Remains of the Day: Water, water everywhere

The great thing about the Internet is that there’s something for everyone. Maybe you like Macs. Maybe you like tea brewing apparatuses in the form of a penguin—we’re not here to judge. In the meantime, however, you can get the skinny on the creation of Apple’s legendary 1984 ad, hear a tech industry CEO rage at Steve Jobs, or watch as Microsoft drops cash like it’s hot. It’s a super-sized edition of remainders for Monday, January 31, 2011.

Apple changes its stance on water damage

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Macworld Expo 2011: Freehands brings a warm feeling to iOS device users

This week a lot of the U.S. is going to be in a deep freeze. For people who want to use their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad in the great outdoors, that generally means that your fingers are going to be left uncovered and numb with the cold since most gloves can't provide the capacitive touch that the user interface requires.
The son of a glove manufacturer, Freehands CEO Josh Rubin came up with a solution to the cold dilemma in late 2007 when he developed the first Freehands gloves. Many of the

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Motorola teases Xoom Super Bowl ad: '2011 looks a lot like 1984'

Moto hasn't been shying away from the Apple jabs this year, and it's got another one in store for the Super Bowl this week with a commercial that'll poke fun at Cupertino's 1984 Macintosh ad, perhaps the most famous Super Bowl spot of all time. In it, the company says that "2011 looks a lot like 1984" with "one authority, one design, one way to work" while showing Planet Earth wearing a pair of shiny white iPod / iPhone buds. Boom, here comes a new planet -- a red, gaseous one with an "M" logo

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Keep your iPad 2 display hopes reasonable

The iPad 2 will not have a "retina display." That's the realization that most people have been coming to for some time now. Not long after the iPhone 4 came out, I read an article which mentioned the very significant challenges in bringing such a high resolution screen to a display the size of the The iPad.
John Paczkowski over at AllThingsD cites a report originally from AppleInsider suggesting the iPad 2 "will feature the same 1024×768 resolution display as its predecessor."
Which

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Windows Phone 7's live tiles turned into a pretty convincing iOS theme (video)

Had enough of seeing grids and folders of static (Calendar app excluded, of course) icons on your iDevice? Well, here's one option to relieving your tedium: a Windows Phone 7 theme for the iPhone and iPod touch. You'll naturally need to jailbreak your iOS handheld in order to restyle it quite so dramatically, but once you do, you'll have all your precious apps sorted in a neat alphabetical pile on one screen, with the other waiting patiently for your customizations and live tile choices. It's

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Macworld Expo 2011: Hands-on with Splashtop Remote

iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad owners who'd like to remotely control their Mac or Windows machine with full audio and video streaming now have another solution available in Splashtop Remote. The free Mac server software, required in order to connect from your iOS device, is now out of beta testing and is available at http://www.splashtop.com/remote.
We caught up with the folks at the Splashtop booth today and were able to see the app in action. If you are interested in the software but have not

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OMG/JK: Massive Google Fragments (And An iPod Nano Watch!)

This week’s episode of OMG/JK, the show I do on TechCrunch TV alongside Jason Kincaid, is all Google all the time. So just to even things out a bit, we kick things off by showing off my awesome new TikTok iPod nano wristwatch. For those who don’t remember, this is the result of the most successful Kickstarter project ever.
We then dive into the Google stuff including Eric Schmidt being replaced by Larry Page as CEO, Google’s index changes, Google Voice number porting, and the

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Expo Notes: SellYourMac.com buys old iPhones, Macs

There’s a lot of buzz about the new iPhone and iPad. You could offset the cost of a new device by selling your old one to SellYourMac.com. The company was at Macworld Expo to showcase their services.
SellYourMac.com buys old Macs and iOS devices. Quotes are obtained by filling out a form on the company’s Website, and by providing pictures and serial numbers of the hardware you want to sell. When SellYourMac.com receives the hardware, it runs tests to make sure the hardware is in proper

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Mac Pundit Showdown: Live at Macworld 2011

by Philip Michaels, Macworld.com
From Thursday on the floor of Macworld 2011, it's a special live version of Mac Pundit Showdown! Philip Michaels hosts the panel, which features Glenn Fleishman, Lex Friedman, Paul Kafasis, and Dan Moren. Let the punditry begin!


Please note that a brief technical glitch wiped out one of Phil's questions. We've inserted a note at the appropriate point.
The Macworld Podcast feed is providing the audio version of a video broadcast from the show

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Remains of the Day: They call me Mr. Glass

Broken iPhone? Take it to court! Meanwhile, streaming video consumers apparently prefer the big screen, and Apple can’t define obscenity, but sure knows what it looks like when you want to laser-etch it into one of its products. The remainders for Friday, January 28, 2011

Donald LeBuhn Files Class Action Lawsuit in LA Against Apple: Says iPhone 4 Glass Casing Sucks and is Not as Strong as Apple Advertises (LAWeekly)
The so-called “Glassgate” scandal returns as a Los Angeles resident

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iConnectivity presents iConnectMIDI at Macworld 2011

I stopped by the iConnectivity booth here at Macworld because I'd heard about a zero-latency MIDI-to-iOS hub they were releasing. As you'll see in the video below -- at least for musicians with MIDI elements in their kit -- it was worth the stop! Using CoreMIDI (iOS 4.2 only), the iConnectMIDI unit can provide a connection between multiple (up to 8) MIDI sources (both legacy DIN and USB->MIDI) and your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or even a Mac or Windows desktop. In the demo they set up, there

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Expo notes: iFixit on breaking down Apple products

On Friday at Macworld 2011, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens gave an hour-long presentation centering on his company’s penchant for taking gadgets apart. iFixit, of course, disassembles pretty much every new Apple product, down to its innermost parts (like the iPad, the iPhone 4, and the Apple TV)—and, more impressively, is usually able to put those devices back together again, too.
As Wiens explained, iFixit began as a parts company. The company sells more Apple parts than anyone besides

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OnCue 2.0 adds podcast support

An app that lets music fans create and share playlists directly from their iPhone has been updated with features that make for more flexible podcast listening.


