high quality music streaming from an iPhone or iPad.

Trust me, it’s the best thing you’ll ever hear from your iPhone, ever.

I’ve read a lot of Steve Jobs interviews but until now I’d not seen this 1985 interview from Playboy.

It catches Steve Jobs at age 29, one year after the Macintosh was launched. He is by far the youngest person on Forbes’s list of richest Americans and one of only seven who made their fortunes on their own.

He’s portrayed by Playboy as the Mark Zuckerberg of his era: a Valley wunderkind with a magical gift for foreseeing the future. Of course, it’s interesting to look back and see how the future actually panned out.

Jobs comes across as a confident and knowledgeable, but not brash and arrogant. Here’s a few of the highlights:

It’s Education Week on CultofMac.com. How’s Apple doing in schools these days? What are the best education apps? Is iTunes U worthwhile? Join us as we learn more about Apple in Education.

The iPad is going to be very big in schools, predicts Professor Mark Warschauer, one of the world’s leading experts in technology and learning.

In an exclusive interview, Prof. Warschauer predicted that schools may soon start buying iPads in big numbers to replace not just desktops and laptops, but also textbooks and other reading materials.

“Until a couple of years ago, the majority of book reading — and a lot of magazine and newspaper reading — was done in print,” he said in a phone interview. “I think we’re going to see that change now.”