TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Adobe's Wallaby hints at cracks in Flash armor

Lauren Hirsch — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST

The standoff between Adobe and Apple has been the stuff of legends. Neither Adobe, which rightfully maintained that it could not be ignored because a serious chunk of web content was delivered by its proprietary Flash format, nor Apple, which doesn't like ceding anything to anybody....ever, seemed likely to budge.

When the standoff began three years ago, when the first iPhone was released sans Flash capability, Adobe had little to fear. But not only has the iPhone transformed the smart phone market, the iPad has created and cornered the exploding tablet market. Now, a significant chunk of users are, at least part of the time, viewing the web through these types of devices, eroding the impact of Flash-only developed sites and creating frustration for users and web developers.

Continue reading Adobe's Wallaby hints at cracks in Flash armor

Adobe's Wallaby hints at cracks in Flash armor originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quick tip: AirPlay with unsupported apps

Lauren Hirsch — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST

Back in January, we reported that Apple had begun approving third-party apps that support AirPlay, Apple's new wireless audio streaming protocol for listening to iPhone or iPad music over a speaker system hooked up to a compatible Apple networked device, such as an Apple TV or an Airport Express.

But few applications so far have released updates to take advantage of that capability. However, you can easily trick your iDevice to stream audio from an unsupported application to your stereo.

All you have to do is go into your iPod app, start a song and choose your AirPlay speakers. Then return to your home screen and boot up the app that has the audio you want to hear. Your iDevice should automatically switch audio source from iPod to the app, because most apps, when booted, retain the current state for audio output, which in this case is AirPlay.

Bingo. AirPlay on apps like Hulu, or Pandora! Note that this only supports audio, not video. Apple has also announced some updates to AirPlay in iOS 4.3, coming next week.

Quick tip: AirPlay with unsupported apps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad 2 cameras set for FaceTime

Lauren Hirsch — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:20:00 EST

Now that the new iPad is confirmed to have both a front- and a rear-facing camera, the iPad joins the iPhone, iPod touch and Mac as a FaceTime-capable device.

The new iPad front-facing camera features VGA quality video at 30 frames per second, which is the main camera people will use during FaceTime chats, but presumably the iPad 2 FaceTime program, like the iPhone 4 FaceTime, will support camera rotation. The rear camera on the iPad features HD-quality video at 720p resolution.

No word on whether a Windows version of desktop FaceTime is in the works.

iPad 2 cameras set for FaceTime originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Enter Gmail contact syncing and DropBox; exit MobileMe?

Lauren Hirsch — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:00:00 EST

Well, that's that.

I have whittled MobileMe down to two useful functions: Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe. And yes, I use one of those functions quite often, say, when my husband is off on some 80 mile jaunt on his bicycle. I have, thankfully, yet to require the services of the other one. But the rest of it: email, syncing, and online storage? Gone the way of the dodo.

Initially, I moved mostly over to Gmail to take advantage of its more robust email aliasing. I have several email addresses on personal domains, and Gmail gave me the best mix of domain use, plus sophisticated filtering and spam identification. MobileMe just doesn't play nicely with personal domains, and once Google enabled IMAP for gmail and then push email, I basically abandoned my .me address, relegating it to receiving Apple Store retail receipts and my Apple ID for iTunes.

Continue reading Enter Gmail contact syncing and DropBox; exit MobileMe?

Enter Gmail contact syncing and DropBox; exit MobileMe? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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App review: Cadence keeps the beat

Lauren Hirsch — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:30:00 EST

"Lace up your shoes (oh, ay, oh, ay!) / Here's how we do / Run baby run / Don't ever look back"

Are you like me? Do you like the running? Do you like running with your iPhone? I love to run, and I need music. Just the right song can turn a mediocre run into something transcendental.

But what was it that separated the motivating songs from the energy-sapping ones? Turns out, it's at least partly the beat. A song that pounds along with my stride is always welcome. For a spell, I tried finding songs that would do that. I even checked out Podrunner podcasts--the 'casts are set to a particular beats per minute (BPM) that you can choose. Problem was, I wasn't that excited about the music. Sure, it was the right tempo, but I wanted my songs.

Continue reading App review: Cadence keeps the beat

App review: Cadence keeps the beat originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 23 May 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One district attorney's journey to iPad happiness

Lauren Hirsch — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:00:00 EST

Let's face it. Apple and the legal profession have not always enjoyed a terribly close relationship.

Since the advent of the word processor, being a lawyer practically required a PC. Lawyers' slavish dedication to Corel's Word Perfect, long after everybody else had stopped using it, is the stuff of legend. Database management programs were typically proprietary things, all requiring networks of PCs. Using a Mac in this environment required, at best, many workarounds, and, at worst, a separate PC to access various schedulers, run conflict checks and access documents.

Recently, e-filing and the need to share and trade digital documents allowed for greater platform-independence. Macs, iPhones and now iPads claim their share of diehard legal adherents; you can get stories from the front lines of Apple integration in law from sites like The Mac Lawyer, MacAttorney, EsquireMac, the Disability Law Blog and the MacLaw mailing list.

The legal world's growing acceptance of Apple means that lawyers like Ron Elkins can get their Apple mojo working. Ron, the District Attorney for Wise County and City of Norton, in Wise, VA, has shared the ways in which the iPad has integrated itself perfectly into his criminal practice.

Ron not only accesses documents (PDFs and audio files) through Safari, but conducts presentations with Keynote, dictates with Dragon Dictation, and accesses files through DropBox and GoodReader -- all through his iPad.

Here's hoping that Apple continues to make inroads into the legal community. It's been lonely.

[via The Mac Lawyer]

One district attorney's journey to iPad happiness originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 21 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia takes aim at iPad in latest legal skirmish with Apple

Lauren Hirsch — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:30:00 EST

Surprising exactly nobody, Nokia put the Apple iPad in its sights in its ongoing battle against Apple for patent infringement. Nokia originally sunk its legal hooks into Apple back in October, 2009, when it sued Apple in the United States District Court in the District of Delaware for violating many of its patents relating to GSM, WiFi, and UMTS.

The suit itself was put on hold back in March pending an International Trade Commission investigation arising out of complaints filed by both parties, in which hearings are scheduled to be held in October and November. But just to keep things interesting, Nokia went ahead and filed a complaint in the United States District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin to add the iPad 3G to its list of infringing Apple products.

Why Wisconsin? Well, Nokia and Apple pretty much have their choice of venue, doing business all over the United States. It's likely that this particular district represents a blend of court rules and precedent that favor Nokia in some way.

