SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD 2010 — New York Times tech columnist David Pogue just kicked off Macworld Expo with an impression of Steve — Steve Ballmer, that is, not Jobs.
Pogue stormed the stage grunting and whooping in an exuberant impersonation of the Microsoft CEO, who is famous for his Monkey Boy stage appearances.
“Steve Jobs would have been too obvious,” Pogue said.
It wasn’t a bad start to the Expo. Except for the obligatory song, Pogue is bringing the house down with a string of good jokes at the expense of Apple, AT&T and Twitter.
I’m one of the few avowed fans of Google’s Chrome browser here at Cult of Mac, but it’s definitely got its problems. As Craig eloquently pointed out, it’s a browser utterly dismissive of Apple’s own UI design principles, and the Chrome for Mac beta has a number of shocking holes in its feature set…. biggest among them the lack of a bookmark manager, a cookie manager, a task manager, bookmark sync and extension support.
Guess what features were just added to the Chrome for Mac beta? Hint: Craig’s not going to be any happier.
You should at least check it out: it’s a fuller featured browser than Safari, and the new beta not only brings Chrome for Mac up to spec compared to Chrome on other platforms, but the addition of extensions, managers and sync finally makes Chrome for Mac a serious competitor to Firefox.
If you’re interested in trying it out or upgrading your copy of Chrome, you can download the newest beta here.
This waterproof case for the iPad will probably provide more consumer protection against unnecessary purchases than traditional spending prophylactics.
When the iPad was unveiled, many of us at Cult of Mac who are bag/case junkies wondered just how you’d best carry the device around.
With enough time, cool cases are sure to come. But the iPad is a somewhat oddball size to protect and serve — swaddled in cloth cases it’ll probably look, well, even more pad-like and hard to use on the go, with rubber or plastic border protection like a cell phone it’ll be an awkward size.
This clear envelope style with blue or purple border costs $19.99 from the ironically-monikered TrendyDigital Design. It can also be worn around your neck or shoulder with adjustable strap and was originally designed for the Kindle or Sony e-readers.
The iPhone already plays Doom better than just about any smartphone out there thanks to iD Mobile’s continuing interest in porting their older titles and releasing iPhone-specific spin-off games of their more popular franchises to the App Store… but years before the iPhone’s debut, I was playing Doom RPG on my little Motorola RAZR.
Doom RPG was a great little game that did the impossible: it translated the frenetic first-person action of Doom into a wonderful, story-rich, turn-based RPG perfect for playing on a cell phone’s numeric keypad.
Ever since I got my iPhone, I’ve wished that iD Mobile would port it on over to the App Store… and while they still haven’t done so, they’ve done one better, releasing a sequel for the iPhone and iPod Touch called Doom II RPG. It’s available on the App Store now for $4.
My only question: who is that egghead shooting the demon in the screenshot? That’s not the bloodied, Schwarzenegger-esque marine I remember from Doom days gone by.
Companies seem to be treating the iPad more seriously than they treated the iPhone when it was first announced… at least as far as scrambling to make sure they get their content available on it.
Case in point: Hulu.com, which streams popular television shows to millions of users in the United States through their web browser. According to Techcrunch, Hulu is now in the process of trying to get their content on the iPad… but they’ll need to ditch their online Flash video player to do it.
In truth, that’s not really a big deal. Hulu’s videos are already encoded in H.264, so they should run on the iPad without a problem. As Techcrunch points out, the big issue is making sure Hulu’s ads — all of which are in Flash — are iPad ready. A hurdle, sure, but not a big one… and one that can be gradually rolled out over time. I doubt any of us will mind a few less ads on Hulu through the iPad, at least initially.
Used with a CC-license. Thanks gruntzooki on Flickr.
British thieves have realized it’s more profitable to snatch the iPhone from your hand than risk breaking into your home for a no-name DVD player.
