Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com's senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late '90s and early '2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and '90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs' leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK's National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He's an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California's legendary Death Ride.
Engadget has just published another picture of the tablet prototype, which clearly shows a forward-facing camera. Earlier rumors, which weren’t very plausible, said the tablet wouldn’t have a camera.
The latest spy shot (if it’s real) also clearly shows the size. That’s an iPhone in the corner, and by the looks of it, the tablet’s screen is larger than 10-inches. (The iPhone may also be a prototype: it has a black bezel, like the tablet).
The tablet’s bezel looks pretty deep. Not one of the myriad mockups floating around the internet envisioned such a beefy bezel.
Everyone’s getting very excited by these Engadget pictures, which purport to show a prototype of Apple’s tablet. Says Engadget:
“It’s big — really big — and it’s running what clearly looks like an iPhone app, although we’ve never seen an iPhone app with that interface or at that resolution before. We also see a WiFi icon and a cell service indicator, although tragically there’s no carrier listed.”
But color us skeptical. The pictures appear to have been sent in anonymously (“Okay, we obviously can’t confirm this…” the post starts). And trying to explain the bolts around the edge, Engadget suggests it has been bolted to the table. Bolted to the table? WTF? Why would it be bolted to a table?
And what’s going on in the picture below, in the bottom left corner of the screen? It looks like the screen is transparent, and its showing a support of some kind underneath. Or is it a reflection? Perhaps it is an Apple prototype, but a tabletop system, like Microsoft’s Surface table?
In the picture below, at the bottom of the screen, is the reflection of what looks like a utility pole (with transmission wires running left to right) and the image of the photographer, who has been whited out.
So the picture was taken outside (in the U.S. Virgin Islands perhaps?), while the picture above looks like an indoor shot. The tablet seems to be sitting on a tabletop, with white wires running underneath — perhaps the AC charger and headphones. Note the Home button sitting right in the middle of the shortest edge, plus the recessed screen. It looks to be the same size and shape as a tea tray.
The bolts around the edge are reminiscent of the bolts used in the stairs at Apple’s stores, and the pivot arm of the old G4 iMac. However, it seems unlikely that Steve Jobs and Jonny Ive would leave bolts exposed in the final design.
Still, after being initially highly skeptical of these pictures, they’re now starting to look more real. What are the blacked out labels though?
Publishing mogul Terry MrGraw of McGraw-Hill says Apple’s tablet is based on the iPhone OS, not OS X as many fans are hoping.
In an interview with CNBC, McGraw-Hill’s CEO said his company has been working with Apple for “quite a while” and has prepped 95% of its textbooks for the tablet, which will be a hit in the higher education market.
When asked about by the anchor about the Apple tablet, McGraw said:
“Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they’ll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while, and the tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable… We have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format. So now with the tablet you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.”
Frrm his tone, it sounds like McGraw has seen the tablet — or a prototype. Watch the video above: he sounds very confident about the operating system. As previously reported, the iPhone OS is the logical choice for the tablet.
Farhad hopes the tablet will have an iPhone-like operating system (as we’ve mentioned here before) that offers a somewhat restricted, locked down computing experience like the iPhone. That is, he hopes Apple has removed all the complexity of using and maintaining a traditional personal computer.
“The most revolutionary thing about Apple’s phone wasn’t its sleek case or the multitouch gestures, but the artful way in which it hid nearly every bit of complexity behind a display of easy-to-understand icons. The iPhone contains no visible “directory structure.” Your music is not in a particular place on your phone; it’s just on your phone, and you get to it by launching the music player. Other than charging it, the iPhone requires no maintenance. Backups and OS upgrades occur automatically, and because all programs are approved by Apple (and because even third-party programmers aren’t given deep access to the phone), you never have to worry about malware. And look how easy it is to install a program: Choose one from the store, press “Install,” and type in your password to authorize the purchase—and that’s it. The iPhone doesn’t ask you where you want to put the new program, or how you’d like to launch it, and whether you’d like it to be the default program for doing a particular kind of task. It just puts up a little icon on the screen. To run the program, click the icon. To do something else, hit the home button.”
I think Farhad has put his finger on the most important feature of the tablet. It’s not designed for nerds, like traditional PCs (even the Mac) but for ordinary consumers who have no interest whatsoever in learning how to use a computer.
