It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 24, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 May 2013 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wake Alarm wants you to get out of bed ... now! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Backblaze, the online backup company that has made TUAW headlines with its innovative open-source 180 TB Storage Pods and drop-dead simple Mac backups, today announced a way to get mobile access to your backed-up data. Backblaze Mobile for iPhone (free) works for any current or future Backblaze customers running an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 5.1 or later.

After logging into a Backblaze account with user credentials, users are presented with stats for each computer backed up on the service, including the number and size of files stored and when the last backup was performed. There's a browser for going through backups to look for specific files, and any file can be downloaded to the iOS device to be used or shared with others.

The Backblaze service is priced from as low as US$3.96 per month when pre-purchased for a year or more, or can be subscribed to on a monthly billing basis.

Backblaze Mobile for iPhone provides on-the-go access to file backups originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Smule may be only 5 years old, but the California development firm started in part by Jeff Smith and Stanford Assistant Professor Dr. Ge Wang has had an amazing impact on the world. The company shared some stats with Evolver.fm that are incredible -- Smule's apps have been downloaded over 100 million times, are used by 15 million people a month and that audience has recorded over 1 billion songs.

Sure, those songs may be amateur auto-tuned, auto-rapped or karaoke trash, but the statistics -- and Smule's bottom line -- prove that the company is on to something. While such venerable music gaming titles as Rock Band and Guitar Hero have seen better days, Smule's apps are all about actually making music, and that seems to make a difference to app consumers.

Smule pulled in US$12.6 million in revenues last year, and is expected to reach the $20 million mark in 2013. The latest addition to the Smule stable is Guitar! (free), a music game released yesterday in which users play along with recordings of popular songs to gain points and where practicing opens the door to new levels and songs.

[via GigaOM]

Smule users record 1 billion songs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week TUAW reported on the diminishing numbers of MacBook Airs available from third-party retailers like Best Buy. Now the source of that information, AppleInsider, is reporting that Amazon is completely sold out of the 11.6-inch low-end MacBook Air (1.7 GHz Intel Core i5, 64 GB storage) with other models showing that they're "n/a".

AppleInsider points out that Amazon's listing for the entry-level 11.6-inch model is "consistent with a discontinued item on Amazon, with no indication that stock will be replenished. In contrast, the online retailer typically portrays a simple stockout with availability advertised for 'one to two months.'"

Stock of many MacBook Air configurations is limited at other retailers, including Best Buy, MacMall, J&R and MacConnection. Apple Stores and the online store still show availability of both the 11.6-inch and 13-inch models.

Speculation is rife that new MacBook Air models might be announced during the WWDC 2013 keynote on June 10, possibly using Intel's new Haswell processors for increased performance and battery life.

Amazon's MacBook Air stock dwindles originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of the reasons that I've never been a super-user of Evernote is that while it's a great place to save your notes, scans and other materials, it's never had the ability to simply let you know when you need to get something done. Instead, it has always relied on another app to give you a heads-up that you need to work on something. Today, Evernote released updates for the Mac and iOS clients that introduce a built-in reminder function.

In a beautiful writeup of the feature over at MacStories.net, Federico Viticci details his experiences testing the reminders capability prior to release, saying that "reminders are a good addition that fit well with Evernote's focus on remembering everything through a unified, polished interface."

As Viticci notes, this update doesn't add the level of reminder functionality that you'll find in Due or OmniFocus. Instead, the reminders are there to associate a reminder with an Evernote note. On the Mac app, reminders are accessed with a click on a small clock icon that displays a popover for adding a date. Should you clear a Reminder, the note it is attached to is untouched and remains for future reference.

Viticci says that he was quite surprised with the lack of a natural-language input method for reminders, since both Due and Fantastical allow entries like "next Thursday" or "today at 8." But the main point of the new feature is that you don't create a reminder -- instead, you're creating a note that just happens to have a reminder attached to it.

Be sure to check out Federico's detailed post about Evernote's new reminders; in the meantime, here's a video from Evernote VP of Marketing Andrew Sinkov about the addition.

Evernote introduces reminders to Mac, iOS apps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 23, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's official -- June 10 is the date for the Apple WorldWide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote.

Although we have no idea what (if any) new products will be released, the keynote is sure to be of interest to every Apple fan anxious to see what a Scott Forstall-less iOS 7 or Mac OS X 10.9 will look like.

As always, TUAW will hold a liveblog of the keynote on that date. Be sure to mark your calendar and keep some time on your schedule to join us for the event.

Apple confirms June 10 for WWDC keynote originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Element Case is one of the few iPhone case manufacturers we talk to on a regular basis that continues to innovate with impressive designs that are entirely different from the mainstream. Whether it's their wood, aluminum and leather Ronin or the original Sector 5 case, you can be certain that an Element Case is going to be something that stands out from the crowd. Today we're taking a look at the Element Case Sector 5 Black Ops Elite (US$219.95), which is the perfect case for the Navy SEAL, SWAT team member, or tactical team wannabe in your life. We're giving our review case away, so stick around until the end of the review.

Design

To get the amazing look of this design, Element Case worked alongside Hogue, a manufacturer of handgun grips, rifle stocks, knives and holsters. Hogue's G10 material is used for the back plate of the case and the knurled side grips as well. G10 is described by Element Case as "a high-pressure thermoset plastic laminate consisting of multiple layers of woven fiberglass mesh cloth impregnated with an epoxy resin binder." In other words, this stuff is tough!

