AT&T said it was prepared for SXSW this year and by all accounts, the network is holding up. The problem is that they didn’t really fixed the underlying problem. AT&T put in mobile cell towers to handle the extra bandwidth consumed at the show, but the network is still broken. That’s what needs to be fixed.
With all of the hype surrounding the iPad in the past couple of days, we missed an interesting page on Apple’s Web site: Battery Replacement. (more…)
There’s trouble in paradise. A self-professed “pissed off wife” is posting openly on Twitter about her husband leaving on their anniversary weekend to attend South by Southwest (SXSW). The bio for @ScrewYouSXSW is a gem:
My husband f****d off to Austin on our anniversary weekend for South by Southwest. Asshole. Follow me to see what happens in his absence.
So what happens is his absence?
Uh Oh. New text from hubby “We need to talk when I get home on Tuesday.” Should I tell him that I’m leaving for Hawaii on Tues?
Anniversaries come and go, they say. Divorce settlements only come around once, maybe twice in a lifetime.
Worst text to-date from husband “wish I could check-in to your pants this morning” WRONG F*****G DAY TO BE SAYING THAT ASSHOLE.
Apple gave its Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook, a $22 million performance bonus on Friday. The bonus was split between a cash bonus of $5 million and the rest as restricted stock. Cook’s bonus was approved by the board on Friday after being recommended by Steve Jobs. He was apparently given the bonus for his performance while filling in for CEO Steve Jobs while he was off on medical leave.
It seems that Apple added a little something extra to the iPad for the launch — Screen rotation lock. (more…)
It’s a good news, bad news story for AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson when looking at his 2009 pay package. The bulk of Stephenson’s pay was in the form of stock awards, which were valued at 12.1 million, down 8 percent over the 2008. (In case you didn’t know, that folks, was the bad news). The good news is that Stephenson earned a $5.85 million performance bonus pulling his 2009 salary up 35 percent over 2008 to 20.3 million.
AT&T CEO’s pay jumps 35% to $20.3 million in 2009 [Network World]
My favorite audio plug-in maker, Universal Audio (UA) on Thursday released an update for its plug-in platform. UAD 5.6 includes many fixes and three new plug-ins. (more…)
Strange but true. “Law & Order” actor Richard Belzer (Detective Munch) has been accused of harassment by an Apple Store employee. According to the employee Belzer “grabbed her by the shoulders, shook her, choked her and barked, ‘I need help!'” Belzer said he put his hand on her shoulder, nothing else. Apparently, the incident was captured on surveillance tape and after viewed by police, no charges were filed.
‘Law & Order’ star Richard Belzer says Apple Store harass accuser targeted him because of fame [NYDailyNews.com]
If you’ve been following iPad news since it was introduced, tomorrow will be a big day. (more…)
Apple on Thursday released an update for its Web browser, bringing the current version of Safari to 4.0.5. (more…)
I’ll admit it. I get very frustrated reading opinions from people saying the iPad has problems and it may be better to wait until the next version to buy one. Most of these people haven’t even touched one, but yet they feel compelled to give an opinion. (more…)
Earlier this week, Pink Floyd sued its record label, EMI, for selling individual songs on digital music services like iTunes. (more…)
I saw a new album on the iTunes Store today that I just had to share: Jimi Hendrix’s “Valleys of Neptune.” Best of all it comes in Apple’s iTunes LP format, meaning there are extras. These are previously unreleased recordings of Hendrix captured right after he recorded “Electric Ladyland.” I’m downloading it right now.
Get this. Dell will call its forthcoming tablet the “Streak.” I kid you not, that’s what reports are saying today. If Dell needs a theme song for its marketing campaign, they could contact Ray Stevens about his 1970s classic song, “The Streak.”
