Apple was granted a recent patent, no. 7,508,662, for a handle arrangement with integrated heat pipe.

Here’s how it’s summed up in the patent application: “As portable electronic device designs become more compact, managing thermal loads in integrated circuits (e.g. processing units) becomes more challenging.

One reason for this challenge is that high powered portable devices can generate significant amounts of waste heat energy over a relatively compact area. As such, damage due to heat cycling may cause collateral damage to components in close proximity to heat generators. In conventional solutions, fans may be utilized in coordination with a heat sink to dissipate generated waste heat. In some examples, where fans are utilized to cool components, battery life may be significantly lowered.

“Although conventional methods as illustrated may be effective, as noted above, power requirements for fan usage may, in some instances significantly reduce battery life making such a solution somewhat undesirable. Furthermore, use of a fan may, in some examples, contribute to an undesirable increase in noise level. Therefore, handle arrangements with an integrated heat pipe are presented herein.”

The  iBook G3 Clamshell had a handle (removed on later models),  a quick search turned up third-party handles for newer models, too, though at about $45 you might be better off with a case.

Have you bought handles? Would you like to see them on your next laptop?

via macsimum news

Spotted this yesterday in Milan: a small stool with a faux-Apple logo, missing the bite and a few colors but unmistakably inspired by the iconic rainbow.

Wonder who, for about $17 (€12.90), would want to sit on it, PC people?

Nearly 900 people RSVPd for the boxee meetup Tuesday at Webster Hall in NYC, where the “bleeding edge” media center platform is announcing brand new partnerships with Pandora, Radio Time and PBS, as well as a more robust API and a new XUL-based framework for the boxee browser that will enable easier interaction with any web-based video (translation: Hulu web pages).

Live video of the meetup and a chat session are accessible on the Mogulus boxee meetup channel.

With the new Pandora station, boxee users can listen to their personal quickmix and favorite stations, as well as create new stations, making music in the living room more accessible than ever.

BoxeeHQ is also releasing a new PBS app today, and the company promises its new API will allow developers to build apps using XML pages and Python scripts, giving them control over everything they want from a UI perspective.

They offer as an example the new implementation of Radio Time, an application built using the new API that will allow users to stream over 100k terrestrial radio stations from around the world.

By adding new access to more music and continuing to add to and refine access to video content, boxee is definitely pressing its case as a force to be reckoned with in the breaking down of barriers between internet and traditional media content.

If you’ve been on the fence about whether or not to jailbreak your iPhone due to trepidation over wading into deep geek water, Ripdev’s release of InstallerApp might be just the tipping point you’ve been waiting for.

It’s an application for Mac (soon to be available for Windows PCs as well) that allows you to download iPhone apps on your computer and transfer them to your device in a friendly iTunes-like interface, without “jailbreaking” your phone.

InstallerApp comes with software, called “Pusher”, that RipDev says can install Installer.app on your iPhone without “jailbreaking” it, so you can use Apple’s approved AppStore and InstallerApp simultaneously. The app supports Cydia, a popular installer for jailbroken iPhones, but does so, according to Ripdev, without making a mess of your iPhone’s file system or replacing any system libraries as Cydia does.

You’ll need a Mac with Intel processor running OS X 10.5 Leopard or higher. InstallerApp supports first generation iPhone and iPhone 3G, though not iPod touch as yet.

One $7 license lets you sync up to three iPhones and gives you access to free updates and email tech support for one year. The free version is fully functional and lets you browse the app’s repository of thousands of non-AppStore software titles, and use it to install the Installer app on your iPhone, but you won’t be able to install other apps on your iPhone. That sort of defeats the purpose, but at least you can get a look and feel for free.

Clearly, the jailbreaking community is hitting its stride in providing competitive alternatives to Apple’s walled garden of iPhone apps. Ripdev is even promising to support iPhone 3.0 shortly after the new software is released and jailbroken.

UPDATE: InstallerApp may not be living up to its developers claims, according to some comments to this post and to a report at Engadget. Has anyone had success making InstallerApp perform as advertised? Let us know in comments and we’ll post again as information warrants.