Gallery: Element Case Sector 5 Black Ops Elite iPhone case

As usual, the frame of the Sector 5 Black Ops Elite is made of ultrathin CNC machined aluminum for light weight and strength. There's a clip on the back of the case, but a tactical holster is also included for extra protection. Speaking of protection, you can make sure that your SWAT team buddies aren't able to see the incoming FaceTime call from your girlfriend since a Stealth privacy screen protector is included.

What else is included? You're going to need to know how to field strip this case in the dark with your eyes closed (just kidding), so Element Case throws in a little speed wrench to help in installation and removal.

The case comes in four different finishes. There's a black case with black G10 inserts, a black case with OD Green G10, a Desert Tan case with black G10, and Desert Tan with Dark Earth G10. Our review case came in the black and OD Green scheme, which looks extra sexy in my personal opinion.

Functionality

Like all Element Cases, the Sector 5 Black Ops Elite has a little bit of assembly required. You need to install the aluminum frame first, then install the back plate. The clip on the back plate can be oriented in one of two positions -- once again, you'll need to remove and then replace a pair of Torx screws and some spacers to do so.

For the purposes of giving the review case away, I did not install the "rash guards" that are used to prevent scratching of the iPhone 5's frame, nor did I install the screen protector. The adhesive on the back plate is designed for removal.

Removing the upper right screw on the case with the included wrench took only a few moments, and then the case opened up like a watch band to wrap around the iPhone 5. There's a bit of what looks like neoprene padding in several key areas, keeping the aluminum frame from directly transmitting shocks from drops and bumps to the aluminum frame of the iPhone 5. Of course, not that long ago Element changed the design of the Sector 5 cases to include small amber plastic pieces that allow for more flexibility of the frame in case it is dropped onto a corner.

Once the frame is installed, it's time to clean the back of the iPhone 5 with the included alcohol-soaked cleaning wipe. When the back of the iPhone is completely dry, you remove the backing on the G10 back plate and then press the back plate onto the phone. The adhesive for the back plate doesn't cover the bottom half-inch or so, providing a small area to pry off the back if you want to remove it.

I liked the feel of the Sector 5 Black Ops Elite -- it's extremely rigid and solid. The belt clip grips well but is easy to install and remove from a belt, and the included tactical holster wouldn't look out of place on the equipment belt of any SWAT team member. The look of the case is amazing as well; Element Case made the Sector 5 Black Ops Elite look futuristic, while the Ronin it shares lineage with looks surprisingly steampunk.

The use of Hogue G10 material on the case is pure genius. The material is used for Hogue's line of handgun grips, rifle stocks, and knives (in the handles) and it is not only strong, but has a completely unique look to it.

The price of the case definitely puts it into the luxury category, but as the old adage goes, "You get what you pay for." Here's a case that should keep your iPhone 5 protected and lookin' good for years to come.

Conclusion

It's not the case for everyone, but Element Case has another winner on their hands with the Sector 5 Black Ops Elite. If your tastes tend toward the tactical, you'll love this case.

Pros

• The combination of machined aluminum and Hogue CNC machined G10 make this a strong yet lightweight case
• One-of-a-kind tactical accessory look
• Included tactical belt holster adds even more protection
• Element Case's redesign of the Sector 5 case includes more flexibility in corners for better drop protection

Cons

• A bit expensive, but who's worried about the price tag?

Who is it for?

• The iPhone 5 owner who wants something strong and unique protecting his or her investment

Giveaway

So, does this case have you drooling yet? One TUAW reader is going to get to take our review unit out into the field -- it could be you!

Here are the rules for the giveaway:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button.
• The entry must be made before May 26, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected and will receive a Element Case Sector 5 Black Ops Elite iPhone 5 case valued at $220
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Element Case Sector 5 Black Ops Elite: The tactical case for your iPhone 5 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday TUAW showed you how voice search on Chrome for Mac has improved, now providing eerily Siri-like functionality in Google Search. According to a post yesterday on the Google Chrome Blog, the next target for voice search is iOS -- and we should see the update in just a few days.

The update won't require users to point Chrome at the Google home page. Instead, whenever you tap on the omnibox (the combination address/search field), a microphone appears. Tap it, speak your search query and your results appear in a flash. As with the Chrome for Mac update yesterday, some of the results come back in the form of both a screenful of information and a spoken response.

The Googlers say that the update will also enable "faster reloading of web pages by using the cache more efficiently when the network is slow;" perfect for when you're using Chrome on the road. Other iOS apps will also be able to give you the option to open links in Chrome and then return to the app with one tap.

We'll update this post as soon as the update is available.

[via iMore]

Google: Voice Search coming to Chrome for iOS soon originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OtterBox, a pioneer in smartphone case technology based in Ft. Collins, Colo., today got a little bit larger. The company acquired LifeProof, a company that builds a line of waterproof cases that provide superior protection without adding a lot of bulk or weight to devices.

OtterBox will begin incorporating the LifeProof line into its own line of cases over the next month, and it appears that both companies will retain existing employees for the time being. OtterBox has about 650 employees worldwide, while LifeProof has about 250 in its San Diego office.

It will be interesting to watch this acquisition unfold. Could this be the start of consolidation of accessory manufacturers in the booming Apple market? We'll keep an eye out for other rumor or takeover talk.

