In case you haven't seen it yet, the fourth episode of Kirby Ferguson's "Everything is a Remix" series went live in mid-February on Ferguson's site. As in the previous three episodes in the series, Ferguson examines modern attitudes toward "intellectual property" and how these attitudes rather counterintuitively stifle creativity rather than fostering it. Part 4 of "Everything is a Remix" deals largely with the contentious subject of software patents, a subject we've covered many times here at TUAW. According to Ferguson, 62 percent of all patent lawsuits are now over software patents, and he estimates the total wealth "lost" (read: siphoned off from "infringing" companies and individuals towards patent holders and their lawyers) at half a trillion dollars. Apple has found itself on both sides of the software patent trench warfare, as both target and aggressor. Ferguson makes it pretty obvious that Apple is just as guilty of hypocrisy as everyone else when it comes to software patents; he points out that Steve Jobs from 1996 proudly stated "We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas," while Steve Jobs from 2010 said he was going to "destroy Android, because it's a stolen product" and was "willing to go thermonuclear war" on Google and its allegedly copycat product. As Ferguson points out, "When we copy, we justify it. When others copy, we vilify it. Most of us have no problem with copying as long as we're the ones doing it." The question remains, however, where to draw the line between copying as a necessary portion of innovation and copying as an admission of a failure to innovate. Some might say all Samsung has done with its many riffs on Apple's products is "remix" the iPad and iPhone, but even after viewing Ferguson's series I'm not wholly convinced of that. On the other hand, Apple itself has long been accused of "copying" innovations at Xerox PARC for the first Mac OS -- something Ferguson himself addressed in an earlier episode of his series -- so the demarcation between "remix" and "shameless knockoff" isn't always easy to find. Ferguson's entire series is very well put together, and is itself only possible because of the very "remixing" he discusses. If you haven't caught the earlier episodes, I'd highly recommend setting aside an hour to watch all four parts back-to-back.'Everything is a Remix' examines software patents originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Software Patents-Ferguson
Major League Baseball-Graphic Novels-Ipad Owners-App Store-Ibooks
If iPad owners found their Spidey-senses tingling on Tuesday afternoon, it was for good reason: Marvel announced it was making 80 graphic novels featuring Spider Man, the X-Men, Captain America, and other popular characters available in Apple's iBookstore. read more..
MLB.com At Bat warms up for 2012 season
A new version of Major League Baseball's iOS app hits the App Store on Wednesday. And this season, one app will run in optimized form on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. MLB.com is also introducing a monthly subscription on top of the annual fee to experience the app's full features. read more..
Breast Cancer Treatment-Complications-Young Women-Bones
Doctors were mostly hoping to prevent complications and relapses when they gave young women a medicine to keep their bones strong during breast cancer treatment. Seven years later, they found it did more than that: The bone drug improved survival, as much as many chemotherapies do. read more..
