∞ Doxie document scanner now shipping

April 13, 2010

∞ Doxie document scanner now shipping

Apparent Corp. announced Tuesday that it’s shipping Doxie, its document scanner for Mac OS X and Windows. It costs $129. (more…)

∞ MacBook Pros gain faster processors, more

Apple on Tuesday unveiled new MacBook Pro models with faster processors, new graphics chips and other changes. The 13, 15, and 17-inch models have all been refreshed, with prices starting at $1,199. (more…)

April 12, 2010

∞ Microsoft unveils the Kin phone

In its effort to compete with Apple and Google in the lucrative smartphone market, Microsoft on Monday unveiled the Kin One and the Kin Two. The phones are targeted to young people on the low-end of the market. The phones will have access to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, as well as a built-in Zune player.

Microsoft launches Kin phones [The Washington Post]

∞ Report: Palm putting itself up for sale

A report on Monday suggests Palm may be seeking someone to buy the company. The company is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs and Qatalyst Partners to handle the search for a buyer, which may include HTC and Lenovo.

Palm, which helped pioneer the market for personal digital assistants, would offer suitors the WebOS software that competes against mobile operating systems from iPhone maker Apple Inc. and Google Inc. For Elevation Partners LP, the firm that owns about 30 percent of Palm, a sale may end the volatility associated with a stock that surged more than 10-fold since December 2008 before erasing most of the gain.

Palm Said to Tap Goldman, Quattrone to Find Buyers [Bloomberg]

∞ Analyst: Interest in iPhone nearly doubles among teens

As if Apple hasn’t had its share of good news lately, a new survey shows that interest among teenagers for the iPhone has nearly doubled in the last six months. (more…)

April 11, 2010

∞ Adobe unveils Creative Suite 5

Adobe on Monday announced Creative Suite 5 (CS5), the newest version of its creative applications. The new products include five suites and is made up of 15 software applications. (more…)

April 10, 2010

∞ Apple bans developers from using "Pad" in app names

If you’re a developer working on an app for the iPad, you might want to pay particular attention to the name. (more…)

∞ Report: DoJ continues to probe Apple, Google hiring practices

It appears the Justice Department isn’t finished with its probe into hiring practices among technology companies in the U.S. (more…)

∞ AIM updated for the iPad

AOL on Saturday released an update for its AIM app on the iPad, fixing several nagging bugs. (more…)

∞ Interview: Staind's Aaron Lewis goes acoustic with Gibson

I had the pleasure a few weeks ago to speak with Aaron Lewis, best known for his role as the frontman for Staind. (more…)

April 9, 2010

∞ Twitter buys Tweetie

Twitter on Friday revealed that it had purchased Tweetie, an app designed and developed by Loren Brichter for the Mac and iPhone. (more…)

∞ Gruber on why Apple changed the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber has a great article on why Apple decided to make some changes to the iPhone license agreement. He nailed it when he said that Apple cannot afford to let another company have control over how apps are made for Apple’s iPhone OS. Some good perspective.

So from Apple’s perspective, changing the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement to prohibit the use of things like Flash CS5 and MonoTouch to create iPhone apps makes complete sense. I’m not saying you have to like this. I’m not arguing that it’s anything other than ruthless competitiveness. I’m not arguing (up to this point) that it benefits anyone other than Apple itself. I’m just arguing that it makes sense from Apple’s perspective — and it was Apple’s decision to make.

Why Apple Changed Section 3.3.1 [Daring Fireball]

April 8, 2010

∞ iAds to become part of iPhone OS 4

Apple on Thursday announced a new feature for developers that will be available in iPhone OS 4 — iAds. (more…)

∞ Apple announces multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0

One of the operating system features that Apple has been hit hardest for since the iPhone OS first hit the market is its lack of multitasking. iPhone 4.0 will bring an end to those criticisms. (more…)

∞ Jobs: Apple sold 450,000 iPads

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said during the iPhone event on Thursday that Apple sold 450,000 iPads since the product launched last week. (more…)

∞ Blizzard reveals StarCraft II collector's edition

Blizzard Entertainment on Thursday unveiled plans to release both standard and a limited-edition “Collector’s Edition” releases of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, its hotly anticipated real time strategy game. A release date has not yet been scheduled, but Blizzard indicated that it will announce the release schedule in the coming weeks. (more…)

∞ Palm CEO likens company to Apple

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, a former Apple executive, spoke frankly about his company’s trials and tribulations in a recent interview with Adam Lashinsky of Fortune. He admits that Palm has “hit a speed bump” in adoption of its WebOS smartphones, laying the blame on hardware issue, training, the economy and other factors. But he says that Palm is poised for success, likening the company to Apple when he first got there – with a fractional marketshare, but heavy investment in R&D in a rapidly growing market. “I think that having a small share of that market you can have a successful company. We just need to get up to scale, and that’s our number one goal,” he said.

