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Apple patents describe new iPod interface improvements

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Although they’re certainly not head turners like the 3D head tracking patent Ed wrote about earlier today, Apple’s latest two patents describing improvements to the iPod interface are at least more likely to hit a device you own sometime soon.

The first patent suggests on how an iPod or iPhone might track an individual user’s preferences in order to improve the overall user experience. For example, if you skip the first 22 seconds of a particular song consistently, your iPod would automatically skip it for you next time you tried to play it. The same approach could be used for volume, equalizer settings, etc, as well as dimming songs in the track listings that are continuously skipped in favor of bolding ones that a user prefers.

Apple’s other patent application is pretty simple, but it’s a great, common sense idea: when a user tries to play a video on their iPod or iPhone, the operating system does a quick check against the battery life to determine if there’s enough juice left to play the whole thing, and, if not, warns the user.

Both patents seem like pretty useful additions to the iPod’s already robust user interface, and fairly easy to implement to boot. Don’t be surprised to see these features creep into an update sometime soon.

All I wanted for Christmas was a Little Nook

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This was supposed to be my Nook review. I ordered two way back in early November. I was supposed to be telling you all about the Nook’s awesome-touchiness, fast page turning, loaning books to friends and even giving a short primer on how you can check out books from your local library and read them on your Nook, something Amazon’s Kindle could never do with its proprietary formats.

But I’m not, because it ain’t here.

It isn’t here, despite being assured it would arrive by Dec 12th, then reassured it would get here by the 18th–and then further assured when it didn’t ship Monday, that BN.com was gonna ship it super-expedited-over-night-air to make it on time.

It isn’t here and it isn’t gonna be on Friday.

Of course they did ship yesterday, if you call strapping it to the back of a turtle and pointing him in the direction of my house shipping it.

I am assured by BN customer service it will get here Monday, just one business day after their revised, revised again, and yes we really mean it this time, promised date –unfortunately that will be one day too long; since me and my little ones will be heading off to Grandmas house Sunday.

Barnes & Noble, you totally Grinched my Christmas, and I wrote this just for you:

(sung to Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie”)

It came into this world as a prospect
Look into its screen
You can see the covers of your books
Loan ‘em to your friends
Read ‘em in the store
Every page you turn makes you want it even more

But Hey I think about the day
Barnes & Noble ran away with my pay
When it came delivery day
Now it’s stuck in transit in that truck
And I’m just a sucker with a lump of coal

Hey, like a chump… Hey, like a chump… Hey, like a chump

[Chorus]
I did it all for the Nookie
C’mon
The Nookie
C’mon
So you can take that bookie
And stick it up your, yeah!!
Stick it up your, yeah!!
Stick it up your, yeah!!


Why did it take so long?
Why did I wait so long, huh?
To ship it out? but you didn’t
And I’m not the only one underneath the sun who didn’t get it

Take Control Takes 50% Off E-Books

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If you’re thinking of a flash drive for a nice stocking stuffer, you might want to pre-load it with some cool Apple-oriented ebooks. Take Control, which publishes many technology titles, is having a 50 percent off sale on its ebooks through Dec. 31, 2009.

Some of the titles include: iPhone ’09 Visual Quick Start Guide ($15), Macworld iPhone & iPod touch Superguide, Third Ed. ($12.95), and Macworld Total Snow Leopard Superguide ($12.95). All ebooks are DRM-free.

Here’s the link, which includes the coupon code for the 50 percent discount.

Swedes invade One Infinite Loop in search of Steve Jobs

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The App Store approval process might be editorially cryptic, but it is, at least, pretty straightforward: you submit your app to Apple, wait a few weeks, and then get back your yea or nay. Apparently, though, this timely process does not accurately reflect the pressing urgency of millions of translucent-skinned and lanugo-haired Scandinavians, waiting for Apple to approve SVT Play, an app that would allow them to stream Swedish public television to their iPhones and iPod Touches.