Ios Photo And Video Privacy Issues-Location Information-Private Information-Address Books
Earlier this month, privacy issues related to the uploading of users' address books to developers' servers were cast into the limelight as Congress requested details from Apple on how private information is handled and protected. While Apple quickly responded to note that it would be addressing the issue by requiring explicit permission to be granted by users for apps to access their address book data, it has been a relatively open secret for some time that developers can gain access to a broad array of what might be considered private information, including photos, calendars, and other content.The New York Times today is taking a closer look at the topic of photos and videos, noting how easy it is for developers to quietly gain access to such content when given permission to collect location information.After a user allows an application on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to have access to location information, the app can copy the user’s entire photo library, without any further notification or warning, according to app developers.It is unclear whether any apps in Apple’s App Store are actually doing this. Apple says it screens all apps submitted to the store, and presumably it would not authorize an app that clearly copied a person’s photos without good reason. But copying address book data was also against Apple’s rules, and the company let through a number of popular apps that did so.The New York Times tested this behavior by commissioning an iOS developer to write a simple test application dubbed "PhotoSpy" that demonstrates how a simple pop-up requesting permission to access location information can actually lead to broad access to all photos and videos in a user's photo library on the device.When the “PhotoSpy” app was started up, it asked for access to location data. Once this was granted, it began siphoning photos and their location data to a remote server. (The app was not submitted to the App Store.)Apple and other mobile app distributors recently signed on to a new agreement with the California Attorney General's office that will see the companies making it easier for users to examine privacy policies associated with apps before they download them. And with pressure mounting on Apple to take further steps to ensure that apps can access only information explicitly permitted by users, many are undoubtedly hoping that more changes are coming in the relatively near future.Update: The Verge reports that "sources familiar with the situation" have indicated the photo and video access is a bug and that a fix is in the works.We spoke to sources familiar with the situation, and were informed that a fix is most likely coming for the loophole. According to the people we talked to, Apple has been made aware of the issue and is likely planning a fix with an upcoming release of iOS. Those sources also confirmed that the ability to send your photos and videos to a third-party is an error, not an intended feature. If we had to guess, the fix will likely come alongside a patch for Apple's other recent security issue — the ability for apps to upload your address book information without warning. read more..
Samsung Galaxy Tab-Gadgets
Here are some recent Gadgets posts: Is The $300 3D Printer Finally Here? Makible Thinks So TC@MWC: The Huawei Ascend D Quad Is One Of The Nicest Phones You’ll Never Buy LTE-Packing Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 Hits VZW Shelves On March 1 HBO GO Finally Lands On Xbox 360 On April 1 (And No, It’s Not A Joke) iPad 3 Rumor Roundup read more..
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma-Fda Adds Safety Warnings-Blood Sugar Levels-Radiation Therapy
You have choices--even with chemo. My cancer is invasive ductal carcinoma. It is stage 1. The tumor is HER2 positive, which means that it is a more aggressive type of cancer. I do not need radiation therapy, but my oncologist says I need chemotherapy. read more..
FDA Adds Safety Warnings to Statins
TUESDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) -- The popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins will now come with revised labels warning of a slight increased risk of elevated blood sugar levels, which could lead to type 2 diabetes, as well as a warning on rare cases of confusion and memory loss, U.S. drug regulators said Tuesday. read more..
Exercise Requirements-Video Game Systems-Active Video-Nintendo Wii-Video Games
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - All that virtual boxing, bowling and dancing along with video game systems might not be helping kids meet their daily exercise requirements, a new study suggests. In the report, kids who were given so-called active video games to play on a Nintendo Wii didn't end up logging any more moderate or vigorous physical activity than those given games they could play sitting on the couch. Researchers said that it's still possible playing active Wii games instead of other video games or simply watching TV could mean youngsters burn a few extra calories. ... read more..
Whooping Cough-Vaccines-Seizure-Tetanus
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Babies who got a single shot that included vaccines against tetanus and whooping cough were at higher risk of having a fever-related seizure on the same day in a new study from Denmark. However, researchers found the chance of having a seizure was still small after the shots, and kids who got them weren't any more likely to go on to develop epilepsy than those who weren't vaccinated, as some evidence had suggested. The finding is not a reason for parents to avoid the combined vaccine, and is actually "reassuring," said one expert not involved in the study. ... read more..
National Institutes Of Health-Breast Cancer Treatment-Prostate Cancer-Healthday News
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- As more men are screened for and diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer, a new draft report released Wednesday by a U.S. National Institutes of Health panel concluded that research on the safety of "active surveillance" is needed. read more..
Study: Bone drug boosts breast cancer survival
Doctors were mostly hoping to prevent complications and relapses when they gave young women a medicine to keep their bones strong during breast cancer treatment. Seven years later, they found it did more than that: The bone drug improved survival, as much as many chemotherapies do. read more..
