News - page 2136

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:

Apple looks like it will break another record for Mac sales, shipping 4.3 million Macs during the December quarter, according to consumer researchers and financial analysts. This comes on the heels of the previous quarter, which revealed a record 3.89 million Macs.

Despite the apparent record, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster views the NPD sales figures as a “neutral data point” because they mirror Wall Street expectations. However, Munster said the figures show international Mac sales are stronger than domestic demand for the Apple computers, indicating the Cupertino, Calif. company is on track for between 22 percent and 28 percent year-over-year growth.

Verizon has been rolling out its new LTE mobile broadband service across America over the past couple months in a move that is thought to herald the introduction of a future 4G iPhone to their network, presumably next year. Either way, right now, there are no Verizon 4G smartphones… instead, they are selling a series of LTE 4G modems, which are regrettably only for Windows PCs… no Macs accepted.

Luckily, it seems that the plucky hacking community has already managed to put themselves together an unofficial workaround to the situation, bringing 4G support to OS X for the first time… at least for the Pantech UML290.

Epic Games, the company behind such diversions as “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and “Gears of War 3″ is releasing tools for developers to meet demand for iPhone and iPad games.

The company will launch the latest version of its game-development tools, called the Unreal Development Kit, to the public Thursday. The free to download kit will include new tools to create high-quality graphics and animations on iOS, which should simplify and speed up the development processes for games.

“Apple’s App Store is the most vibrant market for mobile gaming,” said Epic Chief Executive Mark Rein. “If you’re going to make a game for a mobile device, and you want to make the most money, you’re nuts not to make it for iOS.”

infinity Blade. We certainly loved it, declaring it to be an “elegiac App Store masterpiece,” but did Joe and Jane App Store agree?

It appears so. According to Appmodo, who looked at the Game Center data for Infinity Blade, 274,000 players have currently registered the game… which means at $5.99 per copy, Epic’s raked in over $1.6MM dollars in just five days.

Toshiba certainly seems to think their business with Apple is important, judging by the latest news the company is now readying a $1.89 billion production facility to help supply Apple with high-resolution LCD display panels. Re: Retina Displays.

Apple had 25 percent of mobile devices in November, with the iPhone the most used mobile device on the advertising network of Millennial Media. The Apple handset was used by 14.28 percent of the time and the iPod touch came in second with 8.96 percent of the network. Motorola’s Droid finished in third-place with 7.48 percent of the advertising network, according to the figures released Tuesday.

Samsung and Motorola were in second and third position behind Apple in the mobile device manufacturer category, with BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion and HTC filling out the remaining spots in the top-five mobile device manufacturers. Nokia finished in 7th position.

We report with reservations, because this rumor — while titillating — is clearly absurd. That said, if you don’t hear it from us, you’ll hear it from someone more breathless: Mac Daily News is claiming that the Verizon iPhone is coming to a Verizon outlet near you as soon as December 26th.

Not sure that Saint Nick has much sway over Steven P. Jobs, but maybe if you put this white iPhone ornament on your tree he’ll get the hint.

The handmade ornament (only six available!) comes with magnets on the back, so it can go up on your fridge once the holidays are over. It’s smaller than the real thing, measuring 3″ x 1.5″ and also available in black.

The ornament’s also a nice idea if you want to say you’re going to give your beloved one, but have to wait for the spring 2011 launch.

$10 on Etsy.

Via iPhone Saviour

Did Verizon suffer a Wikileaks-like unauthorized release of sales data? That’s the conclusion of one analyst, who wrote Monday that the carrier was practically forced to agree to an iPhone contract that was beneficial to Apple.

After a Friday report included monthly Verizon smartphone sales numbers precise to 1,000 units per month, Asymco’s Horace Dediu said the leak was “as big as a Wikileaks release of diplomatic chitchat is to…diplomats. Bigger, actually.”

Apple will likely bid for part of some of the 4,000 patents worth $1 billion held by bankrupt Nortel Networks, according to a Monday report. Google is probably also competing against the Cupertino, Calif. company to lay claim on patents involving wireless-related technology, such as LTE.

“Sources expect the sale to draw wireless telecom newcomers Apple and Google , which want to build up patent war chests as they fight incumbents such as Nokia, which want to protect their patent positions, in the courts,” according to Reuters.

Having sold millions of copies of their fowls vs. sows catapult game, Angry Birds, developer Rovio is experiencing such success that they’re even starting to begrudge Apple their thirty percent cut off the top of in-app purchases.

Rovio has just announced that they intend on launching Bad Piggy Bank, a new in-game payment system which will allow Angry Birds customers to make in-app purchases without going through Apple.

Ping just got a micron less useless on Friday with the addition of new functionality: the ability to make social playlists and share them with friends.

Boy, Delta’s getting everything right with Apple owners this year. Hot on the heels of their announcement that they would be installing 135 free-to-use iPads at their gates at JFK comes word that they’re now in the process of installing gadget charging stations in their gate areas at 19 United States airports.

