Filed under: iPod Family , Freeware , iPhone , App Review We’re getting closer and closer to some of the stuff we see it science fiction literature and films. Siri [ iTunes link ] is a small Silicon Valley startup with a really breakthrough product that for now only works on the iPhone. Here’s the deal. You download the free app, start it up, and tell it what you want. It could be “Will it snow in Des Moines today?” or “Where can I find the nearest burger” or it could be “Find the nearest parks”.
It’s OK if you don’t know about Hi Media . The Paris-based, publicly traded company (they’re traded on Eurolist B) has been around for ten years, but has kept its focus in Europe. Only last year did they set up shop in the UK. But Hi Media is somewhere between Microsoft and Yahoo in reach for its display ad network in nine European countries, with 130 million monthly unique visitors served worldwide. The company also owns New York-based photo sharing site Fotolog , and does substantial business in Brazil.
Filed under: iPod Family , iPhone If there has been an editorial theme about the iPad over the last few days, it’s been this: it disappoints. Pundits and consumers alike have been underwhelmed by the name (I mean, seriously, does anyone in the product naming department use feminine hygiene products? How many of these devices are going to be named “Max”?), by the physical design (Can you say “Un-Ives-like Bezel” three times fast?), by the missing features (no camera, no multitasking, still no Flash ), and so forth. And yet, despite these seeming flaws, I’m wildly enthusiastic about the tablet. I think part of that enthusiasm is attributable to the fact that I’m a dyed-in-the-wool netbook user…
Filed under: Odds and ends , Apple History Despite all odds, the Mac has survived to its 26th birthday. On January 24th, 1984, Steve Jobs pulled a 128K Mac out of its case in front of a crowd of reporters, turned it on, and let the computer introduce itself to the world . The rest, as they say, is history. We’ve seen our favorite computer go from an awkward infancy , to almost dying in its teens , and now being a profitable prodigy in adulthood . It has spawned a popular family of siblings, from the iPod series of media players to the iPhone.
Filed under: Accessories , iPod Family , Peripherals , iPhone A quick note to our European readers. Apple has released a new, slimmer USB power adapter for iPods and iPhone. This new adapter supports all iPod nanos, iPhones, iPod Touches, iPod classics, the second and third gen iPod shuffle, the fourth and fifth gen click-wheel iPod, and even the iPod mini. Here is the Google Translation link to the Norwegian Apple Store new Apple USB Power Adapter page. Thanks to reader Christian S.
If you’ve spent any time trying to talk to a teenager lately, then the latest numbers on how much time they spend with their nose buried in a glowing screen of some sort will come as no surprise. Whether its text messaging, Tweeting, watching YouTube videos on their iPhone, lurking on a social networking site like Myspace or Facebook or doing something as old-fashioned now as watching TV, teens are spending more time than ever before consuming some sort of media. According to a study released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation , those between the ages of eight and 18 devote just under eight hours a day to media consumption and, depending on how you look at it, that may be the least surprising of the numbers. Sponsor The study consists of a survey of 2,002 3rd to 12th graders, ages eight to 18, with 700 of those respondents filling out a “media-use diary” for seven days. From these diaries, it found that, while respondents used media for an average of seven hours and 38 minutes, due to multi-tasking, they actually crammed in a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes into that time.
Filed under: Software Update , Xserve , Mac Pro Mac Pro and Xserve owners, take note — Apple has released the following updates today: Xserve EFI Firmware Update 1.2 for Xserve (Early 2009) Improved compatibility with virtualization products utilizing VT-d Improved system reliability during the boot process Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.4 for Mac Pro (Early 2009) Improved compatibility with virtualization products utilizing VT-d Improved storage performance under Windows XP for Boot Camp users Improved system reliability during the boot process Firmware Restoration CD 1.8 Restoration CD for the following products: Mac Pro (Early 2009), Xserve (Early 2009). Unitor Family Driver 2.5 Addresses reliability issues, targeting the use of multiple Unitors. The updates are now available via Apple’s support downloads page and via Software Update. Thanks for the tip, Jeff! TUAW Mac Pro and Xserve firmware, restore CD updated originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .
