News - page 2224

Our favorite unibody vivisectionists over at iFixIt have done their usually thorough job tearing down the new Mac Mini.

A lot of the Mini’s biggest changes are already obvious: the transition to aluminum unibody and the ability to easily access the Mini’s internals with a single counter-clockwise twist, making it very easy to replace RAM. In fact, there aren’t really any big revelations, except one: running at just 10 watts idle, the new Mac Mini is one of the most energy-efficient computers around, and Apple’s most frugally power-sipping desktop yet.

Steve Jobs has openly criticized Adobe Flash as being slow, buggy, insecure and crash prone… so it seems strange that the recent 10.6.4 update to Snow Leopard did not bother to include the latest version of Flash that actually addresses many of thoese concerns.

The version of Flash in 10.6.4 is version 10.0.45.2, while the latest version is 10.1.53.64, which not only patches numerous security vulnerabilities but implements support for hardware flash decoding under OS X… commonly cited as the number one reason why Flash works better on Windows than on a Mac. (Edit: As commenters below helpfully inform me, no, it jolly well doesn’t. Hardware decoding is coming in a future version of Flash for Mac.)

A conspiracist might think that Apple doesn’t want Adobe to fix Flash: they just want it to die. My guess, though, is that it takes so long to thoroughly test a software update that last week’s Flash update was simply too late to be bundled in.

If you’re concerned, just download and install the latest version of Flash yourself: it’s quite the improvement.

No one’s disputing that the unprecedented demand for the iPhone 4 would have tested the limits of even the most thoroughly tested and fail-proof preorder system…. but even giving AT&T the most generous benefit of that doubt, yesterday was an utter debacle for them in almost every way: not only did their pre-order system fail in almost every way imaginable, but in the process, they yet again exposed their customers’ private data.

When iPhone 4 pre-orders went live yesterday, a huge volume of customers discovered it was virtually impossible to order one online directly from AT&T, with many realizing the best way to get an iPhone 4 was to order it for in-store pick-up at an Apple store.

According to a source speaking PC World, the demand put on AT&T’s servers had less to do with the sheer volume of demand than the fact that AT&T didn’t even test their ordering system before the launch.

Perhaps that failure to test the system thoroughly explains AT&T’s other major SNAFU yesterday: dozens of AT&T customers reported that logging into pre-order the iPhone 4 would often log them into other people’s accounts, exposing these users’ personal details, including credit card information and personal address.

If you intend on upgrading to iOS 4 on Monday, the first piece of the puzzle has landed on Software Update: iTunes 9.2 is now available for download.

It’s a pretty tiny update, with the only non-iOS 4 specific feature being some new album artwork improvements, including a new transition effect. Apple’s clearly saving all the big new features for iTunes 10, which we can probably expect to land in September with some sort of cloud-storage and streaming functionality.

Here’s the change log:

• Sync with iPhone 4 to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on-the-go

• Sync and read books with iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4 and iBooks 1.1

• Organize and sync PDF documents as books. Read PDFs with iBooks 1.1 on iPad and any iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4

• Organize your apps on your iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes

• Faster back-ups while syncing an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4

• Album artwork improvements make artwork appear more quickly when exploring your library

Get it now through Software Update, or download it directly from Apple.

The iOS device-controlled AR.Drone quadricopter from Parrot, last seen terrorizing my co-workers, will finally reach the consumer market in September for $299. The crazy vehicle, which can do things that no flying thing should be able to, for lack of better words, uses cameras, WiFi, and the iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad to look through a live video feed, steer around blind corners, hover, bank, and generally act amazing.

Oh, yeah, and you can hold augmented reality dogfights with your friends. An Android client will ship eventually, but for now, this thing is for Apple users only. Check it out!

If, like me, you walk around all day executing random karate hand-chops to the theme of Mission: Impossible running through your head, then you might consider adding this next app to your quiver.

