Monthly Archives: October 2011

∞ Purdue University gives BlackBerry the boot

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Purdue University has continued to see a decline in BlackBerry devices using its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) since Jan. 1, 2011, and, after Dec. 31, 2012, will no longer support Exchange synchronization with BlackBerry devices.The combination of a 33-percent decrease in BES use, a subsequent increase in per-unit cost and a proliferation of the use of non-BlackBerry devices influenced the decision.

∞ Avid cuts jobs

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Air Users Blog: So, whilst some users were hoping for a price cut, it is sobering to think that some very good people have lost their job, some of whom are people I know personally. One in particular is a … Continued

∞ Siri's dictation key surprise

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Gary Ng:

After you’ve added the Emoji keyboard, or any other keyboard, you’ll notice Siri’s dictate key beside the spacebar changes from dark to light grey. What’s up with this change in colour?

I would never have found this.

∞ Good news for RIM; someone sucks more than they do at making tablets

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Jon Fingas:

Motorola Mobility pained a dark picture for its tablet strategy with its results on Thursday. The company shipped just 100,000 Xoom tablets in the summer, or less than a quarter of the 440,000 from the spring and less still than the 250,000 from the winter launch. Motorola gave no explanation for the drop.

A possible explanation is that they suck balls.

∞ HP is keeping its PC business

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HP today announced that it has completed its evaluation of strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group (PSG) and has decided the unit will remain part of the company. As John Gruber said, HP might want to buy Netflix or … Continued

∞ It's brutal being an Android user

Written by

Michael DeGusta:

I went back and found every Android phone shipped in the United States1 up through the middle of last year. I then tracked down every update that was released for each device – be it a major OS upgrade or a minor support patch – as well as prices and release & discontinuation dates. I compared these dates & versions to the currently shipping version of Android at the time. The resulting picture isn’t pretty – well, not for Android users:

Wow. That’s all I got for that one.

∞ Steve Jobs, Final Cut and iMovie

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An excerpt from John Buck’s book “Timeline”:

Jobs approached Adobe Systems, and asked them to create a consumer version of Premiere that Apple could bundle with the unreleased Mac code-named Kihei. With Apple’s future still uncertain, and Premiere sales growing on the Wintel platform, Adobe said no.

Like so many other things, Jobs was driven by a belief that he was right. When Adobe said no, Jobs created the applications division at Apple that gave us so many great apps over the years.

∞ SoundCloud releases iPad app

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While maximizing native iPad capabilities like multi-touch and page swiping, SoundCloud’s app takes full advantage of the iPad interface to allow users to touch the newly designed waveform of the sound captured, allowing for a more social experience, which also includes more space for scrolling comments. In addition, users can now record private messages and send them directly to other people on SoundCloud.

∞ Research tells enterprise market to embrace Macs

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Philip Elmer-Dewitt:

“It’s time to repeal prohibition and take decisive action,” writes David Johnson in a new report made available to Fortune (and available for sale here). “Mac users are your HEROes and you should enable them not hinder them.”“HERO,” it turns out, is a Forrester acronym for Highly Empowered and Resourceful Operatives — “the 17% of information workers who use new technologies and find innovative ways to be more productive and serve customers more effectively.”

∞ Apple has $81.5 billion in cash

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Matthew Panzarino for TNW:

Apple today filed its Form 10-K with the SEC that discloses information to stockholders and the commission. In an amongst the normal legal statements there were a few interesting facts. Among those were that Apple currently has $81,570,000,000 in cash, marketable securities and cash equivalents.

The filing also noted Apple now has 60 thousand employees.

∞ Record high BlackBerry trade-ins after outage and iPhone 4S launch

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Josh Lowensohn for CNET:

The metric follows an extended outage of Research In Motion’s e-mail and BlackBerry messaging services, which left users unable to communicate with one another or send and receive e-mails globally. To placate angry users, RIM offered users $100 in free “premium” applications. The spike also coincided with the release of Apple’s new iPhone 4S.

And the bad news just keeps coming for RIM.

∞ 'Take Control of iCloud'

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“Take Control of iCloud” covers every platform that iCloud supports, which includes Mac OS X 10.7.2 Lion, iOS 5, Windows Vista and Windows 7, and even the second-generation Apple TV. If your computers and devices aren’t running — or can’t run — those operating systems, they won’t be able to participate in iCloud, but the ebook offers some workarounds.

A book written by Joe Kissell and offered by TidBITS founders Adam and Tonya Engst. In other words, it’s really good.

∞ RIM sued over BlackBerry outages

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BGR.com: It specifically focuses on “RIM’s failure to take action to either directly compensate BlackBerry users or to indirectly compensate BlackBerry users by arranging for wireless service providers to refunds their customers and to take full responsibility for these damages.” … Continued

∞ Cards

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Neil Hughes: Cards is a free application available on the App Store, and it works as promised. I tried building a card with the software while on the go, over a 3G connection on an iPhone 4. The process is … Continued

∞ Apple begins in-store product pickup

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When checking out from Apple’s online store, a new “Pick up” option is available, from which users can select a store in San Francisco, Calif. It also states that the in-store pickup option is “coming soon to a U.S. Apple Store near you.”

Just another example of Apple’s commitment to serving its customers in the best way possible.

∞ PlayBook OS 2.0 delayed until 2012

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In an apparent effort to make sure I had something to write about today, RIM announced that it has delayed the release of its PlayBook OS 2.0 software until February 2012. CrackBerry.com reported the news last night. The full text … Continued

∞ Twelve South upgrades BassJump subwoofer software

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Remember the original iSub, Harman Kardon’s subwoofer designed specifically for the iMac? That’s the inspiration behind Twelve South’s BassJump subwoofer, which works with Macs and is designed to complement their built-in speakers. Now Twelve South has improved the software included … Continued

∞ 'Learning thermostat' works with iOS, Web apps

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The Nest Learning Thermostat is making the round of tech blogs today. This pricey $249 thermostat – currently available for pre-order – replaces the ones in your house and helps you conserve energy by learning your schedule. What’s more, it’s … Continued

∞ White in design

Written by

Core77:

Linda O’Keeffe, the former Creative Director of Metropolitan Home magazine, has assembled a photo-heavy tome called BRILLIANT: White in Design that “explores the full spectrum of colors and characteristics inherent in white, exploring how it is used and viewed in art, design, architecture and nature.”

Some beautiful stuff.