Mac OS X Unwired: A Guide for Home, Office, and the Road
by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith
Today's wireless news from around the Web:
Google Apps Marketplace
(source: Daily Wireless)
Today Google announced a business-oriented, cloud-based app store called Google Apps Marketplace. Google says their new online store makes it easier for users and software providers to do business in the cloud by providing integrated business applications.
The Google Apps Marketplace allows Google Apps customers to easily discover, deploy and manage cloud applications that integrate [...]
Evernote: Cloud App for Mobile
(source: Daily Wireless)
Evernote uses the “cloud” to store data and perform tasks. Your mobile device can gather (or view) the files you create. Evernote on the iPhone and Evernote for Android let you create text notes, snap photos and record audio memos and store them on “the cloud”. The idea behind Evernote is to be a sort [...]
Tablet News
(source: Daily Wireless)
Hal Varian, Google’s Chief Economist, spoke about the economics of news — offline and online to an FTC workshop on the changing economics of the newspaper industry.
Even though online advertising has grown rapidly in the last five years, it appears that somewhat less than 5% of newspapers’ ad revenue comes from their internet editions, [...]
Sagem Wireless and Myriad To Bring SIM-Based Auto-Customisation To Mobile Devices
(source: Wireless DevNet)
This consortium led by Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, and funded by the OSEO, a French public agency which supports innovation and development, was initiated in 2007
Target Launches First-Ever Scannable Mobile Coupon Program
(source: Wireless DevNet)
Target is the first national retailer to offer a scannable mobile coupon program that allows guests to receive exclusive offers directly on their mobile phones. Coupons are redeemed by scanning a barcode on the phone at checkout
HyperOffice Syncs Users of 1700 Smartphones to Cloud Collaboration Suite
(source: Wireless DevNet)
Beta testing begins today for HyperSynch, software that automatically taps into corporate networks, updating and synchronizing desktop email, contacts, calendars, documents, projects, tasks and notes
Stitcher Now Available for BlackBerry Storm2
(source: Wireless DevNet)
Stitcher is now available for the Blackberry Storm 2. Additionally, this update will support all BlackBerry touch-screen devices running BlackBerry OS v.5.0. The update is available as a free download from BlackBerry App World
hyperWALLET Launches Global Mobile Airtime Top-Ups for Canada
(source: Wireless DevNet)
The new hyperWALLET service enables consumers to electronically send airtime credits to mobile phones, across more than 70 wireless carriers in 25 countries worldwide
Apple iPhone owners most likely make repeat purchase from Apple
(source: MobileBurn)
According to a new study by Strategy Analytics, Apple iPhone owners are so satisfied with their phones, that they're most likely to buy their next device from Apple as well. The report titled "iPhone Owners Most Satisfied and Likely to Repeat Purchase," also found that QWERTY keyboard owners, whether virtual or hardware, were more satisfied with their phones than 12-key phone owners.
Read the full story here.
ARM expects more than 50 Apple iPad-like tablet devices to launch in 2010
(source: MobileBurn)
At a press conference in Taipei, microprocessor manufacturer ARM said that it expects there will be over 50 devices available by the end of 2010 with a similar form factor as Apple's iPad.
Read the full story here.
China Mobile invests $5.8 billion in Chinese bank to develop mobile banking
(source: MobileBurn)
China Mobile today said that it plans to invest 39.8 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank as a means to help spur mobile phone banking and services such as mobile bank cards, payments, and money transfers.
Read the full story here.
Apple's Steve Jobs threatened former Sun CEO with lawsuits, too
(source: MobileBurn)
Last week Apple filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) claiming that HTC is infringing on 20 of its patents, a move many think is an attack on Google. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystem's former CEO said Jobs ones threatened to sue him, too, and argues it could be a positive experience for a competitor. "Having watched this movie play out many times, suing a competitor typically makes them more relevant, not less. Developers I know aren't getting less interested in Google's Android platform, they're getting more interested--Apple's actions are enhancing that interest," he said.
Read the full story here.
Steve Jobs' Threatening Phone Call to Sun CEO Revealed [Blockquote]
(source: Gizmodo)
According to Jonathan Schwartz—then Sun's CEO—that's what Steve Jobs told him over the phone after Sun presented Looking Glass, a desktop concept similar to Mac OS X's. After that, Schwartz put Steve in his place:
"Steve, I was just watching your last presentation, and Keynote looks identical to Concurrence – do you own that IP?" Concurrence was a presentation product built by Lighthouse Design, a company I'd help to found and which Sun acquired in 1996. Lighthouse built applications for NeXTSTEP, the Unix based operating system whose core would become the foundation for all Mac products after Apple acquired NeXT in 1996. Steve had used Concurrence for years, and as Apple built their own presentation tool, it was obvious where they'd found inspiration. "And last I checked, MacOS is now built on Unix. I think Sun has a few OS patents, too." Steve was silent.
