Cult of Mac

How can you tell when a company is in trouble? When the CEO bashes a rising competitor’s strategy while copying it at the same time. Such is the unfortunate predicament with our friends to the north, Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry.

Earlier this week, RIM CEO Jim Balsillie proclaimed that “We believe that you can bring the mobile to the Web but you don’t need to go through some kind of control point of an SDK, and that’s the core part of our message”, effectively declaring that Apple is an enemy of freedom or whatever is regarded to be bad at the moment while making the case for its vaporous PlayBook tablet. At the same time, the company unveiled an ad campaign for BlackBerry as the platform of choice for “Super Apps,” which are, wait for it, applications that bring mobile to the Web through an SDK. Basically, they’re like iPhone apps, but of far lower quality.

There’s a lot to criticize here, but I’d like to focus on the core contradiction at hand. RIM is trying to argue that Apple is bad, because its most exciting functionality isn’t vanilla web pages, while at the same time arguing that the BlackBerry platform is exciting because it has applications that are tightly integrated with the OS. You literally cannot have it both ways. Either Apple has cracked the formula on making mobile computing as capable as desktop computing, or mobile is irrelevant as a platform and a good web browser is all we need.

It seems clear to me that the establishment players in mobile are still in a state of shock at the success of both the App Store and the Android ecosystem. When a platform developer is advertising Flash and Adobe Air compatibility as a point of differentiation (also known as the “Hey! We’re like a Netbook without a keyboard!” argument), they have seriously lost the plot of what makes them competitive. It would be nice to see the iPad get some credible competitors. That won’t happen until someone recognizes that tablets are their own category of computer for which application exclusivity matters. If you don’t believe that, read Robert Scoble’s “data points” post and weep.

Neuhaus Laboratories recognizes that many people’s music collections are on their computers, not racks of CDs.

And so unlike other amplifier manufacturers, Neuhaus’ tube amps are designed first and foremost to be hooked to a computer as their main music source, not a CD player or turntable.

Now Neuhaus has taken the next logical step. It’s the first company to add Bluetooth to an audiophile-quality tube amp. Now you can enjoy super high quality music streaming from an iPhone or iPad.

Trust me, it’s the best thing you’ll ever hear from your iPhone, ever.

Black Friday is this week and it will mark the beginning of the 2010 holiday shopping season in the U.S. Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Black Friday.

I’m not exactly excited about braving the crowds for holiday bargains. So I’ll be using my iPhone or iPad and any of the free apps below to help me shop from wherever I happen to be.

Concerned with the growing problem with eWaste?  Want the ability to upgrade and repair your own electronics?  Believe that the throw-away mentality needs to change for the sake of sustainability?

So does iFixIt, teardown-masters extraordinaire and longtime information and parts resource for Apple users.  They have just published the Self Repair Manifesto, along with an ambitious call to action to create – via crowd-sourcing – a Wikipedia-style Free Repair Manual for devices of all kinds: electronics, appliances, even a few cars.

On Tuesday, Apple made the addition of the Beatles’ repertoire to iTunes the story of the week (ho-hum though the story was), and this Sunday, the company made the new partnership the centerpiece of every NFL game, flooding the airwaves with multiple ads drawing on still images from the Get Back/Let it Be sessions (and occasional Ed Sullivan performances).

It’s all a bit retro, but there is some kind of nice unifying warmth to the band that made Helvetica rock-and-roll being featured by the company that made Helvetica high-tech.

The ads are nice, though, particularly if you’re enjoying a holiday beverage or two and are feeling nostalgic about the excitement of four friends, a recording studio, and creativity. Take a sip, sit back, and remember that love is all you need.

I’ve read a lot of Steve Jobs interviews but until now I’d not seen this 1985 interview from Playboy.

It catches Steve Jobs at age 29, one year after the Macintosh was launched. He is by far the youngest person on Forbes’s list of richest Americans and one of only seven who made their fortunes on their own.

He’s portrayed by Playboy as the Mark Zuckerberg of his era: a Valley wunderkind with a magical gift for foreseeing the future. Of course, it’s interesting to look back and see how the future actually panned out.

Jobs comes across as a confident and knowledgeable, but not brash and arrogant. Here’s a few of the highlights:

At the top of our must-have iOS apps list this week is the official Google Voice application that has finally made it in to the App Store. It’s a free download, and it’s claimed to be faster than the Google Voice HTML5 web app.

Also on our list this week is ComicStrip – an application that allows you to create your own comic book using the photos in your device’s camera roll. It’s a universal app so you can use it on your iPhone and your iPad, and it features a great collection of fun and unique layouts and caption bubbles to help you tell your story.

Other applications this week include AVPlayer – a great new media player that supports multiple file formats, and Notica – a beautiful visual memory companion that lets you add notes, photos and videos to beautiful postcards. Check them out after the break!

Our must-have games list this week is packed with some huge releases that are guaranteed to be a massive hit in the App Store.

At the top of our list is Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, a brand new game from Warner Bros. that lets you experience Harry’s first four years at Hogwarts in a wonderful world made of Lego. Based on the Harry Potter books and movies, you can play as Harry, Ron, and Hermione as you explore Hogwarts and engage in countless hours of enchanting gameplay.

Also among our favorites this week is the graphically impressive first-person rail shooter, Rage HD. This much-anticipated game casts you in the staring role of a post-apocalyptic game show in which you’ll be stalked by hungry mutants as you attempt to survive each level.

UFC Undisputed 2010 is the only mixed martial arts video game that delivers the action, intensity, and prestige of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to your iPhone and iPad. Step in to the virtual Octagon and see if you have what it takes to be the ultimate UFC fighter.

Other games in our must-have list this week include Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Astronut, and Star Battalion HD – check them out after the break!

