If you don’t, this post will make no sense to you whatsoever.
But if you DO: Hey! Woo! Yay! Talking Moose is back as a Twitter superstar and can provide just as much entertainment from there as it used to back in the day. Probably more.
I had the Moose running on my Lime Green iMac. Annoying as hell. But fabulous none the less.
(You can still get the Moose for OS X, did you know that? Not that you need to now. Twitter! Superstar! Twitter is the new Hotmail, did you hear? Or was it the new Geocities? I forget. Us old timers do that. Often.)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is probing whether Apple sufficiently informed investors of CEO Steve Jobs’ health status, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
An unnamed source told the news organization the review does not mean Apple committed any wrongdoing, according to the report.
Last week, Apple announced Jobs was taking a six-month medical leave of absence after being informed his health troubles were “more complex” the previously announced. Prior to the announcement, Jobs had assured the Mac community an ailment that had prompted speculation was due to a “hormonal imbalance” the Apple co-founder described as “easily treatable.”
I was going to save this one for a “WTF iPhone Apps Of The Week” post, but then I thought – No. This is Too Good. This needs a space of its own.
Ladies and gentlemen (but mostly, I suspect, gentlemen): I present iPropose. It is an app designed to help the tongue-tied ask for someone else’s hand in marriage.
I think the official blurb from the App Store says everything:
“Make sure the most important event of your lives happens inside your life’s most important gadget. And with iPropose, that special someone will know you really care. iPropose is 100% guaranteed to result with a “YES” or your money back!”
Stop and think, ladies (because I suspect it will be mostly ladies): do you really want to marry a guy who proposed to you on a phone? Do you?
Have you ever designed and ordered a book using Apple’s iPhoto book publishing tool? I have, and they are nice. The quality is quite good and the pricing seems fair value – they make great commemorative gifts and keepsakes. But Apple’s not really in the publishing business. Through iPhoto your options are somewhat limited and somewhat photo-centric, all of which is as it should be.
But say you’ve got a publishing idea that doesn’t fit one of Apple’s iPhoto templates and, well, gosh darn it, also doesn’t seem to be getting much interest from any of the few publishers remaining in the business of making and distributing books. There’s always the so-called “vanity press” – but what if you could just design it and print it on your own?
Well, you can. With free software from Blurb you can write, design and print your own books and sell them online. Books can be up to 440 pages long and come in a variety of sizes in both hardback and softcover, at prices that make you wonder why it’s so hard to make money in the publishing business.
Blurb’s BookSmart software for Mac (cross-platform compatible with Windows) features a ton of professionally designed layouts or lets you create from scratch, integrates seamlessly with iPhoto, lets you import from online sources such as Flickr and Picasa, and supports all of your own fonts in a variety of sizes and text styles.
When you’re done creating, you can sell your masterpiece online in the Blurb Bookstore and keep 100% of the markup.
Blurb may not save the publishing industry the way iTunes saved the music industry, but it’s nice to know you can be a Paperback Writer for just $4.95.
Handicappers currently make the new Palm Pre the most worthy contender for iPhone’s title as The Coolest Handset, so it’s no surprise there’s an “I’m a Mac” style advertising spoof pitting the two devices against one another. Here’s an installment based on Pre’s “wireless” charging capabilities.
The fun just never ends with Apple products and those who’d be like them.
I thought maybe I’d seen it all when I saw Hasbro’s I-Dog, the plastic, music lovin’ mutt “trained” to obey eight commands, including “Dance!”, “Stay!”, and “Tap paw!” – virtual non-stop entertainment for the pre-tween set with iPods.
But then they went and turned the iDog into a soft, snuggly, squeezable version of the portable kids’ MP3 speaker, complete with LED lights on the pup’s “face” that show its various “moods.”
And now, the giant toymaker comes back to the kids-with-iPods well, bearing I-Turtle, a groovin’ little speaker-toy that can tap its foot along to the music, bob its head and raise its shell with synchronized lights that flash to the rhythm. But this little gem of an ePet doesn’t just play your kid’s music, it’s got its own musical riffs, “tons of blinking light patterns”, a built-in whine for more attention, and a piercing scream it’ll let out when little Susie flicks its tail.
