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Oct 20
Apple patent hints at iOS gadget designs with improved...

An Apple patent (number 20110188180) for a portable electronic housing with outer glass surfaces has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office, showing that Apple is considering iOS gadget designs that will simplify repairs.

Improved housings for electronic devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, an electronic device housing can have one or more outer members (e.g., exposed major surfaces), such as front or back surfaces, that are formed of glass. The one or more glass surfaces can be part of outer member assemblies that can be secured to other portions of the electronic device housing. In other embodiments, apparatus, systems and methods for robustly attaching a cover portion of an electronic device to a bottom portion, e.g., a housing portion, of the electronic device are described. The electronic device can be portable and in some cases handheld. The inventors are David Pakula, Richard Hung Minh Dinh and Scott Myers.

Here's part of Apple's background and...

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Oct 20
Greg's Bite: The Self-Cannibalism Effect at Apple

By Greg Mills

Apple has a uncanny ability to understate the forecast for the following quarter's revenue each time they do the quarterly financial report to the analysts who are hanging on every word. Then 90 days later, they wow the very same crowd with unexpected numbers that blow the lid off the highest estimates. It is a game with gigantic money at stake.

This time around, despite a gigantic increase in sales and net revenue, iPhone 4 sales were a bit lower than expected and you would have thought Apple was going under. The stock plunged and headlines were published that "Apple Disappoints" and the entire market took a hit for a while. Cook correctly stated that the problem was simply people waiting for the next iPhone in the que, rather than any weakness in the red hot market for things Apple.

The CEO of Microsoft, while in its prime, stated that: "A company that fails to obsolete its own products is doomed to see the competition do it."...

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Oct 20
Apple's stock dip is indeed a 'knee jerk...

On Tuesday Apple reported selling a record number of Macs and iPads. However, the company's stock dropped because Apple "only" sold 17 million iPhones, less than the 20-22 million units Wall Street pundits had predicted.

Does that make sense? Of course not. And let's be clear: iPhone sales were up 21% year-over-year. Despite this, Apple's stock fell more than US$28, or almost 7%. Brian Marshall, an analyst with the International Strategy and Investment Group was correct when he called this a "knee jerk" reaction."

"The question everyone's asking is, 'What happened to three-to-four million iPhones?' " Marshall told "Computerworld" (http://macte.ch/IQIUS). "The problem is that this update was delayed by several months, and exacerbated the transition to the iPhone 4S. Is their share declining? No that the sales that would have otherwise been in the third quarter simply shifted into the current period, with...

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Oct 20
Future iOS devices could have ejectable components

Future iOS devices could have compact, ejectable components, per a patent (20090267577) at the US Patent & Trademark Office.

Per the patent, The ejectable component assembly may include a tray that can be loaded with one or more removable modules, wafers coupled to circuit boards, cages and retaining plates to assist in retaining the tray within the assembly. The ejectable component assembly may include springs operative to engage detents in the tray to retain the tray in the assembly. The ejectable component assembly may include a tray ejector mechanism for ejecting the tray from the assembly. The inventors are Scott Myers, Erik Wang and Jason Sloey.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "To enhance the use of electronic devices (e.g., cellular telephones), ejectable component assemblies may be used to couple removable modules to the device. Some known ejectable component assemblies for personal electronic devices include a tray for receiving a...

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Oct 20
Apple patent involves data syncing between a client...

An Apple patent (number 20110258254) for method and apparatus for updating and synchronizing information between a client and server has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. It seems to involve the new iCloud service, as well as Apple's (or at least the late Steve Jobs') preference of HTML5 over Flash.

The invention provides a method and apparatus for integrating applets running on a client with the application logic for applications running on a server. According to Apple, the mechanism of the present invention provides two significant advantages over the prior art: the synchronization of state, and the recognition of user actions in the browser including the invocation of the appropriate application logic in the server. Instead of using the FORM element available in HTML, individual active applets are available and may be created that obtain user input (e.g. a checkbox, textbox, button, etc.).

"A hidden applet called the Applet Group Controller is...

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Oct 20
Apple is working on fuel cell technology

Two new Apple patents show that Apple is working on hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Patent number 20110256463 is for a parallel fuel stack architecture. The disclosed embodiments relate to a system that provides a power source. The power source includes a set of fuel cells arranged in a fuel cell stack. The power source also includes a power bus configured to connect the fuel cells in a parallel configuration. The inventors are Steven C. Michalske and Bradley L. Spare.

Here's Apple's summary of the invention: "The disclosed embodiments relate to a system that provides a power source. The power source includes a set of fuel cells arranged in a fuel cell stack. The power source also includes a power bus configured to connect the fuel cells in a parallel configuration.

"In some embodiments, the power source also includes a voltage-multiplying circuit configured to increase a voltage of the fuel cell stack. In some embodiments, the voltage-multiplying circuit is...

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Oct 19
So much for counting the Mac and desktops out...

Those pundits who have declared that Apple is losing interest in the Mac, especially the desktop line, might think again.

In Apple's latest fiscal quarter, Apple, as CEO Tim Cook noted, gained significant share in its computer business. Approximately 4.89 million Macs were sold during the quarter. That beats the previous record by about 750,000.

