Apple doesn’t seem to want to keep physical media around that much longer, opting instead to distribute software and media via digital download. It’s a brave strategy, and probably one that most companies will eventually adopt, but in the meantime it could leave many consumers behind. Read more »
Motorola Mobility will acquire startup Zecter to integrate its synchronization and video streaming technologies into the MotoBlur feature on its Android phones. Zecter produces ZumoDrive and ZumoCast, services that facilitate cloud storage and media streaming of stored content to mobile devices. Both services will continue operation. Read more »
In 12 months, Apple’s notebook lineup will be so different, we’ll barely recognize it. Physically, the computers may look the same, but the teaser that is the MacBook Air makes very clear the changes we can expect to see rolled out across the entire MacBook line. Read more »
I am one of the few proud MacBook Air owners in the world. Every article you’ve seen from me in the past was written on the petite beauty. I was understandably excited about Apple’s event yesterday. So why did I walk away feeling disappointed? Read more »
Yesterday, Engadget observed that Apple didn’t just release a new MacBook Air, but also added a nice build-to-order option for their 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros. Now, for an additional $400, you can upgrade to a 2.8GHz Core i7 processor. Read more »
Cloudmade, Where, Placecast, Evri and Apigee presented their bids for the “next big idea” in mobile at today’s GigaOM Mobilize conference. If they’re an accurate sample, the future of mobile is all about location, smart filters and APIs. Read more »
Anyone reading this on a MacBook Air knows that it’s truly the lightest, full-featured notebook available. Unfortunately, it has a bad reputation. Anyone who hasn’t owned one doesn’t understand. I’m here to make a case that anyone that hasn’t used one should give it a shot. Read more »
Look back into Apple’s history, and it’s clear it never partners with a company that could one day be a threat. Apple’s decision to include Netflix on the newest Apple TV indicates where Apple may be headed with video and the iTunes store. Read more »
A few months ago, AT&T changed its wireless data rates, essentially killing unlimited data on smartphones. That rate change has had a direct effect on the usage of my iPhone and the amount of money I’m paying each month. Read more »
Our future is wireless at high speeds anywhere we’d like. This may be a decade away and if carriers make wireless data truly unlimited this will be a reality, but it scares me for a few reasons that simply can’t be fixed by technology. Read more »
Companies were afraid of Microsoft in the 90s. If they decided to enter your space, you’d be out of business, if you weren’t lucky enough to be bought by them. That’s not the case anymore. In this sense, Apple is the Microsoft of this decade. Read more »
There’s been quite a bit of buzz around the next iPad. The one we’re using now is only six months old, but some are already looking forward to the possibility of a new form factor. I expect Apple to release another iPad this year. Here’s why. Read more »
The Apple Battery Charger caught me as a product that made perfect sense. But what rubs me the wrong way is that it decided to sell batteries for these devices with a few claims that make its product better than any other. Read more »
Something sort of hit me in the head while reading the New York Times as Bob Marley played into my earphones: I have no visual or performance signs that a song is playing other than the music entering my head. It just works. Read more »
When I write about Apple, I do my best to lay out some historical data and discuss where my experience came from as it helps put things in perspective for whatever I’m about to rant or rave about. Mactracker helps me do that. Read more »
Amazon has announced a new Kindle. The new device is pretty awesome, both in features and price. It’s important that we declare both devices as winners and set some things straight for anyone calling iPad a Kindle killer or the other way around. Read more »
I understand Apple withholding of cool features like FaceTime and bluetooth multitouch trackpads to fuel demand and excite Mac users every few weeks with a new toy, but display technologies are universally exactly the same. So where is a 30″ LED Cinema Display? Read more »
Apple’s hatred of buttons and love of touch that began as early as 2003 with the 3rd generation iPod and continued with iPhone, iPad and multitouch trackpads should have clued us in that the mouse wouldn’t be here forever. Read more »
Apple updated its iMac and Mac Pro desktop line today and now technical specifications of these two machines are finally in line with what you can get from their Windows-running counterparts. Let’s take a look at these machines side-by-side for anyone looking to upgrade or switch. Read more »
Of course, it’s only a rumor, but the word among bloggers is that iDVD will not be included in iLife ’11 and will be replaced by a mystery app that has nothing to do with DVD authoring. But why? Read more »