And probably foaming at the mouth, and wanting to send Luca Brasi to get Jonathan brand new cement shoes.
Even while Apple uses BSD as the basis for Mac OS X, I bet Jobs realized the stupidity of his call, realizing that Sun had a very strong IP portfolio, and plenty of ammo to fight Apple back. Something that HTC—or Google, for that matter—, when it comes to phones, don't have. [Johnathan Schwartz via Silicon Alley Insider]
XNA 4.0 games on Windows Phone 7 Series look awesome (but won’t be for Zune HD)
(source: MobileCrunch)
A bundle of screenshots just hit the net showing off the latest Direct3D-based mobile games running on a WinPho7 device, adn they look pretty hot. We knew that the Tegra chipset in the Zune HD and likely in several upcoming WinPho handsets (Tegra 2, to be precise) is capable of some nice 3D, but these [...]
Video: HTC Legend unboxing and first look - part 1 of 2
(source: MobileBurn)
Part 1 of our unboxing and look at some of the features of the Android-powered HTC Legend, the follow-up to the popular HTC Hero. The Legend features an AMOLED touchscreen display and has a body that is carved from a solid block of aluminum. In this video Russell walks us through the contents of the box as well as some of the features of the phone's Sense user interface.
Watch the video here.
Steve Jobs' Threatening Phone Call Revealed [Blockquote]
(source: Gizmodo)
According to Jonathan Schwartz—then Sun's CEO—that's what Steve Jobs told him over the phone after Sun presented Looking Glass, a desktop concept similar to Mac OS X's. After that, Schwartz verbally cockpunched His Steveness and shut him up:
"Steve, I was just watching your last presentation, and Keynote looks identical to Concurrence – do you own that IP?" Concurrence was a presentation product built by Lighthouse Design, a company I'd help to found and which Sun acquired in 1996. Lighthouse built applications for NeXTSTEP, the Unix based operating system whose core would become the foundation for all Mac products after Apple acquired NeXT in 1996. Steve had used Concurrence for years, and as Apple built their own presentation tool, it was obvious where they'd found inspiration. "And last I checked, MacOS is now built on Unix. I think Sun has a few OS patents, too." Steve was silent.
And probably foaming at the mouth, and wanting to send Luca Brasi to get Jonathan brand new cement shoes.
Even while Apple uses BSD as the basis for Mac OS X, I bet Jobs realized the stupidity of his call, realizing that Sun had a very strong IP portfolio, and plenty of ammo to fight Apple back. Something that HTC—or Google, for that matter—, when it comes to phones, don't have. [Johnathan Schwartz via Silicon Alley Insider]
iPhone Tweet Defense Slaughters Zombies With Witticisms [IPhone Apps]
(source: Gizmodo)
The premise of Tweet Defense is simple: The more you tweet and the more Twitter followers you gain, the stronger your tower defenses will be. Clever, though hopefully RT bonuses will come in the future. $1. [iTunes via Kotaku]
Taliban Leader, iPhone User [Flamebait]
(source: Gizmodo)
If the terrorists could vote, they'd vote for Candidate X—this argument is America's greatest rhetorical treasure. So let's apply it to smartphones, right now! I've got a picture of a high-level terrorist with an iPhone and everything! Updated
The man pictured here is the recently captured Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, who is world famous for precisely the kind of stuff that you don't want to be famous for. Infamous, even!
Update: Apparently the magazine misindentifies the man in the photo. That's actually Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, a former Taliban official's who's been spotted with his iPhone before. (Thanks, Ray!)
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, next time you find yourself in an endless online flamewar about smartphones representing the side of Android or WebOS or Windows Mobile or BlackBerry, it is totally fine to call your opponent a terrorist. [Jeune Afrique—Thanks, Benjamin!]
Control Hexapod with iPhone
(source: MobileWhack)
In case you thought Mindstorms Lego Sets with their Bluetooth controllers were cool, then you should see this Hexapod under control by an iPhone.
This is a modded toy created by Robert Stephenson, who figured out a way to get the touchscreen and accelerometers to get this spider to do some pretty interesting things. [...]
Want to sleep with Android? Now you can.
(source: MobileCrunch)
Do you love Android? Like, really love Android? So much so that those Android action figures just don’t seem like enough? Well, now there’s a way for you to show the world how much you really care about your favorite OS: by bringing it to bed with you.
Now, now, get your mind out of the [...]
Video: Samsung explains why their Super AMOLED screen is better than your normal AMOLED screen
(source: MobileCrunch)
Samsung's pretty proud of their Super AMOLED technology - and why shouldn't they be? With next to no fanfare, they managed to knock out the readability issues that plagued AMOLED handsets any time they were within view of the sun. And if vastly improved readability wasn't enough, they went and slimmed the whole thing down into a package considerably tighter than the competition's not-so-sun friendly offerings.
