Could IBM’s Watson replace Siri? That’s an interesting question and IBM’s answer appears to be yes. Big Blue is working to turn the supercomputing solution that made news when it beat Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter into an app that could run on a smartphone. If successful, IBM will turn Watson into a supercharged version of Apple’s digital assistant.
Wowsers! Western Digital’s Thunderbolt My Book VelociRaptor Duo is all about the big numbers. 10,000 RPM platters, 2TB storage, 10Gb/s transfer (in both directions) and – if you daisy-chain it with other Thunderbolt drives – you can RAID things up to make them even faster.
Heck, even the price is impressive: $860. Ouch!
This is fantastic. The guys over at Macrumors have put together a fantastic and very Apple-like video, expounding upon the virtues of the next iPhone’s larger 4-inch display. More apps, bigger homescreen, no more letterboxing in movies and widescreen gaming are the primary qualities promoted here. It’s fine work, and it really has me excited to see how Apple’s going to demonstrate this same capability come September 12th.
Source: Macrumors
Dr Web, a Russian antivirus software specialist, has discovered a new piece of malware that targets computers running Mac OS X and Linux. Named “Wirenet.1,” once installed the software steals all of the passwords you enter into your web browser, mail client, and other apps, and has the ability to log your keystrokes.
I can’t think of many things worse to do on a bike than ride it indoors on a stationary trainer. After all, without the world going by and the wind in your hair, you’re effectively just sitting on a stool and waggling your legs.
However, if forced to use these blow-up dolls of the bike world, then I’d insist on one that connected to my iPhone 4S or iPad 3 via Bluetooth 4 and let me control it and hook it up with third-party app. And amazingly, that’s just what Wahoo’s Kickr PowerTrainer does.
iOS developers are slashing prices for Labor Day. The likes of EA, Gameloft and more are reducing some of their most popular titles to as little as $0.99. We’ve compiled a list of some of the hottest titles on sale, including Real Racing 2, Dead Space, Madden NFL 12, Mass Effect Infiltrator, Max Payne Mobile, and more.
Over at the IFA tradeshow in Berlin. Zagg has launched a couple of new iPad keyboards. And one of them, the Pro Plus, has something I have missed ever since I took to typing on my iPad in the corners of dark and seedy bars: a keyboard backlight.
Apple has released a new white paper for CIOs, IT leaders, and IT professionals. This one targets FileVault 2, which was introduced in Lion and remains present as a high security feature in Mountain Lion. The 42 page document joins a growing collection of white papers and guides available from Apple that detail the mechanisms and best practices for integrating Macs into Windows-centric enterprise environments.
On August 22, it became apparent that retailers across the United States were beginning to see shortages of 27-inch iMacs, sparking speculation that Apple’s popular all-in-one could be about to get a much-anticipated refresh. Now those tight supplies are affecting Apple’s own retail stores, which are quickly running out of both 27-inch iMac iterations.
Fearing the fury of your boss after a really crappy performance isn’t unique to any profession. No one wants to make the big kahuna angry, and see them go nuts. Samsung’s executives tried to take the “maybe the chairman won’t be so mad if we wait a few days to tell him the bad news” approach. It didn’t work.
Last Friday, Samsung received the verdict that Apple won the patent lawsuit in the U.S., but top executives at the company waited four days before telling the company chairman Lee Kun-hee the bad news because they were afraid how he might react. Apparently, he freaked out a bit.
Etchings is an iPhone photography app which takes your pictures and turns them into very realistic etchings. Or fake etchings, I guess. Whatever you call them, if you pick the right source pic then you’ll end up with something that looks as if you lacquered your own metal plate, etched it, dropped it into an acid bath, washed and dried it, inked it up and ran it through a printing press.
Only instead of taking a whole morning, it takes just seconds.
iOS developer Marco Arment has discovered two new iPads — believed to be two iterations of the upcoming iPad mini — in his Instapaper developer logs. The devices have the “iPad2,5” and “iPad2,6” model numbers, according to their operating system, which haven’t been seen before, and could point to Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + cellular versions of the device.
At this point, despite Tim Cook’s claim that Apple is “doubling down on secrecy”, we’ve seen pretty much everything there is to see when it comes to the new iPhone. If we Apple fans were peeping toms, the iPhone 5 would be like spying on a girl we have a date with Friday night and, instead of seeing her merely undress, witnessing her actually take off her skin and dance around her bedroom as a skeleton.
