So what I get from this ad is that the Surface will make a clicking sound when you connect the keyboard; I will be able to dance; other people will join me dancing; I will kiss someone; and if I throw the Surface in the air someone will catch it. But what does it actually do? I guess they forgot that part.
Not only that, Microsoft took Apple’s cool Smart Cover and completely fucked it up.
“I’m ashamed of it,” said Ms. Crosby, a Los Angeles sales representative who said she had stopped pulling out her BlackBerry at cocktail parties and conferences. In meetings, she says she hides her BlackBerry beneath her iPad for fear clients will see it and judge her.
They’ve fallen so far.
Apple on Tuesday announced a special event to be held on October 23, 2012 in San Jose. The event is scheduled to take place at 10:00 am PT.
Unlike other recent events that have been held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Apple will hold this event at the California Theatre in San Jose .
It is widely expected that Apple will use this event to unveil a smaller form-factor iPad.
After an accidental Web site leak earlier today, Microsoft has officially announced pricing for its forthcoming Surface tablet running the Windows RT operating system. It’ll be priced starting at $499, with “a special limited-quantity pre-order” available at 12 PM Eastern, 9 AM Pacific time on Tuesday.
The Surface with Windows RT will be available in three models to start: a 32GB version for $499, a 32GB version bundled with a black “Touch Cover” (which incorporates a keyboard) for $599, and a 64GB version also bundled with a Touch cover for $699. Software pre-installed on the tablet includes a preview build of Office 2013 Home & Student Edition, which will be updated to the final version for free once it’s available.
The RT version of the tablet uses an ARM microprocessor; that’s the same architecture favored by Apple and Android tablet makers. Microsoft is still working on a version of the Surface that uses an Intel microprocessor and will run regular Windows software. The company is differentiating that as a “Pro” model and has said it will cost more than the RT version.
It’s interesting to note that this initial version of the Surface tablet will only be available directly through Microsoft – at its retail stores and through Microsoft online, but not through the vast network of physical and online retailers who normally carry Microsoft products.
Graham Spencer did a great job with this article and maps. Just go read it.
Naan Studio’s Kazuho Okui has announced in a blog post that the company is discontinuing its Echofon Twitter client for Mac, Windows and Firefox.
Okui says the apps will continue to function, but Naan Studio plans end support for them in November, and there are no plans to update the apps in the future.
Naan is focusing its efforts instead on the mobile versions of Echofon – the company produces iOS versions optimized for iPhone and iPad.
Yahoo! announced today that Henrique de Castro has been hired as chief operating officer (COO). Reporting directly to Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, de Castro will be responsible for strategic and operational management of Yahoo!’s sales, operations, media and business development worldwide.
Esquire:
Red Bull Stratos was, by all criteria, a PR triumph. Fifty television channels covered the jump live, seven-million people watched it stream online, and @redbullstratos has 235,000 followers and counting. But beyond the dazzle, beyond the slickness and the spectacle, is Felix’s achievement really that important?
I won’t ruin the writer’s conclusion for you but what do you think? Was it “just” a corporate sponsored PR stunt? A “leap” forward to science? Something else?
io9:
New York Comic-Con is officially over, but the glorious cosplay images live on forever! We saw a whole heap of crazy innovative costumes this year such as Lady Blue Beetle, a gang of Neverending Story cosplayers, a few Korras, and a laser-eyed Superman.Here it is: the best of the best from New York Comic-Con’s Cosplay.
“Best” is obviously subjective (some of these people shouldn’t be let out of the house, let alone allowed to wear spandex) but enjoy nonetheless.
The creator of Tweetie and Twitter’s app is back on his own.
Just released today.
Harry Marks is the creator of CuriousRat.com and co-hosts the weekly technology podcast, inThirty.net.
Tell me if you’ve heard this one: “Steve Jobs never would’ve let [PRODUCT/SERVICE/INCIDENT] happen.”
That declaration has distorted the way the press writes about Apple and how it operates. The claims of his alleged perfectionism and ability to “sweat the details” didn’t just elevate the CEO to “best thing since sliced bread” status, it mutated the perception of the company for industry insiders and the public.
