The MacBook has been Amazon's bestselling computer this Xmas and is locked in a battle with some HP Pavilions offered at whopping discounts.
The ultra-hip Linux-based Asus EEE I wrote about earlier this month holds a number of spots in the top 25 list. It's nice to see that consumers have wizened to the fact that Macs are better computers than anything running Windows.
Apple is developing a volume control device for its iPods that would automatically calculate how long a person has been listening and at what volume, before gradually reducing the sound level, all in an effort to protect users' hearing, according to the London-based Daily Mail.
Citing a new patent application, the report--to which Apple declined to comment--says the "device will also calculate the amount of 'quiet time' between when the iPod is turned off and when it is restarted, allowing the volume to be increased again to a safe level."
In February 2006, a Louisiana man filed a class action suit against Apple, … Read more
The US Army is starting to buy Macs in order to improve its resistance to security threats. It makes sense that having the army completely standardized on Windows is a bad idea, just as being completely standardized on Macs would be a bad idea. Perhaps enterprises should take note?
Wallington, a division chief in the Army's office of enterprise information systems, says the military is quietly working to integrate Macintosh computers into its systems to make them harder to hack. That's because fewer attacks have been designed to infiltrate Mac computers, and adding more Macs to the military'… Read moreSeems that the US government is finally taking security seriously and choosing Macs. Regardless of the alternative (non-Windows) platform there is an inherent lack of security in a homogenous Windows environment.
The Army's push to use Macs to help protect its computing corps got its start in August 2005, when General Steve Boutelle, the Army's chief information officer, gave a speech calling for more diversity in the Army's computer vendors. He argued the approach would both increase competition among military contractors and strengthen its IT defenses.I would still ask why the government wouldn't just create … Read more
After holding off on the release of a faster iPhone because of concerns about battery life, is Apple really prepared to take a step backward with Intel's Silverthorne chip?
AppleInsider reported Friday that Apple has decided to use Intel's upcoming low-power Silverthorne chip in "not one but multiple products currently situated on its 2008 calendar year product roadmap." Silverthorne is Intel's latest push to capture the handheld/mobile phone market as part of a product concept called the Mobile Internet Device.
The report goes on to say that the most likely candidates for Silverthorne are … Read more
For those of us who have been lucky enough to make a career out of writing about this wacky world of technology, we know (generally) what the limits are and how far we can go before a company will find fault in what we did or come at us for something we wrote.
Most times, those boundaries will be crossed when a writer makes intentionally loaded remarks about the company or she leaks material that shouldn't have been leaked, thus creating an issue where "trade secrets" are made available to the public at large. And while neither may seem too egregious, the latter has sent Think Secret -- a popular Apple rumors site -- into oblivion.
In case you haven't been following the case, Apple sued Think Secret and its owner Nick Ciarelli in 2005 for posting Apple trade secrets on the website. In a statement to CNET back in 2005, Apple said that the company's "DNA is innovation, and the protection of our trade secrets is crucial to our success."
"Apple has filed a civil complaint against the owner of ThinkSecret.com and unnamed individuals who we believe stole Apple's trade secrets," Apple said in its statement. "We believe that Think Secret solicited information about unreleased Apple products from these individuals, who violated their confidentiality agreements with Apple by providing details that were later posted on the Internet."
Amazingly, after two years of legal jockeying between the organizations, Ciarelli has announced that he will close shop due to a settlement reached between the companies.
"I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement," Ciarelli said in a statement. "And will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits."
And while this creates a dangerous precedent for all future Mac rumor sites, what really happened here? Obviously both companies have very little to say about the matter and neither will divulge the true terms of the settlement, so we're all left guessing. But if you ask me, it could have gone down in two ways.… Read more
Think Secret, the Apple rumor Web site, will no longer be published, under the terms of an undisclosed settlelment with Apple Inc. The site issued a small press release on the matter late last night, with Think Secret's publisher Nick Ciarelli noting, "I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits."
The site was sued by Apple in 2005 regarding leaks about upcoming hardware and software products that later came to fruition, including an updated iLife software suite and the Mac … Read more
John Gruber finds a glorious nut of stupidity before the Macalope and gives it the appropriate treatment.
Apple gets a lot of grief for being a net pillager of open source. The company has adopted open-source software into critically important products, yet gives little in return (so the story goes). And yet the Mac gets a lot of love from the open-source crowd. Why? What has Apple done to deserve it?
Roughly Drafted offers a range of reasons, but here are a few that I find particularly salient, starting with the importance of Apple's patent portfolio:
Most open source-centric developers only have a smattering of patents, but companies that back open source, such as Apple, Google, and IBM, have huge portfolios of thousands of patents covering a broad range of technologies. That makes Apple an unassailable ally of open source development and lends corporate legitimacy to the very distributed projects Microsoft is working to undermine with its fear-based anti-marketing....… Read more
Approximately 10 years ago, Microsoft was easily one of the most hated companies in the world. With monopoly-oriented questions swirling around, and Bill Gates acting as the benchmark for just how bad big business can be, public perception of the company couldn't have been worse.
Of course, the most vexing issue surrounding that time was the fact that Microsoft was extremely successful at sitting atop the tech mountain, and much of its competition faded due to poor business practices and not necessarily as the result of product pricing.
If we fast-forward 10 years, the technology industry landscape looks much different. And while Microsoft is still hated by hard-core tech gurus, it has become an aging empire that may be on the verge of a huge collapse. To make matters worse, its figurehead--Bill Gates--is poised for his departure at the Consumer Electronics Show, and the future of his legacy is in doubt.
And with possible turmoil facing Redmond, a new company has emerged that could be in danger of taking the top spot as the world's most hated tech company. Only this time, the company was once an underdog that people hoped could turn things around. Well, it did. And with the help of its deitylike leader, some believe that Apple is on the verge of becoming this generation's so-called evil empire.
Of course, whether it really is an evil company doesn't matter. In this business, the court of public opinion will determine Apple's fate, and if it continues to do what it's doing, it may become one of the most hated tech companies in the world within the next 10 years.… Read more
Reviews - Games and Gear
Internet & Media
880Facebook Likes
436Tweets
333Google Plus Shares
The one stop shop for all things iPhone
What's the #1 music streaming-app for iOS? Who wins in an iPhone v. S4 faceoff? We've got it covered with iPhone news, rumors, app recommendations, and more.
Manage updates with the Download App