Now that Intel has released their new Ivy Bridge chipset, Apple is set to refresh their laptop and desktop computers and the chatter is that this will happen in June – at WWDC 2012. That should bring a smile to people that have been waiting to upgrade, especially those waiting for new iMacs as it’s been about 370+ days since the last major refresh.
Yahoo C.E.O. Scott Thomson is in some hot agua over falsely claiming that he has a Computer Science Degree and it looks like his argument, claiming it was just an “inadvertent error” doesn’t look like it’s working.
Queensland billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has unveiled his plans to build the Titanic II to add to his tourism portfolio. Mr Palmer said his new company Blue Star Line Pty Ltd had commissioned the state-owned Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to build a near replica of the ill-fated Titanic. The cost is unknown…
In the bevy of Google news from yesterday, the Mountain View search giant also increased the amount of mail storage Gmail users get. So, everyone got bumped from the previous 7.5 GB to a whopping 10GB. Don’t worry – it was a free upgrade and from what we’re hearing, Google plans to slowly increasing the amount for years to come – so start attaching bigger and bigger files to your emails.
Source: Google
Right on the heels of a massive blow-out Q2 earnings call, Apple today announced the dates for WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The annual conference will start June 11th and run through the 15th – get your tickets today because last year it sold out the first day tickets were available. Additianlly, Apple has added a new “Student Scholarship” program for young app developers:
After hearing rumors for months about a possible “Google Cloud Drive” service, the search giant finally made good and released “Google Drive.” Like the multitude of cloud storage services out there, Google Drive gives all registered users 5GB free – from there, you can upload all types of files to your cloud account, share, send and edit (Google Docs Integration) your files from any computer and most mobile devices.
Apple announced its Q2 2012 earnings after the market closed on tuesday and while investors have been nervously chatting about Cupertino’s falling stock price, Apple had another record breaking quarter. Oh, by record breaking, I mean they essentially have $110 billion in short term assets and cash – $12.4 billion more than they had the previous quarter. Let’s get to the specifics:
Microsoft built an empire off of Windows and with every version released, came the mind boggling question: “Do I want Windows Xp Starter Edition, Xp Tablet PC Edition, Xp Media Center Edition, Xp Home Edition or Xp Professional Edition?” For Windows Vista, the choice was between 6 possible versions for X86 machines and the same was true for Windows 7 – not to mention different price points and requirements.
“…but now, it’ll be like they’re peeing right in your eye.”
Source: Comedy Central – Source: TechedOn User Muma
“In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented – but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a “looper” – a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good… until the day the mob decides to “close the loop,” sending back Joe’s future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination…” Trailer after the break.
As Apple becomes more and more transparent with its 3rd party suppliers and manufacturing process (one of a handful) we are beginning to understand how Apple makes its legendary products. Marketplace’s Rob Schmitz recently visited a Foxconn factory that was making iPads for Apple and posted the below video showing the assembly process for Cupertino’s tablet but Schmitz’s article was mostly about the people behind the manufacturing.
…He (Rob Schmitz) didn’t meet anybody who was poisoned on the job. He didn’t meet any 13-year-old workers. Nobody he talked to had been hurt in an explosion. He says the stories he heard were more about China than Apple….
You know how Japan is often times ahead of the rest of the world with all things tech and social, well….they just did it again. Kirin, Japan’s brewing giant has just invented a soft-serve frozen beer foam, that can be placed on top of a pint of beer – keeping it cold for up to 30 minutes. Yes, you heard that right – frozen beer foam to keep beer cold! (See video after the break)
Today, the DOJ (Department of Justice) filed a lawsuit in the New York district court against Apple, Hachette SA, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Penguin for e-book price fixing - so reports Bloomberg. The DOJ has issues with the way Apple and publishers have adopted the “Agency Model” which allows the publishers to set book pricing, in turn Apple gets 30%. This is different than the way Amazon sells books, which is the “Wholesale Model” - in which publishers sell books to Amazon wholesale and then Amazon sets book pricing – often times selling books at a loss.
Now that the “New” iPad is out and about, the rumor mill has moved their attention to the “New” iPhone or iPhone 5 or 6th generation iPhone (Above image is a concept design) and what’s the best way to get info on Cupertino’s next handset – ask anyone slightly associated with Foxcomm. This week’s star reporter is South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper and the info came straight from the mouth of a Foxcomm HR official…..so it must be true. Here’s the quote of the week:
In a massive policy change, it looks like AT&T will start unlocking off contract iPhones, so that they can be used on other carriers (frequency permitting). In a press release, AT&T said that:
…Beginning Sunday, April 8, we will offer qualifying customers the ability to unlock their AT&T iPhones. The only requirements are that a customer’s account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade policies or paid an early termination fee…
Apparently, mounting pressure from customers about AT&T’s ridiculous and long standing position on not-unlocking iPhones and possibly Tim Cook, has lead Ma’Bell to change her mind. Keep in mind, that you’ll have to be in good standing with AT&T and off contract, so just ended your relationship with AT&T. Hope this is true.
