MLOVE is a European mobile conference with a difference. If a mobile conference was crossed with TED and a music festival, that's vaguely like MLove. Its big annual event is in an old East German castle 200 miles outside of Berlin. Yes, it's as exotic as it sounds. But this week it took the plunge and brought its special atmosphere to Monterey.Amid the excellent speeches about the future of mobile, and the future generally, organiser Harald Neidhardt throws together a diverse range of speakers, from Grammy Award winning Musician Chamillionaire to "CameraGirl", who runs tech at Burning Man. As one delegate, Dr. Robert Daubner of billiger, put it to me, "mobile is poised to disrupt the world." Never were truer words spoken...Amid the high concept presentations from the likes of the Singularity University and others were a number of startup pitches from U.S.-based startups. Here's a run-down on those: read more..
Monday, 30 April 2012
Music Festival-Conference-Startups
Alley
TechCrunch Disrupt is all about start-ups but we often give short shrift to hardware-based companies. Well, that's about to change because we're now running Hardware Alley, a one day exhibition of some of the coolest hardware start-ups in NY and beyond.Running a Kickstarter project? Building a better mousetrap? Creating something cool out of scrap metal and wires? Register as a Hardware Alley exhibitor. You'll get admission on the last day of Disrupt, May 23, a table to show off your goods, and access to some of the most interesting people (and most interesting VCs) in the world. We'd love to have you. read more..
Remarkable Season-Nba Playoff Teams-Social Media-Lebron James-Infographic
The NBA's lockout-shortened regular season has come to a close and the 2012 playoffs tip-off Saturday. It was a pretty remarkable season on the court -- LeBron James's statistical genius, Jeremy Lin's magical run and Blake Griffin's thunderous dunks being just a few of many highlights. read more..
Implementation-Apple Tv-Airplay
If you asked your mom or dad what DLNA or UPnP stood for or did, would they just look at you weird? While the two technologies enable users to wirelessly beam content to Internet Connected TVs from their tablets, phones, and computers, Apple’s AirPlay is the first implementation that makes the experience seamless. Tap the button again and playback resumes on your root device. No complicated setup is required - it simply works.Some, like Bloomberg and Hunter Walk, have suggested that AirPlay is Apple TV, and that Apple will simply license AirPlay to the major Connected TV manufactures - and by default every Connected TV sold will be an "Apple TV" - the remote being your iPhone or iPad. It's certainly a sensible theory - there are 250 M+ iOS devices, and with the upcoming OS X update, laptops can now leverage Airplay as well. That's over 300M Apple devices that can push content to TVs. read more..
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Travis County Commissioners Court-Unofficial Apple Weblog-Disagreement
Apple's plans to bring 3,600 jobs to Austin, Texas are being delayed due to a disagreement between the company and the Travis County Commissioners Court over the terms of an economic incentive package. Apple is hoping to establish an Americas Operations Center in Austin, which would run most of the company's business operations for North and South America. Key to the deal to invest $304 million in the center is a package which would provide the company with almost $36 million in incentives over the next 10 to 15 years. The sticking point in the negotiations is with the Travis County Commissioners Court, which would provide anywhere from $5.4 to $6.4 million of the incentive. Opponents of the deal raised their objections at a Tuesday meeting of the Court, with Bill Aleshire (an attorney and former Travis County judge) and Ed Wendler (an Austin developer) picking through the details of the contract between the county and Apple. Aleshire said "I'm not sorry that Apple is frustrated ... That's a sorry contract." He felt that Apple "had it rigged so they could not comply with the contract yet end up with county staff basically renegotiating the terms that they would have to comply with." There's hope that the negotiations will end in a positive vote for Apple's expansion plans next Tuesday, May 1, 2012. If not, there are plenty of other cities in the U.S. that would be more than happy to welcome Apple with open arms.Apple's plans for Texas construction delayed due to disagreement with county originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Microsoft Releases-Microsoft Office
Earlier this week, we noted that Microsoft had pulled its Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 2 from Microsoft AutoUpdate after users reported issues with Outlook database corruption. While the issues could be fixed and the update remained available for those looking to manually rebuild their databases and install the software, Microsoft opted to remove SP2 from AutoUpdate in order to protect those users who were unaware of the potential issues with the update.
Microsoft today announced that it has released an update to SP2, known as Microsoft Office 2011 14.2.1.This update is primarily preventative and targets those who have not yet installed SP2; however, whether you have or have not installed SP2, please run this update to bring your installation of Microsoft Office:Mac 2011 to the latest version.The downloads weighs in at 110 MB and requires a minimum of Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 (14.1.0). read more..
Marketing Strategy-President And Ceo-Jim Barksdale-Startups
“If you don’t have any facts, we’ll just use my opinion.” - Jim Barksdale (former president and CEO of Netscape).Startups are the sum of the decisions made by the people who run them. Should you raise money? Who should you raise money from? What should be your marketing strategy? What are the next features you should build? Who should you hire? Ok.. you get the point.If decisions are so important then it might be worthwhile to think about how to make them better. A lot of research has been done on this subject and you can literally spend years going through the books, papers and the various theories and schools of thought in decision-making. Needless to say, that will probably be a bad decision by itself. Instead, it is more important to understand why data driven decisions work and to instill such a culture in your company. read more..
U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission-Restricted Stock Units-John Browett-Start Date
A pair of filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published early today reveal that former Dixons Retail CEO John Browett, who was announced in January as the next Senior Vice President of Retail at Apple, has officially started work with the company. The development is in line with previous announcements about an April start.
Browett's start date was revealed in an SEC Form 3 filing noting that Browett owned no stock in Apple at the time he began work. The document lists April 20 as the "date of event requiring statement", indicating that he began work at Apple last Friday.
As of that start date, Browett also received a total of 100,000 restricted stock units (RSUs) on Friday, with staggered vesting dates designed to reward Browett for staying on the job. At Apple's current stock price, those RSUs are worth roughly $61 million. The first batch of 5,000 units will vest on October 20, and an additional 15,000 units will vest at Browett's one-year anniversary with the company, which is April 20, 2013. The remainder of the units will vest in batches of 20,000 units on each anniversary of his start date through the fifth year.
Unlike options, restricted stock units do not require the recipient to purchase stock at an exercise price in order to receive the shares. The RSUs simply convert to actual shares on the vesting dates, although there are tax implications to the conversion that generally result in recipients immediately selling off at least some portion of their grants as they vest.
Browett has not yet been added to Apple's leadership page on its website, but his photo and a brief biography should be appearing there in the near future. Browett replaces Ron Johnson, who left Apple last November to become CEO of department store chain J.C. Penney. read more..
