Friday, November 21st, 2008
While Apple is giving its phone rival Palm a drubbing in the market, both are now known to be scaling back their work commitments to employees -- though Apple is using creative reassignments to soften the perceived blow. ( 9 comments )
The calls of iPhone-wielding foodies have been answered. In the last two weeks, the App Store has seen the addition of the two premier dining resources for U.S. residents -- Zagat, the de facto restaurant rating guide, and OpenTable, the real-time online reservation service. We take a closer look at both. ( 10 comments )
Apple this week released Pro Applications Update 2008-04, a recommended update for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, and Logic Studio. The release addresses general performance issues, improves overall stability, and includes new versions of Final Cut Pro, Compressor, Color, and Shake. ( 10 comments )
Apple early Friday morning released iPhone 2.2 Software Update, which delivers a number of improvements and adds Google Street View, public transit and walking directions, and more. A similar update is available for iPod touch users without the new Maps enhancements. ( 135 comments )
Thursday, November 20th, 2008
Apple on Thursday evening released iTunes 8.0.2, the latest maintenance update for its digital media software that addresses a couple of minor issues and improves accessibility for users with impaired vision. ( 31 comments )
Germans documenting an exploit that forces an iPhone to dial an unwanted number have also potentially tipped users off to the imminent release of Apple's widely anticipated 2.2 firmware upgrade. ( 16 comments )
While Research in Motion continues to dominate the corporate smartphone market, new data shows Apple to be chipping awake at the BlackBerry maker's lead after having recently bludgeoned Palm to become the second leading supplier of advanced handsets to businesses. ( 20 comments )
On Friday, Research in Motion and Verizon will answer to the iPhone with the BlackBerry Storm -- a touchscreen-based handset that will sell for $250 with a two-year contract, though a $50 mail-in rebate will bring the cost inline with Apple's entry-level offering. ( 38 comments )
Swedish iPhone owners will soon have something they can hold over the heads of most other users of the touchscreen handset: an Apple-sanctioned way of sending and receiving picture and video messages. ( 96 comments )
Apple has conceptualized a means of displaying icon-like status indicators on the iPhone's displays even when the handset is locked and the backlight turned off, a new company filing shows. ( 41 comments )
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
Apple on Wednesday night released version 2.3 of its Apple TV firmware to add AirTunes streaming as well as support for third-party remotes. ( 91 comments )
Apple has reportedly set an industry record by moving its OpenCL parallel computing standard from its beginnings to imminent approval in half a year, paving the way for its inclusion in Mac OS X Snow Leopard. ( 15 comments )
Apple is in talks with three of the "big four" record labels about offering music tracks through iTunes that would be made available in MP3 AAC format without copy protection measures, a move that could further distance the digital download service from its rivals. ( 65 comments )
Microsoft officials were concerned about the performance of Windows Vista and the way it would be compared to Mac OS X long before Apple zeroed in on the problematic software with its humorous "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" advertising campaign, internal emails show. ( 66 comments )
Mega-discount chain Wal-Mart, along with subsidiary Sams Clubs, will join Best Buy in offering Apple's iPhone 3G to their customers just days after Christmas, according to new reports. ( 25 comments )
Apple is among a handful of PC manufacturers who're waiting on a new family of quad-core chips from Intel that are designed for small form-factor PCs like the Mac mini and all-in-one systems like the iMac. ( 40 comments )
An Apple director has inadvertently broken word that his company may be planning to release Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard three months earlier than expected. ( 54 comments )
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
A California computer repair shop is likely to receive a call from Apple asking it to explain where it obtained an internal MacBook Air prototype that it later turned around and sold on eBay for $730. ( 29 comments )
A California judge on Tuesday granted Apple's motion to dismiss counterclaims on the part of unauthorized Mac clone maker Psystar, who charged the Mac maker with violating antitrust laws through its vigorous attempts to block third parties from selling rival Mac OS X-based computers. ( 70 comments )
Apple's new MacBook lines include a form of digital copy protection that will prevent protected media, such as DRM-infused iTunes movies, from playing back on devices that aren't compliant with the new priority protection measures. ( 244 comments )
A slowing global economy had little impact on Apple's computer business last month, as consumers willingly plunked down their cash for the company's new MacBook offerings, helping to drive Mac sales up more than 25 percent year-over-year. ( 48 comments )
Following a month-long wait, Apple on Tuesday finally began taking orders for its new 24-inch LED-backlit Cinema Display through its online store, saying shipments will begin sometime later this month. ( 116 comments )
The new version of Google's Mobile iPhone application that includes voice search recognition was made available as a free download on the App Store last night. ( 32 comments )
Monday, November 17th, 2008
Adobe has pledged to optimize a version of Flash 10 for smartphones using ARM processors like those of the iPhone -- but iPhone itself isn't getting that upgrade. Also, flash memory maker Spansion has implicated Apple in lawsuits against Samsung that could block the import of iPods. ( 16 comments )
Apple has released a software update to address an issue where trackpad clicks would randomly go unrecognized on its latest notebook offerings: the MacBook (Late 2008) and MacBook Pro (Late 2008). ( 26 comments )
After spending 25 hours counting sales of iPhones and Macs at Apple's US-based retail chain, investment bank Piper Jaffray said it believes the company this quarter could meet or beat last quarter's record 2.6 million Mac sales total while again selling more than 6 million iPhones. ( 30 comments )
Chunghwa Telecom said Friday it has won the exclusive right to begin selling Apple's iPhone 3G in Taiwan ahead of the December holiday season. ( 13 comments )
Sunday, November 16th, 2008
A quickly released follow-up test build of Mac OS X 10.5.6 comes with no known problems and points to Apple getting much closer to a finished patch. ( 58 comments )
Friday, November 14th, 2008
The tug of war over the future of Mark Papermaster, an executive hired away from his post at IBM to head up Apple's handheld efforts, got a bit nastier on Thursday when the microprocessor expert countered a lawsuit from his former employer with one of his own. ( 38 comments )
Apple is facing yet another lawsuit over the performance of its iPhone 3G on AT&T's network but with added allegations that the company is ignoring the occurrence of hairline cracks in the handset's enclosure. ( 70 comments )