If you can get your noodle around it, it’s an astonishing thought. Steve Jobs is attempting to reinvent computing again, but to do it right this time.
The tablet will usher in a new era of consumer-level computing that will be utterly different to computing in the past. Instead of mice and keyboards, there’ll be a new generation of software designed for fingers and voice. It’ll be a lot easier to use (see all those videos of toddlers using iPhones), and a lot easier to maintain. Thanks to Apple’s controls over app installation, it’ll be largely free of the viruses, driver issues and tech-support headaches of traditional PCs. Of course, we’ll sacrifice some freedom to tinker for all this — but who cares? (Our own Leigh McMullen for one. See his “My Tablet Won’t be Running any Silly Phone OS.”)
No wonder Steve Jobs is so excited about the tablet. All the way back to the Apple II in the late 1970s, his earliest ambition was always to make computers accessible to mere mortals — to make the computers “for the rest of us.” It’s the realization of his earliest dreams.
Here’s some pictures I snapped of Apple’s preparations for the iSlablet press event.
The event starts at 10AM on Wednesday January 27th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The Yerba Buena Center is near the Moscone Center –the location for many years of the annual Macworld Expo — and is Steve Jobs’ preferred venue for major product launches.
When I went down there at about 4PM, crews were finishing hanging a large banner over the front of the Arts Center. The banner reflects the splattered paint motif of invites Apple sent out last week inviting journalists to check out the company’s “latest creation.”
The latest creation is, of course, expected to be a new multitouch tablet.
Apple's 27-inch iMac accounted for record Mac sales. (@Gizmodo)
Don’t believe the negative hype. Apple’s much-maligned new iMac, which is supposedly suffering from screen issues and delays, was largely responsible for the company’s record hardware sales in Q1 2010.
Since their launch in October, the new machines have been dogged by reports of delays and problems, including cracked screens, inconsistent color and flashing video. Especially problematic was the 27-inch model, which Gizmodo dubbed the “Yellow iMac” for a reportedly widespread yellow screen tint.
However, Apple said Q1 desktop sales were up 70 percent year-over-year (a 60 percent increase in revenue), thanks largely to the new iMacs. During an analyst conference call, Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer and Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said customers are “thrilled” with the new iMacs.
Apple saw record Mac sales of 3.36 million units during the quarter, beating the previous best quarter (September) by more than 300,000 machines (up 33% year-over-year).
Broken down, Mac sales were 2.128 million portables and 1.234 million desktops. Portable sales were also up, but by 18 percent year over year,
“We are extremely proud of this result and believe our Mac hardware and software are providing outstanding software and innovation that our customers really love,” Oppenheimer said.
During Apple’s Q1 financial conference call, Cook acknowledged AT&T had “issues” in some cities, but had worked out a plan to fix them. The plan was drawn with Apple’s approval and cooperation.
Said Cook:
“AT&T is a great partner. You know, we’ve been working with them since before the first iPhone. In the vast majority of locations, they provide a great experience. But there have been issues in some cities. They have acknowledged this and developed a plan to make things better and we have personally reviewed them.”
Cook said he has “very high confidence” that AT&T’s issues can be resolved.
Apple’s first quarter of 2010 was another blockbuster, and Steve Jobs is talking about a major new product this week that he’s “really excited about.”
In financial results reported Monday, Apple says it earned “all-time highest revenues and profits.” The company made revenues of $15.68 billion and profits of $3.38 billion on sales of 3.36 million Macs and 8.7 million iPhones.
“If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”
Everything except sales of iPods (which are down 8%) is in record territory — iPhone sales are up 100% and Macs up 33%.
Here are the highlights:
* 3.36 million Macs sold (33% unit increase over year-ago quarter).
* 8.7 million iPhones sold (100% unit growth).
* 21 million iPods sold (8% unit decline).
* $15.68 billion revenue ($11.88 billion in the year-ago quarter).
* $3.38 billion net quarterly profit, or $3.67 per diluted share. ($2.26 billion, or $2.50 per diluted share, last year).
* 40.9% gross margin was (37.9 percent in the year-ago quarter).
* International sales accounted for 58 percent of revenue.
Apple’s a money machine. The 41% gross margin is unbelievable, especially in a recession. Competitors atre lucky to make 5% margins.
