Mashable:
In terms of GIFs, we’ve seen everything from mainstream celebrities photobombing major award shows to familiar web trends like cats and Star Wars characters. But when it comes to animated GIFs, one thing is for certain: Humor always wins.
I’m sorry but the above Panda image had me laughing out loud.
Tom Krazit, PaidContent:
There’s nowhere else in the world you can build a modern smartphone or tablet as cheaply, easily, and reliably as the massive factories of companies like Foxconn, which operate on a scale that is difficult to comprehend. The price for doing business with companies like Foxconn is living with the knowledge that these products are being built by people who have signed up for a modern-day version of indentured servitude.So what can be done about that?
Network World:
No need to waste your time sitting through commercials during Super Bowl XLVI when you could be doing other things like eating and drinking and arguing, right? Here’s a sneak peek at some of the geekiest/techiest commercials on tap for the big New England Patriots vs. New York Giants matchup.
Ads from VW, Samsung, GoDaddy and Ferris Bueller is back!
Reuters:
Apple’s Steve Jobs directly asked former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt to stop trying to recruit an Apple engineer, a transgression that threatened one junior Google employee’s job, according to a court filing.The 2007 email from Jobs to Schmidt was disclosed on Friday in the course of civil litigation against Apple Inc, Google Inc and five other technology companies. The proposed class action, brought by five software engineers, accuses the companies of conspiring to keep employee compensation low by eliminating competition for skilled labor.
Who said Apple and Google couldn’t be cooperative?
ifoAppleStore:
During the 90-minute JC Penney briefing, former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson explained his plans to remake JCP into “America’s favorite store” over the next three years, admittedly drawing from his 10-year stewardship of Apple’s stores. In fact, the very first item on Johnson’s agenda was to explain why he left Apple, and the very first presentation slide was an Apple logo.“It’s the best decision I’ve made yet,” he said of moving to JCP. The only hard part of the decision was driving to Steve Jobs’ house to announce he was leaving. Jobs looked up at him and asked, “Are you serious?”
It will be interesting to see how Johnson can bring the Apple Retail experience to JCP.
148Apps: With over 1.5 million votes cast (over three times the number cast last year) and a record number of nominations, we now have the winners of the 2011 Best App Ever Awards. Thanks to all that voted, nominated, and … Continued
Molly Wood at CNET: The company has been actively auditing its suppliers for labor, health, safety, and other concerns since 2007. Yet, as the Times points out, problems remain–the kinds of problems that kill people. It’s time for Apple to … Continued
Mark Gurman for 9to5Mac, quoting from Tim Cook: “As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about … Continued
Most of us are big fans of our iPhones but have you ever compared it to other smartphones? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="iPhone vs Lumia vs Galaxy"]
[/caption] The web site Phone Size helps you compare smartphones. Nnot features but the physical size of one phone to other. Amazing how gigantic the Samsung is!
[caption id="attachment_19218" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="Clark Little's "Sand Monster""]
[/caption]Have you ever stood at the water’s edge, watching waves lap at your feet?
Not Clark Little. He stands in two feet of water and lets fifteen foot waves pound him into the sand – all to get some amazing shots of the surf from a viewpoint few of us have ever seen.
Check out the gallery of pictures and videos on his web site.
The New York Times:
Apple and its high-technology peers — as well as dozens of other American industries — have achieved a pace of innovation nearly unmatched in modern history.However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems.