OnCue 2.0, an offering from developer Daniel Pourhadi, made its debut this month. The app is pitched as a “DJ-style” music player that lets users organize playlists from their phone's iTunes library, look ahead to see the next song in that playlist, and color code-albums, artists, and songs for easier organization and

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Monster iMotion adds gesture control to your iPod, cigarette lighter

We haven't always gotten along with Monster or enjoyed the MSRP of its products, but this latest one shows a bit of promise -- and a bit of price gouging too. It's the Monster iMotion, a car adapter for your iPod or iPhone that not only will charge it via the cigarette lighter but lets you get your motion control on, too. A wave of the mitten can be used to change tracks and the universally familiar "talk to the hand" gesture can pause. It doesn't look quite as comprehensive as EyeSight's

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Alphyn Industry jackets play iPad close to the chest, stick smartphones on your wrist

When startup Alphyn Industries speaks of jacketing an Apple iPad, the company means it in a literal sense -- this PADX-1 Ledge is a form-fitting polyester and silicone pullover with a zippered shelf to both protect your slate and offer easy access. Twin straps hold up the slate in a work-friendly position, connected to load-bearing straps built into the jacket that fully distribute the weight -- a technique founder Ben Raviv learned as a ballistics specialist for defense equipment provider

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Look Out, Skype: Viber Coming To Android In March

We’re pretty big fans of Viber around these parts, as evidenced by Robin calling it “amazingly amazing” when it launched for the iPhone last month. Built to allow 100% free VoIP calls over 3G and WiFi, it’s one of a small handful that dares venture into the same territory as the seemingly-untouchable giant, Skype. Whether or not Viber ever finagles any sizable chunk of the mobile VoIP market out of Skype’s grasps, competition is always a good thing.
Vibers main

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Current MacBook Pro hardware growing more scarce

If you are thinking about buying a MacBook Pro, the tea leaves suggest that you might want to wait before you pull out your wallet.
MacRumors points out that Amazon is currently showing long wait times before some of the MacBook Pro models ship. They add that they've heard from others that supplies are running low.
Given the revision history of the MacBook Pro line, it would not be surprising to see a new version in the near future -- in fact, it would be surprising not to see an update soon.

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Macworld Industry Forum: Jason Snell on how Apple does it

News from Macworld Expo, all week at TUAW.
At the Macworld 2011 industry forum this morning, Jason Snell, the editorial director of Macworld magazine, talked about "how Apple does it." His first point was that Apple is not just Steve Jobs. Steve created a great management team that just doesn't get enough press. Regardless of what happens with Steve, Snell says, Apple will do fine.

Apple has an uncanny sense of timing. They don't get everything first but, when they do, they do it right. The

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AppToyz iPhone-controlled RC car and copter are more reasons to have fun with your phone (video)

We, like you, have looked longingly at the Parrot AR.Drone. We've had a lot of fun experimenting with its augmented reality gaming ways and spent a lot of time sighing at its $ 299 price. Thankfully there's now a much cheaper option -- much less sophisticated, but one that is nevertheless cheaper. It's the AppToyz helicopter, coming to retail soon and costing a (relatively) affordable £50, or about $ 80. It looks to be evolved from the standard, tiny, IR-controlled helicopters that are

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Apple awarded patent for capacitive touchscreen-friendly 'magic' gloves

Apple received a patent for a glove system that is compatible with a touchscreen. Anyone who has used an iPhone, iPod touch or an iPad in a cold weather climate knows the pain of having to remove a glove to answer a call or check an email. Even thin driving gloves impede your ability to use your iOS device.

Rather than smear your screen with pork fat, Apple might have a more palatable solution for your cold weather needs. This latest patent describes a two-layer glove that includes a

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Enjoy FLAC files on your iPhone and iPad

by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld.com


Both iTunes and iOS devices support several digital audio file formats, including AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF, and Apple Lossless. The first two are lossy, compressed formats (providing for small files), while the next two are uncompressed formats (resulting in huge files). The last, Apple Lossless, is a compressed-yet-lossless format. It falls somewhere in between in terms of file size, but doesn’t sacrifice sonic quality in the process (although debates rage

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Free Photoshop Express 1.5 for iOS adds retina display and more

Adobe has updated Photoshop Express for iOS 4.2 devices, and now supports the Retina Display for better quality images. The app is faster and more responsive, and adds background uploads and multitasking support.
The app provides a limited subset of Photoshop functions, like crop, straighten, rotate, saturation, contrast, sharpen and other basics, and it includes a way to add frames.
If you have a Photoshop.com account, you can access any of your stored pictures. People who updated today are

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Google adds a weather widget to iPhone and Android search

Google launched a new weather search feature for iOS and Android browsers. When you navigate to google.com and search for "weather", you will be presented with a widget-like interface that shows your current conditions and immediate forecast. A slider will let you view a detailed hour-by-hour forecast for the upcoming 12 hours.

The new feature is available only in English and uses your location information to pull down the forecast. For iPod touch users that lack a dedicated GPS, this

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Paying with your iPhone at Starbucks: hands-on

Last week, Starbucks updated its Starbucks Card app to handle payments through your iPhone and iPod touch at most Starbucks locations throughout the country. It was originally part of a pilot program when the app debuted in 2009, then expanded to Starbucks locations inside Target stores, and now it's nationwide.
There is still an exception, and that is Starbucks located inside Barnes & Noble. These locations are owned by Barnes & Noble themselves and will not accept Starbucks cards.

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Second-gen Apple Peel 520 caught on video doing GPRS, looking like an iPhone 4

Last year's Apple Peel 520 turned your iPod touch into an iPhone -- mostly, accepting a SIM card and allowing you to send and receive calls, texts, and even throwing a little extra battery life your way. Now we're looking at the next generation device and, which certainly looks a lot more sleek and less bulky than the previous model -- from a distance it could be confused for an iPhone 4. This version also allows the use of GPRS data, as you can see demonstrated in the video below. No mention

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Tim Cook in NYT, says joining Apple was 'best decision I ever made'

The New York Times has written a nice profile of Tim Cook, who is once again sliding into the driver's seat at Apple while Steve Jobs takes medical leave. To hear the paper tell it, Cook is both a man well-prepared to fill Jobs' role if needed, and yet not exactly the creative visionary Jobs has become. While Jobs runs the company with a wide-ranging vision for products and how they're used, Cook is the details man -- a master of spreadsheets, factory dealings, supply chains and

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"10 billionth app" Mom hung up on Apple

Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, UK was the winner of Apple's 10 billion App Store download contest. The UK mother won the contest with the Paper Glider application that was downloaded by one of her daughters using an iPod touch. In a comical turn of events, Davis feared she had lost the US$ 10,000 prize when she inadvertently hung up on Apple.