It’s also worth noting that a big bump in revenue came from Apple’s adoption of new accounting practices. Revenue from sales of iPhones and Apple TVs are now recognized immediately, rather than being spread over two years. Apple used subscription accounting for iPhones and Apple TVs so that it could provide free software upgrades without running afoul of accounting rules.
Here’s some sensible tablet speculation from UK app developer Dave Hornsby of Chilli X.
A levelheaded Englishman, Hornsby reckons the tablet will be a big iPod touch running iPhone OS 4.0, which is basically the iPhone OS with support for larger screen sizes.
Hornsby doesn’t have any special knowledge of what Steve Jobs will release next week. He’s just thinking aloud. Here’s his reasoning:
“It won’t be running Snow Leopard – there’s no point putting the same operating system that people use to do high end rendering and print ready artwork on a small, less powerful device. If it was to run Snow Leopard then Apple would have to figure out a way of stopping you installing certain types of application and that’s just messy.
It won’t run the current iPhone operating system either, although it will run most existing iPhone apps in smaller windows (almost like OS X dashboard widgets). My guess is that they’ll use the event to announce iPhone OS 4.0 with lots of cool new features including support for larger screen sizes. It makes perfect sense – everyone loves the iPhone OS. Users because it’s slick, fun and easy to use and Apple because of all the money they make from the App Store – why would they want to use Snow Leopard and not be able to control what software goes on there (and get a cut of it).”
Hornsby figured it would be fun to imagine what his iPhone apps would look like blown up to tablet size. See the fantastic mockups above.
“Imagine what we could do with all these extra pixels,” says Hornsby. “So we’ve used some of our existing apps as a starting point and mocked up these images showing the type of app we’d like to build. Imagine a combination of PhotoFrame, DeskClock and PlaySafe – what do you think?”
Our friend Seth Weintraub at 9to5Mac has written a great curtain raiser on the upcoming tablet. His lengthy posts covers everything you ever wanted to know about the tablet, including the likely surprises.
We especially like the way he starts by recalling the way Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone:
At the introduction of the iPhone, Steve Jobs touted that new device as a “Widescreen iPod”, “Revolutionary Mobile Phone” and “Breakthrough Internet Communications Device”.
I believe the same type of convergence thinking is going into the tablet. It can’t just be a “Kindle-killer” eBook reader. It can’t just be a “Media Pad”. It can’t be only a Nintendo DS or PSP competitor. It can’t just be a small NetBook-sized MacBook either. It has to be all of these things. At the same time. Say it together:
“The best eBook reader. The best Netbook. And the best portable media player and gaming device.”
Unable to contain his excitement about the upcoming tablet, German blogger Richard Gutjahr has created 10 mock movie posters featuring the tablet, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer and other Silicon Valley stars.
Good News: The tablet will have two dock connectors, one on the bottom edge, the other on the side for charging/docking in both portrait and landscape mode. “… accessory companies have struggled for the past three years to figure out ways to accommodate Cover Flow and the like in their speakers and docks,” says iLounge EIC Jeremy Horwitz. “Two Dock Connectors fixes this, and depending on how Apple handles multiple accessory connections, could have some other nice benefits, as well.”
Horwitz also notes the tablet with an aluminum backplate with a wide plastic strip to enable clear radio reception for the device’s wireless antennae. The size of the strip “suggests room for nice-sized antennas, and 802.11n compatibility,” says Horwitz.
Not So Good News: The tablet will be offered with optional cell service, iLounge reckons, with data plans in the $30-$60 per month range. Curiously, iLounge thinks AT&T might offer a combined iPhone and tablet plan to attract users already paying monthly iPhone data fees.
Savant Systems is a home automation company that sells a range of wireless control tablets that may illustrate how Apple’s tablet will work in the real world.
Unlike the endless mockups and magazine-publisher demos, Savant’s line of Rosie Touch systems are real products.
Based on OS X, the Rosie Touch panels control the home’s heating, lighting, security and entertainment systems. They run an iPhone-like touch interface based on a photo-realistic model of the house’s interior. Built on pictures of the actual home, the UI allows users to control the lights and AV components by interacting with pictures of the actual components onscreen.
In other words, tap the hallway light onscreen, and the actual hallway light turns on or off. Slide your finger down the picture of the kitchen window, and the blinds in the kitchen are drawn down.
