Cult of Mac

You just might find out about layoffs at your company on the way to work, if a new iPhone app dedicated to cutbacks and hires does its job.

The layoff and hiring news app receives real-time data feeds from website layoffdaily.com.
Info includes today’s layoffs news (at this writing, those cuts include from “Chicken Soup For the Soul” to Lamborghini and Utah State University), plus previous two day’s layoffs and, to balance things out a little, a section dedicated to news about which companies are hiring (American Welders Society, call centers and Six Flags New England.

It’ll set you back $1.99, but may prove vital.

Via Mac World

Freshman “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon started off this week with a joke that patted Apple on the back  and a Mac on his host desk.

Fallon, who is trying to fill the mighty big shoes of David Letterman (and the slightly less large shoes of  Conan O’Brien  took a pot shot at Microsoft during his opening monologue of the second first episode:

“Despite the recession, Microsoft is planning to open stores to compete with Apple.  They’ll be just like the Apple stores, except the staff will freeze when you ask them a question.”

Then Fallon sat down to welcome guests including Tina Fey, followed up by Robert De Niro and Justin Timberlake from behind a desk with a Mac laptop  (a MacBook Pro?)  on it, next to a mug with pencils, though he never opened it. (Apologies for the grainy pic, outside the US, NBC  blocks the episodes).

Before the show debuted, Fallon was called the Mac of hosts, compared his “PC” competition Jay Leno.

Is this the first time a Mac figures as a prop on a late-night talk show?

It’s no secret President Obama and much of his team are big Mac fans, or that some of their more publicized frustrations with the transition to power in DC have come with confronting the challenges posed by outdated Windows technology and requirements to meet legal guidelines for security and archiving of official communications.

Perhaps readers will recall, as well, Obama’s stated desire to continue using his Blackberry in office and the various and sundry security concerns that have arisen around that issue.

News Wednesday is that Waltham, Mass.-based Onset Technologies may be working on technology that could allow the President to use an iPhone, should that desire strike the Commander in Chief.

Many high profile government groups, including the US House of Representatives, the Senate and NASA, use Onset’s METAmessage ACT to secure correspondence on mobile devices, as do many private businesses. The technology can scan, block and archive all wireless communication on a device that uses it and keeps companies compliant with regulations like SEC, NASD, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, FINRA and the latest Privacy Act.

While Blackberry maker Research in Motion is Onset’s most high-profile partner to date, the company’s solutions are available on all the major US carriers and it is looking to expand its reach.

Onset expects to release new versions of METAmessage ACT for Windows Mobile and Symbian soon and yes, even hopes to make a version for the Apple iPhone.

Via VentureBeat

Apple denied it had fired 50 salespeople, refuting a report the Cupertino, Calif.-based company had joined the growing number of tech companies forced to lay-off employees.

“An Apple spokesperson says Gawker’s report that 50 salespeople were laid off yesterday is not true,” Silicon Alley Insider reported Wednesday.

Tuesday, Silicon Valley rumor site Valleywag claimed a “tipster” said “major layoffs” of Apple salespeople were underway. The site later claimed to have “confirmed” the rumor after talking to “a source in Apple’s enterprise group.”

Former President Bill Clinton signed an iPod Nano 8G, put 10 of his favorite songs on a playlist and now it’s being auctioned off for the Gibson Foundation for Music Rising.

The sax-playing 42nd President put a few interesting choices on his playlist:

1.  Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
2. I Get Along Without You Very Well (Carly Simon)
3. Bahia (Stan Getz with Charlie Byrd)
4. Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)
5. Crown Imperial (“The Presidents Own” U.S. Marine Band)
6. Angel (Sarah McLachlan)
7. Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John)
8. English Folk Song Suite [1-3] (North Texas Wind Symphony)
9. A Song for You (Willie Nelson)
10. Winds of the Old Days (Joan Baez)
11. Concierto de Aranjuez [1-3] (John Williams)

You can check it out on ebay. When we looked, the current bid was $751.

Via 24 bit

In the celluloid version of Brit Toby Young’s memoir about life at Vanity Fair in New York, Macs are the mark of who counts and who doesn’t.