Ten years ago, there were an estimated 1.28 million domestic burglaries in England and Wales, according to the British Crime Survey (BCS). By, 2008/09 that number had fallen to 744,000 burglaries.
The drop, one researcher says, is due to expensive portable gadgets and cheap home electronics.
“While DVD players for example, got cheaper, certain consumer items became smaller and were very, very expensive and sought after,” said James Treadwell, a lecturer at the University of Leicester’s Department of Criminology. So the latest mobile phone, or the latest iPod, which people carry about them, have become targets for robbers.”
Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates has never been shy about commenting on Apple’s products, and now, in response to the iPad announcement, he’s pretty much towing the line of the general Windows world response to Apple’s new tablet: meh.
“You know, I’m a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard — in other words, a netbook — will be the mainstream on that,” Gates reportedly told Brent Schlender of BNET.
“So, it’s not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, ‘Oh my God, Microsoft didn’t aim high enough.’ It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.'”
Apple’s most useless-out-of-the-box product, the “hobby” Apple TV, has just gotten a minor update.
Don’t expect this to revolutionize (or even improve) the usefulness of your dust-catching Apple set-top. It’s an update so inconsequential that Apple couldn’t even be bothered to write up some change note for it.
That said, Apple TV users are piecing together that the update, once applied, is mainly to improve the way that the new Aperture 3 pro photo software suite shares images with the Apple TV over the local network, while bringing support for iPhoto and Aperture’s Places and Faces features.
If you don’t care about that, there’s another reason to tempt you top upgrade: users are reporting that the update seems to fix intermittent issues the Apple TV has when switching the HDMI output cable.
If you’re interested, you can update the firmware of your Apple TV to 3.0.2 through the “Update Software” option under Settings > General. Otherwise, we’ll be sure to shake you all awake when Apple finally gets serious about Apple TV.
iBooks, one of the best-known applications for the Apple’s new iPad, won’t ship with the tablet device, according to a Thursday report. Viewed as the ebook equivalent of iTunes, iBooks must be downloaded separately.
“Apple didn’t emphasize this heavily at the introduction, but the iBooks app is not going to be bundled with the iPad — it’s an app you download from the App Store, putting it on an (at least somewhat) equal footing to e-book readers from other companies,” writes Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber.
Apple will offer $1 TV shows on the iPad when the new tablet device goes on sale later this year, according to a Thursday report. Several unnamed studios are going along with the pilot program designed to determine whether cutting current pricing in half stimulates sales.
“If you move five times the volume [of sales] at half the price, it’s a good deal,” one U.S. media conglomerate told the FT. Although studios had previously hesitated to sign-onto such an arrangement with Apple, falling DVD sales and low-cost $1 movie rentals from Redbox, are prompting the turn-around, according to the report.
Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone at Macworld 2007. It was a great success, thanks to the venue and audience.
SAN FRANCISCO — Three years ago Steve Jobs took the stage to introduce the iPhone here at Macworld. The presentation was one of the best in Jobs’ career, generating enormous buzz and expectation for the device.
Also important, fans could check out the device in person on the Macworld show floor (Well, kinda — there was a prototype in a glass case). It was obvious the iPhone was a big deal, and by the time it went on sale in June, there were lines around the block. Looking back, I think the success of the iPhone’s debut had a lot to do with the venue, and the audience it was introduced to.
My original theory that Apple ruled out a camera in the iPad because they couldn’t figure out a way around the double-chin dilemma is starting to look sillier by the moment. Apple clearly intends to put a camera in the iPad… in the second generation. First-genners looking to video conference? You’re just out of luck.
Need more proof? Here’s the latest Apple job posting looking for a software quality engineer to exclusively work on video and image capture for the iPad Media Group.
We kick-off this blizzard-ridden Wednesday with three intriguing deals for the Apple fan. First up is Zoomit, an SD card reader for your iPhone. Although not available until April, the company is accepting $50 preorders. Also, Apple has unveiled a new batch of App Store price drops, including the iZombieland game. We wrap up our top trio with Aperture 3, hot off the presses from Apple. This digital photo management software is just $199.