Apple Hardware-Retail Stores-Apple Store-Imacs-Ipads
Apple's retail stores have featured a "kids table" since the first one opened in 2001. It's low to the ground with soft seats and Apple hardware running kid-friendly software. Up until now, the hardware for the kids tables has been the iMac -- but it seems Apple is switching to iPads. Rene Ritchie at iMore noticed that the iMacs had been replaced with iPads at his local Apple Store, and a few readers reported the same thing at the stores they visit. Mike Rose reports that the Grand Central Terminal NYC store opened with iPads in the kid section. Almost one year ago, Apple replaced the in-store product information cards with iPads. "Post-PC" indeed.Apple lets kids play with iPads rather than iMacs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Innovative Company-Bluetooth Headset-App Store-Blogger-Iphone
Apple has pulled an app that allows iPhone users to turn Bluetooth on and off with a single tap, and that's not sitting right with ZDNet blogger Jason O'Grady. According to O'Grady, that one app removal "demonstrates how (Apple) has become lethargic and how iOS innovation has slowed to a crawl." If a lethargic company can turn in a US$39.2 billion quarter, I'd love to see what an "innovative" company could do. So Jason, innovation in the iOS field has definitely slowed to a crawl?. Yeah, there are only 600,000 apps available in the App Store, so the removal of one app -- the $0.99 Bluetooth OnOff -- that used private APIs specifically forbidden by Apple is obvious proof that Apple has become lethargic and that there's no innovation. Was this post supposed to run on April 1st and got delayed to today by mistake? Sure, it takes five or more steps to turn off Bluetooth in iOS, and it's not a top level on-off button in Settings. While that is a pain, how often do you really need to turn off Bluetooth? According to O'Grady, "Bluetooth uses battery capacity so it's better to turn it off while not in use." What? I have Bluetooth turned on all the time on my iPhone 4S and I don't see it sucking my battery dry. Of course, I don't use a Bluetooth headset or speakers most of the time, but I get amazing battery life with Bluetooth constantly turned on for instant connections when I need them. I'd be willing to bet that most iPhone users couldn't even tell you if Bluetooth is on or off at any particular time. We all get frustrated with Apple at some point or another for some niggling point, but I'd have to conjecture that the overall level of frustration is pretty incredibly low for the company to continue to turn in quarter after quarter of outstanding financial results. This is one ZDNet post that needs to go back to the whine cellar to mature.No Comment: Apple pulls Bluetooth OnOff switch app from the App Store, blogger overreacts originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Friday, 27 April 2012
Sebastian Thrun-Project-Google
So Google X founder Sebastian Thrun was on Charlie Rose last night showing off his latest creation, Project Glass. Which, if you haven't seen by now, is quite possibly one of the most ambitious consumer products to come out of the Googleplex in recent memory. But until Thrun's appearance on Rose, we didn't actually know how the glasses would work other than the sizzle reel that was put together earlier this month.A couple of things struck me as odd, though. Thrun never actually gave any voice commands during his demo of the glasses, while in the video everything was driven by voice. But that's not what has me worried about Project Glass. During the interview, Thrun snapped a photo of Rose and uploaded it to his Google+ account. So far, it appears to work as advertised but take a look at the image quality and tell me whether or not it's acceptable in this day and age. It's not, it's terrible. read more..
Viral Video
Advertisers are beginning to realize that a viral video may be a short-term goal, but it takes an entire successful social campaign to slug a home run. read more..
Dock Connector-Power Port-Car Mounts-Pro Flex-Iphone
When it comes to car mounts for the iPhone and iPod touch, there are a lot of 'em available. I personally despise windshield suction-cup mounts, as every one I've tried has fallen off my windshield as soon as it heats up in the strong Colorado sun. When I saw Bracketron's new Universal USB Power Dock Pro Flex (US$34.95), I decided to give it a try -- it avoids the suction cup failure mode by running a 'stalk' up from the AC adapter port in the car's console. My car mount woes are further aggravated by the fact that I use a mophie juice pack air battery case on my iPhone 4S. Many of the car mounts I've tested have required a bare iPhone, so I've had to remove the case every time I want to put the phone into a mount. Not so with Power Dock Pro Flex. It's adjustable, and I'm able to easily get iPhone and case into the mount. However, there's one little fly in the ointment; the arms on the case that hold the phone in place end up covering the charging port for the juice pack air so that I can't charge it. I was able to resolve that problem by placing the iPhone into the mount upside-down! It's not the recommended way and definitely not suggested if you're putting an iPhone (with or without case) into the Power Dock Pro Flex and planning on charging it through the Dock connector. The Power Dock Pro Flex is designed to be universal, meaning that it works with a variety of smartphones. That's why it doesn't come with a Apple Dock connector cable; you'll have to supply your own. It does come with a USB to micro-USB cable, which works flawlessly to keep the juice pack air charged. The mount plugs directly into a standard 12V power port in a car and has a flexible arm that ends in a ball-mounted holder for the phone. The part of the mount that's plugged into your power port has an LED to indicate that you have power, and the aforementioned USB port. Bracketron uses a feature called "power grip arms" that insures that the plug is going to stay put in that 12V power port. For those of you who might be wondering, I do NOT look at the phone when I'm driving -- that's what voice directions are for, so it makes no difference if my iPhone is within my field of vision or not. I'm pretty happy with the Power Dock Pro Flex, and it's reasonably priced. It keeps an iPhone in an accessory case securely held in my car while providing a way to charge it, and that's all I need. It's also a perfect fit for those who may have several people with different smartphones who want to use the same mount in one car.Bracketron Power Dock Pro Flex keeps iPhone secured and powered in your car originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Active Duty Military Personnel-President Barack Obama-Honorable Discharge
COMMENTARY | According to the Associated Press, Marine Sgt. Gary Stein was not silent about his dislike of President Barack Obama. He posted on Facebook the president was an enemy and stated on March 1, "Screw Obama and I will not follow all orders from him." read more..
Marine Corps to discharge sergeant for Facebook posts critical of Obama
SAN DIEGO - A sergeant will be discharged for criticizing President Barack Obama on Facebook in a case that called into question the Pentagon's policies about social media and its limits on the speech of active duty military personnel, the Marine Corps said Wednesday. read more..
Marines discharge sergeant for Facebook posts
A sergeant will be discharged for criticizing President Barack Obama on Facebook in a case that called into question the Pentagon's policies about social media and its limits on the speech of active duty military personnel, the Marine Corps said Wednesday. read more..
Policies And Procedures-Marine Sergeant-Consequences-Social Media-Facebook
COMMENTARY | As social media has grown over the last several years, companies have had to create new policies and procedures regarding how to handle employees that misuse such outlets. It seems that even those serving in the military are not immune to the consequences, despite the fact that they are serving to protect our freedom. And, when a Marine sergeant tried to exercise his free speech via Facebook, he became an example of exactly what might happen when you take things too far. read more..
Pennsylvania Company-Patent Infringement-Macbook Pro
FlatWorld, a Pennsylvania company, is suing Apple for patent infringement in California's Northern District Court in San Francisco, according to a report in Patently Apple. The company owns Patent RE43,318 which describes "a testing tool with a touch screen programmed to allow children to directly manipulate or move objects on the screen, and 'hide' them behind other objects." The suit lists Apple's entire lineup of touch-related devices including the iPod, iPad, iPhone, and sixth generation iPod nano as infringing products. It also lists the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, the Magic Mouse in combination with any Mac computer running OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.1 and the Magic Trackpad in combination with any Mac computer running OS X Snow Leopard v.10.6.4 or later.Apple sued over all touch-based products originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Ceo Tim Armstrong-Content Strategy-Video Network-Video Portal-Shareholders
AOL has had a few knocks from shareholders over whether it's on the right track with its content strategy -- a mix of high-volume, ad-based websites that cover lifestyle, tech, travel, news and more -- but CEO Tim Armstrong has stayed the course, and today the company is launching a video portal that it hopes will prove that the value of those holdings extends beyond even what you see on the sites themselves.AOL On, as the new site is called, is a premium content portal that will work across desktop, mobile and tablet optimized sites and apps, as well as connected TV devices. And the guy running it, Ran Harnevo, SVP of AOL On, makes clear that it is nothing like a YouTube wannabe: "No dogs on skateboards, and no upload button," he says. read more..
