“Something that came in handy for me this Christmas has been iCloud and more especially when you take holography and they are automatically synchronised between your iPhone and iPad and your MacBook,” Sammual James McLoughlin writes for PalmAddict.
“I guess after the mistakes of MobileMe I had lost faith in the very little I knew about cloud computing but I think it was a good PR move when Steve Jobs held his hands up and admitted the mistakes of previous cloud attempts,” McLoughlin writes. “Yes, iCloud has had its troubles, however they haven't really affected me personally and it's good to see they were resolved quickly. So, thinking about it, the cloud really has made my life easier, I'm glad a Apple Genius showed me the benefits of cloud computing and I know having read many of your user thoughts that you find iCloud just as useful.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Being a “PalmAddict” today is like being addicted to Dodo eggs.
This situation would be unbearable for Sam – if not for his Apple iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and iCloud.
We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in. – Palm CEO Ed Colligan, commenting on then-rumored Apple iPhone, Nov. 16, 2006
“For anyone wondering why, when, or if Apple will ever make an attempt on the search market currently dominated by Google, they already have,” Joe Small Cap writes for Seeking Alpha. “As you probably know, the name of their search engine is Siri.”
“I believe that the genius behind Siri was that behind all of the fireworks of the classy female speaking robot and her iffy-beta voice recognition was a search device that was immediately placed on every new iPhone,” Joe writes. “Don’t underestimate the subtle difference between a high stakes rollout a la Microsoft with Bing versus Apple rolling out their own search engine, albeit in a much more subtle and probably effective manner... In regard to their 12% search market share, Yahoo! currently outsources to Bing. However, their contract with Microsoft can be terminated as soon as March 2013. With Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer at the helm, one can only guess the direction that she will take in regard to search.”
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer (photo by Brigitte Lacombe)
Joe writes, “To my knowledge, Apple has not developed a search algorithm anywhere near the level of Google or even Bing. Though it would be foolish for me to say they are not secretly working on one... But much in the same way that Apple went out and bought Siri, it would seem possible for Apple to seek an outright purchase of a search engine and integrate Siri into it... Say Apple were to purchase an underrated search engine such as DuckDuckGo. While integrating Siri and iAd into it, Apple looks for ways to cleverly monetize the search engine, using DuckDuckGo’s algorithm... In its current form, Siri is not a flagship product that has launched Apple search onto all of our computers. However, Siri’s future is immense, and depending on Apple’s plans, could become a search force to be reckoned with.”
If you've seen one of the more recent trailers for BioShock Infinite or Jack Reacher, then you've probably heard Nico Vega though you might not have heard of them before that. I randomly stumbled onto this video shortly after it dropped on YouTube in early 2009. And they've been one of my favorite bands ever since.
Nico Vega is a quartet based in LA but Aja Volkman, the lead singer, is from Oregon, my home state. And the original drummer, Michael Pe a, is the same guy from Crash and End of Watch. The band was also named after Pe a's mother but he left in 2007 to pursue his acting career.
Anyway, Wooden Dolls and this particular video remain a favorite of mine for its bootstrap production value and Volkman's gritty vocals. If the opportunity to seem them at a show should arise in the new year, I highly suggest you seize that opportunity. They put on a great show and Aja likes to get crazy on stage. And if you dig this track, then watch this cover of House of the Rising Sun. This is a fun one, too. [Spotify, Amazon, iTunes]
FlashArmyKnife in the iOS App Store has secret built-in powers that will allow you to tether you iPhone to a computer for no extra charge. The app costs $2, while using your iPhone's data connection on a separate device would cost you a monthly fee.
As we said before, the app's tethering capabilities are secret so you'll need to enter a Konami Code-like cypher from the app's trigonometry calculator to get the tethering to work. The instructions in video above have everything you need to know.
Go to calculator in F.A.K. Enter following without commas: 1642, M+, C, 1452, M+, C, 1943, M+ When it says run, tethering is running. Press "C" to stop tethering.
Necessary ports: HTTP: 6667 SOCKS: 6668
The apps people at Apple are all currently on vacation, and iTunes Connect will be completely down until Friday so, presumably, FlashArmyKnife will just chill in the app store until then. That said, if you're interested in giving it a shot, now's the time to go.
Warning: While we know the app's tethering works for some, we can't be sure it's not some sneaky under-handed way of getting at your personal information or that it'll necessarily work for you. But the developer Eric Blase seems to be relatively open about his identity for whatever that's worth to you. [iTunes]
Mozilla has just announced launch of its latest GameOn competition for the Web based games developed on the top of the CSS, JavaScript, HTML and other open Web technologies like WebRTC and WebGL. The developers can be able to submit their developed games by February 24, 2013. Three categories of games include multi-device games, hackable games, and Web only games. The winner of the competition will earn free trip to the San Francisco for 2013 GDC.Furthermore, the winners of the competition will avail chance to registered in Mozilla's newel Firefox market place and also they will be given opportunity to present their developed games to the Chillingo team for the potential publishing on their networks.
This competition will be second competition arranged by Mozilla. Last year the winner of this gaming competition was Marble Run.
