Yearly Archives: 2012

Apple’s television

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My latest column on Techpinions:

Some people think Apple will release a television with new menus or Siri integration. I don’t believe they are thinking big enough. If Apple enters that market they will disrupt it and change it forever.

Last.fm says passwords leaked

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We are currently investigating the leak of some Last.fm user passwords. This follows recent password leaks on other sites, as well as information posted online. As a precautionary measure, we’re asking all our users to change their passwords immediately.

Let’s just assume that every password is going to be leaked.

GODDAMNIT DELL SHUTUP

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“People might be attracted to some of these shiny devices but technology departments can’t afford to support them,” he told a media and analyst briefing in Sydney. “If you are giving a presentation and something fails on the software side it might take four days to get it up and running again. I don’t think this race has been run yet.”

Listen up Joe. You’re talking about using an iPad, not one of your shitty Dell computers. You shouldn’t talk about things you have no idea about. You just look stupid.

You look stupid Joe.

Mobile sends gaming devices in downward spiral

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“Mobile devices will compete with dedicated handheld gaming devices, but select consumer segments like core gamers and those individuals who do not want or have a smartphone or tablet will still provide some demand.”

Some demand hardly seems like a positive outlook for the future. Makes sense though since forecasts are down for gaming devices and more people are buying devices like the iPhone. Gaming companies are paying a lot more attention to mobile devices too.

Welcome to the iPhone, Android users

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Neil Hughes for AppleInsider:

A new survey of American iPhone buyers has revealed that 73 percent choose the high-end iPhone 4S, while 38 percent of those buying Apple’s smartphone reported switching from Android or BlackBerry.

So, people buy Android-based phones and use them as a trade-in towards an iPhone?

Email clutter

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I recommend using a simple four-step process to get your electronic mailbox as close to empty as you can, every day.

I know what Dave says makes sense, but I work in exactly the opposite way. I have email in my inbox dating back many years and have no problem finding anything, at any time.

With the way search works in OS X and in Apple’s Mail app, I can search individual emails by just using a few keywords — that simple method has rarely let me down. I just mark messages I need to do something with as unread and move on with my day.

Granted, that’s probably not the most efficient way to do things, but I’ve tried to be more organized with email in the past and it took more time than it was worth.

The bonus is that I always know where all of my email is.

Airfoil Speakers Touch back in the App Store

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Unfortunately, Airfoil Speakers Touch can no longer receive audio directly from other iOS devices or iTunes. Read on for more information about this troubling change, as well as the reasons behind it.

I’m glad to see that the app is back, but it’s disappointing that Apple admits the developer did nothing wrong and yet they still have to remove functionality.

CNET’s stupid ‘Hands On’

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CNET: While the Intel representatives wouldn’t allow us to hold the unannounced device or talk about in-depth specs, we were able to pry out some information. How, and in what goddamn world, is that a ‘Hands On’?

What Google Maps actually just unveiled: Anxiety over Apple Maps

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Massive Greatness:

What Google actually unveiled today is their own vulnerability in the space. Beyond a few tiny leaks, no one knows what Apple’s mapping product will be like. Google has by far and away the best mapping product on the planet. But they still felt the need to hold this meaningless press conference today. That’s fighting down, not up. And it’s a big mistake because it conveys the opposite of what Google was trying to convey: concern, not confidence.

Even before today’s non-event, I had been thinking more about Apple’s move into mapping. When the news broke, everyone knew it was a big deal, but I actually still think it’s being underplayed. It could be a massive deal.

The bearded will rise up against the beardless

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Nathaniel Beard, of the world’s premier beard-faced band The Beards, has hit back at Victorian top cop Ken Lay who wants to ban beards and ponytails. Mr Lay is facing an investigation into whether his campaign to defoliate the entire police force is a breach of human rights.

Get ’em beard-faced Aussie.

Leaky LinkedIn

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Lex Friedman:

Two stories about potential user data leakage at the networking company trickled out late Tuesday and early Wednesday. One suggested that the LinkedIn iOS app may leak personal data from your calendar to the LinkedIn website; the second report indicates that a Russian hacker may have posted 6.5 million LinkedIn passwords on the Web.

I guess a little bit of security is too much to ask for.

46% of users would buy a data-only smartphone plan

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Now the CEO feels that regardless of what AT&T (cough… Stephenson) wants, the company might have to start offering data-only smartphone plans in the distant future to compete with other cellular providers in coming years.

The grip of big telcos is loosening.

Airtime a novelty

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During Airtime’s launch event, Parker and Fanning said they wanted to recapture the excitement and energy of the popular AOL chat rooms of the 1990s – which strikes me as a dubious goal at best – but still provide some safety for users.

R.I.P. Zune

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There was nary a mention of Zune, an existing Microsoft music and movie service, at the E3 event where Xbox Music was announced. But afterward, a Microsoft spokeswoman, Melissa Stewart, confirmed that the Zune brand is going away so Microsoft can use the better-known Xbox brand for its entertainment services, including its online video service.

Xbox is one Microsoft product that I do like.

The Deck June

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Two slots just opened up for the balance of June on our advertising network, The Deck. We’ll do a nice price for an advertiser who can pull the trigger quick.

This is the ad network used by The Loop.

Google acquires Quickoffice

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Today, consumers, businesses and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any device. Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we’ll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our Apps product suite.

CDSweep benefiting the Autism Science Foundation

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Donating your old discs to CDSweep will help advance cutting-edge scientific research into the causes and treatment of autism and provide the fast-growing number of affected individuals with the gift of hope. You can even request that your CDs be digitized and sent back to you as MP3s for free.

Dragon ID voice login

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Nuance isn’t yet saying anything specific about iOS integration for Dragon ID — “We aren’t providing details yet, but we’re in discussions with several of the top OEMs,” was the word via the company’s PR rep.

As Mike said voice login isn’t new, but this could be interesting.

The mechanics and meaning of that modem sound

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The Atlantic:

Of all the noises that my children will not understand, the one that is nearest to my heart is not from a song or a television show or a jingle. It’s the sound of a modem connecting with another modem across the repurposed telephone infrastructure. It was the noise of being part of the beginning of the Internet.

Thanks to Daring Fireball for the link.

Lee Clow: Me and Steve Jobs

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TBWA/Chiat/Day’s Lee Clow, the advertising genius behind the “Think Different” and “1984” advertisements, sums up his relationship with Steve Jobs.

Matches: Euro 2012 for iPhone

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Stay up-to-date on the Euro Cup 2012 matches, with goals, team rankings, player stats and more on your iPhone.

Bought it.

Apple’s Newton at 20

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TIME:

…In 1992, nobody had a PDA. That’s Personal Digital Assistant, in case you’ve forgotten, and even though nobody had one, lots of people were talking about them. Apple CEO John Sculley had coined the term in the keynote speech he made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 7. He announced that Apple would release PDAs–pocket-sized information devices, easier to use than a PC and selling for under $1000–in 1993.

Twenty years ago this week, on May 29, 1992, Sculley spoke again at another CES, in Chicago. This time, he didn’t just talk about PDAs. He brought one with him. It was a Newton, a prototype of the device which Apple planned to start selling in early 1993. Actually, Apple had multiple Newtons on hand that, which was good: The first one it unveiled on stage had dead batteries and didn’t work. Using a second unit, Steve Capps, one of Newton’s creators, showed how you could use it to order a pizza by moving topping icons onto a pie and then sending out a fax. In 1992, that was show-stopping stuff.

Newton’s were the must-have geek toy of the Nineties. It may not seem like it now but they were amazing for their time.