Karelia Software has released Sandvox 2.5, a new version of its visual Web site creation software for Mac OS X. The new release is a free update for version 2 owners. Sandvox 2.5 adds a new Slide Show object to … Continued
Spacetime Studios – makers of the iOS games Pocket Legends and Star Legends – has announced its third massively multiplayer online (MMO) franchise – Dark Legends. It’s coming to iOS (as well as Android and Chrome) in the first calendar … Continued
Apparent has unveiled a new version of its portable paper scanner, the Doxie. The new Doxie Go + Wi-Fi costs $239. Doxio Go + Wi-Fi features a built-in battery and on-board memory storage, plus the ability to sync to your … Continued
Reuters: Nintendo Co Ltd posted a sharp drop in quarterly profit and forecast a bigger-than-expected full-year loss, its first at an operating level, as it battles a strong yen and its games devices lose ground to gadgets such as Apple’s … Continued
ReadWriteWeb’s Dan Frommer:
There are plenty of impressive stats in Apple’s December quarter earnings report, such as 37 million iPhones shipped, $46 billion of overall sales, and $13 billion of profit.But Apple’s most impressive stat continues to be its growth rate: Apple is not only huge, but it is growing at a rate far greater than its peers. And, even more incredible, its growth rate is accelerating.
Keep that in mind. Apple has a huge amount of room to grow, whether it be in the PC, phone or tablet market.
The Verge: William Gibson famously coined the term “cyberspace,” and gave us a singular vision of the future in early cyberpunk novels Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive. During his recent book tour, he took time to talk about … Continued
From NASA: A ‘Blue Marble’ image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA’s most recently launched Earth-observing satellite – Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, … Continued
Chris Ziegler for The Verge: Following up on its December announcement that it would open source the platform — a last-ditch effort to make it viable — HP has gone into detail today on exactly when and how developers will … Continued
Ken Segall’s Observatory: …it was a big blow to Apple when Ron left after 11 stellar years. And it was a big wow for JCPenney when Ron signed on as their new CEO. For many, Ron’s move was a disconnect. … Continued
AllThingD: Asked about his first four months as Apple chief executive, Tim Cook stressed that what he feels most is lucky to be surrounded by his talented colleagues. “You can see our results,” Cook said during a conference call with … Continued
Looks like fans of Blizzard Entertainment, the game developer behind World of Warcraft, StarCraft II and the forthcoming Diablo III, will have to find some other way to celebrate their love for Blizzard games this year, because there won’t be … Continued
CNNMoney: The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said its fiscal first quarter profit rose to $13 billion, or $13.87 per share, more than double the profit Apple booked a year earlier. It was one of the most profitable quarters ever for any … Continued
The Verge: There’s definitely a huge market for used lenses in great condition, at bargain prices. This guide will hopefully arm you with the knowledge and just the right amount of paranoia to separate the gems from the dogs. In … Continued
NetworkWorld: Adam Lashinsky’s upcoming book, Inside Apple, provides an intriguing look into the inner workings at Apple while examining the management and product development strategies they’ve implemented to create numerous game-changing devices. Now it’s no secret that Apple sweats every … Continued
Dasient Blog: The Dasient team is excited to announce that we have been acquired by Twitter! Effective immediately, we will be bringing our technology, tools, and team to the revenue engineering team at Twitter. Dasient has been focused on solving … Continued
Bloomberg:
Verizon Communications Inc, the second-largest U.S. phone company, reported a fourth-quarter loss after booking a pension charge and having higher subsidy costs for rising iPhone sales.While iPhone sales more than doubled from the third quarter to 4.3 million units, total smartphone sales fell short, signaling waning demand for handsets that run on Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
Because of the subsidies the carriers pay to Apple, higher sales of the iPhone mean more upfront costs but, in theory, more profits long term.
IT research company Gartner claims that Apple was the top semiconductor customer in 2011. Gartner’s calculation is “Design Total Available Market,” or Design TAM, an index it says “represents the total silicon content in all products designed by a certain … Continued
Bare Bones Software has updated Yojimbo, its information organizer. Both Mac and iPad versions have been updated, to 3.0.3 and 1.0.4 respectively. Bare Bones describes the update as a maintenance release which fixes “specific reported issues.” You can download the … Continued
Declan McCullagh for CNet: American citizens can be ordered to decrypt their PGP-scrambled hard drives for police to peruse for incriminating files, a federal judge in Colorado ruled today in what could become a precedent-setting case. Judge Robert Blackburn ordered … Continued