OtterBox acquires LifeProof originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Today on TUAW TV Live, cohost Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd and I will be conversing about a number of topics. Yesterday saw Apple CEO Tim Cook being grilled by a Senate committee about corporate taxes and at the same time passing along a hint that a "refreshed Mac line" will be manufactured in the Great State of Texas, so both of those are worthy of banter. There are also some new products that have made it to the TUAW Labs in recent days, so we'll have some quick unboxings for your viewing pleasure.

To view the livestream and join the chat, visit the TUAW TV Live page here. Be sure to bookmark that page on your browser for future TUAW TV events. Past episodes can be found on our YouTube channel, and today's show will also appear on this page within 24 hours.

TUAW TV Live: Taxes, Texas and Tim originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 22, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google's Chrome browser for OS X has had the ability to do voice search for about two years now, but the latest version of Chrome appears to bring something a bit more Siri-like to the mix. Now, when you ask Google certain questions about the weather, sports scores, stock prices, directions and calculations, you get a spoken answer.

The latest version is 27.0.1453.93, which you can update to by selecting About Chrome from the Chrome menu, and approving any updates or restarting the browser if prompted. Once Chrome is up, head on over to the google.com search page and you'll see the familiar microphone in the search field (note that the mic does not appear in the Chrome "omnibar"). Click the mic, respond to any requests to let Chrome have access to your mic and video camera and then start asking questions.

The result is not quite the conversational search that was touted during the Google I/O keynote last week, but it definitely shows the direction that Google is heading and it's bringing a bit of Siri-like functionality to OS X before Apple does. The video below demonstrates several of the searches that I performed -- it's all done in real time, so you get to see the failures as well. The current release seems to have a tendency to display "No Internet Connection" frequently, a problem that reloading the browser will fix. By the way, if you've used the mobile version of the Google search app, this will all be familiar to you.

Google Chrome update adds a bit of Siri to OS X originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OmniGroup, the Seattle-based developers of OmniOutliner, OmniGraphSketcher, OmniGraffle, OmniFocus and OmniPlan, has announced that today they are shipping OmniPresence document syncing.

OmniPresence rounds out the automatic syncing solutions that OmniGroup added first to OmniFocus in 2008 and OmniPlan in 2011. OmniGroup CEO Ken Case noted in a May 20 blog post that OmniPresence works well with Mac apps that support OS X Auto Save and Versions. To quote Case, "Using the same underlying document coordination as Versions, OmniPresence lets your app know when a document has been changed on another device, and double-checks to make sure it always syncs a current and complete copy of any documents currently being edited. OmniPresence can't prevent conflicting edits from multiple devices, but when that happens it automatically saves both versions of conflicting edits so that no edits are lost."

OmniPresence is built on top of open web server technologies, which means that users can sync document using their own web server. Apache server, for example, is built into Mountain Lion Server, so any user or company can keep OmniPresence syncing running well into the future. Since many customers will choose not to set up their own servers, OmniGroup is scaling up their Omni Sync Server to support OmniPresence. Anyone who previously checked the "I am brave" box on sync.omnigroup.com should already have access.

Developers will be able to see the source code to OmniPresence on github. A demo video of OmniPresence in action is embedded below.

OmniGroup releases OmniPresence, free sync technology for OS X and iOS originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It may not seem like all that much changed after last night's Apple Store downtime, but the company actually made a number of design changes that, according to MacStories editor Federico Viticci, bring "a cleaner, more subdued style for graphical elements and larger image-centric spots for products and accessories."

Rolled out just in time to start selling the goods for Father's Day on June 16, the new design does away with the thin sidebars in favor of wider blocks that provide space for larger images of items on sale. Here's the old design:

And here's the new:

The changes are more pronounced on the Accessories page. As an example, the old iPad accessories page wasted space by using a short sidebar on the left side to list different categories. The result was that the entire page was narrower than it needed to be:

Now the categories are over on the right side, featuring easy-to-view thumbnails for each category. The individual item thumbnails are larger, and there's actually space (not visible in this image) below the category list that can be filled with product descriptions:

All in all, it's a welcome change to the store, providing a much cleaner look, larger images of products and a less rigid framework for arranging product on the virtual shelves.

Apple applies design changes to online store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW has covered the alternative energy accessories from Etón before: the BoostTurbine is an excellent way to charge up an iPhone or iPad when the power is out, while the FRX3 acts as an emergency radio and has both solar cells and a hand crank for providing a charge to your iPhone when you need it. And the Mobius solar case for iPhone is a smart way to top off your phone. Now the company has announced the Rugged Rukus (US$99.99), an "all-terrain, solar-powered, wireless speaker."

Designed to work with any of your Bluetooth-equipped goodies, the wedge-shaped Rugged Rukus sports a 20-square-inch photovoltaic cell on one side that charges the internal lithium battery (it can also be charged by plugging into any USB port). In full sunlight, that battery can go from empty to full in five hours, and when the lights go out the Rugged Rukus can operate for up to 8 hours blasting your tunes. A USB charge takes only about 2.5 hours. Note that you can also use the battery in the Rugged Rukus to charge your iPhone.

Don't be concerned about babying the Rugged Rukus if you're at the beach or camping in a rainstorm, as it has an IPX-4 splashproof rating and it's also drop-proof from one meter (3.3 feet). The Rugged Rukus will be available soon on Amazon and at Apple and REI stores.

Etón Rugged Rukus: Solid solar sound originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As anyone who has read TUAW over the past few weeks can tell there's no shortage of iPad keyboards on the market these days. All of them tend to use Bluetooth to connect to the iPad, which is fine -- except when you're a school teacher or IT person who needs to figure out which keyboard is paired with a particular iPad. So that students can simply grab a keyboard, plug it in and start typing away, Logitech has announced the Logitech Wired Keyboard for iPad (US$59.99, available later this year).