There’s not much more to see, but the boys over at Nowhereelse.fr — who have just been on fire this year when it comes to iPhone 5 parts — have posted some more shots of the next iPhone, including some very good comparison shots putting into perspective just how frickin’ thin this phone is compared to what came before. It’s a wafer!
Sources for Bloomberg have corroborated recent iPad mini rumors by confirming that the device will launch this October with a 7.85-inch display supplied by AU Optronics and LG Display. This will be the first time AUO, which supplies displays for Apple’s MacBooks, will supply a display for one of the Cupertino company’s iOS devices.
It’s a battle royal on our shiny new CultCast! Don’t miss our Apple Vs. Samsung trial breakdown, where Cult of Mac reporter Jose Fermoso tells us what it was like to be in the tension-filled courtroom, what the verdict means for consumers, and where Apple and Samsung go from here.
Then, a topic you suggested, dear CultCast listeners! We talk AppleCare, Apple’s extended warranty program, and tell you when it makes sense, when it doesn’t, and which gadgets you should always keep covered.
Subscribe to The CultCast now on iTunes, or easily stream new episodes right on your iPhone or iPad with Apple’s newly updated and freshly debugged Podcasts App.
Read on for the show notes!
When the Sparrow team announced that it had been acquired by Google back in July, the future of its popular email clients for Mac and iOS became unclear. We still don’t really know what will become of Sparrow, but its creators promised it would continue support its customers.
Staying true to that promise, the team has updated Sparrow for iPhone for the first time since its Google acquisition, adding support for Google Chrome, better IMAP compatibility, and more.
Why limit yourself to one designer when you can tap into the talent of HUNDREDS? Competition breads excellence which is exactly what this deal will bring to your needed designs. The idea behind 99designs is to essentially have designers compete for your business. Awesome right!?
As part of Apple’s App Store redesign in iOS 6, thanks in part to their acquisition of Chomp, a new search result interface has been rolling out tonight for both the iPad and iPhone. The redesign, which brings a new cards-style interface to searches, replaces the old list format of results. As you can see from below, the design is consistent across both the iPhone and iPad user interface.
If you haven’t had the chance to play Basion on the Xbox or your Mac, yet – heck, even if you have – you owe it to yourself to pick this game up for your iPad.
Bastion is available on Mac or the Xbox gaming console for around $15. The iPad version was released today at a fantastic $4.99, making this the best gaming deal you can get for a brand new out-of-the-gate game.
The world’s first cross-platform MMO is still alive and kicking. Whether you’re just getting into it or have been around since its iOS debut back in April 2012, you’ll be happy to hear that today marks the beginning of Pocket Legends’ Double XP weekend!
At VMWorld, this week VMWare showed of Horizon Mobile for iOS – an enterprise solution that separates business apps and content on an iOS device from a user’s personal apps, documents, and data. It’s an iOS version of a tool that VMWare previously demoed, but hasn’t yet shipped, for Android devices. While the name and the goal of Horizon mobile is essentially the same on both platforms, the company is taking a vastly different approach for iPhones and iPads.
Not only is the iOS approach different, it’s also nowhere near as revolutionary – other mobile enterprise companies have using similar approaches for a while and the one truly distinctive feature is one that Apple might not approve for distribution.
Adobe has just announced that Photoshop CS6 will be getting Retina support this fall. Lightroom 4 will also be updated with Retina graphic support in coming months, although a specific release date has not been given.
2012 MacBook Pro with Retina display owners will be able to use CS6 in full HiDPI mode when the update drops.
Unfortunately, the App Store has become home to thousands of poorly designed copycat apps that try to ride the coattails of other popular titles. Such apps use a similar name, look, description, and even icon to trick customers into downloading. While Apple is known for the stringent requirements it puts in place for third-party developers, many clear ripoffs still manage to slip through somehow.
It appears as though Apple is starting to crack down on copycat apps with more force. App Store submissions that uses icons similar to other popular apps are now getting banned.
Steve Jobs famously declared a thermonuclear war on Google’s alleged iPhone copycat Android OS, but the full-on battle between the companies may be prevented before more of their lawyers have broken out of the trenches. A Reuters report this morning revealed Google’s Larry Page and Apple’s Tim Cook are planning on conducting preliminary talks regarding the companies’ IP disputes, a series of talks which may lead to a truce deal in the upcoming months.
We all have that contact or three that just can’t seem to take a hint. They keep calling and calling, and we really just need to get our work done. If you use the audible ringer on your iPhone, there’s a way to ignore that caller (along with any other folks you’d like to selectively mute) with a silent ringtone.