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19 Oct 2009 20:18

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Biz, Tech: After a killer profit report, Apple’s stock is on a tear

  • Somehow, Apple outdid themselves again. More people than ever are buying Macs, with sales up 17 percent from a year ago. And the stock, as you can see, is reacting positively to the fact that the company has $1.67 billion in profits this quarter. It hit a record high today. The cult of Steve is stronger than ever.source

18 Oct 2009 09:59

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Tech: Message to take from this ad: Everyone iDon’t, Droid Does

Not bad Verizon, Motorola and Google. You actually made some Apple-critical advertising with teeth. And we hear the Droid is a cool phone – with a better network. source

16 Oct 2009 16:16

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Tech: The iPhone App Store’s new free app policy is a win-win for all

  • We’ve always been big supporters of the freemium model, but an upsell from within your free app is just so much easier than trying to get your users to the app store again to purchase your premium version.
  • Inedible Software co-founder Eddie Marks • On Apple’s new policy to allow in-app purchases on free apps. Why is this a big deal? Well, a few things: Software makers only have to get one app approved, as opposed to two (if they’re selling a game), it fights piracy of full apps, and it’s easier to upsell from within the app as opposed to forcing people to go to the app store again. • source

12 Oct 2009 11:11

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Tech: Snow Leopard has teeth: Apple’s new OS has a really big bug.

  • Do not log into the guest account. Since last month, users have been reporting a major Snow Leopard flaw on Apple’s support forums. Essentially, if you log into a guest account after you upgrade, then log out and go to your regular account, everything’s gone. And you can’t get it back. Yikes. This is not the kind of thing that users run into every day, but it’s a common enough feature to freak us out. source

05 Oct 2009 20:39

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Tech: Voice over hypocrite protocol: Vonage is coming to the iPhone

  • Guess Apple had a change of heart. See, here’s the thing. Google Voice is a program that works with the iPhone to add a ton of extra functionality that the phone doesn’t have, yet works over regular cell signals. The Vonage iPhone app, does exactly what Apple and AT&T claimed they were afraid of – cheap calls on a network other than AT&T’s – and it was approved! Where’s the logic in that, Apple? source

05 Oct 2009 10:10

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Tech: Comparing apples to apples: Woolworths vs. … um, Apple

A row of apples
  • Woolworths apple Looks like a worm has already gotten to it, based on its loopy shape. It’s got a firm kind of plastic, which tells you that the apple is genetically modified. Is the subject of a scary lawsuit from the Apple on the right. source
  • Woolworths apple Looks like a worm has already gotten to it, based on its loopy shape. It’s got a firm kind of plastic, which tells you that the apple is genetically modified. Is the subject of a scary lawsuit from the Apple on the right.
  • Bad apple Brown, a little shady on the inside. Makes you want to not eat it. We wanted to get a nice apple, but we were in a hurry this morning so we grabbed the very first apple off the tree we could find. Good enough for our purposes. source
  • Woolworths apple Looks like a worm has already gotten to it, based on its loopy shape. It’s got a firm kind of plastic, which tells you that the apple is genetically modified. Is the subject of a scary lawsuit from the Apple on the right.
  • Bad apple Brown, a little shady on the inside. Makes you want to not eat it. We wanted to get a nice apple, but we were in a hurry this morning so we grabbed the very first apple off the tree we could find. Good enough for our purposes.
  • Apple logo Not very organic. Made of chrome. Probably tough to bite into. Probably a few transistors in there somewhere. Was sued heavily by a much more musical Apple back in the day, and is now paying it forward. Good job. source

03 Oct 2009 10:56

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Tech: Why AT&T is probably regretting the iPhone right now

  • 90% of iPhone owners love their phone so much that they’d recommend it to a friend; that’s some great customer satisfaction source
 

02 Oct 2009 19:11

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Biz: A Hulu for publishing: Will media finally get its act together online?


About time someone noticed. We're not going to give the publishing industry a full pass here, but it's great to see they're finally attempting to cobble together a plan for magazines to have a life outside of glossy paper.
  • The plan Time Inc. is pushing to create a Hulu-style app for magazines, and other publishers (such as Wired publisher Condé Nast) are getting on board. The idea is to focus strictly on the content and the distribution system instead of where the content might show up. (Good idea, because you guys know nothing about devices.) source
  • The plan Time Inc. is pushing to create a Hulu-style app for magazines, and other publishers (such as Wired publisher Condé Nast) are getting on board. The idea is to focus strictly on the content and the distribution system instead of where the content might show up. (Good idea, because you guys know nothing about devices.)
  • Why it might work Let’s say Apple releases a tablet. Or Microsoft does something with its Courier prototype. The media industry could totally do some awesome things with it, such as multimedia, interactive graphics, or contextual stuff like Apture (used above). If they do it right, they finally – finally! – have a unique product that people would pay for again. source
  • The plan Time Inc. is pushing to create a Hulu-style app for magazines, and other publishers (such as Wired publisher Condé Nast) are getting on board. The idea is to focus strictly on the content and the distribution system instead of where the content might show up. (Good idea, because you guys know nothing about devices.)
  • Why it might work Let’s say Apple releases a tablet. Or Microsoft does something with its Courier prototype. The media industry could totally do some awesome things with it, such as multimedia, interactive graphics, or contextual stuff like Apture (used above). If they do it right, they finally – finally! – have a unique product that people would pay for again.
  • Why it might not To this, we defer to Fake Steve Jobs (a.k.a. Daniel Lyons), who made some really interesting points a couple of days ago. His argument is that content manufacturers completely lack imagination, and as a result, tech companies are eating their lunch. He nails it. If they just recycle the same crap from print, nobody will want it. source

28 Sep 2009 22:07

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Tech: First Google Voice, now health care? Apple’s app bans get political

  • I feel like politicians already have a megaphone and Apple is making it worse instead of making it easier for a regular guy to get an application into the store.
  • iPhone app developer Red Daly • Describing his frustration with Apple declining his app iSinglePayer for political reasons. The app, which explained to people the benefits of a Canada-style health care system and gives those users ways to contact their representatives, was blocked by phone specifically because it pushed a political opinion. For Daly, he says it was defeating because he “went to the app store because I felt like I didn’t have much of a voice in other spheres.” Eventually, all these arbitrary bans are going to catch up with Apple. • source

19 Sep 2009 10:17

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Tech: The saga of the Google Voice iPhone app gets more drama-laden

  • Google says Google admitted yesterday that Apple was not still looking into the Google Voice application, but that it was rejected for duplicating functionality. source
  • Google says Google admitted yesterday that Apple was not still looking into the Google Voice application, but that it was rejected for duplicating functionality.
  • Apple says For Apple’s part in the mix, they say that they’re telling the truth. If they weren’t, it would effectively mean they were lying to the FCC. That’s bad. source
  • Google says Google admitted yesterday that Apple was not still looking into the Google Voice application, but that it was rejected for duplicating functionality.
  • Apple says For Apple’s part in the mix, they say that they’re telling the truth. If they weren’t, it would effectively mean they were lying to the FCC. That’s bad.
  • TechCrunch butts in TechCrunch says that Google has a screenshot of the actual rejection letter. It’s offering a T-shirt to the Google employee that sends it along. Classy. source