According to Cult of Mac, Davis received a congratulatory phone call from Apple's Eddy Cue, the Vice President of iTunes. Davis initially believed the

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Apple countersues S3 Graphics in patent dispute

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has countersued S3 Graphics after the company, a maker of graphics-visualization technologies for the notebook and desktop markets, originally sued Apple last June for patent infringement related to a number of Apple's devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch and MacBook computers. The original complaint stated that Apple has violated four S3 patents relating to image processing systems and "fixed-rate block-based image compression with inferred pixel

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Zibri spots more Qualcomm evidence in iTunes

The evidence of a shift in Apple's wireless chipset choices for upcoming iDevices is growing stronger. First there was Engadget's strongly sourced report indicating that Qualcomm (the key innovator/inventor in the CDMA space) was going to take over the radio component sourcing for both the iPhone 5 and future iPads, instead of the Infineon hardware that's been used up until now.
Add to the pile this new post from jailbreak impressario Zibri, who says that there are key items in the current

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Boom – Apple’s App Store Hits 10 Billion Downloads

Here we are. Apple has announced on this promotion page that there have been 10 billion downloads from its App Store since its inception.
It’s a huge milestone in the life of the App Store, which lets people downloads games and software programs for their iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads (lots of those out there).
Apple says it will soon announce who downloaded the 10 billionth app (or submits a free entry form at the right time) – he or she will win a US $ 10,000 iTunes Gift

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Apple's App Store hits 10 billion downloads

Now that the number of App Store downloads to iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads around the world has handily exceeded the population of Planet Earth, we can hopefully put this story to bed until they hit another factor of ten -- and as unreasonable as 100 billion downloads sounds, we'll bet it actually won't take that long. That's right: just a few days after kicking off its online counter, Apple's officially hit the 10 billion mark, which is a whole lot of software any way you slice it. So,

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iOS 4.3 beta suggests iPad 2 has one megapixel rear camera

"The iPad 2 has a camera." We know, it feels all but certain at this point (even when it's far from official), but perhaps we can expand on that quoted assertion further. Like everyone else who can laugh at Objective-C jokes, 9 to 5 Mac has been digging through the latest iOS SDK and found some data referring to K94, which it claims is the codename for the next-generation iPad. (For reference, the original iPad was K48.) Anyway, within that code lies a string reference to "Back Facing 1MP

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Bigstream offers ad hoc wireless streaming for your iOS device and iPod

Need to give a presentation but don't want to futz with the vagaries of getting on the local network wherever you land? Want to stream music in a strange place from your iPod nano? Want to play games on your TV from your iPad while controlling from your iPhone without the VGA-out cable adapter and separate audio cable? Bigstream is coming out with a rechargeable adapter to do all of this and more, although it'll only be streaming a somewhat lower-res video than VGA (it's the old RCA composite

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The customer is sometimes right: How Apple handles customer outcries

The customer is sometimes right.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses,” said Henry Ford. Like the automobile pioneer, Apple has long eschewed focus groups and popular opinion in determining how make its products insanely great, focusing instead on making its own design decisions without soliciting its customers’ prior approval. But even Apple and CEO Steve Jobs may not always know best. Sometimes, the company has revisited its decisions in light of

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Amid outcry, Apple says it monitors work conditions in China

by Michael Kan, IDG News Service
Apple restated its pledge to provide safe working conditions for workers assembling of its products after environmental groups in China released a report criticizing the tech company for failing to be transparent about its suppliers.

“Apple is committed to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility throughout our supply base,” said Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu in a statement. The company requires all suppliers to sign up to Apple’s code

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Kindle DTP, Now Kindle Direct Publishing, Extends 70% Royalty Option To Canada

Amazon’s Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) is no more, at least not by that name. Starting today, the self-publishing program will be known as Kindle Direct Publishing.
With Kindle Direct Publishing, anyone can self-publish books on the Kindle Store, free of charge.
Since June 2010, authors can participate in a 70 percent royalty program and make books available for purchase on Kindle devices and Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, PC, Mac, Blackberry, and Android devices.
Amazon

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Apple criticized by Chinese environmental groups

Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from Macworld UK. Visit Macworld UK’s blog page for the latest Mac news from across the Atlantic.

Environmental groups in China have criticized Apple for a lack of regard for its Chinese suppliers, blaming the Cupertino company for poor environmental and work safety standards.
Reuters reported this week that the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) published a critical report on the Apple supply chain, accusing the company

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Apple patent suggests Magic Mouse with display panel

A newly revealed Apple patent has an interesting take on the Magic Mouse: the patent shows a display embedded in its touch surface, creating sort of a mini iPod touch-style interface. It's not clear just how much processing power the display-enabled mouse itself would have, but uses mentioned in the patent seem to involve the display working in conjunction with actual Mac apps, like showing a calculator when using the Numbers app on your Mac, or a magnification of text when using Pages.

There

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Don't believe the icons: iPod 2 unlikely on February 9

9to5 Mac and others have suggested that the Calendar app icon in the iOS 4.3 beta hints at a release date for iPad 2. Unfortunately, it's not likely.

A Springboard preview image in the latest iOS 4.3 beta shows the Calendar app with a big number 9 front-and-center. Remembering that the original iPad showed a 27, and that it was released on the 27th, some wondered if that 9 was a bit of foreshadowing.

If so, we missed the hint long ago, because the same 9 can be found on original iPads

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Average Apple salary is only $46k

John Cassidy of The New Yorker took a deep dive into the balance sheets of both Apple and Goldman Sachs to see which company offers the best return on the capital it employs. Using the latest earnings reports from the two American companies, Cassidy calculates that the two firms share similar profit margins but vastly different economic returns. Cassidy looked at each company's return on assets (ROA) and calculated that Apple is twenty times more profitable than Goldman Sachs.

According to

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iOS 4.3 rumored to have PhotoStream service, iPad FaceTime, PhotoBooth apps

They're not just rumors any more, or Apple's setting us up for a big April Fools Day.
The developer release of iOS 4.3 Beta 2 has a home page icons image that's used in the wallpaper settings, showing the standard icons on your choice of wallpaper to show you how your choice will look.

