Adobe posted a page on its Web site today outlining any issues it found with Apple’s newly released OS X Lion. The page talks about everything from scrolling behavior to individual apps like Dreamweaver and Illustrator. Certainly a good resource for graphics pros.
If you’re not ready to get Lion yet, you can still download the version of Safari included with Lion. Safari 5.1 is available for download for both Snow Leopard and Windows. (more…)
Apple has released updates to its iTunes and iWork software to make them compatible with Wednesday’s release of OS X Lion. The updates are available through the Software Update system preference. (more…)
I little tip that was sent to me on Twitter this morning. For those os us that had Lion GM installed, you found that you couldn’t download the retail version of the operating system from the Mac App Store. Mine said a newer version was already installed.
All you need to do is hold down the Option key on your Mac and click the install button on the Mac App Store and it will download for you.
We’re accustomed to stories about all sorts of counterfeit products popping up in China and elsewhere on the western side of the Pacific Rim – countries that don’t have nearly the same sort of intellectual property regulation that we take for granted in the United States. But this takes the cake. The blog BirdAbroad has a truly bizarre story about how the southern Chinese city of Kunming actually has entirely counterfeit Apple Stores:
“You have already guessed the punchline, of course: this was a total Apple store ripoff. A beautiful ripoff – a brilliant one – the best ripoff store we had ever seen (and we see them every day). But some things were just not right: the stairs were poorly made. The walls hadn’t been painted properly.“Apple never writes ‘Apple Store’ on it’s signs – it just puts up the glowing, iconic fruit.”
You have to see the pictures to believe them. I’m sure that the vast majority of the customers in these stores have no idea whatsoever that this isn’t real. BirdAbroad suggests that even the employees of this store they went to genuinely believe they’re Apple employees.
Apple currently lists four stores in China. None of them are in Kunming.
(via IfoAppleStore)
It’s been a busy day for Apple. The company released its next generation operating system, OS X Lion, and new a MacBook Air, Mac mini and Thunderbolt display. I had some time to sit down with Apple executives to talk about the releases. (more…)
“Brian White, Ticonderoga Securities: Reiterates a Buy rating and raises his price target from $612 to — Gasp! — $666! White raised his fiscal ’11 estimate to $109.1 billion in revenue and $27.58 from a prior $106.1 billion and $25.52 per share. He raised his fiscal ’12 estimate to $132.1 billion and $31.23 from a prior $130.9 billion and $29.41. ‘Looking into the second-half of 2011, we believe Apple enjoys the hottest tech portfolio for the back to school season and holidays. As such, we expect this rally to have legs and the 100 plus point uptick in the stock price that we have been highlighting is on track.'”
Other analysts raised their targets for Apple, too, though White’s seems the most sanguine. Any way you slice it, it seems that after yesterday’s earnings report, a lot of Wall Street agrees that Apple’s stock price is far from peaking.
Outside of the obvious Satanic implication, $666 has another important meaning for students of Apple history – it’s what the very first Apple computer, the Apple I, retailed for (more precisely, $666.66). (Woz and Jobs weren’t devil worshippers, btw – Woz just had a thing for repeating numbers, according to Apple folklore.)
People have been reviewing Lion since the first developer preview was released a few months ago. Every Web site known to man is posting a detailed Lion review this morning, with pictures, that say many of the same things that are already known. So here is my concise Lion review. (more…)
Apple on Wednesday introduced the Thunderbolt Display, a 27-inch monitor with built-in Thunderbolt high-speed I/O interface, integrated FaceTime camera, audio, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0 interfaces. It’s designed specifically with Apple’s laptops in mind, and it’ll cost $999 when it hits stores sometime in the next 60 days. (more…)
Apple on Wednesday refreshed its Mac mini desktop computer with new processors, Thunderbolt high-speed I/O technology and Mac OS X Lion. The new systems will be available beginning Thursday, starting at $599. (more…)
Apple on Wednesday introduced new MacBook Air models with high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, a backlit keyboard and Mac OS X Lion pre-installed. It’s available in 11 and 13-inch models starting at $999. (more…)
Wow. Another RIM employee has left for Samsung. Just a month after Brian Wallace, the VP of Digital Marketing and Media for RIM, left for Samsung, another well-known RIM employee is packing up and leaving Waterloo for Dallas, Texas. Note, this addition comes less than two weeks after Samsung chief product and technology officer Omar Khan left for a job with Citigroup, so it seems things be changing like crazy here.
The exodus is in full swing now.
I saw a link to the Beatles photos tonight on John Nack’s Twitter stream and just had to post a link to them. Apparently they are from the lost collection of Mike Mitchell.
During its third quarter earnings conference call with analysts and press on Tuesday, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer confirmed that Mac OS X Lion would be released to the Mac App Store tomorrow. Lion will only be available as a digital download, making it the first major OS release from the company that will not be available on physical disks.
Lion will cost $29.99.
