Watching Microsoft try to strike back at Apple with the Laptop Hunters series of commercials is almost hilariously tragic. Inevitably, the “ordinary people” (actors) who star in the spots go in “open-minded”, which means they’re looking for a very cheap laptop with a huge screen, which is a category Apple obviously doesn’t offer. The latest entry, with “Lisa” and “Jackson,” finds the hunters dismissing Macs as “cute” while making ultimate gasface, before getting really excited about a Sony VAIO with a 16.4″ screen and a Blu-Ray drive. Excuse me, “Blu-RAYYYY!” Because, as we all know, there is nothing more important than being able to watch a movie at 1080p on a plane. That’s just a fact.
Honestly, it’s a relatively smart ad campaign, but you can practically envision the ad agency pitch meeting, in which the research department notes that Apple’s cheapest 17″ laptop is almost $3,000, while Dell, HP and the rest make really cheap 17″ laptops — critical vulnerability. Here’s the thing. Very, very few people like 17″ laptops. They’re huge, heavy, and really hard to fit onto a cafe table at a coffee shop. Far more people are happier with something small, light, and thin — which is why Netbooks are all the rage right now. Not to give Microsoft free advice or anything — or to do Crispin, Porter and Bogusky’s job for them — but this would be a way more effective ad campaign if they had their shoppers walk out with four Eee PC 904HAs and had some change left over. All this ad campaign is showing is that if you want to get a big, heavy laptop with lots of stickers from Intel and Nvidia plastered on the wrist rest, you want a PC.

Meanwhile, Netbooks are actually a market phenomenon, and they offer something that Apple hasn’t delivered yet. But why play up innovation when you can play up cheapness? I suppose that’s the core difference between Apple and MS, after all these years. Apple always makes a big deal out of quality and design. Microsoft tries to hook you with a killer low price.

(Also, in writing about Microsoft’s “comeback campaign,” BusinessWeek noted that this ad shows the family choosing a PC because it has Blu-Ray, “on which many games are printed.” Um… for PS3, maybe. Has anyone ever released a PC game on Blu-Ray as an option, let alone as an exclusive?)

A 23-year-old iPod repairman pleaded guilty in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan to fraud and money laundering after acquiring more than 9,000 replacement iPod Shuffles by entering serial numbers into Apple’s Web site.

Nicholas Woodhams, who has to pay back Apple for the shuffle-and-switched iPods he re-sold for $49 each, also faces up to 30 years in prison.

As part of the plea deal, Woodhams also has to hand over a home in Portage, an Audi S4 sedan, a race car, a motorcycle, six computers and over $570,000.

Via Ap

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

Well, who doesn’t like a little Michael Jackson, dancing babies and quick, snappy edits in a smartphone commercial?

But does anyone think Apple’s legal department won’t soon notice the uncanny similarities between the UI for LG’s Arena and Apple’s own iPhone?

It’s no secret that Apple loves LG displays, but whether that love extends to a willingness to overlook LG’s ripping-off the iPhone’s UI remains to be seen. On the other hand, it’s possible LG licensed the UI. Neither Apple nor LG representatives were available for comment at press time.

The doll version of Steve Jobs wears a black turtleneck, jeans and the kind of intense gaze bound to make you feel guilty while downloading useless apps instead of masterminding something great.

Brought to you by podbrix, the same folks who created a limited-edition Young Woz and Jobs Playset in Lego (unfortunately sold out), this plush version of Jobs will cost you about the same as a pair of Apple earbuds ($32.00, shipping included).

Only 500 available, so if you want a pocket guru, now’s the time to act.

Via Macenstein

USA Today ran an article Wednesday saying the Skype for iPhone app is “raising concern among public-policymakers and consumer advocates,” who are irked that Skype calls are limited to WiFi and not permitted to access cellular or 3G networks.

I’m reminded of nothing so much as Lewis CK’s appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show, in which he pointed out how amazing things are in today’s world, and yet no one is happy.

Are Apple and AT&T actually “trying to handicap” Skype, as implied by Chris Murray, senior counsel to Consumers Union? Is there an “urgent need” for Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to revisit the rules and regulations for wireless voice services?

I’m no fan of Apple’s “walled garden” approach to the AppStore, nor do I love the fact that AT&T is my only service provider option for using iPhone in the US.

But in just over 24 hours of playing with Skype on my iPhone, I feel confident in saying Skype doesn’t need congress’ help in its competition with AT&T. If people will have a little bit of patience, Skype and other VoIP service providers will soon be providing them with communications services and calling options they couldn’t have imagined just months ago.

