News - page 2191

According a recent study of US national health data,  your average teen today doesn’t hear as well as their Gen-X counterparts.

Teenagers with hearing loss (and we mean not just ignoring your parents) grew by a third between between 1988-1994 and 2005-2006. Back when Guns n’ Roses were in heavy rotation on teen Walkmans, 15% of 12-19 year-olds suffered some kind of hearing impairment, now that percentage is 19.5%.

But for once, iPods are not found to blame. A team who studied data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and published findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that music may not be the only thing that can be damaging kids ears.

Other salient factors include diet and nutrition and environmental factors such as exposure to toxins. Poverty also plays a role, researchers found that kids in lower-income families without adequate nutrition may have problems in auditory system development.

The iPod has been accused of hearing loss off and on since its 2001 debut. This probably won’t be the first or last time it is implicated in hearing loss or impairment.

Rock on?

Via Time

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bulLBD18uI8&feature=player_embedded

Recently vacated Mac avatar and sloe-eyed hipster hunk Justin Long popped up on Jimmy Kimmel Live the other night, and let’s just say he’s probably glad his “Get A Mac” gig has ended, because otherwise he might have gotten into some serious trouble pulling out that jailbroken iPhone.

But that’s not really the most interesting thing about his appearance. I got to tell you, I love this clip: I’ve always despised Justin Long, but this anecdote is funny enough that I’m seriously starting to think I just hated him because he was beautiful. And a lackluster thespianr, but whatever. Who knew he was so funny?

[via 9to5Mac]

Psst. Wanna cheap iPad without going to Hong Kong? Well, have I got a deal for you — just don’t look too closely. That line probably wouldn’t sell too many fake iPads in China, but knockoffs of Apple’s tablet device have been spotted in that country for as low as $110.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a Beijing market known for selling tourists fakes of well-known brands has turned its attention to the iPad. Labelled “iPads” and carrying the Apple logo, the knock-offs are a Frankenstein Monster-like mix of Cupertino, Calif. design and Google innards.

Not only does the iPhone Spy Stick seem to serve a particularly shady raison d’etre, but it seems ready to kick you squarely between your wallet’s thighs while it does so.

Basically, the iPhone Spy Stick is a dongle that can be plugged into the bottom of any iPhone running iOS 3.x. Once connected, it will begin slurping up all of the private data you not only thought was secure, but might have even deleted, including internet history, contacts, text messages, photos and more.

That functionality isn’t necessarily evil, of course: data recovery can be totally benign. The name of the product, though, hints at more insidious motives, and the price is certainly extortionate: $199. As a commenter over at Gizmodo notes, that’s a lot of money for a “SQLite front-end and a fake iTunes data layer server.” You’ve got to be really suspicious of your spouse’s infidelities to drop bank on this.

Read more at Brickhouse Security

Valve’s Source engine games run fantastically on the Mac already, but the performance hasn’t quite been up to the level of what they’ve come to expect under Windows, mostly due to issues inherent to Snow Leopard’s graphic drivers. We posted last month that Valve was working closely with Apple to remedy that issue, and now the fruits of their labors have been released, courtesy of a new Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

Here’s what the 69MB update fixes:

Addresses frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 by Valve, on iMac (Late 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac mini (Early 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009), MacBook (Early 2009 and Mid 2010) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) models.

Resolves an issue that could cause Aperture 3, or StarCraft II by Blizzard, to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive.

Resolves an image corruption issue that may occur when disconnecting and reconnecting external displays while the system is running.

It’s really good to see Apple taking Mac gaming seriously enough to specifically call out new games in their patch notes. Cupertino’s long sent the message that it doesn’t really care about gaming under OS X, but perhaps all that was missing was a passionate advocate like Valve.

Factory workers at Foxconn stepped off the assembly line today and crammed into a stadium for a pep rally to boost morale following 12 worker suicides this year.