Along the way, we look at more software for your iPhone (including new freebies from the App Store), plus a high-def TV perfect for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, and other items. As always, details on these and many more bargains can be found on CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
Despite widespread criticism of their mobile broadband service and the crushing network demand of millions of iPhone users, AT&T isn’t exactly spending a lot of money beefing up their nationwide 3G coverage… and now they have announced that they’ve just signed deals with Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson to roll-out LTE in 2011.
LTE is to 3G what 3G was to EDGE, theoretically offering transfer rates of between 140 to 300Mbps… and if they want to keep the iPhone as an exclusive, it’s important for AT&T to roll it out before their competitors. In fact, maybe the impending LTE roll out explains why AT&T has been so reticent to beef up their 3G network: they’ve known for awhile that 3G is a dead duck, and all they need to do is keep service good enough to get through the next couple of years until LTE comes.
Or at least that’s what I hope it was. Frankly, AT&T’s handling of its 3G network was of such staggering ineptitude that unless they ignored it on purpose, I have no faith that their LTE roll out will be anything besides a debacle.
Either way, you can now probably put a firm date on the iPhone 4G: June 2011.
With the App Store Review Team’s undisguised animosity towards approving apps that “duplicate” innate functionality of the iPhone’s built-in applications a stark fact of the iPhone development scene, releasing a third-party web browser for the most widely adopted smartphone on the market is a risky proposition… but Opera’s going to try it anyway, having just announced that they will be previewing Opera Mini for the iPhone next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Before Firefox and Chrome smudged a lot of their luster, Opera was one of the most cutting-edge browsers out there. In the last couple of years, though, most of Opera’s users are in the mobile phone sector: in fact, before the iPhone, Opera Mini was one of the only options out there for using a (relatively) full-featured browser on a mobile phone. A huge chunk of Opera’s money these days is made in the mobile phone and smartphone sector, so it’s no wonder they want to get their browser on the iPhone.
Unfortunately, Opera Mini is going to be at a marked disadvantage here. Even if it can get past the App Store approval process, Safari is allowed to run on the iPhone in the background while Opera will have to open and reload anew every time the user switches apps. Until Apple allows third-party apps to stay loaded in the background, I’m just not sure I see a market for another iPhone browser.
On a physical keyboard, my own digits are pounding pistons capable of rattling off text with enough pressure pounds per inch to bore through a human skull at roughly 120 words per minute… but get me on an iPhone, and all of my speed typing skills go to pot.
I’m more impressed with this video of some guy typing at an incredible rate of 56 words per minute on the iPhone in portrait mode, then, than I would be at the touch typing tornado of a polydactyl secretary with an IV drip of amphetamines smashing out text at three times the rate.
Simply amazing… and I’m willing to bet some of you out there can do even better, self-proclaimed “fastest iPhone texter in the world” or not.
Controversial iMussolini app was yanked from the Italian iTunes store a week ago, not for ongoing protests but for possible copyright violations of material from Italian state archives Istituto Luce.
The grim jawline of Il Duce has been reinstated in the iTunes store — now iMussolini, a mobile compendium of fascism, features speeches, a video selection (with a disclaimer), plus a section on fascist architecture and songs from his 20-year heyday.
It costs more than the previous version €1.59 (was €0.79. ) It’s also available in the US iTunes store for $1.99, in Italian only.
Cult of Mac asked developer Luigi Marino on how the app made a comeback. Cult of Mac: So the copyright-contested video segments are still in the iMussolini app? Luigi Marino: Yes. The videos are still there, my lawyer evaluated them in terms of copyright violation and advised me to keep them but add a disclaimer.
CoM: What does the disclaimer say?
LM: It says that the video footage is property of Istituto Luce. It also says that in no way does the app intend to praise fascism but is just a vehicle for recounting historical events.