[via Engadget]

Nokia takes aim at iPad in latest legal skirmish with Apple originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 07 May 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Determining civil and criminal liability for the lost iPhone

Lauren Hirsch — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:00:00 EST

Editor's Note: One of the advantages of having an attorney on the TUAW team is the opportunity for this sort of deep-dive legal analysis. We asked Lauren to dig into the circumstances and statutes around the case of the mystery iPhone, and she obliged.

While Lauren is a real lawyer, she's not your lawyer, nor is she licensed in California, so please do not make decisions about what to do with found property in bars without consulting your own legal counsel.

Ever since Gizmodo put up those pictures and claimed to have Apple's next iPhone in hand, questions have been swirling about what the repercussions, if any, might be from a legal perspective. While the iPhone's peddler probably ought to be finding himself a lawyer, the more interesting question is this: is Gizmodo courthouse-bound? This question has gotten increasingly more interesting in light of the fact that as of today, CNET reports that Silicon Valley police are looking into the matter.

Let's break it down, with a lengthy look at just who might be wronged and how. Find the nearest leather chair, a bookcase of legal tomes, sew on your elbow patches, and get ready to look contemplative.

There are two entities to which Giz could be forced to answer: they are Apple, and the State of California, representing both civil and criminal liability respectively.

Continue reading Determining civil and criminal liability for the lost iPhone

Determining civil and criminal liability for the lost iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to "clean install" Snow Leopard

Lauren Hirsch — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:30:00 EST

A friend's MacBook had slowed down to a snail's pace. Despite looking everywhere for the issue, streamlining everything I could, and yelling at it, it failed to accelerate to usable speed. So I recommended we start from scratch and build it back up with only the things she was using, free of all the other downloads and aborted installs of various software she never used or cared about. It also housed a prior system, and a PC migration from a few years back. All told, the computer was a bloated, duplicated whale of files and applications for what was essentially a light-load writer's computer.

So I backed up the essential parts of her system using Time Machine: documents (including her novel and decades of prior writing, published and unpublished), ten years of family photographs, a 41GB iTunes library, among other things, and then....backed it up again elsewhere, outside of Time Machine.

And again.

And just for good measure, once more time, to yet another drive. I wasn't going to be the (ex-)friend who lost her novel.

What I wanted to do was do the ol' "erase and install" that prior system software discs allowed you to do. But clicking around Snow Leopard left no obvious method for this. But instead of booting Snow Leopard while inside of Mac OS X, if you just directly reboot the computer off the disc itself (holding down the "c" button after the system chime, letting go when you see the Apple logo) you get a few more options. Once you've gone into the installer program, you'll see "Utilities" at the top, and if you select Disc Utility, you can see your hard drive. If you click on "erase" (like I did, with one hand over my eyes) you can wipe the drive clean with various security options, and then you can do a fresh install of Snow Leopard on your computer on a pristine hard drive.

Once you've done that, you can either transfer your files back in directly, or use the installer program's built-in migration utility to restore any or all files from Time Machine.

And now? The world awaits the Next Great American Novel, untragically unlost by yours truly.

How to "clean install" Snow Leopard originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tom Bihn announces two iPad bags

Lauren Hirsch — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:30:00 EST

And let the accessorizing begin! Tom Bihn, maker of messenger bags and laptop bags, has already announced two bags that will fit the iPad. One is a sleeve called the "Cache" that will come in a size specific to iPad, and the other is a vertical messenger bag, called the "Ristretto" that adds a shoulder strap for all your iPad-carrying needs.

We're quite sure that the market for iPad cases, covers, and accessories will be as swift as it was for the iPhone (Ed: Probably swifter, given all the excitement for the tablet). If nothing else, Apple's zealous regard for industrial design has led to some gorgeous and stylish accessories for its products. I can't wait to see what else is in store for the iPad.

Tom Bihn announces two iPad bags originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple announces keyboard dock for iPad

Lauren Hirsch — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:26:00 EST

Apple announced a few accessories for the iPad today, including an iPad Keyboard Dock. This will be welcome news for those of us who just can't get on board with an on-screen keyboard. When in the keyboard dock, the iPad sits upright, giving a more traditional laptop feel to the device. No word yet on pricing.

Other accessories include a dock to turn the iPad into a digital picture frame, and a case that serves as a stand.

Image courtesy Engadget

Apple announces keyboard dock for iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple announces "iBooks" application for iPad

Lauren Hirsch — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:07:00 EST

Hoping to stand on Amazon's shoulders, Apple announced its newest app, iBooks, for the new iPad device (and also for existing iPod touch/iPhone users? It wasn't clear from the statement). The iBooks app will function as an eReader, and users can download titles from the new iBooks store, starting today. Apple announced partnerships with five major publishing houses, including Penguin, Macmillan, and Simon & Shuster -- but not McGraw Hill, which had a noticeable NDA break yesterday.

Reading and page turning all look intuitive and natural for users, and Apple hopes to combine casual as well as academic reading on the device.

image courtesy Engadget

Apple announces "iBooks" application for iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home security on your iPhone

Lauren Hirsch — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:30:00 EST

We all know how the iPhone can secure itself, but you can get it to secure your entire house as well.

A while back, I briefly toyed with the idea of going without a landline. It's an alluring prospect, and strikes me as satisfyingly post-modern. But one thing held me back: my home security system, which relied on a landline to connect it to central monitoring. So even though I went through a brief affair with Vonage until Verizon FiOS Triple Play pulled me back in, I had to keep a limited line connected to the house for our security system.

I tried to get rid of it. Oh, how I tried. But until recently, retrofitting the system to go cellular, or swap it out with a more modern system using (for example) a secure cellular connection, always cost more than it was worth. Then our home security monitoring contract price went way up and all of a sudden, the price difference between retrofitting and acquiring a new system went down. That made getting the new system worthwhile.

I went about trying to find a security system that would give me the flexibility I needed, as well as the knowledge that I wasn't compromising home security. I already ran a small security program in the house to run a video baby monitor, but for the whole house, I needed some kind of central monitoring. Enter Alarm.com.

Continue reading Home security on your iPhone

Home security on your iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Tablet set for Q2 launch, manufacturers ramp up

Lauren Hirsch — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:05:00 EST

More from the rumor mill: It appears that suppliers for Apple have already begun shipping touchscreen panels and will begin shipping aluminum casings for the much-anticipated-but-unannounced Apple "tablet" next month. This, according to Reuters, implies a Q2 product launch, right in line with what other predictions have been.

Supplying the cases is AVY Precision Technology, and both TPK Solutions and Wintek Corp are supplying the touch screen panels. All companies are based out of Taiwan.

TPK, through its German counterpart, Balda, was the initial supplier for the iPhone touch screen module. It's unknown whether Balda is currently involved or whether Apple went directly to TPK.