Chloe Varelidi, the Mozilla founder has explained that their organisation wants game developers to think what can happen if they encounter games as creative and open systems like Webs and create hackable designs. At this time of moment, games are at forefront and it's continuously pushing the envelope what's possible. She further keep on adding by saying that Mozilla is reimagining the Web as console and bestowing power to browsers for revolutionising the way they play and make games.
In order to facilitate the game developers, Mozilla has created a site which has useful resources for establishing the browser based games.
Developers are continuously extending the boundaries of games to show what is possible and this has gain interest of Google, Microsoft and Mozilla to show power to the browsers. In this regards, Mozilla has launched its multiplayer game- Browser Quest this year. In addition Microsoft is working with Cut the Rope and Atari developer to bring popular games on internet explorer. Cirque de Soleil's Movi.Kanti.Revo experiences are bestowed by Google to the world.
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New update to Google Currents has been launched which makes the app easily scannable. The biggest competition of Google Currents is Flipboard and the newest edition of Google Currents has given tough time to it. It has made possible to scan through editions and categories from the publishing partners like Forbes and The Guardian in app. In the breaking news section, Google has endorsed more powerful tool for searching.Google has unveiled that millions of the readers have downloaded their app after the international launch held in April 2012. Since that time, Google is enjoying more than 700 publishing editions and approximately 10 thousand of self developed editions.
Google has disclosed its views on updated version and they said that their aim is to develop easily scannable version with just a swipe of finger. This will let you to select from the categories editions rather than from the list of subscribed sites. (For instance, you can select categories from business, lifestyle, tech, science or sports).
The expansion in breaking news category is now available for every type of posts. And this is making app more fun to use. The app is designed as tweaked which is more like Google+ app. The stories will set into boxes which can be smoothly slides by scrolling down the screen.
The other attractive update in Google Currents is the power technology used in the breaking news category. Google has not talked about the technology they have implied, yet they have told us that this tech will make searches in breaking stories according to the desired language and country so to show only relevant news.
Before these updates, the Google Currents was lacking behind the competition from the apps like Flipboard and Zite. But with these updates, Google has proofed that they are slowly making their way towards good designing. The Google Currents new version is available for Android and in near future it will be launched for iOS devices.
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Google expanded its Magazine section to UK's Google Play Store. Europe might be the next one
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Will Google buy the Instant Street View Search App
Where's my water and bunches of existing games have been developed by developed by Disney Mobile. They have some of the big plans for couples of weeks, aligning with four updates of existing games and launch of the three new games. Bart Decrem, the head of mobile division has shared his views as, "We want to get back in the top 20 free and paid apps in Apple Chart and for this we have planned updates and new titles." The rapid growth for Disney will be guaranteed by the purchase of gifts cards and new mobile hardware during this holiday. Last holidays of December 20 to January 3, has resulted in augmenting the download by 421 percent. Decrem further added that last year they do not have network, but this year for the first time they have pushed such a big holiday package.The upcoming updates and new titles will include:
In Where's my Perry? The character of Dr. Doofenschmirtz will come up with new 40 levels. This game will be costing 99 cents and 20 new free levels.
Addition of King Fergus in Temple Run Brave will be introduced, worth 500,000 coins.
In Wretch-It-Ralph, new mini games will be launched.
The second episode for Avengers Initiative, featuring the Captain America (first episode was based on Hulk).
Monster's Inc. Run launch, the game made in collaboration with Get Set- developers of Mega Run.
The plans implemented on December 20, include:
Launch of Nemo's Reef by tying it into the 3D rerelease for Finding Nemo
The holiday themed version of Where's my Perry And Where's my Water, entitled Where's my Holiday is being launched.
Decrem has also shared the statistics about Disney's success this year. Disney is having top five games in the App store including: Where's my Water, Temple Run Brave, Wretch It Ralph, Tap Tap Revenge: Tour and Where's my Perry. Where's my water has alone enjoyed more than 100 million downloads and it is having almost 6.1 million users till now.
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Plyfe brand promoting games are now on mobile- profit shoots to $750,000
According to a report released few days ago by WSJ, Apple is in a process of testing the new Apple TV set designs but this is initial stage of testing. These days the focus of Apple is on high-res TVs. Apple is testing different designs and is working in collaboration with a number of suppliers like Sharp and Hon Hai (Foxconn). This is not the first time that Apple is testing TV designs, we have heard previously also about this testing. In the recent interviews Tim Cook the CEO of Apple was less coy regarding the television plans.So the bottom line is that Apple is working to bring out its new television set. Gene Munster, a Piper Jaffray analyst has been saying this for years but none of the TV set has come out yet. The report by WSJ says that Apple is attempting to bring out their television since a long time after they shipped the Apple's TV set-top boxes. Steve Jobs said to many resources like New York Times and Walter Isaacson biography that for a future launch of product, Apple television is a lock.
So the question arises that this thing has changed or not. Or this is an R&D project that is far away from being launched in the market. The new report that has been released shows that Apple is farther along in this process. Apple working in collaboration with other suppliers indicates its maturity because Apple always works internally before bringing in new partners and manufacturers. The company Foxconn has taken some steps to expand its HDTV production with the help of investment by Terry Gou who was chairman in the sharp owned factory. At present the sales of Apple TV are on rise.
Still Apple has to cover a long path because it does not have any content deals with major media and cable providers in place for a television set. So it seems that the arrival of new Apple TV sets in the market is far away.