The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro were the top sellers for the company with the laptop line accounting for 74% of Mac sales. However, the desktop line -- mainly the iMac -- moved almost 1.3 million units. That's a record for Mac desktop sales.

The Mac is, as usual, outgrowing the computer industry as a whole. By more than six times, per the latest data from the IDC research group

As far as tablets replacing traditional computers, it appears the iPad is taking away SOME Mac sales, but a lot more PC sales.

Cook said it best during a conference call with analysts: "Remember, the Mac had its best quarter by far...

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Oct 18
Apple granted two solar-related patents

Apple has been granted two solar-related patents by the US Patent & Trademark Office.

Patent number 8039360 involves a method of assembling integrated circuit components. The disclosure identified as methods of mounting integrated circuits, including solar cells, to a substrate wherein the circuits are mounted prior to being singulated into discrete die. Once the semiconductor die sites or other circuits are formed on a wafer, the wafer will be attached, either whole, or divided into one or more multi-die site wafer segments, to a substrate.

This attachment may be by conventional surface mount technology, for example. After such mounting, the individual die sites on the wafer segments will be singulated to form discrete die already mounted to the supporting substrate. The singulation may be preferably performed by laser dicing of the wafer segments. The inventors are Bradley Spare, Michael D. Hillman and Gregory Tice.

Patent...

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Oct 18
Apple drops the ball with multiple ID issue

It's very disappointing to see how Apple has not handled the multiple Apple ID issue. An Apple ID is the email address you use as a login for just about everything you do with Apple, including using iCloud to store your content, buying songs from the iTunes Store, and downloading apps from the App Store.

As you have probably discovered if you've tried to move from MobileMe to iCloud, if you have more than one Apple ID, you should be very, very, very careful. As an example, I couldn't find how to change the Apple ID that is on my iOS device. So if you put the wrong one in, it will not be part of your other devices' eco-system.

In September, it seemed Apple was working on a solution to allow users to merge multiple Apple IDs into one. The news came from a phone call from Apple's executive relations team saying that they were aware of the issue and seemingly working on it, as noted by "MacRumors" (http...

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Oct 18
Apple wins patent for integrated in-plane switching...

Apple has won a patent (number 8040326) from the US Patent & Trademark Office for an integrated in-plane switching display and touch sensor. This relates to adding multi-touch functionality to a display without the need of a separate multi-touch panel or layer overlaying the display.

Instead, embodiments of the invention can advantageously utilize existing display circuitry to provide multi-touch functionality while adding relatively little circuitry that is specific to the multi-touch functionality. So, by sharing circuitry for the display and the multi-touch functionalities, embodiments of the invention can be implemented at a lower cost than the alternative of superimposing additional multi-touch related layers onto an existing display panel.

Furthermore, since the display and multi-touch functionality can be implemented on the same circuit, they can be synchronized so that noise resulting from the display functionality does not detrimentally affect the multi...

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Oct 17
Tablets, smartphones redefining the retail shopping...

More good news for Apple: tablets and smartphones are redefining the retail shopping experience and will be a US$5 billion market per year by 2015, according to a research study released today by analyst firm IHL Group (http://www.ihiservices.com).

According to the study, "Mobility: A Gutenberg Moment for Retail, A Threat to POS," the release of the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle Fire have created price points and form factors for mobile devices that are finally allowing retailers to arm their associates with tools that will transform the in-store experience.

"The advent of mobile devices is a Gutenberg moment that is revolutionizing many aspects of the shopping experience," says Greg Buzek, president, IHL Group. "A complete transformation of the customer experience will occur at clothing and department stores over the next three years. Store personnel will be able to greet shoppers with their...

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Oct 16
Greg's Bite: Siri coming to Mac and iPad

By Greg Mills

Guessing what Apple will do, is of course, an inexact science, as they enjoy making monkeys out of tech writers. It has been said that most of the time the weather today is a pretty good indicator for what the weather will be like tomorrow. That cliche is obviously wrong a lot, but odds are that similar weather comes on consecutive days more often than not.

We can see broad trends where things happen predictably across the entire spectrum of Apple products. The touch and gesture interface has spread to both touch pads on computers and touch screens on all Apple devices. We can certainly predict that Siri will show up next on iPad 3 and even the Mac platform sooner or later. Speech recognition has made tremendous strides in the last few years.

Apple has publicly absorbed Siri technology and merged it, I suspect, with Nuance speech technology. I did a product review a few months ago on Nuance Speech recognition software for the...

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Oct 14
Hollywood planning to launch Ultraviolet -- how does...

Hollywood is getting ready to launch UltraViolet, a cloud-based movie storage solution that the industry is betting (or at least hoping) will convince consumers to buy movies instead of renting them.

How? The "digital locker" solution purportedly keeps copies of films you've bought on remote servers for viewing any time on various devices. Starting this month, consumers can buy the first film discs offered with UltraViolet.

With a "buy once, play anywhere" message, studios hope consumers see more benefits to owning movies, notes "Reuters" (http://macte.ch/nuAuz). Backers are pitching flexibility for multiple devices, the promise of owning rights to a movie for a lifetime, and the advantage of a cloud-stored copy not hogging hard-drive space, the article adds.

UltraViolet offers "more value for digital ownership. You can stream wherever you are," John Calkins, executive vice president of global...