Just like the messages sent to IMF (Impossible Mission Force, for all you non-spies),  Self-Destructing Message will erase evidence of clandestine texts, on both the sender’s phone, and the recipient’s — just so long as you both have a copy of the app. It also has a “black book” feature that hides the actual identities of your contacts.

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

With the snap of an iPhone camera, one police department is identifying suspects on the go.

Using an app called MORIS (Mobile Offender Recognition and Identification System), the police department in Brockton, Massachusetts is matching photos of suspects with a database in development by statewide sheriff’s departments.

Sean Mullin, president and CEO of BI2 Technologies of Plymouth who developed the app, explained that the app allows officers to identify suspects through facial recognition, iris biometrics and fingerprints – all on one device.

A day after record-breaking pre-orders for the iPhone 4 knocked both Apple and AT&T back on their heels, one prominent analyst says the Cupertino, Calif. company should prepare for record sales during the June fiscal quarter. Apple will sell 9.5 million iPhones for the period, predicts Gene Munster.

Munster, analyst with Piper Jaffray, told investors Wednesday a longer period between unveiling the new handset coupled with AT&T’s generous upgrade policy means Apple could report 9.5 million iPhone sold during the quarter, up from his previous estimate of 8.5 million.

What a difference a day makes. If you were hoping to get Apple’s new iPhone 4, yesterday’s record-breaking flood of pre-sale purchases means you’ll have to wait until July 2 to receive the iconic handset, the Cupertino, Calif. company announced.

The delay will affect those consumers that did not place their preorder Tuesday. The nearly one-week difference is the first result of the crush of consumers hoping to lay claim to an iPhone on the first day Apple, the exclusive carrier AT&T, and some retailers began accepting pre-orders for the handset. Apple had hoped to ship the iPhone by June 24, the day the handset was supposed to be available nationwide.

When most Western Apple owners hear the word Foxconn, they probably think suicide. However, the brother of Foxconn’s founder hopes to change that by opening 100 Apple stores in China over the next three years.

With China expected to become the largest market for PC sales by 2013 and Foxconn already manufacturing components for Apple products, T.C. Gou will open stores selling Macs, iPads, iPods and other Apple gadgets. The stores will be in addition to the 20 “Studio A” Apple Premium Resellers stores already operated by Taiwan-based Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn.

Although it started as a clandestine probe into enemy territory, Apple now pretty much owns the handheld gaming market — game for game, buck for buck — thanks to the App Store. The previous king of handheld gaming, Nintendo, hopes their new console will swing things back in their favor: they think the future of handheld gaming is 3D, and have just announced the console they hope will prove it, the Nintendo 3DS.

Sharing the look of its predecessor, the Nintendo 3DS has two displays: a 3.02-inch touchscreen display running at a 320×240 resolution, and a 3.52-inch 3D widescreen display that works without the need for additional glasses. It also includes three cameras (one front facing, two back facing — to allow 3D photos to be taken) as well as an SD slot, a traditional DS cartridge slot, 802.11n WiFi, a 3D depth slider to reduce or disable 3D effects in games and both a D-Pad and analog stick for controls.

Neither price nor release date have been announced for the 3DS yet, but a $149 – $199 MSRP and a holiday season launch would be my guess.

It looks like a fantastic update to the original DS, and the 3D technology is uniquely amazing, but with the 3DS, it seems like Nintendo’s still locked in to a primarily retail distribution channel for new titles. As long as Apple has the edge of a thriving app ecosystem and a low-barrier to developer entry, Nintendo is only going to continue to fall behind Apple.

Just point and shoot as fast as possible, or you might miss the moment. This is the mantra of most digital camera owners. Set the camera on auto exposure, auto focus, auto everything – and expect the camera to figure everything out instantly and also provide you with museum quality photos. All this expectation and I want it to fit in my shirt pocket.