Instead, the Swedes have stormed the Apple campus at One Infinite Loop and are threatening to camp out until Steve Jobs personally approves their app.

12 Days of Christmas? New Apple Ad Shows There’s Apps for That

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YkKmuQRayQ

Apple’s latest iPhone ad revisits that old holiday chestnut “The 12 Days of Christmas” with a lucky smartphone owner breezing through the rigors of the season with a few effortless finger scrolls.

The coolest one, the last, turns on your Christmas tree. Though Apple has added a page on iTunes of apps featured in ads, this one’s not on it. We have it on good authority that it’s  Schlage LiNK, a free app (requires extra hardware, though) designed as a remote control for home door locks.

Here’s the complete holiday app line up from the ad:

– 12 cookies cooking: The Betty Crocker Mobile Cookbook [gratis]
– 11 cards a’ sending: Postman [ $2.99]
– 10 gifts for giving: My Christmas Gift List [ $0.99]
– 9 songs for singing: TabToolkit [$9.99]
– 8 bells for ringing: Holiday Bells [ $0.99]
– 7 slopes a’ skiing: Snow Reports $1.99]
– 6 games for playing: Christmas Fever [ $0.99]
– 5 gold rings: Anna Sheffield Jewelry [ gratis]
– 4 hot lattes: myStarbucks [gratis]
– 3 flights home: Flight Search [gratis]
– 2 feet of snow: Weather Pro [$3.99]
– Tree-lighting app : Schlage LiNK [gratis]

Apple Patents 3D Head-Tracking

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Apple has filed a patent application that might replace today’s mouse and keyboard with a 3D display created through tracking your head movements. The technology could permit more realistic interaction with a computer’s data or map your image onto an object.

The technology would hinge on a camera or “sensing mechanism,” according to the Apple patent recently filed.

iPhone Overtakes Windows Mobile Users In U.S.

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The iPhone now has more U.S. users than Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, new research shows. Apple’s iconic handset had an average of 8.97 million users in October, compared to Microsoft’s 7.13 million. This is the first time the iPhone has led Windows Mobile cell phones in actual user numbers.

Microsoft has admitted Apple’s iPhone “caught us all napping.” Windows Mobile 7 is not expected until the end of 2010. Morgan Stanley recently said Apple has a two- to three-year lead on its competitors.

Video: Interview With Owner of Bullet-Riddled MacBook

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Look at those nasty exit wounds.
Look at those nasty exit wounds.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihXtbB-4GWw&feature=player_embedded#

Remember Lily Sussman, the 21-year-old American tourist whose MacBook was shot up by Israeli security?

TheDailyNewsEgypt interviewed Sussman, who explains what happened. She also gives some different views of the destroyed machine. Look what a rifle round does to a MacBook.

Look at those nasty exit wounds.

FCC Calls Operation Chokehold “Irresponsible,” Fake Steve Backs Down

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Fake Steve is backing down from Operating Chokehold as the FCC calls it
Fake Steve is backing down from Operating Chokehold as the FCC calls it "irresponsible."

As the FCC calls Fake Steve’s fast-growing Operation Chokehold “irresponsible,” Fake Steve is backing down from the protest he started as a joke.

Contacted by ABCNews, the chief of the FCC’s public safety and homeland security bureau warned iPhone users against crashing AT&T’s network. In a statement, he said:

“Threats of this nature are serious and we caution the public to use common sense and good judgment when accessing the Internet from their commercial mobile devices… To purposely try to disrupt or negatively impact a network with ill-intent is irresponsible and presents a significant public safety concern.”

As reported earlier, Fake Steve’s Operation Chokehold — which started as a joke — is growing fast. The number of Facebook fans has jumped from about 300 on Tuesday to more than 2,000 by Wednesday afternoon.

Indeed, the protest is growing so fast it has alarmed Fake Steve, aka Newsweek columnist Dan Lyons, who is backing down.

