Posts tagged with "apple"

Authorized Biography of Steve Jobs Coming Early 2012

Publishing firm Simon & Schuster yesterday revealed that a biography of Steve Jobs is currently being written with an expected release date of early 2012, and unlike previous biographies of Steve Jobs this one has the blessing of Jobs himself. Being written by former Time executive Walter Isaacson and titled ‘iSteve: The Book of Jobs’, it will likely prove to be a fascinating and unprecedented look into the life and mind of Jobs.

Isaacson, who has also written biographies on Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, has interviewed Jobs as well members of his family, co-workers and competitors for the book and was supposedly invited by Jobs for a tour of his childhood home. In a statement the publisher of Simon & Schuster, Jonathon Karp, said that “This is the perfect match of subject and author, and it is certain to be a landmark book about one of the world’s greatest innovators.”

A previously unwelcome biography, ‘iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business’ led to Apple banning and removing all books by its publisher, John Wiley & Sons, from Apple’s retail stores.

[Via MacRumors, AppleInsider]

 

Adobe To Launch 3 New iPad Apps That Highlight Potential of Photoshop Touch SDK

Adobe today announced that it will release Creative Suite 5.5 (a “mid-cycle update”) on May 3 along with three new iPad apps that will complement the full-featured desktop version of Photoshop. The three apps are actually designed as a demo of how developers can take advantage of the new Photoshop Touch SDK (which was released today) and create their own apps that complement and add additional functionality to the desktop version of Photoshop but through an Android, BlackBerry or iOS app.

The three iPad apps; Adobe Color Lava, Adobe Eazel and Adobe Nav will all arrive on May 3rd on the same day as Creative Suite’s 5.5 update goes live.  Adobe Color Lava (priced at $2.99) is in simple terms a digital paint palette that will allow you to mix paints and generate a five-color palette that can be sent to the Photoshop color chip or swatch palette. Adobe Eazel ($4.99) is essentially a basic drawing program (similar to Brushes) that features a unique interface in which by placing 5 fingers on the screen a pop-up menu will appear above each finger, sliding up with the relevant finger will select that menu which will then let you to alter the relevant value (such as color or brush size) . Finally and perhaps most useful is Adobe Nav ($1.99), this app turns the iPad into a dedicated control that has the various tool palettes displayed, selecting a particular tool will select that tool on the desktop version of Photoshop, the app will also let you easily cycle between the various files you may have open in Photoshop.

UPDATE: Shawn Welch has already shown off his third party app that takes advantage of the new Photoshop Touch SDK. His app, Photoshop Remote, allows users to view a live preview thumbnail of any image that is open on a network connected Photoshop client and it can handle multiple clients at once. It even adds a dashboard that replicates a lot of the functionality of the Adobe Nav application including; “tool selection, color selection, filters, adjustment layers, and more.” Jump the break for his video demonstrating the app.

Also after the break is a video demonstrating Adobe Eazel and Adobe Nav apps and jump over to CNet where they wrote a short review of each of the 3 apps, also if you are a developer that is interested in implementing the Photoshop Touch SDK make sure to visit the Adobe Developer Center.

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What’s Going On With Apple and Best Buy?

An article published by CrunchGear last night suggested Apple “blacklisted” Best Buy over a misunderstanding between the company and the retailer which, allegedly, had been holding off on selling iPad 2 units they had in stock. Apple didn’t like the strategy, and stopped sending new iPad 2 shipments to Best Buy altogether. CrunchGear also reported it was unclear why Best Buy would keep iPads in stock without selling them (telling customers iPads weren’t available at all), with this information coming from “a reader who works at Best Buy.” The report also went on to claim that – according to the tipster – Tim Cook was involved in negotiations with Best Buy, and the situation was pretty bad for the American retailer.

