Cult of Mac

For some time, Apple has viewed its Apple TV product as a ‘hobby.’ While the device has been updated occasionally, the streaming video gadget has not been seen as a weapon in Cupertino’s battle with Google for media supremacy. However, that may change as word leaks that Google, Intel and Sony have teamed-up for GoogleTV.

A GoogleTV prototype already exists, according to the New York Times. The device employs Google’s Android operating system, Google’s Chrome Web browser and Intel’s Atom processor. The project has been underway for several months and plans to get a toolkit to developer over the next two months, with products introduced possibly this summer. Google has begun limiting testing of its set-top box with Dish Network, according to the NYT.

Back when everyone thought Apple’s tablet was going to be called the iSlate, HP stole the rumored name for their own iPad-esque wedge of aluminum and metal, the HP Slate, but the specs remained a mystery. Now Spanish gadget blog Clipset has the details on HP’s forthcoming tablet, confirming pretty much what we knew all along: it’s basically a netbook with the keyboard broken off.

According to Clipset, the HP Slate is driven by Intel’s Atom processor, and contains built-in USB ports, a memory card reader for expandable storage, and the poorly thought-out placement of a backwards-facing webcam.

That Intel Atom processor would be just fine if the HP Slate was being driven by a custom touchscreen OS like the iPhone OS, but instead it runs Windows 7, which runs chunkily at best on netbook processors and has a long way to go as a multitouch-driven OS.

The cost? €400, or almost $550, although my guess is that in the US, HP won’t dare go higher than the entry-level iPad’s $499 price.

It’s a nice try, but one that falls short. They might confuse some people: in chassis design, the HP Slate looks so much like the iPad that it resembles a Chinese knock-off more than a competing product. Caveat emptor. But there’s just no way anyone is going to mistake Windows 7 for iPhone OS.

[via Gadget Lab]

Tech site H-Online has an interesting story today, quoting security expert Charlie Miller about his forthcoming talk at the CanSecWest conference next week.

He says OS X is full of security holes. There are lots more than in Windows, he claims.

And yet: OS X is a safer system to use. Why? Because, in the words of The Inquirer, its users are “so far from the action.”

H-Online quotes Miller saying:

“Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town.”

At the conference next week, Miller will reveal how he found the holes – but won’t tell anyone exactly what they are.

Hmm. So this place we’re in right now: this is just a rural idyll? Is Miller right with his summary of the state of OS X security, or is he trying to drum up a little additional buzz about his security consulting business?

It was inevitable that Apple’s 27-inch iMac would eventually be stripped off the computer guts that drove it and pared down into Apple’s long-anticipated update to their original LED-backlit Cinema Display… and now that the 27-inch iMac’s perpetual quality assurance problems seem to have been ironed out, it looks like that’s just what we’re going to see.

According to Apple Insider, sources have told them that the 27-inch display has been floating around Apple’s labs for sometime, referenced by the codename “K59.”

The only thing stopping Apple from releasing K59? The cost of the 2560 x 1440 display panels. The 27-inch iMac is already an absurd deal, the equivalent of getting a top-of-the-line cinema display and getting a computer built-in for free. If the K59 can be delivered for a significantly lower price point, some of us might be looking at 54-inch desktops in our immediate futures.

The National Trust is one of the UK’s national treasures – a charity that looks after all manner of old and ancient pieces of British heritage.

That means owning and maintaining miles of coastline, acres of woodlands, heaths, mountains and gardens, and quite a few stately homes.

The Trust is much loved, but it has something of a stuffy reputation. The stately homes are usually preserved as they would have been in times past – which means you’re allowed to walk through and take pictures, but not touch.

Not anymore. A new policy of opening up means the Trust is allowing people to touch historic objects for the first time.

It’s also a good time to launch a National Trust iPhone app. The free app includes locations, maps, opening times and visitor information for all National Trust properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

I particularly like the “Near to me” feature. Obvious to include, of course, but might come in really useful next time I’m exploring an unfamiliar part of the country with the family in tow.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuiXjmhZ4-8&feature=player_embedded

While not a Final Fantasy game per se, Square-Enix’s latest game Chaos Rings (to be released sometime soonish for the iPhone and iPod Touch) has all the hallmarks of their most famous series of JRPGs.