The keyboard will come in two flavors; a Lightning-equipped model that will be shipping in August, and a 30-pin connector version that is expected in October. Since it's designed to be used by students of all ages, the Wired Keyboard has a spill-resistant design and is expected to put up with the pounding of over 5 million keystrokes.

There are shortcut keys for the regular iPad functions, such as Siri, app switching and copy and paste. There's also an integrated Home button for jumping to the Home screen with a single push.

Logitech will display the Wired Keyboard for iPad at the 2013 International Society for Technology in Education conference scheduled for June 23-26 in San Antonio, Texas.

Logitech intros wired iPad keyboard especially for education market originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The team at Olloclip has taken the wraps off of their newest product, a case for the iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5 called the Quick-Flip Case (US$49.99) that works with the Olloclip 3-in-one lenses to produce a lightweight solution for all-purpose iPhoneography. Let's take a look!

Design

At first glance, this doesn't look like much of a case. It's made out of a smoked translucent black or opaque white polyurethane material and looks like any of a thousand other slip-on hard cases for iPhone. But then the little features start to appear and you realize how the Quick-Flip case can be used to assist in taking photos with your iPhone.

Gallery: Olloclip Quick-Flip Case and Pro-Photo Adapter

By itself, the case has a pivoting corner that rotates 180° out of the way so that you can install your Olloclip lenses. That pivoting piece also has a second function -- it presses up against the volume up button on the side of your iPhone so that you can just squeeze the button slowly to take a photo. No more need to tap that virtual shutter button on the screen.

The real fun comes when you attach the included Pro-Photo Adapter. It slides onto the bottom of the iPhone and includes a pair of threaded tripod mount points as well as a cold shoe mount for other accessories like video lights or microphones.

In case you happen to own a 5th-generation iPod touch, there's a special adapter that's included with the iPhone 5 case to make it compatible with the "non-phone iPhone."

Functionality

For Olloclip-toting iPhone owners, the Quick-Flip Case should be a no-brainer if you take a ton of photos. Your iPhone remains fairly well protected in the case, and with a quick flick of the top the bare shoulder of the phone is exposed so you can slide on the Olloclip.

Using the rotated corner piece as a trigger button for taking photos is pure genius. Rather than holding onto the iPhone with one hand and swatting at the display to take a photo, you can use both hands to keep the iPhone steady while gently squeezing the button. It's sure to reduce blur in your photos, especially under low-light conditions.

I was happy to see that Olloclip uses metal inserts for the tripod mounts as that will add to the usable life of the Quick-Flip case -- provided Apple keeps a similar size for the next-generation iPhone. The cold shoe is also a nice touch for adding goodies that can make the difference between dull, underlit video and properly illuminated personal movies.

Conclusion

While it's a bit pricey for an iPhone case, the Olloclip Quick-Flip Case and Pro-Photo Adapter -- along with the Olloclip lenses (purchases separately) -- make for an incredibly useful set of accessories for anyone who takes a lot of photos with their iPhone.

Pros

• Quick-Flip Case makes it easy to protect your iPhone while also facilitating the installation of the Olloclip 3-in-one lens
• The design of the case makes it possible to hold the iPhone with both hands while shooting pictures, helping to steady your photographs
• Mounting the case on a tripod in either landscape or portrait mode is a piece of cake with the two threaded tripod mounts
• Cold-shoe mount works well for adding small LED light bars or microphones

Cons

• The case itself is nothing spectacular in terms of looks or protection

Who is it for?

• Dedicated iPhoneographers who want use their devices to get the best possible photographs and need the steadiness of a tripod mount at a moment's notice

Olloclip Quick-Flip Case and Pro-Photo Adapter add protection, tripod mount originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 May 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Those of us who use Google's Chrome browser for OS X are familiar with how Chrome web apps can be installed and launched from within the browser. Now it appears that Google is working on a way to bring those Chrome apps even closer to the heart of your Mac by creating a Chrome apps launcher for OS X.

Google engineer François Beaufort detailed the plans in a Google+ post, noting that OS X users can actually try out a beta of the Chrome OS app launcher right now. To do so, you need to install the most recent build of Chromium, then set the --show-app-list switch through the CLI.

After performing that magic, launch Chromium and click its Dock icon to display a grid of your Chrome apps, ready to launch (see image above). Put this on your MacBook Air and it's almost like having a Chromebook! Note that this software is not quite ready for prime time, but for Chrome fans it may be worth the effort to give it a try.

Google to bring Chrome app launcher to OS X originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Every year, Millward Brown Optimor produces the BrandZ list, a listing of the 100 most valuable brands. As with last year, Apple is at the top of the list with a 2013 brand value of just over US$185 billion.

Apple's brand value rose only 1 percent this year, but that number is still well over No. 2 Google at $113.7 billion. How much of a gap lies in the brand value between Apple and Google? How about almost the value of the venerable Coca-Cola brand at $78.4 billion (the soft drink company is at No. 5 on the list).

Another tech brand rounded out the top three, with IBM coming in just behind Google at $112.5 billion. The value of the top 100 brands is a staggering $2.6 trillion globally, up 7 percent from 2012.

Although Apple's share price and investor sentiment have lagged in the last year, BrandZ director Peter Walshe notes that brand is more sustainable than financials: "What we see with the most popular or powerful brands is that brand lasts a lot longer, is more robust and doesn't tend to slip as much, whereas the finances go up and down."

