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| 1 | NewsFactor - Heading into a holiday-season battle with a slew of new tablet computers, Apple is ramping up production of its iPad, according to one analyst. "Apple has made slight upward revisions to [the fourth quarter of calendar year 2010]," wrote Mike Abramsky of RBC Capital Markets in a research note for investors received by us on Friday. Yahoo! News: Personal Technology » | | 2 |  NewsFactor - Steve Jobs is getting plenty of recognition this week. From action figures on eBay to the Financial Times to President Obama, the Apple CEO is in the media spotlight for doing things right. Yahoo! News: Internet News » | | 3 | For years, I've had this recurring dream: I walk into a room to find a guitar, which I pick up and play with Eric Clapton-like prowess. I am always surprised at my newfound skill.
I can only intermittently carry a tune and have no musical talent whatsoever. But a new program makes it so easy to play, record and even compose music that it almost feels as if my dream has become reality.
What makes this program even more remarkable is that, despite its power, it runs on a nontraditional mobile platform.
It's GarageBand for iPad, and if you've got an original iPad or the new iPad 2, you'll want to grab this and install it posthaste.
If you use a Macintosh, chances are you've seen GarageBand, because it has been included on all of Apple's traditional computers since the mid-2000s. The Mac OS X version is powerful, but it's also daunting for non-musicians. Yeah, it's got some cute-and-friendly features, but for the most part it's designed for people who want to make music and know how to do it.
The iPad version, however, is a very different beast. While there are plenty of features aimed at those with musical talent, it's really a product for those of us who can barely hum on key.
Even if you can't play a note, GarageBand for iPad will have you playing and even composing music soon after you first fire it up.
It's an astonishing piece of software, easily the best application I've seen so far this year.
Row of Instruments
After you download the software from the iTunes App Store and install it on your iPad, launch it and you'll be presented with a horizontally scrolling row of instruments. There's the traditional onscreen keyboard found in the Mac version of GarageBand and a drum kit. But what you'll want to... newsfactor.com » | | 4 |  | | 5 | After fumbling the PlayBook product launch by many measures, Research In Motion has now fumbled the broader execution of its tablet computer. Some analysts are expecting an executive shake-up.
RIM is recalling about 1,000 PlayBook tablets because they were shipped with an operating-system glitch. That glitch may be hindering users from doing initial setups. According to RIM, the saving grace is that most of the tablets with the faulty operating systems haven't yet reached consumers.
"RIM is working to replace the affected devices," the company said. "In the small number of cases where a customer received a PlayBook that is unable to properly load software upon initial setup, they can contact RIM for assistance."
Fumbled Launch
Before the PlayBook even got out of the gate, some reviewers suggested that consumers hold off on buying the device. RIM's frequent software updates to reviewer-held PlayBooks may have also dampened the experience. News reports cited software updates even during the week since the device was out for review.
One of the biggest criticisms of the PlayBook is the lack of native e-mail. RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie told The Wall Street Journal that this feature is on the way. In the meantime, he suggested people use webmail.
"How do you bring out a RIM product without an e-mail client? That would be like Schwinn launching something that wasn't a bicycle. They missed who they were with that offering," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "Then it comes out and then it's faulty and has to go back in. There's a huge amount of pressure for them to replace their executive staff, and this is just going to increase that pressure."
'Running with Scissors'
RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis has defended the PlayBook strategy aggressively, even up until less than two weeks ago. Lazaridis has said RIM... newsfactor.com » | | 6 | Appolicious - Big games tend to launch in the iTunes App Store on Thursday to correspond with Apple’s updates for its sales charts and “New and Noteworthy” features on the store’s front page. Arguably one of the biggest games in the App Store in terms of popularity will get bigger in terms of size on Thursday. Yahoo! News: Internet News » | | 7 | Savvy marketers have one surefire way to get smartphone-toting customers in the door: let them book appointments through an app.
Droid- and iPhone-carrying consumers can now use apps to book a place in line at the hair salon, nab a tee time on the golf course, sign up for personal-trainer sessions at the health club and even book a bikini wax.
Mobile technology is utterly changing the way consumers do businesses. It may even be the beginning of the end of standing in lines, suggests digital marketing consultant Rebecca Lieb.