Samsung's compiled a nifty little video showing off all the reason why their Super AMOLED displays deserve their name.
Sprint Touch Pro 2 to finally get Windows Mobile 6.5 later this month?
(source: MobileCrunch)
Given that the HTC Touch Pro 2 saw upgrades to Windows Mobile 6.5 on just about every other carrier months ago, Sprint Touch Pro 2 owners might be feeling a wee bit rebuffed right now. On the brightside, chances are good that the upgrade is coming eventually, right?
Well, it looks like “eventually” might be sooner [...]
iTunes LP is a Bust. Time to Go Free? [ITunes]
(source: Gizmodo)
Nobody cares about iTunes LP, reports Paul Bonanos. Six months into the format—one that Apple believed enough in to have a separate event—and nobody is buying. But what if it were free?
We've been discussing it in our top-secret internet chat place. Mark is certain that the LP format can be redeemed—or at least given a proper chance—on the iPad. And indeed, some had speculated that iTunes LP would be the format by which Apple would distribute books and magazines. (Turns out it was ePub wrapped in FairPlay DRM, at least for books.)
It's hard to say confidently that the format has had a proper chance.There are only 29 LPs on the iTunes store right now, certainly not enough to make any sort of platform judgement. But they also cost more than simply buying an album.
So what if they were free?
The "LP" format is a sort of hybrid of the old album art and DVD-extras. (For everyone that reads this site, "albums" were giant vinyl CDs that were packaged in cardboard sleeves a bit smaller than a pizza box—lots of space for art.) But it didn't cost anything extra to get that big art on an album, and most DVDs have at least a baseline special feature. That extra content is a value-add, an incentive to buy.
Apple has released the format for iTunes LP for months, although LPs still have to be approved just like Apps. But for a smart band or label, one strong LP version ready for the iPad launch—for free—could make a band's release really stand out.
Or maybe the LP format, asked for not by fans and customers but by the labels and the RIAA, wasn't really necessary in the first place.
Free Internet Access Proposed by FCC
(source: Daily Wireless)
FCC Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn during a speech at the Digital Inclusion Summit (pdf), suggested that the FCC may dedicate spectrum to free wireless Internet service.
The staff has come up with a number of recommendations with these goals in mind. To help with cost, the Plan recommends expanding low income Universal Service support to [...]
SiBeam Gets Cisco Investment
(source: Daily Wireless)
Sibeam today announced the closing of $36.5 million in Series D funding with Best Buy and Cisco now investing in Sibeam’s 60 GHz wireless chipsets for lossless HDTV between televisions, DVD players and computers, as well as other applications.
Based on the WirelessHD standard, the second generation of SiBEAM’s WirelessHD chipsets, deliver a 4Gbps data transfer [...]
Shaped Utensils as iPhone Stands
(source: MobileWhack)
Here is something you don’t see everyday. Turning utensils such as a fork and spoon into something useful like an iPhone stand seems odd but you have to agree that the person behind this really became creative with it.
After some bending and shaping, forks and spoons serving as an iPhone stand does seem reasonable. [...]
iPhone Rosary App
(source: MobileWhack)
I thought I would discuss this one for all those who do the prayer of the rosary, and though it seems odd, there is an App for that.
I’m not certain why this freaks me out, as I am under the belief that spiritual and technological things can meet together in unison. However, [...]
BlackBerry App World bumped up to version 1.1.0.33
(source: MobileCrunch)
If you've been messing with the App World on your favorite BlackBerry device lately only to be plagued by some nasty glitch, you might want to check out the brand-spankin'-new App World update that just went live -- it might have fixed it.
Palm launches PDK beta, brings C and C++ development to webOS
(source: MobileCrunch)
Good news, everyone! We’ve got another acronym for you to remember! Back at CES 2010, Palm announced that they’d be launching a “PDK” at some point in the future – and, well, it’s here, and it’s time to pay some attention to it.
You see, “PDK” stands for “Plug-in Development Kit” (as opposed to “SDK”, or [...]
U.S. regulators may dedicate spectrum to free wireless broadband
(source: MobileBurn)
At the Knight/FCC sponsored Digital Inclusion Summit in Washington today, one of the FCC's recommendations for a draft of its National Broadband Plan was to consider using some wireless spectrum for free or low cost wireless broadband.
Read the full story here.
Myxers MobileStage Selected by Snoop as Centerpiece for Deluxe Album Release More Malice
(source: Wireless DevNet)
Myxer and Snoop Dogg, announced today a promotional partnership for the upcoming Snoop Dogg release of the CD + DVD combo More Malice - the follow-up to the highly successful original album, Malice N Wonderland