News - page 2069

The new iMacs are here, and they are fantastic, but one thing that’s worth making a note of is that the new 27-inch iMacs have dual Thunderbolt ports… which means that you can now attach two external displays to your top-end desktop.

Buy a pair of Apple’s official 27-inch LED Cinematic Displays and you’ve got 81 inches of desktop to play with. That’s a huge perk, given that the previous solution to driving multiple displays on your Mac either resulted in lag (though wireless solutions) or didn’t support 3D (through USB adapters).

The iMac line just got a heck of a lot more appealing not just to video professionals, but to gamers. And here I am rocking a 27-inch iMac with only one Mini DisplayPort like some sort of sucker.

Two aging tech powerhouses came together Tuesday in Orlando, Fla. Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer, speaking at Research in Motion’s BlackBerry World conference, announced his company will “invest uniquely” in RIM. In addition, Microsoft announced its Bing search engine and mapping will be integrated into BlackBerry phones at the OS level.

“Bing on BlackBerry tastes more like Windows Phone 7 than BlackBerry” tweeted NPD analyst Ross Rubin. The announcement comes just days after analysts blasted RIM for retreating on its quarterly financial forecast

App Store ratings are a valuable commodity, with each additional star worth a substantial amount in sales. No surprise, then, that less scrupulous developers like to try to game the system, but because of the way Apple links reviews to individual iTunes accounts, there’s not a lot of ways to really cheat the system easily… especially if the app is a paid app.

One way app devs can sometimes game the system, though, is by distributing promo codes, allowing their employees to download the app and rate it. No longer though: Apple has just eliminate the ability for anyone to review an app if they downloaded it through a promotional code.

It’s actually a bit ironic. Ostensibly, promotional codes are to encourage jokers like me to review apps. I can understand Apple’s reasoning here, but it does seem a bit rich that app reviewers issued promotional codes can review an app on their own websites, but not on iTunes.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWPFfb4mF6k&feature=player_embedded

For a while Cydia has been the one and only source for jailbroken applications and tweaks, and it hasn’t really had a lot of competition. That’s about to change, as a new web-based installer called Lima is on its way to give Cydia something of a challenge.

Developed by the Infini Dev Team, Lima runs in the Safari browser and doesn’t require any additional applications – you just navigate to its webpage to access all of its packages. Downloading and installing packages is just as simple as it currently is with Cydia.

Judging from the video at the top, Lima looks like a nice, snappy way of accessing jailbroken apps and tweaks, without the downsides of the often slow Cydia. However, I’m not sure whether you’ll we’ll still be able to add our own repositories like we can with Cydia, or whether we’re stuck with whatever Lima has to offer.

As much as I love Cydia, sometimes its slow reload times and all too frequent errors prove to be a huge frustration, and I’m looking forward to giving Lima a try. What do you think; will Lima give Cydia a run for its money, or is it facing an uphill battle? Let us know in the comments!

[via iPhone Download Blog]

Apple’s online store is back up following some downtime this morning and just as we all expected, it now features a nice new family of iMacs.

These new all-in-ones boast Intel’s next-generation quad-core i5 and i7 processors, the company’s high-speed Thunderbolt technology, 3x faster graphics, and a FaceTime HD camera.

There are four new iMacs to choose from starting at $1,199 – two 21.5-inch models and two 27-inch models – all four come with 4GB of RAM and a FaceTime HD camera capable of shooting video in 720p.

Here are your options:

With less than 5 percent of the overall handset market share, Apple has managed to claim 50 percent of the industry profit, one analyst writes Tuesday. Additionally, the Cupertino, Calif. company did it with a handset less than five years old, stealing market share from two cell phone veterans – Nokia and RIM.

“We anticipate Apple will continue to gain share from Nokia and RIM during their smartphone transitions,” Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley told investors. He believes RIM will lose market share for the “next several years”, while Nokia likely will shed handset share “over the next several quarters.”

For some time, Apple’s iPad has been the foil of the Amazon Kindle e-reader. First, the pokes at reading in bright sunlight, then the geeks versus average person ad. Most recently, however, the Seattle-based online retailer has created an App Store – but for Android. All that was missing was an actual tablet. Now it appears the two companies will compete head-to-head amid a report Amazon is building a tablet PC.

Amazon has placed orders with Taiwan-based notebook manufacturer Quanta Computer, which now makes tablets for RIM and Sony, to supply around 700,000 to 800,000 tablets per month as soon as the second half of this year, according to a Tuesday report. Taking a page from Apple, Amazon also plans to buy a touch screen manufacturer’s full capacity.

This is one trend you will either love or hate. It seems that dancing at the Apple Store (and posting the performance to YouTube) continues to grow in popularity. Why let iPod-toting dancing silhouettes have all the fun when you can do it yourself at a mall near you? Especially when every MacBook has an iCam.

One frequent dancer many have seen is iJustine, who’s been dancing at Apple Store locations around the country for several years. Last week the mythical White iPhone 4 finally shipped, so Justine celebrated the occasion down in Orlando. And several shoppers joined in!