"Mobile technology is affecting walk-in businesses in big, big ways," she says. "The technology is leapfrogging."
Even into the hair salon.
In a move bound to shake up the hair care industry, Great Clips, one of the nation's largest hair care chains, this week will announce plans to roll out an app that gives customers a place in line before they reach any of its 3,000 stores.
"We believe it's a game-changer," says Steve Hockett, Great Clips operations vice president.
While the app doesn't technically book an appointment time, it puts your name up on the virtual board so that when you walk in the door, you're ahead of anyone who walked in or used the app after you.
Other activities to book with an app:
Personal training. LA Fitness' app lets folks sign up for a session with a trainer or time on the racquetball court.
Parking. With the Parking In Motion app, which launched about a month ago, folks can find available parking spaces and even reserve and pay for them on their iPhones. The company has links to 1,000 major parking lots in urban cores and airports. Folks who use the app typically save a little on parking costs, too, CEO Sam Friedman says.
Tee times. GolfNow has a new app that lets folks book tee times at... newsfactor.com » | | 8 | Appolicious - There seems to be no end to fresh rumors about future iPhones flying across the Internet in the last few days. Only yesterday we told you about a Wall Street Journal report that claimed the iPhone 5 would be a thinner and lighter revamp of the device, and now it seems the WSJ has even more new information to report. Yahoo! News: Internet News » | | 9 |  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese counterfeiters have had a field-day pumping out knockoffs of Apple Inc's best-selling iPhones and iPads but one appears to have gone a step further -- a near flawless fake Apple Store that even employees believe is the real deal.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 10 | LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - There was a whole lot of hacking going on in Sin City this weekend -- and right under the noses of federal agents.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 11 | It doesn't take a visit to the Genius Bar to figure out how Apple became the most valuable company in America.
Its lineup of sleek phones, computers and iPods, irresistible to customers even in tough economic times, propelled it to the No. 1 position by market value Wednesday, surpassing Exxon Mobil. Apple's stock on the open market is now worth more than any other company's.
Apple's stock fell for the day, but Exxon's fell more. Apple finished with a market value of $337 billion, beating Exxon's $331 billion. A single share of Apple stock now costs $363.
Apple occupies a rarefied spot once held by General Electric and Apple's own rival Microsoft. Exxon had held the top spot since 2005.
The power shift is a substantial milestone for Apple, which has enjoyed a triumphant comeback since the 1990s, when it struggled to stay afloat before its co-founder Steve Jobs returned to take the helm.
But it's not just the comeback. Gleacher & Co. analyst Brian Marshall says Apple is giving investors something that has never been seen before. Apple's numbers are huge, with $30 billion in revenue in the latest quarter, for example. Yet Marshall said the 35-year-old company is "growing like a startup."
"Even in 2008 and 2009 Apple grew like a weed and the world was coming to an end," Marshall said.
Apple grew its net income 70 percent to $14 billion and its revenue 52 percent to $65 billion in the fiscal year that ended last September. A year earlier, even as other companies -- though not Exxon -- were reeling from the economic meltdown, Apple's earnings grew 35 percent and its revenue 14 percent.
Apple wasn't always a tech darling. The company, known as Apple Computer Inc. when it was founded in 1976, was on a steep decline before Jobs returned in 1997.
With Jobs... newsfactor.com » | | 12 | Americans are still spending money at casinos, amusement parks and concerts. Some are even shopping at Bloomingdales and looking at new homes.
Even as the stock market's wild swings heighten fears of another recession, many business executives see bright spots. Worrisome signs abound, too, especially for companies struggling to recover. But for a lot of corporate leaders, the general state of the economy has not changed much in the past three weeks of upheaval.
Executives addressed the turmoil this week during earnings conference calls and in interviews with The Associated Press. From their vantage point, the economy looks less troubled than major stock indicators like the Dow Jones Industrial average, which has tumbled by 12 percent since July 21.
"Overall, it's kind of business as usual," said Michael Rapino, CEO of concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc. He expects all of the company's shows to go on this fall after seeing North American attendance rise by 13 percent in the April-June period.
Executives at rebounding companies still sound upbeat. Despite the confusion and uncertainty, they aren't panicking -- at least not yet.