“I’m trying to find a way to spin it down and get everyone to back off,” he said in an email.

On his blog, Lyons is now asking protesters not to overwhelm AT&T’s network. Instead, Lyons is suggesting a flashmob-style protest outside AT&T’s stores. The suggestion isn’t going down so well with some readers.

“Don’t turn pussy, Lyons,” wote mark2000 in the comments.

“Don’t apologize, backpedal, or otherwise wimp out,” added reader jycitizen. “I don’t think this will have a Y2K effect on the overall service if people participate in this so called flash mob. I do hope it will be enough of a PR gaffe that companies like AT&T will stop taking their customers for granted, and will shine the light back on issues of consumer protection and net neutrality.”

Fake Steve called on disgruntled AT&T customers to bring AT&T’s data network “to its knees” at 12 noon PST this Friday, December 18. (Here’s Fake Steve’s original Operation Chokehold post).

The action was prompted by comments made by AT&T’s CEO Ralph de la Vega that some iPhone users are using too much data.

Get Ready AT&T: Operation Chokehold Has More Than 1,600 Facebook Fans

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Cell tower photo by forklift - http://flic.kr/p/772WXR

Fake Steve’s Operation Chokehold is growing fast. The number of Facebook fans has jumped five-fold overnight, from about 300 fans on Tuesday to more than 1,600.

Fake Steve is calling on disgruntled AT&T customers to bring AT&T’s data network “to its knees” at 12 noon PST this Friday, December 18. (Here’s Fake Steve’s original Operation Chokehold post).

The action is in protest of comments made by AT&T’s CEO Ralph de la Vega that some iPhone users are using too much data. The protest started as a joke, but is taking on a life of its own.

On Tuesday, AT&T dismissed the planned protest as a publicity stunt. A company spokesman downplayed any effect it may have — but that was when there was only 300 fans.

LaCie Unveils Two-Inch Portable Hard Drive Rikiki

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Lacie's new Rikiki hard drive is available in 250GB, 500GB and 640GB.
Lacie's new Rikiki hard drive is available in 250GB, 500GB and 640GB.

If you’re looking for a sleek and tiny external hard drive, LaCie Wednesday unveiled the Rikiki, a USB storage device able to hold up to 640GB of data. Named after the French word for “tiny,” the drive measures 4.3 inches x 2.5 inches by .5 inches and weighs just 5.5 ounces.

LaCie claims the drive is one of the smallest on the market. According to one review, the storage device beat Seagate’s FreeAgent.

iPhone, Other Smartphones To Own 55% Of Market Value By 2010

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The iPhone may be the face of the future. Smartphones like Apple’s iconic handset are on target to take 55 percent of the cell phone market value in 2010, analysts said Wednesday.

Despite a faltering general handset market, smartphones will comprise 27 percent of all handsets purchased in 2010, according to the UK analyst firm Informa. Because carriers can sell smartphones at a higher price and require expensive data plans, smartphones will grab 64 percent of mobile phone revenue, the analysts said.

Behind-the-scenes “Laptop Hunter” ads claims participants never knew it was an ad

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Microsoft has a rather ignoble history when it comes to trying to counter Apple’s hyper-effective and popular “Get a Mac” campaign. Their first efforts were just embarrassing: a series of advertisements featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates awkwardly mumbling non sequiturs at one another. That desperate bid for hipness failed, and so Microsoft launched their Laptop Hunter ads, which were comparatively straightforward: a camera crew followed “real” computer shoppers as they looked for new machines, and documented their ultimate choice of Windows laptops. Simple, pleasant and marginally effective… even if they did repeat all of the old, stupid fallacies about Apple computers costing significantly more than similarly specced Windows machines.

Pretty soon, though, controversy hit. Lauren deLong, an adorable red ead featured in the “Laptop Hunter” ads, turned out to be an actress with a filmography of ten movies to her credit. Since Microsoft’s ads purported to be following “real computer shoppers,” that made the ads’ truthfulness somewhat dubious.