It’s almost as if Hasbro designers took a meeting and said, “we’ll teach ’em to give iPods to 8 year-olds…”
Ahead of Wednesday’s report for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, a prominent Apple analyst projects Mac sales rose between six percent and 10 percent in December.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors Monday Apple likely sold 2.45 million to 2.55 million Macs during the quarter, recovering from November when Mac sales suffered a double-digit decline.
Using consumer sales data from research firm NPD, Munster said Mac sales in December rose 4 percent, a jump over -1 year-over-year growth reported for November.
As analysts attempt to predict Wednesday’s first quarter revenue report from Apple, one expert trimmed his expectation for both the December quarter and full fiscal year.
Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi told clients Monday he predicts Apple will report $9.3 billion for the December quarter, off slightly from the $9.76 billion Wall Street consensus.
He said data “may not be encouraging, given the lack of new products at MacWorld and Apple’s refusal to cut prices” along with CEO Steve Jobs’ recent health status downgrade.
Here’s a gander at actress Celina Jaitley posing with an strategically-placed iPod on the cover of this month’s India edition of “Stuff.”
The former Miss India has appeared in about 18 Bollywood productions and has a forthcoming flick called “Showman” where she plays a half-Indian half English pole dancer.
This wouldn’t be the most practical way to display your CDs, but it might appeal to some Apple enthusiasts. Chinese designer Li Jianye took inspiration from Apple’s Cover Flow function for browsing music, more views on his blog.
Apple approved Ustream’s AppStore live video streaming app on iTunes Monday evening, just in time for what is likely to be the most photographed, videoed and broadcast US Presidential Inauguration ever, on Tuesday in Washington, DC.
Get Ustream’s free app on your iPhone, and if you can find yourself an open WiFi connection between 10am and 3pm (EST) Tuesday, you’ll be able to catch live footage of Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th president of the US.
Ustream’s TV-in only breakthrough may seem small potatoes to legions of iPhone jailbreakers, who’ll be able to use iPhone’s TV-out capabilities to broadcast Obama’s historic inauguration from their iPhones; it’s also quite something for mainstream iPhone users to now be able to receive live video on their mobile devices.
It figures, then, with up to 5 million people in Washington DC for Tuesday’s pomp and circumstance, a few jailbroken live feeds ought to be accessible to those who know the right people.
Sound Clip is such a thoughtful design solution to limitations that make iPhone’s speakers almost suck, it’s a wonder they didn’t think of it first in Cupertino.
A conical deflection chamber that reflects volume towards the user instead of away, the device is said to amplify sound by 10dB between the 5kHz and 20kHz frequencies. The SoundClip fits in the iPhone’s 30-pin dock, and also helps prevent users from blocking the iPhone speaker with their hand when playing a game.
For $8 and a barely perceptible modification to the iPhone’s svelte form, you can improve its sound appreciably.
You may have heard that this coming Saturday, January 24th, is a special day in the hearts of Mac aficionados. It will mark the 25th anniversary of the Macintosh computer, the machine that turned Apple into a global brand and kick-started the line of computers that has ended up as today’s line up of Pro, Mini and MacBook.
And what we’d like to do to celebrate the Mac’s birthday is find someone who is still using one.
Is that you? Do you have an original Mac that still boots up? Do you still actually use it for anything?
If you have, or if you do, let us know.
We will EITHER: send a media squad to your home to interview you. Top photographers will take pictures of you and your original Mac for use in magazines like Vogue, Playboy, Country Living, Knitting Monthly and possibly even Wired. A real time satellite link will be set up between your home and the White House so that Barack Obama himself can send congratulations and ask you questions about that 8 MHz Motorola 68000 processor. We will also send you a pony.
OR: We might write a post about you.
So, like we said: got a (working) original Mac? We want to know.
Look, it’s about time we confessed something: writing all this gubbins about computers is hard work. Bloggers need breaks.
Especially all the Jobs rumor-mongers who have been working FLAT OUT for the last few weeks, typing up the first thing that pops into their heads in order for readers (and the mainstream media, let’s not forget them!) to have something to talk about.
Now Steve’s gone for some well-deserved rest and the wind has been knocked out of the bloggers’ sails somewhat. We need change.