A PDF of the BrandZ Top 100 2013 is available for download here.

Apple still most valuable global brand originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 May 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 21, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 May 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This morning, AT&T sent out a message to Oklahoma customers affected by yesterday's tornado devastation noting that those in the affected areas will have all voice, data and text overages waived through June 30.

The company also reminded AT&T Wireless customers across the country that they can support disaster relief efforts by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. That text message sends a donation of $10 to the American Red Cross and is charged on the customer's monthly bill.

Bryan Gonterman, state president for AT&T Oklahoma, said in a statement, "Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tornado that hit the Oklahoma City area Monday. We are coordinating with local authorities and bringing in additional resources. We recommend text messaging for communications with family, friends and loved ones given heavy call volumes."

AT&T waiving overage charges for Oklahoma customers affected by tornadoes originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's official: Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer has gone completely bonkers, as the Yahoo-owned Flickr has just announced that all users now have a free terabyte of storage. That's a thousand gigabytes, folks. For free.

As the Flickr website touts, one terabyte will hold 537,731 photos at an average size of 6.5 megapixels each. No more are you going to need to scale down the size of your images to fit 'em on Flickr -- just upload them at their native resolution.

It's worth remembering that Flickr has a free iPhone app available to facilitate uploading, viewing and sharing your images.

Yahoo raises the stakes for free Flickr storage: 1 terabyte originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 May 2013 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 20, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 May 2013 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tired of the same old keyboard design and looking for something a bit different? The Penclic Mini Keyboard K2 (US$69.95) definitely fits the bill in terms of not being the typical keyboard, and as you'll see in this review that's not necessarily a good thing.

Design and Functionality

When I think of Scandinavian design, I usually think of sleek minimalist wooden furniture. The Swedish-designed Penclic Mini Keyboard K2 comes in black (unless you're looking at the company's website, where the keyboard is white), and definitely has a different look to it. It's about the same width and depth of the Apple Wireless Keyboard, but with a top end that swoops up. It's striking but difficult to describe; if that description makes no sense to you, just take a look at the photos. That thick top end is where the batteries -- a pair of rechargeable NiMH AAAs -- reside. The keyboard comes with a retractable USB to micro-USB cable that can be used to recharge the batteries, which are supposed to last about two months on a charge.

Getting to the batteries is pretty easy -- you flip the keyboard over and there's a little door that you open to pop them in. Of course, the door isn't attached to anything, so in my case it promptly went flying across the room and ended up on the floor. Unlike most every other battery-powered device that I've used in the past half-century, there's no little indicator to tell you which direction the batteries need to be facing. As luck would have it, the first time I installed the batteries they were put in backward.

Not that you get all that much of an indication that the batteries are installed properly and are charged up... You're supposed to see a red LED on the strange little "Wireless" sign on the top end of the keyboard flash once if everything's hunky-dory. It did just after I installed the batteries, but then didn't flash on subsequent flicks of the power switch on the bottom of the keyboard. I took this as an indication that the batteries were discharged, so I took the opportunity to look into how the charging works.

To plug in the charger, there's a little red silicone door (image below) that needs to be opened. I poked and prodded at the door with my fingernail and couldn't get it to budge. Finally -- wanting to get this review written sometime in the current century -- I resorted to using the corner of a SIM card to pry open the door. Plugging in the USB cable resulted in repeated green flashes on the keyboard LED, which the owner's manual said was a sign that the batteries were charging. Note to the Penclic designers: just leave the frickin' cable door off! It's not needed, and it's certainly a pain to get open.

Also on the bottom side of the keyboard are two flip-up feet that raise the angle of typing a bit. They're plastic, and I would hope that they contain a bit of metal as I can see them snapping off if you bang on your keyboard in frustration like I'm doing writing this review.

The key layout is pretty standard and may actually be attractive to our European readers as it has the ever-popular Alt Gr key -- although it's spelled (appropriately enough) on the Mini Keyboard K2 as "Alt Grr". That angry-sounding "Grr" is appropriate, since this is definintely not an Apple-friendly keyboard -- as the standard Command keys are nowhere to be found. The return key on the board is a bright orange for no apparent reason other than to be different, and there's an orange numeric keypad overlaying the 789-uio-jkl-m? keys. There's no indication how that keypad is supposed to be accessed; the function keys use a blue theme, but if I followed the color cues here, it seems like I should depress the Return key to activate the numeric keys. There's also an oddly-labeled key located between the Fn and Alt keys on the left side of the lower row of keys, and the owner's manual provides no clue as to what it does.

I have to admit I smiled at the F2 key, which is also labeled in blue with "Silence!" Rather than using the typical international symbol for mute that you see on just about every other keyboard in the world, Penclic's designers chose to use the English word "Silence!" and promptly alienate and confuse non-English speakers.

One thing I really don't understand about the Penclic Mini Keyboard is why the designers chose to go with a proprietary wireless mode rather than use the widely-accepted Bluetooth standard. Bluetooth works with almost everything today, from iPhones and iPads to Macs and PCs. You're not going to be able to use the Penclic with an iPhone or iPad, and when you choose to use it with your Mac or PC, you'll have to give up a USB port to house a minuscule wireless receiver. That receiver has a maximum range of 5 meters (about 15 feet) compared to Bluetooth's usual range of about 10 meters. Knowing how widespread Bluetooth keyboards are, it probably cost Penclic more to produce this proprietary model.

Let's get into the pricing while I'm thinking about it, shall we? For $69.95 you're getting a keyboard that has a non-standard key layout and even specifically states in the owner's manual "MAC (sic) operating systems do not support all the special functions." A quick search on Amazon for cheap Bluetooth keyboards that are Mac- and iPad-friendly finds them for as little as $13.96 with free Amazon Prime shipping! Even top-brand names are less expensive -- Logitech's awesome solar-powered Bluetooth keyboard (K760) sells for about $60 and doesn't need a dongle, a cheap retractable USB cable, or AAA rechargeable batteries behind a flyaway plastic door.

As for typing -- the main reason you'd want a keyboard -- this is nothing spectacular. The keys have a decent amount of feedback that's common to just about any keyboard that uses the same type of scissor keys. When those little legs are propping up the Mini Keyboard K2, it tends to be quite a bit noisier than most other keyboards.

Conclusion

The Penclic Mini Keyboard K2 has nothing to recommend it, unless you're so wound up in "Scandinavian design" that you just have to get this keyboard to match your IKEA furniture.

Pros

• It has an Alt Grr key that should make some European buyers dance with glee
• What a lovely box!

Cons

• Just about everything else, including the choice of AAA batteries, the lack of a battery direction indicator in the battery compartment, the idiotic idea of putting a silicone door over the micro-USB charging port, the lack of Bluetooth support, the lack of any semblance of support for Apple devices, strange and unexplained keyboard markings, noise, ad infinitum

Who is it for?

• This guy, that's who...

Control-Alt-Grrrrrr: A look at Penclic's Mini Keyboard K2 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 May 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Asymco mobile industry analyst Horace Dediu is up to his number-crunching again, this time with numbers showing that Apple Stores continue to have the top retail revenues per visitor of any retailer in the US.

The first quarter of 2013 (Apple's second fiscal quarter) saw visitor growth of 7 percent and a new record revenue of US$57.60 per visitor. Average revenue per store was $13 million, a record-setting level for a non-holiday quarter.

Dediu noticed that the average visitors per store has steadied out at about 250,000 per store per quarter, and posits that number might be stagnant because fire regulations keep the stores from packing in even more visitors. Apple's employment in stores has increased as well to about 110 employees per store, climbing from less than half that level in 2007.

Apple's new retail strategy appears to be expanding US stores in size and opening new stores outside of the US. According to Dediu, that allows for growth in the number of visitors to the US Apple Stores and in "maintaining the brand's relationship with customers."

Asymco's Horace Dediu touts record Apple Store revenues in Q1 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 May 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The last time I talked to the guys from Happy Owl Studio, they were busy cranking out great-looking leather bags for Apple devices. Now the company is producing the Cashbox (starts at US$750 - $1,500, depending on the payment solution selected for the register), a product that was still in planning back in early '12 and is now ready to give your iPad cash register a solid and sustainable home.

As you'll see in the video at the bottom of this post, Happy Owl uses sustainably grown and harvested bamboo wood that is then cut to precise measurements with a CNC milling machine, laser-etched with a logo of your choice and hand-finished. The guts of the Cashbox are all industry-standard -- an iPad, of course, as well as a Star receipt printer and a Vasario cash drawer.

The Cashbox can not only accept credit and debit cards through Square, PayPal or any of the other common iPad payment solutions, but also has a cash drawer for taking the old legal tender as well. One unique feature is the tilting iPad holder that flips from letting a clerk enter an order to a customer's view of the transaction for signature.

The Cashbox certainly appears to be a lot more sturdy and usable than the upcoming "Stand" or the existing Business in a Box solutions from Square. If you're looking at an iPad-based register solution for your business, the Cashbox is definitely worth a look for a solid custom register.

Happy Owl Studio Cashbox: a beautiful hand-crafted iPad cash register originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 May 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What can be more comfortable to a cat than a pillow that blows warm air out of an optical media slot and vibrates ever so gently? That appears to be why Biru (Indonesian for Blue) loves to rest on a Mac mini owned by reader Peter Stagg and his wife.

Peter says, "Biru is my wife's British Short-haired and constant companion, especially when she is working in her study or on her laptop. He has claimed the lives of two laptops so far and is working on the Mac mini, very slowly. When he's not enjoying the warm air expelled from the optical media slot he lies across the front of the keyboard and doubles as a wrist support." Biru also seems to be keeping a Logitech headset nice and warm for his owners!

So there you have it! A cat who not only forces equipment upgrades from his owners, but who is also a working Mac accessory! If you've got a Caturday nominee to share, let us know via our feedback page. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link.

Thanks, Peter!

Caturday: Mac mini is Biru's pillow originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 18 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One thing that seems to be a common attribute of hard-core Apple fans is that they are connoisseurs of great design. It doesn't matter if it's the sleek curves of a new iMac or the minimalist slab of the iPhone 5, we love how the devices are designed with pleasing dimensions and an enjoyable tactile sensation. That's why I was instantly attracted to the Kenu Airframe (US$24.95), a simple and lightweight smartphone car mount that's perfect for present and future iPhones.

Design

Some of the car mounts I've received for review over the years have been expensive overkill. They often use a suction cup mount to stick to the front window of the car, which doesn't work very well in hot dry environments as they tend to pop off when they sit in the sun for a while, dropping your expensive phone to the floor of the car. There's usually a long arm designed to bring the iPhone closer to your hand, which has the undesirable effect of making the phone sway or bounce.

