By Staff | Published: October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs passes away at 56

Steve Jobs

After a long battle with pancreatic cancer, Steve Jobs died today at the age of 56.

Apple has posted a tribute to him on their homepage, along with this message:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.
Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

Apple CEO Tim Cook also sent this message to Apple employees earlier today:

Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you.

Read more

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By Staff | Published: October 4, 2011

iPhone 4 now $99, iPhone 3GS free w/contract

iPhone Lineup

Credit: GDGT

Starting today, the very successful iPhone 4 is just $99 for the 8GB model, pushed out of the top spot by the new iPhone 4S.

As far as we know, the iPhone 4 will remain unchanged aside from the reduced memory and a new Apple model number for inventory purposes. Given the popularity of the iPhone 4 even when it started for $199, we expect these things to fly off the shelves in the next few months.

In addition, the nearly 3 year old iPhone 3GS is simply free if you sign a contract. Despite its age, the 3GS can run iOS 5 when it comes out October 12th, making it an excellent option for someone on a budget. Read more

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By Staff | Published: October 4, 2011

Apple iPhone 4S due out October 14th, now on Sprint too

iPhone 4S

Today during the press event at Apple’s Cupertino campus, CEO Tim Cook unveiled the next iteration of their popular iPhone platform: the iPhone 4S.

For those of you who were expecting an iPhone 5 today, you shouldn’t be disappointed. This is essentially what everyone was expecting the iPhone 5 to be: A5 processor, more ram, and a handful of new features, some exclusive to the new device. There’s no new design this time around, though.

Apple says the new iPhone 4S is 2x faster in the CPU department, with graphics performance 7x faster.

The new device also has a special antenna system designed to improve call quality by using one antenna for transmission and another for reception.

In addition the iPhone 4S is now a ‘worldphone’ and should work on pretty much any carrier* in any country, including Apple’s newest partner: Sprint. Read more

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By Staff | Published: October 4, 2011

New iPod Touch gains white model

Credit: GDGT

For the first time, the Touch is now available with a white face like the iPhone 4, previously it was only available in black.

The new model now has the same A5 chip found in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, along with an increase in ram memory (no word on how much, yet). ed: Apple for some reason chose not to include the A5 chip in the new Touch model, so it remains with the A4

Pricing on the white model is identical to the black version, 8GB/$199, 32GB/$299 and 64GB/$399. Read more

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Posted in Apple Events, Apple Hardware | Tagged , | 2 Comments
By Staff | Published: October 4, 2011

Apple updates iPod Nano

iPod Nano

Though it is constantly overshadowed by its larger, iOS brothers, the iPod Nano still has a dedicated following due to it’s extremely small size.

Though the design of the device hasn’t changed much if at all, the interface is now supposed to be easier to navigate.

Apple has also added sensors built into the device for running and jogging, this essentially makes the device more usable out of the box, removing the need for users to buy a separate Nike sensor.

The multi-touch Nano has become something of a fashion item, with multiple companies now producing watch wrist bands specifically for the device, and Apple has now added new watch faces to the Nano for exactly that purpose.

The new model is available today in 7 different colors, 8GB/$129, 16GB/$149. Read more

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By Staff | Published: October 4, 2011

iOS 5 due out October 12th

This morning at Apple’s iPhone event, Scott Forstall gave a quick presentation reviewing the major new features in iOS 5: iMessage, Safari features, Twitter integration and so on.

And now we also have a release date for the slightly-delayed iOS 5: October 12th. That’s the day Apple will likely push the final Gold Master seed out to the iTunes update servers.

The new OS will be available on the following devices:

  • iPhone 4S
  • iPhone 4
  • iPhone 3GS
  • iPad 2
  • iPad
  • iPod Touch 5th gen
  • iPod Touch 4th gen
  • iPod Touch 3rd gen

We expect developers to receive a GM seed later today or this week. Read more

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Posted in Apple Events, Apple Software | Tagged | 2 Comments
By Staff | Published: September 27, 2011

Apple invites press to iPhone event October 4th

This morning, Apple sent out press invites to an event scheduled for 10am Pacific time October 4th (next tuesday) on Apple’s campus in Cupertino.

As Steve Jobs is no longer the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook will lead the presentation while other Apple executives may take smaller roles on stage periodically.

For the past few years, Apple has used their annual WWDC event during the summer to announce a new iPhone model and to release the next version of iOS. Neither of those things happened this past WWDC, but iOS 5 is currently at the very end of beta testing so a release next tuesday would line up perfectly.

Apple is also rumored to be planning to release a new iPhone 5 model, containing the same A5 processor and improved graphics capabilities that debuted in the iPad 2 earlier this year, as well as a lower cost iPhone ’4s’ model. Read more

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By Staff | Published: June 6, 2011

iCloud announced, available later this fall with iOS 5

iCloud

Credit: Engadget

During the World Wide Developers Conference keynote speech today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled Cupertino’s new “Cloud” based service, intended to replace MobileMe while augmenting iTunes and the iOS device family.

Essentially, iCloud is your new digital “hub”, allowing you to keep all of your digital “things” like music, movies, contacts, calendar events, photos, videos, apps, iBooks, and so on, in sync. No matter where your devices are, or what they are doing, new “things” can be pushed to them.

