News - page 2340

Watchmen, the just-released film adaptation of the dramatic and incredibly detailed graphic novel by the same title, is set in an alternate version of 1984 and 1985 America. Not all of the details of America have changed though, and most importantly, the Mac is still present. As the film neared its climax during the midnight showing I attended, a friend elbowed me vigorously to point out this key snippet: 

There comes a point in the film where one of the characters is viewing a bank of monitors. The camera shows a close shot of the character and just a couple of the monitors. In one monitor on his right, you’ll recognize Apple’s 1984 Macintosh ad being played.

That should make it relatively easy to find the Apple-centric easter egg without revealing the plot. Good luck finding the video of Big Brother’s defeat in Watchmen!

Nothing like a little creativity in the face of frustration: San Francisco PR guy Derek Brookmeyer’s iPhone kept crashing and giving him error messages so many times that he decided to save the screens and count them.

His blog has a collage of 15 of these error screens, mostly related to Internet browsing, along with a letter to his crash-happy iPhone, that starts:

“Dear iPhone,
You are starting to drive me nuts. You are slower than ever, freeze up constantly and give me error messages like it’s your job…”

Via Could I Have Been

At least three new online stores selling applications to run on Apple mobile devices will soon be open for business, taking aim at capturing a piece of the projected $800 million market for iPhone and iPod Touch applications, according to a report at The Wall Street Journal online.

Jay Freeman, a 27-year-old computer science doctoral student who says his “jailbreaking” software has been installed on nearly 2 million iPhones, is opening the Cydia Store to create a vehicle for himself, and developers like him, to capitalize on their efforts to develop software built outside the tightly controlled parameters of Apple’s iPhone SDK. Freeman says he will collect the same sales commission from 3rd party developers on his site that Apple collects from developers whose wares sell on the iTunes AppStore.

Two other “renegade” application marketplaces are planned, according to the Journal report – Rock Your Phone, for iPhone users who have not yet modified their devices to download unauthorized applications, and a thid online store specializing in selling adult games for the iPhone.

While Apple has yet to indicate any action to try and prevent the online stores from opening, Freeman has nonetheless hired legal counsel to press his case, should it come to that. “The overworking goal is to provide choice,” he says. “It’s understandable the [Apple] wants to control things, but it has been very limiting for developers and users.”

Via WSJ

Image: Claude Estèbe

Japanese women between 20 – 26 awarded Apple products 4 out of the top 5 spots in a survey of their thoughts on superior design commissioned by Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization and published at the online site What Japan Thinks.

Asked “Amongst stuff you have never owned, what do you feel has superior design?” the women named Apple’s iPods first. Second place went to the Apple iPhone, with Plus-Minus Zero humidifiers (?) coming in third. In Fourth and fifth places were Apple’s desktop computers and notebooks, respectively.

The survey of 1,102 young women distributed among Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, also had respondents rank companies in general, asking “Amongst stuff you do own or have owned, what do you feel has superior design?” Apple came in first place, followed by Sharp, Sony, NEC, Muji Ryohin [a Japanese retail design company, literally named “no brand quality goods”], Panasonic, Franc Franc [a Japanese Ikea], and Nintendo. Results of the same question directed to stuff they “have never owned” again placed Apple first, and with respect to overall brand image (not tied to any specific products), Apple came in second only to SONY.

Results of the survey are enlightening, coming in the wake of the brouha-ha that grew from a recent Wired article suggesting that Japanese “hate” the iPhone.

Via AppleInsider

Will RIM’s just-introduced BlackBerry App World become the business-class version of Apple’s more consumer-oriented iPhone App Store? That’s the question being asked as the Canadian phone maker prices BlackBerry applications starting at $2.99.

Unlike iPhone applications that can be purchased for as little as $0.99 each, a multi-tiered price system for BlackBerry users ranges from $2.99 all the way up to $9.99 per app.

RIM’s departure is viewed as an acknowledgment of growing resentment by some iPhone developers at App Store pricing.

We’ve previously shown some of the musical amazements made possible with the iPhone and Smule’s Ocarina, and we’ve talked about the incredible, inventive Stanford Laptop Orchestra, but check out this video of The Mentalists playing a fully arranged pop tune using nothing more than their Apple mobile devices and software downloaded from the iTunes AppStore.

The truly paradigm-shifting import of the creative doors opened by Apple’s breakthrough mobile operating system are only just beginning to surface.

Via Edible Apple

Apple maintains an average five day inventory on products, with Cupertino outdistancing its PC rivals, an analyst said Thursday.

Financial analysis firm UBS said Dell was the closest PC maker, keeping inventory in stock for just a week, according to checks during the December quarter.