The flow of information through Apple's suppliers has always been sparse, due to Apple's stranglehold on its own product message. Competition in the Taiwanese electronic component industry is fierce, keeping individual manufacturers toeing the line with Apple. But now that components are actually shipping, it's harder to hide how things are shaping up for the as-yet-unannounced product.

Rumor: Tablet set for Q2 launch, manufacturers ramp up originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WSJ: Apple tablet device to be 10 inches, "shipping in March."

Lauren Hirsch — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:23:00 EST

Things are beginning to firm up on the specs of the rumored tablet device. According to the Wall Street Journal, who interviewed people who were apparently briefed today on the subject by Apple, "Apple plans to unveil a new multimedia tablet device later this month, but doesn't plan on shipping the product until March. While the shipping time hasn't been finalized and could change, people briefed on the matter said the new tablet device will come with a 10- to 11-inch touch screen." Apple is apparently also working on two different material finishes for the device. Unknown is whether or not there will be two versions or if Apple is selecting one finish over another for the final device.

This overlaps with a few predictions on the topic naming 10" as the proposed size of the device, and adds yet another example where rumor has risen above the tech/Apple blogosphere to more general news sources.

All eyes on the January 27th event.

(Thanks to John H. for the tip.)

WSJ: Apple tablet device to be 10 inches, "shipping in March." originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple wins appeal over iPod hearing loss

Lauren Hirsch — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:45:00 EST

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a 2008 ruling dismissing a 2006 case brought against Apple, which claimed that the iPod music player caused hearing loss.

In the original suit, a Louisiana man had claimed that the iPod had the potential to cause irreparable hearing loss, citing the design of the ear buds as encouraging too-deep placement within the ear, and the lack of volume meters.

He had sought to have the suit classified as a class action suit against Apple, but in 2008, the District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the suit, agreeing with Apple's assertion that the design did not cause an unreasonable risk of noise-induced hearing loss. The judge stated that the lawsuit had merely pointed out ways to make the device safer, not shown that the device itself was dangerous.

The suit also alleged elements of unfair competition, which were also dismissed and affirmed on appeal.

Apple wins appeal over iPod hearing loss originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to insult a Mac mini: make it warm the wipes for you

Lauren Hirsch — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

How would you insult a Mac mini? Well, one way is to discover that, after you move it across the room, away from toddlers with longer arms than they were born with (the better to yank ill-placed computers to the floor through the crib slats, my dear) the Mac mini makes an excellent diaper wipe warmer.

I only stuck the container on top of the mini because I had to do a quick change before someone crawled off the changing table. The next diaper change I discovered the wipes were warm and cozy.

The Mac mini is sulking. Already its only job was to run the baby monitor cam. Now it can add another job for which it is woefully overqualified. It can talk to the hand, says the lady with the law degree who is relegated to actually changing all those diapers and watching Yo Gabba Gabba. (Don't click. Seriously. I won't be responsible for the ensuing seizure.)

NB: If you're reading this post and screaming inside, "teddy bears? Babies? But I came here for technology!" then have a look at this post detailing my tear-down of the standalone iSight so that it works as a night-vision camera. If that doesn't help at least a little, then you may be in need of a hug. Look at the teddy bear. See? He loves you.

How to insult a Mac mini: make it warm the wipes for you originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DIY iSight night vision camera

Lauren Hirsch — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST

Now that most all Apple computers come with their own built-in iSight, the standalone iSight has taken a bit of a back seat. It always was a gorgeous piece of Apple art, though, and I really wanted to use it in a functional way. An easy way was to attach it to the Mac mini I have in the baby's room, acting as a video baby monitor, but the iSight doesn't do that well in low light, and of course works not at all in no light. And while the audio was just fine, there are some neat new "push on motion" capabilities in camera monitoring software that I liked. It will even record on motion, thanks to today's update.

"Night vision" is predicated on the idea that infrared light bounces off of objects the same way that any other kind of light does, only that our eyes can't see IR light. So while a room could potentially be brightly lit with an infrared light source, you would see only darkness. Fortunately, camera CCDs aren't human eyes and many are as sensitive to IR light as they are to the visible spectrum. So, ostensibly, all you need is an IR light source. Heck, even a television remote control would do the trick, albeit dimly.

The problem is that cameras that are not intended as night-vision cameras have an IR filter built-in so that the camera's reaction is limited to light sources the human eye can see. And, specifically, on the external iSight, that filter is a coating that's bonded to a small block of glass inside the iSight.

Now I had a project. After first scoring a broken iSight on Craigslist, should I need parts, I took the iSight apart, took out the glass block, and removed the IR coating in a quick bath of sulfuric acid. [Do not try this at home unless you know what you are doing, please. -Ed.] You could see the film slide off the glass.

Once the iSight was reassembled and an IR light source applied, bingo! Night vision. The only downside has been that because sulfuric acid is a bit of a blunt-edged instrument (to put it mildly), whatever was giving it the ability to correctly sense the rest of the red is now gone. In the gallery, you can see the result in the last image. Ah well. If I ever want it to return to regular function, I can drop in the intact lens from the broken iSight. But for now, the increased range is a great asset. My iPhone is a little monitor that follows me around the house and pushes notification of any motion.

Special thanks to Jason Babcock, for blazing the trail on iSight tear-downs.

Gallery: Night Vision iSight

DIY iSight night vision camera originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple, Psystar reach partial settlement

Lauren Hirsch — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST

Details are still sketchy, but apparently Apple and Psystar have reached partial settlement in the ongoing saga between the two companies. It appears that in return for paying Apple unspecified damages on its copyright claims (most of which were ruled in Apple's favor in a summary judgment motion last month), Apple will drop its remaining claims against Psystar, including those for trademark violation. Apple also agreed not to execute on those damages until all appeals have been exhausted.

A more detailed document is due to be filed later, but the idea is that the matters before the court will be reduced to only the issue of permanent injunction, a motion Apple filed last week. If the court accepts the terms of the settlement, there will be no need for a trial. Psystar appears to completely concede (though it's not like it had any further leg to stand on) copyright violation, by arguing that whatever the court decides to do with the permanent injunction barring sale of its computers with OS X pre-installed, that it not extend such an injunction to Psystar's Rebel EFI software product.

The Rebel EFI software product does not come with its own copy of Mac OS X or any particular hardware product, but permits installation of Mac OS X on an "unauthorized" computer. Apple's motion for permanent injunction specifically mentions the Rebel EFI product as evidence of Psystar's ongoing attempts to infringe and circumvent Apple's software restrictions. Of course, the Rebel EFI software is the subject of the ongoing Florida litigation, so certain elements are beginning to dovetail together. Apple, for its part, would like both lawsuits to come together.