During the keynote, Jobs referred to MobileMe as being “not our finest hour”. With iCloud they aim to do better in every respect, and to make that clear they have also dropped the price to 100% free. There is no charge for any of iCloud, and there are no ads either. Read more

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By Staff | Published: June 6, 2011

iOS 5 unveiled, to be available later this fall

iOS 5

Credit: Engadget

As expected, Apple revealed the next major upgrade to their famous mobile platform during the WWDC keynote this morning.

First, availability: iOS 5 will be available as a developer seed today, with general availability later this fall.

It will be compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad and iPad 2, third and fourth generation iPod touch. It will be free for owners of all those devices.

Today, they walked through some major features of the new operating system.

Notification Center

This is an overhaul of the existing notification system in iOS which is in charge of telling you about missed calls, text messages, Push notifications and other events.

Previously, notifications would pop up over whatever you were doing and could not be reviewed at a later time if dismissed. Read more

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By Staff | Published: June 6, 2011

Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” Announced

Lion

Note: Our apologies for the inaccurate title/url, we assumed they would do a release today and didn’t catch the title before publishing -ed

After 22 months of development, Apple has finally released the next major version of Mac OS X: 10.7 codename “Lion”.

First the availability details: new Macs will come with Lion preinstalled, but everyone else will have to get it from the Mac App Store. That’s right, no discs, no retail boxes of any kind.

We do expect them to continue making USB restore drives available to Mac buyers, and there will likely be a way to create one if needed.

Developers will get a “preview” version today, with customer availability in July.

Pricing is $29.99 this time around, and once bought you can install Lion on all of your App Store “Authorized” Macs. Read more

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Posted in Apple Events, Apple Software | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment
By Staff | Published: May 31, 2011

Apple to launch iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion and iCloud during WWDC

WWDC 2011

Apple has announced that on June 6th, Steve Jobs will lead the WWDC keynote this year:

Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

Absent is any mention of a new iPhone model, leading some to speculate that the event will be purely about the new software offerings and of course, developers. This would be the first time since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 that Apple altered their schedule of releasing a new iPhone model each year at WWDC. Read more

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Posted in Apple Events, Apple Software | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment
By Staff | Published: March 28, 2011

WWDC 2011 Preview

WWDC 2011

Apple has announced the time and place for their World Wide Developers Conference this year. It will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco June 6th through June 10th.

Over 1,000 Apple engineers guide you through five exciting days of in-depth technical sessions and hands-on labs that demonstrate how to harness the incredible power of the world’s most advanced operating systems into your apps.

Apple currently lists 5 “technology tracks” that will be the theme of developer labs and sessions -

  • Application Frameworks
  • Graphics, Media, and Games
  • Developer Tools
  • Internet and Web
  • Core OS

In addition, Apple will once again be hosting the Apple Design Awards which “recognize technical excellence and outstanding achievement in iPhone, iPad, and Mac app design and development”. Read more

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Posted in Apple Events, Apple Hardware, Apple Inc., Apple Software | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment
By Staff | Published: March 2, 2011

iOS 4.3 to be released March 11th

iOS 4.3

During the iPad event today, Apple announced that the iOS 4.3 update would be available March 11th to coincide with the availability of the iPad 2.

The new version includes a Personal Hotspot feature that will allow customers who subscribe to an Internet tethering plan from their carrier, to use the iPhone as a Wi-Fi hotspot. This allows other devices, such as a laptop or a Wi-Fi iPad to use the iPhone as an internet connection.

Unfortunately the new feature will only be enabled on the iPhone 4. Whether or not this is a hardware limitation or simply a product differentiation strategy, we can’t say for sure.

As we found out a few weeks ago, the new iOS update will allow iPad owners to use the physical switch on the side of their device as a rotation lock once again. Read more

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By Staff | Published: March 2, 2011

Apple reveals the iPad 2

iPad 2. Credit: Engadget

iPad 2. Credit: Engadget

Today at the Yerba Buena center in San Francisco, Apple unveiled their 2nd generation tablet computer, the iPad 2.

Steve Jobs was present to demonstrate the new model, which features a much faster Apple A5 processor and a new, dramatically faster graphics coprocessor, up to “9x faster” according to Jobs.

Despite the faster processor and improved graphics performance, Apple says the battery life of the new model is the same as the old model, 10 hours.

While many hoped for a “Retina display” this time around, it was not to be. The iPad 2 has a 1024×768 IPS display, which is similar if not identical to the one in the old model.

The new iPad 2 also has dual cameras similar to the iPhone 4: one on the front face for video calling, and one on the back for taking pictures. Read more

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By Staff | Published: February 27, 2011

First look: Full System Encryption in Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion”

One of the most valuable changes in Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” is a complete overhaul of FileVault, Apple’s disk encryption system for protecting private data such as stored pictures, emails, documents and home movies.

In Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5, FileVault could only be used to encrypt the “home folder” for each user, and it was widely criticized for a number of implementation flaws and security issues.

With 10.7 “Lion”, Apple intends to solve some of these flaws and significantly enhance security and privacy by turning FileVault into a disk level encryption system, not only for the main filesystem, but also for any external drive a user wants to protect with encryption.

While Apple is not the first to implement full system encryption, anyone running 10.7 will be able to use it, compared to Windows where an Ultimate or Enterprise edition of the operating system is needed to enable Microsoft’s system encryption feature called BitLocker (Truecrypt is a free alternative). Read more

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Posted in Apple Software | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments