Apple’s decision not to attend Macworld might mean any of the following:
– Yeah, maybe Steve Jobs is really ill. It’s none of our business, though
– Apple no longer wishes to indulge the trade show industry
– Apple would rather present stuff on its own agenda, to its own timetable, when there is stuff ready to present. And if it wishes to hire a big room in which to do so, it will certainly have the money to do that
– Perhaps, given the success of the iPhone, Apple would rather devote its energies to publicising and marketing the iPhone and the App Store
What Apple’s decision not to attend Macworld might NOT mean:
– All of the above
– Any other speculation you read elsewhere today
Meanwhile, keep injecting the rumor sites if that’s what grabs you. New Mac minis! Some kind of netbook! iPhones on skis! Yeah yeah yeah; it’s all just hot air and page impressions until Phil Schiller stands on that stage. And even after that, it’ll mostly be page impressions.
Apple today announced that 2009 will be the last year the company exhibits at Macworld Expo.
Citing the declining efficacy of reaching its audience through participation in trade shows, the company issued a press release indicating Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo. Schiller’s will be Apple’s last keynote at the show, which held its debut event in 1985.
The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.
With the increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website, the company is able to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in ways a trade show could never hope to.
Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.
Nearly 70 percent of companies say they will permit employees to use Macs in the workplace – double the number just 8 months ago, a survey found.
Macs “could very well represent a viable alternative to PCs” in companies, Laura DiDio, principal analyst of the Boston-based Information Technology Intelligence Corporation.
A survey of businesses found the top reason was the “consumerization of IT,” followed by the increased availability of Windows applications through Boot Camp and other virtualization.
Rapper Lil’ Wayne recently launched an iPhone, iPod touch app designed to give fans a taste of what it’s like to be him.
Well, what it means to look a little like 25-year-old Dwayne Carter, or to paraphrase the old cosmetics slogan: “You, only blinger.”
The app developed by Lil’ Wayne and his record company Universal Music, comes from epictilt, the makers of iPhone app ESPN Cameraman.
The Lil’ Wayne app adds gold jewelry, his trademark teardrop tats and oversized hats to your pics. If you’re unsure you want to pop $0.99 for it on iTunes, you can check out a photo gallery here. The app allows fans to check out other Wayne-ified photos and buy his music.
One guarantee: you get to look fierce but avoid Lil Wayne’s real-life arrests with corresponding mug shots.
This post is entirely about MacBooks on sofas. Or couches. Or settees. Or whatever it is you call them in your house. In our house, they are sofas. Anyway. Here are some more pictures of MacBooks on sofas. If you have your own pictures of MacBooks on sofas to contribute, please do let us know in the comments.
Steven’s picture is by far the best, the most MacBook-plus-sofary picture we’ve seen. But there are more…
Amazon MP3, the DRM-free digital music store, is far from a rival to Apple’s iTunes, claims a Tuesday report. The MP3 arm of online retail giant Amazon.com has only 5 percent to 10 percent of the market, compared to more than 70 percent for iTunes, according to All Things Digital.
The report’s estimate cited an unnamed label executive.
The one year-old MP3 store “has failed miserably” as a rival to iTunes, Peter Kafka wrote. Amazon earned $39 million on $82 million in sales – the bulk going to Universal Music Group, the report suggested.
The faltering economy has caught up with Mac desktop sales. Sales of Apple desktop computers fell 38 percent in November, according to retail research firm NPD.
The figure compares to a 15 percent drop in U.S. sales of Windows desktop PCs and a 20 percent domestic cut for overall desktop sales during the past month.
Mac U.S. sales were flat in November, falling 1 percent as PC sales grew 2 percent, according to NPD. The numbers appear to reflect a consumer spending tightening and Apple’s reluctance to shift from premium prices.
Apple will unveil two netbooks at the upcoming Macworld Expo in response to the gloomy economy, an analyst predicted Tuesday. The devices would likely follow the path of iPhones’ dependence on the App Store and iTunes.
Ezra Gottheil, analyst with Technology Business Research Inc., believe Apple will introduce two low-priced computers at the January tradeshow, according to Computerworld Tuesday. The crumbling economy and growing consumer interest in netbooks is cited as spurring expected decision.
“It looks like netbooks are real, and getting a certain amount of traction,” the analyst told the publication. The netbook category grew 160 percent during the third quarter, DisplayResearch announced last week. Apple was described as the “lone exception” to computer makers entering the segment.
iBend marketing materials call it “the thinnest stand for the iPhone and iPod Touch.”