The cat is really out of the bag now, so just find a good WiFi connection and enjoy your free Skype calling. It’s only going to get better from here on out.

Hailed by event promoter IDG as the “Start of A New Era,” Macworld 2010 will be held in San Francisco at the Moscone Center but about a month later than usual,  from February 9-13.

After Apple made 2009 its last MacWorld, rumors abounded about changes, either site or dates. The new date puts it in less competition with the sprawling International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas around the same time.

In a statement, organizers said they thought the dates would make it easier for fans to attend.

“We firmly believe that these new dates will better meet the needs of everyone participating in Macworld, and are pleased to have been able to respond to this request from the community,” he added. “The journey toward a new era for Macworld has begun and we are more excited about this ride than ever before.”

But, in a tech calendar packed with trade shows, it presents a bit of a problem for some.

UK Mac fans (and we suspect most anyone coming from Europe) are grumpy about the new dates — because they can’t make one transatlantic trip to attend both Macworld and CES and the dates are too close to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, scheduled to start two days later on Feb. 15.

How much difference do the new dates make in your plans to attend?

Image courtesy IDG

It’s finally happened! Nearly six months after Apple took the wraps off its beautiful unibody MacBooks, a third party has finally shipped an adapter allowing direct hook-up to an HDMI display. I got my e-mail from Monoprice.com announcing the availability of the $14.25 part just a few minutes ago, and as you can see, it’s a box. With a Mini DisplayPort on one end and an HDMI port on the other. OK, so it’s not a super-cool gadget that I’ll flaunt in public. But it is a totally ideal way to get my MacBook hooked up to my HDTV. Now if only Apple had cared that was an obvious issue back when they released the MacBook in the first place…

Previously: I announce the rumor of the device’s arrival…

Doubt I’ll be making lunch on my MacBook anytime soon, but its ongoing overheating and fan problems have made me wonder whether the rumors they get hot enough to cook on are true.

Wonder no more: flickr user Digital Monk tossed a little egg yolk on his MacBook Pro and in 10 minutes, voila , cooked it. (Unless it’s an early April Fool’s joke…)

He says:

“I’ve read in more than one instance that you can cook an egg on a Macbook pro. Of course, whoever was saying that was using it as a metaphor to explain how hot these laptops can really get. I have always nodded my head in agreement that mbp’s heating problem is something Apple is not taking seriously (Do you hear us Apple? Grrrr!). Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic machine, far superior than the laptops that run Window or what have you. But it does have it’s own share of drawbacks.

Today I decided to see for myself if you could really cook an egg on a Macbook pro! So I ended up placing some yolk on my MBP. And it didn’t take more than 10 minutes to find out if MBP is also a cooking machine!  Above are the results.. I did not actually taste the yolk, but it was cooked alright!”

Via Technopath

Apple filed for patents last September that suggest the company may be working on biometric security technology together with optical and voice recognition software to enhance traditional password security for its devices.

According to a report published for the first time this week, the patent filing describes methods for embedding sensors beneath touchscreens and trackpads to recognize fingerprints and vein patterns; device cameras and microphones would authenticate retinal patterns or facial features and recognize a user’s distinctive voice. There is even a suggestion of collecting DNA samples to recognize a user’s genetic sequence. Biometrics could also be context-sensitive and detect the shape of a user’s ear before allowing a call to go through, for example.

Makes that neural interface revolution seem a little more likely, doesn’t it?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIS6G-HvnkU

A series of Microsoft ads are aimed at budget consumers worried about price tags, further perpetuating the pricey Mac myth.

Associated Press reports the ads were shot by recruited unwitting subjects by posing as a market research firm studying laptop purchasing decisions.

It picked 10 people who answered a call for volunteers on Craigslist and other websites and sent them out with a camera crew and budgets ranging from $US700 to $US 2,000. If they found a computer that fit their criteria, they could keep it.

In the first 60-second ad, a red-haired recent college grad named Lauren is on the hunt for a speedy laptop with a 17-inch screen and a “comfortable” keyboard, all for less than $1000. She strides into an Apple store; then, the scene jumps to her walking out empty-handed, telling the camera that the only laptop in her price range has a 13-inch screen.

Back in the car, she sighs and says, “I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person.”

Lauren heads to Best Buy next and buys a Windows notebook made by Hewlett-Packard Co. for $US699. And she wasn’t alone. While some might have been able to find an Apple computer that fit the budget, Microsoft said none of the people they filmed picked a Mac.

Via The Age