Apple on Tuesday reported a $28.57 billion in revenue and a third quarter profit of $7.31 billion. (more…)
WSJ:
The conversations weren’t explicitly aimed at recruiting a new chief executive and were more of an informal exploration of the company’s options, said these people. The directors don’t appear to have been acting on behalf of the full board, some of these people said. Apple has seven directors, including Mr. Jobs.It is also unclear whether Mr. Jobs was aware. In response to questions from The Wall Street Journal about the discussions, Mr. Jobs said Monday in an email, “I think it’s hogwash.”
Some Apple directors taking chances with their lives.
Bare Bones Software on Tuesday released a major update to BBEdit, the company’s HTML and text editor. (more…)
“Some weeks I was work ing 100 to 120 hours a week”, says Glenn Watson, former Head Studio Programmer at Gameloft’s New Zealand arm. “Starting at 9:30 AM, going home at 2:30 AM, and then com ing back into the office at 8:30 AM to start work again was not unusual”.
It’s worth pointing out that Glenn Watson is fingering Gameloft Auckland as mistreating employees, specifically, and not the entire organization – though he implies the poor working conditions are a result of directives coming down from the top. Gameloft, a major iOS game publisher, has thousands of employees worldwide (they’re based in France).
(via IndustryGamers)
If you’ve hopped on the latest social networking bandwagon and gotten a Google+ account, you may be interested in the new Google+ app for iPhone. It’s available for free download from the App Store. (more…)
I was sitting all morning watching James and Rupert Murdoch give testimony and all of a sudden there was a ruckus and the video went out. (more…)
“… So I am pretty down on people who take the sort of creative auteurs’ perspective. It’s like ‘Oh, we’re not being creative.’ But we’re creating value for people – that’s our job! It’s not to do something that nobody’s ever seen before. It’s to do something that people love so much they’re willing to give us money for.”“So I do get pretty down on people that – you see some of the indie developers that really take a snooty attitude about this. It’s almost as if it’s popular, it’s not good. And that’s just not true.”
Much like indie musicians, indie developers are happy to cop a hipster attitude about how cool and unique and misunderstood their products or their colleagues’ products are right up until the checks start rolling in. Then they’re only too happy to cash out. It’s easy to be smug when you’re poor, because that’s all you’ve got. But John Carmack is right – first and third person shooters will continue to evolve and be refined, because people love to play them and developers still need to innovate the genre.
Patrick Avenell writing for the Current:
“Apple Retail has been in business for 10 years. During this period, we have had over 1 billion visitors through our doors, many of whom are new to the Mac, as the Apple Store is the best place to learn about all the latest products from Apple,” said the spokesperson.
Keep in mind that all this happened during a time when other large retailers are closing their doors. Really remarkable.
9to5Mac quoting Google’s Eric Schmidt:
The big news in the past year has been the explosion of Google Android handsets and this means our competitors are responding. Because they are not responding with innovation, they’re responding with lawsuits. We have not done anything wrong and these lawsuits are just inspired by our success.
You could say a lot of things about Apple, but saying the company that brought us the iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes Store, successful retail and so much more, lacks innovation is just stupid.
News Corp. executives who watched Murdoch, 80, rehearse for his appearance before Parliament were concerned about how he handled questions, according to three people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Murdoch is scheduled to discuss the company’s role in the phone hacking of murder victims, members of the royal family and others by the News of the World, which was closed last week.
Another one bites the dust.
As if the day wasn’t bad enough for Murdoch, the New York Times has this:
The hacking group Lulz Security claimed responsibility for planting a fake article about the death of Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of the News Corporation, on one of the company’s Web sites Monday.
All traffic was later redirected to the Lulz Twitter page. These guys are good.
Charles Arthur writing for The Guardian:
App developers are withdrawing their products for sale from the US versions of Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market for fear of being sued by companies which own software patents – just as a Mumbai-based company has made a wide-ranging claim against Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo and a number of other companies over Twitter-style feeds, for which it claims it has applied for a patent.
I think people and companies should be able to protect their ideas, but some of these patents are just crazy. I’m not sure what the solution is, but something has to be done.
RIM has officially responded to news that it may stop production of its PlayBook tablet. (more…)
Borders, which employs about 10,700 people, scrapped a bankruptcy-court auction scheduled for Tuesday amid the dearth of bids.The chain said it will ask a judge Thursday to approve a sale to liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group.
Very sad to see Borders close for good, but the company dug its own grave when it stopped doing one thing well – selling books – and started doing several things poorly (selling DVDs, audio CDs, stuffed toys, coffee, pastries, games, etc.). It’ll be interesting to see how Barnes & Noble continues to manage its transition to e-books, which it says are selling quite well (thanks to its own branded Nook devices).
RIM may be throwing in the towel on its PlayBook tablet, according to a note from one analyst on Monday. (more…)
A new survey released on Monday shows that Apple’s iOS mobile operating system continues to lead it competitors. (more…)
The Omni Group on Monday announced the release of OmniPlan 2.0, a new version of its project management software for Mac OS X. It costs $199; upgrades from the previous release are available. (more…)