CoM: What made you decide to put the app back in the store?
LM: I also made a few other new additions to the content in the meantime, too.
LM: I’m sorry to hear about the protests, I don’t think they understand what the app is really about. I hope they may take a closer look at the content and change their minds.
The House of Mouse becomes very animated when talking about the possibilities the iPad offers. Disney CEO Bog Iger Tuesday described the new Apple device as a “game-changer,” saying the tablet will enhance the television-watching experience.
“The interactivity it will allow on a portable device with such a high quality screen is going to enable us to really start developing products that are different than the product that you typically see on an Internet-connected computer, or on a television screen,” Iger said during a quarterly Walt Disney Co, earnings call.
A page from Vook romance tale "Promises." Courtesy Vook.
Vampire scribe extraordinaire Anne Rice just agreed to make a video-enhanced book or Vook for the iTunes store.
Her effort may provide a necessary lifeblood to the genre, even though she’s not risking much by giving video treatment to a 1984 story first published in Redbook magazine. Set in 1888, “The Master of Rampling Gate” is a vampire tale of two siblings and a foreboding mansion that has already been published as an audio book.
Rice’s Vook, priced at $6.99, will launch with iPod Touch and iPhone versions on March 1, a strategic move before the iPad hits the scene.
The iPhone 3GS. Creative Commons-licensed photo by Fr3d: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fr3d/2660915827/
Two new voices have joined a chorus of analysts predicting AT&T will remain the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier through 2011. A belief that Apple would cut AT&T loose this summer is giving way to a sentiment that the carrier will be given more time to improve its network and find a way to supplement its smartphone offerings.
Barclays Capital analyst Vija Jayant told investors Tuesday AT&T will probably remain the exclusive iPhone carrier through the rest of 2010. The analyst said Apple’s use of AT&T for the iPad “is a vote of confidence in AT&T’s network by the equipment maker.” The move “could suggest the iPhone exclusivity may continue, at least through the end of 2010,” he added.
Another research firm is reporting how much it costs Apple to build it’s new iPad. ISupply said the 32GB version with 3G costs $287.15 for the parts and manufacturing. The iPad’s low cost to build may provide the Cupertino, Calif. company the “wiggle” room to lower the device’s retail price if needed.
Although the iPad’s parts cost $219.35, the $80 multi-touch screen and $17 processor adds to the final tally, according to iSuppli. Even so, the 32GB iPad costs only to build is only 39.4 percent of the eventual retail price, the analysts said.
Used with a CC-license, thanks sheriffmitchell on Flickr.
Apple topped a survey of brands that Europeans are “passionate” about.
Some 10,000 Old Continent dwellers of 15 nations were asked to reveal their passions for online research agency Panelteam.
Consumer electronics all got Euro-folks hearts racing: the top five brands are Apple, Sony, Coca-Cola, Samsung and Adidas. (And this despite the relative high cost of Apple products — compared to US prices — and without the benefit of ad campaigns like “Get a Mac” in most countries.)
German-based sportswear maker Adidas was the only European company in the top five, though regional passion preferences turned up local companies for each country.
We start off with a deal on a 32GB iPhone 3GS from AT&T for $249. Next up: a 1TB Time Capsule back-up drive for $430. Finally, once while you are on hold and backing-up your life, take some time to wind down the road with Moto Chaser, a racing game for your iPhone or iPod touch.
Along the way, we’ll check out an iPod speaker system from Logitech, a Fantom hard drive and more. For details on these and other products, take a look at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
Earlier today, I was reading Infoworld’s article, The iPad questions Apple won’t answer. The first question they listed was “Can you save and transfer documents to the iPad?”, and their assumed answer was “No”; they suggested that the only way to do this would be to open a document from an email message.
I read that and I knew it wasn’t the case. I knew I’d seen something that suggested to me that the iPad has on-board storage for documents. It was something I’d seen somewhere before, and for a moment I couldn’t think where. Then I remembered.