While China’s Lenovo maintained a 15-day inventory average, top PC maker HP had stock sitting an average of 32 days, according to UBS. Chip-making giant Intel turned-over inventory in 89 days. The record went to D-Link with 131 days of inventory.

If the 25 year anniversary of the Mac has you feeling nostalgic, you might want to check out the wares at this memorabilia sale.

There’s a little bit of everything, (including a Hoyle deck of cards with the Apple logo), but some of the best pieces are from the ’80s, including the original Mac brochure, the user manual and the first four issues of Macworld magazine.

The seller is parting with the collection to get together money for medical care and hopes you’ll take good care of his Mac stuff…

Via MacNN

Showtime is stumping for votes for its programs up for Emmy awards by making them available on the iPhone and iPod Touch to TV Academy voters.

Emmy voters with Apple mobile devices can screen full episodes of Showtime series including “Dexter,” “Weeds” and “United States of Tara” by entering a password.

The move is expected to save Showtime some money, a spokesperson told Variety that shelving DVD screeners last year by partnering with Internet video provider Brightcove to post its Emmy hopefuls online saved “tens of thousands of dollars.” The Brightcove option will be available again this year for Apple-less Academy members.

Via Textually

If Apple’s mobile handsets are destined to become world-class gaming devices, one supposes this kind of thing is to be expected. Somehow, though, the Racing Wheel for iPod Touch showcased by Hama at CeBIT09 seems over the line, doesn’t it?

Then again, I’m not a gamer, so maybe I’m just driving outside my engine qualification.

How about it Cult gamers?

Via Engadget

Digital media company Mosaic Legends and San Francisco rock photographer Jay Blakesburgh have created a limited edition interactive app and eBook titled, simply, Grateful Dead, avialable now for $6 on the iTunes AppStore, that appears to be a template for more titles to come.

But who better to start a long, strange trip with than Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead?

Focused around a stunning Photomosaic of the Dead’s iconic guitarist, comprised of nearly 450 individual photographic “tiles” that users can double-tap and pinch their way into, down to full-res views of single photographs, the app also includes photographer’s notes on each photo, additional history of the band, built-in capability to comment on and share photographs with other app users, and a link to the Mosaic Legends store, where users can preview and purchase photographic Glicées and limited edition large prints.

If this AppStore offering takes off among the Dead’s famously loyal and devoted community, look for the idea to be reprised as a marketing vehicle in many additional incarnations.

Via MP3 Insider

The Z-bar, from Zillion TV is a compact set-top box that pulls HDTV signals from your broadband connection to offer you ad-supported HDTV shows and pay on demand.

The service is currently in beta, but when it’s available later in the year, you will be able to view shows for free with advertising attached, or buy them to watch ad-free shows.

Some big names are attached, too, such as NBC Universal, Disney, 20th Century Fox Television, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

Zillion TV claims 15,000 titles in the current library and by launch they say they’ll have more. Is this the future of TV in your home?

Via Crave

We’ve featured the stunning Apple-inspired creativity of artist Kyle Buckner before in these pages, from his woodworked iPhone pedestal to a custom plexiglass Apple clock.

Today the Virgina-based artist is at it again with pics of his inspired iPod Nano-Chromatic sculpture.

Buckner’s newest work is wood and plexiglass and includes a motorized Genius logo, as well some other prety cool things. The iPods at the top are made out of plexi, to which he attached a graphic from behind with transparent, double-stick film.

The iPods are on a seperate piece which spins when the Genius logo does, but they can also be made to remain stationary. The Apple logo at the top stays still. Buckner has also built in a potentiometer to control the speed of the motorized parts.

The artist tells Cult of Mac, “I planned on adding a few things to it, and just never got around to it, and still haven’t… but I really dont know if I’ll ever get time to do so. I’m constantly starting more projects and commissions.”

To which we say, Bravo, Kyle. Keep on creating…

Freshman “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon started off this week with a joke that patted Apple on the back  and a Mac on his host desk.

Fallon, who is trying to fill the mighty big shoes of David Letterman (and the slightly less large shoes of  Conan O’Brien  took a pot shot at Microsoft during his opening monologue of the second first episode:

“Despite the recession, Microsoft is planning to open stores to compete with Apple.  They’ll be just like the Apple stores, except the staff will freeze when you ask them a question.”

Then Fallon sat down to welcome guests including Tina Fey, followed up by Robert De Niro and Justin Timberlake from behind a desk with a Mac laptop  (a MacBook Pro?)  on it, next to a mug with pencils, though he never opened it. (Apologies for the grainy pic, outside the US, NBC  blocks the episodes).

Before the show debuted, Fallon was called the Mac of hosts, compared his “PC” competition Jay Leno.

Is this the first time a Mac figures as a prop on a late-night talk show?