Touchscreen Keyboards-Mechanical Keyboard-Pressure Switch-Keyboard Design-Apple Patents
The touchscreen keyboards on Apple's iOS devices are great space savers, as they're never around when you don't need them. For all the great leaps forward Apple has made with Multi-Touch technology over the past five years in both its iOS devices and Mac touchpads, its physical keyboards still use some well-established and comparatively old technology. Apple has apparently turned its eye on the traditional mechanical keyboard and tried to figure out ways to shrink that down, too. AppleInsider discovered a patent filed in August of 2010 that shows Apple is brewing up ideas to shrink its physical keyboards even farther than it has already. Current keyboards rely on a somewhat elaborate system consisting of a "scissor" mechanism that keeps keys suspended over a rubber dome switch, which when pressed, completes a path on the underlying keyboard circuitry, sending that key's signal to the computer's logic board. Apple has been thinking of ways to improve that system. All keyboard design is fundamentally about a spring-loaded pressure switch completing an electrical circuit. When pressure is applied -- usually via an intentional keypress, sometimes by a wandering cat -- the switch completes a circuit and sends an input signal. When pressure lets off, the circuit breaks. Older keyboards relied on actual spring mechanisms, which is why those older keyboards were quite large, heavy, and loud (clackety clackety CLACK). Some companies briefly experimented with membrane-style keyboards, but in a way those are almost worse than touchscreen keyboards; they have the same suboptimal level of tactile feedback to the user, but they also generally require more pressure to operate than a capacitive touch-style keyboard. Apple's proposed new keyboard design replaces the currently prevalent "scissor" style mechanical lever with a setup that reminds me of a device that pre-dates even the original typewriter: a telegraph machine. Like one of the old-style telegraph generators, the assembly consists of a key at the end of a long lever which, when pressed, completes a circuit and sends a signal. The support lever in Apple's proposed design would be made of a flexible material with good tensile feedback to the user. Design for an electric Morse key, patented in 1837 The upshot of this design? Traditional spring-loaded keyboards required a key travel of between 4 and 5 millimeters, with the "scissor" style setup in current notebook and portable keyboards requiring a smaller travel length of 1.5 to 2 millimeters. Apple's patent allows for a keyboard that needs only 0.2 millimeters of key travel. This obviously has implications for the design of Apple's notebooks. So far the keyboard itself hasn't been an especially important constraint on the overall thickness of Apple's notebooks -- battery design and the need to keep motherboards from spontaneously combusting has been more of a factor -- but it's not hard to envision a point where that 1.3 to 1.8 millimeters of potential space savings does indeed come in handy for an even thinner version of the MacBook Air.Apple patents design for ultra-thin keyboard originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Movie Showtimes-Diminutive Jot-Steel Cutter-Jot Stylus-Standout
If you're a frequent moviegoer, and especially if you regularly go to the movies with family or friends, Wigglehop is a standout app that makes it easy to plan your next cinematic excursion. And it's even easier to share that plan with others. read more..
Review: Adonit Jot Mini stylus looks good, but fails to impress
Adonit has taken a shrink ray and a steel cutter to its popular Jot stylus to produce the more diminutive Jot Mini, the company's newest offering. But though the Jot Mini is a beautifully constructed offering from Adonit, it left me wanting more in the useability department. read more..
Goodbye Erick, Hello Eric
TechCrunch has been through a lot lately, and we need to focus on what truly matters: covering startups and innovation. So, this post is going to be short.But here is what’s going on: Erick Schonfeld is leaving and Eric Eldon is replacing him as editor.What can you expect from TechCrunch now? read more..
President Barack Obama-Contraceptive Pill
President Barack Obama said Thursday it was just common sense to keep girls under the age of 17 from being able to buy a morning-after contraceptive pill off a drugstore shelf. Citing his own two daughters, Obama said: "I think most parents would probably feel the same way." read more..