$5 gets you what appears to be two pieces of plastic or maybe laminated card stock (the website doesn’t say) cut in such a way they could be mistaken for “Snidely Whiplash”-style fake mustaches, but that, when “bent” just so, will hold your device in place on any flat surface so you can look at it (and the video or slideshow you’re watching on it) without having to hold it in your hand. The iBend is thin enough to fit in your wallet, pocket or purse.
iBend is patent-pending and manufactured in California.
Apple released the 10.5.6 update to Leopard on Monday with a feature that makes it impossible to jailbreak and/or unlock an iPhone or iPod Touch using PwnageTool or QuickPwn, according to a report at iPhoneAlley.
Blogger Erica Sadun explains in more detail that engineers at Apple propagated to all 10.5.6 loaded Mac systems USB kexts (kernel extensions) that prevent a Mac from recognizing an iPhone or iPod in Device Firmware Update mode, a high level communication protocol used for firmware restores among other things.
The battle between Cupertino and a dedicated band of Apple users who believe the company’s mobile platform should be opened for general use and development outside the limitations of the AppStore has been going on since the original iPhone was unlocked weeks after its initial release in June 2007. Subsequent updates to the mobile firmware have ben decoded within days of their release.
Many, though not all users who jailbreak/unlock their iPhones do so to enable them to operate on cellular telephone networks other than AT&T, the exclusive authorized service provider in the US. Others see the advantage of an unlocked phone that can run software developed for it that has not otherwise been approved by Apple for sale and distribution in the iTunes AppStore.
Sadun confirmed with sources inside Apple that the current roadblock to unlocking efforts was deliberate and both she and iPhoneAlley suggested those wanting to operate jailbroken iPhones and iPod Touches ought to wait to install the 10.5.6 update on their Macs until developers working to maintain the open mobile platform have devised a workaround.
One possible avenue around the DFU mode restriction has been suggested by Phone developer Steven Troughton-Smith, who told Sadun the problem relates to devices plugged directly to Macs. He relates that DFU mode can be used with a unit connected via a hub and can be pwned as normal, even with the 10.5.6 update.
Chimp 65 Productions announced Monday the premiere of its documentary film “MacHEADS The Movie” at the 2009 Macworld Conference & Expo. The attendees-only special screening is scheduled for Wednesday, January 7, in room 131 of the North Hall of San Francisco’s Moscone Center.
MacHEADS is an in-depth examination of the cultural phenomenon of Apple fandom, using events from Steve Jobs’s historic Keynote addresses, the iPhone’s first release in NYC, and other historic moments in recent Apple history to explore the loyalty of Apple followers and their obsession. The film also combines visual evidence from archives of early Macworld Expos.
“Two years after shooting the first reel at Macworld 2007, we’ve come full circle with this special premiere at the leading event of the Mac community,” says producer Ron Shely. “Macworld Expo & Conference 2009 is truly the natural place for telling the story of Apple and its followers. We are thrilled to screen the movie at the Moscone Center a place of tradition and innovation.”
Director Kobi Shely added, “We wanted to answer the core questions: ‘How was a community formed around a brand, and how did this phenomenon contribute to Apple’s success? During the film-making process, it became obvious that there is a community and there is Apple. Although they correlate, in many ways they are separated.”
The film features several key Mac personalities in the company-community ecosystem, including one-time Apple Chief Evangelist Guy Kawasaki; Apple’s first official employee Daniel Kottke; and a special guest appearance by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Authors including Adam Engst, who created the first Apple newsletter, Tidbits and Chicago Sun-Times tech columnist Andy Ihnatko are also featured in the film.
MacMedics get into the Christmas spirit with this little desktop tree, featuring a Bondi Blue Apple tree topper and a snazzy base made from a decommissioned G4 iMac.
Seasons’ greetings from Dana Stibolt and his band of jolly Mac elves, who operate Apple Authorized Resellers and Apple Authorized Service Providers in three locations serving the Baltimore-Annapolis, Washington, and Philadelphia markets.
Rogue Amoeba Software added to its lineup of innovative audio software titles Monday with the release of Radioshift Touch, software that lets users listen to internet radio anywhere on their iPhone or iPod Touch.
Powered by RadioTime, an internet radio catalog with thousands of stations from around the world in its database, Radioshift allows users to browse by genre, search by keyword and view listings for thousands of specific radio programs as well.
The app leverages iPhone firmware’s GPS capabilities to serve up local stations based on the user’s location and uses a feature called “SmartStream” to point to the most bandwidth-friendly stations, depending on the connection. Users can access Internet radio via, WiFi, EDGE or 3G.