It is what American consumers have grown to expect. If, on the other hand, you want a choice of interchangeable lenses, manual control and professional results you have to spend an arm and a leg for one of the many pro SLR cameras on the market. Do you want to spend $1,300 and up on a body and another $500 or more for a decent lens? How about the bulk and weight of a pro system? Who wants to carry all that stuff around? Trust me, it won’t fit in your pocket.

Enter the new Olympus PEN E-PL1 interchangeable lens micro 4/3. Retailing for about $525 (MSRP is $599), the E-PL1 has a 4/3 inch 12.3-megapixel high-speed Live MOS sensor and TruePic V image-processing engine; this little camera can also do 720p HD videos. It has built-in image stabilization (IS), a Live Guide user interface, HDMI output, ISO sensitivity ranges from 100 to 3200, TTL-AUTO and Super FP flash, and wireless remote control flash. It may not fit in your pocket, but you won’t need a pack of horses to transport it.

One of the members of the Goatse Security group, which recently exposed the AT&T security breach that exposed over 114,000 iPad 3G customers’ personal data, has been arrested for drug possession following the execution of an FBI search warrant on his home.

24 year old Andrew Auernheimer is now being held in the Washington Country Detention Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas for four felony charges of possession of a controlled substance and one misdemeanor possession charge. The drugs found at his house included cocaine, LSD and ecstasy.

It appears that the search warrant was prompted by complaints made by AT&T, who — in a recent letter to afflicted customers — blamed “hackers” for “maliciously exploit[ing] a function designed to make your iPad log-in process faster by pre-populating an AT&T authorization page with the email address you used to register your iPad for 3G service.”

That’s one way of putting it. Another way of putting it is that AT&T’s security malfeasance exposed the private user details of over a hundred thousand customers, and are now busy hunting down and vilifying the benign group of security activists who alerted them to the problem before less well-meaning hacker groups could exploit the data.

Even though it’ll be out in less than five days, iOS 4 just keeps on delivering up new surprises: over at 9to5Mac, some digging into the latest iOS4 SDK reveals that the iPhone 4 may natively support Facebook video uploading.

The evidence comes in the way of some incriminating XML code that strongly hints at Facebook integration. It makes sense: we already know that Apple’s probably working on Palm Pre-style Facebook integration with calendars and contacts.

The big question here is why this isn’t working on the iPhone 3Gs with the latest iOS 4 Gold Master: Facebook’s iPhone app can already do direct video uploads, so certainly the device is capable of it.

Yeah, okay, this felt and leather iPad case doesn’t just look elegant, it’s functionally neat: the cover rolls back allowing the case to double as an iPad stand. But is it worth 75 Euros?

Not to me: this is a one hour DIY project at best. Buy a flexible leather folder at your local office supply store and some felt and some stretchy loops from a crafting store and then sew it all together at home. It’ll cost you less than ten bucks.

Big thumbs up to Hard Graft for giving me a DIY project for this weekend, though!

Apple’s done a deft job mitigating the disadvantages of true multitasking with iOS 4 by giving devs access to a few intelligently chosen APIs (like background audio) and universal state saving.

That’ll be good enough for most people and most apps without causing a huge drain on battery life or processing power, but unfortunately, the new iOS 4 APIs don’t do anything to address one of the biggest advantages to multitasking: background applications that can update or sync information when they don’t have focus. In other words, when iOS 4 comes around, apps like feed readers, Twitter clients and IM programs will still need to be open the whole time in order to suck in new information from the Internet.

Over at his personal blog, Marco Arment — developer of App Store favorite Instapaper — has posted a great suggestion to Apple on how to allow apps to update themselves in the background efficiently: give iOS the ability to prioritize periodic third-party app network requests.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5iM9YSs0Q8&feature=player_embedded

E3, the year’s biggest video gaming conference, hasn’t revealed too much about Valve’s upcoming Mac-friendly puzzle shooter, Portal 2, except the pre-emptive announcement that it’s been delayed until 2011. On the bright side, though, we have gotten this great new trailer.