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Initial Public Offering-Social Networking-Facebook Founder-Mark Zuckerberg-Facebook Ipo
Due to a string of acquisitions and other business distractions, Facebook’s multi-billion dollar initial public offering that was rumored to be set for May 17th may be delayed until early or mid-June, according to CNBC. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has not been preparing for the IPO, but instead has been more focused on running the business and making acquisitions. As a result, the social networking giant’s IPO date will reportedly be pushed back so the company has time to make the appropriate preparations. Facebook filed with the SEC in February, and could raise as much as $10 billion at a $100 billion valuation when it goes public in the coming months. Facebook’s IPO is expected to top Google’s $1.9 read more..
Mac Application-Amazon
Amazon has released its Send to Kindle for the Mac, which allows users to drag-and-drop personal documents to an app that automatically sends them to their Kindle. It also adds the ability to use the print menu from any Mac application that has one to send a document to the Kindle. Users can also right-click on documents in Finder and select the "Send to Kindle" option from there. Selecting the option from either the print menu or Finder will launch the Send to Kindle app. Send to Kindle requires a Mac running OS X 10.6 or higher.Amazon introduces Send to Kindle for Mac originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Mac Computers-Malware-Sophos
Sophos looked at 100,000 Mac computers and found that one in every five has some form of malware. This might sound alarming, but before you stare at your machine in disgust, you should get some perspective. The survey looked at 100,000 OS X machines that are running Sophos's free Mac anti-virus software. Sophos found that this 20 percent figure is for malware that targets Windows-based computers. Though it can be used as a vector to infect other Windows machines, it won't affect Mac users on OS X. Sophos did find that 1 in 36 Macs (2.7 percent) were infected with OS X malware. Though less than 3 percent may be concerning, it's not as alarming as the 20 percent figure that's making its way into headlines.Twenty percent of Macs examined infected with Windows malware originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Sarah Jessica Parker-Bill Cunningham-Kim Hastreiter-Carnegie Hall-Hudson's Bay
"I'm looking at the cardboard cutout over there and thinking that's Bill," Gayle King said last night at the Waldorf Astoria, where the legendary Bill Cunningham was being honored with the Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence. "I feel stupid with two Os. I was thinking, 'Wow, he's taking pictures at his own party.' "
In fact, that's exactly what the real Bill Cunningham was busy doing. Surrounded by some of his favorite subjects, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Linda Fargo, Mercedes Bass, and Annette de la Renta (all of whom had come "dressed for Bill"), the shutterbug snapped away with his camera. "Bill is like a war photographer. If he's talking to you and sees something going on, he'll leave mid-sentence," Paper's Kim Hastreiter told Style.com.
"Bill used to run after me on the street and photograph me because I used to dress crazy back in 1976 and we just became friends," Hastreiter went on. "Then one time the photo ended up in The New York Times—I remember I was wearing this coat made out of a Hudson's Bay blanket." Many ladies last night were musing over the thrill of their first Bill photo: "There's really nothing like the first time; you can't compare anything to that," said Alexandra Lebenthal.
When Cunningham finally took the stage, the crowd was on its feet applauding him. "Well, what can one say?" said Cunningham. As it turned out, the usually taciturn photographer had plenty to say, surprising his audience with a nearly 20-minute acceptance speech. "You know, 30 years ago I used to photograph women going to lunch at Le Cirque and before that it was at the Colony restaurant, and now I jump out of bed in the morning and I rush down to Fifth Avenue to photograph women going to work," he said. "Between 8:30 and 9:30 is fabulous!" After the tenor Vittorio Grigolo serenaded the audience, the tireless Cunningham went back to work with his camera in hand.
"He's a visionary," said Hastreiter. "And when you're a visionary, you never stop doing what you do."
—Kristin Studeman read more..
Personal Servers-Kickstarter-Deepworld-Project
When I first met the guys making Deepworld, a 2D sandbox-style building game similar to Minecraft, at GDC in March, I told them that the project would be bigger than they thought. They do have extensive experience developing software and servers, but running a game this big requires a significant investment. It looks like they now agree. The game has spawned a Kickstarter project to try and raise some early funds for servers and development. The group is offering several prizes to supporters, including your own personal servers and worlds, art books and other swag, plus the possibility of getting your own items, name, or even pictures in the game itself. The goal is US$20,000, overall, and as of this writing, the guys have raised about $4,000. They say they want to take the project full-time, and this money will help them do that. I definitely wish them well. Deepworld looks good, and as I said when I first saw it, the Mac (and iOS) would benefit from a game like this.Deepworld launches Kickstarter project to help fund a Mac beta originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Dropbox Public Folder
Dropbox has just announced an update to its self-named service that provides new public sharing links. This update, which appears to be an end-run against the imminent launch of Google's competing Drive app, makes it possible to share read-only folders with anyone -- regardless of whether or not they have a Dropbox account. The files you're linking to no longer need to be in your Dropbox Public folder. To use the new public sharing links, you right-click a file or folder and select "Get Link." This makes the file or folder public, using a link that is generated by Dropbox and then copied to your clipboard. You can't make the link auto-expire; instead, you'll need to make the file or folder private again using the Dropbox website. This feature, which is already available in competitors like SugarSync and LogMeIn Cubby, makes Dropbox a competitor against file-sending services like YouSendIt. It's expected that the new feature will go live today. According to Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, a photo auto-upload feature will also be debuting soon on the iPhone app.Dropbox update adds public links to any file or folder originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Local Power Company-Oregon County-Data Center-Tax Deal
We've heard before that Apple plans to build a data center on land it previously purchased in Oregon, but now the Associated Press reports on part of the cost. The company has reportedly agreed to pay US$150,000 per year to local governments, and has signed off on at least 35 jobs. Those jobs will be paid at a rate that's at least 150% of the average wage in the Oregon county. Finally, according to the AP, Apple will have to invest at least $250 million into the data center building itself. In return for all of that, Apple will be exempt on property tax payments for the next 15 years. Whether that will be worth it or not depends on exactly how much they build there, but odds are Apple's accountants aren't that worried. The company already paid $5.6 million for the land earlier this year, and it's setting up plans to both build up the infrastructure of the local power company to keep the data center running, as well as a green energy site there on the spot. Oregon is apparently a popular place for data centers like this. Google, Amazon, and Facebook all have similar sites in the surrounding area. [via MacRumors]Apple makes a tax deal for Prineville, Oregon data center land originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Nfl Denver Broncos-Playbooks-Nfl Team
The NFL Denver Broncos not only have Peyton Manning, but they're also getting a lot of iPads. A report in the Denver Post today mentioned that the team is in the process of moving the weekly team playbooks from the traditional printed copy to a digital version on the iPad. The team will purchase 120 top-end 64 GB iPads with Verizon Wireless 4G service every season, but expects to recoup the cost by not having to print and distribute those 500-page paper playbooks each week. The Broncos join the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the only teams that have embraced tablet technology. The iPads are running a digital playbook app called PlayerLync that gives players and coaches the capability of adding notes to video play highlights from the iPad. Those notes are saved on a server, and Broncos personnel can access that information from previous games. Even when the players and coaches aren't using the playbook app, changes can be pushed to the app automatically. The team is also planning to push game video to the iPads as soon as one hour after each game. The playbook can be erased remotely if the iPad is lost or stolen -- that's something that can't be done with a hard-copy playbook. The Broncos are also counting on using the iPad for business and player operations as well, being the first NFL team to integrate all facets of operations onto a tablet. You won't see the iPads on the sideline this season, though. The NFL doesn't allow them during games, although this season players and coaches can have the iPads in the locker room up to kickoff.NFL's Denver Broncos embrace the iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Apple Remote Desktop-System Administrator-Management Tools-Sysadmin Tools-Ipad