The Kenu Airframe is simplicity defined: it uses a soft plastic clip to attach to an air vent in your car. That clip rotates 90 degrees to properly fit thick or thin grilles on your vent. The idea of mounting the iPhone to your air vent is pure genius as well, as in hot conditions you'll most likely have air conditioning turned on, which will cool the phone and keep it from overheating.

Gallery: Kenu Airframe

An expandable jaw on the Airframe can hold most phones regardless of their width, giving you some semblance of insurance against needing to purchase another car mount should a future iteration of iPhone be a different width.

One other fun thing: if you need an impromptu stand for your iPhone, just grab your Airframe and a business or credit card from your wallet, then pop that card into the clip on the back. Voila! Your iPhone is standing up on its own.

Functionality

Installing the Airframe is quite simple. Find a spot in your car with a vent where you'd like to hang your iPhone, and push the clip onto the plastic grille. That's it. Next, grab your iPhone and push it into the jaws of the Airframe, and you're done. One note: if you have a thick iPhone case like the Mophie Juice Pack, the Airframe won't be able to grab onto your phone. It works swimmingly with a lot of the thinner cases.

The way the clip is designed virtually guarantees that the Airframe is not going to fall out of the vent grille. There's a lot of road construction going on near my home right now and it's practically "four-wheeling" territory on one of the main drags with a lot of bumps and dips. Even at the maximum speed allowed in the construction zone, the jarring and swerving didn't move the Airframe or my iPhone a bit.

The travel stand idea with the credit card is also brilliant. It's a perfect way to use a car mount anywhere -- something that you can't do with a "normal" suction-cup equipped mount.

If there are any negatives I can think of, it's that this might not be a good idea in the winter if you have the clips inserted into a vent blowing hot air onto your iPhone. I don't know for sure if this would cause your iPhone to shut off due to high temperatures, but it's worth thinking about.

Conclusion

Whether you use your iPhone in the car for entertainment, directions, or just to have your phone at arm's reach when you're driving, the Airframe is a simple, sturdy, and functional car mount that takes up very little room.

Pros

• Very compact design and light (less than 1 oz.) enough to carry anywhere
• Doesn't rely on suction cups to mount your phone in your vehicle
• Using the Airframe with a credit card as a travel stand for your phone is sheer genius
• Soft rubber material on the jaws and clips ensures a tight grip to phone and vent without scratching either

Cons

• Doesn't work with thicker cases like the Mophie Juice Packs
• Rather expensive when some car mounts are available for as little as $3.57

Who is it for?

• Anyone looking for an unobtrusive and functional car mount for their iPhone

Kenu Airframe: An ingenious car mount for your iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 17, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier this month TUAW reported that iOS 6 had obtained FIPS 140-2 certification, "opening the door to more government use." It didn't take long for that door to swing wide open, as the Pentagon has now officially approved iPhones and iPads running a version of iOS 6 for use on secure government networks.

Two weeks ago, Samsung devices running the Knox security layer and BlackBerry devices including the BlackBerry 10 smartphones and PlayBook tablets were given the nod by the US military. Adding Apple's iOS devices to the mix was part of the platform-agnostic plans of the Pentagon revealed in February. Those plans detailed adding wireless voice, video and data capabilities for classified and unclassified communications by October 2013. The approved devices will begin to be used more widely in the military and intelligence communities late in 2013 or in early 2014.

iPhones and iPads already have a home in some parts of the government that don't require such strict security, but the new Pentagon certification should make for more widespread adoption of iOS.

[via AppleInsider]

US Pentagon grants security clearance to iPad, iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The next time you wish to hack into a Mac, it may help to grab your wand and book of spells. At the NoSuchCon security conference this week, security architect Alex Ionescu presented a talk where he revealed that special undocumented code on a Mac's SMC (system management controller) can be invoked by entering a secret spell used in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

That spell is "SpecialisRevelio," the words used by a wizard to "reveal charms and hexes that have been cast onto a target" or "reveal the ingredients of a potion." In an Ars Technica post about the secret spell, blogger Dan Goodin notes, "While most details are far too technical for this article, the gist of the research is that the SMC is a chip that very few people can read, but just about anyone with rudimentary technical skills can 'flash' update."

One of the possible attacks that Ionescu pointed out is infecting the SMC with code to pull out the FileVault key used to encrypt a Mac drive, although to implement this, an attacker would have to know details of the Mac like the model, year and screen size in advance.

Much more likely attacks provided by the spell backdoor include marking targets. The SMC could be programmed to emit audible or visual alerts through the fans or LED displays, which could point out a specific Mac to an attacker. A Mac could even be programmed to turn off at a certain time and refuse to boot again.

There's good news in all of this scary talk: to reflash the firmware an attacker has to have physical access to the Mac. Ionescu also reported that many of the SMC security holes were plugged in OS X Mountain Lion. A full copy of the presentation can be downloaded here (PDF file).

Your Mac's connection to Harry Potter originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Brandon Ashmore, a 21-year-old from Mentor, Ohio, has a lot to smile about as the winner of a US$10,000 gift card from Apple for being the person who downloaded the 50 billionth app from the App Store. Ashmore told NewsChannel5 in Cleveland that he had saved up five apps to download onto his iPhone 5 to try to win the contest, and thought he was being pranked when an Apple rep called him to relay the good news.

Ashmore finally believed the caller, saying that the Apple employee had "too much information" about him. The winning app was Say the Same Thing by SpaceInch, LLC, a free word game that has been floating around the Top Free Apps list since it was released in April 2013.