In some ways, the recent market upheaval has been easier for business leaders to endure because it's not entirely surprising. The outlook in corporate America had been darkening even before the stock market's harrowing plunges began to evoke memories of the recession's nadir in late 2008.
A survey of 1,200 senior executives taken last month by the Corporate Executive Board produced the lowest level of confidence since 2009. The same poll found only 38 percent planned to expand payrolls in the next year, down from 58 percent six months ago.
That doesn't bode well for a U.S. economy that lost as many as 8.6 million jobs and has only regained 1.7 million since the recession officially ended two years ago. Unemployment remains above 9 percent.
However,... newsfactor.com » | | 13 | The end of Steve Jobs' reign as Apple Inc. CEO doesn't mean he is bowing out as the maestro of personal technology.
True to its tight-lipped style, Apple isn't spelling out how actively involved Jobs will be as the company's new chairman while he tends to his own fragile health after surviving pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant during the past seven years.
But longtime Apple watchers have no doubt that Jobs will weigh in on all key decisions and help sculpt the company's future product lineup.
"I know enough about Steve Jobs to know that as long as he has a breath in him, he will be giving direction at Apple," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies and the dean of Apple analysts. "He is going to remain Apple's chief visionary."
In his Wednesday resignation letter as CEO, Jobs, 56, wrote that he planned to be "watching and contributing" to Apple's success as chairman, a position that had long been vacant.
In a sign of his commitment, Jobs put in a full day at Apple's Cupertino headquarters during his last full day as CEO, even though he was technically still on medical leave, said Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe.
Bajarin and other people in close contact with Apple said Jobs remained intimately involved there even as he spent 14 of the past 32 months on medical leaves of absence. During that stretch, Apple kept pumping out smash hits and became more successful than ever, with its market value swelling from $80 billion to nearly $350 billion today.
Even so, the mere specter of Apple operating without Jobs conjures unwelcome memories. After co-founding Apple in 1976 and establishing it as a technology trailblazer, Jobs was forced out in 1985. When he finally returned in 1997, the company was in danger in going bankrupt and even needed... newsfactor.com » | | 14 | (Reuters) - Research In Motion reported a steep drop in quarterly profit on limp sales of its smartphones and tablets, and offered investors little hope of a turnaround anytime soon, sending its shares tumbling.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 15 | NEW YORK (Reuters) - The auction of online video site Hulu has been slowed by recent developments which could derail it completely, according to sources familiar with the process.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 16 | You won't typically read about a product in this column many months ahead of its presumed launch. But when that product, however early, is the next version of Windows -- and so radically different from the familiar operating system software used by a billion people each day -- it's never too soon to take an inside look.
Microsoft unveiled the developer preview version of Windows 8, the code name for its latest operating system, this week at its Build conference. Though it is way too premature for Microsoft to announce specifics on pricing or availability for Windows 8, I was provided a Samsung test tablet computer loaded with Windows 8, and the touch-friendly software got me jazzed. Even as a fan of Windows 7, I can't remember ever saying that I was jazzed by a Microsoft operating system.
Indeed, my first impressions are so favorable that even Apple should be on alert. But the rosy outlook for Windows 8 comes with all sorts of caveats. First, this isn't a review so much as an early look. There's a lot that has to happen between now and when consumers finally get their hands on Windows 8, probably some time in 2012. And Microsoft by no means revealed everything. I haven't been able to load any of my own software on the test machine or try it with a printer. None of the legacy programs, such as Microsoft Office, were loaded on the computer, though Microsoft insists that all the programs that work on Windows 7 will work even better on Windows 8.
You start to notice the dramatic turn in Windows from the very start -- even before you get to the newly designed Start screen. At your option, you can log in with a picture password, instead of the standard typed password, by... newsfactor.com » | | 17 | DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co's OnStar may be watching your moves later this year -- even if you no longer subscribe to the service.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 18 | One of the world's most secretive movements is taking aim at a just as clandestine mafia, right out in the open.
Bloggers and tweeters claiming to belong to the hacker movement "Anonymous" say they plan to expose collaborators of Mexico's bloody Zetas drug cartel, even if some of them seem to have backed away from the plan out of fear.