“We expected people would be interested, but the response has been overwhelming and amazing,” said Garret Murray, one of the organizers. “I’ve always known the Mac community is very supportive, but even this blew me away.”
All proceeds from the sale will be donated to charities working in Haiti, including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, the Red Cross, and others.
After accepting more than 140 developers in the Wednesday January 20th sale — all proceeds of which will be donated to Haiti — the organizers are now turning down offers to add more companies to the program.
“We expected people would be interested, but the response has been overwhelming and amazing,” said Garret Murray, one of the organizers. “Personally, I thought we’d probably have 20 or so companies. And in under a week we’re already having to stop taking submissions. I’ve always known the Mac community is very supportive, but even this blew me away.”
To contribute, all you have to do is buy some of the Mac or iPhone software listed on the Indie+Relief webpage. All proceeds will be donated to charities working in Haiti, including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, the Red Cross, and others.
The effort began five days ago when Mac/iPhone software developer Justin Williams suggested on his blog that software publishers should donate a day’s sales to relief efforts. The idea spread quickly and Williams and Garrett soon had dozens of volunteers. They spent the weekend creating a single page listing all the software for sale.
“The more awareness there is, the more software will be bought,” said Williams on his blog. “The more software that is bought, the more is donated to charity. I realize we won’t be making nearly as much money as the text messaging campaigns or other telethons, but it is refreshing to know the Mac & iPhone community has the opportunity to at least make a dent in the Haitian relief effort. Thanks for being a part of that.”
I just conducted a quick IM-terview with Murray. Full text after the jump.
The iPhone OS 4.0 will feature multitasking (the ability to run apps in the background), multitouch gestures system-wide, and several changes to the UI, according to Boy Genius Report, citing “one of our trusty Apple connects.”
According to BGR, the update to the iPhone OS, which may come as soon as the special Apple next Wednesday, will include:
There will be multi-touch gestures OS-wide. (Would make sense for that as the rumored OS for the iTablet is close if not the same as the iPhone)
“A few new ways” to run applications in the background — multitasking.
Many graphical and UI changes to make navigating through the OS easier and more efficient. We haven’t had this broken down, but we can only hope for improved notifications, a refreshed homescreen, etc.
The update will supposedly be available for only the iPhone 3G and 3GS, but will “put them ahead in the smartphone market because it will make them more like full-fledged computers” more than any other phone to date. Everyone is “really excited.”
The last piece of information is the most vague, but apparently there will be some brand new syncing ability for the contacts and calendar applications.
Half of this is pretty vague, but the UI changes to make the OS “easier and more efficient,” ring true. One of the biggest complaints against Google’s Android is the occasionally kludgy interface. Version 4.0 of the iPhone OS is a major milestone — and it sounds like it’ll be miles ahead of anything else out there.
This post originally appeared on our friend Graham Bower’s Mac Predictions blog. Graham’s post is pure speculation — but a good read nonetheless.
Take a sheet of letter paper and fold it in half. You’re holding something about the size of Apple’s new iSlate. Imagine that scrap of paper is a beautiful, shiny combination of glass, aluminum and plastic, weighing about 10 ounces. How does it feel?
The first thing you’ll notice is that, unlike the iPhone, you want to hold it with both hands. And this presents a bit of a problem. You don’t have a hand free to touch the screen.Your thumbs are resting on the edges of the device, and are not long enough or manoeuvrable enough to reach the middle. Your fingers, however, are idly stretched across the back of the device.
And this gives us the clue we need to suspect that there’s some truth the rumors doing the rounds that Apple’s working on a multi touch surface for the back of a new iPhone. But perhaps it’s destined for the new tablet, instead (or as well). More than just a gimmick, this all-new input method would enable users to interact with the device without moving their hands from its sides. It also has the benefit of enabling you to use the device without obscuring the screen with your hands.
Preliminary United States PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q09 (Thousands of Units)
Company
4Q09 Shipments
4Q09 Market Share (%)
4Q08 Shipments
4Q08 Market Share (%)
4Q09-4Q08 Growth (%)
HP
5,954.1
30.0
4,081.6
26.0
45.9
Dell Inc.
4,483.1
22.6
4,248.8
27.1
5.5
Acer
3,104.9
15.6
2,091.8
13.3
48.4
Toshiba
1,719.7
8.7
1,007.7
6.4
70.7
Apple
1,483.0
7.5
1,203.0
7.7
23.3
Others
3,100.6
15.6
3,053.4
19.5
1.5
Total
19,845.4
100.0
15,686.3
100.0
26.5
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X86 servers.