Set hundreds of years after the first game, Portal 2 again puts the player in the shoes of the hot hispanic cyborg Chell as she solves numerous physics based puzzles to defeat the schizophrenic, cake-obsessed GlaDOS.

The new trailer makes clear that some of the “jungle” locations seen in earlier preview images are in fact parts of the Aperture Science labs that have been reclaimed by nature over the past few centuries. As usual, Valve is doing a smart job reconciling their timelines: while the first game took place roughly at the same time as the original Half-Life, Portal 2 takes place several hundred years after the end of Half-Life 2. The games share a universe, but they don’t chronologically have to wrestle with each other.

Not enough for you? IGN has just posted ten minutes of Portal 2 gameplay footage! You can find it after the jump.

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

As the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues, many of us wish there was some way we could help.  iPhone users along the Gulf coast now have an opportunity.  Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have created MoGO, a free iPhone app to report injured animals in spill affected areas, take geo-tagged photos and send them directly to groups providing assistance.

Say the app’s developers:

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:

My birthplace, South Africa, has shared some cool stuff with the world. Rooibos tea, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dave Matthews, J.R.R. Tolkien — all hail from South Africa.

However, judging by comments I’ve encountered in the media, on Facebook, in bars, on the phone and elsewhere, there seems to be a large contingent of ungrateful sods who are less than enamored with the country’s latest gift — the Vuvuzela horn (if you’ve watched a World Cup match, it’s the reason for that noise in the background that sounds like a swarm of apoplectic bees climbing up into your head through your nose).

That sentiment has spilled over to the iPhone/iPad, because there’s now a $1 app — Vuvuzaga — that joins the throng of protests against the yellow horn, this time in the form of a game that lets the user wander around a 3D arena hunting down horn-blowers. Of course, there’s also a variety of free apps that transform your iDevice into a Vuvuzela, should you wish to see how well your iPad mimics a frisbee when grabbed from your hands and flung out the window by the person sitting next to you.

The iPad may be seen as an expensive bauble, but at least one has proved worth the purchase price by helping its owner recover stolen goods.

Recently in San Francisco, a man was followed by a 16-year-old girl. First she asked him for money. He gave her some change. She continued following him, hit him up again for more money. When he said he didn’t have any, she pulled a knife on him and took his wallet, iPod and iPad.

The victim managed to call police, who tracked down the thief thanks to the iPad’s GPS. Turns out the teen thief caught the 38 Geary bus to flee the scene of the crime. The wallet and iPod were also recovered. The 75 cents, the SF Appeal notes, went to pay for the getaway bus ticket.

Source:  SF Appeal

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?

Yet another report suggests Internet giant Google has Apple’s monolithic music empire in its sites. The Mountain View, Calif. Google could have an iTunes alternative ready to announce by this fall, according to CNET. What could be even more worrisome for Apple: music labels may welcome Google with open arms.

Although we’ve known for quite some time Google plans to offer a service for Android users that would convert iTunes tracks, this appears to be the first report Apple’s rival is speaking directly to music execs.

In January, Google pitched its idea of a competing music service to music labels attending the January CES conference. After previously attempts by the music industry to get everyone from AOL to Facebook to take on iTunes, Google’s idea for a streaming music service “would be warmly welcomed by the top labels,” according to the report.

It also appears Google wants to beat Apple to the punch, introducing a streaming music service before the Cupertino, Calif. company has a chance to unveil a similar version for iTunes. Many thought Apple purchased Lala in a bid to gain the necessary technology. However, when the company recently pulled the plug on Lala without naming a successor, some onlookers doubted Apple would unveil a cloud-based upgrade to iTunes.

Still, it appears Apple’s mind remains in the clouds. The company has made strides allowing music consumers to preview tunes via the web without requiring the iTunes app first be installed.

[via Barron’s and CNET]