[Macworld]

After a decade of being the clear leader driving market trends in computing, Apple’s influence could wane in the post-Steve Jobs era, according to a thoughtful piece posted Tuesday at TG Daily.

Industry analyst Rob Enderle describes Apple’s amazingly diverse impact on wider market trends:

* The iPhone immediately became the gold standard for mobile phone manufacturers, resulting in an explosion of new devices and innovation across every mobile software platform;

* Apple created integration between power and graphics in computer processors that would not have been possible without the company’s commitment to OpenCL, a framework for writing programs that execute across CPUs and GPUs;

* Apple’s focus on design and higher margins resulted in the introduction of products such as the recently released Dell Adamo, a PC notebook designed and marketed to emulate Apple’s attention to every detail from the packaging inward, down to the absence of stickers promoting Microsoft Windows and Intel;

* The elegance of the user experience in Mac OS X virtually doomed OEMs’ embrace of Linux to a competition not with Apple but with Windows, an outcome which will affect the introduction of Google’s Android when it comes to market next year as well.

In short, Enderle writes, “Apple is at the core” of all recent change in the computer industry, that “as a result Apple’s efforts, the products we will see from a variety of vendors will be vastly more amazing than they otherwise would have been.”

None of the above is really subject to debate. Enderle goes on to question whether Apple can keep it up in the post-Jobs era, however, and this writer disagrees. Follow the jump to find out why.

There have been a number of stories recently about doctors armed with iPhones, using the device to save time and start making the almost extinct house call come back.

Business Week got on the case with a long feature about “Dr. iPhone,” calling it a “critical tool for saving time and improving the quality of the care” provided by the doc profiled, Dan Diamond, a family practitioner who works at the Doctors Clinic in Silverdale, Washington.

“If I leave my iPhone at home, I will turn around and go back for it,” he says. “It’s that important.”

Of 22 applications Diamond has installed on his iPhone, 10 are health related. The most important, he says, is Epocrates Essentials, which lets him quickly check for drug interactions, look up disease symptoms and find out what lab tests he might need to order. “I don’t have everything I need to know memorized,” Diamond says. “This makes me look like I do.”

Interesting that traditional media is looking into how smart phones change the medical profession — just like they are changing police work and other sectors  —  but how many docs use them?

Photo credit: Lezlie Sterling [email protected]

Actor Ashton Kutcher gets a lot of mileage out of his iPhone —  filming intruding paps and taking candid cam pics of his wife Demi Moore.

Image via San Jose Mercury News

UPDATE: Woz has made it through to round three without even having to be part of a dance-off! He wasn’t in the group of the worst two dance couples! Can you smell what the Woz is cookin’?

Quote: “That was the most incredible surprise. I was setting myself up to be so happy doing my dance again. When that came, my world turned in an instant”¦I was crying. I still have tears a little.”

We’re back! Woz is going on, and he pulled a hamstring! This is going to be good!

9:22 p.m. Woz, sporting a fauxhawk, is attempting a samba. He can barely walk.

9:23 p.m. As my wife notes, this is the only time he hasn’t had a feather boa.

9:24 p.m. Um. Woz just did the worm. Yeah, that worm. That was amazing.

9:24 p.m. The female judge is dissing on his worm. “You’re so cute, but the novelty is wearing thin.” Also: “You’re like the uncle at the party!”

9:25 p.m. Cranky old British man: “You’re meant to be killing the dance, but the dance is killing you.”

9:26 p.m. Bruno: “Steve, this was the worst samba I have seen in my whole life!”

9:26 p.m. Wozdom: “One thing I learned is that if you mix a samba with a little Smirnoff, you’ll end up in the hospital!” Smirnoff is the last name of his partner.

9:27 p.m. Woz got 10 points. That’s the lowest he’s gotten ever. Ouch. Woz remains committed to bringing his brand of entertainment to America.

9:30 p.m. And we’re outta here!

The subtle humor of New Yorker Cartoons are now available in an iPhone app in animated form. Michael Fry and long-time feature animation writer and producer Jim Cox bring the strips as films, one a day, offered on iTunes gratis at this writing.

