Apple has taken MobileMe Mail out of beta and made it available to all me.com members.
The iPad-inspired three-column view is especially nifty. See the screenshot above.
The new web mail also includes a couple of features not available in the beta: mail forwarding from another account and improved junk mail filtering.
Here’s the full list of features:
Apple quietly updated OS X’s malware protection system in the recent OS 10.6.4 upgrade, but made no mention of it in the accompanying release notes or security bulletin.
The updated XProtect.plist now protects against HellRTS, a Trojan Horse often disguised as iPhoto that hijacks the host Mac to send spam, take screenshots, and peek at files and settings.
Security expert Graham Cluley slammed the company for stealth security updates.
Unfortunately, many Mac users seem oblivious to security threats which can run on their computers. And that isn’t helped when Apple issues an anti-malware security update like this by stealth, rather than informing the public what it has done. You have to wonder whether their keeping quiet about an anti-malware security update like this was for marketing reasons. “Shh! Don’t tell folks that we have to protect against malware on Mac OS X!”
As we watch in horror what’s happening in the Gulf (and ongoing in Nigeria), I’m proud to announce that CultofMac.com is now 100% solar-powered.
We have a new green host, AISO.net, which operates the world’s only 100% solar-powered data center.
Based in Southern California, AISO came highly recommended for quality of service, but I’m most impressed by the company’s green credentials.
Unlike other data centers, which often buy carbon offsets to assert their green bona fides, there’s no oil or coal in sight at AISO.
“Everything is powered by solar, including our office, all servers, a/c systems, networking and other hardware,” the company says. “We are the first and only 100% completely solar powered, carbon free hosting company that does not use energy credits.”
AISO’s data center is powered by a pair of solar arrays mounted on the facility’s roof. The center is cooled by low-energy, water-based air conditioning units, and its office computers will soon be powered by an ingenious wind turbine mounted in the air conditioners’ intake ducts. The company runs on sun, air and water.
“The sun is dependable and nobody is waging wars over it,” says the company’s founder, Phil Nail, who took the company solar in 2002.
To prove it’s purely solar, AISO put a live webcam on the roof to show its solar array in action. (Warning: it’s a very boring, very dry joke).
As well as CultofMac.com, AISO hosts websites big and small, including a couple of data-intensive sites for film industry clients in nearby Hollywood.
I couldn’t be happier that we’ve gone green. Renewable energy is clearly the future and as forward-looking, technophile site, it was an obvious choice to make.
We encourage you to join us. If you’re a webmaster and interested in signing up with AISO, please use this affiliate link. We’ll get some credit to apply against our ever-growing bandwidth bill.
Responding to pundit John Gruber’s ongoing debate about website comments, our friends at MacHeist have just launched a Safari extension that adds comments to Gruber’s Daring Fireball site.
The DaringFireballWithComments extension can be found here. Simply download and double-click to install (Make sure you enable extensions in Safari first).
“Get ready for round two,” says John Casasanta, co-founder of MacHeist, who in February launched DaringFireballWithComments.net, a website that briefly mirrored Gruber’s site with, you guessed it, comments.
The site was up for a few days before it was taken down at Gruber’s insistence. It faced a lot of criticism for violating Gruber’s copyrights. However, the Safari extension skirts such issues.
“We’re totally clear this time,” said Casasanta via IM. “We’ll keep this running forever.”
For the last couple of days, Gruber has been debating website comments with writers Joe Wilcox and Ian Betteridge, among others.
“Comments, at least on popular websites, aren’t conversations,” writes Gruber. “They’re cacophonous shouting matches. DF is a curated conversation, to be sure, but that’s the whole premise.”
Not any more.
Apple announced 600,000 pre-orders for iPhone 4 on Tuesday, a number “far higher” than the company anticipated.
In a short press release, the company said the unexpectedly-high demand caused many system malfunctions and apologized for any difficulties and frustration.
Yesterday Apple and its carrier partners took pre-orders for more than 600,000 of Apple’s new iPhone 4. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions. Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock.
Earlier, AT&T said it had received 10-times the number of iPhone pre-orders than last year’s iPhone 3GS, and is suspending pre-orders.