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Oct 13
Greg's Bite: RIM, BlackOutBerries

By Greg Mills

RIM: RIM may take the "gang that can't shoot straight" title away from Microsoft and its CEO, Steve Ballmer. We are in day four of a rolling denial of service sort of thing where BlackBerrys won't send or receive email and surfing the web is faster with a dial-up connection.

RIM announced today that the problem was solved, but users in the US and other places indicate that it is not over for them. One issue is that even if you scale your servers to being able to handle double the normal traffic, four days' worth of stored email that has built up, with more being generated, represents a major electronic traffic jam that has RIM servers deeply buried in unsent data.

With most smartphones the carriers handle all the radio and net traffic and an outage with Sprint, for example, won't have any effect on AT&T, who is abundantly able to drop calls consistently on its own. Apple just builds the iPhones and sells them to the...

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Oct 13
Apple may be getting into avatar editing

Two new patents at the US Patent & Trademark Office show that Apple may be getting into the avatar editing business.

Patent number 20110248992 is for an avatar editing environment that that allows users to create custom avatars for use in online games and other applications. Starting with a blank face the user can add, rescale and position different elements (e.g., eyes, nose, mouth) on the blank face. The user can also change the shape of the avatar's face, the avatar's skin color and the color of all the elements. In some implementations, touch input and gestures can be used to manually edit the avatar.

Various controls can be used to create the avatar, such as controls for resizing, rotating, positioning, etc. The user can choose between manual and automatic avatar creation. The avatar editing environment can be part of a framework that is available to applications. One or more elements of the avatar can be animated. The inventors are Marcel...

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Oct 13
Apple patent is for 'opportunistic multitasking...

An Apple patent (number 20110252430) for "opportunistic multitasking" has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Services for a personal electronic device are provided through which a form of background processing or multitasking is supported.

The disclosed services permit user applications to take advantage of background processing without significant negative consequences to a user's experience of the foreground process or the personal electronic device's power resources. To effect the disclosed multitasking, one or more of a number of operational restrictions may be enforced. By way of example, an application that may normally be placed into the background state may instead be terminated if it controls a lock on a shared system resource. The inventors are Gregory R. Chapman, Richard Schreyer and Thomas B. Duffy Jr.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Power constrained, hand-held devices (e.g., mobile phones, personal entertainment...

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Oct 13
Apple eyeing ways to offer better content protection

Three new patents at the US Patent & Trademark Office show that Apple is working on ways to offer better content and file protection.

Patent number 20110252233 is for a system and method for backing up and restoring files encrypted with file-level content protection. The patent describes systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for initiating a backup, backing up encrypted data, and restoring backed up encrypted data. The method for initiating a backup includes sending a backup secret to a backup device having an encrypted file system, receiving from the backup device a backup ticket created based on the backup secret, and storing the backup ticket.

The method for backing up encrypted data includes receiving a backup ticket and a backup secret, retrieving an escrow key bag containing protection class keys, decrypting the protection class keys with the backup ticket, generating a backup key bag containing new protection...

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Oct 13
Apple working on new Bluetooth power-down features

According to a new patent (number 20110259840), Apple is looking into a new way to power off Bluetooth-enabled electronic devices, which would let you press just one button on one device to configure or disable multiple devices.

Per the patent, a device can transmit a Bluetooth signal to a linked device to instruct the linked device to power-off. In this manner, the user need only turn off one device manually which results in all linked devices being powered off. This process can be initiated by a user through a device directly linked with the device to be powered-off or through a device that is indirectly connected, through one or more Bluetooth networks, with the device to be powered-off.

This process can also be automatically initiated by a device when a set of predetermined conditions exist. Once instructed to do so, a device can initiate a predetermined power-off process which can involve terminating any ongoing functions and turning off various subsystems. In...

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Oct 13
Ebook market poised to explode

Here's a good reason for Apple to concentrate on its iBookstore (and make it Mac compatible): by 2017 the world e-readers market is expected to achieve unit shipments of nearly 54 million a year, according to a new research report available from the Companies and Markets research group (http://www.companiesandmarkets.com).

Despite difficult trading conditions during the recession, the e-reader market endured and is one of the most popular technological innovations in recent years. The first e-readers were available in the early part of the last decade, but consumer interest didn't pique until Amazon’s 2007 Kindle launch, which allowed users to download books wirelessly, without having to connect to a computer. Market expansion has been rapid, with many companies vying for a slice of Amazon’s success -- such as Apple.

The e-reader market is still in its infancy, holding a tiny...

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Oct 12
Will CinemaNow come to the Mac?

Last week it was announced that CinemaNow, Best Buy’s digital entertainment service, and Intel are giving people the ability to enjoy a larger library of premium high- definition content on their PCs.

For the first time, CinemaNow will offer 1080p HD movies for rental and purchase on second generation Intel Core processor-based PCs with Intel Insider technology. So will CinemaNow and Intel offer this for the Mac? Will Apple let them?

Previously, only standard-definition movies had been available from CinemaNow on the PC. CinemaNow has now added several hundred new releases and popular catalog titles in HD from 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution for people who have Intel Insider on their computer. This is in addition to the 15,000 movies and TV episodes CinemaNow already boasts in its regular catalog. HD content offerings from CinemaNow and Intel Insider are expected to grow as more new releases and catalog titles are added weekly.