New research findings on the future of smartphone sales in 2009 depends whether you are a glass half-full or half-empty person. Hardware research firm iSuppli announced sales of Apple’s iPhone and other smarthphones could rise 11 percent or 192 million handsets this year, if companies make the right moves.

“Wireless network operators must cut fees for data services and offer aggressive subsidies to reduce consumer smart phone prices,” according to iSuppli senior analyst Tina Teng.

Some of Teng’s suggestions may already be considered by Apple and its carrier partners. Apple reportedly is mulling the idea of introducing multi-tiered pricing to replace the current one size fits all data plan. Apple may also be set to introduce a lower-cost iPhone, which could spur more sales, analysts have recently told clients.

Apple is in iPhone distribution talks with China Unicom, the latest sign negotiations with the nation’s largest mobile carrier may have hit a snag. Tuesday’s comments by the chairman of China’s second largest cellular carrier confirms similar February reports.

“We are in talks with many handset suppliers, including Apple,” Reuters quoted China Unicom chairman Chang Xiaobing. China Mobile, the country’s No. 1 mobile carrier, refused comment on the report.

While Xiaobing did not mention a date when any agreement with Apple might materialize, in February, Fortune reported a deal with China Unicom could be signed May 17.

The Apple Keyboard’s Last Stand from jcims on Vimeo.

How do people think of these things? Vimeo user jcims writes on his profile page: “Avoid boredom at all costs.”

Looks like he certainly knows how to do that. Have old Apple keyboard, will BLOW IT SKY HIGH IN THE WOODS. You know, for kids! I mean kicks.

Wasn’t it great to see Apple roll out a huge number and variety of new Macs and accessories on Tuesday without the benefit of Steve Jobs? The company’s culture and talent run deep, and Apple is in very capable hands with Tim Cook in charge. The new line-up is quite nice.

On the other hand, Tuesday’s announcements summed up and put the spotlight on the single-greatest opportunity that Apple isn’t capitalizing on right now: making the Mac mini the must-have living room computer of the century. WIth just a few small tweaks, the Mac mini would become the killer digital entertainment product the AppleTV aspires to be. No BluRay. No HDMI. Under-sized hard drive. No plans to offer monthly subscriptions for access to the video library. If the company took care of this stuff, hardware makers and content providers alike would be quaking in their boots at the thought of the Mac mini. But Apple left it out yesterday. Again.

To see why the company can’t see an opportunity that’s right in front of its face, click through.

Amazon’s ingeniously named Kindle for iPhone hit the AppStore Tuesday, a free download that synchs with Kindle owners’ web store accounts on Amazon, allowing them to read their Kindle e-books on Apple’s smaller iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

Amazon’s Whispersync bookmarking technology interacts with the iPhone app to allow readers to start reading on one device and pick up where they left off at a later time on the other device.

The app allows users to buy a Kindle ebook through the Amazon web store and wirelessly transfer it to the iPhone. First chapters of all books in the Kindle web store catalog may also be read for free in the iPhone app.

Somewhat lost in the shuffle of Tuesday’s product announcements was news of the new wired keyboard Apple will bundle standard with all new iMacs, a compact design modeled after the aluminum wireless keyboard, which omits the numeric keypad traditionally found on the right side of the device.

The new keyboard requires Mac OS X 10.5.6, and features two onboard USB 2.0 ports.

It will be available as a separate item for $49, with the long-form wired keyboard also remaining available as an optional upgrade.

The often interesting, always entertaining Dr. Macenstein posted the chart above Tuesday night seeking to explain and illuminate the perennial complaints about price vs. perceived value of new machines that surface whenever Apple has the temerity to upgrade its product lines.

In the end, the Dr. was left to conclude, “The only thing I can think is that when Apple ditched the plastic chassis of the G4 towers in favor of aluminum (or “all-oo-min-ee-um”, as our cute little “petrol-saying” UK readers call it), they didn’t anticipate that today we’d be in the midst of a massive aluminum shortage which has caused the precious metal to eclipse gold in value.”

Follow after the jump for an analysis of where the Doc gets it wrong and what to make of the so-called “Apple premium.”

If nothing else, Apple’s product refresh announcements Tuesday serve notice that even when the world around them seems to be coming apart at the seams, the product teams in Cupertino can be counted on to refine and improve the company’s product line at regular intervals.

And to, more often than not, prove the Apple commentariat wrong in the process.