A white-haired protagonist wielding a sword bigger than the length of his body? Check. NPCs androgynously envisioned by character designer Testuya Nomura? Yup. Being slurped into random battles every three steps? Uh huh. And I’m guessing we can expect a ten minute cutscene or two as well.

No word yet on when this is dropping on the App Store, but the Japanese trailer above says “soon” and the trailer itself looks remarkably polished. I imagine we’ll see it within a month or two.

Although you can’t read a Mac publication or talk about Apple without stumbling over lengthy coverage of the iPad, for developers wanting a sneak peak before April 3, the story is much different. Much. In a 10-page document, Apple binds developers to the strictest rules of secrecy outside the CIA.

In a requirement harkening back to World War II, Apple insists developers quarantine the iPad in a room with blacked-out windows, presumably to prevent the tablet device being ogled by telephoto lenses, according to BusinessWeek. If that’s not enough, the iPad “must remain tethered to a fixed object,” according to the report which cites four people familiar with the secrecy rules. Finally, because Apple is a trusting lot, developers seeking to use a pre-release iPad must send Cupertino photographic proof that all steps have been met.

A terse entry from the sometimes reliable Digitimes might spell bad news for MacBook owners waiting for an imminent hardware refresh: Intel is having a hard time meeting demand for their latest Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, the most likely CPU candidates for the next iteration of Cupertino’s laptop line.

It all comes down to Acer. Apparently, the Windows laptop maker was so optimistic about consumer demand for Intel’s latest processors that they made an abnormally large order, slurping up practically every batch spit out of the assembly line. This has caused Intel to prioritize delivery of the remaining chips to major clients.

The question is: is Apple still considered a major client for Intel? Intel and Apple simply aren’t as close as they were two years ago, mostly due to Apple’s GPU partnership with NVIDIA: now, with Apple getting into chip development of its own, Intel may well see the writing on the wall… Apple’s an up-and-coming competitor.

Thanks to some great hardware design and some daringly surreptitious pricing agreements between Apple and the biggest publishers out there, Amazon’s Kindle e-reader has been feeling the pinch from the still unreleased iPad for the last few months, and it’s only going to get worse from here.

Still, the Kindle has at least one advantage the iPad doesn’t (yet): cross-platform libraries. Until (or even if) Amazon can put together a next-gen Kindle device that out-iPads the iPad, it behooves them to get their Kindle e-reading application on as many devices as possible as a stop-gap measure.

No surprise, then, that after a delay of several months, Amazon has finally brought the Kindle application to OS X. Unfortunately, it has all of the hallmarks of a panicked beta release (which is probably what it is) including some very sloppy and un-Mac-like interface design, the bizarre omission of a search function and some very swampy text rendering.

In other words, download at the peril of your sense of clean OS X aestheticism and functional application design. Unless you don’t plan on picking up an iPad, or have a large existing library of Kindle e-books, there’s little reason to give this a go.

Despite last-minute hang-ups on getting content onto the iPad, Apple has sold “hundreds of thousands” of the tablet devices since the Cupertino, Calif. company began taking pre-orders a week ago. The report seems to mirror a Venezualan blogger and analyst who predicted Thursday Apple will reach the 200,000 mark sometime today.

Apple could sell more iPads than it did iPhones during the same first three months, “people familiar with the matter” told the Wall Street Journal. Blogger Daniel Tello has said Apple could reach the 200,000 mark for online pre-orders of the iPad by mid-Friday. Tello, also known as Deagol, bases his estimates on order numbers buyers submitted since Apple unleashed pre-orders March 12. An equal amount of in-person pickups at Apple retail locations are also expected, according to Fortune.

A couple of weeks ago I canceled my MobileMe account. Why? Because it didn’t do the one thing I wanted it to do: share my calendar with my wife so we could coordinate our busy lives. That’s all.

I love MobileMe’s email, calendar, contact syncing (especially on the iPhone) and even iDisk. I gave Apple a year to improve it, but nothing happpened, so I switched.

Here’s how to recreate all of MobileMe’s features for FREE (except one) and how I use it to sync my iMac, MacBook and two iPhones.