A new malware threat called ‘MACDefender’ is targeting Mac OS X users browsing the web using Apple’s Safari browser. The software automatically downloads a file through JavaScript, but users must first agree to install the software, making the potential threat a low risk to careful users.

The malicious software was highlighted on Monday by Intego – the company behind the VirusBarrier X6 antivirus software for Mac – after Apple Support Community users started reporting the threat. Intego say the software prompts users to download a compressed ZIP archive after clicking on a dodgy link in their search engines. The file is then decompressed and begins installing MACDefender on the system.

Here’s the scenario: you’re a hip web geek working from your hip home, or from some hip coffee shop somewhere in the hip part of town, and you’re always, always sharing links with your colleagues.

Trouble is, you don’t want to share them on Faceter or Twitbook. They might be work-related. Top secret. Or just plain weird.

So you want to share them, and discuss them, privately. How can you do that? Perhaps Frenzy can help.

Apple’s online store has just gone down, and according to recent speculation, when it comes back up it will feature a brand new lineup of iMacs, boasting Intel’s newest family of Sandy Bridge processors and the company’s Thunderbolt technology.

Sources familiar with Apple’s plans revealed to AppleInsider over the weekend that updated iMacs would launch today, May 3rd, just as stock of the current models has slowly diminished.

We’ll keep you updated and let you know when the store’s back up.

The latest build of Mac OS X Lion introduces an iOS-like method of removing applications installed via the Mac App Store. Within the new Launchpad application, users can click and hold on an app’s icon to start the ‘jiggling’ – just like in iOS – and an ‘X’ button appears in the corner of each icon which users can click to uninstall applications.

Don’t worry about deleting applications accidentally, however; just like iOS, users will be greeted with a message that asks them whether they’re sure they wish to delete the application. Clicking delete will move the application, and any files associated with it, to the Trash.

This feature currently only works with applications purchased from the Mac App Store, but I’m hoping it works with any application installed on your Mac when Lion is finally released.

[via MacRumors]

Well that was quick: last week we posted about the Steve Jobs in Carbonite case for the iPhone, and quipped that Apple’s Cease & Desist letter was likely on its way. And in fact, indeed it was. Greg Koenig, the case designer, wrote on his Studio Burb page on April 27:

Well it was fun while it lasted. Yesterday, Society6 was issued a cease and desist from Apple’s lawyers. So I’m sorry to say that the cases and skins are no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

As would be expected, the case has already hit eBay. Originally $35, current auction prices are averaging about $50 with a couple hitting $150 already. That’s a decent chunk of change for a small piece of plastic, but looks like it’s now a genuine collector’s item. One with a clever photo skin.

Credit: David Sedlmayer, used under a Creative Commons license.

Today is the day that will bring us one step closer to the death of the cloud. That crucial new part of the internet that is gaining popularity due to the likes of Hulu, Netflix, MobileMe, DropBox, Crashplan, etc. is about to get another blow — AT&T on Monday started restricting the amount of data its millions of broadband customers are able to use in a month. Data is now restricted to as little as 150GB a month.

That isn’t good news — users should an uproar over the whole thing. It means that a large number of people using broadband in the U.S. will be severely limited in what they can do online. They might risk extra charges or even total loss of their broadband access. This comes as Apple is rumored to be on the verge of introducing a more Cloud-based model of computing for millions of customers.

A Colorado builder is incorporating iPads into new homes.

Apple’s magical device is used regulate all the electronic systems in the house — from lights, motorized blinds, entertainment systems (music, TV etc.) to baby monitors and closed-circuit cameras. The docks are built in but the iPads can be removed.

We all know iOS 5 will inevitably be revealed at June’s WWDC, but the internal testing of iOS 5 is already in full sway, according to 9to5Mac… with the most conspicuous device absent being the iPhone 3GS (although not the iPod Touch 3G).

Even if iOS 5 does debut at WWDC, it’s likely to not be out for another few weeks, giving developers time to update their apps. What are the features you’d most like to see in iOS 5? Let us know in the comments.

According to the lads over at Boy Genius Report, iOS 4.3.3 — which is the update that will famously fix the problem of iPhone location tracking — is coming soon, and they’ve got their hands on it.

What’s new?

• The update will no longer back up the location database to iTunes.
• The size of the location database will be reduced.
• The location database will be deleted entirely when Location Services are turned off.
• Battery life improvements.
• iPod bug fixes.

iOS 4.3.3 should be out in the next two weeks, and Apple will likely also close that pesky jailbreak hole revealed by iOS 4.3.1.

[via Redmond Pie]

With netbooks and Windows-based laptops fading into a landscape increasingly dominated by tablets and smartphones, chip giant Intel would be wise to become Apple’s go-to for custom chips, one analyst reasoned Monday. “A partnership between the two companies would drive dominance in tablets similar to Wintel’s dominance in PCs,” Piper Jaffray chip expert Gus Richard tells investors.