Preliminary Injunction-Motorola Mobility-Appeals Court-Apple
Back in December, Motorola Mobility won a preliminary injunction against Apple in Germany that could have seen Apple barred from selling its 3G-enabled products such as the iPhone and cellular-capable iPad models in the country. Apple did indeed briefly pull all 3G devices with the exception of the iPhone 4S from its German online store earlier this month, only to put them back on sale a few hours later after a court temporarily suspended enforcement of the injunction.But FOSS Patents now reports that Apple has won a much more significant decision in the ongoing case, as a court has now ruled that Motorola can not enforce the injunction for the duration of Apple's appeal in the case. With the appeals case perhaps taking as long as a year or more, Apple is no longer at risk of having its products removed from sale for the foreseeable future. The report notes that the ruling also calls into question whether Motorola will eventually prevail.The Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court ("Oberlandesgericht Karlsruhe"), the appeals court within whose circuit the Mannheim Regional Court is based, decided today that Motorola Mobility is barred from further enforcement of its standard-essential patent injunction against Apple in Germany at least for the duration of the ongoing appeal (which I believe will take a year, if not more). And while today's decision is only a summary and preliminary decision that MMI could overturn during the course of the full-blown appellate proceedings, this indicates thatApple's appeal is highly likely to succeed -- and even if it didn't, Apple could realistically resolve the problem with limited additional concessions.Much of the debate over the 3G patent case relates to the patents having been declared essential to standards for the technology, with Motorola having been required to license the intellectual property under fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms. Apple has now convinced the German courts that it has made sufficient good faith efforts at licensing the patent that any enforcement of the injunction by Motorola would be considered a breach of antitrust regulations.Apple has been pushing for reform in the licensing and enforcement of FRAND patents, seeking to bring clarity to the complex landscape of patent lawsuits. That landscape involves both standards-essential FRAND patents that must be licensed in order to promote competition, as well as other feature and design patents that allow companies to protect certain other innovations and distinguish their products from those of their competitors.These latest developments are separate from the current dispute that has seen Apple suspend iCloud push email functionality in Germany, as the patent at issue in that case has not been deemed subject to FRAND licensing and Motorola is thus free to pursue enforcement while Apple appeals the decision. read more..
Mobile World Congress Texas Instruments-Partnerships-Techcrunch-Htc
Here are some recent posts from TechCrunch Gadgets: TechCrunch at Mobile World Congress Texas Instruments Announces New Partnerships For OMAP 5, But Wait…There’s More Quietly Brilliant, But HTC Sure Made Some Noise At MWC Hands-On With The HTC One V: This Little Guy Feels Great Asus Officially Unveils The Accessory-Laden Padfone read more..
Classical Music-Instrument-Itunes
When classical music is Mastered for iTunes, you can listen to every instrument with the highest possible clarity—just as the artist and sound engineer intended.Browse all the compositions that have been Mastered for iTunes.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Gwyneth Paltrow-Angelina Jolie-Celebtv
CelebTV (http://goo.gl/BY4Dd) thinks Angelina stole the show at The Oscars last night. Which star topped your list?Oscars 2012 Red Carpet: Best Dressed!www.youtube.comJennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michelle Williams and more of the best dressed stars on the red carpet at the 84th annual Academy Awards. read more..
Food And Drug Administration-Drug Shortages-Cancer Drugs
SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it will resolve a potentially life-threatening shortage of two leading cancer drugs by allowing one of them to be imported from abroad and rushing approval for a new manufacturer to make the second. The moves announced on Tuesday mark the latest government effort to address severe drug shortages. More than 200 medicines were in short supply in 2011 and doctors and patient advocates say the crisis has forced providers to postpone care or use second-best or costlier alternatives. ... read more..