This new overlay file, aptly named Home Screen Overlay Facetime ~ iPad, has three more icons: FaceTime, Camera, and PhotoBooth.

FaceTime will let iPad 2 owners video chat with their iPod Touch, iPhone, or Mac

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Music for Shuffle features music designed for the iPod shuffle

This is fascinating to me -- musician Matthew Irvine Brown has compiled a set of 18 musical tracks, about an hour of music total, designed to be played in random order on the iPod shuffle. There was a lot of care and thought put into this as he designed the music to be atmospheric pieces. Even when shuffled they'll work together no matter which order they're played. He also designed the sound of the music to fit with the iPod shuffle, hiding the glitch heard as the iPod switches tracks. As a

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App review: AirView

We just came across a neat little iOS app called AirView which, as you can probably tell from the name, transforms your iOS devices into AirPlay video receivers. And since iOS can also output video via AirPlay, this means you can use AirView to either grab AirPlay streams from your computer's iTunes, or you can stream videos from one iOS device to another (provided that they are both running iOS 4.2 and above, of course). Theoretically, little work is required to get the ball rolling -- just

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Griffin StompBox brings guitar effects app to your feet, lets your hands play

With the arrival of virtual guitar effects on portable devices like the iPhone and iPad, many guitarists are re-thinking the way they set up and play their electric guitars. For the average player, an almost endless array of varied tones and effects are now available in high-quality virtual form at a fraction of the cost and weight of their real-world counterparts. It's not surprising that many guitarists are turning to virtual pedal boards for practicing, band rehearsals and the occasional

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Starbucks lets you pay for that Trenta with the iPhone in your shaking, overcaffeinated hands

Expanding a trial that had already been underway in a few markets, Starbucks is now rolling out its Starbucks Card mobile app nationally with payment capability built-in, meaning you needn't reach into your wallet, pocketbook, or purse just because you're jonesing for that midday caffeine fix. Instead, you can fire up the app -- which supports the iPhone, iPod touch, and a number of BlackBerry models -- and hold up a barcode on the screen to a scanner in the store, at which point monies will be

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Apple’s Insane Q1 ’11: $26.7 Billion Revenue, $6 Billion Profit; 7.33 Million iPads, 16.24 Million iPhones

Apple has had a rough couple of days. Yesterday, CEO Steve Jobs announced a medical leave of absence. As a result, the stock plunged today before rallying back to close down just over 2 percent. But this should cheer everyone up. Apple has just announced their Q1 2011 (their holiday quarter) earnings — and as many anticipated, they’re massive.
How massive? Well, coming off its best quarter ever in terms of revenue ($ 20.34 billion in Q4), Apple was projecting $ 23 billion in revenue

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iPods assist German doctors during surgery

The next time you are wheeled into the operating room, don't be surprised to see the surgeon toting an iPod touch. Before you try to scramble out of your gurney, he or she will most likely be using the portable media play to assist with the surgery, not rock out to some tunes while you are under the knife. According to a report out of Welt Online, an iPod-based system has been developed by German doctors and is being used in surgical procedures that require the precision only a computer can

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With Tim Cook, Apple turns to a familiar face

With the news that Steve Jobs will take another medical leave of absence from the company he helped found more than 30 years ago, Apple will lose its most recognizable public face. But the man tasked with filling in for Jobs’s day-to-day duties should be a familiar face to most Apple watchers.
Chief operating officer Tim Cook takes up the reigns from Jobs during the CEO’s medical leave. It’s a familiar role for Cook, who joined Apple 13 years ago. This is his third time in the

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Apple to focus on finance amid questions about Jobs

Apple will announce its first-quarter earnings Tuesday afternoon. But whatever news the company reports on its performance during the holiday shopping season—and analysts are expecting another strong quarter—it’s sure to be overshadowed by the news that came out of Apple on Monday.

That was when Steve Jobs revealed, via a memo to Apple employees, that he would take a leave of absence from his day-to-day CEO duties to focus on his health. It’s the second health-related sabbatical since

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AirView brings AirPlay reception to iOS devices

If you've been looking for device-to-device AirPlay support, the free AirView utility that just debuted on App Store offers a simple solution. Offering a no-frills AirPlay receiver, AirView allows you to watch AirPlay video streams from other devices or, if you have AirFlick installed on your Macintosh, from your primary computer.

As I've written extensively before, I'm not entirely sure why or when you'd use this option (e.g. "Hey, instead of watching that movie on my HDTV, why not use a

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Video: Glasses-free 3D using iOS accelerometer and camera

Here's some speculation that definitely came from the House of Crackpot Theories, but since it's kind of a slow day with the holiday today, feel free to let your imagination run wild. This video suggests that the next iPod touch could use its internal gyroscope and the Facetime camera for a sort of psuedo glasses-free 3D. Icons on the home screen could tilt and shift according to how you're looking at the phone, and games could bend and shift around as you move the phone and your own head in

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A Few Thoughts On Apple’s 2011, Stock, Tim Cook, And The Future

As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking an indefinite medical leave of absence from the company, while remaining on as CEO. As I’m the guy around these parts who is known for writing about Apple, I figured I’d weigh in on some of the high level ramifications of this. I don’t plan to write about Jobs’ health often, as quite frankly, the idea of going on and on with endless speculation about someone who is clearly quite sick doesn’t

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Bump study: 90% of iOS users run 4.X

Bump, the folks behind that iPhone app that allows you to quickly and easily exchange contacts, released a set of stats about its users that says almost 90% of iOS device owners are already running some version of iOS 4.0 or above. Bump reportedly has over 25 million downloads, so we are talking about a decent sample of the iOS user population (though I'd argue that it's not quite as widespread as the stats might be on an app like Angry Birds -- still, we'll take what we can get). According to

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App Store could surpass total iTunes music sales by March

Anyone who has visited the Apple website in the past few days knows that sometime in the very near future, the total number of apps sold through the iTunes App Store will go over 10 billion. After all, Apple is conducting a contest in which the person who buys that magic 10 billionth app will win a US$ 10,000 iTunes gift card, so many of us are taking a frequent peek at the numbers.
What most people might not realize is that the iTunes App Store is poised to reach the 10 billion app mark in