John Welch over at Ars Technica wrote a wonderful post about using an iPad as a system administrator's tool, noting that Apple's tablet is "an addition, not a replacement" to the many tools that IT pros currently use to complete their daily tasks. Welch brings up points that I discovered when I first started taking my iPad along on client visits -- the size is right, the battery life is wonderful, and it's much more handy than a laptop or an iPhone. Note-taking, for example, is much easier to accomplish on the iPad, and it's possible to prop up the iPad for easy reading at a distance instead of squinting at a small screen. Welch notes that he's able to easily analyze data from Cacti or Nagios with just a glance, keeping an eye on how things are doing. With Welch's iPad, there's no waiting for a laptop to start up every morning. Most devices can be monitored in the aforementioned Web-based systems, he has email to catch messages about systems going down, and once a problem is found, he can "get a lot done over SSH." Welch uses Prompt (US$7.99) as his SSH client of choice, perfect for logging into Mac or Linux servers and desktop machines. For other sysadmin tasks, Welch has some concerns. There's no iPad analogue to Apple Remote Desktop, for example, although Windows network admins have a wonderful tool available in WinAdmin ($7.99). Apple hasn't released any management tools for Mac OS X Server that run on the iPad, but there are some limited third-party tools available such as Server Admin Remote ($9.99). Still, there's a good-sized market for sysadmin tools for the iPad, and if Apple doesn't step up to the plate to deliver them, Welch hopes that third-party developers will. If you're a system administrator who uses an iPad regularly at work, let us know in the comments what tools you use or would like to see.The iPad as an IT professional's tool originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Facebook makes an average of $1.21 on you per quarter, depending on who you are and where you live according to documents filed today. Most of that goes towards running the site, as Facebook's net income from January 1st to March 31st this year was just $205 million despite its total revenue of $1.058 billion. So while you are "the product" on Facebook, just like on any website or physical venue that makes money through advertising, don't expect a check in the mail.And thanks to your contribution, Facebook now values itself at $71.97 billion dollars. That's based on what it paid for Instagram, which could end up being way more than $1 billion. read more..
Monday, 23 April 2012
Independent Content-Overwhelming Number-Jordan
Editor's Note: Jordan Kurzweil is Co-CEO of Independent Content, an agency that helps media companies launch new digital products and businesses. Prior to starting Independent Content, Jordan worked at AOL running original programming, and News Corp, where he helped bring its traditional brands to digital. You can follow him on Twitter @jordankurzweil.I love movies. I love TV shows. I hate web videos.They suck.But let me qualify: An overwhelming number of professionally produced made-for-the-web videos are just not worth watching and barely hold a viewer’s attention for their miniscule run-time. Largely, they're ill-conceived, poorly executed, poorly commercialized or downright boring. read more..
Enterprise Business-Mobile Operators-Vodafone-Cable
Big news from the UK this morning: Vodafone, one of Europe's biggest mobile operators, has made a formal offer to buy up the assets of Cable & Wireless Worldwide for £1 billion ($1.7 billion), a deal that catapults Vodafone into running its own fixed line network in the UK and specifically will give it a much bigger view to winning enterprise business -- a big challenge to BT and a mark of further consolidation in the space.Cable & Wireless, first founded in the nineteeth century and one of the biggest operators in Europe, has fallen on hard times more recently and has run through three chief executives since a restructuring in 2010.The deal will make Vodafone the UK's second-largest operator, with £7 billion ($10.5 billion) in annual revenue. read more..
Video Advertising-Video Program-Adwords-Youtube-Google
A couple of weeks ago, early participants in the new AdWords for Video program gathered at the YouTube offices. The ostensible justification for the meeting was a fancy photo shoot, but YouTube executives also gave a little pep talk, laying out their vision to make video advertising available to small businesses. They even let themselves get a little dreamy, imagining a day when video might become as lucrative for Google as search.So what is AdWords for Video? It integrates video campaigns into the AdWords dashboard, where Google's search and display advertisers are already bidding for and managing their campaign. So small businesses can treat video ads as just another campaign that they're running with Google, rather than something big and scary. It could be particularly useful for the ones that already have a big presence on YouTube that they'd like to promote. Specifically, AdWords for Video allows you to buy Google's TrueView ad units, which can appear in YouTube videos, alongside search results, and in the company's display network. read more..
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Charlotte Casiraghi-Kanye West-Gucci
Last night, the Paris party circuit began before the shows had even ended. The new Chanel store at 51 Avenue Montaigne was the first stop on the itinerary, and editors and design buffs passed through to give it the once-over between the Alexander McQueen and Kanye West shows. "I like the fabric," Interview's Fabien Baron said, fluffing a tweed bouclé chair in the upstairs eveningwear salon. "It's nice, no?" But there was no time to sit—it was on to the next.
For a lucky few, that was Moncler's now traditional dinner at Caviar Kaspia, for the perfect mid-evening refuel: a baked potato crowned with caviar. It put dreams of leisurely meals and relaxing into the heads of the show-weary editors, but no rest for the fashionable. Gamme Rouge designer Giambattista Valli swore off a vacation, saying he's already at work planning a pre-pre-collection for his signature label, and for the rest of the attendees, it was a quick espresso, then off to Silencio.
David Lynch's gilded club was the site of Gucci's party for its new collaborator, Charlotte Casiraghi. The Monégasque princess and equestrienne has a long history with Gucci, which dresses her for her show-jumping appearances, so she was the perfect choice for the horsewomanly Forever Now campaign, for which Peter Lindbergh shot her alongside one of her steeds. "Charlotte really knows what she wants; she is very naturally chic and elegant, so that was our focus," said Gucci creative director Frida Giannini. Chic and elegance runs in the family of course, and the Casiraghi clan's history with Gucci goes way back, too: Charlotte's grandmother, Princess Grace, famously inspired the Flora print, later brought back to life by Giannini as a best-selling bag. And perhaps it's due to return again: Giannini hinted that Flora will "probably" bloom anew. But before that, it was time to gallop on to Kanye West's post-show bash.
West being the maximalist he is, you wouldn't have been entirely surprised to find show-jumping horses speeding around the cavernous Halle Freyssinet. But go-karts were the transport of choice. "In the show, we just got to walk in heels. Now we get to drive. First business, then pleasure. It's time to party!" shrieked Karlie Kloss. How's her driving? "It depends who you're asking," she admitted.
The fête attracted everyone from musical superstars Katy Perry, Sean Combs, Alicia Keys, and Cassie to fashion forces like Nicola Formichetti, Silvia Venturini Fendi, and Riccardo Tisci. "This is pretty much the place to be," proclaimed rapper Mos Def, who later climbed on stage with the likes of Azealia Banks, Common, and Big Sean to perform. But, West promised, if tonight we party, tomorrow, we work. "I just feel like I'm learning the process behind everything," he told Style.com. "I plan to just work every day."
—Nicole Phelps (Chanel, Moncler), Tina Isaac (Gucci), and Katharine K. Zarrella (Kanye West) read more..
Remote Computer-Remote Access-Mac Mini-Logmein-Ipad
Dear Aunt TUAW, So, I bought the new iPad hoping it would replace my need for a Mac. It's great, but just not quite there. I am wanting to set up a high end Mac mini at home to run OSX on my iPad via remote access.