You may have beat the crowd to pre-order an iPad, but when you pick it up April 3, Apple still doesn’t know content will be available for it.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Apple is “scrambling” to firm up content deals just weeks before the device ships.

All of the usual unnamed insiders say that Apple has had a hard time lining up TV programs, digital newspapers and other content before the launch as media titans weigh the advantages of jumping on the iPad bandwagon against the potential threat to current revenue streams.

Talks are still on, according to these Cupertino deep throats, to secure discounted TV shows.  iPad users would get $0.99 downloads instead of the $1.99 and $2.99 they pay now at the iTunes store. Deals with newspapers, magazines and book publishers have all been put on the back burner for now.

If the numbers insiders cited in the story are correct — hundreds of thousands of iPads have been pre-ordered and Apple could sell more iPads in the first three months than iPhones in the first trimester after debut– the content owners could soon be the ones scrambling.

What, if any, content do you consider essential for the iPad?

Via WSJ

From the wonderful city of Manchester – birthplace of The Smiths and The Fall, unfairly mocked as Rain Capital of England – comes something wonderful and simple for your iPhone: the MoviePeg.

If ever you needed a sign that Apple was a different kind of technology company, this is it.

What other computer manufacturer would remove its top-selling, hype-inducing, industry-altering new product from the prime spot on its website home page, and replace it with an obituary to an investor?

This is one of those “Here’s to the crazy ones” moments, a corporate action that is uniquely personal. This is one of those times when the vast corporate entity that is Apple speaks with a very human, very uncorporate tone.

Jerome York was a huge figure in the auto and technology business sectors. Apple’s tribute to him is a reflection of just how important a role he played in the company’s early history.

As the week winds down, we offer three deals for Mac fans on the go. First up is Apple’s Nike+ armband for the iPod nano. For iPhone owners, we have Morphie’s JuicePack charging case battery pack for your handset. The unit provides 270 hours of standby or 4.5 hours of talk. Finally, if you are heading out but not certain how to get there, there is NAVIGON’s MobileNavigator app for the iPhone.

Like always, details on these and many other bargains (such as Gameloft’s iPhone apps, including “Earthworm Jimmy”) are available on CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Apple may sell 400,000 iPads during the first week of accepting pre-orders for the tablet device, according to two reports Thursday. Apple may sell 200,000 iPads online by mid-Friday for delivery and an equal number destined for pick-up at Apple retail locations. The Cupertino, Calif. company said it will begin shipping iPads April 3.

Apple has just updated their ITunes Connect app submission service to allow developers to schedule pricing changes as well as set specific launch dates for their apps, according to an Twitter by user amcdev.

The latter’s a big change: up until now, companies have had no say as to when their apps will go live. Even high profile app releases are promoted with vague release dates which can ultimately prove to be so much wishful thinking. The feature additions to iTunes Connect should give both developers and customers a like some much wanted scheduling dependability when it comes to the release new titles.

As for the ability to schedule sales? Expect a lot more 24 hour sales on the App Store, especially over the next few weeks as developers test the functionality out.

If you need a screen protector for your iPhone, prepare to go to Best Buy to pick one up: Apple will no longer be selling screen protectors — including protective cases and screen films — in either its online store or retail outlets starting in May

Apple has devs to the grindstone for a new social networking app called iGroups.

Patently Apple reports that docs out today from the US Patent Office describe a new service that would work on your iPhone and probably MobileMe, too.

Let’s say you’re attending SXSW: iGroups would keep you in touch with your co-workers and friends by allowing you to share your location plus info and comment on events as they happen, greatly facilitating which parties or events are worth attending or already over.

To accomplish this, iGroups reportedly employs a sophisticated cryptographic key generation system to ensure security and privacy.

The patent also states that if one of group devices lacks true positioning technology, Apple’s MobileMe service would provide “virtual GPS” capability to that user so they can still know the whereabouts of other group members.

Would you welcome a geo-location social networking app from Apple, or prefer to stick to Gowalla or Foursquare?

Or do you plan to shun the “Where’s Waldo?” world altogether?

Via Patently Apple, The Next Web

If Palm has problems now, wait until this summer, one analyst predicts. Not only will Apple likely have introduced a new iPhone, but there is BlackBerry-maker RIM, as well as the growing strength of Android-powered handsets.