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iPad 2 specs starting to take shape

A number of rumors and possible hardware leaks over the weekend are starting to give us a clearer picture of what the iPad 2 might look like and its possible specs. Before the weekend, we'd already heard the next-gen iPad will have a redesigned case with a flatter backside (similar to the iPod touch), and the new iPad is rumored to be shipping in early April, one year after the original's release to market. The next-gen iPad is also supposedly shipping with front- and rear-facing

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Review: Onion Microfiche Headline Reader for iPhone

[unable to retrieve full-text content]This app provides headlines -- and nothing else -- from the satirical Onion newspaper. It's pretty silly, but if you're a fan of the paper, you'll get some laughs out of this app.









iPod reviews and news of iPod-related products, including iPod nano, iPod

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Asmyco: Each iOS Device Has Downloaded More Than 60 Apps

Asmyco, the Helsinki-based app developer / industry analysis advisory firm founded and led by a longtime Nokia manager, has just published a new report on its blog with notewrthy data on the increase in iOS downloads by device.
The company reports that more than 60 apps have been downloaded for every iOS device sold. That’s up from 10 apps downloaded for every iPhone/iPod touch in 2008, says Asmyco. So how did the firm get to that number? As the Apple App Store approaches 10 billion

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Magnets in Skunk Juice headphones protect your player

by Albert Filice, PC World
Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from the Geek Tech blog at PCWorld.com.

Ever have your headphones on and then got them caught on something while moving, causing them to rip out of your ears? It looks like Skunk Juice earbuds are a solution to this problem. They use the same basic concept that MacBook chargers use, a magnetic connection that comes free when tugged too hard, but with earbuds. This lets them break free easily without damaging

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Rumor: iPad 2 coming in early April

Now that we have the Verizon iPhone out of the way, the iPad 2 rumors are starting to pile up quickly.
In what seems to be more of an educated guess than an actual report from a "reliable source," German-language Apple site MacNotes.de says that the next-generation iPad is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on either April 2 or April 9, 2011. This doesn't surprise the blogging team at TUAW; we've often felt that the iPad 2 or whatever it will be called would be released on an annual schedule

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Millennial: For The First Time, Android Surpasses iOS Mobile Ad Impression Share

This has been a significant few weeks for Millennial Media. The ad network just closed a $ 27.5 million investment round, announced that the company had tripled its revenue in 2010, and today, is releasing one of its more noteworthy monthly reports. Millennial, whose ads reach 63 million of a total of 77 million mobile web users in the U.S., or 81 percent of the U.S. mobile web; is reporting that for the first time in the company’s history Android surpassed iOS as the largest Smartphone

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Seas0nPass jailbreak app for Apple TV now available

The folks at fireCore have released Seas0nPass, a jailbreak application for the second generation Apple TV. Seas0nPass is a tethered jailbreak solution that requires you to connect your Apple TV to your computer briefly during boot. Similar to the Pwnage tool app, the jailbreak application lets you load custom IPSW files onto your Apple TV.

While Seas0nPass is new, fireCore is a name that should be familiar to Apple TV owners. This group also released aTV Flash, a software package that adds

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Get Off Of My Cloud, Shazam Discovers Spotify

Shazam, the mobile music discovery service, is adding integration with music streaming service Spotify, a feature request that I'm sure has been rampant among hardcore users.

Users of Shazam's free and premium apps for iPhone, iPod and Android will now be able to access Spotify directly through a new ‘Play in Spotify’ feature, which upon Shazam recognising or recommending a song, takes them directly to Spotify where they can listen to the full track. That's if they have a Spotify Premium

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iOS 4.3 beta arrives for devs, brings AirPlay video support to apps, personal hotspot and customizable iPad side switch (update: video!)

We'd been disappointed to find that iOS 4.2 only brought AirPlay video support to built-in Apple apps on the iPhone and iPad, but it looks like that's changing soon -- Apple just posted up the first iOS 4.3 beta, which allows devs to send video from apps or websites to an Apple TV. There's also a new beta of the Apple TV software for testing it out -- it doesn't have any version notes, so we don't know if it offers any additional features as well.

There are quite a few new features included

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PBS launches free iOS app for watching full-length video

PBS has just announced its own app for iPhone and iPod touch, and from the looks of it, it's a doozy (if you're super into PBS, that is). That's right, the free PBS app will allow you to watch full-length PBS productions on your device -- including its popular news programs like FRONTLINE and the PBS Newshour. You won't be able to watch everything that PBS offers just yet, but the app also has a built-in calendar which should be super useful if you happen to structure your entire life around

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Avatron's Dave Howell on the future of Air Display, Air Sharing, and Print Sharing

Last week at CES 2011 we met up with Dave Howell, whose Avatron Software has delivered three apps to the App Store so far. Air Display and Air Sharing are already TUAW favorites, and Print Sharing is a relatively new app targeting one feature specifically: printing to a shared printer directly from your iPhone or iPod touch. Howell walked us through his three apps, then talked a little bit about the future roadmap of each and the rest of what Avatron is up to.

Air Display is still Avatron's

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Gear4's Pocket Loops keyboard creates music with your iPhone or iPod touch

Gear4's Pocket Loops keyboard (we also saw their Unity Remote running at CES last week) represents something I think we'll see a lot more of -- devices designed to work only when paired with a smartphone or tablet device. iPhones and iPads are leading the way into a new era of mobile devices, and I think more and more toys and products will do what the Pocket Loops keyboard does: offload the heavy lifting of processing to a mobile device, and instead focus on bringing an interface into

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Official Playstation app for iPhone now available in select countries

Sony announced its official Playstation app was coming to iOS last month, and now it has landed in the App Store. The PlayStation App hooks into Sony's PlayStation network by requiring you to login using your network ID. The gaming-oriented application lets you follow your friends, find the games they own and read their status updates. You can also monitor the trophies that you have earned and keep track of current happenings via the PlayStation blog. While the PlayStation app lets you digest

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Nike talks iPhone, running, and its connected devices

Nike was at CES last week to premiere its new Nike+ SportWatch GPS, a sports watch hooked up to GPS via TomTom-based technology, designed to work with the popular Nike+ system. While the idea of the watch is cool (it will track all of your runs, even if not hooked up to the GPS system right away), the interface is nowhere near as a nice as any given Apple product. It would have been better to bring the same functionality to an iPod nano app which you could then strap on to your wrist.