There seems to be a lot of remote access apps. What do you think is the best. Your loving nephew, Adam Dear Adam, There are many superb remote access apps available on App Store. These include iTeleport and TeamViewer, not to mention Splashtop, RDM+, and Screens VNC. But when Auntie polled the TUAW family, all fingers pointed to one favorite: LogMeIn. LogMeIn offers convenient remote access, and best of all it is now free. Last December, the company issued a slimmed down version of their popular Ignition app, simplifying the app's features to only those needed for basic control over your remote computer. You can log in and run apps, with the screen transmitted to your iPad. A strong collection of keyboard and gesture options let you perform all the tasks you normally do, from clicking to dragging to using command-key combinations, all from the comfort of your iPad. So what features got removed from the free app? There are two key premium features that didn't make the cut: file transfer and HD media streaming. Both are available, however, through in-app purchase or you can buy the Ignition app separately. You may have read this post from last year about LogMeIn's file management and transfer capabilities. The full-featured Ignition offers a browser feature that provides access to all the data stored on your remote computer. If you have a good Internet connection (and if you're using LogMeIn to begin with, you probably do, it's a bandwidth hog, unsurprisingly), you can transfer files to and from your iPad. This lets you download documents and open them in other apps using iOS's built-in "Open in" menu, or go the opposite direction and transfer data from your iPad back home to your desktop computer. Extended options let you perform that same file transfer to the cloud (DropBox and Google Docs support are built in) and between LogMeIn-enabled computers. The second premium feature offers HD streaming. If you have iTunes running on your home computer or you've got a recorded TV episode open in EyeTV or QuickTime, the media you're playing back there streams in real time to your iPad. Basically, you can watch and listen to items from your computer in high quality. Both of these are great features, but they come at a rather high cost. You can buy lifetime access to them for $130 by purchasing Ignition directly. If you already own Ignition, which used to cost just $30 on the App Store before LogMeIn split the app into its Free and Premium options, then you already own these features as well. Alternatively you can buy 3 months of use for $20, 6 months of use for $30, or 12 months for $40 through in-app purchase from the free app. Auntie thinks the free version of LogMeIn, exactly as is, is just dandy for nearly all the remote access features most people will need, which is why she doesn't hesitate to recommend it to you for your Mac mini scenario. Hugs, Auntie T.Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me remote-control my Mac mini from my iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Unfounded Rumors-Liquidmetal-Lte Iphone-Rumor Mill-Iphone 5
After a period of unnerving quietness, the Apple rumor mill is back up and running at full capacity producing two somewhat credible rumors over the last 24 hours. The next iPhone will not be announced until October if the latest rumors are believed. A separate rumor is just so wild that it might be true: The iPhone 5, or whatever it's to be called, will be made of LiquidMetal, which will allow for a unique unibody construction. But again, these are just unfounded rumors. Please proceed with caution. read more..
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Samsung Galaxy S Iii-Quarterly Revenue-Patent Agreement-Innovator-Microsoft
Hot topics in the tech blogs for the week ending April 20 include Microsoft’s record-breaking quarterly revenue of $17.41 billion, Twitter’s Innovator’s Patent Agreement draft, Microsoft’s Windows 8 editions, free web-based storage coming on Google Drive, and Samsung’s Galaxy S III launch details. read more..
Facebook EnemyGraph App Might Do a Lot of Good
COMMENTARY | Just what the world needs right now, a little more hatred, right? One of the newest apps to be introduced on Facebook is explained on their own website enemygraph.com. While at first thought, the idea seems like just another potential tool for bullies and abusers, this could turn out to be a good thing in the long run. read more..
Facebook Timeline-Courtroom Decorum-Trial Judges-Constitution-Social Media
Between the extremes of a hands-off attitude and assigning blame for destroying courtroom decorum, trial judges have very wide discretion to decide how to run their courtrooms. read more..
With Help From Facebook Timeline, Viddy Becomes Top Free iPhone App
With the skyrocketing popularity and billion-dollar sale of Instagram, there's an ongoing race to apply Instagram's wildly successful photo sharing model to mobile video. There are a number of startups vying to claim the "Instagram for Video" title, with Socialcam, Viddy, Klip, Mobli, and even the infamous Color all in the running. Yet, today brings evidence that Viddy may now be the one to beat, as the social video sharing app became the top free iPhone app on the App Store -- with much of that growth emanating from its new Facebook Timeline app. read more..
Earnings Release Conference-Unofficial Apple Weblog
What is arguably the most anticipated earnings call on Wall Street every quarter will take place next Tuesday, April 24th at 2pm PT/5pm ET. That's when Apple will release its earnings report for the second quarter, which ended March 31st. There's lots of speculation about whether Apple will hit consensus estimates for their Mac products -- notably iMacs and MacBook Pros, which have not seen major updates in almost a year. However it's generally assumed that the launch of the new iPad in this quarter will help Apple offset any missed Mac numbers. In the run up to the earnings call this week, Apple's stock has swung wildly, having its largest ever point drop on Monday, followed by its largest ever point gain on Tuesday, before falling over 3% again on Wednesday. AAPL shares are up 45% YTD. TUAW will have complete coverage of next Tuesday's financial results.Apple will webcast Q212 earnings release conference call on April 24 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Oregon Data Center-New Data Center-Apple
Associated Press reports that Apple has reached a deal with local governments to finalize its plans for a new data center in Prineville, Oregon. According to the report, Apple has agreed to invest $250 million in facilities on its 160-acre property, and will offer an annual $150,000 "project fee" in lieu of property taxes over the next fifteen years. The company has also guaranteed to bring at least 35 jobs to the center at 150% of the average wage in the county.The $150,000 project fee in part of an agreement with Apple that was made public this week. Prineville City Manager Steve Forrester called it a common arrangement.
The Oregonian reports that the value of the tax break will depend on how much Apple winds up investing. Similar tax breaks on Google's $1.3 billion data center in The Dalles are worth more than $24 million to the company annually, the newspaper said.Apple paid $5.6 million for the project site back in February, and has already begun installation of a modular data center in order to build out some capacity ahead of construction on the main facility. Apple noted earlier this week in response to a Greenpeace report on data centers being powered by coal-derived energy that it intends for its Prineville data center to run on "100% renewable energy".
Apple's new data center in Maiden, North Carolina
Apple just recently opened another data center in Maiden, North Carolina, where the company has indicated that it plans to spend $1 billion. The company is building a 20-megawatt solar farm and a 5-megawatt fuel cell facility at the data center, two of the largest privately-owned renewable energy projects of their kind in the country. read more..