Via Textually

A businessman who ran a $50 million iPod investment scam was sentenced to 17 years in prison by a federal judge in Miami.

Andres Leonel Pimstein, who pleaded guilty to a dozen wire-fraud counts in December, must also turn over 5,540 of the Apple devices and a Fidelity investment account totaling $138,522, U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan said.

It was a simple enough scheme: Pimstein bough iPods at wholesale prices and resold them to a department store chain in Chile. The chain, named Ripley, was supposedly going to buy the iPods from him at above-market rates.

But there was one slight problem: it was a Ponzi scheme.

‘In exchange for their work, Pimstein made `interest payments’ to the agents that were purportedly derived from the sale of products to Ripley,” according to the criminal information charging him with wire fraud. ‘The agents, in turn, distributed a percentage of the `interest payments’ to their investors and retained the difference as a commission.”

Pimstein was accused of creating false invoices to document the purported purchase and sale of the iPods.

Via Miami Herald

Image used with CC license, thanks to FHKE

Though it’s not entirely surprising that pop-synth vets Depeche Mode, who recently launched the first “iTunes Pass” are Macs, they way they expressed it in a recent interview was entertaining.

The Guardian asked them to link a song from their latest album to typical PC problems:

Guardian: Being in PC World, hoping to by an external disk drive to back up your important data, considering reliability to be more important than price.

Martin “Miles Away would be the best song on the new album for the situation, because Microsoft Vista is miles away from working. You wouldn’t find us in PC World, we’re all Mac users.”

Guardian: You can buy Macs in PC World now, you know.

Martin: “Well I wouldn’t know about that. Does Windows Vista work yet? (Chuckles) I wouldn’t like to be a beta tester for that!”

Dave: “Hard drives always crash. Make sure you back up!”

Hat tip to CoM reader Peter Philipsen.

Image used with a CC license, thanks to mrmatt

Image by shapeshift, used under CreativeCommons license

Next-generation iPhones could enjoy up to twice as fast 3G connectivity and faster WiFi as well, according to rumors being pondered Friday at Silicon Valley Insider and Mac Rumors.

The speculation centers around AT&T’s stated intention to upgrade its 3G network to support 7.2 Mbps speeds, up from the 3.6 Mbps speed of the current network. The cellular provider maintains that that many of its cell towers can be upgraded through software rather than by new equipment, but current iPhone hardware limits connectivity to 3.6 Mbps, so users of Apple’s mobile devices will need a new generation of phone to enjoy faster 3G connectivity.

Additional speculation concerns the possibility of faster WiFi connectivity through a new Broadcom 802.11 chipset that would provide real Wi-Fi speeds of up to 50Mbps (versus 25Mbps for typical 802.11g) in addition to Bluetooth with support for wireless stereo audio.

While none of the speculation has been confirmed at this point, it is only logical to assume that as faster, more powerful chips become available, Apple and its service provider partners will enable devices that take advantage of them.

Perhaps the battery industry will join the advancing technology party in a meaningful way as well.

No matter how many times, nor by how many ways it’s disproved, the canard that Macs are more expensive than Windows machines will just not die.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer yammered on about Apple’s price premium Thursday, speaking to BusinessWeek editor Stephen Adler at The McGraw-Hill Companies’ 2009 Media Summit. Citing February sales data indicating a pull-back in the momentum of Mac sales, Ballmer pronounced Apple’s run at market share in the PC universe all but doomed in the currrent economy.

“The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.”

Anyone who bothers to think beyond the superficialities, however, knows the higher cost of Macs to be a myth, debunked at least as far back as the earliest years of this decade, and regularly disproved since.

On top of that, three quarters of companies in a recent survey indicated an intention to increase their Mac purchases in the coming year, citing increased productivity and lower cost of ownership as reasons underlying their purchase planning.

So when are people gong to stop paying attention to blowhards such as Ballmer, a guy who won’t even let his wife or kids have an iPod?