My guess is that Apple is more interested in the outcome of the permanent injunction than damages. It's not even clear if Psystar could hope to pay Apple any significant money, since Psystar filed for bankruptcy last May, and recent information indicates that Psystar only has sales of 768 units thus far.

UPDATE: The filing is in and the stipulated damages are.....$2,675,000 against Psystar. [Via Engadget.] Half is on the merits of the legal claims, and the other half for punitive damages such as attorneys fees and costs. The parties are agreeing to enter judgment against Psystar on not only the copyright violation claims, but also with regard to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Breach of Contract.

Apple, Psystar reach partial settlement originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dear Barrister TUAW: Psystar, matters of fact, and appellate cases

Lauren Hirsch — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Dear ~~Auntie~~ Barrister TUAW,

I've been following your coverage of the Psystar case and I'm a little confused by the discussion on your last post. I've always thought the original case to be one of fact and an appellate case one of law. This, to me, would mean that in the appellate process they would not argue the case again at all. It would all be based on if the legal decision in the original case was rendered improperly.

So all the sturm and drang would be gone, No?

With love & kisses,

David

Read on for Barrister TUAW, esq's response

Continue reading Dear Barrister TUAW: Psystar, matters of fact, and appellate cases

Dear Barrister TUAW: Psystar, matters of fact, and appellate cases originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Psystar dealt crushing blow in ongoing legal proceedings with Apple

Lauren Hirsch — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:35:00 EST

Yesterday, Judge William Alsup, United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, dealt Psystar a crushing blow in its ongoing litigation with Apple over whether or not Psystar could market and sell non-Apple computers running modified copies of Apple's operating system. If you're not familiar with the ~~circus~~ case, I refer you to, well...grab a coffee and click here. The two companies, embroiled in litigation since early last year, recently completed pre-trial discovery and each filed cross motions for summary judgment.

Judge Alsup put the ultimate hurt on Psystar when it granted Apple's motion for summary judgment and denied Psystar's motion for the same. In a sweeping order (courtesy Groklaw), the court agreed with Apple's take on the case and dismissed all of Psystar's defenses, both on the merits and for having waived and failed to properly plead.

The end result was a dramatic and startling court order in an ongoing series of dramatic legal squabbles between the two companies. And at least one of Psystar's attorneys saw this coming. The litigation doesn't end here; various issues still remain for trial such as breach of contract and trademark infringement, but Psystar has been gutted. The court is clearly unsympathetic to Psystar's core position and while damages on the copyright issues falling in Apple's favor in the order have not been ruled upon, it would probably behoove Psystar to start looking under the couch cushions for spare change.

A hearing is scheduled for December 14 on the remaining issues and for damages.

Read on for a more detailed analysis of the court's order....

Continue reading Psystar dealt crushing blow in ongoing legal proceedings with Apple

Psystar dealt crushing blow in ongoing legal proceedings with Apple originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple to open 40 to 50 new Apple Stores next year

Lauren Hirsch — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST

At a media preview event yesterday designed to create buzz for Apple's newest store opening in Manhattan, Ron Johnston, Apple's senior vice president of retail announced that Apple would be opening 40-50 more Apple retail stores in the coming year.

One focus will be on opening larger stores overall. While this is great news for anybody who has been frustrated by the zoo that is any Apple store on any given day recently (careful what you wish for when you wish for your platform of choice to finally get the market share it needs to ensure continued development), the bulk of these stores will be overseas in cities like Paris, London, and Shanghai.

So if you live in Paris, London, or Shanghai, congratulations! You, too, will have a store you can try to shop in when all you want is a new set of earphones for your iPhone and you can't get anywhere near the display.

Apple to open 40 to 50 new Apple Stores next year originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple iPhone closing in on BlackBerry market share

Lauren Hirsch — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST

Paul Carton, Director of Research at ChangeWave Research, reported yesterday at investorplace.com that Apple iPhone is gaining steadily on BlackBerry's market share, a great feat considering BlackBerry's entrenched position in the business sector. iPhone market share is now a heady 30%, still behind BlackBerry's 40%, but RIM products are not gaining new users at nearly the same rate. As for Palm? Well, the Pre seems to have leveled out the free fall, but there's nothing terribly encouraging about the data. My guess is they are still pining for those halcyon days of 2006 when Palm was king.

The smartphone market itself is rising; according to Mr. Carton's research, a full 39% of consumers now own some kind of smartphone. Compare that with last summer, when the smartphone market was just cracking 25%.

The good news for Apple is that RIM's stranglehold on the smartphone market appears to be loosening, and with so many consumers still to reach, Apple has the momentum. CNNMoney.com characterized Apple's market gains as putting Apple within "striking distance" of BlackBerry. What's driving the momentum? Customer satisfaction. Among those who plan to buy a smartphone within the next 90 days, 36% plan to buy an iPhone. And among current users, fully 73% of them are satisfied with the device, compared with only 43% of BlackBerry users.

Mr. Carton notes that BlackBerry is planning product launches this year, and Apple has already released the 3GS. If Apple holds true to its history, we won't see a significant upgrade to the phone until next June. Either way, Apple has carved itself out quite a niche and the iPhone can no longer be dismissed as a toy to BlackBerry's business device.

Apple iPhone closing in on BlackBerry market share originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Airport Extreme Base Station, Time Capsule boast a bigger antenna

Lauren Hirsch — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST

OK, so it's not nearly as exciting as a shiny new iMac or a Mac mini server, but the Airport Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule also received a mild update today. Both are now certified to the 802.11n specification (not draft-n), and along with this certification come improvements in antenna design, which promises 50% better Wi-Fi performance and 25% better range.

So, not earth-shattering, but for those of us who rely on complex Wi-Fi setups, having the extra range and more optimized antenna design may make or break the setup. And with many more non-geek homes adding devices that stream media in places where they never thought they'd ever need a wired network connection, better throughput can make all the difference.

Price is still $179 for the AEBS, $299 for the 1TB Time Capsule, $499 for the 2TB Time Capsule.

Airport Extreme Base Station, Time Capsule boast a bigger antenna originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Psystar, Apple file motions for summary judgment

Lauren Hirsch — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST

Apple and Psystar have been embroiled in litigation for quite a while now. At the core of the dispute: Psystar modifies Apple's operating system software so that it can run on its clone machines. It then sells its computers with Mac OS installed to, well, anybody who wants one. As you can imagine, this does not make Apple happy.