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Apple at the top and Samsung at second position in mobile Ad Impression, a report by Adfonic
Apple acquired second position for the first time ever in U.S, in the mobile phone market share.
Apple's shares drop by 6.4% due to Uncertainty and Volatility
“On Wednesday, Samsung informed a federal court — and the Wall Street Journal dutifully reported — that the U.S. Patent Office had ‘rejected’ all claims of an Apple (AAPL) patent (the so-called ‘pinch to zoom’ patent, or ’915) that the Journal described as ‘a cornerstone of its case against Samsung,’” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune. “In October, the Patent and Trademark Office tentatively concluded that all 20 claims of another Apple patent (’381) — the so-called ‘rubber-banding’ (or over-scroll bounce) patent — were invalid.”
“Two weeks ago, the office tentatively invalidated the broader ‘touchscreen heuristics’ patent (’949, A.K.A. the Steve Jobs patent),” P.E.D. reports. “From the headlines, you’d think that the foundations on which a jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion last August were crumbling.”
“The truth is a little more complicated,” P.E.D. reports. “All three rulings flow from changes in U.S. patent law that Congress passed last year as part of the Leahy-Smith American Invents Act.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article: USPTO tentatively - and likely temporarily - declares Apple's 'pinch-to-zoom' patent invalid – December 20, 2012
“Apple's Passbook feature of iOS 6 has become a surprise hit for developers,” Christina Bonnington reports for Wired.
“American Airlines and cosmetics retailer Sephora are among the big-name companies that have developed apps for Passbook and seen them downloaded by the tens of thousands since it was announced in Jun,” Bonnington reports. “Passbook also plays nicely with Eventbrite, Ticketmaster and Square. Apple doesn't say how many apps have been developed for Passbook, but 22 are featured in the curated ‘Apps for Passbook’ section of the App Store.”
Bonnington reports, “‘We were amazed at the high uptake,’ Phil Easter, American Airlines' director of mobile apps said. ‘Apple has allowed an app developer like us is to put features right in front of the user where before, that space was off limits’ ... ‘When Passbook was originally announced, we looked at it as a potential threat to our business,’ Belly CEO Logan LaHive said. ‘Instead, we found it was the perfect complement to what we were doing... ‘We see Passbook growing rapidly; it's driving a huge amount of downloads in our app,’ LaHive said, noting that Belly saw a tenfold increase in app downloads when Passbook launched.”
For the first time, Xfinity customers will be able to download content and watch it without an Internet connection with the new On Demand and offline feature with the Xfinity TV Player app for iPad and iPhone. So now, you'll be able to watch Dexter on the bus without it eating up your data minutes.
Xfinity Comcast subscribers can download thousands of titles from Showtime, Starz, Encore, and MoviePlex through the Xfinity TV Player app when an Internet connection is available and then take their device outside of connected range to watch the chosen content.
"Millions of smartphone and tablet users in the U.S. watch video on their mobile devices. With that in mind, Comcast is continuously innovating the TV experience and developing new features and tools that provide our customers with more options for how, when and where they watch content," said Charlie Herrin, Senior Vice President of Product Design and Development at Comcast Cable. "Today's Xfinity TV Player enhancement underscores that commitment to our customers by adding more flexibility for them to watch entertainment on their terms - now without having to rely on an Internet connection to watch their favorite programming while on-the-go."
Additionally, Comcast and Verizon have teamed up to offer customers the ability to download and stream movies and TV shows through 4G LTE.
The XFinity TV Player app is specifically designed to allow subscribers the ability to watch movies and television show from more than 18,500 streaming On Demand and thousands of downloadable choices directly to their device. It is free to download in the App Store, but users must be Xfinity customers to watch content.
There is good news today for those of you who like to watch television programs on the A&E, HISTORY and Lifetime networks: a new series of apps are now available that “enable users to watch full episodes, full movies and exclusive clips of their favorite A+E Networks programming, including current and previous seasons of Storage Wars and Duck Dynasty on A&E; Pawn Stars and Swamp People on HISTORY; and Dance Moms and Project Runway on Lifetime.”
If you also happen to be a subscriber to Xfinity TV from Comcast, additional content like complete previous seasons is also available.
Describing their launch today, Dan Suratt, Executive Vice President of Digital Media and Business Development, A+E Networks stated:
“By offering the A&E, HISTORY and Lifetime watch apps, we are giving fans of our networks an opportunity to consume our leading libraries of original quality content wherever and whenever they want it.”
The apps are full-featured and give the ability to create watch-lists with a queue as well as letting you continue watching a program you began earlier, offering continuity even when you have been interrupted.
David Zagin, President of Distribution, A+E Networks promises that this is just a start:
“With our new apps, A+E Networks will be on the forefront of supporting the industry’s efforts toward TV Everywhere. We are looking forward to partnering with our distributors in the future to bring their customers more of our great programming.”
Each of the new apps can be downloaded now directly from the App Store:
A&E
HISTORY
Lifetime
Apps like these help to keep television networks relevant at a time when consumers are drastically changing their viewing habits. Days of sitting down in the family living room to watch a favorite program are a thing of the past and being handily replaced by mobile devices and spare time that is seemingly always on-the-go!