Apple has added HD movies to the US iTunes store, including action flicks “Transporter 3,” “Bangkok Dangerous” and “The Spirit.”   HD versions cost five dollars more to buy ($14.99 regular, $19.99 HD) but rentals cost the same as regular flicks, $3.99. HD purchases also come with an iPod/iPhone compatible standard def version for viewing on smaller screens.

Upcoming titles available for pre-order on iTunes include “Quantum of Solace” and “Twilight.”

An independent iPod repairman was charged with fraud and money laundering after acquiring more than 9,000 replacement iPod Shuffles by entering serial numbers into Apple’s Web site.

Nicholas Woodhams, 23, then sold the replacement iPods for $49 each, according to court documents filed Wednesday in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Through his repair business, Woodhams knew iPod owners could get a replacement if their Shuffle had problems.

“Through trial and error, the defendant determined that he could guess valid, warrantied serial numbers and enter them into Apple’s Web site for ‘replacement’ units without ever in fact purchasing or possessing the ‘original’ units,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler wrote.

If Apple didn’t receive a defective iPod in return, the company would charge the cost of a replacement to a credit card provided by the customer. But Woodhams used credit or debt cards that rejected the transaction, the prosecutor said.

His lawyer Randall Levine told the Associated Press: “He is one of those guys who is computer-savvy. This is a very bright man who did not fully appreciate the seriousness of the situation.”

Image used with a CC license, thanks to re-ality

UPDATE: This post corrects a post written and originally published on 4/18 that contained incorrectly attributed information.

The single most talked about and demonstrated feature of iPhone 3.0 software at Tuesday’s launch event — push notification — remains absent from the beta release distributed to developers, with no indication thus far forthcoming from Apple when it will become available.

Scott Forstall, Apple’s Senior VP for iPhone software spent over half an hour Tuesday extolling the virtues of push notification and explaining why — although promised by the company over a year ago — it has taken so long to roll out. Developer “demand we didn’t anticipate” caused Apple to “completely re-architect the server infrastructure for push notification,” he said.

Developer representatives from a half dozen companies were trotted out for a dog and pony show to demonstrate how amazing push notification is going to be in the next version of iPhone software, and yet, despite distributing documentation of how the service is intended to work, Apple has yet to provide developers a method for implementing and testing push notification in their apps.

Forstall spoke plainly in his presentation Tuesday (see 26:45 into the video) “It is now really scalable, and we’re ready to go.”

Apparently not.

Calls to Apple for explanation were not returned as of press time, but we’ll be sure to keep readers apprised as this story develops.

Psystar Corp., the Florida company fighting with Apple in federal court over selling computers that run Mac OS X, launched a new, slimmer clone.

The $600 Open(3) computer, sold exclusively on the company’s website,  has an Intel 2.8-GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive and an Nvidia GeForce 8400GS graphics card with 256MB of RAM in its standard configuration.

FireWire, Bluetooth and wireless hardware cost extra, however, as does a keyboard, mouse and monitor, none of which is bundled with the box, putting it up for competition with the base model Mac Mini, which also retails for $599, without monitor, keyboard or mouse.

Psystar started selling Intel-based computers with Mac OS X preinstalled last April.  In July 2008,  Apple filed a lawsuit accusing the company of copyright and software licensing violations.

A month later, Psystar filed a countersuit, which was tossed out in November 2008.

Psystar, however, refused to back down.  In February it won a round after a judge ruled that it could amend its countersuit to charge Apple with abusing copyright laws by tying Mac OS X to its own hardware.

Via Computer World

Hey, “festering dumpster biscuit,” I’m talking to you. Or at least I would be, if I’d shelled out $.99 for the Mud Slinger app.

Mud Slinger puts over a million different combos of contemptuous rudeness at your fingertips. Some are funny, none are really obscene and most would be challenging to  shout at the guy who just cut you off in traffic.

A few results from the “Unspeakably Foul Insult Generator”:
* Mutant rump worm penetrator
* Closeted dingle berry strainer
* Cretinous bubble jam
* Leaking member fondler
* Pulsating dill-knob fluid

Via TMC net

Charlie Miller, principal security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators, used a security exploit in Safari 4 to hack into a MacBook in about 10 seconds Wednesday, winning the Pwn2own contest at the CanSecWest security conference for the second year in a row.