Leaked Dell Streak flyer shows multitude of color options, confirmed specifications [Engadget]
At this week’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, Icarus Studios announced the Mac beta release of Fallen Earth, a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game. The new Mac beta release – available now – requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 or later. (more…)
Whether you’re a seasoned digital photographer or an amateur looking to step up from iPhoto, chances are that Apple’s Aperture software can help you dramatically. Now in its third major iteration, Aperture is easier to use and more powerful than ever. (more…)
Apple on Wednesday released an update for its professional guitar and keyboard app, MainStage. (more…)
Have you seen the E-Trade ad with the kids in it talking about stock trading? Cute ad, right? Not to Lindsay Lohan. One of the kids is named Lindsay and is referred to as a milkaholic. Apparently Lohan thinks her name is as recognizable as Madonna or Oprah.
They used the name Lindsay,” Ovadia said. “They’re using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn’t they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody’s talking about it and saying it’s Lindsay Lohan.
I don’t know what to say. Really, I don’t.
If you haven’t seen the commercial, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEXZ2hfD3bU
Lindsay Lohan wants $100M over E-Trade ad [New York Post]
Legendary rockers Pink Floyd filed a lawsuit in London on Tuesday against its record label EMI. (more…)
The Game Developers Conference is this week in San Francisco and there is a lot going on. Of course, Peter Cohen is reporting from the show, but our friends at TUAW.com have some great coverage too. One article that got my attention today is about a panel lead by Ngmoco discussing how they built Eliminate.
As they explained during the presentation, they had a heck of a goal with this project: they wanted to put together “the definitive FPS for iPhone,” complete with all of the functions of a standard console deathmatch-style FPS, in just five months with just three engineers. And they started with the toughest nut of all: the networking code.
GDC 2010: Ngmoco explains how Eliminate was built [TUAW.com]
Unity Technologies has announced Unity 3.0, a new version of its versatile 3D game engine which enables developers to create titles for Mac, iPhone, Web and other platforms. A final release date is scheduled for this summer. (more…)
It’s a big part of the world we live in these days — jobs are scarce and when you do find something, the competition is fierce. (more…)
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) kicked off in San Francisco this morning with a two day summit focused specifically on the iPhone. The summit gathers experts from the technical and business end of iPhone game development. (more…)
I suppose this is a good argument for why Apple wants to have control of the apps that people have access to on the App Store. Researchers got almost 8,000 people to install an app and while they have created a “malicious version of the app capable of harvesting data, posting fake updates on social networking sites and sending spam,” they haven’t published it. Of course, the only iPhones affected by this problem are jailbroken devices that install apps from Cydia or other similar service.
Smartphone app botnet experiment blows up a storm [The Register]
Microsoft on Tuesday released updates for two of its Office versions for the Mac, according to software site, MacUpdate. (more…)
Valve Software, makers of the Steam software distribution platform, has announced that the Mac won’t be a second-class citizen when it comes to new game releases. All future games – including the upcoming Portal 2 – will be released simultaneously for the Mac, Windows and Xbox 360 platforms, according to John Cook, director of Steam development for Valve. The company indicates that software developers who use Source, Valve’s game development environment, will be able to produce native Mac OS X games, not games that run “in emulation.”
Valve leaked its Mac plans last week to several Web sites using imagery culled from its popular games including Half-Life 2.
Steam, Source coming to Mac [IndustryGamers]
FileMaker Inc. on Tuesday announced the release of FileMaker Pro 11, a major new release of its popular database software for Mac OS X and Windows. It’s available beginning today, along with new versions of FileMaker Pro 11 Advanced, FileMaker Server 11 and FileMaker Server 11 Advanced. It costs $299, with upgrades available for registered users of previous versions. (more…)
Everyone that has one, loves it, but Tivo is still losing money. The company reported a $10.2 million loss in the fourth quarter or $0.09 per share, which compares to a $3.6 million loss for the same quarter last year. The good news is that analysts expected the company to report a loss of $0.12 per share, so they actually beat the street. Subscriptions to the service fell 22 percent this year.
Tivo Rises After Fourth-Quarter Results Top Estimates [Bloomberg]
Like many people this afternoon, I read John Gruber’s post — iPhone apps on the iPad — at Daring Fireball with great interest. While I agree with almost everything he said, I disagree with one small point — when the iPad and iPhone OS will become unified. (more…)
Market research firm, comScore, on Monday released some staggering numbers about the number of videos watched by U.S. Internet users. (more…)