“Given this unprecedented demand and our current expectations for our iPhone 4 inventory levels when the device is available June 24, we’re suspending preordering today in order to fulfill the orders we’ve already received,” AT&T spokesman Mark Siegal told the New York Times. “The availability of additional inventory will determine if we can resume taking preorders.”
Radio Shack has also suspended pre-orders, it said on Twitter.
SAI: AT&T: iPhone 4 Pre-Orders 10 TIMES Higher Than First Day Last Year
Just as Apple’s servers are finally accepting pre-orders of the iPhone 4 after being down most of the day, the device may be selling out.
AT&T sold its stock of the pre-order iPhone 4s this afternoon, and now Apple appears close to running out also. In certain parts of the country, the east coast especially, the online Apple Store has pushed shipping dates for the device back to the July 6-8 timeframe, according to reader reports.
The device appears to also have been sold out in the UK and Germany, according to MacRumors.
Let’s hope you were able to order or reserve one — delivery dates for latecomers have been pushed back to July 4 at the earliest.
Earlier today, AT&T said Tuesday was the busiest online sales day in the company’s history:
“Because of the incredible interest in iPhone 4, today was the busiest online sales day in AT&T history. As of Tuesday afternoon, customers who preorder iPhone 4 moving forward will receive their device on June 25 or later, depending on when the order is placed. We’ll email customers with confirmation once their order is placed, and again when it ships. In addition, we will have devices available on a first-come, first-serve basis in our stores beginning on June 24.”
Engadget: AT&T sold out of iPhone 4 pre-orders for launch day
Trying to distract attention from the iPhone 4 pre-order flustercuck, Apple has just released the Mac OS 10.6.4 update, whoch has been expected for weeks.
Weighing in at 315.5 MB, the update includes a bunch of minor fixes, including stability issues with Adobe’s Creative Suite 3, SMB file servers and DVD Player.
The Mac OS 10.6.4 update can be downloaded via the built-in Software Update application.
Here’s the full details:
Even though Apple’s and AT&T’s pre-ordering systems are crashing due to high demand, several people have reported success pre-ordering the iPhone 4 through the new Apple Store iPhone app.
However, that too is over-subscribed. Attempts to pre-order the iPhone through the app are returning the following message:
“Due to high demand, we are not currently accepting iPhone 4 reservations via the Apple Store app. To pre-order or reserve yours, please visit apple.com/iphone/pre-order.
But Apple and AT&T’s systems are still down, with attempts to reserve an iPhone resulting in error messages and timeouts.
Anyone had success using a different method? Radio Shack?
After a morning of spotty service, both Apple’s and AT&T’s iPhone processing systems have crashed, leaving customers unable to order the iPhone 4.
Instead, customers are lining up at retail stores belonging to Apple and AT&T. There are lines in New York, Louisiana and Japan.
We have been unable to preorder an iPhone despite dozens of tries and, and neither is anybody else, according to a surge of #ATTFAIL messages on Twitter.
Above is a line outside a New York AT&T store. “Check out this line of people waiting to pre-order iPhones at our local AT&T store. This isn’t even to take them home or anything — it’s for the right to wait in another line next Friday (to pick up the phone),” Business Insider notes.
Apple and AT&T’s systems have been choking all morning, returning error messages saying orders cannot be processed. This, of course, is good news/bad news for the companies.
The iPhone 4 is on sale at a bunch of places — Apple, AT&T, Best Buy and Wal-Mart — but Radio Shack may be the best place to pick one up, thanks to rebates on older iPhones.
The Shack is offering special trade-in deals for older iPhones that can be applied to the cost of a new iPhone 4. In some cases, a new iPhone may be free.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah5S7R-h208
Here’s the promo video Steve Jobs just showed of during his WWDC keynote.
We’re 100% chugging the Kool-Aid on the iPhone 4 upgrade. What an amazing package:
We’ll be upgrading for sure, especially thanks to AT&T’s new upgrade plan.
What do you guys think?
Despite offering tethering for laptops, AT&T will not allow you to tether your iPad to your iPhone.