Radioshift Touch is available at the iTunes AppStore for $9.99.
Given the host of free and low cost music programs available on the AppStore, including the ever-popular Pandora, and ClearChannel’s iHeartRadio, it will be interesting to track the success of Radioshift, with its relatively expensive price tag. Paul Kafasis, lead developer at Rogue Amoeba, has a sterling reputation for developing useful, high quality audio software for the Mac, so we invite Cult readers who try Radioshift to let us know what you think.
We recently wrote about iBreviary, an iPhone and iPod Touch app that gives the morning prayer, evening prayer and night prayer or complines for the day.
The Italian priest who had the brainwave for the app, Don Paolo Padrini, informed us that the 1.2 version of the prayer app, which he says has the blessing of the Vatican, is now available in Spanish, French, English and Latin (for those, like the Pope, who want a return to pre-Second Vatican Council days) and a version that follows the Ambrosian Rite, for the five million Catholics or so in the Milan area.
iBreviary costs $0.99 on iTunes and now also comes with a how-to page to help those unfamiliar with daily prayer rituals. The original Italian-language version was gratis, Father Padrini says the price of the app is a contribution for the developers.
Don Padrini also says an app is in the works for Facebook called that “Praybook” that will let groups use the Breviary via social network.
In a nod to reality, Apple Monday began listing worldwide carriers offering ‘unlocked’ iPhones. Just a year ago, Apple CEO Steve Jobs described the struggle between hackers and Cupertino as a “cat-and-mouse game.”
Now the Apple Website includes “Carrier offers authorized unlocking” on a support page.
Nearly 40 of the 105 countries listed offer unlocked iPhones. However, some handsets are unlocked through just one carrier.
Singer Katy Perry made her fame with pop try-bianism, but her heart is in a long-distance love with a boy. Perry is a Mac user who credits iChat with keeping up the relationship:
“Her current love is Travis McCoy, singer for the indie hip-hop band Gym Class Heroes, whom she met two years ago when they were recording in the same studio complex in New York, although he remained on the East Coast while she went back to L.A.
This summer they were together for 10 weeks during traveling music festival the Warped Tour,but “I [last] saw him three, four weeks ago,” says Katy wistfully. “It’s definitely difficult. I was really lonely for a couple of weeks, but that’s the name of the game. To me, iChat is the most beautiful technology invented, ever!”
Wonder if she iChatted a girl, just to try it, would the experience be as beautiful?
The iPhone nano is back. The vaporware – part handset, part iPod – has re-emerged more than a year after first speculation. The newest iteration comes from China.
The latest rumor is that iDealsChina is producing a case for the unnamed product that supposedly will be unveiled at Macworld in January.
The Chinese company, which MacRumors says has “a very mixed track record” when it comes to leaking news of actual products, notes the case’s dimensions “have the same height as the just release Nano but wider and thicker and with the same iPhone 3G contours.”
Photo: Cishore/FlickrGoldman Sachs downgraded Apple stock to Neutral from Buy after an analyst said “nicks have started to emerge” in Cupertino’s lead over PC and smartphone makers.
Analyst David Bailey told investors Monday shipments of iPhones, iPods and Macs are lower than expected as the company copes with a tighter economy.
As a result, Bailey also cut his target price for Apple shares to $115 from $125.
Bailey said the apparent lack of any new product category for the upcoming January MacWorld 2009 removes “a potential catalyst” for shares, causing “Apple to try to generate demand in a tough environment.”
Despite the short-term challenges, the analyst told clients he believes Apple will remain ahead of competitors.
Bailey’s downgrade follows last week’s target price cut by Morgan Stanley’s Kathryn Huberty. Huberty cut her target price to $95 from $100, citing the weak economy. Along with trimming Apple stock, the analyst also lowered projections for iPhone sales during calendar 2009 to 14 million units, down from 19 million handsets.
Fans don’t listen to our albums, said Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, because
iTunes favors the single and the shuffle mentality.
In a Q&A with the Chicago Tribune, Corgan said the tepid reception of last year’s comeback album “Zeitgeist,” makes it the last effort the band will produce in album format.
Chicago Trib: So “Zeitgeist” was the last album?
Corgan: “We’re done with that. There is no point. People don’t even listen to it all. They put it on their iPod, they drag over the two singles and skip over the rest,” said Corgan.
“The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance and do the arty track to set up the single? It’s done.”
With “Zeitgeist,” the Smashing Pumpkins did try to adapt to new musical habits, releasing a pre-sale version with bonus tracks and covers especially on iTunes — to the outrage of some fans who felt obliged to buy more than one copy of the album to get the title track.