Source: Gartner (January 2010)
Apple’s Mac shipments grew 24% in Q4 2009, riding the industry’s strongest growth period in seven years, according to new numbers from research firm Gartner.
Worldwide, the computer market bounced back in a big way at the end of 2009, Gartner says, largely on the back of low-cost netbooks and consumer laptops, which were heavily-discounted for the holidays.
“These preliminary results indicate the recovery of the PC market on a global level,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner in a statement.
Worldwide computer shipments grew 22.1% in Q4 (numbering 90 million units).
Hewlett-Packard displaced Dell as the biggest PC maker in the U.S., and Acer established itself as the low-price leader.
In the U.S., Apple saw gains of 23.2% compared to Q4 2008 (which was dismal). However, competitors like Toshiba led the PC pack with 70.7% growth, trailed by Acer (48.4%) and HP (45.9%). Dell lagged with only 5.5% growth, largely because it didn’t discount for the holidays. “Dell was not as aggressive on pricing as its competitors in order to protect profits,” Gartner said.
Growth was driven by the consumer market — not the business market — and the Windows 7 was did not create additional PC demand, although Gartner said “the launch was a good market tool during holiday sales.”
“It was the strongest quarter over quarter growth rate the worldwide PC market has experienced in the last seven years,” Gartner said in a statement.
At CES, Toffee cofounder Natasha Sullivan (left) and Tegan Ledford show off one of the company's popular leather briefcases. The lightweight briefcase has a pair of retractable handles and elastic straps inside to hold the MacBook in place.
LAS VEGAS — I’ve never paid much attention to laptop sleeves, but as they get fancier and fancier, they are becoming perhaps the most popular MacBook accessory out there.
At least, that’s according to one high-end sleeve and case maker from Australia.
LAS VEGAS – Pineapple Electronics’ Rumble KW Headphones have an unusual design, which makes them 100 percent waterproof. Unlike most other earbuds, the Rumble KW Headphones are good for swimming laps, snorkeling, or just taking a shower.
The in-ear style buds create sound not through sound waves, like traditional headphones and earbuds, but through bone conduction. The Rumble KWs vibrate bones in the listener’s skull, creating sound in the inner-ear.
“See, it has no holes whatsoever,” said Pineapple’s Philip Kye, as the Rumble Headphones played in a glass of water.
On the show floor of CES, the KW’s sibling headphones — Pineapple’s Rumble K Headphones, which aren’t waterproof — sounded pretty good, if a little muddy. The bass is outstanding, and they create a freaky buzzing and thumping in your ear.”The technology is tuned for lower frequencies, more bass,” Kye said.
The KWs are limited to 100 decibels, so can’t damage the listener’s hearing. They seemed well-suited for gaming — or listening to music while cleaning the hull of a boat.
LAS VEGAS — The iTamtam is perhaps the strangest iPod dock yet conceived — but also the most practical. It’s a sturdy iPod speaker that doubles as a stool. It is based on a famous stool from the sixties that’s now featured in the Museum of Modern Art.
“It’s a speaker you can sit on,” said Patrick Parma, a spokesman for Branex Design, the Parisian firm that holds the rights for the Tam Tam stool.
The seat was updated as a speaker for its 40th anniversary. Called the iTamtam, the speaker/stool has an iPod/iPhone dock on top and a pair of 25-watt speakers built under the seat.
Model Nicola Gigante shows off one of Deos's Swarovski Crystal-covered earbud covers.
Apple’s iPod earbuds are the next earring, says Deos, a New York jewelery company which makes crystal covers for the ubiquitous white earbuds.
“Coming from the fashion business, we asked ourselves: ‘What is the next earring?” said Deos partner Charles Siebenberg.
“This is the next earring,” he said, holding up a pair of white earbuds.
Encrusted in Swarovski Crystals, the $98 earbud covers snap right on the earbud speaker housing. Each pair has more than 200 Swarovski Elements and is available in solid colors, floating colors (gradient mixed) and patterns.
As well as Swarovski crystals, the company also sells covers with Swarovski Crystal cuffs, and covers made from diamond and titanium, aluminum, and sports silicone.