Intel...

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Oct 11
Apple patent involves syncing playback by multiple...

An Apple patent (number 8037220) for techniques for providing audio for synchronized playback by multiple devices has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. The invention relates to synchronizing audio with multiple devices and, more specifically, to handling the communication of audio information between applications and multiple devices.

The patent involves an audio system communicates with an aggregate device that includes multiple audio devices. When providing audio data for playback, the system compensates for presentation latency differences between the various audio devices. In addition, the system adjusts for device clock drift by selecting a master device and resampling the audio data provided to the other devices based on the difference between the device clock of the master device and the device clocks of the other devices. The inventors are Jeffrey C. Moore, William G. Stewart, and Gerhard H. Lengeling.

Here's Apple's background and summary of...

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Oct 11
Greg's Bite: digital privacy issues

By Greg Mills

As the mobile computing revolution takes hold, the privacy ramifications of new mobile digital devices are dividing the courts. The legal system is trying to keep up with the existence of modern digital files using laws and court precedents based upon records written on dead trees and conventional descriptions of private space.

When the US Constitution was written the founding fathers made private our persons, houses, papers and effects. Bill of Rights Article 4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Rather than assuming the intent of the founding fathers was that the broad privacy rights we hold most basic should logically...

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Oct 11
As for the Mac, let's get Siri-ous

Perhaps the most gotta-have-it feature of the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 is Siri. Let's hope it comes to the Mac.

Siri on iPhone 4S lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. Apple says that you can ask Siri to do things just by talking the way you talk. I haven't tried it, but Apple says Siri understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back.

What differentiates Siri from competing technologies is its ability to not only recognize words spoken in a normal tone of voice, but its capacity to pick up on the contextual meaning of a phrase. It looked great during the demo at Tuesdasy's "Let's Talk iPhone" event, but then demos at such events usually do. (You can see a video at http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html .)

So what about Siri for Mac OS X? It could have a variety of uses,...

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Oct 11
Apple patents involve text-to-speech, calendaring...

Apple has been granted three patents by the US Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.

Patent number 8036894 is for a multi-unit approach to text-to-speech synthesis. Per the patent methods, apparatus, systems, and computer program products are provided for synthesizing speech. One method includes matching a first level of units of a received input string to audio segments from a plurality of audio segments including using properties of or between first level units to locate matching audio segments from a plurality of selections, parsing unmatched first level units into second level units, matching the second level units to audio segments using properties of or between the units to locate matching audio segments from a plurality of selections and synthesizing the input string, including combining the audio segments associated with the first and second units. The inventors are Matthias Neeracher, Devang K. Naik, Kevin B. Aitken and...

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Oct 10
Greg's Bite: RIM Crashes and Hits the Wall

Posted by Greg Mills

RIM's server network has crashed and is currently out of service in much of the world. It is unknown how long RIM phones and devices will be out of service. RIM runs its phones through a unique system that encrypts data for security reasons and thus there might be some complications with that. Only RIM devices are affected.

As the news of the RIM service disruption are in the tech news, another interesting statistic has just come out. News reports are that Apple sold 200,000 iPhone 4s units in the first 12 hours they were available online, as pre-orders. Actually, that has been revised today to at least 1,000,000 iPhone 4s sold in the first 24 hours.

To put that in perspective, RIM sold into the retail channel 200,000 PlayBooks in the first quarter they were on the market. That is not sold retail to consumers, as is the one million Apple iPhones, it is 200,000 PlayBooks sold wholesale to stores. While RIM tablet...

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Oct 10
Video uploads from mobile devices on the rise

Photobucket Corp. (http://www.photobucket.com), a dedicated photo and video sharing service, says that video uploads from mobile devices are on the rise, based on results from the company's 2011 Summer Photo Usage survey.

Responses from more than 2,500 survey participants, as well as data garnered from Photobucket’s 100 million users and their nine billion image uploads, helped to illustrate the current attitudes and habits of those capturing photos and videos this summer. Among the findings are that video uploads are increasing rapidly on web and mobile platforms, and the lack of centralization in online photo storage continues.

According to the survey, consumers are using traditional video cameras with much less frequency, but they are using mobile devices to capture video much more often. In fact, of those surveyed:

° 45% use a mobile device for capturing video at least once a week...

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Oct 09
Greg's Bite: Sprint and ClearWire -- Apple...

By Greg Mills

Apple finally condescended to grant Sprint the iPhone in a deal that rocked Wall Street. Sprint is betting the farm that selling the iPhone will pull the third string US carrier out of the dumps and back into the big time. Apple and Sprint both seem to be quite confidant that simply having iPhones available for its customer base will turn the company around.

That might be true if the company lasts that long. Sprint is stone broke and mismanaged, running in all directions at once. They need a firm hand at the helm and don't have one. Making an agreement with Apple to buy 30,500,000 iPhones over the next four years at a cost of US$20 billion is rather rich considering the current market cap for Sprint is only $7 billion. Not only is the Apple deal too rich for Sprint, they recently announced that they intend to build out a new LTE G4 network that will cost them money they just don't have. Confidence in Sprint's management is the problem...