UBS analyst Maynard Um predicts Apple will unveil a new iPhone in June. Although Palm has a deal to promote its Pri, Pixi and Plus through AT&T, Um believes Palm will be down to a one-carrier strategy as AT&T focuses its marketing muscle on promoting the new Apple handset. Indeed, we saw the first signs of that pulling away when the Dallas-based carrier announced it would delay launching the Palm Pre and Pixi from April to June or July. In another sign the upcoming iPhone may be drawing AT&T’s eye off Palm’s new handset’s, the carrier will “sharply reduce its marketing budget” for the handsets’ launch, according to Cannacord Adams analyst Peter Misek earlier this week.

In addition, amid talk Palm might be better to sell itself to Apple or Google, Um told investors Palm must “drive greater scale” (analyst-speak for sell more handsets) at a time when AT&T is focused on the iPhone into August and Verizon is busy with its Android-based offerings.

Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley analyst Ehud Gelblum said Palm could license its webOS to other manufacturers, rather than hawk its own line of handsets. A BNET writer tweaked that suggestion, promoting Palm as the perfect take-over prospect in the increasingly competitive battle between Apple and Google.

[via Electronista]

Publishers are balking at a new requirement by Amazon for three-year contracts aimed at thwarting the current rush toward Apple’s rival iBookstore and iPad.

Apple has said it will permit publishers to charge between $13 to $15 for best-selling titles, a premium over Amazon, which keeps titles for its Kindle e-reader at a flat $9.99. A number of larger publishers have sided with Apple’s so-called “Agency” pricing model, concerned the Amazon flat-pricing will undervalue printed books in the eyes of consumers.

Next week sees the opening of the CanSecWest digital security conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

It’s also going to be host to the annual Pwn2Own contest, where a variety of computers are offered up as prizes to the first individual who can crack their way into them.

This is the fourth year of Pwn2Own and the total prize money has ballooned to US$100,000. Nice work if you can get it.

This year the browser targets are: Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 on Windows 7, Mozilla Firefox 3 on Windows 7, Google Chrome 4 on Windows 7, and Apple Safari 4 on MacOS X Snow Leopard.

There’s also a separate part of the contest aimed at mobile devices, which this year will be: an Apple iPhone 3GS, a RIM Blackberry Bold 9700, a Nokia device running Symbian S60 (probably the E62), and a Motorola phone running Android (probably a Droid).

There are some interesting omissions from the target list this year: no Ubuntu desktops? No Opera Mobile?

In 2009, the a MacBook Air was the first device to be won. Wonder how Snow Leopard will fare this year?

Last year I signed up for a landline phone for my office. I wish I hadn’t for two reasons:

1. No one calls me.

2. Toktumi’s Line2 iPhone app, which adds a second, distinct number to my iPhone.

With a service like Line2, there’s no need for a physical phone at my place of work. I give my Line2 number to all my contacts, and it’s just like having a phone at work — except this office phone is always with me.

Like most people, I don’t like giving out my iPhone number for work but I do it all the time. But when the Line2 number rings, I know it’s a business call. I can route it straight to voicemail, or use the sophisticated Auto Attendtant to make my little company look big and important. “Dial one for the news desk,” it says, “or dial two for advertising and sales.” There’s no telling that both departments are one and the same: me.

Fake Steve creator Dan Lyons just signed a deal to bring Steve Jobs to another small screen near you.

The half-hour series called “iCon” is billed by the presser as “a savage satire centering on a fictional Silicon Valley CEO whose ego is a study in power and greed.”

Making sure the barbs prick will be the job of Larry Charles, director of “Borat” and  “Religulous.” The single-camera show to be aired on cable channel Epix may borrow something in style from his work as writer and producer of “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Charles said, “We are attempting to do nothing less than a modern ‘Citizen Kane.’ A scabrous satire of Silicon Valley and its most famous citizen.”

No word yet on air dates or iTunes availablilty.

Will you tune in or not?

Via Alltop, NYT

Last week we reported on a director who shot a music video using only three iPhones. Now, Tom Freeman brings an all-iPhone production to the arena of sound with the release of his electronic soundscape, iMatik.