Their debate is playing out on chatboards, Web sites and Twitter messages, many of them open to public view.
But just what they might do, as a claimed Friday deadline approaches, remains unclear, perhaps even to the loosely coordinated Internet community. Its participants generally hide their real-world identities even from one another, partly as protection from officials and prosecutors who often consider them outlaws.
Self-proclaimed members of a movement best known for hacking public corporate and government Web sites are now talking about attacking a drug cartel that largely shuns the Internet and has killed, even beheaded, ordinary bloggers for posting information about it.
"The problem is, hack what? There are no drug cartel Web sites, that I know of, that would be hackable," said Raul Trejo, an expert on media and violence at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
In an Internet video posted last month, a person wearing a Guy Fawkes mask claimed the Zetas had kidnapped a member of Anonymous in the state of Veracruz while he was handing out political pamphlets. The video doesn't give the victim's name, and prosecutors say they know nothing about the supposed abduction.
The speaker in the video said that if the kidnap victim is not released, Anonymous will post the names, photos and addresses of taxi drivers, police, journalists and others allegedly working with the Zetas. He did not say how the movement would get such information, but suggested it can locate and blow up cartel associates'... newsfactor.com » | | 19 | Has Apple worsened the reported battery problems of its iPhone 4S? An update of its iOS 5 software on Thursday is resulting in complaints about battery issues -- even by some users who previously had no problems.
The version 5.0.1 update, delivered wirelessly, was supposed to correct bugs that caused the battery drain issues for some users, as well as fixing a bug affecting iCloud documents, adding multitasking gestures to the first iPad, and improving voice recognition for users in Australia who use dictation.
Wirelessly Delivered
One user, echoing the sentiments of many on the Apple Support Forums, wrote that "I seem to be losing battery life significantly after upgrading to iOS 5.0.1!!! Both my iPod4 and iPhone4. Before, I never noticed a problem. I even restarted my phone right after installing."
Another user said that, "after upgrading to 5.0.1, my iPhone is draining the battery even faster." A user named Healy79 said that, "after installing 5.0.1 I charged it up fully before going to bed and after 7 hours just sitting there lost 79 percent, and have lost further 5 percent while logging in and typing this."
Implicit in the battery brouhaha is the memory of Apple's Antennagate, following the release of the iPhone 4.
The reports of signal strength issues with the iPhone 4 began piling up shortly after its release. Apple had been suggesting that the signal-strength issue, which occurred when a user placed a hand or finger near the antenna on the lower left side of the device, was largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that mistakenly showed more bars "than it should for a given signal strength."
The turning point was when Consumer Reports magazine wrote that it could not recommend the device because of those issues. The non-profit organization also said that "it's the company's responsibility to provide the... newsfactor.com » | | 20 | Even while iPad 2s are flying off store shelves this holiday shopping season, rumors are swirling around what the iPad 3 will look like -- and when it will be released.
As usual, mum is the word at Apple on both fronts. But that's not keeping analysts from speculating. The rumors suggest everything from a full feature retina display to 4G LTE connectivity to better cameras to the addition of the Siri virtual assistant and beyond. But who confirmed Apple was even going to launch a new iPad in the spring? Nobody yet.
"It's important to note that given Apple's sales so far, Apple does not need an iPad 3," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. "When Apple came out with the iPhone 4S the entire blogging world went nuts because it did not appear to be a radical improvement. But the iPhone 4S has sold millions of units the first day it was available and has posted extremely strong sales ever since."
An iPad 3 Wish List
Greengart's point: Apple is competing in an environment in which the currency is apps, cloud services and an intuitive user interface -- and Apple is leading in two out of those three areas. (Apple cedes the cloud services throne to Amazon, but is still strong in that area.) With this in mind, Apple has no imperative to broker radical change with the iPad.
Despite Apple's dominance, however, Greengart does have a wish list for the iPad 3. For starters, he -- and many others -- would like to see a higher density display that would offer higher resolutions. When compared with the iPhone 4, the iPad's text looks fuzzy.
Then there's the camera. Although most iPad users aren't using the tablet as a primary camera, those who even play with the camera quickly discover that... newsfactor.com » | | 21 | As Facebook heads toward its IPO destiny on Wall Street, speculation grows over whether the world's leading social network can and will continue to offer its service for free.