“Government interference - not the threat of the ‘fiscal cliff’ that has mesmerized markets - is the biggest threat to entrepreneurship, Internet pioneer Marc Andreessen told CNBC on Wednesday, arguing that going over the cliff was preferable to more federal involvement in the U.S. economy,” Javier David reports for CNBC.
The Netscape co-founder “told CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ that Silicon Valley investors are more preoccupied with an ‘activist’ federal government than the threat of higher taxes and government spending,” David reports. “‘The presumption is that we want the government to do things. I’m pro-gridlock,’ Andreessen said. ‘It doesn’t bother me in the least if government is all ground to a halt.’”
David reports, “Although going over the cliff poses challenges in the short-term, Andreessen argued that it was preferable to the alternative, which is more government involvement in the economy. ‘When the government does things, it usually doesn’t end well,’ he said.”
“U.S. stocks fell, extending yesterday's drop, as a slump in Apple Inc. and budget talk concerns overshadowed a rise in industrial production and data showing China's manufacturing may expand at a faster pace,” Rita Nazareth reports for Bloomberg News. “‘The chances of some type of grand bargain in Washington are significantly diminishing as time passes,’ said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at First Citizens Bancshares Inc., which manages $4.5 billion in Raleigh, North Carolina. ‘On a company level, investors are looking at the competitive landscape for Apple and they see threats.’”
“Seven out 10 industries in the S&P 500 retreated as technology, the biggest group, led the losses,” Nazareth reports. “President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner remained deadlocked yesterday during their third White House meeting on next year's budget.”
Nazareth reports, “The S&P 500 has dropped 0.2 percent this month, paring the measure's rally for 2012 to 12 percent. Its average increase for December is 1.5 percent, the most of any month except July, according to data dating back to 1928 (SPX) compiled by Bloomberg.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Rovio's iconic iOS game Angry Birds turned three today, and the company is celebrating with an all new update to its ongoing birds vs. piggies battle.
The iPad and iPhone versions of the original Angry Birds app have been updated to version 3.0, adding 30 new levels, a "birdday" cake, and a brand new pink bird that blows bubbles.
There are 15 "Birdday Party" levels and 15 levels based on Rovio's Bad Piggies game, which launched earlier this year. The newly added pink bird is originally from both Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Star Wars.
Rovio also has an Angry Birds movie in the works, which is set to launch during the summer of 2016.
The iPad version of the original Angry Birds game can be downloaded from the App Store for $2.99.
David Miller, a stock trader has tried to illegally purchase 1.625 million shares worth of $1 billion of Apple stock with the securities of Rochdale, on the quarterly earning October released of Apple. He has done it purposely, as his aim was to quickly sell off all the stock soon after rising of prices, as reported by Apple in his quarter earnings of October and return the firm's amount. But it could not happen. Instead of rising, Apple stock has face dropped off shown in the later reports. After hours, stock of Apple has fallen down and opened at lower. This is based on the verity that Apple has basically missed out street estimates in comparing the usual trend of opening higher soon after an earning call. The same trend has been followed for 25 years and in the past 36 quarters, according to the MarketWatch.As the stock prices shot down due to changing in trend, Miller has to face prison for the next 20 years. On his caught he said that he was only aiming to buy 1,625 share but multiples somehow went too much larger 1.625 million share buying. On the other side, Rochdale is save and he has to just bear loose of $5 million because deal went wrong and is now looking for the rescue from cash investment or mergers. His losses are more than it can cover while remaining solvent.
Similarly, Miller also tried to involve other brokers to work with the same scheme, but his misfortune does not help him in selling 500,000 shares. This story has left huge lesson for everyone. It is not really wise to invest employer's money in playing blind games, as sometimes trends can get opposite.
Related posts:
Apple acquired second position for the first time ever in U.S, in the mobile phone market share.
The share margin in Tablet market between iPad and Android is narrowing at a faster pace than predicted.
“To separate the best from rest, every tablet Which? tests is tested in lab conditions to see how long it lasts when browsing the web on wi-fi and watching videos,” Tim Gee reports for Which? Tech Daily. “To ensure our tests are fair, we set the screen brightness to 200 nits (measured using a light meter) before performing each task, so every tablet has to perform in the same conditions.”
“As the size of the screen can make such an impact on battery life we've divided the tablets into two groups, those with a screen size of 7.9-inches and smaller, and those 9.4-inches and larger,” Gee reports. “The Apple iPad with Retina display not only beats the competition comfortably, it surpasses the Apple iPad 2 by almost 4 hours. The iPad 2 still manages around an hour longer than the next nearest challenger.”
Gee reports, “When it comes to 7-inch tablets, Apple is still ahead of the game with the new Apple iPad Mini managing over 13 hours of web browsing and more than 3 hours more than the next best challenger.”
Read more, and see the video, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Note also that Apple’s iPad is driving a Retina display and iPad mini’s 7.9-inch display is considerably larger than those peddled by co-called rivals (35% more screen real estate than 7-inch tablets and up to 67% more usable viewing area when browsing the web).
[Attribution: BGR. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "David E." for the heads up.]
“Sales of Apple’s iMac, the computer often credited with saving the company, have peaked and by the end of 2014 will account for approximately 2% of the firm’s revenues, analysts now predict,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld.