Anybody familiar with The Great Clone Crackdown of 1997 will tell you that Apple likes to keep a very tight grip on any device that presumes to run its software. Apple points out that Windows machines are a mishmash of often conflicting hardware and suffer from quirks and errors and incompatibilities that such a set up can bring.

So Apple's cadre of lawyers descended quickly on Psystar. In July of last year, the company sued Psystar for copyright and software licensing violations, quickly amending its lawsuit to additionally charge Psystar with violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

And there was much lawyering.

More than a year later, now that discovery has been completed, the two parties have each filed for summary judgment, which, in effect, asks the judge to rule in favor of the filing party because enough evidence has been shown that either makes or breaks the lawsuit.

Psystar's argument, and the one covered in its motion, somewhat relies on the "first sale doctrine" which says that any purchaser of a copyrighted product can then take that lawfully-made copy and sell it, so long as no additional copies can be made. For its part, Apple says that when one "purchases" its OS, you are only purchasing a license to use the product. Its Software Licensing Agreement (SLA) quite clearly states [PDF link to Snow Leopard SLA] that the user cannot modify the software to run on a non-Apple system.

The idea that what you are purchasing is a license to use the product is pretty commonplace among software manufacturers, because, the argument runs, you can cut any software company's profits off at the knees if every purchaser became an owner with free rein to redistribute the software. Apple states that no software company in its right mind would put the money into research and development of any software product at all if that were the end result of bringing its product to market. Groklaw suggests this could have ramifications for FOSS and and the GPL.

Continue reading Psystar, Apple file motions for summary judgment

Psystar, Apple file motions for summary judgment originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China Unicom to start selling the iPhone in October

Lauren Hirsch — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:15:00 EST

Hong Kong-based China Unicom released details today concerning its August announcement of a three-year deal to sell the iPhone. Sales of the iPhone will begin in October, dovetailing with its October 1st 3G network launch, and will be priced at approximately 5000 Yuan, or around US$730. The iPhone will be sold in both Apple retail stores and through Unicom's own network of stores, and plans for the iPhone will range from 126 Yuan to 886 Yuan, or about US$18 to US$130. There will also be a handset subsidy, depending on the chosen plan above 126 Yuan, which maxes out at 4253 Yuan, or about US$623.

China Unicom competes heavily with the larger China Telecom, which is believed to be in negotiations to distribute the Palm Pre.

Details here (in Chinese.)

China Unicom to start selling the iPhone in October originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Which peripherals are covered under AppleCare?

Lauren Hirsch — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:30:00 EST

In the wake of our earlier post on possibly time-bombed Time Capsules, there was some confusion as to whether or not the Time Capsule would be covered under any AppleCare Protection Plan you might have. The suggestion was made in the comments to Mel's post that extended coverage would apply, but we decided to double-check.

In short, it's true. if you have an AppleCare Protection Plan that is currently in-force for a Mac that you own, your Time Capsule is covered under that agreement. In fact, there is no need for the Time Capsule to be on the same receipt as the computer you purchased. As long as the Time Capsule is owned by you and "in use" along with the covered Mac system, it is covered along with the product for which you have an existing AppleCare Protection Plan.

Of course, this does not cover any damage you inflict on the Time Capsule, and it must not be hacked or used in any way other than it was intended. In other words, don't use your Time Capsule as a doorstop and expect to get AppleCare coverage on it when it breaks.

In addition to the Time Capsule, this "in use" coverage extends to the following products:

AirPort Extreme Card
AirPort Express
AirPort Extreme Base Station
Apple-branded DVI to ADC display adapter
Apple RAM modules
MacBook Air SuperDrive

And, naturally, while coverage does not extend to products that are subject to their own AppleCare Protection Plans (such as an iPhone, iPod, or, of course, another computer) it does extend to a single Apple-branded display if the display was purchased at the same time as the computer you're using it with. Otherwise you need to purchase a separate AppleCare Protection Plan for the display. Clear as mud?

All of the above is contained within the terms and conditions of the AppleCare Protection Plan for North America. In addition to those actual terms, an Apple Genius I spoke with said that coverage also typically extends to Apple-branded hardware on the same receipt as the covered computer purchase, and in general he and his colleagues endeavor to extend the best courtesy they can to their customers when the situation permits. So you may, in fact, receive coverage better than the terms within the agreement itself if you are pleasant, don't yell at the nice Geniuses and say "pretty please." Complimenting their shoes is always a nice touch. They also like chocolate.

If you'd like to check to see what agreements are current, you can click here to check them out, see when they expire, and read the terms and conditions yourself. If your agreement is not registered or is not listed under your Apple ID, you can check by agreement number and computer serial number. Also, if you are not in North America, you can read the terms specific to your agreement here -- many European countries have stronger consumer protections than the US does, and longer warranties may be standard where you live.

Which peripherals are covered under AppleCare? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will Snow Leopard really make my computer any faster?

Lauren Hirsch — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:30:00 EST

We've seen the benchmarks. We've heard from the techno-geeks. According to Apple, Snow Leopard should result in some impressive speed gains, and hefty hard drive space recapture. But does this speed bump actually result in tangible benefits for the average user? Do you really get back a functional amount of hard drive space? I undertook an intentionally low-tech approach to find out, looking at the space on the drive, and using my iPhone's stopwatch function to time various functions before and after upgrade. I took measurements on two computers: a low-end, bare bones white MacBook used lightly as a secondary computer, and a higher-end MacBook Pro used heavily as a primary computer. The white MacBook was generally speedy and efficient before the upgrade, due to the fact that it had very little installed on it. However, the MacBook Pro was bloated and slow due to lots of programs, with problems magnified by years of hard drive image flashes over various computer upgrades, typical of the non-technical business user.

All start up times are true start up times. In other words, I didn't deem the computer to have "started up" until I had full, no-lag control of a fully-propagated desktop. Same went for the programs whose start up times I tested -- none were deemed started up until the program was responding to input and usable. I picked some common programs that I felt reflected typical use. I turned on auto-login to the primary account on both computers to gain timing accuracy. Not all the results are comparable between computers; certain programs were on one computer but not the other. But, in general, the task was instructive.

Continue reading Will Snow Leopard really make my computer any faster?

Will Snow Leopard really make my computer any faster? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 Apps for the cyclist

Lauren Hirsch — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Apple products and the bike go together well. They seem to appeal to the same sort of folks: evangelistic, committed aficionados willing to pay any premium, to be brutally honest about it. Oh, and let's not forget, they love to talk at length about these objects of their affection at parties. You know who you are. You've got a copy of Colorado Cyclist in your bathroom.