The company has long boasted that it's "free and always will be," even featuring that phrase on its sign-up page.
Meeting Expectations
But will that change when investors start demanding even bigger returns than Facebook can provide from their current application partnerships and ad sales, which generated a $1 billion profit last year?
"Typically, investors put new pressures on a company that the company is not ready for," said technology analyst Jeff Kagan. "Investors always mean there are too many captains on the bridge. Do you focus on the customer, on the competitors, on the workers or on the investors? This is where many companies get it wrong and end up in trouble."
Even a $1 fee per month from what Facebook says are 850 million users would bring in more than $10 billion a year, offsetting operating expenses to maximize profit from traditional revenue streams. How many people addicted to sharing status updates and other information with their network of friends would bail rather than pay that nominal fee?
Alternatively, Facebook could set up a premium service, similar to Microsoft's Xbox Live membership that offers enhanced features over the free membership. Many newspapers now offer additional services and content behind a paywall.
Rumors Swirl
Paid Facebook accounts would run contrary to the path of Internet trailblazer America Online, which started out with a range of account levels based on time spent online and is now free.
Perhaps because the progression seems so natural, rumors have long persisted that paid use is right around the corner. A viral hoax spread via status updates last fall said the new Timeline changes coming to user profiles would usher in membership fees.
There... newsfactor.com » | | 22 | Video calling on computers, mobile phones and tablets is no longer the novelty it was even a few years ago. But such calls remain a rarity on your television. Never mind that some newer, connected smart TVs provide video-calling options. Or that in recent years companies such as Cisco and Logitech have introduced set-top options for turning your living room TV into a gigantic video phone. Video calls on the TV have barely registered with consumers. Too expensive. Not good enough. Some combination of the two.
Even so, I've always appreciated the idea behind using the TV for video calls. The screen on your TV is likely the largest and best display in your house. And consider how appealing it might be for the entire family to congregate in front of a camera to show off the newborn to out-of-town relatives, rather than having everyone try to crowd in front of a PC's webcam.
Enter Silicon Valley newcomer Tely Labs. With its compact TelyHD Skype-compatible set-top box that recently went on sale, the company believes it can succeed where others have failed. Inside the nearly a foot-long black box is a wide-angle high-definition camera, four noise-canceling microphones, a pretty powerful dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, and Android software. In other words, it has the guts of a computer, which suggests some interesting possibilities down the road.
For now, though, this is mostly about video calling via Skype. In my tests, TelyHD delivered generally acceptable but uneven video quality, even after I swapped one test unit for another. The box is capable of delivering high-definition video up to the 720p standard, though I certainly never mistook the pictures I saw for a supercrisp HD series on network television. You need a robust Internet connection of at least 1 Mbps (upstream and downstream) to achieve... newsfactor.com » | | 23 | Google is already facing spasms of suspicion and confusion as it tries to persuade people to entrust their personal documents, photos and other digital content to the company's new online storage service.
That became apparent shortly after Tuesday's release of the long-awaited Google Drive service. Before the day was over, technology blogs and Twitter users were picking apart a legal clause that made it sound as if all the users' content stored in Google Drive automatically would become the intellectual property of Google Inc.
That could have meant authors writing their next novels and employees collaborating on spreadsheets with confidential data would find all that suddenly belonging to Google.
As it turns out, the worries are probably unfounded.
The language is actually standard legalese to give Google the licensing rights that it needs to deliver on the services that users request.
The way that Google keeps documents in its data centers requires the company to obtain a license to "host, store (and) reproduce" the files. When a co-worker needs to read a document in a different language or even make minor revisions, Google needs the rights for "translations, adaptations or other changes."
Even the everyday occurrences such as someone watching a video or pulling up a text file at an Internet cafe requires Google to retain permission to "publicly perform" or "publicly display" such content.
That doesn't mean Google will take a screenwriter's work in progress and produce a movie off it, even though the legal language might make it seem as if Google could.
"Our terms of service enable us to give you the services you want -- so if you decide to share a document with someone, or open it on a different device, you can," Google said in a Wednesday statement.
The hubbub still may do some good by prodding more people to read the rules... newsfactor.com » |
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