An AT&T spokesperson told TechFlash “it won’t be possible to tether the iPhone to the iPad to share Internet access.”
Tethering your laptop to your iPhone — an option built into the upcoming iPhone 4.0 OS — will be possible via USB or Bluetooth. But the iPad’s Bluetooth profile for tethering is not enabled.
TechFlash: AT&T: No iPhone-iPad tethering
This is a guest commentary by Shawn Ahmed, a anti-poverty campaigner. It was originally published here.
Last week, Apple surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s biggest tech company. As someone who used to spell Microsoft with a dollar sign, I can’t believe what I’m about to say: this is a bad thing for the world.
Verizon spokesman John Johnson says the company will not have the iPhone any time soon.
“No plans to carry the iPhone in the immediate future,” he told Beet.TV. Instead, Johnson makes a plug for “incredible Android devices.”
The news has got to come as a disappointment to Verizon customers hoping to get their hands on Apple’s gear, as well as AT&T customers hoping to switch to what’s considered the best network in the U.S.
Verizon has been long rumored to get the iPhone, but those rumors now look like wishful thinking. Unless, of course, Verizon has taken to Apple’s tactic of denying interest in a product right up until they launch it.
Sonos’ popular S5 music player is now available in black.
The $400 all-in-one S5 system is controlled by an innovative iPhone app, and is a good way to build a multi-room music system.
See Adam Rosen’s How To Setup Affordable Multi-Room Audio Using iTunes [MacRx].
The iPhonePortugal website has posted two videos taking a closer look at the chassis of the new 4G iPhone. There are no surprises, but it is interesting to see how closely the industrial design of the iPhone 4G matches the iPad and new MacBook Pros.
Like the white iPhone case showcased by PowerBook Medic, these seem to be spare parts, purchased in China. iPhonePortugal is at pains to point out the parts were obtained legally:
These parts were purchased in China by one of our readers (weren’t stolen or found) then delivered to us. We will not reveal the price.
Are those parts genuine? We can not know but we can tell for sure those parts are perfect, have no defects, not faulty at all, there is not even one single difference between the 2 copies we have.
Rumors of a white 4G iPhone are long in the tooth, but here’s what appears to be proof that Apple will offer a white version of the next iPhone — photos of a white case that were sent to PowerbookMedic.
These are pictures of what appear to be spare parts –PowerbookMedic is a repair shop — but don’t appear to be the final versions. The text on the back is placeholder text. As well as the back case, PowerbookMedic also has images of a white front panel and some chassis parts.
The 4G iPhone is likely to be introduced at next week’s WWDC.
Anyone think white is becoming passé?
The rash of suicides at Foxconn are not due to harsh working conditions but the plight of China’s migrant workforce, says an open letter signed by a dozen Chinese sociologists.
The letter blames the string of Foxconn suicides on the social problems faced by China’s vast class of migrant workers.
Originating from poor rural areas, Chinese migrant workers are often rootless and isolated, cut off from friends and family. Instead of finding good jobs in urban factories, they are often too poorly paid to settle in their new cities, and have limited access to education and healthcare. With no prospects at home, they are stuck. The sociologists call it the “path of no return.”
We have made them live a migrancy life that is rootless and helpless, where families are separated, parents have no one to support them, and children are not taken care of. In short, this is a life without dignity.
The sociologists note that at the end of 2008, the population of Shenzhen exceeded 12 million, but only 2.28 million were registered as permanent residents. The giant Foxconn plant, which employs upwards of 600,000 workers, is located in Shenzhen.
The sociologists call on Foxconn and the Chinese central government to boost wages, and improve access to housing, eduction and healthcare. They also say demand workers be given a “voice,” which presumably means unions.
We call on every enterprise, to make a conscientious effort to increase migrant workers‘ pay and rights, and allow migrant workers to become true “citizens of the enterprise”.
Here’s the full text of the open letter:
Fake Steve tears down bullshit claims that the Foxconn suicides are below China’s national average (see Fast Company, ZDNet, Daring Fireball, Wall Street Journal, Alley Insider and others).