So it seems like getting the iPhone working for you on the bike would be a no-brainer. And it pretty much is. Here are five apps that I've found I like, most centered around the fact that the iPhone's built-in GPS gives cyclists the kind of on-bike information they want, and the après vélo experience they crave until the next fix, I mean "ride." From the outset, you'll need a bike mount, if you want to take advantage of these apps' functions en route. Otherwise, the iPhone slips just fine into a jersey pocket, and will hold a GPS lock even though a ziploc sandwich baggie. Mount-wise, pickings are slim, but there are a few out there that are relatively low-profile. Plus, battery life can be a problem. Most endurance athletes are out there for hours at a time, and GPS tracking can quickly drain an iPhone battery. if you take care to turn off everything non-essential, you may be able to get that whole ride in. Or, you can do what this guy is doing; he's building an iPhone bike mount with power. Maybe now the iPhone can make its RAAM debut.

On to the apps!

1) Ascent Mobile. I have a warm place in my heart for Montebello Software's Ascent. If I harken back to the old days, Garmin could barely be bothered to come out with a Mac version of its then-popular TrainingCenter software and had shunted all its Mac users to MotionBased. Ascent came through with elegant desktop software that tapped into the data side of the bike geek. Finally, a place to really churn through the routes and elevation, while watching your heart rate, speed and cadence throughout that quad-shredding ride. You can zoom right into your loop post-ride and slice and dice the data to see any element of it you like. What's more, Ascent really made it look good. By the time Garmin came out with its watered-down and feature-hobbled Mac version of TrainingCenter I was so over Garmin software. I used it strictly for the route-upload function and kept everything else on Ascent, with an online version stored on MotionBased for route sharing (though I've since moved from MotionBased to RunningAhead now that RA has GPS upload.) So I was thrilled to hear that Ascent was coming out with Ascent Mobile, $9.99US.

Ascent Mobile gives you all the relevant data you could want on a ride, plus lots of ways to check out your ride right on the iPhone afterward. Best of all, it naturally syncs with the desktop version of Ascent, sold separately. Can I let go of my trusty Garmin Edge 705? Quite possibly. We'll see where this little relationship goes. (Oh, and yes, Erica, it gives your max speed.)

2) B.iCycle. Ok, maybe you're more of a "just the facts, ma'am" kind of rider. We've got one for you, too. B.iCycle, $9.99US, is a simple, GPS-based tracker that gives you some easy stats during your ride. It saves your tracks for later viewing on a map, and gives you all of the essential features you might want, without too much feature clutter. It has a nice map view for on-bike routing, and a way to email your route to yourself afterward. Think of it as a very inspired bike computer.

3) Bicycle Gear Calculator. Ok, grease monkeys, this one is for you. It's obviously not intended for on-bike use, but half the fun of the sport is the tinkering you get to do with your bike while you're not on it, talking about it at parties, or relentlessly reloading chainlove.com for the next steal. Now you can talk gear ratios with ease. Input chainring size, sprocket size, and crank length and all the relevant math is done for you. Plan ahead for a big hill ride and get your bike properly geared so you look like Laurent, Stefano, or Marco (may he rest in peace) on those hills. $4.99US at the iTunes store.

4) iMapMyRide. iMapMyRide is another GPS tracker, but is borne out of the website mapmyride.com, which is the sister site to mapmyrun.com, a favorite of mine, pre-Garmin Forerunner. The nice thing about this app -- other than the fact that it's free -- is that it is built to work well with the website, which is a great place to discover new routes and make connections with other like-sported people. I can't say the app itself is revolutionary in any way, but if you're already multi-sport and have been taking advantage of the MapMyFitness community-based functions, iMapMyRide may be a useful way to go for you.

5) TrailGuru. I didn't want to leave the mountain bikers completely out of the loop, so here's something for you singletrackers. I'm not entirely sure how this differs from some of the other GPS-based tracking software, but the community associated with it seems to be more interested in off-road use, so you may find that you discover new and interesting ways to tear up the trails near you. It seems to be a fave around TUAW, so I'd be remiss not to mention it. If you have experience with this app, let us know in the comments.

I'm still working on integrating the iPhone into my fitness endeavors. I admit I love my Garmins (yes, I have both the Edge and the Forerunner.) And I can't imagine I'd be brave enough to do with my iPhone what I did with my Forerunner 305: put it under my swim cap at the start of a triathlon. But you never know. If you ever see a fellow race participant with what seems to be a very oddly-shaped head under that swim cap, come and introduce yourself to me.

5 Apps for the cyclist originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 Apps for the lawyer

Lauren Hirsch — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:30:00 EST

It's official. The iPhone has come into its own in the legal world. It took a little time, and lawyers are notorious Luddites (you can pry the WordPerfect out of their cold, dead hands) but they do like Bright Shiny Objects, and nothing fills the lapel pocket like an iPhone.

The iPhone finally cracked the law-firm standards stranglehold by virtue of its compatibility with Microsoft Exchange, which freed lawyers from the non-choice of "would you like a Blackberry, or a Blackberry?" Granted, the Blackberry still seems to have a better handle on business needs, but for some, the iPhone is worth getting to know.

It should go without saying -- I will say it, though -- many of the productivity apps that are useful to everybody are useful to lawyers, so two of these apps are not strictly law-related. (See if you can spot them! It's a brain teaser and a post!) Also, certain obvious apps don't exist yet, such as a standalone LexisNexis or WestLaw legal research app. That said, the web will suffice for now. In fact, though I've artificially constrained myself to only standalone applications, the iPhone really shines for accessing web research sites given that Mobile Safari is (mostly) a full-featured browser.

So, without further ado, here are five apps that give a glimpse into what the iPhone can do for attorneys.

1) DataViz's DocumentsToGo. Nobody expects to write a brief or a memorandum from start to finish on an iPhone (though I am waiting for a good enough voice-recognition app so that getting a draft started is feasible), but any legal writing usually goes through more revisions than your average pre-1.0 beta software. Often this happens right as you were planning on leaving for the day.

DocumentsToGo allows you to edit and change documents, as well as email them over Exchange (requires $9.99US Exchange version) to other team members. Of course, iPhone OS 3.0's cut/copy/paste was a prerequisite to making any word processing application workable, but now document editing has become at least moderately feasible. Nothing replaces your desk, covered in open books or a large monitor with LexisNexis or WestLaw opened to 18 different searches, but this gives you just a bit more flexibility and just may save you a panicky trip back to the office at 11:30pm on Saturday night.