“Apple’s return to computer industry significance is often traced to the original iMac, the first system introduced by then-interim CEO Steve Jobs after his return to the firm he had co-founded two decades earlier,” Keizer reports. “But even with that pedigree, the iMac has long been outpaced by Apple’s laptops. In the last four quarters, for example, Apple’s laptops outsold desktops by nearly three to one, with a similar revenue disparity.”
Keizer reports, “Clearly, the lack of available iMacs in the fourth quarter, traditionally the best for desktop sales, has eliminated the usual “pop” from the holidays and a recent refresh. And things are not going to get better. Brian White [Topeka Capital Markets analyst] estimates for 2013 peg desktop sales at under a million for two of the coming year’s four quarters, down 20% and 2% for the first and second quarters, respectively. For fiscal year 2013, which runs from Oct 1., 2012, to Sept. 30, 2013, White figures that Apple’s desktop sales will be 14% lower than in the previous year... Apple’s desktop line-up will essentially flatten at an average of under one million per quarter for the next two years.”
Apple’s all-new iMac (8th gen)
Advertisement: Apple’s New iMac starts at $1,294 with Free Mac Products after rebate & FREE Shipping!
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hardly shocking, personal computing has been going portable/mobile for quite some time now. Still, with stellar reviews and stunning good looks, Apple’s all-new iMac has a chance to surprise analysts.
We all know the feeling. You're sleepless in the sad hours of the night or stumbling around early on a hazy weekend morning in need of something to read, and that pile of unread books just isn't cutting it. Why not take a break from the fire hose of Twitter and RSS and check out our weekly roundup of essential writing from around the web about technology, culture, media, and the future? Sure, it's one more thing you can feel guilty about sitting in your Instapaper queue, but it's better than pulling in vain on your Twitter list again.
On Laurie Spiegel
Writer Simon Reynolds, who you may know from his recent Retromania, profiles Laurie Spiegel, the groundbreaking electronic musician who pushed the edge of computer music in the '70s and...
Square is probably best known for giving small businesses a simple and relatively cheap way to process credit cards with its mobile app and dongle. But it's also moving further into the realm of pure mobile payments, and today it's added support for virtual gift cards through its apps. The customer-side Square Wallet app now offers gift cards from participating vendors like Starbucks; recipients save the cards to the Wallet app, then use them at the store. The merchant-side Register app, meanwhile, has been updated to accept the cards either through Wallet or through Passbook in iOS 6. There's also the option for them to read a printed QR code as a gift card.
Starbucks partnered with Square to accept mobile payments last month, but this...
Bloombergreports that Apple and Google have joined forces to put forward a bid of more than $500 million to purchase the patent portfolio of bankrupt imaging pioneer Eastman Kodak.
The two companies, competing for dominance of the smartphone market, have partnered after leading two separate consortia this summer to buy Kodak's 1,100 imaging patents, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private.
Unlikely partnerships are typical in patent sales because they allow competitors to neutralize potential infringement litigation.
Sources indicate that Apple had originally teamed up with Microsoft and patent holding company Intellectual Ventures, while Google had aligned with its hardware partners and patent holding firm RPX.
The report does not indicate why Apple and Google ultimately decided to abandon their separate bids and team up on an offer for Kodak's patents, although a previous report had indicated that the two sides were likely cooperating in order to prevent a bidding war that would drive up the cost of the patents.
Kodak's bankruptcy financing is contingent upon the company receiving at least $500 million for its patent portfolio, and the joint bid by Apple and Google seems to meet that requirement.
Apple and Kodak have a bit of an interesting history, having worked together on a mid-1990s project for Apple's QuickTake line of digital cameras. The intellectual property from that collaboration has been the subject of some dispute, with Apple claiming that Kodak is not the rightful owner of patents related to that work.
Bloomberg reports that Apple's $100 million plan to bring some Mac production back to the United States is likely to be a very modest operation at the outset, with some economists and industry experts projecting that the effort will create approximately 200 jobs.
The investment "sounds like a 200-job operation with about a million-unit output," said Dan Luria, a labor economist at Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center in Plymouth, Michigan, who studies factory operations. Apple will probably rely on tax breaks and other incentives for the facility, he said. [...]
While Apple's commitment could set a precedent for electronics suppliers, it probably doesn't presage a large or rapid shift of production back to the U.S., said Michael Marks, the former CEO of Flextronics International Ltd., which was the largest contract manufacturer in the world before the rise of Foxconn. He also estimates $100 million may create about 200 jobs.
Apple is presumed to be working with its primary manufacturing partner Foxconn on the project, as Foxconn has also expressed interest in building operations in the United States.
Workers at Quanta Computer in Shanghai assembling MacBook Pro display enclosures Apple's efforts to bring Mac production back to the United States come just as Lenovo, which purchased IBM's personal computer business in 2005, has announced plans to begin PC production in North Carolina. Lenovo's effort is also a modest one, projected to employ roughly 100 workers to produce several hundred thousand units per year.
Though the long distance world has largely figured out communications solutions– webcams and a speedy internet connection, or even smartphones that can video chat across the world — there’s still something to be desired by the lack of physical interaction. We’re still not quite there yet, but telepresence robots are making that first step. Unfortunately, most telepresence robots are too expensive for the average consumer. If Revolve Robotics has their way the average consumer will be able to afford one of those telepresence robots, specifically their Kubi robo-neck.