AP reports that some 20,000 of these workers at the factory complex where Apple, Dell, Hewlett Packard and Sony produce must-have electronic gadgets for the international market sported fanciful costumes, waved pompoms and shouted pro-company slogans.

The stadium is part of the complex in Shenzen where sleeping quarters, restaurants, hospitals, supermarkets and swimming pools are packed into 2.3 square kilometers (about 0.9 square  miles) and roughly 300,000 workers live.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nupVEJCC97k&feature=player_embedded

As an Apple blogger, I should be utterly aghast at this advertisement from Free Tax USA of an iPad meeting the pointy end of a sniper bullet, but my real gut reaction is just how viscerally satisfying it looks to shoot an iPad in the face. Someone should make a first person shooter of this for the App Store.

[via Crunchgear]

While the iPod is busy powering bar taps, the iPad gets in on the fun at Yelp powering an iPad controlled keg for the office.  During the 2nd annual Hackathon these serious beer-reseachers knew they had to do something equally productive with Apple’s latest iWonder:

At Yelp, we don’t mess around with our beer. To make sure we never run dry or get a bad pint, the geniuses on this team — John B., Gabe H., Alex D., Julien R., and Jeff M. — built the Kegbot. Controlled by an iPad app, you can tell how much beer is being emptied (and at what rate: cough, John), as well as leave a 5 star review for your brew.

Authorization for pouring your favorite brew comes from a swipe of one’s RFID employee ID badge (after hours, we assume).  Of course there’s also a webpage you can check from your desk to see the status of the KegMate.  I wonder if  Yelp paychecks now include a deduction for beer expenses?

Thanks for Geeky Gadgets for the tip.

Might Google do to television what the Internet giant has already done for publishing – linking to video content and bypassing the content creators? That seems to be the fear of some television executives who are voicing objections to an Android-based set-top box.

Although Google wants to combine web data with TV episodes and online video, content owners are “skeptical that Google can provide a business model that would compensate for potentially cannibalizing TV owners’ existing broadcast business,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

HBO’s CEO says it will begin streaming its premium TV content to iPads within a few months. The service, HBO Go, will be extended to mobile devices in a bid to outmaneuver Netflix, which already offers an iPad app.

In a Bloomberg interview, HBO CEO Reed Hastings said within six months, it will extend its current HBO Go service to mobile devices. Currently, subscribers to the premium TV channel can view original programming on their computers. In July, video rental service Netflix began offering a similar iPad app.

This cool iPhone 4 wallpaper — fully optimized for Apple’s groundbreaking Retina Display — gives you a look at the inner circuitry of the iPhone every time you use it.

Mac developer Casey Fleser made it available onflickr for your iPhone decorating endeavors. The circuit wallpaper comes in two flavors: lite, with just the CPU over a circuit board, and rococo with the resistors, caps, traces and stuff.

The plainer version is probably easier on the eyes in the long run, but it’s hard to resist the siren call of all that complex circuitry. Which do you prefer?

Via Redmond Pie

One of those alternatives is a new browser called iLunascape from Lunascape, Inc. and it is available for free (iTunes link) in the iTunes App Store.

This browser takes a new approach to browser user interfaces (UI) on the iPad and I’m wondering why no one else has thought of this yet. The developer’s new specialized UI called the “In Reach Interface” has clustered most common movements and tabs down near the bottom of the iPad display where the user generally holds the device. In addition to this the iPad user experience is the center of attention, but now includes desktop-class tab browsing, easy screen capture and storage, fast and smooth scrolling, simple bookmarking, and iPad rotation controls.

iLunascape may not be for everyone, since not everyone holds their iPad the same way. However, if you are looking to replace Safari this app is a good start with its unique interface and useful desktop like features. Its free and if you care about your browsing experience on the iPad — go get it.

The robber who ripped off a man’s pinky to steal an iPad is now accused of trying to organize a hit on the victim from jail.