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Oct 07
Greg's Bite: The Cellular Game, Spectrum and Money

By Greg Mills

Apple has clearly revolutionized the cellular phone industry since the iPhone 1 was launched. In the past, the cellular carriers had all the power and the hardware manufacturers like Motorola, Nokia and RIM simply sold handsets to them and got the best deal they could. Cell phones were manufactured to please the networks first and then the customer who would use them. Exclusives on certain handset models were common.

Three companies pretty much owned the cellular handset business not that long ago. Now, all three of those giant handset makers are in a desperate race to catch up or die in the race to provide smartphones that can compete with the iPhone. The dumb phone market is collapsing rapidly as contracts expire on old cell phones or their batteries die. People want to move up to a smartphone.

The recently reveled make-or-break deal Apple made with Sprint shows how much things have changed. Apple simply doling out iPhones or...

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Oct 07
How about a 'Think Different' poster to...

Remember the "Think Different" ad campaign Apple launched in 1997? It was one of the most brilliant ad campaigns ever conceived -- and I'd love to see a one-off revival to honor Steve Jobs.

The "Think Different" slogan was created by the Los Angeles office of advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day. It was used in a TV commercial, several print advertisements and a number of TV promos for Apple products. Shortened versions of the text were used in two television commercials, known as "Crazy Ones," which had a voiceover by actor Richard Dreyfuss. (There was also an unaired version featured the voice of Jobs himself.)

A one-minute commercial featured black-and-white footage of 17 iconic 20th century personalities: Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon (with Yoko Ono), Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the...

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Oct 07
Apple patent involves data array content, addresses

An Apple patent (number 20110246787) has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office that involves obfuscating transformations on data array content and addresses.

Per the patent, in a first computer (digital) data obfuscation process, data which is conventionally arranged in a data structure called an array (e.g., a table) and conventionally stored in computer or computer device memory is obfuscated (masked) by logically or mathematically combining the data, entry-by-entry, with a masking value which is computed as a logical or mathematical function of the entry itself or its index in the array, modulo a security value.

The complementary unmasking value is a pointer to the entry's address in the table modulo the security value. In a second computer (digital) data obfuscation process, the addresses (location designations) in memory of a data array are themselves obfuscated (masked) by partitioning the array into blocks of entries and shuffling the order of the...

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Oct 06
Jobs was co-inventor of the 'three state icon...

As noted by "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) one of the last patents to bear Steve Jobs' name (along with Timothy Wasko) as inventor was patent number 201000281415 for a "three state icon" for a computer.

A three state icon for a computer is disclosed. The icon prevents inadvertent starting of an operation on a computer. Per the patent, the icon has a first state that conceals a second state. Upon selection of the first state with a computer pointing device (i.e., mouse), the icon will change to the second state.

Upon selecting the icon in the second state, the operation on the computer will start. Accordingly, only upon selecting the icon in the first state and then the second state, the operation will commence on the computer thereby preventing accidental startup of the operation. Once the second state has been selected, the icon will change to a third state which indicates...

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Oct 06
Apple eyeing ways to beef up remote capabilities of...

An Apple patent (number 20110246891) has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office for pushing a graphical user interface to a remote device with display rules provided by the remote device. In other words, Apple is working on ways to beef up the remote control abilities of iOS devices -- and incorporate new abilities along these lines.

The invention relates generally to accessories for portable media devices and in particular to allowing a portable media device to provide a user interface for controlling the media device to an accessory. Per the patent, a graphical user interface ("GUI") can be presented on a remote control accessory device that has user input and display devices. The portable media device can provide the accessory with a GUI image to be displayed. The accessory can specify the configuration of the remote GUI image and send that information to the portable media device.

The portable media device can generate a GUI image based on the...

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Oct 06
Greg's Bite: Regarding Steve Jobs

By Greg Mills

Steve Jobs drew strong opinions about himself and his ideas. He knew what he knew and come hell or high water, he stuck to his opinions. The taste and marketing wisdom he espoused led entire industries that correctly followed his lead or suffered for it. Confidence based on true genius has great value, and Apple is the result of a series of Steve's visions that resulted in "insanely great products" and the world's most valuable company.

Steve Jobs learned the concept of focusing on a few important things and letting the mundane issues take care of themselves with crisp detailed orders to subordinates. Reportedly, you made Mr. Jobs repeat himself to your own injury. He didn't suffer fools very well.

The flap over the recent "disappointment" over the iPhone 4S was, in my opinion, subconsciously in the public mind due to not having been pitched by Steve Jobs. Steve could have said, "If you think iPhone 4S is no big deal, consider...

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Oct 06
About those Mac OS X 10.8 features I wanted...

On Sept. 27 I listed (http://macte.ch/IRxgk) some of the features I wanted to see in Mac OS X 10.8. Robert Meyers had some interesting feedback on my ideas that I'd like to share with you.

I wanted an expanded Disk Utility that can optimize and defrag Mac volumes. However, Rob says Apple doesn't see the need for optimizers/defrag utilities (see http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1375). So don’t expect to see this feature built into Disk Utility any time soon.

I asked for the ability to start up from a Time Machine back-up and carry on working, like we can when using SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner. In other words: system cloning. Rob disagrees.

"Yes, Apple should provide an easy way to clone a system be it from another hard disk drive, a Time Machine backup, or even a different computer," he says. "However,...