In July, 2010, Apple’s flagship products (not mice, keyboards or displays) but the products Apple chooses to feature at the top of the store’s main page are now 50% mobile. It’s only now that Apple’s role as a mobile tech company becomes immediately apparent. Read more »
Union Square Ventures managing partner Fred Wilson’s blunt opinions on the tech industry were on display today at the Geo-Loco conference in San Francisco. And he had some compelling justifications for his insults, even if they were mainly targeted at competitors of his portfolio companies. Read more »
Remember how the iPad was supposed to herald a new era of media consumption? Well, that day is finally here — or at least a glimpse of it, with the new iPad application Flipboard, built by a new company of the same name. Read more »
Apple’s Target Disk Mode is an essential tool built-in to every Mac. It has become irrelevant simply because switchers today aren’t aware that it’s even there. Apple obviously notices this trend. Two of Apple’s current Macs don’t even include Firewire Read more »
On the eve of WWDC, a photo showed up on Engadget rumored to be a new Apple product. I wanted for this product to be real. I started dreaming of a $59 price tag and all of the amazingness this product could do for me. Read more »
Any user that reads a lot of Mac-centric blogs may have heard of Instapaper, which is most easily defined as “A simple tool to save web pages for reading later.” After four days, I’m completely convinced that this is not a tool I could live without. Read more »
Apple’s iconic iPod is credited for reviving the company and helping it dominate consumer mind share over the past decade, but of my greatest fears has started to come true where analysts are now throwing the notion out there that the iPod is dead or dying. Read more »
Steve thinks that with a Time Capsule or an online backup system paired with YouTube for sharing video and iTunes at the center of it all with media consumption, the industry has made Blu-ray obsolete before it even makes it to Mac machines and I agree. Read more »
Technology in high-end machines eventually trickles down to the low-end. These sort of hand me down improvements are normal, but what do these two principles tell us about what’s coming next? Does iPhone’s Retina Display give us a hint for the future of Apple’s product line? Read more »
The iPhone was released in 2007 running iOS 1.0 and now, in 2010 we receive our fourth huge update to iOS where Apple’s Leopard and Snow Leopard are largely unchanged from a feature perspective and only maintain system improvements, speed enhancements and other changes. Read more »
Video conferencing still isn’t taking off. But someone at Apple truly believes in it and that’s a good sign as I think it can be the future one day. Read more »
Apple has published a guide to ergonomics on its site since as long as I can remember and it remains relevant, but severely outdated. I’ve been secretly hoping for an update to this that includes photos that aren’t of old school CRT displays. Read more »
It’s easy for the fanboy in me to get excited for a new product. I’ve read over 300 blog posts from bloggers recounting what they think of iPhone 4 and have come away with what I feel are the biggest missteps Apple made with this product. Read more »
Foursquare, which has been nearly as exhibitionist about sharing the details of its corporate dealings as some of its users are about sharing their locations, has finally closed its second funding round of $20 million led by Andreessen Horowitz and including previous investors. Read more »
After the iPhone 4 presentation at Apple’s WWDC in San Francisco today, I hit the town to talk to app developers in the event center about their perceptions of Steve Jobs’ latest and greatest device. Here’s a video to give you a flavor of the scene. Read more »
A boilerplate is a flexible term used to describe many different things, but Apple’s boilerplate is those lines of text that you see at the bottom of each of all its press releases, and it has remained largely unchanged for the past few years. Read more »
I stopped by after work on Friday to snap a few photos of Moscone West receiving the finishing touches of the giant three story tall Apple logo and snap photos of banners hanging inside the conference center. Unfortunately, there were no exposed banners of unannounced products. Read more »
Given the recent news about AT&T’s decision to shift from unlimited 3G data plans, we were curious how much data you actually use on your device? Taking a peak at my stats revealed that I’ve downloaded 4.1GB of data and uploaded nearly a gig. Read more »
It’s easy to make a claim that AT&T is effectively cutting the quality of its 3G service, but that’s the gist of what it announced last night via a press release. On June 7, tethering for iPhone will be available, but the news isn’t all good. Read more »
It’s becoming clear that Apple needs to improve MobileMe. Obviously, Android is now Apple’s biggest threat in the mobile space and Google’s innovation wheel isn’t slowing down. To fully understand just how bad Apple is at running Internet services, let’s take a trip back in time. Read more »
