apple

Apple rumors run wild, slow news day confirmed

When it comes to writing about Apple, deciding what you should and should not cover can be tricky.

You can take the machine gun approach: Anything said, written, rumored, or signaled via smoke should be dutifully blogged with a hint of snark and just enough insight to make readers think, "Heeeeeeey, that fella must know the inside dope." This, unfortunately, is what most of the tech press (mea culpa: sometimes including CNET) following Apple does these days. If you don't give readers their Apple fix, the other guys will.

Then there's the high-end approach: you have … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 691: The Babies Have Wi-Fi

In the future, we will love the cockroaches, because they bring the Wi-Fi. Sadly, autonomous deathbots will make life unliveable, and that's assuming the Large Hadron Collider hasn't turned us all into strangelets. In happier news, the music industry is floating a plan to tax everyone who uses the Internet so they can prop up the decaying corpse of their business plan! What a fun day. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 691

The music industry's new extortion scheme http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/27/the-music-industrys-new-extortion-scheme/ http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9905404-7.html

U.S. students, … Read more

Prediction: Apple will eventually dominate the tech industry

So you've probably been told by numerous Apple zealots that their favorite company is the greatest in the world. And while they're all wrong for believing it, their company will eventually become the most dominant in the tech industry. Sorry to break it to you, but it's true.

So why will that happen? Believe it or not, it's not the stretch some may think it is. Let's face it -- Microsoft dominated the industry for years through sheer power and control along with a little business know-how thrown in. And although some like to believe that Bill Gates and company walked in one day and took the industry over, it didn't happen that way. Instead, it took years and a slew of deals to propel Microsoft to the top -- something Apple is working on now.

Now I know what you're saying -- "will this be an Apple fanboy rant about the wonders of Steve Jobs?" Hardly. The fact of the matter is Apple is poised to become the most powerful company in technology and along the way it'll definitely court its share of individuals who will despise its every move. And let's face it -- a company doesn't become the most dominant by being the nicest on the block.… Read more

Apple adds image-editing plug-ins to Aperture

Updated 8:05 AM PDT with additional details on how the plug-ins work.

Apple has added image-editing plug-ins for its Aperture photo editing software as part of a new release of the product.

Aperture 2.1 is a free download for those already running Aperture 2.0, which was released in February. The addition of support for third-party plug-ins gives Aperture users a way to use specialized editing tools not supported by Apple inside the application.

The new release is basically a software development kit for Aperture developers, and has been expected since the release of Aperture 2.0. It … Read more

Of course Mac users enjoy Macs!

Of course silly Mac users are going to flog a study that shows that they, themselves, are five times more likely to say they're "very satisfied" with their operating system than Vista users.

Now, any idiot can see the problem with surveying people who've already admitted to using the Mac.

They're Mac users! They've already drank the Kool Aid! They drank it all up! And possibly drank yours!

Their responses simply can't be trusted because they've already fallen victim to Steve Jobs' voodoo powers.

Hel-loooo?!

Ha-ha! Silly Mac users!

Apple releases updated version of iPhone SDK

Apple has released an updated version of the iPhone software development kit, adding support for a popular tool.

The new SDK is available for downloading on Apple's site, and now comes with Interface Builder. That tool allows you to design user interfaces in line with Apple's human interface guidelines, which is a requirement for iPhone applications.

This is a helpful reminder that the SDK is a beta product until June, when it's scheduled for a formal release. After an initial bottleneck, Apple has started accepting developers into its program to begin developing and testing their applications for … Read more

MacBook Air hacked in security contest

A team of security researchers has won $10,000 for hacking a MacBook Air in two minutes using an undisclosed Safari vulnerability.

IDG News Service is camped out at CanSecWest in lovely Vancouver, Canada, and has chronicled the exploits (gotta love security puns) of Charlie Miller, Jake Honoroff, and Mark Daniel of Independent Security Evaluators during the Pwn to Own contest sponsored by TippingPoint. The team was able to gain control of a MacBook Air on the second day of the hacking competition, which pitted the Air against Windows Vista and Ubuntu machines.

No one was able to execute code … Read more

Report: New Apple product will give your workouts that magic touch

Are you disappointed that your iPhone still hasn't made you sexier in the eyes of potential mates? Hey, don't give up yet. AppleInsider has unearthed a series of patent filings that seem to indicate the company is working on a new "digital lifestyle" product to help track and manage a fitness routine.

In a move that could rival Google's upcoming health initiatives, the Apple screenshots show that health information could also be shared with a user's authorized physicians.

The filings were submitted on Thursday.

The product appears to be an application that would require … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 690: Your stupidity saves dogs

EPISODE_690

Happily ever after for Comcast, BitTorrent? http://www.news.com/newsblog/8301-10784_3-9904448-7.html?tag=nefd.lede

Safari 3.1 for Windows violates its EULA, vulnerable to hacks http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/08/03/27/129236.shtml

YouTube to provide more viewership information http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWUpmd32wRBFgmwTZO5S1sCRYEZgD8VLRIMO1

Will plug-in hybrids crash the grid? Duke Energy says no. http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9904484-54.html?tag=nefd.blgs

Adobe opens shop on Web-based Photoshop Express http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9903446-7.html?tag=nefd.top

Apple settles the amazing multicolor lawsuit http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9903602-37.html

iPO Reports - … Read more

Wolfson snub points to late-summer iPod launch

Expect to see new iPods arrive around the usual time later this year, say around September or so.

Wolfson, a high-end audio chipmaker, notified shareholders Thursday that it "has not been selected by a major Tier 1 customer for inclusion in the next generation of its portable media players, expected to be launched during the third quarter of 2008." Sources told Reuters that "major Tier 1 customer" was Apple, and that the snub came from new versions of the iPod Nano and iPod Touch.

Apple has held a third-quarter iPod event for the last three years, … Read more