Unofficial Apple Weblog-Flashback Infections
According to Symantec, the OSX.Flashback.K infection is declining each day. The current number of infected Macs is now around 140,000, down from 600,000 a week ago. If you think you may be infected, you can run a Flashback removal tool from either Kapersky or F-Secure. Apple also has a tool for Lion users without Java installed. OS X users should install the latest Java update from Apple which will protect you from a future infection.Flashback infections down from over half a million to under 150,000 in eight days originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Friday, 20 April 2012
Apple Customers
Harry McCracken has a nice write up on the debut, evolution and legacy of the Apple II (or, ][ as I like to call it). The Apple II was unveiled 35 years ago, and it ushered in the home computing revolution. I am a product of that revolution, as my dad bought an Apple ][ in 1978 and it sits by my desk now, shown in the picture above. There were no computer stores back then so he bought one in the back of a bike shop, where a little hobbyist section had Altairs and other user-unfriendly computers. From then my own path was set, as I wouldn't own a "PC" running anything other than an Apple OS until the 90s. For millions of other Apple customers, the same thing would be true. The Apple II proved to be a great computer for schools, small businesses and homes. Here's to the machine that started it all! Share your memories of the Apple II in the comments.Happy 35th birthday, Apple II originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Printed Materials-Adobe Indesign-Workflow-Blurb-Cgx
Ebooks are the current darlings of the publishing world, but there is still a huge demand for printed materials. Blurb, an online platform for designing, publishing, marketing, and selling pro-quality books, has partnered with commercial printing firm Consolidated Graphics, Inc (CGX) to produce an Adobe InDesign plug-in that works with a new service called Publish to allow print-on-demand books in runs as small as one. Publish lets designers use their familiar friend Adobe InDesign to prepare their projects. The plug-in has templates for four cover formats, five paper types, and eight trim sizes. The plug-in then moves projects to Blurb, where they can be proofed, given automated pre-flight checks, and then ordered via credit card. Blurb notes that the workflow speeds project completion times by about 75 percent. The small run size provided by Publish makes it cost-effective for companies to create high-quality projects and receive completed print materials in about a week.Blurb and CGX partner for print-on-demand workflow originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Real Estate Finance-Ivy League School-Entrepreneur-Wall Street
"In the Studio" has a special segment this week, hosting a Valley entrepreneur who grew up on the East Coast, studied at an Ivy League school, was lured to Wall Street, and eventually decided to leave the pinstriped suits behind to start building his own startup, eventually finding his cofounder via Facebook, moonlighting as an entrepreneur after the markets closed in NYC, and is now helping run a venture-backed startup that's making a real difference in the world.John Zimmer grew up in a Connecticut suburb outside of New York City, worked hard and made his way to Cornell in upstate New York. In college, he was part of the University's storied "Hotel Management School," taking a specific interest in real estate finance which eventually led him to the real estate finance group of a major New York investment bank. Zimmer felt that the culture around his high school and in parts of college put the lure of investment banking in his sights, but after some time, he developed an itch to try something new despite the chorus around him. read more..
Unofficial Apple Weblog-Vice Presidents-Paper Manuals-Continental-Vp Of Sales
AllThingsD notes that Apple has hired away Zane Rowe, United Continental's executive VP and Chief Financial Officer, to work as a new Vice President of Sales for the company. Rowe, 40, had been with Continental since 1993. In 2003, he was appointed as a Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis at the airline and in 2008 became Continental's CFO. With the merger of UAL and Continental in 2010 United Continental, the worlds largest airline, was formed with Rowe becoming the new company's CFO. There's no word yet on exactly which sales division Rowe will be in charge of at Apple, but the Cupertino company did release a short statement to AllThingsD about Rowe's hiring: "We are thrilled that Zane Rowe will be joining us as one of our vice presidents of sales. He built a great team at United and we think he is going to do a fantastic job at Apple." Interestingly in August 2011 United Continental decided to start giving all their 11,000 pilots iPads loaded with electronic documentation. Each iPad saved the airline 38 pounds of documentation per flight, which over the long run will help reduce fuel costs. There's no word if Rowe was specifically involved in this decision, but its possible this is how he came to the attention of Apple.Apple hires United Continental CFO as VP of Sales (after airline replaces paper manuals with iPads) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Sensor Data Collection-Iphone-Ipad-Ios
Scientists and hobbyists who want to use their iOS devices as tricorders now have a new tool to help them to bring that dream to life. Byte Works has released version 2.0 of techBASIC, a US$14.99 scientific and educational programming environment for iOS that can be used to pull in data from internal (accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyroscope) and external sensors. In case the name Byte Works sounds familiar to some of you, the company has been around for a long time. Mike and Patty Westerfield started the company in the early 1980s, developing the ORCA computer languages for the 8-bit Apple II. ORCA/M became the standard development system for the Apple IIGS under the names Cortland Programmer's Workshop (CPW) and Apple Programmer's Workshop (APW). techBASIC has its roots in another Byte Works product, GSoft Basic for the Apple IIGS. techBASIC 2.0 is a universal app, so any program you develop on your iPhone can easily be run on your iPad or vice-versa. Launching the app on the iPhone displays a list of included example programs -- the source code for these programs is a nice place to pick up some tips on how to access and use readings from the sensors built into iOS devices. The iPad version shows the list of programs and also provides a window showing the graphical output of your programming efforts. Gallery: techBASIC 2.0 Of course, you cannot create apps for sale in the app store with techBASIC. However, you can send your code to others through email. I'd personally like to see techBASIC work with Dropbox or iCloud for storing self-created apps online for backup and sharing. A tap on any one of the program names displays its source code. The example programs are not only useful, but well-commented for educational purposes. In both the iPhone and iPad flavors, techBASIC includes buttons to display the source code, show a console, see graphics being generated by your program, etc... If you need to, it's possible to step through a program to see how it works or to debug an issue. The documentation for techBASIC is available online, consisting of a reference manual and individual Quick Start guides for iPhone and iPad. There's also a built-in help system with full details of statements, functions, events, graphics classes, GUI classes, sensor classes, and system classes. Perhaps one of the coolest features of techBASIC 2.0 is the ability to tap into the sensors of your favorite iOS devices. The language provides a way to tap into the accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyroscope, and also to grab your current latitude-longitude, altitude, and more. There's a separate sensor class for the HiJack hardware, a University of Michigan project to add small sensor packages to iOS devices. The techBASIC blog features an example app showing how to grab readings from a HiJack-connected potentiometer. The potential here is huge -- imagine being able to connect HiJack to a thermocouple to grab a temperature log through techBASIC, or to an anemometer to measure and track wind velocity on an iPad or iPhone. One of the reviewers listed on the Byte Works website notes that she feels that techBASIC is a "mini-MATLAB in my pocket." I have to agree. While techBASIC isn't nearly as high-powered as MATLAB, it's more amenable and affordable to those who want a lot of the same capabilities to analyze and visualize data. I won't go into a huge, detailed description of the techBASIC language here, since the documentation is readily available. But I will say that this is an excellent development environment for researchers or anyone with an iOS device who enjoys tinkering with hardware. For students, techBASIC is an inexpensive way to learn about programming. Be sure to check out the gallery to see screenshots from both the iPhone and iPad, and watch the video below for a look at techBASIC in action.techBASIC 2.0 brings sensor data collection, analysis and visualization to iOS originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Web read more..
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Mac Os X Snow Leopard-Mac Os X Leopard-Mac App Store-Mobileme
As noted by Macgasm, Apple has begun notifying at least some MobileMe users of a new upgrade program offering a free copy of Mac OS X Snow Leopard. The offer is being made to provide users of machines running older versions of Mac OS X with a reduced-cost pathway to upgrade to OS X Lion, which is required to take full advantage of the features of iCloud.
With OS X Lion being distributed via the Mac App Store, users need to have Mac OS X Snow Leopard installed on their systems in order to access the store. Consequently, users still on Mac OS X Leopard or earlier would have to pay $29 to upgrade to Snow Leopard via disc and then an additional $29.99 to upgrade to Lion via the Mac App Store in the absence of the new upgrade program. With MobileMe set to be discontinued in favor of iCloud as of June 30, Apple is clearly seeking to encourage MobileMe users to move their accounts to iCloud.In an article sent to MobileMe customers, Apple has recommended that potential customers get in touch with Apple to receive a free DVD of Snow Leopard so that users can upgrade to Lion, and move to iCloud. All you have to do is follow this link, log in to MobileMe with your Mobile Me account, and fill out your mailing information. Apple will then send you a Snow Leopard DVD for free.