Perfectionism was the driving force behind the hackneyed “reality distortion field” and has only gotten worse in recent years. Shortly after his death, publications and blogs lauded the man, calling him “an ingenious perfectionist,” a “design perfectionist,” and waxed poetically on how the original Macintosh took more than three years to develop due to Jobs’s “obsession with detail.” There’s no denying the man was brilliant, but let’s take a step back.
Based on those and many other articles, we’ve been led to believe Jobs was untouchable. After all, this was the man who brought us major hits like the iPod, iMac, iPhone, and iPad. All four of those devices either brought Apple out of obscurity or pushed it to the head of the class.
When you look back at these products — all released under Jobs’s watch — you notice what set them apart from the competition: durable polycarbonate plastic, anodized aluminum, glass, chrome, superior build qualities, stellar support, and higher resale values. Apple’s products may not have been perfect, but because they were so much better than the bland junk being churned out by other companies, it began to appear as if Apple could do no wrong.
We easily forgot or forgave products like iPod Socks, the iPod Hi-Fi, the G4 Cube, and the original Apple TV, all of which were came out while Steve Jobs was CEO.
Unfortunately, it was a little too easy to overlook the flaws and we were saddled with a conundrum when Steve stepped down as CEO in August of 2011: Would Tim Cook be at least as good a CEO as Steve Jobs?
Anyone who had been watching the company for the last several years knew that answer: Yes. Cook, as COO, was the one to streamline Apple’s supply chain, thus increasing profit margins. He also steered the ship while Jobs was on medical leave in 2004 and 2009.
Now, with Cook at the helm, the company is under even more scrutiny than in years past. Every decision, every choice, and especially every mistake is currently under the world’s pettiest microscope and even worse, is amplified ten-fold thanks to the “echo chamber of suck” that is the blogosphere. “Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs” is the running theme these days, and while Cook is unlike Jobs in some cases, the sentiment also implies he is an inferior CEO compared to his predecessor.
Who else would apologize for poorly performing products, or allow vendors to go unpunished for leaking images of unreleased hardware other than Steve’s lesser replacement?
For one, component leaks are nothing new to Apple. The iPhone 4 was lost in a bar while Jobs was still in charge and the press had a field day. There were articles about how the prototype was found, the subsequent raid on a prominent blogger’s home, and how it was so unlike Apple to let this happen.
Before that, there were leaks of the iPhone 3G S’s hardware and software. This wasn’t because Apple was “slipping,” but, rather, because any mention of a new Apple product sends the public and the press into a frenzy. New iDevices mean more speculative articles, more op-eds, more money for leaked pictures, and of course, more ad revenue from page impressions.
It became the M.O. of the media to perpetuate the idea that Jobs was an obsessive, secretive perfectionist with a mean streak who ran a company against a straggling competition. However, unbeknownst to that same media, it ended up proving Apple was just like any other company. It had flaws, it made mistakes, and it even owned up to them.
For reference, below are several “-gates” of which Apple has been the subject:
Regarding that last “-gate,” several pundits saw the bungled Maps launch as another notch in the “Apple is doomed without Steve” belt, claiming “Steve Jobs never would’ve released iOS 6 like this” and “Steve never would’ve apologized,” but history has shown both of those claims to be untrue.
It’s easy to forget that a company as omnipresent and highly-regarded as Apple makes mistakes almost as often as it encounters success. Apple is an anomaly in that it’s one of the few companies users are quick to defend when things go wrong and then forget about those problems soon after. Apple’s products are well-built, well-marketed, and well-supported, and they come from a company that takes what it does very seriously.
When a product as gorgeous as the iPhone shows a defect or flaw, it’s magnified like a bloodstain on fresh snow. And when a company that consistently outperforms the rest of the industry stumbles, it’s like watching Gene Kelly in a room full of marbles. The illusion of perfection is shattered for those who believe the subject is infallible.
No company is perfect. No product is perfect. And no matter how hard he tried, Steve Jobs wasn’t perfect, either. However, unlike any other company, Apple strives for perfection in everything it produces. Apple is climbing a new mountain with several of its products, like the updated Maps app and Siri, and it’s going to encounter problems along the way. It would behoove us all to remember Apple slipped a few times on the way up several other mountains when Jobs led the way, too.