As it usually happens with rumors involving Apple, the report got picked up by several blogs last night. But since CrunchGear posted the tip they received from a Best Buy employee, it all got more interesting. CrunchGear updated their original report with a purported email from Tim Cook sent to the tipster. Read more

Analysts: Did Apple Sell 19 Million iPhones in Q2 2011?

Two weeks ago, Apple officially announced the Q2 2011 conference call, where the company will unveil the financial results for the quarter that ended on March 26. The second fiscal quarter usually marks a decline in sales after the holiday season, but this year analysts are facing an interesting scenario: in the second quarter, Apple released the Verizon iPhone after years of rumors and speculation, and launched the iPad 2 both in the United States and internationally. Whilst previous Q2s have followed the unspoken standard of lower sales than the big boom of Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping, this year’s conference call is set to provide more insight into Verizon iPhone’s sales (which were rumored to be “below expectations”, although many disagree) and the (allegedly) huge success of the iPad 2, which is still nowhere to be found in most Apple retail stores and has a 2-3 weeks shipment delay on Apple.com.

Just like last quarter, Fortune has posted the predictions of pro and “amateur” analysts about how many iPhone units did Apple sell in the quarter. According to the analysts contacted by Fortune, Apple might have sold between 13 million and 20 million iPhones, with most predictions averaging around 16 million devices sold.

The health of Apple’s quarterly earnings – and its stock price – will depend heavily on how those two factors balanced out. The iPhone is the company’s biggest money maker; in Q1 2011, it represented nearly 40% of total revenue.

The 43 analysts we polled – professionals and amateurs – were split on the question of whether iPhone sales rose or fell in Q2. Twenty five believe Apple sold more; 18 think it sold less. Their estimates ranged from a high of 19.8 million from Susquehanna’s Jeff Fidacaro to a low of 13.24 million from Goldman Sachs’ Bill Shope.

In Q1 2011, Apple posted a record revenue of $26.74 billion with 7.33 million iPads sold, 16.24 million iPhones and 4.13 million Macs; a graphical analysis of the Q1 offers a good overview of where Apple’s sales are and what’s generating profit for the company. In the past weeks, other analysts claimed 2011 could be a $100 billion revenue for Apple. While we look forward to see whether or not Horace Dediu and Turley Muller will go close to Apple’s actual results this time around too, you can check out the full chart if predictions and estimates below. Read more

Microsoft Releases Bing for iPad

Bing for iPad has just been released onto the iTunes App Store and it is Microsoft’s first app to make it onto the tablet device. Just like their Bing iPhone app and the Bing website, the daily image is the first thing you’ll notice with the app and it looks beautiful on the iPad’s screen. Furthermore the app gives you a quick glance of key information of Weather, News, Movies, Trends and more in a bar at the bottom of the screen.

The app contains a wealth of features and has been exceedingly well-designed to take advantage of the iPad’s strengths - this can definitely not be called just a search engine app. Those bottom tabs of information are a gateway into a full screen of lots more information. However probably the best feature of the app is the Trends page which gives you a very nice, almost FlipBoard-esque, page with all the top searches on Bing, along with a relevant image. Like the iPhone app it features a Voice Search (which works pretty well) and search, whether it be done via text or voice, can be for a website, news, image, video or map.

There is a lot of swiping that can be done in the app and it allows you to go back and forward from your last ‘panel’ of information, whether it be a web search, news page or weather. Bing Maps is included and fully functional letting you search for an address or business, find local business and even get directions.

The iPad app is curiously only available in the US iTunes app store which is certainly odd considering the web version does have international editions, that even have a different daily picture. However even weirder is that I downloaded it from the US store and ran it in Australia and it not only gave me the correct weather but the daily image was the Australian one and even Bing Maps showed my location and correctly showed local businesses, only the movie theatre times didn’t work. Jump the break for some more screenshots of the app.