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Oct 05
Greg's BIte: Apple expectations, Sprint

Posted by Greg Mills

The Apple rumor mill, which we at MacTech contribute to, tends to build expectations for Apple product launches that sometimes go over the top. Had Apple called the iPhone 4S the iPhone 5, there would have been a very bad buzz in the press that the update was insufficient to get the name iPhone 5. The rumors that seek to fill the information void that Apple intentionally creates, generate expectations that each product launch is the end all, do all electronic bunker-buster of all time.

Sometimes, technology in chip development, for example, holds up an Apple product. Some analysts are speculating that the LTE G4 chips available today are just too big to fit the iPhone's slender form factor. Cost is also a consideration when you are planning on building 75 million of anything. Apple has gross margins to kill for, just ask any competitor forced to sell things at a loss to be competitive with them.

The roll out of the...

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Oct 05
Some thoughts on the 'Let's Talk iPhone...

Apple held its "Let's Talk iPhone" event yesterday, so here are some random thoughts on what transpired -- and what didn't.

New CEO Tim Cook and the gang (Scott Forstall, Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller) did a fine job at the presentation. They showed that you don't have to have Steve Jobs (still the ultimate showman) to put on a gee-whiz event, especially when you divvy up the duties among such a talented bunch of Apple execs.

My crystal ball was a bit cloudy. I predicted an iPhone 5 with built-in voice technology, and perhaps a 4-inch screen and beefed up camera. The revamped iPhone was dubbed the 4S and does have built-in voice technology and an enhanced camera, but retains the 3.5-inch screen.

I predicted there would be no low-end, contract-free iPhone. There's still no contract-free Apple smartphone. However, the iPhone 4 will also be available for US$99 and the iPhone 3GS will be available for free with a two-year contract.

I predicted that Sprint and...

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Oct 04
Apple patents involve server provider activation, DMA...

Apple has been granted three patents by the US Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.

Patent number 8032181 is for a server provider activation with subscriber identity module policy. Systems and methods for activating a mobile device for use with a service provider are described. In one exemplary method, a mobile device having a currently inserted SIM card may be prepared for activation using a signing process in which an activation server generates a signed activation ticket encoded with SIM policy data that corresponds to the combination of the device and one of a number of SIM cards belonging to a set of SIM cards defined by the SIM policy data.

The activation ticket is securely stored on the mobile device. In another exemplary method the mobile device may be activated in an activation process in which the device verifies an activation ticket against information specific to the device and SIM card in accordance with the...

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Oct 04
What I'm expecting at Apple's 'Let...

Apple will hold a special "Let's Talk iPhone" event today at 10 am Pacific. Topics rumored to be discussed and/or unveiled include iOS 5, iCloud, an iPhone 5, an iPhone 4S, iPod updates and Apple TV updates.

Here's what I'm predicting:

° An iPhone 5 with 1GB of RAM, built-in voice technology, and perhaps a 4-inch screen and beefed up camera.

° No low-end, contract-free iPhone 4S.

° The announcement of Sprint and T-Mobile as iPhone carriers.

° A specific release date for iOS 5 and iCloud (though they won't roll out today).

° New iPod touches and iPod nanos. No Apple TV updates.

We'll be covering today's special event so check back in and see how well my crystal ball works.

-- Dennis Sellers

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Oct 03
Greg's Bite: Zune is dead, Sprint gambles the farm

By Greg Mills

The high tech miracle, a true cosmic wonder (pictured in the brown jacket), has officially been rendered obsolete. Actually, the high tech wonder on the right is the now obsolete item, Microsoft's Zune Music Player. Bill Gates, also wearing a brown jacket, shown on the left, is still alive and doing his best to spend his money well, as Ballmer is doing his best to run Microsoft further into the ground. I wonder if Gates will relent now and allow his kids to own an Apple iPod now that the Zune is dead?

The history of Microsoft's Zune is similar to a street with so many pot holes the notion of it ever having been blacktop is long forgotten. The Zune was to be the Microsoft carbon copy of Apple's iPod and allow Microsoft to make a lot of money selling Zunes and music on-line. The Zune never really took hold in the market place. Microsoft could clone the electronics, but not the Steve Jobs sizzle, the chemistry that made everyone want an...

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Oct 03
The Northern Spy: looking at HP, RIM, Nokia and more

By Rick Sutcliffe

Hewlett Packard appears to have taken comments made here last month seriously enough to take defensive measures. But let's be realistic.
First, changing CEOs at this juncture (nearly 50% share value lost) is like tossing a single sandbag into the raging torrent pouring through a broken dyke.

Second, hiring Goldman Sachs Group to plan a takeover prevention strategy is a whistling in the wind. As the Spy said, they have transformed themselves from predator to prey. What remains to be seen once the various interested parties have done their due diligence is whether the takeover attention will come from a turnaround specialist, a breakup artist, or someone in the industry for whom the technology, talents, and patents have residual value.

Third, when you are but reactively defending against the consequences of your own errors and failures, you tend to create more new problems than you fix old ones.

Fourth, can HP (or...

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Oct 03
Tech can't fill all the needs of life

A recent Cisco Systems survey found that video systems and interaction are taking an increasingly larger portion of a person’s day and overall life.