So here’s the question: were the Laptop Hunters ads what the proclaimed themselves to be, or completely fictional? The “behind-the-scenes” footage of the Laptop Hunter ads shoot, as embedded above and first posted back in September, baldly asserts that participants were not told they were in a commercial until after they had picked their machines.

I’m not buying it. Not only are the individuals in the ads just a little too pointed in their dismissal of Apple products — I think a more common response to why a PC users would reject a Mac would be “I’ve always used Windows machines!” and not “It really seems like you’re paying for the aesthetics” — but surely, a professional actress like Ms. deLong would be savvy enough recognize the financial opportunity that had just presented itself if a film crew that had followed her around all day told her she’d be in a national campaign for Microsoft. The next thing she would have said is, “I have to call my agent,” not “How’s my hair?”

What do you guys think?

[Thanks, David!]

Apple updates MobileMe iDisk app to 1.1

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If you use the MobileMe to view or share files on your iDisk — and if you use your iPhone to do it — you might want to hit the App Store and click on Updates: Apple has just bumped the app up to version 1.1.

What’s changed? The new features include:

• Tthe ability to auto-complete email addresses when choosing recipients for a shared file.

• Automatic saving of file sharing emails to your Mail account’s Sent folder

• Images can now be tapped-and-held to save it to your photo roll or copy to another app.

• The maximum cache size has now double to 500MB.

• Faster technologies, various bug fixes and numerous localizations.

The MobileMe iDisk app is free, but you’ll need an iPhone running 0S 3.0 or later and a MobileMe membership to use it. Go get it.

Disney Comics Coming To iPhone

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(Credit: Disney Comics Worldwide Blog)
(Credit: Disney Comics Worldwide Blog)

The connection between Apple and Disney keeps appearing, the latest link coming with news the animation giant will begin selling its classic comics via the iPhone. “We expect it to become the gold standard for comics in a digital world,” a Disney executive said Wednesday.

The Digicomics will be sold through the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as other platforms in the U.S., UK and other English-speaking nations.

Stolen laptop recovered thanks to Back to my Mac

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In January of 2009, I spent almost $2,500 on a top of the line, 15-inch unibody MacBook Pro, glutted with as much RAM and hard drive space as its belly could handle. Less than four months later, it was stolen.

Oh, it was my own fault. The whole tale involves a midnight rendezvous with a bartender I had my eye on at the time. She had the face of Natalie Portman, the eyebrows of Roger Moore and the constitution of Oliver Reed; in her presence, one drink became two, and two became twelve, and when we stumbled back to my apartment, I somehow forgot my laptop bag back at the bar… but only for five minutes! Alas, five minutes was too late, and by the time I’d rushed back, it was gone.

Since then, I’ve spent a good amount of time upbraiding myself about the loss. What has always bugged me most about the theft was that I always knew that there were countless programs available (such as Undercover) that would help you track down your Mac if it was stolen. I knew about these programs. I wrote about them, even. But I never once installed one. I just couldn’t imagine the scenario where I would have my laptop stolen. Dumb.

The news feeds bring me further fodder for my self-incrimination this morning. Over at TUAW, they are reporting that one of their readers. Jim, managed to safely recover his stolen Macbook using the MobileMe’s service, Back to My Mac, to take pictures of the perps and gather information about them gleaned from watching them surf the web.

It took Jim many months to get his laptop back: it had changed hands at least five times since it was stolen, at least once as payment in a drug deal. But when he got it back, it was in surprisingly good nick… with most of his files still intact on the disk.

That’s great news for Jim, but as another object lesson in my own amazing stupidity, it’s like a punch to the gut. Guess who also didn’t have a MobileMe account when his MacBook Pro was stolen? Yup. What a maroon.

iFixit CC-Licenses Over 100 Apple DIY Manuals

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Over the years, the tear-down gurus at iFixit have opened  up 91 Mac models, 34 iPods and a couple of iPhones to repair what ailed them.