We did

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TUAW's Daily App: Gravity Wars

Last week while we were at CES, I asked our editor-in-chief, Victor Agreda, for one of his favorite iPhone games, and he told me one that I'd never heard of: Gravity Wars. It's a very retro affair -- the idea is that you control a pixelated ship and fire, given an angle and speed, at another ship on a starfield. Your lines are drawn out as you fire on the screen, and the goal is to navigate the complicated gravity to hit the opposing ship. It's simple, but very interesting -- you end up

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iWork.com beta adds Keynote animations, presentation embedding

Users of Apple's iWork.com public beta received an email this morning with an "important service message" about new features and enhancements to the service.
In the email, Apple notes that it's now possible to play back Keynote '09 presentations on the web with videos and animations. Over 15 animations work as expected, and video, hyperlinks and audio are all usable in the presentations. This new capability provides a way for iWork.com users to display Keynote presentations in such a way that

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Startup Sherpa (Kickstarter): Going Direct To The Audience For Crowdsourced Funding

If you want to crowdsource the funding for a project—whether it is a product, album, or a film—one of the best places to find both patrons and early customers is Kickstarter. In this week’s episode of Startup Sherpa, host Chris Dixon dives deep into the crowdsourced-funding phenomenon with Kickstarter founder Perry Chen.
The majority of projects on Kickstarter are creative ones involving film, art, or music. But product design and startups can be just as creative. Chen describes

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Five Ways The Verizon iPhone Will Change The Mobile Landscape

It has been a litany akin to prayer in certain circles: “Everything will be better when Verizon gets the iPhone. I’ll buy it then.” But what will a Verizon iPhone really change? Let’s think this through.
First, expect iPhone sales to surpass Droid sales for a brief period and then level off. My friend (a former Hell’s Angel) told me how a Verizon rep sold his niece a Droid X explaining that it was as good as the iPhone. After seeing my her uncle’s iPhone,

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Daniel Raffel’s Favorite New Geek Stuff Of 2010

Daniel Raffel is a former Yahoo product manager and a newbie entrepreneur. A year ago we asked him to write a guest post telling us about his favorite new products, projects and features of 2009. The post below is an updated list of his favorite new geek stuff from 2010.
Looking back at 2010, I’m particularly struck by the quantity and quality of new projects that launched. Just when I thought I had time to start reflecting on the year another project popped up onto my radar! And then

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Happy 10th Birthday, iTunes!

You've come a long way, baby. Back on your birthday on January 9, 2001 at Macworld Expo, you were just a music player and manager -- the Apple-ized offspring of SoundJam MP, given a fresh face. Soon enough, though, you would become the conduit for iPod synchronization, the platform for music and video purchases, and now the landing zone for the iOS App Store.
Not bad for a ten-year-old. Even though we may tease you for your vanities and complain about your sluggish, do-everything approach, we

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Wireless Media Stick hands-on: stream your content to anything with a USB port

The Wireless Media Stick is an interesting little product that aims to bring media streaming to pretty much anything with a USB port. If the concept sounds familiar, that's because it kind of is -- we reviewed the Infinitec Infinite USB Memory Drive late last year. This USB stick has built-in WiFi, so you connect it to your network and can plug it into pretty much anything with a USB port that can read a mass storage device. We saw it demoed in a Blu-ray player as well as an iPod dock (both

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iRecord Pro transfers grandma's VHS tapes directly to your iOS device or Mac

The iRecord Pro Personal Media Recorder has been around for a couple of years, but I couldn't help but notice this year it was connected to an iPad. Apparently the onboard analog-to-digital converter will also upload your MP4 converted video directly to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. It works on a Mac too, but it also works on a PC, PSP and a raft of other devices.
One thing that seems a bit odd: you have to pay for a firmware upgrade to allow transfer to the iPad, according to the iRecord

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SteelSeries trots out Spectrum 7xb headset, Siberia Neckband for iPod, iPhone and iPad

SteelSeries is on hand here at CES, and as with Sleek Audio, Turtle Beach and hordes of others, it's also introducing new cans at the show. First up is the Spectrum 7xb wireless headset for Xbox 360, which touts a retractable microphone, four-piece breakdown for travel and interchangeable cloth and leather earcups. You'll also get in-game volume controls along the right earcup, LiveMix technology -- which balances in-game audio with voice communication -- and the new ExactSND feature, a

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Altec Lansing Q1 2011 product line hands-on

For those who've been wondering what Altec Lansing's got up its sleeves for this year, we stopped by its CES booth to check out its forthcoming range of speakers and iPod docks. Most notably, a few of the new models bear the same ID as the Octiv Duo, featuring a curved face with a central ridge running lengthwise across the speakers. Come Spring, European folks will get to pick up the VS2721 2.1 system and the VS2720 2.0 kit, with the former besting its predecessor -- the trapezium-shaped

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iRig Mic: because your iPad, iPhone and iPod just aren't complete sans a microphone

IK Multimedia, the same dudes and dudettes responsible for the downright hilarious iKlip, seem to be on somewhat of a hot streak. This week, the company's hitting back with the iRig iMic, hailed as the first handheld condenser microphone for the iPhone. The image above truly explains it all -- it's designed to plug directly into your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, and so long as you've got a recording app of choice, you'll be capturing your vocals in no time flat. The obvious next step is to run

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Splashtop Remote Desktop adds Android compatibility, opens another avenue for Windows remote access

We aren't quite sure we're on the same page as Splashtop's CEO, who is seemingly on a mission to "build the Bridge to Anywhere," but we're all for a remote access client for Google's mobile OS. Shortly after bringing your Windows PC to the iPhone, iPod and iPad, the aforementioned company has now issued an Android client. As you'd probably guess, it allows anyone with an Android-based smartphone or tablet to tap into their networked Windows PC, with content and applications both accessible.