Mac OS X Snow Leopard remains available in the Apple online store for $29, suggesting that the offer is a targeted program intended for MobileMe members who need to upgrade their systems in order to move to iCloud rather than a general price cut for all purchasers of Snow Leopard. read more..
Flashback Malware-Symantec
While Apple has pushed out several software updates to detect the Flashback malware and remove it from infected systems, Symantec noted late yesterday that over 100,000 machines remain afflicted by the issue as detected by their sinkhole operation to redirect server traffic.
Symantec pegged the number at approximately 142,000 as of Monday, listing a rough estimate of "over 99,000" as yesterday's data was still coming in. Those numbers are down from a peak of over 600,000 machines two weeks ago, but a substantial number of machines are still infected by the malware.The statistics from our sinkhole are showing declining numbers on a daily basis. However, we had originally believed that we would have seen a greater decline in infections at this point in time, but this has proven not to be the case. Currently, it appears that the number of infected computers has tapered off, but remains around the 140,000 mark.
As there have been tools released by Symantec and other vendors in the past few days concerning this threat, the infection numbers should have seen a dramatic decrease by now.Symantec also takes a look at the domain name generator that allows infected machines to connect to their command-and-control servers to receive instructions. The generator uses a list of 14-character strings rotated each day, coupling each string with one of five top-level domains (.com, .net, .info, .in, or .kz) to find its instructions.
The report also claims that Flashback-infected systems can receive updated command-and-control server locations through Twitter, although no details on that process are provided. A similar claim was made for earlier versions of Flashback, although there has apparently been no demonstration of the Twitter delivery method actually being used. read more..
Renewable Energy Sources-Greenpeace Activists-Data Centers
As documented by Corkipedia, four Greenpeace activists climbed to the roof of Apple's offices in Cork, Ireland today, posting signage and distributing leaflets in an attempt to push Apple to adopt cleaner energy sources for its data centers. The protest, which lasted approximately an hour, came a day after Greenpeace blasted Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft for relying heavily on dirty coal power for their data centers.
It appears, however, that Greenpeace's assessment of Apple's energy use was based on flawed assumptions, and Apple stands by its claims that its new data center in Maiden, North Carolina and a forthcoming one in Prineville, Oregon will be among the cleanest in the world.
Greenpeace estimated that the Maiden facility would require 100 megawatts of power at peak capacity, claiming that Apple's proposed solar and fuel cell facilities at the plant would provide only 10% of the center's energy needs. The group's report also appears to assume that the Prineville facility will run on dirty power sources, and those two assumptions were combined to give Apple a low "clean energy index" score of 15.3% and estimate Apple's share of data center power usage derived from coal at an industry-high 55%.
Apple quickly responded to the Greenpeace report, issuing statements to several media outlets claiming that the Maiden data center requires only 20 megawatts of power at peak capacity and that the renewable energy sources being built at the site will provide at least 60% of the center's power needs. In addition, Apple notes that the Prineville data center is planned to run on 100% renewable energy.“Our data center in North Carolina will draw about 20 megawatts at full capacity, and we are on track to supply more than 60% of that power on-site from renewable sources including a solar farm and fuel cell installation which will each be the largest of their kind in the country,” Apple said in a statement. “We believe this industry-leading project will make Maiden the greenest data center ever built, and it will be joined next year by our new facility in Oregon running on 100% renewable energy.”For its part, Greenpeace believes that Apple is continuing to obfuscate its energy numbers and release only those that make the company appear in a positive light. And so despite Apple's claims regarding significant efforts to minimize the impact of its data centers on the environment, Greenpeace believes that the company should be doing more to publicly lead the way toward further adoption of renewable energy sources. read more..
Voice Recognition-Voice Answer-App Store-Iphone-Apple
Looks like Apple might be loosening its grip even more on voice recognition apps? Or, it simply just feels that the competition is not as good as its own native Siri. We've just gotten word from Netherlands-based developer Sparkling Apps that its voice-response app, Voice Answer -- rejected by Apple for nearly three months -- has been approved by Apple and is now live in the App Store, and usable on any iPhone, iPod or iPad running iOS 4.2 or later.It took "almost three months of negotiating, tweaking and pushing," developer Martijn van der Spek tells TechCrunch. Like Siri, the app is based on data from Wolfram Alpha, among other sources, and lets users ask questions by either speaking to the app or typing in a question. It's priced at £2.49 ($3.99). read more..
Developer Center-Mountain Lion
Apple has pushed the third preview of OS X Mountain Lion to developers. A number of known issues are still present in the preview, including booting issues with FileVault enabled and installing Mountain Lion on a system running OS 10.7.2 or earlier with FireVault turned on could fail. Other known issues include involve sandboxing apps, iTunes, Mail, a delay in Back to My Mac, DVD Player, Time Machine, QuickTime and a number of problems with Game Center. Full release notes are available in Apple's Developer Center. The second developer's preview was released on March 16.Apple releases third preview build of OS X Mountain Lion for developers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Unofficial Apple Weblog-Snow Leopard-Free Upgrade-Mobileme
In an effort to get the remaining MobileMe customers upgraded to Lion and iCloud, Apple is offering a free upgrade to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard for those still running OS X 10.5 Leopard. Macgasm posted pictures of the missive, which directs MobileMe customers to this link. After signing in, those who need a copy of Snow Leopard can get an installation DVD after filling out mailing information. Snow Leopard retails for $29. Those who take advantage of the offer will still have to pay $29.99 to upgrade to Lion. The Snow Leopard upgrade program expires on June 15, a couple weeks shy of MobileMe's shutdown date of June 30. Apple is giving away Snow Leopard to MobileMe customers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
North Carolina Data Center-Environmentally Friendly-Unofficial Apple Weblog-Clean Power
Environmental reports can be all over the place these days -- at times, it seems like these reports tend to be more about politics than the environment. But while Apple has always said it's leading the charge on being environmentally friendly, Greenpeace apparently isn't so sure. The group has called out Apple in a recent report for not using environmentally friendly sources to power Apple's North Carolina data center. Google, Yahoo, and Facebook all got good marks from Greenpeace's report, because their buildings are in areas that use "clean" power like wind and solar power. But Apple's center uses mostly coal and nuclear electricity, which Greenpeace looks negatively on. Apple does deserve some credit. It leads the industry in using green power, even if this specific plant, according to this report, isn't doing what Greenpeace wants. Apple also got bad marks for transparency. The company says it uses clean power, but apparently it doesn't always share the specific evidence that Greenpeace wants. At any rate, there's probably fair points on both sides here. Apple does a lot to use "green" energy in all of its work, and of course, as Greenpeace suggests, there's always more that can be done. The North Carolina data center, as you know if you've ever used iCloud or Siri, is nice to have. But it would be even nicer if it was run on power that did not as negatively affect the environment.Greenpeace: Apple falling short of sourcing clean power originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Fusion Mechanical Design Software-Autodesk Inventor-Free Technology
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| autodesk_inventor_fusion |
Back in January at Macworld, we noted that Autodesk was planning to bring its Inventor Fusion mechanical design software to the Mac. At the time, the company promised the a free technology preview of Inventor Fusion for Mac would be available in the coming weeks, with an official release to follow later.