Bill Jordan, 59, had part of his finger amputated after Brandon Smith wrested a just-purchased iPad from him in the parking lot outside Denver’s Cherry Creek Mall store in April.  The Apple bag was looped around Jordan’s hand and the thief jerked hard several times to get it off — so hard that flesh came of Jordan’s left pinky. A surgeon later had to amputate part of the damaged little finger on his dominant hand.

Fox 31 reports that the Denver District attorney plans to file new charges against Smith today for trying to arrange the murder of his victim.

Smith reportedly thought his theft case would go away if the victim was ‘eliminated.’ Smith has been in jail for a few months after being charged with theft and assault.

Monday morning’s court appointment was like something out of a movie: Smith’s lawyers showed up ready to discuss a plea agreement only to discover that prosecutors had new charges to file against him.

Details about the alleged plot are scarce but Jordan and his family are reportedly fine.
More as the story develops.

Via KWGN

ThinkMac has just released iKana 2, a tutorial app covering the Japanese Hiragana and Katakana characters.

The reworked app can teach over 740 common words using a repetition learning system. It has a new user interface, combining elements of OS X and iOS in a hybrid that I’m starting to notice elsewhere too.

Cloud Engines is taking pre-orders for a Wireless Extender that adds Wi-Fi connectivity to the Pogoplug. The wireless adapter costs $29 but current Pogoplug users can get it for free.

The Pogoplug is a net-connected device that allows users to roll their own cloud services, like adding terabytes of storage to an iPad.

The Pogoplug Wireless Extender is compatible with all versions of the Pogoplug, including the recently announced Pogoplug Biz. (Pogoplug is also dropping the price of the current Pogoplug from $129 to $99).

Current owners can get a promo code for a free Wireless Adapter by visiting Pogoplug’s Facebook page or its website support page.

Another analyst is reporting Android sales are on fire. Shipments of Android phones will grow by 561 percent in 2010 and take nearly 25 percent of the smartphone market. Additionally, Apple iPhone shipments will overtake RIM smartphones later this year, according to Digitimes Research.

In the second-half of 2010, Apple will have 15.6 percent of the smartphone market, passing RIM’s 15 percent. For the full year, however, the BlackBerry-maker will lead the Cupertino, Calif. company 16.4 percent to 15.2 percent, according to the research firm.

Remember the spat between Apple and Adobe over Steve Jobs’ decision to drop Flash from the iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices made by the Cupertino, Calif. company? The argument was positioned as a fight over who would control the Internet. “We’ve moved on,” Adobe’s CEO now tells interviewers.

Talking with the London Telegraph, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen says his company is sooo over Apple. “We’d rather work with partners who are interested in working with us,” the Adobe chief tells the telegraph.co.uk website.

Apple’s sprucing up their online Support Discussions boards to incorporate more social networking features like user profiles, biographies, user avatars and even the ability to have personalized home pages, complete with widgets.

Apple’s announcement about the new Apple Support Communities is terse: “Very soon a major change will be taking place here at Apple Discussions. To help you prepare we have created some documents to give some insight and instructions on this major upgrade.”

Until the rollouts occur, it’s hard to say just how extreme a revision the new Support Communities will be, but somehow I doubt we’re about to experience the 4chanificiation of Apple’s official forums.

[via 9to5Mac]

Overheating iPods have been consistently making the news in Japan over the last week. First, Apple admitted that their first-generation iPod Nanos can suffer meltdowns, and offered free replacements to any Japanese iPod owners who’ve experienced the problem. On the heels of that comes this story from Reuters, in which an iPod going nuclear knocked a Tokyo rush hour subway train out of commission.

If not for the bad timing, the story’s pretty funny. Around 8:20am, a train in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward was stopped by officials who noticed a strange, burning smell in the train. Staff members quickly investigated, only to be approached by a sheepish and embarrassed commuter with a smoldering, burst-apart iPod in her hands.

It’s not clear at this point what model iPod burst apart yesterday morning, and it’s almost definitely just a fluke, but one thing’s for sure: Apple Japan is going to have a public relations debacle on their hands if iPods don’t stop melting down.