Kara Swisher:
Apple has hired major Amazon exec and prominent search technologist William Stasior to run its Siri unit, according to sources.At the online retail giant, Stasior has been in charge of A9, Amazon’s search and search advertising unit. The former AltaVista exec co-founded the independent company and has run it since Udi Manber left for Google.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has issued a warning alerting users about malware that targets the Android mobile operating system.
But Android is great… and open… and other stuff that Eric Schmidt says it is.
The sentiment around Windows 8 was overwhelmingly negative during our trip as the supply chain is experiencing little life ahead of the October 26 launch.
Uh oh.
There is a lesson here.
The Galaxy S III has been available in the U.S. for nearly four months, and posted impressive sales figures – even beating out domestic sales of the iPhone 4S in August 2012. However, only 18 days since the public release of the iPhone 5, the newest Apple device has overtaken the Galaxy S III in terms of Web traffic volume. Record-breaking sales numbers, along with new 4G browsing speeds which encourage data usage, are the most likely explanation for this tremendous growth. This latest shift in the mobile ecosystem is not welcome news for Samsung, which has positioned its device as a direct competitor to the iPhone 5.
It has to suck to think you’re doing so well only to be kicked in the ass by the iPhone 5.
Incredible pictures.
Great advice.
Eric Slivka:
Apple and Samsung have long had a complicated relationship, with the two companies locked in numerous court battles linked to their competition in the smartphone and tablet marketplaces even as Samsung serves as Apple’s largest component supplier. As tensions have continued to ride high between the two companies, there have been signs that Apple has been trying to cut back on its reliance on Samsung for component production.
Surely this doesn’t surprise anyone.
The Apple Design Award winning app, djay, transforms your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into a complete and portable DJ system, letting you mix your music library on a hyper-realistic turntable interface. Perform live, record mixes on-the-go, or enable Automix mode and let djay mix your favorite playlist automatically. With unprecedented ease-of-use and innovative multi-touch mixing features, djay breaks barriers in DJ technology and offers a unique experience for beginners and professionals alike.
djay now supports the iPhone 5 and takes full advantage of the gorgeous 4-inch screen. djay for iPhone and iPod is on sale for only $.99 and djay for iPad is on sale for only $9.99! Get it now and become the DJ you’ve always wanted to be.
Daisuke Wakabayashi and Kana Inagaki for the Wall Street Journal:
Japan’s Softbank Corp. said Monday it will buy a 70% stake in U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. for about $20 billion in the biggest-ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm.
Softbank is one of Japan’s largest mobile carriers, and acquiring Sprint would give the company a big push into the United States. The company hopes to close the deal by mid-2013.
New Xbox Music service brings streaming, subscription and music store to Xbox 360 and Windows 8 PCs, tablets and phones with cloud-based storage.
Whether you like App.net or not, Shawn is right, the reasons presented in the article don’t make sense.
Love it.
This week’s Saturday Night Live featured a segment called “Tech Talk,” in which host Christina Applegate paired off tech journos whining about the iPhone 5 with very unsympathetic Chinese factory workers.
You can view the video on the SNL Web site.
(Don’t be surprised if you have trouble viewing this outside the U.S.)
Risky, but all of the best stories are.
Many thanks to Jump Desktop for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week.
Leave your laptop behind. Imagine having control over your computer from anywhere. Jump Desktop is a remote desktop application (RDP and VNC) that gets you to your computer from any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Android device. With over 4000 reviews, customers have declared it a 5 star app. It is super easy to setup, with automatic configuration you will be up and running in less than 5 minutes.
It is the easiest, the fastest and most secure way to get to your computer.
WIRED:
For most of the demo, we were running between 5 and 10 watts of power into the LS Concerts — all that’s required to drive the speakers this light and fast. Even at that level, they were loud. Like, really loud. We were pushing roughly 120 decibels out of the LS Concerts, and the sound was absolutely glorious.Tim reluctantly turned it down a few notches when a candle came tumbling off the fireplace mantle.
Holy crap. I’d never pay that kind of money for “just” a set of speakers but I’d really like to hear what they sound like in that kind of environment.
The majority of top decision-makers at the Federal Trade Commission believe that an antitrust case should be brought against Google Inc, meaning the search giant could soon be headed into tough negotiations, three people familiar with the matter said.