Filed under: Odds and ends , iPhone The battle of snarkiness between AT&T and Verizon is resulting in benefits for subscribers. Yesterday, AT&T announced a new unlimited voice and data plan for smartphone owners, including those who use the iPhone, that offers unlimited voice and data service for $99.99 per month. The change was the result of Verizon lowering the cost of its unlimited plans earlier in the day, and consumers are the beneficiaries of the battle of the cell phone titans. Prior to the announcement, iPhone users paid $100 monthly for unlimited voice, then tacked on another $30 a month for unlimited data. Starting on Monday, January 18th, 2010, a combined unlimited voice and data plan is available for $99.99.
Apparently, privacy died its thousandth death last week. But even as we willingly record and share more of our lives, the issue will inevitably spring back to life again. As the balance of costs around sharing versus keeping things private change, there must be some set of expectations attached to what we withhold and why. Privacy is a notoriously difficult term to pin down. The word itself stems from the Latin privatus , which means to separate or deprive from public, and privare, which means to bereave.
Filed under: iPod Family , Odds and ends , Apple , iPhone Jason Schwarz over at TheStreet has written an article analyzing Apple’s current position in the marketplace and what Apple’s competition needs to do in order to catch up. The article focuses mostly on Apple’s iPhone/iPod + iTunes ecosystem, which isn’t surprising. Though Mac sales bring in a fair amount of cash to the company, Apple’s handheld market is the company’s most current success story, and everyone from Microsoft to Palm to Google has spent the past several years trying (and failing) to duplicate that success. Schwarz notes that Steve Jobs’s recent claim that, “We see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon,” doesn’t necessarily apply to the feature set of the iPhone or its integration with iTunes, but rather Apple’s financial success and brand impression. He has a point.
Being a technology blogger is like having a license for an around-the-clock gadget and Web addiction. No one expects you to leave your house during the day. You’re allowed to spend the majority of your life in front of a glowing screen, and flipping out over WiFi issues is par for the course. And you’re never far from the Web, since your mobile is always in hand when you have to leave your laptop behind for some incomprehensible reason. But even with such a license in hand, I have to make a case for periodically disconnecting.
Filed under: Accessories , Audio , Hardware , iPod Family , iPhone , iPod touch The audio wizards at Blue Microphones have wowed Mac and iPod fans with their Snowball, Snowflake, and Mikey microphones. Now, just before the start of CES 2010, Blue has announced the US$99.99 second generation Mikey Portable Recorder for iPod and iPhone. While the new Mikey hasn’t yet achieved iPhone certification, it promises to be a powerful professional recording solution for iPhone owners when it arrives in the spring. Mikey still features two Blue mic capsules for pro-quality stereo recording, but now has improved acoustic circuitry for better recordings of loud events such as concerts. The new Mikey also has a 3.5mm line input for those times that you want to plug in a sound source like a guitar or mixer.
It’s about time that the number one netbook manufacturer officially release details on its Pine Trail packing netbooks. The 10-inch Acer Aspire One A0535h seems to look slightly different than its predecessors, but its brand new Intel Atom N450 CPU, GMA 1350 graphics and promised 10-hours of battery life should give it bragging rights at the family dinner table. The rest of the specs are standard fare – Windows 7 Starter, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and a 4400 mAH six-cell battery. We’re impressed that Acer has seemed to finagle a $299 price tag, undercutting most of the competition — including the $380 Pine Trail Eee PC 1005PE — by at least $50. It should be available in the coming weeks, but in the meantime you can check the full PR after the break or start searching for that Amazon pre-order page.
Google’s Nexus One phone will evidently have a couple of interesting features, according to new documents leaked to the Gizmodo blog . Google plans to sell the Google-designed, Android-based phone by itself. The unlocked and unsubsidized phone will sell for $530. Meanwhile, T-Mobile plans to sell a subsidized version for $180 with a two-year service contract. The phone service with 500 minutes of airtime per month, text messaging, and data is $79.99.
Filed under: Multimedia , Software , Freeware , Open Source , Mac mini , Apple TV Just in case the gifts you got from your family last week didn’t float your boat (no kidding, I got a Yakov Smirnoff DVD — I love my parents, but they’re not the best gift givers in the world), here’s another fun present to unwrap. The folks at XBMC released a brand new version on Christmas Eve, and it’s available as a free download right now over on their website. XBMC is the open source app that started off as “Xbox Media Center” (designed to be run on the original Xbox hardware), but has now blossomed into a full-featured media center that is usable on your Apple TV or Mac. Thanks to an app, you can use your iPhone as a remote as well. The new version 9.11, a.k.a.