Working together with our colleagues in the PRC’s propaganda ministry we have developed a great new counter-narrative that we’ve been pushing pretty hard in background conversations with friendly hacks. Basically it’s the notion that Foxconn’s suicide rate is actually below the national average of China, meaning that if you’re working at Foxconn you’re actually less likely to commit suicide. That’s right. The truth is, we are actually saving lives in China.
Fake Steve continues:
But, see, arguments about national averages are a smokescreen. Sure, people kill themselves all the time. But the Foxconn people all work for the same company, in the same place, and they’re all doing it in the same way, and that way happens to be a gruesome, public way that makes a spectacle of their death. They’re not pill-takers or wrist-slitters or hangers. They’re not Sylvia Plath wannabes, sealing off the kitchen and quietly sticking their head in the oven. They’re jumpers. And jumpers, my friends, are a different breed. Ask any cop or shrink who deals with this stuff. Jumpers want to make a statement. Jumpers are trying to tell you something.
Fake Steve: Our new spin on the Foxconn suicide epidemic
“It is a long game,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told reporters on Thursday in response to Apple overtaking his company on the stock market. “We have good competitors but we too are very good competitors.”
He added: “I will make more profit and certainly there is no technology company on the planet that is as profitable as we are.”
“Let’s see what happens as I am still pleased that 94 times out of a 100 somebody picks a Windows PC,” he said.
Microsoft shares closed at $25.01 on Wednesday, giving it a market cap of $219.18 billion. Apple closed at $244.05, a market value of $222.07 billion.
The Asian electronics giant Foxconn is in full damage control mode after yet another suicide at one its giant Chinese factories, which cheaply pump out electronics for Apple and others. But one of the company’s representatives made an unfortunate statement when talking about the conditions at its factories:
“There is a fine line between productivity and regimentation and inhumane treatment,” said Louis Woo, an aide to Mr. Gou at Hon Hai. “I hope we treat our workers with dignity and respect.”
But of course, that’s not true at all. There’s a huge difference between productivity and inhumane treatment, not a “fine line.” And it’s that gap that makes all the difference.
Foxconn has a reputation for a stressful and oppressive work atmosphere. Employees are paid relatively well, but are pushed hard to produce and are not allowed to talk to each other during work, according to reports. The work is repetitive, mind-numbing and robotic. Stress, isolation and hopelessness: it’s a recipe for trouble.
Apple and the other tech companies that are Foxconn’s customers must bear some responsibility here. It’s time Apple stepped up its annual audit of contractors and lived up to its promise of “ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility.”
In one of the biggest and unlikeliest turnarounds in business history, Apple is the most valuable company in technology, passing Microsoft in market capitalization.
Apple’s market cap has passed $227.1 billion — ahead of Microsoft’s $226.3 billion. Apple is up about 1.8% today, and Microsoft down about 1%.
Of course, this may change tomorrow, but for the moment, Apple is the new king of technology.
What a difference a decade makes, when Apple was on the ropes and Microsoft look unassailable. Now, Apple is clearly at the forefront of the next huge wave in tech: mobile. Microsoft isn’t even in the game.
There are twice as many iPhone OS devices in use as Andorid devices, the mobile advertising company AdMob estimates.
AdMob’s April Mobile Metrics report analyzed the number of unique Android and iPhone devices in its network. The company found that in the US, there were 10.7 million iPhone devices and 8.7 million Android devices. Include the iPod touch, and there are 2 to 1 iPhone OS devices compared to Android. Overseas, the gap is even wider: 3.5 to 1 iPhone devices compared to Android.
The numbers are illustrative because both platforms are growing fast, but there little idea how many are in day-to-day use. For example, Apple has sold 85 million iPhones and iPod touches in the last three years, but doesn’t say how many are in use. At its recent developer conference, Google boasted that it is activating 100,000 Android devices a day. Gartner estimates that Apple’s OS now powers 15.4 percent of global smartphones, while Google’s Android has 9.6 percent of the market.
AdMob says its numbers are good beceause they are based on actual data, not estimates, and it has a large sample size.