Palm CEO puts his cards on the table [Fortune]

April 7, 2010

∞ Witch 3.0 window switching utility released

Many Tricks on Wednesday released Witch 3.0, the newest version of the company’s window switching utility.

(more…)

∞ PCalc now available for the iPad

One of the Mac industry’s long time developers, TLA Systems, has brought its RPN calculator, PCalc, to the iPad. (more…)

April 6, 2010

∞ Apple's use of private APIs for iPad gives it unfair advantage

The fact that Apple’s recently released iBooks is using private APIs means very little to most of us. In fact, the majority of users want the apps to be the best they can, regardless of what kind of programming they use. Unfortunately, for developers, it’s another story entirely. They aren’t allowed to use private APIs in their apps, which may cause some unfair competition.

Apple’s specially privileged, private-framework-using iPhone apps were relatively few, but their first-party area of influence on the iPad has just spread to e-readers, word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation tools: four major markets in which competitors may be at a severe disadvantage by not being able to do the same things as Apple’s alternatives if Apple chooses to play this card there.

iBooks and private APIs [Marco.org]

∞ iPad tips from TidBITS

You could pretty much count on the folks at TidBITS to come up with some great tips and tricks for the iPad. Jeff Carlson posted some on Tuesday that range from adding apps to the dock to quickly muting the volume. My favorite, and one that I’ll use a lot, is typing an apostrophe without having to use the secondary keyboard screen.

Instead, press and hold the comma key. A pop-up variation appears with an apostrophe, and it even appears highlighted, which means you don’t have to move your finger to select it. Simply tap, hold for a moment, then release to create the apostrophe.

Tips to Improve the iPad Experience [TidBITS]

∞ Dr. Seuss iPhone books updated for iPad, for free

Oceanhouse Media has announced the release of apps for the iPad, including Dr. Seuss e-book apps. “The Cat In the Hat,” “Dr. Seuss’ ABC” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” are each priced at $2.99. But if you’ve already bought the e-books for your iPhone or iPod touch, the updates are available for free. (more…)

∞ Gelaskins releases iPad protectors

Gelaskins, makers of removable art prints for iPods, iPhones, MacBooks and other devices, has announced the release of Gelaskins for iPad. Each Gelaskin costs $29.99, but if you buy three, you get the fourth for free. (more…)

∞ Nintendo: Apple not 'a viable profit platform for game development'

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime doesn’t think Apple is having any impact on Nintendo’s business in terms of hardware or software sales volume. He said “I’ve seen data that suggestions [sic] while consumers are constantly downloading Apps, they play with them for a few times and then they are moving on to the next thing. Clearly it doesn’t look like their platform is a viable profit platform for game development because so many of the games are free versus paid downloads.”

Waxing metaphorically, Fils-Aime suggests that while Nintendo’s games range between “snacks and full meals … (Apple’s) aren’t even a mouthful, in terms of the gaming experience you get.”

Nintendo doesn’t, shouldn’t fear the iPad [Kotaku]

∞ AT&T investing $1 billion in its infrastructure

I can’t even imagine the scope of what it takes to upgrade a network like AT&T’s, but for some customers, it’ll be too little, too late. Especially if rumors of a Verizon iPhone hold true for later this year. I talked to some people in New York that refused to even try an iPhone because of AT&T’s network.

Its exclusive contract with Apple is due to end this year and, although there’s no word on whether other carriers will be allowed to even touch the beast, there have been some pretty persistent rumors that Verizon will be getting its very own CDMA version of the iPhone. AT&T has, however, got its paws on the Android-powered Nexus One, perhaps shoring up its smartphone stable in the event of Apple deciding to spread its iPhone love.

AT&T to Throw $1 Billion at Its Network [Fast Company]