Source: Engadget
In the future, everyone wears shades….at least Google thinks so. Today, the web is abuzz with Google’s next pet project: Project Glass. So what is Project Glass? In the simplest form, Project Glass is your smartphone in a pair of glasses. Think of all the tasks your phones does: Makes/Receives calls, Surfs the internet, Checks E-mail, Takes pictures, Plays music, Social media and much much more – well, imagine that in a pair of glasses. Kind of like this:
The above gallery shows the actual “glasses” device, which interacts with your voice and or eye movement. While the exterior ”handset” or “EyeSet” looks like a slightly modified pair of hipster-architect glasses – the actual software interface is a simplified/clean phone UI. Take a look at the video, you’ll understand:
nTelos, a US regional carrier operating in: “Virginia, West Virginia, and portions of Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, and North Carolina. nTelos Wireless began acquiring PCS spectrum in western Virginia and West Virginia in 1995 and began operations in Virginia in 1997 and in West Virginia in 1998…” operating on PCS CDMA network, has just got the iPhone (iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S).
The Daily is reporting that, not only is Ashton Kutcher cast for the role of the late Apple co-founder and pioneer (Steve jobs) but he thinks the role was meant for him. The film is supposedly titled “Jobs” and is being pushed for a late 2012 release – you know, so it can make the windows for Oscar contention…
…Producer Mark Hulme, whose newly formed Five Star Feature Films is the sole investor behind “Jobs,” told Flash.
“He believes the role was meant for him.”
I fear for what else Ashton Kutcher thinks he is meant for. Anyway, at least someone is speaking up – Twitter. There have been a number of tweets about the supposed casting, ones like this gem:
Source: The Daily
Oh, this is good. Sony, I take back everything I’ve said about you! Looks like April Fools has brought out the best in Sony and the new VAIO Q Series ultrabook from the tech giant is proof. You can watch the video below – it explains everything and if you want to buy this next-gen ultrabook, simply visit sony’s site here.
While the NokiSoft (Nokia+Microsoft) partnership has enabled Microsoft to build better hardware and Nokia has gained an OS that can at least play with the big boys – it looks like Nokia hasn’t learned from past Microsoft marketing failures. The current marketing campaign against front runner Apple is Smart Phone Beta Test – a series of behind the scene clips that are ment to show the weaknesses of the iPhone.
Fragile: “If you drop the phone, it might break.” I’m certain that this effects all phones, regardless of brand but I guess if you own the new Nokia Lumia 900, you can drop it as many times as you want.
Jeff Sneider (Variety Magazine) reported on Sunday that Ashton Kutcher (Punk’d) has been cast to play Steve Jobs in an upcoming rendition of the Apple co-founder’s life. Keep in mind that Sunday was April Fools day, so anything is possible regarding the story but even the Hollywood Reporter got in on the story – maybe they’re also in on the joke.
Regardless, here is how I personally feel about Kutcher playing Jobs – no disrespect to the “Dude, Where’s My Car!” and “Killers” star but:
If you’re a producer and you cast Ashton Kutcher to play Steve Jobs – You blew it!
Source: AppleInsider – Source: Twitter
While Apple’s stock and cash flow continue to dominate, a new study by CNBC points out that Apple is starting to dominate in US households as well. The new survey, which was conducted by asking 836 people (over landline & cell) found that about 50% of Americans owned an Apple product. If we take a closer look at the survey info, we find that for individuals between 18-49, the percentage grows to 63% and for older Americans (50-64) the rate of adoption is about 50%.
That’s more than 55 million homes with at least one iPhone, iPad, iPod or Mac computer. And one-in-10 homes that aren’t currently in that group plan to join it in the next year…
The survey goes on to talk about political, gender and more detailed demographics but the bottom line remains: Apple and its current line of products have successfully targeted a wide range of the US population, with that number only showing signs of growing. Find the whole survey and CNBC article here.
For all of you waiting patently for new iMacs or MacPros or Macbook Pros or even the MacBook Airs – looks like your wait is coming to an end. CPU World has posted specs and release dates for Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge chipset - from the look of things, last week of April is the due date. Specifically, the iMac and MacPro lines for Apple are in dire need of a refresh, as it’s been 330 days and 640 days respectively, since they last got new hardware. (MacRumors Buying Guide)
Tracking your kids school attendance has never been easier, especially if you live in Brazil. An initial pilot program in Vitoria da Conquista has been tracking 20,000 students in 25 different schools – all by a single wearable microchip sewn into each student’s clothing. A corresponding system at each school can detect if a student has been attending or not and is even capable of sending an SMS to partent – notifying them of their kid’s attendance. Apparently the program is so affective, the city of Vitoria da Conquista wants to expand it to cover all 43,000 students – playing hooky just got a lot less fun in Brazil.
Source: TheVerge