The security hole, which Miller said he discovered last year, allows a remote attacker to gain control of a machine by getting the computer user to click on a malicious URL, as Miller demonstrated.

“It’s not easy, but this worked with one click” from the Safari browser, he said.

The contest is sponsored by TippingPoint, which shares details on the exploit with Apple and develops a patch for it. TippingPoint offers $5,000 for each new exploit demonstrated in the major browsers and $10,000 for each successful exploit in the major smartphones.

Miller also discovered an exploit in the mobile version of Safari shortly after the iPhone was launched in 2007. In addition to the $5000 prize for his efforts Wednesday, he gets to keep the MacBook he used to win the contest.

[CNet]

Newber, the FreedomVoice Systems app that sought to bring innovative calling functionality to the iPhone, has thrown in the towel after having had its app submission ignored by Apple for five months, according to an open letter (pdf) published Wednesday by FreedomVoice CEO, Eric Thomas.

We reported in January that Apple was dragging its feet on the Newber app, which would let users route every phone call made to them though a single number (their “Newber”) and, using GPS location awareness, let them take a call on any phone that happened to be nearby.

Thomas claims Newber followed Apple’s submission guidelines, yet never received any information from the company as to why the application was not reviewed. FreedomVoice records claim to show no one at Apple ever even tried the app.

A simple rejection, although not a welcome development, would have provided an opportunity to rework the app or scrap the project before wasting money on promotions, according to Thomas, but Apple left Newber in limbo.

After spending over $500K for R&D, architectural changes, patent applications, and marketing, the company finally saw no way forward.

“I don’t think you can do that to companies and expect others to continue to invest in your platform,” Thomas said.

[MacNN]

Switcheasy has released a very cool, tiny microphone for Apple’s iPod Nano 4G and Touch 2G devices. Available in red, white and black, the little mini-mic connects to the iPod’s 3.5mm headphone jack and delivers what Switcheasy says is “outstanding” recordings from “the best quality micro-microphone in its category.”

$13 + $3 shipping and handling from the website, ThumbTacks have a gold plated, non-corrosive plug and work with third-party apps. Switcheasy recommends upgrading the iPod to latest firmware before using the ThumbTack.

AT&T is set to begin offering existing customers iPhone 3G on March 26 without requiring on-site activation or the 2 year service contract new and upgrade customers must agree to in order to buy a phone at reduced pricing, according to a report at Boy Genius.

Claiming to be based on internal AT&T training slides describing the new policies, the report indicates existing AT&T customers will be able to purchase a limit of one device per phone line at $599 (8GB) and $699 (16GB) without committing to the usual 2 year contract required of new customers wishing to purchase an iPhone.

New AT&T customers will still be required to sign a 2 year service contract in order to activate iPhones on the AT&T network and all phones activated for AT&T service will still be required to carry an iPhone data plan.

A police officer in Benton County, Washington is using his iPhone on the job as a translator.

Described in the local news story as a “crime-fighting gadget,” Deputy Doug Hollenbeck has been relying on his iPhone for the last eight months to help boost rudimentary Spanish skills while dealing with everything from roll-over accidents to routine traffic stops.

Hollenbeck says he’s admittedly at a disadvantage because he can’t speak fluent Spanish in a significantly Hispanic community.

“I’ve got some basic vocabulary skills but other than that, not so much,” he adds. That has translated to the phone being somewhat of a staple in his line-up of gear.  No mention of exactly which app he’s using.

Are translator apps fast enough to be used on the job? Let me know what you’re using in the comments…

Via kndu

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTOCgkvJ03c
The teen star was trying to play nice with paps waiting for her outside a Pilates studio, taking pics of them with a camera and answering questions.

Then, as the pap was handing her drink back, she let his iPhone drop. That’ll teach ’em.

Well, it’s more of an unfortunate oversight. But the iCount logo — a numbers game for the iPhone, iPod touch —  looks like it’s all about something else thanks to the dropping of the “o”. Oh, my. Chalk up another one for the iTunes store censors.

Via the Inquirer