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HyperMac responds with vengeance, and non-patent infringing adapter

You may remember back in September the sad story of an Apple filed patent-infringement lawsuit that HyperMac and their beloved HyperMac batteries found themselves at the end of. The big whigs in Cupertino accussed HyperMac of using their patented MagSafe power connector and 30-pin iPhone / iPod dock connectors without the proper licensing agreements. Well, HyperMac has responded with a clever yet uninvasive way to avoid future legal ramification and still satisfy a power hungry family of

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4i at CES 2011: iPhone keyboard, iPad strap and an iPod nano wristband

We first saw the 4i keyboard for iPhone at Macworld. Back then, you had to "install" it, but the company has learned this isn't optimal and has created a clever case that we got to see at CES 2011 today (one quite similar to Apple's bumper) with a slot for easily adding the overlay keyboard in portrait or landscape mode. 4i has also added to the lineup with a clever iPad strap and iPod nano wristband named the Torq made out of titanium or steel. You can check out all the new gear on the 4i

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Improv Electronics shows off color-changing iPod touch cases, details upcoming Boogie Board 'Recorder'

We haven't heard much from Improv Electronics since it first introduced its reflective LCD-equipped Boogie Board "writing tablet" last January, but the company's now back at CES with some new products and some new promises. The first of those is a new iPod touch case based on the same reflective (or "Reflex") display technology, which allows the case to change colors without the need for any power -- the company says it'll last "several years" before it finally dies out. Look for those to

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Mili Power MiFlip re-ups your smartphone battery without the extra baggage

As if we weren't excited enough about MiLi's HDMI iPhone dock, the battery powerhouse has announced yet another multifunctional device for re-juicing your smartphone. The MiFlip foldable smartphone charger -- compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and BlackBerry -- functions as a charger, battery backup, and viewing stand, and it's small enough to keep your mobile phone, well, mobile. This skinny battery booster provides eight hours of talk, 15 hours of video, or 80 hours of music, and uses a

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B&W Zeppelin Air looks cool, connects via AirPlay

At CES, Bowers & Wilkins announced the Zeppelin Air, its next generation iPhone/iPod speaker dock with AirPlay support. This lovely piece of audio hardware features class D amplifiers, improved bass thanks to Flowport technology and digital signal processing and exceptional performance courtesy of new 25bit-96KHz capacity DACs. In addition to its standard USB connectivity which lets you sync to iTunes on your computer, this latest Zeppelin model now supports AirPlay so you can wireless

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Klipsch shows off AirPlay-enabled speaker docks at CES

One day before CES begins here in Las Vegas, Klipsch invited journalists to visit a gallery of their products, and that's where we got to see the company's new line of "soundbars," specially made speaker docks that will come equipped to support Apple's own AirPlay system. The docks we saw were prototypes only, so they weren't actually running any music from an iOS device, but eventually, they will stream music directly from any iOS 4.2 or higher equipped device through the AirPlay

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Sony unveils new HomeShare network speakers, iPhone docks, and Wi-Fi universal remote

We haven't heard much about Sony's HomeShare wireless networking protocol since the initial buzz in 2008, but based on today's announcements, it's fairly clear that Sony intends to ramp things up in 2011. The SA-NS300 and SA-NS400 are two new wireless network speakers designed to broadcast tunes from a variety of sources such as DLNA-enabled PCs or BRAVIA internet music services found on Sony's latest Blu-ray players. iPhones and iPods can join in on the streaming fun when placed in HomeShare

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Pioneer reveals SmartCradle for iPhone, shows display concept at CES

Car audio company Pioneer just held a press conference here at CES, and TUAW was in attendance to see the reveal of their new SmartCradle product, a mounted iPhone-specific dock for the car. As car docks go, this one is pretty solid -- it is iPhone-specific (though the latest iPod touch will also work), and it's a "smart dock," which means that it will send its own built-in GPS information ("enhanced," Pioneer told us, by an onboard gyroscope and accelerometer) to Core Location for any

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Klipsch unveils AirPlay-enabled Gallery Studio, Forum and Arena soundbars (hands-on)

Klipsch managed to unveil a black-and-white version of its high-end Image X10i earbuds as well as something referred to as a LightSpeaker at last CES, and this year they're doing the inevitable: unveiling a trio of iDevice-friendly sound systems. All a part of the new Gallery series, the Studio, Forum and Arena are all making their debut tonight in Vegas. Each of these units are AirPlay certified, meaning that each one will wirelessly ingest smooth jams and fusion metal from a nearby iTunes

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iHome gives further details on AirPlay-ready speakers

iHome's first AirPlay compatible wireless speaker system didn't make it out for the holiday season as expected, but they have just released further information on the system, now known as the iW1.

We first got wind of the iW1 last September. Back then we simply knew that it would be a wireless speaker that incorporates Apple's AirPlay technology, and that it runs off of a rechargeable battery. It streams digital lossless audio from your iTunes library and compatible device (using Apple's

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Location-aware Neer app shows loved ones where you are

The makers of Neer promise that you’ll never wonder where a loved one is again. Formerly available only as an Android offering, the app from Qualcomm Services Lab has arrived on Apple’s App Store for use with the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch. A location tracker application, Neer lets you program your iPhone to notify members of your inner circle, be it family members, friends or co-workers, when you leave or enter certain locations.


The concept will sound familiar to anyone

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Apple launches Support Profile site

Getting technical support for your Apple products has become a bit easier with the introduction of the new Apple Support Profile Website. This site provides one-stop shopping for you to check the registration and warranty status of all of your Apple products. If you have a repair or support issue in progress, you can review Apple’s records about the issue right from your Web browser.


Log into the site using your Apple ID (the same username and password you use in the iTunes stores), and

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CES preview: Docks, satellites, radar, blood pressure and more

Here's a brief rundown of notable items we saw last night at the pre-show event for the press called Unveiled here at CES 2011. We'll have more hands-on coverage of some of these items this week, plus a ton of other docks, more docks, some items that aren't docks, and a few more docks and accessories for your iPhone, iPad or iPod. There may even be some items for your Mac!

We wrote about the Withings blood pressure monitor already, but seeing the device in action was a treat. The app looks

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Mophie Pulse haptic game grip hands-on

Today at CES, Mophie showed off a prototype of its Pulse game grip for the 4th-generation iPod touch, which features battery-powered front-facing stereo speakers and haptic feedback by Reflex Technology. We spent some time using the Pulse and came away rather impressed. Game audio, music, and even the keyboard tick sound get translated into convincing pulses and vibrations. The iPod touch interfaces with the Pulse via the 3.5mm headphone jack, and a switch on the bottom left edge turns the

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VAT hike hits Apple prices in UK

Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from Macworld UK. Visit Macworld UK’s blog page for the latest Mac news from across the Atlantic.