Rather then the $2500 this telepresence robot would set you back, Revolve aims to keep their Kubi affordable — they plan to release the with a price tag of under $249. The reason why Revolve can keep that price lower than the usual telepresence bot is because the Kubi is a lot simpler. Rather than an iPad mounted on a something like a scooter, the Kubi more closely resembles a neck with a talon at the top. Perhaps it’s a frightening description, but it makes for an affordable, efficient, space-saving rig.
The Kubi’s talon is made of two arms, centered on a gear, so it’s easily adjustable to current tablets that fall between in 7.9-inch and 10.6-inch range, in either portrait or landscape mode. The talon sits on something of a cylindrical swivel, that has a range of motion of 300 degrees pan and 90 degrees tilt. Below that, the base can attach to a standard tripod, or be removed for easy packing and travel. The robot can either be wall or battery powered, with the battery lasting around four hours.
To control the Kubi, both parties involved in the chat connect to either a web portal or Revolve’s app, then connect to each other via Skype, FaceTime, or other chat apps. Revolve is also planning for their “flagship app” to have video chat capabilities, and be free to use. Once connected, either party will have two different schemes available to control the other party’s Kubi. Users control the Kubi either through clicking points on a grid and the Kubi following the positioning of the points, or through more traditional arrow controls.
The Kubi can be controlled by any tablet that can both fit into the stand, and is compatible with Bluetooth 4.0.
We spent a little bit of time with the Kubi, and though it gets the job done, it’s not perfect. The prototype we demoed moved a little more jerkily than we would’ve liked, and it’s a little unfortunate that the unit can only pan 300 degrees rather than a full 360. That means that if the Kubi is in the middle of a circular conference room table, there would be a person left out. Like with all video chats, the quality of the internet connection plays a huge part. However, though we got video and audio working on the internet connection we were using, we couldn’t connect the two units to either control portal. Eventually, we did get the web control working, but we had to move to another internet connection, and put both the controller and the Kubi on the same WiFi. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the unit or control mechanism, and could easily be a fault with the internet connection itself, but that could mean that only the most pristine of internet connections could work. Remember, though, the Kubi isn’t close to a final release yet, so everything could easily be worked out or upgraded in the end.
The project is available for funding on Indiegogo, and like Kickstarter, has a few bonuses to make pledging more appealing. A pledge of $199 will net the first 100 pledgers a Kubi unit, at a price lower than the final suggested price of $249. The highest pledge is fairly amusing, $2499 will net you a two-day snowboarding vacation with the founders in North Lake Tahoe! (To be fair, they seem like fun guys.)
As far as telepresence robots go, the Kubi does have a more sensible outlook. It’s affordable, and sits on a desk rather than rolls around and into walls or people. However, the real question is with telepresence itself, and if being able to change the view from across the internet could compensate for the lack of physical contact or proximity.
If you want an ultra-thin laptop like an Ultrabook, manufacturers are pretty limited on the components they can fit inside that slender case. Storage is no exception, with most relying on an mSATA SSD as the more typical 2.5-inch drives just won’t fit. That also means storage space has been quite limited to just a couple hundred of gigabytes. Until now, that is.
Today the upper limit of 256GB was smashed, as manufacturer Mushkin has announced the world’s largest mSATA SSD. It offers up 480GB of storage space in a drive measuring just 50.8 x 29.85 x 4.85mm.
As the latest addition to Mushkin’s Atlas range of drives, it also has the performance on offer to make this a very desirable SSD for your laptop. Although read/write speeds for the 480GB version haven’t been officially announced, the 256GB model achieves 560MB/s reads and 530MB/s writes over a 6Gb/s SATA III connection using a SandForce controller. The 480GB model will at the very least equal those speeds, if not improve on them slightly.
The Atlas ships with TRIM and S.M.A.R.T. support, comes with a 3-year limited warranty, and is expected to start shipping by the middle of January next year. It’s by no means cheap, though. On its own you can expect to pay $499.99, although that price is sure to drop significantly for any manufacturers wanting to ship one inside an Ultrabook. Still, at around a $1 per gigabyte for such a speedy drive, it’s still a very tempting proposition.
Read more at the Mushkin press release, via TechCrunch
After being named the 2011 App of the Year, popular iOS photo editing app Snapseed was acquired by Google when the company purchased Nik Software.
Google today dropped the price of Snapseed, making the app free to download. Previously, the iOS version of Snapseed cost $4.99. The update also brings new filters, Google+ integration, and a new icon. From the App Store description:
New Retrolux filter! Use one of the newly created film styles, combined with a range of different scratches and textures as well as light leaks to create a truly retro look for your photos.
Updated Frames filter! Now includes a wide range of new, high quality photographic frames. Colorize the frame edges to match the look of your image or switch to square mode with a single tap.
Aside from the filters, the free version of Snapseed appears to be the same as the previous paid version, but there is a new splash page which refers to the app as "Google+ Snapseed."
The iOS version of Snapseed [App Store] is currently available in the App Store at no cost. The Mac version of the app [Mac App Store] has yet to be updated and is still a $19.99 download in the Mac App Store. Google also released an Android version of the app, which is available for free in the Google Play store.