Now, they’ve released the guides in CC-BY-NC-SA license, with the blessing of Lawrence Lessig, who has also delved into a few computers himself thanks to the guides.

The nice thing about the content being CC-licensed is that by following a few rules (attribution, not using the material for commercial gain) you can recover, modify, publish these documents giving them a longer shelf life than the site if necessary — and translators around the world can get to work with non-English versions.

While DIY repairs aren’t for the fainthearted, I’ve used iFixit to transplant a MacBook hard drive and change a first-gen iPod battery, the step-by-step instructions got the job done flawlessly.

Via Hardmac

Analyst: Apple’s iPhone Has Three-Year Lead Over Rivals

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Apple's iPhone and iPod had the fastest adoption ever, analysts say.
Apple's iPhone and iPod had the fastest adoption ever, analysts say.

Apple has a two to three-year lead over its rivals with adoption of the iconic iPhone and iPod outpacing other technology giants by up to eight-fold, Morgan Stanley analysts announced Tuesday.

Using a 92-slide presentation, a team of 27 Morgan Stanley analysts presented a seminar on “The Mobile Internet” with the stars being Apple and its users. “Apple has a two or three-year lead,” analyst Katy Huberty told reporters gathered on a conference call. That head start comes with Apple’s 57 million iPhones, 100,000 App Store entries and 200 million iTunes customers.

In explaining how Apple keeps products secret, Gizmodo compares Apple to Nazi Germany

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Gizmodo’s Jesus Diaz wouldn’t recognize an understated argument if it politely coughed, tapped him on the shoulder, and then promptly blew his face off with a bazooka, so it’s no surprise that his latest post about the so-called “Apple Gestapo” Godwin’s itself from the start. It’s a hysterical and stupid overreaction to the practices Cupertino employs to maintain secrecy about upcoming products.

But even so, it’s worth a gander, because while Diaz’s interpretations of Apple’s procedures are utterly facile, it’s still a rare and unique look at exactly how Apple manages to keep some of the most widely anticipated products in the consumer electronic market quiet, year after year.

Bing App for iPhone: Smart Move or Wishful Thinking?

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Microsoft just launched an app for its search engine Bing for iPhone.

Offered gratis on iTunes, the idea is to put a Microsoft search engine in the hands of iPhone users who have shunned Microsoft smartphones.

Capturing the iPhone market might be a way for Microsoft to bump up traffic for the “decision engine,” which currently has about 10% of the US Internet search market.

Wishful thinking?  Maybe not: the first 247 reviews, 191 are five star — 77% — though some of the comments “I love this app, it’s a great Christmas present from Microsoft” set the BS-ometer spinning.

Any Bing aficionados out there planning to download the app?

I gave the web version a quick whirl when it first came out, but it didn’t blow my hair back.  Haven’t bothered since.

Via Silicon Valley Insider

AT&T Threatens To Fire iPhone Users For Costing Company Too Much Money

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Peggy and John Alexander calim AT&T is firing them as iPhone users because they are costing the company too much money in roaming charges. The Alexander's home in Alabama isn't directly serviced by an AT&T cell tower.
Penny and John Alexander claim AT&T is firing them as iPhone users because they are costing the company too much money in roaming charges. The Alexander's home in Alabama isn't directly serviced by an AT&T cell tower.

AT&T is threatening to terminate the accounts of a pair of iPhone users because they’re costing the company too much money.

“AT&T is firing us as iPhone users,” says Penny Alexander, who lives in Dadeville, Alabama, with her husband John.

In late November the Alexanders received a letter from AT&T saying that because they didn’t live in an area directly serviced by AT&T’s network, more than half their calls were being routed through another company’s network. Thanks to roaming charges, the pair are costing AT&T too much money.

“This situation is rare,” the letter said, “but when it happens, our operating costs increase significantly which makes it difficult for us to keep our rates affordable for all other customers.”