VAT rose from 17.5 percent to 20 percent on Tuesday in the UK and prices in the UK Apple Store have risen accordingly.
Now you'll have to pay at least £439 to get your hands on an iPad from Apple, up from £429, and the cheapest iPhone 4 will cost you £510, up from £499.
Macworld UK’s predicted price rises were proved to be accurate, with

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'Can Apple maintain profitability?' Yes.

Seriously? This is the question of the day? When people are still voicing serious and legitimate concerns about the rest of the economy? We're talking about a company with enough money in the bank to make a Goldman Sachs-sized investment in Facebook if it wanted to, more than triple the amount Dell had in the bank at the end of the last quarter, plus more than five times the amount HP had too, while we're at it.
Let's look at a number for a minute: Apple has 51 billion dollars in cash. That's

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Garmin announces StreetPilot, its first iPhone navigation app

Garmin International has been the leader in automobile GPS navigation for many years, but has been a no-show in the iPhone navigation app arena. Both TomTom and Magellan, also big players in the GPS nav field, have had iPhone apps for years.
In a "better late than never" move, Garmin today announced the availability of the Street Pilot ($ 39.99) app for iPhone. The app takes advantage of many of the features of the Garmin nüvi navigators. Maps are always up to date, since they're

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Sony taking advantage of iTunes extras

Sony is quietly adding bonus feature content to select iTunes releases including the Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg action comedy The Other Guys, Salt and Resident Evil: Afterlife. If you buy one of these three films, you will be able to use a new search feature lets you input a word and pinpoint scenes within the movie that use the search term. You can also take advantage of a clip & share function that lets you post select scenes to social networks as well as browse a playlist populated

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iHealth blood pressure iPod dock: another sort of Apple to keep the doctor away

Back in March 2009 at the iPhone OS 3.0 debut event, Apple's Scott Forstall pointed out medical devices specifically as one of the more interesting class of peripherals that could leverage the new custom app interface capabilities. And while it's certainly an interesting concept -- keeping tabs on your general health from the comfort of your own home -- we haven't really seen it catch on (only a couple of products come to mind). That isn't stopping iHealth; the company's blood pressure dock,

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Apple patent describes touch gestures on iPod nano

Could "no-look" touch gestures be coming soon to the iPod nano? Recently discovered by ipodnn, a 2009 patent application by Apple shows that it is looking into letting users control their devices using no-look gestures which only require a touch-sensitive surface like a trackpad and not necessarily a graphic interface as Apple currently employs on the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Diagrams filed with the patent application show different methods that owners could use gestures on their device, such

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VAT increase: Apple prices to rise in UK?

Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from Macworld UK. Visit Macworld UK’s blog page for the latest Mac news from across the Atlantic.

The rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) will rise from 17.5 percent to 20 percent will come into force in the UK on Tuesday, meaning that the price of thousands of items will shoot up.
Apple products could be among those to increase in price, and though the company has not officially said that it will adjust prices accordingly, it could take the

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CES: iHome unveils new audio systems for iPhone, iPad

by Joel Mathis, Macworld.com
Audio vendor iHome is using this week's International Consumer Electronics Show to unveil new speaker systems and radio alarm clocks that feature support for the iPhone and iPad at their core.

iHome will show off three new speaker systems:

iDM12 Rechargeable Portable Bluetooth Speaker System for iPad/iPhone/iPod: This product lets users stream music wirelessly from their iPad, iPhone, iPod, or any other Bluetooth-enabled device to a pair of stereo speakers in

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Apple stock hits a new intra-day all time high and Gene Munster weighs in

Apple stock (AAPL) has hit a new all time intra-day high by a mile rising 7.25 percent as of about 11 AM. At last look it's sitting at $ 329.81 and is happily ringing in the new year on the first day of 2011 trading.

It may be totally coincidental, our old friend Gene Munster, analyst for Piper Jaffray has announced a few predictions for 2011. The first non-surprise is that he (and just about everyone else) believes that the iPhone will come to Verizon, but he thinks it won't be until the

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2011 Predictions: Macworld's annual forecast of the year ahead

by Macworld Staff, Macworld.com
It’s been another banner year for Apple and Apple products—if you need convincing, check out our year-in-review summaries for the Mac, iOS, Apple as a business, digital entertainment, and creatives. (You can also see the lists of Macworld.com’s top stories and most loved and loathed stories of the year.)

But what’s in store for the year ahead? As we said goodbye to 2010, we asked a number of Macworld contributors and friends—as we have in years

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Samsung Galaxy Player up for pre-order at Amazon UK, £150 buys 8GB worth of Android Market apps

We Americans may not see it until summer, but Samsung's 3.2-inch Galaxy Player is about to call Europe home, as following French presales the PMP has now appear at Amazon UK. There, it's sporting a tentative January 7th release date and a pair of capacities and prices, with a modest £150 (about $ 234) nabbing you 8GB of storage and £180 (roughly $ 280) fully doubling that capacity to 16GB. Apple's iPod touch is the obvious comparison here, and it's shaping up to be a valid one --

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Apple lovers in Japan camp out for 'Lucky Bag' sale

Retailers in Japan have a new year shopping tradition of selling 'lucky bags,' which contain an assortment of items whose value typically exceed the price you pay for the bag. To the delight of many Apple fanboys here in Tokyo, 'lucky bags' are also sold at the Apple store. But at 30,000 yen (about $ 370) they don't come cheap.

Even at that price demand is sky-high, and only the most dedicated of Apple fans can get them. Shoppers typically start lining up the day before the Lucky Bags go on

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Streamonomics

God bless 2010 as the year when everybody, including Twitter, caught up to Twitter. Now that we know the importance of streaming realtime, what are we going to do with it? I’ve been doing some thinking as I recover from a pinched nerve that has made it agony to do anything other than feel sorry for myself. Thanks to painkillers, acupuncture, and the iPad, I’m slowly regaining most everything but my sense of humor.
Luckily, the world continues to provide comedy (Rose Parade announcer

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