Much like Metallica’s rage against the iPod, this probably won’t win the Smashing Pumpkins any new fans.
If I have one complaint about my aluminum MacBook (and I think I might literally have only one complaint), it’s that I don’t have an elegant method for hooking the machine up to my HDTV. As part of the 99.997 percent of the population who don’t own an AppleTV, this means I don’t have any way to watch the video in my living room. The laptop’s Mini DisplayPort is an absurdly new standard, and that means it plays well with virtually nothing. I could buy an MDP to DVI cable from Apple, then use a DVI-to-HDMI cable to provide video and an additional TOSLink cable to deliver audio, but that sounds like a poor way to spend a Sunday evening. It would be nice just to have one cable to do everything.
Well. This frustration should soon be gone. According to MacYourself, an MDP-to-HDMI cable will be arriving in late January from Monoprice.com, the leading source for really cheap cables on the Internet. It looks like a separate audio cable will still be necessary (though no one is really sure), but I’m still a big proponent of the direct to HDMI solution, especially because it should support HDCP protection for watching iTunes HD downloads on an external screen.
The Blagoblogs are a-buzz this evening with word that Microsoft, though it definitely has no ZunePhone to show at next month’s CES (I know, I’m just as heart-broken as you are), will almost certainly launch some sort of software ‘n’ services platform for Windows Mobile called Zune Mobile. According to ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley, who is as interested in Zune Mobile as it is possible for a non-Microsoft employee to be, the platform may include “music purchase, playing, sharing and subscribing — and maybe even a little something special for podcasters/podcast listeners, too.”
Or, in other words, Microsoft may, if it plays its cards right, bring the technical media functionality of the iPhone to the legendarily poor interfaces of a thousand mediocre Windows Mobile phones, many of which have enough on-board storage for two or even three albums worth of music. Rather than attempting to a build a ground-up 21st century mobile platform, Microsoft is attempting to bolt on features that meet current user expectations, and then leave it up to dozens of hardware makers to see if the experience actually holds together. If true, this is a pretty sad bit of competitive response out of Redmond. At best, it’s a duplicate of a famous Apple failure — iTunes for the Motorola ROKR.
In that unfortunate experience, Apple brought iTunes support to a third-party phone, and then ran screaming as it realized the only way to ensure its name would only appear on a great phone would be to build the software and the hardware from the ground-up on its own. The iPhone resulted. Zune was Microsoft’s first attempt to follow such a strategy, to poor results thus far (in large part because Apple’s ecosystem was much stronger). Now, it would appear, Microsoft is relying on its standard software-only approach to respond to the iPhone juggernaut.
That’s pretty sad. As an enormous Apple fan, I would like nothing better than a credible challenge to the iPhone’s dominance — it means an even better iPhone than I can imagine in two years’ time. But if this is the best the Distinguished Competition has to offer, all we have to rely on is the vision of Steve Jobs. Good thing he can see for miles and miles, eh?
Found this pretty cool Mac tree ornament, courtesy of Flickr user Chris Dejabet, who is also responsible for the stocking below, featuring the groovy Mac applique, and it got me thinking that – given the almost unbearable cuteness of Apple products, as well as the legendary inventiveness and creativity of the Legions of the Cult – I haven’t seen a whole lot of Apple-oriented Christmas decorations.
I did poke around a little bit and found some pages at The Apple Collection featuring very handy pdf files you can download to make your very own paper Apple ornaments like Chris’ above.
I’ve included a couple of screen grabs indicating some of the choices available, and if you’re interested in folding more than just wrapping paper this holiday season, click here and here.
History has shown again and again that truck accessories are the best of all possible holiday gifts. That’s why I was delighted to discover this shot on Flickr of some beautiful Apple mudflaps outfitted on a fine 4×4 of GMC persuasion.
I mean, it’s like I HAVE to buy a truck now. Even if there’s nowhere to park it in San Francisco. Or I can just wear mudflaps off my pant legs. Whichever makes more sense.
Microsoft finally got around to testing Apple’s AppStore waters this weekend with the release of Seadragon, a free project of Micrsoft’s LiveLabs that lets you see giga-pixel images on your iPhone using a nifty zooming algorithm to get super-close on a map or photo, with just a few pinches or taps of your finger.
The app comes pre-loaded with images and lets you view yours or others’ Photosynth images, or content from any RSS feed.
The embed above shows of the experience in a fashion similar to the one you’ll find on the iPhone or iPod Touch, according to a report at TechCrunch.