At San Diego State University’s College of Engineering, the rapid asexual mitosis of comp sci students has engendered a problem: there are more students than lab computers.

The iPad to the rescue! By rebuilding its web server infrastructure to support virtual computing through Mobile Safari, almost all of the students at SDSU are able to do most of their work on the go, whether through the iPad, iPhone or Android (boo).

Over the last few weeks we’ve covered Apple-centric gift ideas for men and women.  Now teens take center stage (like they don’t always anyway), as we lay down a humungous stack of sick, phat, gnarly, rad, neato, cool and completely sweater-free holiday gift ideas just for them.

Artsy Teens have no time for academics — they’re too busy creating. Art is their passion and they need the latest gadgets to keep up with them. Here are some gifts the Artsy Teen will treasure.

The Trendy Teen is all about the latest and greatest. Never mind how much it costs, if their friends have it, they want it. Here are some gifts the Trendy Teen will definitely want.

Brainy Teens take pride in their work, and they get great satisfaction from receiving all A’s on their report cards. Here are some gifts worthy of the Brainy Teen.

The Sporty Teen spends a lot of time outdoors; whether as part of a team or working out solo, they are active motivated to perform. Here are some gifts worthy of the Sporty Teen.

Apple released a support document yesterday titled MacBook Air (Late 2010): Video anomalies after waking from sleep, wherein Apple says that if you are experiencing these symptoms, “After waking from sleep, your MacBook Air display may flicker or fade from light to dark repeatedly.”

The solution is to: “Download and apply the Mac OS X v10.6.5 update to resolve this issue.”

Apple never mentioned this in the Mac OS X 10.6.5 release notes. I’m not surprised by that, but I’m happy that Apple has a solution to the problem that plagued early MacBook Air adopters – including myself and other staffers at Cult of Mac.

Have you seen any more video anomalies after applying the Mac OS X 10.6.5 update on your MacBook Air? Let us know if it worked for you or not by leaving a comment.

We wrap up the week before Thanksgiving with a number of deals for your iPhone or iPod. Whether fighting mystical sorcerers or simply looking for day-time TV on your handset, we have the app for you. A new crop of free and discounted iPhone apps have hit our desk and we thought we’d share. First is the free “Duel: Blade & Magic MT,” a role-playing game for your iPhone or iPod touch. Next is “Oprah Mobile,” a discounted app that keeps you connected to the queen of daytime talk. Finally is the Dice Electronics Tube Amplification System for the iPod. The specs include built-in 2 x 20 watt amplifier, 4″ mid/bass driver, 1″ dome tweeter, dual 6N3 tubes (tube fans will know what that means), auxiliary input (to connect other MP3 players/devices), and video output.

Along the way, we also check out more Xserve servers, a 1.2GHz iBook G4 for just $200, and more cases than you can shake a screen protector at. As always, details on these and many more items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Apple has joined the list of closed systems, threatening to turn the web into another proprietary product from Cupertino, warns Tim Berners-Lee in an article published online Friday. Berners-Lee, who loosed the World Wide Web in 1990, blasted Apple’s iTunes for trapping consumers “in a single store, rather than being on the open marketplace.”

“For all the store’s wonderful features, its evolution is limited to what one company thinks up,” the Internet pioneer writes in Scientific American. Rather than using the standard HTTP protocol, Apple links iTunes material with the proprietary “itunes:” command.

When Steve Jobs said that Android was fragmented, here’s exactly what he meant: according to Rovio, who make the popular mobile game Angry Birds, they are struggling to support the game on all of the different Android hardware. In comparison, iOS development is easy as a dream.

What started off as an off-the-cuff joke by Steve Jobs at September’s iPod Event has become an actual sub-industry of the iPod accessory market as manufacturers churn out watchbands by the factory full for the new, touchscreen Nano. The only problem is the cheapness and unimaginativeness of most of these solutions: either they are cheap rubber shells to encase your Nano in or simple straps onto which you are meant to clip your Nano.

They don’t pass muster. MINIMAL’s latest, Kickstarter-funded line of iPod Nano watchbands are something different though. They’re not just functional… they’re gorgeous.

The rationale behind Apple’s unibody aluminum housings isn’t just aesthetic appeal: it’s also sturdiness. Unibody aluminum adds a bit of heft to an ultra-thin Apple portable, but it makes that device also harder to break despite its thinness.

There’s always room for improvement though, and if a new patent published by the USPTO is anything to go by, future iPads might trade in their aluminum shell for ultra-strong carbon fiber.

According to reports last month, Apple is working on a reprogrammable SIM module for future iPhones that would allow Cupertino to sell iPhones directly to customers without it being locked to a specific carrier.

Hey, guess who doesn’t like that idea? Hint: the carriers.

Deals on Apple products tend to be depressingly meager when you’re buying new, as I discovered yesterday when I did some price comparisons on the new 11.6-inch MacBook Air, only to discover the most aggressive deal I could find on the laptop was a whole five dollars off the retail price. Yet that’s all too typical: Apple products tend not to dip dramatically lower than their MSRP unless they are either refurbished or subsidized by a carrier.

Consider our jaws dropped, then, by the biggest deal on a current-gen Apple product we’ve ever seen. TJ Maxx — TJ Maxx, of all places! — is offering the iPad in at least some stores for a cool benjamin off the regular price.

Apple was on a roll yesterday: not only did their crackerjack team of programmers manage to release a new point update for Safari 4 and 5 resolving many existing issues, but they also pushed down the Software Update pipeline a new Boot Camp and MacBook EFI update.

Unscrew the salt shaker and empty it onto your uvula, because it’s Digitimes rumor time. According to the always questionable publication, Apple’s already got the parts suppliers for the iPad 2 lined up… and they’re ready to name names.