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Apple Patent Reveals Potential E-Ink And LCD Hybrid Display

A new patent revealed today shows that Apple has given consideration into a hybrid display that could dynamically switch and even simultaneously use e-ink and a traditional LCD system for displaying content for a device such as an iPad. The patent filed in October of 2009 and entitled “Systems and Methods for Switching Between an Electronic Paper Display and a Video Display” has a clear purpose in that it could be used for easier reading of text, particularly in an application such as iBooks.

The system described in the Apple patent would work by placing a translucent e-ink display above the traditional LCD panel (and below the touch panel), and depending on what content is supposed to be displayed, the switching on and off of the panel would be done by the system rather than the user. E-ink displays have some clear benefits in that they do not require a backlight, are less likely to induce eye strains than the bright screens of an LCD display and can be read in direct sunlight, as this Amazon ad last year highlighted to great effect.

An LCD obviously reigns supreme with high-resolution, dynamic and coloured content whilst e-ink is best for static text in black and white. The Apple patent aims to solve such an issue by allowing for separate display regions that can be independently activated when necessary. It was in fact previously rumored that the iPad 2 would have greater anti-reflective and anti-smudge treatments as a way to improve reading on the device but such a system described in this patent with a hybrid display of e-ink and LCD technology would be a far superior answer to the problems of reading in direct sunlight.

[Via AppleInsider]

 

Apple Planning To Open First Apple Store In Russia

According to a report by ifoAppleStore yesterday, Apple is finalising plans and decisions to lease and open up its first Apple Retail Store in Russia. Top executives of the Apple retail division including senior vice president of Retail Ron Johnson and vice president of Real Estate Bob Bridger were seen touring the reconstructed Hotel Moskva where Apple is looking to lease a two-level, 16,000 square-foot space for an Apple Store.

Hotel Moskva is currently in the final stages of a reconstruction; the historic building is close by to the Red Square, the Kremlin and other historical monuments and sites in central Moscow that are popular among tourists. Whilst no lease has yet been signed, a decision could be made soon according to sources of ifoAppleStore. The hotel with its beautiful stone façade will also be home to the first Four Season’s hotel in Russia and numerous other retail stores in an extensive and modern shopping mall.

Eastern Europe is currently devoid of any Apple Stores and the opening of its first store in Russia could signal a significant commitment to expanding growth in the eastern Europe region, similar to that of its plans for Asia. Currently the most eastern store in Europe is the recently opened Altmarkt-Galerie in Dresden, Germany. But beyond that there are “no Apple stores in any of the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union (USSR), which dissolved in 1991”.

[Via ifoAppleStore]

 

Toys R’ Us To Sell The iPad 2 Next Month?

Despite the continuing shortages of the iPad 2, modmyi is today reporting that Toys R’ Us will next month begin selling the iPad 2 in the United States. If it comes to fruition, Toys R’ Us will join other third party retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart and Target in selling the iPad 2.

The source, an employee working at Toys R’ Us, also revealed to modmyi a series of employee training materials that have been distributed to ensure employees are up to scratch of the features of the iPad 2. Amongst the materials include a photo of the iPad with its various features noted including its two cameras, A5 processor and the home button and how it is “instant on”. There is also a quiz for employees to complete, which includes questions such as asking what size screen the iPad 2 has. Jump the break for a picture of the training diagram on the iPad 2’s features.

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US Privacy Investigation Targeting Smartphone App Developers

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey are reportedly investigating whether various smartphone applications are illegally obtaining and transmitting data from users without their consent or knowledge. In the US it is a violation of federal computer fraud laws for companies to collect information about a user without notice or authorization.

The prosecutors are investigating whether various apps on smartphones such as the iPhone and various Android phones are not notifying users what data is being collected and why such data is required by the app. This data being collected ranges from a users location to the unique identification data for that device and even personal information. The Wall Street Journal tested 101 apps and discovered that 56 of those transmitted the unique identification number for the device without letting users know, 47 transmitted the phones location and 5 sent a users age, gender and other personal information. Worryingly 45 of the apps tested did not have any privacy policy either in the app or on their website.

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