Just as Cydia is the dark mirror to the iOS App Store, Cydia will also be available on the Mac, according to Cydia developer Jay “Saurik” Freeman.

The new MacBook Air is a remarkably solid wafer of hardware, especially after the recent EFI Firmware Update that solved the occasional issue of graphics corruption when the Air wakes up from sleep.

It looks, though, like there may be a new crisis brewing and a new glitch to address, this time with the Air’s ability to play nice with he official USB Ethernet Adapter.

Steve Jobs’ disdain for the 7-inch tablet form factor embraced by the likes of would-be iPad killers like the Samsung Galaxy Tab couldn’t be any more dripping even if it poured in bilious rivulets out of his open mouth. At the last earnings call, he flat out dismissed them as “DOA – Dead On Arrival.” He even fantasized about customers sanding the meat off of their fingers until only the skeletal bone was left, since “sand[ing] down their fingers to around one-quarter of their present size” is the only way to type comfortably on one.

This contempt seems pretty unequivocal to me, but someone apparently wasn’t paying attention: according to Reuters, Asian manufacturing sources are telling them that Apple is putting together a 7-inch “iPad Mini” for shipment in early 2011.

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:

We’ve been remiss in officially marking the event, but make no mistake, it’s only because we’ve turned into gem-matching zombies. Let us remedy that now: Popcap’s Bejewled 3 is now available for download on the Mac. And it’s awesome.

Something new and unexpected happened to me today. I, like many others including other staffers at Cult of Mac, found ourselves unable to log into mobileme.com. If you attempt to log in the MobileMe log in screen is absolutely no help whatsoever. There is no error message. No warnings — you just cannot log in.

I found out why this was happening by accident. I was attempting to arrange for a tech support call with AppleCare using the Express Lane service that you can access at support.apple.com this morning.

I attempted to log in with my Apple ID only to discover that Apple had expired the password and that I needed to reset it. Surprise! I’m okay with that, but the fact that MobileMe didn’t tell me why I could not log on is typical of that service.  After all isn’t MobileMe generally rife with quality issues and just another hobby at Apple, Inc?

If you are in the same boat as the rest of us visit My Apple ID to reset your Apple ID password. I was able to log into mobileme.com after changing my password.

Update 12/10/2010 at 12:33 PM PST: According to some users via e-mail and other sources on the internet Apple has apparently rolled out new password rules starting with the fact that passwords for Apple IDs must be eight or more characters. Apple is also pushing users to use strong passwords that include a number and/or symbol. I don’t know about you folks, but all this is news to me and I’m a paying MobileMe member. I don’t recall receiving any notification from Apple about this. How completely lame is that? A simple warning or pop-up window on MobileMe’s website would have been enough to give me a heads up, but I got nothing. Just a mystery.

It might not be Santa’s Workshop, but Foxconn, Apple’s largest supplier, Friday said it now employs more than one million Chinese workers to build iPhones and iPads. The factory expects to have 1.3 million workers by the end of 2011.

The added workforce is designed to meet extra demand on the Taipei-based company, China’s largest private employer. Foxconn’s CEO told Bloomberg: “everybody is working hard.”

Though it can’t croon, the iPad is more popular as shaggy-coiffed teen idol Justin Bieber – at least in Google searches.

Google released results of its annual Zeitgeist findings, which capture key search trends, using Google’s Insights for Search and Google Trends data analytics tools.

Google’s top two fastest rising queries worldwide are both tech-related: Chatroulette and Apple’s newest product, the iPad.

Rounding out the top five are Justin Bieber, wardrobe challenged-popster Nicki Minaj and game site Friv.

The iPad and the iPhone were also the top two fastest rising searches in consumer electronics, trailed by Nokia 5530, HTC Evo 4G and Nokia rounding out the top five.

The Evo 4G was the only major Android phone to break into the top 10 global consumer electronics searches.

Via eweek, Google

Last month, Damon Alban of Gorillaz announced that he was in the midst of recording the band’s first album to be recorded entirely on the iPad… and now they say that they’ll be giving that album away for free as a Christmas gift to all their fans.

The next battle shaping up in smartphones may be between Microsoft and Google, with Apple sitting on the sidelines secure in its dominant position, one analyst told investors Friday. Indeed, a turf war is in the cards as Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and Google’s Android fight for the hearts and minds of handset makers. HTC, Samsung, Motorola and LG will become the battleground as the two smartphone operating systems battle for the hardware companies’ attention.

“In the short run,” writes Needham’s Charlie Wolf, “the turf war could put the smartphone manufacturers in the driver’s seat. Ultimately, however, commoditization, accompanied by deteriorating prices and gross margins, appears inevitable for licensees of the Android and Windows Phone 7 operating systems,” Wolf says.

Everyone can agree that there’s simply no chance that when the iPad 2 ships next year that it won’t support FaceTime: the iPad’s the only current-gen iOS device that doesn’t support Apple’s video chat standard now, after all.

So sure, it can be taken for granted that the iPad 2 will handle FaceTime, but will it also allow for rear-facing photography? How else will it improve upon its predecessor?