It’s no secret President Obama and much of his team are big Mac fans, or that some of their more publicized frustrations with the transition to power in DC have come with confronting the challenges posed by outdated Windows technology and requirements to meet legal guidelines for security and archiving of official communications.

Perhaps readers will recall, as well, Obama’s stated desire to continue using his Blackberry in office and the various and sundry security concerns that have arisen around that issue.

News Wednesday is that Waltham, Mass.-based Onset Technologies may be working on technology that could allow the President to use an iPhone, should that desire strike the Commander in Chief.

Many high profile government groups, including the US House of Representatives, the Senate and NASA, use Onset’s METAmessage ACT to secure correspondence on mobile devices, as do many private businesses. The technology can scan, block and archive all wireless communication on a device that uses it and keeps companies compliant with regulations like SEC, NASD, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, FINRA and the latest Privacy Act.

While Blackberry maker Research in Motion is Onset’s most high-profile partner to date, the company’s solutions are available on all the major US carriers and it is looking to expand its reach.

Onset expects to release new versions of METAmessage ACT for Windows Mobile and Symbian soon and yes, even hopes to make a version for the Apple iPhone.

Via VentureBeat

Apple denied it had fired 50 salespeople, refuting a report the Cupertino, Calif.-based company had joined the growing number of tech companies forced to lay-off employees.

“An Apple spokesperson says Gawker’s report that 50 salespeople were laid off yesterday is not true,” Silicon Alley Insider reported Wednesday.

Tuesday, Silicon Valley rumor site Valleywag claimed a “tipster” said “major layoffs” of Apple salespeople were underway. The site later claimed to have “confirmed” the rumor after talking to “a source in Apple’s enterprise group.”

Former President Bill Clinton signed an iPod Nano 8G, put 10 of his favorite songs on a playlist and now it’s being auctioned off for the Gibson Foundation for Music Rising.

The sax-playing 42nd President put a few interesting choices on his playlist:

1.  Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
2. I Get Along Without You Very Well (Carly Simon)
3. Bahia (Stan Getz with Charlie Byrd)
4. Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)
5. Crown Imperial (“The Presidents Own” U.S. Marine Band)
6. Angel (Sarah McLachlan)
7. Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John)
8. English Folk Song Suite [1-3] (North Texas Wind Symphony)
9. A Song for You (Willie Nelson)
10. Winds of the Old Days (Joan Baez)
11. Concierto de Aranjuez [1-3] (John Williams)

You can check it out on ebay. When we looked, the current bid was $751.

Via 24 bit

In the celluloid version of Brit Toby Young’s memoir about life at Vanity Fair in New York, Macs are the mark of who counts and who doesn’t.

New research findings on the future of smartphone sales in 2009 depends whether you are a glass half-full or half-empty person. Hardware research firm iSuppli announced sales of Apple’s iPhone and other smarthphones could rise 11 percent or 192 million handsets this year, if companies make the right moves.

“Wireless network operators must cut fees for data services and offer aggressive subsidies to reduce consumer smart phone prices,” according to iSuppli senior analyst Tina Teng.

Some of Teng’s suggestions may already be considered by Apple and its carrier partners. Apple reportedly is mulling the idea of introducing multi-tiered pricing to replace the current one size fits all data plan. Apple may also be set to introduce a lower-cost iPhone, which could spur more sales, analysts have recently told clients.

Apple is in iPhone distribution talks with China Unicom, the latest sign negotiations with the nation’s largest mobile carrier may have hit a snag. Tuesday’s comments by the chairman of China’s second largest cellular carrier confirms similar February reports.

“We are in talks with many handset suppliers, including Apple,” Reuters quoted China Unicom chairman Chang Xiaobing. China Mobile, the country’s No. 1 mobile carrier, refused comment on the report.

While Xiaobing did not mention a date when any agreement with Apple might materialize, in February, Fortune reported a deal with China Unicom could be signed May 17.

The Apple Keyboard’s Last Stand from jcims on Vimeo.

How do people think of these things? Vimeo user jcims writes on his profile page: “Avoid boredom at all costs.”

Looks like he certainly knows how to do that. Have old Apple keyboard, will BLOW IT SKY HIGH IN THE WOODS. You know, for kids! I mean kicks.

Amazon’s ingeniously named Kindle for iPhone hit the AppStore Tuesday, a free download that synchs with Kindle owners’ web store accounts on Amazon, allowing them to read their Kindle e-books on Apple’s smaller iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

Amazon’s Whispersync bookmarking technology interacts with the iPhone app to allow readers to start reading on one device and pick up where they left off at a later time on the other device.

The app allows users to buy a Kindle ebook through the Amazon web store and wirelessly transfer it to the iPhone. First chapters of all books in the Kindle web store catalog may also be read for free in the iPhone app.