No, not Presidential change. Something simpler. Something to automate this whole business of writing anything-we-damn-well-please about Steve Jobs, his health, and how the World Might End if he isn’t in charge of Apple any more.
So we turn to our friends at MacJournals with heartfelt thanks, because they have knocked up a quick Steve Jobs story template that any journalist or blogger can use to save time from now on.
Microsoft may unveil two mobile services February designed to counter Apple’s iPhone App Store and MobileMe, a blog claimed Monday.
Citing unnamed “sources close to Microsoft,” Neowin claims the software giant will unveil SkyMarket and SkyBox at next month’s Mobile World Congress.
SkyMarket, like Apple’s App Market, will offer a site for Windows Mobile users to download applications. In September, Microsoft began advertising for a Product Manager for SkyMarket. The service would be tied to Redmond’s Windows Mobile 7.
Apple announced Monday it will reveal sales for the first quarter of 2009, covering between Sept. 28th through Dec. 27th of 2008.
The results will be released at 4 p.m. Eastern and 1 p.m. Pacific, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said. The figures will also be available through a Quicktime rebroadcast.
The numbers are highly anticipated as analyst attempt to predict how successful Apple was during the important holiday shopping period. Wall Street consensus is for a $9.75 billion quarter, pushing the upper limits of Apple’s guidance range of between $9 billion and $10 billion.
Toronto police have posted a security cam video of a $20,000 (about $16,000 USD) iPhone heist on YouTube in hopes of identifying the criminals.
Two armed robbers made a mid-morning visit to a cell phone store on November 1 2008, forcing staff to fill garbage bags with iPhones.
The first suspect is described as male, black, about 25 years old, around five foot nine with a slim build and wearing a dark green cloth jacket with some fur trim around the hood.
The second suspect is about the same age, height and sex, with a medium build. He was wearing dark clothing and had a white cloth covering his face.
In the YouTube video narrated by the investigating detective, you can sort of make out the iPhone boxes at one point when one of the staffers drops them on the floor as a gun is pressed into his back.
Anyone with information is asked to call the hold-up squad at 416-808-7350, or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or use the website 222tips.com.
Men’s fashion shows are keeping things busy and taxis scarce in Milan this week. Designers are dealing with the luxe hangover with new sober designs; Bottega Veneta wants to move its expensive leather goods by putting the focus on how useful they are for toting small electronics.
“Designer Tomas Maier took pains to explain the functionality of iPod-friendly bags. A projection would have helped to convey the details.”
It’s hard to imagine perpetually broody models opening up the bags like the one above on the runway to show the handy-dandy iPod pockets “Price is Right” style, but as Menkes later notes, if you believe in the quality of the Italian fashion house known for its woven leathers, you’ll just have to take thier word for it.
Steve Jobs, who last week took a six-month medical leave of absence as CEO of Apple, reportedly wants to remain on Disney’s board of directors.
Jobs, Disney’s largest shareholder, has been on the Walt Disney board since 2006.
The decision became public Friday, when Disney released a proxy statement, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Questions about Jobs’ ability to serve are already be raised, according to the Financial Times. A board member must serve 250 hours a year, according to the newspaper.
Barack Obama is a Mac. At least that’s how the NYT described his style, approach, manner — naming rival Hillary Clinton a PC about a year ago.
The soon-to-be 44th president of the United States, who addresses citizens via YouTube and Twitter, is also a Mac user who has been spotted flashing an iPhone, keeps up with his family via iChat, whose “O” logo was designed on a Mac and whose campaign was powered by MacBooks.
Obama has said they’ll have to pry the Blackberry out of his hands and, in addition to the more obvious firsts, may be the first president to put a lap top in the Oval Office. (It would give him something in common with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, who has been photographed doing official business on his MacBook.)
Do you want to see a Mac on the desk of the Oval Office or is the choice of First Laptop a non-issue?
This Apple keyboard concept has an induction charge and sync on the right hand side for an iPhone or iPod and six programable OLED keys much like the Optimus Maximus Aux keyboard.
The mock-ad lists the price as $79. Worth the price for going wireless?
How about this uber-nerdy wood and brushed aluminum USB keyboard that features real Scrabble tiles for your next Mac mod project? The points score is slightly edited to show each key’s secondary function, but we think it’s just about the coolest thing we’ve seen this late on a Sunday night.