A case in point is the refresh of the Mac mini. Written off almost a full two years ago by AppleInsider as a dead item, Apple has since then made THREE updates to the product line, two of them substantial. AI were originally saying the mini wouldn’t make it to Intel.

And then, just last fall, Gizmodo tried to bury the mini under rumors that European inventories were being allowed to thin.

The truth of the matter is that as much as great thinkers in the press and great dreamers among the consuming public may want Apple to craft product in the image of their hearts desire, the producers and designers inside One Infinite Loop have their own vision and their own timelines to which they prove, again and again, focused and true.

Yes, the era of locked-down secrecy may be at an end, as leaks and (invariably badly lit) spy-shots tend to precede product announcements more these days, but those who would seek to bury an Apple product before the company itself issues an EOL statement are more likely than not digging a hole they might look to crawl into months or even years down the road.

Apple Tuesday unveiled two new Mac Pro models using Intel’s Nahalem Xeon processors. The high-end computers also sported a $300 price cut.

“The new Mac Pro is a significant upgrade and starts at $300 less than before,” Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said in a statement.

Using Intel’s Xeon processor with built-in memory controller and DDR3 ECC memory boosts memory elbow-room “about 2.4 percent” while also cutting memory slowdowns by 40 percent, according to reports.

Work on the set of NBC show “Heroes” has its down time. So actor Greg Grunberg, who plays Los Angeles cop Matt Parkman with the ability to hear people’s thoughts, pulls out his iPhone nearly everywhere. To keep himself busy,  in between takes on the studio lot, he uses the device to send missives to Twitter. He broadcasts them to the more than 20,000 friends and fans following him.

Grunberg also started a business to create a free iPhone app called Yowza — think mobile coupons, it’s expected to launch shortly —  with two men he befriended on Twitter but hadn’t met in person.

Via LA Times

Apple Tuesday updated its line of affordable Mac Mini desktop computers, with models offering faster graphics and more display options for $599 and up.

Both desktops come with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and support for either Mini DisplayPort or mini-DVI connections.

The $599 unit includes 1GB of Ram, expandable to 4GB, and a 120GB hard drive.

The $799 model offers 2GB of Ram, a 320GB hard disk.

Buyers can also select “build-to-order” customizations, including a 2.26 Core 2 Duo, as well as an 80GB, 250GB, or 320GB hard disk drive.

After days of rumors and talk, Apple Tuesday introduced a line of updated iMacs sporting NVIDIA graphics. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company unveiled four versions of its popular desktop, aimed at entry-level. mid-range and high-end users.

At $1,199, a 20-inch iMac includes a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2, 2GB RAM and 320GB hard disk drive. As with other iMacs introduced, the entry-level desktop offers the faster NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics.

Apple also introduced three versions of a 24-inch iMac for prices ranging from $1,499 to $2,199.

Apple may unveil a new slate of Macs as early as today, advancing a rumored late March announcement. These latest reports suggest the computer maker could introduce updated versions of its iMac and Mac mini desktop line.

The chatter comes from the French MacBidouille and Dutch OneMoreThing, which offered details of a potential Apple hardware refresh, including model numbers and alleged photos of a new Mac mini.

Some think that the iTunes model — small payments for content subscriptions — might help save floundering old media.

One case in point: London fashion glossy “Drama” pictured above which was shuttered as a monthly newsstand mag only to be reborn on iTunes. At $3.99, the digital version for the iPhone and iPod Touch costs about what you’d expect to pay for something you could read on a train.

The people who came up with the idea of letting the mag rise from its ashes in digital form are calling it “the beginning of the next revolution in publishing.”

Tim Colburne plugged in his iPhone 3G to his computer’s USB port and left it to charge. Three hours later, it caught fire. The above is an aftermath pic.

Colburne writes on his blog: “The fire started in the space between the lead and the phone and resulted in a couple of pins fusing together.

Although the main functions of the phone are apparently unaffected, the device won’t connect to the computer which means I can neither charge it nor transfer data. Result: one dead iPhone.”

Colburne reckons very few iPhones go up in flames, he was able to find one other similar incident on a site from Sweden in 2008.

Anyone else?

And if your iPhone did go into meltdown, how did getting a replacement go?

Via A Roman Thought