Noting “Intel has no market share in the next wave of computing,” Richard also sees an opportunity for the chipmaker. Citing “a number of inputs” the analyst believes Apple is moving away from its contentious arrangement with Samsung (which has both sued and competes with the Cupertino, Calif. company) toward Intel, Toshiba and Micron, among others.

The iPhone tracking jokes were aflutter on Twitter yesterday as pundits awaited the live broadcast from President Obama on the news of Osama bin Laden’s death.

It was hard to resist (and to be honest, few tried) a tie-in with Apple’s iPhone story, here’s Starline Hodge’s take.

Could the usually inflexible Apple be showing some wiggle room on the troublesome issue of iPad-based magazine subscriptions? Time Inc. – which publishes Fortune, Time and Sports Illustrated – has worked out a deal to provide a free iPad app to its print subscribers. Until now, Apple has required both subscribers and non-subscribers to pay separately for the iPad version.

The deal follows a number of meetings between Time’s lawyers and Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet services, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The deal “is a sign the two sides are moving closer,” the Journal writes.

Amid the poor revues and analyst concerns, Research in Motion’s PlayBook tablet has at least one vocal supporter, electronics retail giant Best Buy. Without offering any hard numbers, the retail chain announced its sales of the tablet “far exceeded” its expectations.

“We’re finding that customers are even more interested in purchasing once they’ve tested the PlayBook in the store,” BestBuy said in a statement. The positive statement from an important big-box retailer comes as RIM tries to rally the troops at its annual BlackBerry World Conference this week.

A new Safari feature hidden within the latest Mac OS X Lion build is expected to compete with services like Instapaper and ReadItLater as a method of saving pages for later reading. The ‘Reading List’ feature appears to be partly based on HTML and javascript, and is likely synchronize bookmarks between Mac and iOS devices.

Discovered by MacRumors, Apple’s description of the feature is the following:

Reading List lets you collect webpages and links for you to read later. To add the current page to your Reading List, click Add Page. You can also Shift-click a link to quickly add it to the list. To hide and show Reading List, click the Reading List icon (eyeglasses) in the bookmarks bar.

The feature is currently inactive within the latest build of Lion, so those running the release won’t be able to try it out just yet, but as a massive Instapaper addict I can’t wait for Reading List to go live.

Hints of Apple’s upcoming cloud-based storage service – now dubbed iCloud following the company’s takeover of the iCloud.com domain – have been found within the third release of the Mac OS X Lion developer preview under the ‘Castle’ codename.

First discovered by Consomac.fr is a ‘Find My Mac’ feature thought to offer the same functionality as the ‘Find My iPhone’ feature built into MobileMe. What’s more interesting, however, are the strings that indicate users can upgrade from MobileMe to a service called ‘Castle.’

‘Castle’ is believed to be the codename for iCloud – the cloud-based storage service that Apple is currently developing. The service is expected to offer users a way of storing their music and other content in a digital locker, which they can then stream to internet connected devices such as the iPhone and iPad, and save storage space which would usually be taken up by storing content locally.

The service got its ‘iCloud’ name after Apple purchased the domain from a Swedish company called Xcerion, who offer a similar storage service. Xcerion received $4.5 million to rebrand the service and give up the iCloud.com domain.

Citing sources “familiar with the matter,” a new report suggests Apple will launch its new lineup of iMacs tomorrow, May 3rd, featuring Intel’s newest family of Sandy Bridge processors, and the company’s high-speed Thunderbolt port in place of the current Mini DisplayPort.

Apple has recently been taking steps to ensure a smooth roll-out of the new iMacs, according to the same sources, who apparently continue to provide accurate information when it comes to Apple’s plans, says the AppleInsider report. One confirmed that a “visual night” is scheduled for the early morning hours of May 3rd, “so it is highly likely that whatever new product that is going to be refreshed or introduced will be done on [that day].”

A “visual night” is when several Apple retail employees are called in to work throughout the evening and into the early hours of the morning to make changes to store layouts, often removing old products to make room for new ones.

Previous reports have already speculated that Apple was getting ready for the imminent launch of updated iMacs, and stock of the current generation all-in-one is slowly diminishing. The last time the iMac family was updated was some 9 months ago.

Credit cards at the ready!

As with any new Apple product, shortly after its release the white iPhone 4 received a customary teardown to see what’s inside. You’d be forgiven for thinking the internals for the white device are exactly the same as those featured within its black counterpart, but surely Apple changed something while it was delayed for all those months?

Well, the first teardowns for the new device reveal changes to both the proximity sensor and the rear-facing camera lens. One of the rumored issues which caused the white handset’s delay was light leakage into the camera; it seems Apple has rectified this issue with a more recessed camera lens.

As you can see in the comparison photo (top), the camera lens on the white device on the right is embedded much deeper into its surround, when compared to the lens featured on the black device on the left.

As for the proximity sensor, these are also different on each device, however, it’s currently unclear how the two components differ. Its obvious from recent images of the white iPhone 4 that Apple has modified the design of the proximity sensor externally: what was once tiny little holes above the device’s speaker is now a much more pronounced opening.