Paul Devine — the Apple global supply manager who was arrested over the weekend for allegedly accepting over $1 million in kickbacks from Asian iPod and iPhone accessory manufacturers for privileged insider information — has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Federal Court.

The plea comes even as Pegatron (a division of Asustek) has suspended the head of one of their units for doing business with Devine.

Pegatron says they thought the money was a brokerage commission, and paid it to an intermediate trading company between 2005 and 2008, but occurred before Pegatron bought up Kaedar, a company which has supplied iPod boxes to Apple for years.

According to Pegatron, the executive responsible for paying Devine the kickback thought she was paying money for a legitimate commercial purpose and not as a kickback.

Pegatron isn’t the only company to have either conspired or been burned by Devine’s scheme. South Korea’s Cresyn andJin Li Mould Manufacturing have also been named in Apple’s civil lawsuit against Devine. It’s not clear at this point if these companies were actually conspiring with Devine, or if they’ve just been burned by one rogue, criminal mid-level manager.

This is the AXiS, the latest digital radio product from Scottish radio designers and innovators Revo.

Cheap Geek iPad Stand (photos: iPadFORUMS.net)

iPad furniture may be a growing trend, but not everybody can afford $2500 for an iPad Chair (myself included). Now the cheap geeks are getting in on the fun.  iVan at iPadFORUMS.net tells us of this useful domestic repurposing project:

I bought a microphone boom stand. Unfortunately this one is a little cheapish and not quite sturdy enough so I had to add a 5 pound counterweight to offset the iPad’s heft and that of the supporting panel.

That panel is cut from half inch MDF covered in black self adhesive felt material. So are the rails that maintain the pad. I affixed it to the boom with a speaker wall mount bracket.

Total cost of project, $80.

Armchair not included.  You knew you were saving that weight set in the basement for something!

Apple’s flagship product, the iPhone 4, will arrive in China in early September, according to one report. The new handset will allegedly be sold by Apple’s partner in the Asian giant, China Unicom. The iPad will also arrive in the country sometimes afterward, although specifics are unknown.

MarketWatch, citing a China media group, reports China Unicom has acknowledged the iPhone 4 and the iPad will ship to the nation soon. However, the two products won’t be introduced into the China market simultaneously.

Apple will build future iPhone and other gadgets from Liquidmetal, says a former top researcher at Liquidmetal Technologies, whose technology Apple is licensing.

“I think they’re going to make the iPhone out of it,” said Dr. Jan Schroers, the former director of research at Liquidmetal Technologies, the first company to commercially develop the space-age technology. “It’s quite obvious from what Liquidmetal has done in the past and what the technology is capable of.”

Apple has signed an exclusive agreement to use the Liquidmetal Technologies’ IP in consumer electronic products. Liquidmetal is a high-strength metal that can be processed like plastic. NASA has says it is “poised to redefine materials science as we know it in the 21st century.”

Dr. Schroers is the second high-level executive from Liquidmetal to say Apple has ambitious plans for the revolutionary material. Last week, the alloy’s co-inventor, Atakan Peker, predicted that Apple may use Liquidmetal for a new antenna to replace the problematic part in the iPhone 4.

Speaking exclusively to CultofMac.com, Schroers said Apple could create very intricate and beautiful gadget cases by blow-molding melted alloy like glass. Schroers has created one-piece perfume jars from Liquidmetal using a blow mold (see the picture below).

The technology could also create permanent holographic logos that are etched right into the metal, or elaborate patterns that generate color effects.

“You can really do some novel things with metal that previously were impossible,” he said. “In two years, you could see something the world has never seen in metal.”

Just how difficult could it be to distribute brand new iPads to every single pupil in a school? More difficult than you might think.

Fraser Speirs – caped superhero and Mac developer by night, school IT manager by day – has taken on the task at the school he works for in Scotland, and has started documenting the whole process for the benefit of anyone else who might be thinking of doing the same.