Continue reading 5 Apps for the lawyer

5 Apps for the lawyer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple most assuredly NOT slapping family with "gagging order" over iPod fire

Lauren Hirsch — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:30:00 EST

Across the pond in the UK, in what may be a bit of a legal "lost in translation," an 11-year-old girl was using her iPod when, according to her, there was a hissing noise and an ominous pop. It rapidly heated, and then allegedly jumped 10 feet into the air. She was left with a melted mass of unplayable music. Needless to say, not usual iPod behavior. (To be fair, you might not be surprised at spontaneous suicidal combustion after asking it to play anything by, say, Paris Hilton, though there's no evidence the girl committed that particular crime against nature.)

She and her father contacted Apple, seeking a refund for the presumably out-of-warranty iPod. Apple apparently agreed to return the purchase price of the iPod, and sent a letter to the family offering the refund, denying overall liability with regard to the incident, and included a standard confidentiality clause in it.

This is where things went a bit off the rails.

The little girl's father went ballistic, refused to sign, and soon enough, there was press coverage. The Times UK covered the incident, complete with photograph of the girl holding her toasted iPod, accusing Apple of slapping the girl with a "gagging order" and attempting to "silence" them, mafia-style. Whoa, there, Times.

1) This is no gagging order. As nice and evil and meaty as such an accusation sounds, a gagging order comes from a court and no court is involved here. It implies that Apple has gone after this family legally, and that there's been a hearing and a decision and a court order. Quite the opposite. This is just a regular, ho-hum contract between two parties, describing the things they want out of each other.

While the family may be shocked they got a letter, from a legal perspective they should be shocked if they didn't get one. Apple doesn't feel like they've done anything wrong and isn't going to start admitting its products are combustion risks by returning money out of warranty, which is exactly what it would do it if gave money to these people without some sort of settlement agreement.

2) A confidentiality agreement is standard operating procedure. Sure, a letter filled with legalese is a little heavy-handed, but hey, the iPod was out of warranty and when a company agrees to give you money it doesn't feel it owes you, especially in a situation such as this one, it can very well request confidentiality you keep your trap shut about it going forward. It's standard practice even when the company thinks it probably does owe you money. No courts are involved, and litigation is spared where the parties would fight over whether or not the money is owed. And when a confidentiality agreement is sought, it's also pretty standard to remind the parties the possible consequences of breaching the agreement.

Remember: no court is involved here and Apple and this family can reach whatever agreement they want. If the family wants an admission of liability from Apple, they remain absolutely free to pursue a lawsuit in which it will be determined whether or not Apple is at fault. And now, of course, having disclosed all the contents of the letter, Apple I'm sure has rescinded whatever refund it offered.

The UK Times has vastly overstated the standard form letter that Apple sent to them when they sought an out-of-warranty refund. I suspect, however, that Apple could have averted this public relations issue had it said, "look, we're happy to give you your money back. We have no idea why that iPod went kablooey. It could be any number of reasons, including many that don't involve us at all. So if you want us to give your money back, we will, but you have to agree not to discuss it. Why? Because that way people won't think we make defective and dangerous products when it's not at all clear that we do, and giving you your money back is good business, not an admission of liability." And then, when a legal-sounding letter shows up in the mail, nobody is shocked.

Apple most assuredly NOT slapping family with "gagging order" over iPod fire originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm updates Palm Pre webOS software, "fixes" iTunes bork

Lauren Hirsch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EST

Palm released webOS 1.1.0 for its Palm Pre devices today. Normally, this would elicit a collective "that's nice" from TUAW, but what makes this interesting is that according to the release notes, the update "resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (8.2.1)."

The "issue," of course, is none other than last week's borking by Apple of the Palm Pre's ability to sync with iTunes. As you may recall, in order to get around Apple's restrictions and sync with iTunes -- which nowadays is meant exclusively for use with Apple products, although in the past there was an API for third-party MP3 players to sync with it -- the Palm was programmed, in effect, to impersonate an iPod.

Apple was not amused. Enter iTunes 8.2.1, which "fixed" the problem. Palm was not amused. Out came webOS 1.1.0 which claimed to have "re-fixed" the problem while Palm exhibited no small measure of evil glee. In fact, on their very own blog, Palm describes the return of iTunes sync as "one more thing." Oh, Palm. Don't you know that "one more thing" fails to impress unless you're hiding a new MacBook Pro or iPhone behind your back?

Say what you want about Apple's notoriously closed, exclusive systems, but I have to admit I feel a little less than sympathetic for Palm right about now. After all, it's not like Palm doesn't have the resources to design a robust, easy-to-use media syncing system ~~and music player~~ that would work with the Pre. It just doesn't want to. It would rather poach the development Apple put into its own software product, and then market iTunes compatibility as a feature of the Pre, as if it had licensed that function from Apple. Can it do that? Sure. But Apple can continue to close any loopholes Palm finds. In other words, Palm hinges any marketing of the Palm Pre device on its iTunes compatibility at its peril. I don't think it's doing its customers any favors by promising a feature it's not certain it can deliver going forward.

If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, look for a nice iTunes "update" in the next couple of days. You know. To "fix" any issues with "verification of Apple devices."

No matter what, it's shaping up to be a very entertaining game of cat-and-mouse. Popcorn, anybody?

[via Engadget]

Palm updates Palm Pre webOS software, "fixes" iTunes bork originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple store back up; Final Cut Pro 7, Logic Pro 9 released

Lauren Hirsch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:22:00 EST

It's always an exciting day when the Apple Store goes down. And it's not even a Tuesday.

Apple has updated Final Cut Studio, including Final Cut Pro 7 and Logic Pro 9. That's good news for artists! Musicians and filmmakers now have something new to play with. Even better, they can do it for less: the suite is now $999, $300 less than the previous version. Upgrades are $299.

FCP 7 includes three new ProRes codecs, alpha transitions, new sharing options including support for iChat Theater, automatic transfer of P2 media and more. Motion 4 includes new 3D shadow and reflection options, and the ever-popular bad film filter. All the apps in Studio have been updated to new versions.

Apple also announced version 1.5 of the Final Cut Server collaboration and asset management environment. The unlimited-license edition of FC Server is also $999 & upgrades are $299..

Full feature list from Apple PR in the continuation of the post.

[H/T The Loop]

Continue reading Apple store back up; Final Cut Pro 7, Logic Pro 9 released

Apple store back up; Final Cut Pro 7, Logic Pro 9 released originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple set to release third quarter 2009 earnings report on Tuesday

Lauren Hirsch — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:30:00 EST

It's been a nice year for Apple so far. Stock prices have been steadily rising since January, outpacing a middling technology market. Apple is poised to reach a stock price it hasn't seen since August, 2008. And this particular quarter has seen a lot of Apple news and activity: the new iPhone 3GS was released this quarter with an associated 1 million device sales in the first weekend alone, the MacBook line received a refresh and a price cut, and Apple reported that application downloads on iTunes reached the 1.5 billion mark. Plus, let's not forget that Steve-O (ostensibly) returned to work in June.