So what's Ashmore going to do with his $10,000 gift card? He refers to the credit as "free music, movies and books for life."

Apple's 50 billionth app contest winner saved up five app purchases originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Macworld blogger Steven Aquino wrote a fascinating piece today on how Apple's Retina display technology has helped him -- a legally blind individual with extremely low vision -- to be able to enjoy Apple's products as if he had no vision limitations at all.

Aquino says that he had used the original iPhone and iPad successfully with their displays set to full brightness, but "seeing my iPhone 4's Retina screen was a total game-changer." The high pixel density -- 326 pixels per inch -- and turning the screen brightness all the way up made it so "even the smallest text was readable, and I was able to spot details in images that were previously indistinguishable."

How much of a difference does a Retina display make to Aquino? "Simply put, I will no longer use an iPhone or iPad that doesn't feature a Retina display. Having used a Retina display, I can't go back to something that makes using my devices that much more difficult." Of course, he admits that having the screen brightness turned all the way up does eat up his battery charge quickly, so much so that a Mophie Powerstation Duo is in his favorite device bag at all times.

Apple's Retina display aids accessibility originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for May 16, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Attendees of Macworld/iWorld and WWDC have always known that if they needed an Apple fix during their conference stay, they could walk over to the Apple Store at the corner of Stockton and Ellis streets. The SFGate blog is reporting that the company has submitted plans to open a new flagship store on Union Square a few blocks away.

The new store is expected to occupy a space at Stockton and Post streets that was previously the home of a Levi's store. The design of the new building is intriguing -- it's a silver box-shaped store with an all-glass front, with the iconic Apple logo seemingly floating in midair.

Apple said that the move to the new location -- about 45 percent larger than the existing store -- will increase employment by about 50 jobs over the existing 350. There's currently no schedule for the renovation and relocation.

San Francisco politicians were thrilled by the news, with Supervisor David Chiu saying that he hoped the new flagship store would "turbo-charge" the Union Square area, and Mayor Ed Lee saying his office is working with Apple on green initiatives.

Apple to re-locate flagship store in San Francisco originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Today, iPhone 5 users have another way to keep their phone charged up for those times when the battery is getting sucked dry. Mophie, which previously brought us the Juice Pack Helium and Juice Pack Air for iPhone 5, today announced the Juice Pack Plus (US$119.95).

The case comes in hues of black, white and PRODUCT(RED), and differs from its siblings in thickness, weight, and capacity. The battery in the Plus is a whopping 2,100 mAh, while the Air has 1,700 mAh of extra power and the Helium provides 1,500 mAh. Weight for the Plus and Air is 2.68 oz., while the Helium weighs in at a svelte 2.44 oz. The Plus is 0.70 inch thick, the Air is 0.63 inch thick and the Helium is just 0.59 inch thick.

The battery of the Juice Pack Plus is enough to give your iPhone 5 120 percent of a charge -- enough to top it off completely once and then have enough juice left over to make some emergency calls.

Mophie says that the black model will ship within one or two days; the white model ships next week on May 22nd, and the special PRODUCT(RED) model will be available on May 31st. We hope to have a full review of the Juice Pack Plus soon.

New Mophie Juice Pack Plus gives your iPhone 5 extra oomph originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW has covered the US Department of Justice price-fixing case against Apple for the past several years. Now an email sent from former Apple CEO Steve Jobs to James Murdoch of News Corporation (parent company of HarperCollins publishers) is being interpreted by the DOJ as showing that Apple and HarperCollins conspired with other publishers to raise e-book prices. John Paczkowski at AllThingsD pointed out yesterday that the DOJ might be taking the email out of context.

The seemingly incriminating portion of Jobs' email is this: "Throw in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream e-books market at $12.99 and $14.99." As Paczkowski points out, reading the entire email, it appears that Jobs was simply using those price points as "price caps in broader pricing tiers" and that he "openly concedes that the agency model he's proposing may well fail."

Jobs wrote, "We simply don't think the e-book market can be successful with pricing higher than $12.99 or $14.99. Heck, Amazon is selling these books at $9.99, and who knows, maybe they are right and we will fail even at $12.99. But we're willing to try at the prices we proposed. We are not willing to try at higher prices, because we are pretty sure we'll all fail."

Paczkowski notes that this is just "one piece of evidence in a much larger case," but that the DOJ appears to have "cherry-picked a quote for maximum effect." The full exhibit from which the Jobs email was taken is included below.

The Steve Jobs email that has the DOJ's interest originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DODOcase just announced the perfect accompaniment to Victor's post earlier this week about when and how to use paper versus software. DODONotes (US$13.95) weds a high-quality paper notebook to your iPhone.

Gallery: DODONotes

It's a simple idea, really -- the DODONotes notebook has a cutout on the front of it that is just perfectly sized for an iPhone 5, 4S or 4. There's an elastic band that holds the notebook securely to the iPhone. With a quick pull, you take the notebook off of your iPhone, jot a few quick notes or sketch an idea and then reattach DODONotes to your phone. There's enough play in the elastic that you can probably attach a small pen or pencil without too much of a strain.

The notebook is made of a beautiful 24 lb. text Mohawk Superfine paper in a Soft White Eggshell finish. I am absolutely sure that TUAW editor and notebook connoisseur Dave Caolo is going to order a ton of these to feed his paper habit...

DODONotes: The perfect marriage of paper and iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 16 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.