Workplace chaplains employed by Marketplace Chaplains USA are finding that while everything is changing, becoming more efficient and moving faster, some things don't change. Personal chaplain interaction with employees is the best solution for helping each one with the many personal problems hindering workplace progress and efficiency.

In the Cisco survey, Senior Vice President Marthin De Beer, said most people and employees use video technology to access essential and professional services.

"Video is happening and it’s happening today," he said in his report. By comparison, more than 2,500 Marketplace Chaplains in 43 states serving more than 2,400 client locations report most employees still seek out chaplains for face-to-face discussions about the hurts, joys and hopes of life.

"The fact a chaplain has...

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Oct 02
Greg's Bite: iPhone leaks galore

By Greg Mills

As I write this Sunday morning early, all the Apple news sites and a lot of regular news sites are running leaked information about the iPhone launch, scheduled for Tuesday. The normally tight new product security has been breeched by even Apple in a couple of ways. What seems clear is that Apple is moving to capture greater market share with more cellular carriers to be offering iPhones and with both a lower end and higher end offering. The iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 appear to be the two new iPhone models to be announced Tuesday.

There are two main markets the cellular carriers all support. They call the two plans "post-paid" and "pre-paid." Generally, the post-paid segment is the cream of the crop and the real money for the networks. This is the plan with a contract, generally for two years, where you get a red hot deal on a phone, or a free cell phone in exchange for signing up. With iPhones, you just pay a portion of the cost of the...

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Sep 30
The iPod classic, shuffle probably coming to an end

A new rumor underscores what I've suspected for some time: the iPod classic and iPod shuffle are coming to an end.

The former -- though the very best value in iPods (160GB for US$250) -- uses a hard disk drive -- and Apple's current, true love in storage is sold state drives. As for the shuffle, it's basically an iPod nano without a screen.

I'll miss the iPod classic. It bears the most resemblance to the original iPod. It goes back about 10 years and has seen six generations. So take a bow, iPod classic, you've served us well.

As for the iPod shuffle, I've never owned one and never seen the point. I like my digital music players to have screens, so I can have more options. The shuffle debuted in 2005 and has gone through four generations.

If you're a shuffle fan, feel free to scoop some up before (assuming I'm right) they disappear. As for me, well, sorry, iPod shuffle, but I hardly knew you.

-- Dennis Sellers

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Sep 30
Greg's Bite: RIM pulls the plug on PlayBook?

By Greg Mills

Rumors that RIM is pulling the plug on PlayBook and letting hundreds more employees go have been denied by RIM. Collins Stewart analyst John Vinh thinks the PlayBook is about over. He wrote that RIM has “stopped production” of the tablet and is “actively considering” getting out of the tablet market. This rumor was supported by those in the know in Asia, so there must be something to the rumors ...

However, rumors aside, prices for RIM's PlayBook at Best Buy have been cut again, down from US$499 to $399 to $299. The latest cut was to respond to the Amazon Kindle Fire that will sell for $200. It is thought Amazon will lose about $50 each on every Kindle Fire they sell.

You don't cut prices on products that are selling well. You cut the prices to unload soon to be discontinued products. (See...

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Sep 29
Apple to beef up head-to-head comparisons in online...

Patent number 20110238699 at the US Patent & Trademark Office shows that Apple is working on head-to-head comparison features for its online stores.

The invention provides a comparison of a set of similar items includes: receiving from a first member of an online community a selection of a stored prior comparison created by another online community member of a set of similar items; providing to the first member a template for the comparison, the template being at least partially pre-populated using data from the stored prior comparison created by the other online community member; and receiving from the first member a submission of the comparison, wherein the comparison includes one or more modifications as made by the first member to the template. The inventors of the patent are Kenneth N. Chang, David A. Koski, Pedraum R. Pardehpoosh and Ralph E. Zazula.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "In the context of online stores, a user or...

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Sep 29
Apple eyeing gyro-facilitated video stabilization

Apple is working on a control system for video processors that selectively control the operation of motion stablization processes, per a new patent (number 20110234825) at the US Patent & Trademark Office.

According to the invention, motion sensor data indicative of motion of a mobile device may be received and processed. A determination may be made by comparing processed motion sensor data to a threshold. Based on the determination, motion stabilization may be suspended on select portions of a captured video sequence. The inventors are Yuxin Liu, Xiaojin Shi, James Oliver Normile and Hsi-Jung Wu.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Video stabilization is a class of video processing that removes unwanted shakiness from videos captured from portable camera devices such as smart phones, personal entertainment systems laptop computers and/or camcorder. The goal of video stabilization is to revise an original video sequence to mimic a sequence...

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Sep 29
Apple looking into wireless interference mitigation

Apple is working on ways to lessen wireless interference on devices such as the iPhone, per a new patent (number 20110237246) for "Wireless Interference Mitigation" has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office.

The patent involves mitigating interference in a mobile wireless communication device by using an estimation of the performance impact of interfering signals generated by a wireless cellular transmitter and received by a co-located wireless local area network receiver. Wireless local area network frequency band usage is modified based on the performance impact estimation and the state of the wireless cellular and wireless local area network connections.

The estimation accounts for properties of the wireless cellular transmitter and wireless local area network receiver as well as operational characteristics of the wireless cellular and wireless local area network connections. Indranil Sen is the inventor.