Just as it announces that it will begin offering Apple products, presumably including the iPhone and iPad, next year, T-Mobile USA has also revealed that it will be restructuring the way it sells to customers by eliminating device subsidies and focusing on lower monthly plan costs. The plans were announced at Deutsche Telekom's annual investor conference today and noted by Fierce Wireless.
Currently T-Mobile offers Classic plans that subsidize the device and require a two-year contract and Value plans that let customers pay the full cost of their smartphones or pay it off in monthly installments in exchange for lower monthly plan rates. Legere said that in 2013 T-Mobile will eliminate its Classic rate plans that include device subsidies and instead only offer Value plans to customers.
Under one example for "the most iconic device in the world", Legere noted that customers might pay $99 upfront and then $15-$20 per month for 20 months on top of their monthly plan in order to pay off the full cost of the device. With the customer being responsible for the full cost of the device, T-Mobile can offer lower base plan pricing.
Legere did not provide specifics on the company's plans to offer Apple products, which was announced earlier today. However, he did say that when the company launches Apple's products, it will be dramatically different. He also said that T-Mobile had not made a volume commitment to purchase Apple products on size of what Sprint Nextel has committed to "or anything close to it." Sprint last year inked a four-year, $15.5 billion deal to sell the iPhone.
T-Mobile will become the last of the four major U.S. carriers to offer the iPhone, joining AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and a host of smaller carriers that have partnered with Apple on the device.
Lost Spell is a fast paced puzzle game where the goal is to swipe as quickly as possible to make matches of three or more orbs.
You don't have to make matches in order to swipe the orbs on the board, but doing so will earn you chains, and thus, a higher score. You can make multiple swipes during a single turn, chaining up quite a few orbs for a huge score.
There are special orbs, like the Unicorn orb, which have unique functions. The Unicorn orb can be matched with any color on the board and it doubles the score of all the chains on the board.
The game has three different modes: Classic, Master, and Zen. In classic mode, you will play a survival game, lasting as long as you can. In Master mode, there is a time limit and powerful spell orbs to help you out, and in Zen mode, the idea is to solve puzzles before the time runs out.
In Classic mode you also have a limited amount of mana, and if you fail to make chains with a slash, you will lose it. The game ends when you run out of mana, but chains of four or more will restore it.
As you make matches you will level up. Earning a level will restore your mana so you can continue to play, but it also means the game will get tougher.
Slashing is sometimes necessary to get rid of useless orbs that will let you access chains, so it's important to manage your mana carefully.
The game will get more and more difficult as you play, and the goal is to survive for as long as you can. Still, Lost Spell is not a difficult game and making matches is simple enough that even kids can play.
Lost Spell is a lot of fun, and presents a great twist on a classic genre. Swiping to make matches is effortless and intuitive, which means this game is a winner.
What I liked: This game has great graphics and fun match three gameplay.
What I didn't like: The game can actually be a bit too simple at times. I couldn't get into it until I leveled up several times and the other modes, like Zen and Master weren't challenging enough either.
To buy or not to buy: If you enjoy match three puzzles this is a download that's well worth the $0.99.
For today’s Daily Deal we’ve found 16 great apps to add to your iPad collection. We have 6 productivity / entertainment apps and 10 game apps in today’s bundle.
We used our PadGadget Apps Tracker to find these great deals and we’ll continue to look for the best app deals as they pop-up. Some of these apps are up to 80% off, a couple are even free, so be sure to check them out because they are on sale for a limited time.
Game Apps
7 Wonders: Magical Mystery Tour HD – This arcade game has a 4.5 star App Store rating and is now on sale for $2.99 instead of $4.99.
Glowfish HD (Full) – This top rated game has a 5 star App Store rating and is now on sale for $2.99 instead of $4.99.
iLinkWord () – This challenging word game has a 4 star App Store rating and is now available for Free instead of $1.99.
Midnight Mysteries: Devil on the Mississippi (Full) – This very popular hidden-object game has a 4.5 star App Store rating and is now on sale for $2.99 instead of $6.99. This app weighs in at 255 MB so please be sure that you have enough space on your iPad before downloading.
Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials (Full) – This very popular game from MumboJumbo has a 4.5 star App Store rating and is now on sale for $2.99 instead of $6.99.
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit for iPad – This great racing game has a 4 star App Store rating and is now on sale for $2.99 instead of $4.99. This app weighs in at 432 MB so please be sure that you have enough space on your iPad before downloading.
Pizza Vs. Skeletons () – This wacky pizza themed game has a 4.5 star App Store rating and is now available for Free instead of $2.99. This app weighs in at 385 MB so please be sure that you have enough space on your iPad before downloading.
Reckless Racing HD – This very popular racing game has a 4 star App Store rating and is now available for $0.99. That’s a savings of 80% off the apps’ normal price of $4.99.
Sonic Jump () – This Sega action game has a 4.5 star App Store rating and is now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for iPad – This popular entertainment game from EA is now available for $0.99. That’s a savings of 80% off the apps’ normal price of $4.99.
Productivity and Entertainment Apps
Moop Sounds Funny – #1 Rated Soundboard with over 60 hilarious sound effects () – This soundboard app is now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
SkySafari 3 () – This app has a 5 star App Store rating and is now available for Free instead of $2.99.