Apple appears to have weathered the Palm Pre assault with considerable fortitude, and the iPhone in all its iterations now commands more than 10% of the smartphone market.

So what are experts predicting for Apple tomorrow? For starters, above-average revenue. Among well-regarded Wall Street analysts (take that for what it's worth) the top estimate is by Mark Moskovitz of J.P. Morgan, predicting 8.49B in revenue, with earnings per share (EPS) of $1.23. Lowest is Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, who is predicting "only" 8B in revenue. But all revenue estimates are above the guidance numbers released by Apple itself, which put revenue at 7.9B. The Thomson Financial consensus (an average of all predicted reports) puts revenue at 8.18B. Everybody is in agreement that Apple's gross margins, which were 36.4% last quarter, are the envy of the market.

Trading is brisk today, and stock prices are rising in expectation of tomorrow's positive announcement. Apple's announcement will occur at 5pm EST Tuesday. Check back for TUAW's report. It will be very interesting to see how well Apple does.

Apple set to release third quarter 2009 earnings report on Tuesday originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac 101: iCal calendar subscriptions

Lauren Hirsch — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST

iCal has always been an elegant program. Though it has a "subscribe" function for public calendars, it hasn't always played nicely with other devices and other calendars. This limitation forced many a user to seek greener pastures elsewhere, like Google Calendar. Calendars created in Google's web app permitted a better cross-platform solution for home and mobile use, but made iCal clunky and hard to use, even when you only subscribed to your own Google calendars.

Recently, Apple enabled CalDAV subscriptions on the iPhone (which also play well with Google Calendar); that made me dust off my copy of iCal and take a second look. If you're not using iCal at all, you may want to take a moment to learn about what you can do with it.

The idea of calendar subscriptions is simple: store a calendar event database somewhere online, and then provide a link in a common format for calendar programs such as iCal to access. The calendar program then imports the calendar data and puts it in your calendar, updating itself at a frequency of your choosing.

Online databases of public calendar links abound, and you can add calendars from your local little league schedule to stargazing guides to the galaxy in your area. The format that Apple uses is the "ics" format, and you'll see calendars with that extension all over the web.

Continue reading Mac 101: iCal calendar subscriptions

Mac 101: iCal calendar subscriptions originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The mighty mini, take two: DIY video baby monitor

Lauren Hirsch — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EST

What do you get when you combine a new parent on maternity leave with a love of gadgets and Apple products? Why, you get "baby monitor overkill!"

In response to Dave Caolo's recent ode to the Mac mini, I figured it was time to step up. I had two things gathering dust: my old standalone iSight, a gorgeous example of Apple design sadly idle since the advent of built-in iSights, and a lovely new Intel Mac Mini that was recently scored on sale at MicroCenter with plans to set it up for my older two kids once I could get my hands on a small LCD monitor.

I figured in the meantime it would serve nicely as a baby monitor, since I couldn't find a matching transmitter/receiver pair among the various baby monitors I had accumulated over the years. My idea was that it would live discreetly, headless and tailless (monitor, keyboard, and mouse-free) in the baby's room, and broadcast both locally on my network and also wide-area so grandparents could tune in remotely.

For the initial setup, I needed a monitor, but fortunately my TV has a PC (VGA) port, which I used to configure the mini. I set it to login automatically to the main account and join my Airport network. In System Preferences, I enabled screen sharing and added iChat as a login item. In iChat, I enabled Bonjour and instant messaging, added myself as a buddy, and restricted chats to preapproved users under security preferences. Because I didn't want to connect via screen sharing every time I wanted to initiate a chat, I typed the following into Terminal so that it would auto-accept any incoming video chats:

defaults write com.apple.ichat AutoAcceptVCInvitations 1

After that, I set it adrift on the network. From my main computer, I watched the mini pop up on Bonjour after reboot, and we were off and running.

While this worked great for my own local use, it had some inherent restrictions: remote users (aka "grandparents who love to watch sleeping grandsons") couldn't join the chat easily. Spouses at work had issues with company restrictions on AIM. Plus, it was iPhone-unfriendly; the holy grail for me was turning the iPhone into a video terminal that followed me around.

I went through a few different ideas: private channel on Justin.tv (great for multiple viewers, but awash in advertising, restricted at work, and unavailable on iPhone), Skype (great video, automatic call acceptance and limited iPhone capabilities, but terrible for multiple viewers), and complicated setups involving QuickTime Broadcaster. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel (well, no more than I already was doing), I hit upon SJKM's iCam software, which is an iPhone application & accompanying cross-platform video streaming tool specifically designed for video monitoring, available in the iTunes store for $4.99. Initially dismissed for lack of audio, it has since enabled audio monitoring and non-iPhone web access, making it an almost perfect setup. Why "almost?" Well, for reasons I cannot quite figure out, the video is much choppier than AIM, Bonjour, Justin.tv, or Skype. But it works over 3G and Wi-Fi, and it connects multiple viewers without requiring conference setup.

And now, with SJKM's latest update, iCam can run in the background and push notification will alert me to sound or video motion. I have not yet enabled that feature, as it is a $.99 add-on and still pending Apple approval in the store.

Ultimately, I ended up using a variety of different applications, but I can report a lot of very satisfied relatives dreamily cooing at the computer screens from Portland, OR, to Philadelphia, PA. All thanks to the mac mini and the standalone iSight. And one very cute baby (if I do say so myself.)

Upcoming: that's great, but can you make it work in the dark? Adventures in IR.....

The mighty mini, take two: DIY video baby monitor originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dinner and a movie or... an iPhone?

Lauren Hirsch — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST

It was inevitable. One day the iPhone was going to turn into an impulse purchase. In two short years we've gone from the iPhone as a serious $500 commitment to a grab no more expensive than dinner and a movie. The AT&T store now has a refurbished 8GB iPhone 3G for $79, with free two-day shipping, a $20 savings over the cost of a factory-new iPhone 3G. (You'll have to enter your zip code on that landing page to click through and see the refurbished unit's price.)

Of course, your dinner doesn't make you return every month for two years, for a total outlay well over $2000. However, most people now consider cell phone plans -- even their associated data plans -- to be as utilitarian as the electric bill. So scoring a small hand held computer with a phone function on a whim just seems... as benignly impulsive as going out to dinner and a movie.

Ahh, the good ol' days. When people stood in lines to spend $499 (or, in my case, $599) just for the chance, nay, privilege of owning one of these. And back then it didn't even have iFart applications on it.

Dinner and a movie or... an iPhone? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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