Here's Apple's background and summary...

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Sep 29
Apple is working on a hybrid drive

A new Apple patent (number 20110238887) has popped up at the US Patent & Trademark Office, showing that Apple is working on a hybrid drive that combines hard disk drive (HDD) and flash memory elements.

Per the patent, a hybrid storage device that includes a hard-disk drive and a flash memory is described. When control logic in the hybrid storage device receives a request from an external device to write a block of data to a logical address in a first portion of an address space that maps to the HDD, the control logic writes the block of data to the HDD.

However, if there is a change in environmental state information of the hybrid storage device during the write operation, the control logic writes at least a portion of the block of data to a logical address for the block of data in a second portion of the address space which maps to the flash memory. Note that the address space may be common to the external device and the hybrid storage device. Khalu Bazzani is...

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Sep 29
Greg's Bite: Kindle Fire not an iPad Killer

By Greg Mills

The web is loaded today with Kindle Fire news stories, some suggesting the dread iPad killer has landed ... Not really, not for a lot of reasons. A souped-up book reader that can also run a version of the Android OS, but has a small screen and lackluster features isn't comparable to the iPad.

As Steve Jobs noted, the smaller size screen reduces actual square inches of usable surface on an inverse squared. Smaller screen sizes were tested at Apple and rejected. Keep in mind, there are rumors that the new iPhone will sport a larger screen and sort of fill-that-gap in the product line defined by the Kindle Fire. I submit that the next direction screen sizes will go is up, not down.

Apple will also introduce retina iPad screens sooner than later. The higher resolution doesn't mean much until you compare regular TV to HDTV. Wow, what a difference it makes.

Remember a year ago when the electronics shows were full of iPad...

| Read more »
Sep 29
iPad killing computer sales? Not Mac sales anyway

The common theory is that the iPad is killing personal computer sales. Actually, that doesn't seem to be the case. It's killing PC sales on some levels, but not Macs.

In fact, two CitiGroup surveys conducted November, before the iPad 2 was released, at least hints at the possibility that tablet popularity increases receptivity to other gadgets. In a November 2010 survey (before the iPad 2 was released) 3% of survey respondents said they owned a tablet.

In a new survey by Citigroup, that number jumped to 18%. Interestingly, computer ownership also jumped, from 62% to 81%. And smartphone ownership increased from 28% to 59%.

Instead of cannibalizing computer sales, the iPad may actually be making more folks more comfortable with technology. That means more Mac and iPhone sales.

Peecees? Well, not so much.

-- Dennis Sellers

| Read more »
 

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miHoYo, aka HoYoverse, has become such a big name in mobile gaming that it's hard to believe that arguably their flagship title, Genshin Impact, is only three and a half years old. Now, they continue the road to the next title in their world, with... | Read more »
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TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Vroomies’
So here’s a thing: Vroomies from developer Alex Taber aka Unordered Games is the Game of the Week! Except… Vroomies came out an entire month ago. It wasn’t on my radar until this week, which is why I included it in our weekly new games round-up, but... | Read more »
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Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for March 15th, 2024. We’re closing out the week with a bunch of new games, with Sony’s baseball franchise MLB The Show up to bat yet again. There are several other interesting games to... | Read more »
Steam Deck Weekly: WWE 2K24 and Summerho...
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Steam Deck Weekly. The busy season has begun with games we’ve been looking forward to playing including Dragon’s Dogma 2, Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition, and also console exclusives like Rise of the... | Read more »
Steam Spring Sale 2024 – The 10 Best Ste...
The Steam Spring Sale 2024 began last night, and while it isn’t as big of a deal as say the Steam Winter Sale, you may as well take advantage of it to save money on some games you were planning to buy. I obviously recommend checking out your own... | Read more »
New ‘SaGa Emerald Beyond’ Gameplay Showc...
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Choose Your Side in the Latest ‘Marvel S...
Last month, Marvel Snap (Free) held its very first “imbalance" event in honor of Valentine’s Day. For a limited time, certain well-known couples were given special boosts when conditions were right. It must have gone over well, because we’ve got a... | Read more »
Warframe welcomes the arrival of a new s...
As a Warframe player one of the best things about it launching on iOS, despite it being arguably the best way to play the game if you have a controller, is that I can now be paid to talk about it. To whit, we are gearing up to receive the first... | Read more »
Apple Arcade Weekly Round-Up: Updates an...
Following the new releases earlier in the month and April 2024’s games being revealed by Apple, this week has seen some notable game updates and events go live for Apple Arcade. What The Golf? has an April Fool’s Day celebration event going live “... | Read more »

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Apple Education is offering $100 discounts on...
If you’re a student, teacher, or staff member at any educational institution, you can use your .edu email address when ordering at Apple Education to take $100 off the price of a new M3 MacBook Air.... Read more
Apple Watch Ultra 2 with Blood Oxygen feature...
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Get Apple’s 2nd generation Apple Pencil for $...
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10th generation Apple iPads on sale for $100...
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iPad Airs on sale again starting at $449 on B...
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Best Buy is blowing out clearance 13-inch M1...
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Low price alert! You can now get a 13-inch M1...
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New 15-inch M3 MacBook Air (Midnight) on sale...
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