Ulmon London () – This popular travel app has a 4 star App Store rating and is now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
Ulmon New York () – This travel app is now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
Ulmon Paris () – This Paris travel app is now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99. This app weighs in at 264 MB so please be sure that you have enough space on your iPad before downloading.
Ulmon Rome () – This popular travel app is now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
Also be sure to check out yesterday’s Daily Deal to find more great savings.
= Indicates app is Universal and will run on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.
We use our PadGadget Apps Tracker to constantly monitor the App Store to find the biggest price changes on iPad apps. Our editorial team goes through the data, picks the best deals on the most interesting apps and then brings them to you on a regular basis.All app prices are checked at the time of posting but prices are subject to change without notice. When developers put their apps on sale it’s usually for a very limited time, often 24 hours or less, so be sure to check pricing on iTunes before making a purchase.
It’s easy to take something as simple as the elevator for granted, but there are a huge number of factors involved in making the process of going up and down as smooth as possible. The Wall Street Journal interviewed Theresa Christy, a mathematician who calculates all the possible variables for making elevator rides in different locations as quick and smooth as possible. While there are plenty of mathematical problems that need to be taken into account, there are also other issues at play: average weights between nationalities can fluctuate dramatically, while different cultures across the world expect different elevator experiences.
Twitter and Instagram have been straying further apart from each other ever since the latter was acquired by Facebook, and now it looks like competition is getting into play more than ever. Twitter has confirmed on its support pages that Instagram has disabled integration with Twitter cards, the relatively new design feature that displays media content directly in the timeline. With Instagram pulling support, photos will still appear, but some are now showing in a non-optimized, cropped view. We've reached out to Instagram for comment, but the evidence suggests that Facebook is beginning to silo off its services, pushing users of the photo sharing service to Facebook. Twitter hasn't laid down in the fight, either: reports say the company...
In yet another sign that Apple's iPhone 5 stocks are returning to normal, Apple has lifted its limit of two iPhone 5's per customer. The top boilerplate in this image is from last week when Apple began selling the GSM iPhone 5 unlocked in the U.S., and the lower boilerplate is from today.
In recent days, we've seen ship times for some countries drop as low as 2-4 business days. Additionally, an Apple Retail source tells us that the prior restrictions on retail iPhone 5 purchases -- two per transaction and a ten-phone lifetime limit -- have been changed to ten phones per transaction and no lifetime limit.
While normal customers are unlikely to need to purchase ten iPhones per transaction, the limits are likely aimed at the well-documented reseller phenomenon where entrepreneurs purchase Apple products in bulk and ship them to countries where those products are not yet for sale.
Since many of these devices are purchased for resale in China, it's possible that Apple's launch of the iPhone 5, iPad mini and 4th-generation iPad in that country later this month could lessen reseller demand.
The iPad mini retains its two-per-customer limit, however. Attempting to purchase more than two on the Apple Online Store displays the following notice:
A maximum of 2 iPad can be purchased per customer. Please adjust the total quantity of iPad in your order before checking out.
The Charlotte Observer reports that Apple has filed plans to double the size of its fuel cell facility at its data center in Maiden, North Carolina to 10 megawatts.
Fifty fuel cells adjacent to its $1 billion data center in Maiden are expected to be operating by January, Apple said in papers filed with the N.C. Utilities Commission. It will be fueled by "directed biogas" in which cleaned methane gas from a landfill is injected into a natural gas pipeline. [...]
California-based Apple says the initial 4.8-megawatt phase in Maiden began start-up and testing in October. In November it applied for an amended state permit to increase the project's size.
Fuel cells at Apple's corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California In North Carolina, Apple is combining its fuel cell facility with two massive solar farms to help achieve the company's goal of using 100% renewable energy at all of its data centers. At its originally planned 4.8-megwatt capacity, Apple's fuel cell facility in North Carolina was already said to be the largest in the United States not owned by a utility company.
Every once in awhile you stumble across a broswer game that kills an hour of your day and leaves you ready to quit whatever it is you were doing. They don’t keep your attention for long, but when you’re done you look up and time has moved on without you. As web technologies grow there might be an expectation for better graphics and longer stories, but there’s something about the silly games that get your attention. This Star Wars rogue-like easily sucks up an hour of your life, and in return leaves your head filled with ASCII-killing amusement.
You start the game off by choosing between Jedi and Sith — but don’t worry there’s absolutely no difference in the game whatsoever if you choose one side or the other. And I’m guessing the developer has heard about Disney buying LucasFilm, since your little ASCII self is guided through a basic tutorial that shows you how to use the lightsaber to kill Mickey Mouse. Once you’ve demonstrated that you can use the force to push and pull things, you are released into a world where apparently everything gravitates toward you with the intent to kill.
Survival in this game is entirely dependent on you paying attention to your personal metrics. You have health, force powers, and an XP bar. Every time you kill something you gain XP, but every thing you do that can kill something (including when you swing your lightsaber) costs you force. If you run out of force, you’re going to get shot to death by droids and clones. Both your health meter and your force meter recharge as you move around, but every step you take brings the enemies closer to you. If you fill the XP bar before you die, the game ends and you have won.
The project is entirely hosted on GitHub, where you can look at the source code in all of its glory. Enjoy!