Autodesk today announced that the free software preview is now available for download and will remain active through January 1, 2013.Inventor Fusion is a free technology preview that enables creation of designs through intuitive direct manipulation tools. Our aim is to set a new standard for Assembly design, giving users greater control over designs without sacrificing productivity. Hopefully this technology preview will make it easier to open and edit 3D models from virtually any source and incorporate them into new or existing designs (such as in Autodesk Inventor). Your feedback will determine if we are correct in our thinking.The system requirements for Inventor Fusion for Mac include most relatively recent Mac Pro, iMac, and MacBook Pro models with specific graphics options from AMD, NVIDIA or Intel. Autodesk has, however, indicated that users may still have success running the software on officially unsupported systems.
The release of the Inventor Fusion preview for Mac is the second major Mac-related announcement for Autodesk this week, following the company's unveiling of Smoke 2013, an updated version of its professional-level video editing and visual effects software for Mac. Smoke 2013 will be launching "later this fall" at a price of $3,495 per license, a significant discount from the $14,995 pricing on previous versions. read more..
Music Playlists-Convenience-Coffee
Technology is all about convenience. At least, that's where it's headed. I can now ask someone to run across the city and pick up a package for me on Zaarly (which I did), Songza chooses my music playlists for me, and I can literally push a button and ask my phone where the nearest burger joint is (even if she never quite understands me). It's incredible. And now that same convenience is entering into our love lives in the form of a site called Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB), which just launched today in NYC. read more..
San Francisco-Hit Factory
RocketSpace, the San Francisco co-working space for tech and new media startups, has attracted a strong set of tenants in the 14 months since it first opened its doors. Uber, Zaarly, Giftiki, Spotify, and GeekList are just a few of the more than 100 companies who have called RocketSpace home for a stretch of time in either in the past or present.So TechCrunch TV stopped by RocketSpace's four-story offices in San Francisco's SOMA district to get a first-hand look at how exactly its ship is run. In the video embedded above, you can see footage of RocketSpace denizens at work and watch our interview with its founder and CEO Duncan Logan. read more..
Bounty
MunkyFun is the group of developers behind first-person shooter Archetype for the iPhone, so they know already how to put a console-style shooter on Apple's mobile devices. Archetype was published by Villian, but MunkyFun's latest title is self-published. It's called Bounty Bots, and it's available for free on the App Store right now. Hopefully, at the word "free," you already went to go and download the game to see what it's like. But in case not, I'll tell you that it's a shooter where your main goal is to run around collecting coins as quickly as possible, and then to deliver those coins into banks (but without getting killed by other players). Coins delivered get banked, but you still get XP for picking up coins, so even if you're terrible, you can progress through the game. Progression gets you various parts to customize your bot with, and the game is finely tuned for both casual and hardcore players, so those ready for a real challenge can buy special parts that make things tougher but can also come with rewards as well. The game's freemium bent can be frustrating at times (if you ever lose all your coins, you're locked in a jail that you can then pay your way out of, which seems targeted right at guaranteeing those all-important in-app purchases). But there's enough action here that it's worth the free download, and if you get hooked, well, all the better. And MunkyFun is already updating the title as well, so there's more content on the way. Bounty Bots is a fun use of the company's expertise so far, and I'm sure it will lead to even better things in their future.Daily iPad App: Bounty Bots is full of cartoony shooter action originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Gmail Account-Google
If you needed any more proof that Google Drive was alive, look no further than this screenshot of the app. I've been able to download and run the app and it is currently idle, sitting quietly in the corner, unable to connect to the mothership.The version we were given is 1.0.2891 and seems to run without issue. I was able to log in using my Gmail account and I suppose I'll have to wait to play with it further. It currently throws an error stating that "Google Drive is not yet enabled for your account." read more..
Windows Versions-Windows 8
Between Home, Basic, Premium, Ultimate, and the rest, the number of Windows versions has become something of a running joke. But with Windows 8, Microsoft has drastically reduced the number users have to choose from to just three. read more..
Performance Intelligence Software-Standalone Flashback-Performance Problems-Flashback Malware
Fear your Mac has the Flashback malware installed, but you aren't running Java? You'll want to grab Apple's standalone removal tool. read more..
New software bares iOS, Android app performance problems
The cumbersomely named Aternity Mobile Frontline Performance Intelligence software lets IT groups deconstruct mobile apps running live on iOS and Android devices and uncover bottlenecks, glitches, and a whole lot of other pain points for enterprise mobile users. read more..
Security Researchers-Microsoft Word
A new Trojan known as "Sabpab" could hurt Mac users who run Java and Microsoft Word. Security researchers are warning users to make sure their computers have the latest software updates from both Apple and Microsoft, and to use anti-virus software. read more..
Malware Removal-Java Updates-Flashback
Following yesterday's release of fresh Java updates to remove the Flashback malware system from Macs running OS X Lion and Snow Leopard, Apple today released a standalone Flashback malware removal tool to clean infections from OS X Lion systems without Java installed.About Flashback malware removal tool
This Flashback malware removal tool that will remove the most common variants of the Flashback malware.
If the Flashback malware is found, a dialog will be presented notifying the user that malware was removed.
In some cases, the Flashback malware removal tool may need to restart your computer in order to completely remove the Flashback malware.
This update is recommended for all OS X Lion users without Java installed.While the most dangerous method of attack for Flashback exploits a security hole in Java that Apple has now patched, various versions of the malware have also used social engineering and other tricks in attempting to gain access to users' systems.
With OS X Lion not having Java included by default, users of Apple's latest operating system who have found themselves infected through other means and do not have Java installed can use the new tool to clean their systems without needing to install Java.
The update weighs in at 356 KB and requires OS X Lion without Java installed. read more..
Monday, 16 April 2012
Database Apps-Business Apps-Filemaker Pro-Iphone Apps
FileMaker announced that its mobile database solution, FileMaker Go 12 for the iPad and FileMaker Go 12 for the iPhone, surpassed 100,000 downloads in their first week of availability. This is an impressive milestone for an enterprise tool that lets customers run iOS database apps created with FileMaker Pro 12. It has a much smaller audience than a consumer-oriented app and shows that custom business app development is a growing market. Show full PR text New FileMaker Go 12 for iPad and iPhone Apps Surpass 100,000 Downloads in First Week
Strong customer demand affirms FileMaker's role as a leading platform for creating and deploying custom iOS business apps
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - April 12, 2012 - FileMaker, Inc. today announced that FileMaker Go 12 for iPad and FileMaker Go 12 for iPhone, apps that run custom business solutions created by FileMaker Pro 12, have been downloaded more than 100,000 times in their first week.
FileMaker Go 12 for iPad and iPhone are free on the App Store. FileMaker Go 12 makes it easy for everyone to run iOS database apps created with FileMaker Pro 12. The new FileMaker 12 product line features stunningly beautiful new themes and Starter Solutions, powerful iPad, iPhone and desktop design tools and superior file management for today's media-intensive applications.
"The rapid adoption of FileMaker Go 12 strengthens FileMaker's position as a leading platform for creating custom iOS business apps," said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president, marketing and services, FileMaker, Inc. "Businesses are using FileMaker Pro to create apps to manage everything from their inventory to contacts to salespersons' routes, and deploying these on their iPads and iPhones with FileMaker Go."
A free 30-day trial of FileMaker Pro 12 lets everyone see how easy it is to start creating custom iOS business apps.FileMaker's new iOS apps hit 100K downloads in one week originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..