Multiplayer Game-Photos Of Nature-Photo Cards-Instamatch
Are you a fan of Instagram? I often find myself taking snaps with the app, adding some special effects, and then posting them for close friends and complete strangers to enjoy. Now the folks at Tiny Hearts, the developers of the fun Pocket Zoo app I reviewed last year, have come up with Instamatch -- a US$1.99 universal iOS app (on sale for $0.99 for a limited time) released today that turns those awesome Instagram photos into a fun and challenging matching game. Instamatch is a variation on the old "Concentration" matching game that has contestants matching similar Instagram photos. There are several ways to play -- you can either select photos from your own Instagram account, in which case you match two identical copies of photos until all photos are matched, or from a selection of photos of Nature, Food, Animals, Cities, or World Wonders. With the latter, you match similar photos of the same subject, like two different photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. There's also a search mode, so you can find and match photos of just about any subject under the sun. Gallery: Instamatch To get a high score, you need to match all of the photo pairs as quickly as possible. It's also helpful to be lucky enough to match two photos without looking at them first -- the combos give you extra points that really add up. On the iPhone, the game can be played with one or two players, and there are three levels of difficulty -- Easy, with 12 photo cards; Normal, with 20 cards; and Hard, with 20 moving cards. For the iPad, up to four players can vie for the high score, and the Normal and Hard difficulty levels jump up to 30 cards. In multiplayer game play, the players take turns in succession so that a sharp-eyed player can watch for clues and then rack up extra points. There's Game Center support built into the app for shouting out your bragging rights for high Instamatch scores. I find Instamatch to be a fun time-killer. Individual games don't take that long, so it's the perfect game to play while you're waiting in a line and need to waste some time. An internet connection is required in order to grab the Instagram photos, so this isn't a game that you'd be able to play on an airplane unless it's equipped with Wi-Fi. The multiplayer game, especially on the iPad with 30 cards, throws a bit of strategy into play. The user interface is easy to understand and is beautifully designed, both of which add value to Instamatch. Especially at the 99¢ introductory price, Instamatch is a gotta-buy app for game lovers of any age.Instamatch turns Instagram into an engaging iOS game originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Monday 27 February 2012
Electric Razor-Mountain Lion-Apple
Mountain Lion spells trouble for Apple, naturally, while one silly pundit thinks an Apple boycott is in order. Then silly pundits clash, forcing the Macalope to agree with one of them. Oh, the near-humanity! read more..
Food And Drug Administration-Treatment Of Breast Cancer-Environmental Risks-Healthday News
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- In November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked its approval of the drug Avastin for the treatment of breast cancer. But, a new study suggests that the drug can boost the survival of women with a specific type of aggressive breast tumor when used in conjunction with two other medications. read more..
Report: We control many breast cancer risk factors
Women concerned about breast cancer should worry less about cellphones and hair dyes and worry more about weighing or drinking too much, exercising too little, using menopause hormones and getting too much radiation from medical tests. So says a new report on environmental risks by a respected panel of science advisers. read more..
Vulnerabilities-Installation-Trojan Horse-Flashback-Malware
Last year, we profiled a Mac trojan horse known as "Flashback" that was masquerading as a Flash Player installer. While Apple has taken steps to protect users from the threat using its File Quarantine system under which users' computers initiate daily checks for updated malware definitions, the malware's authors have continued to tweak the trojan to improve its ability to both infect systems and evade detection.Security firm Intego has issued a report on a new variant of the trojan, known as Flashback.G, which adopts a multi-pronged strategy in attacking users' systems. The first two methods rely on vulnerabilities in Java, and while the vulnerabilities are patched in systems running up-to-date versions of Java, outdated systems can be silently infected through these security holes.Flashback.G's self-signed certificate seeking to trick users into allowing installationOn up-to-date systems lacking the Java vulnerabilities, Flashback.G presents a self-signed certificate claiming to be from Apple in an attempt to fool users into allowing the trojan to be installed on their systems. Once installed, the trojan begins searching for user names and passwords it can relay to the malware's authors.This malware patches web browsers and network applications essentially to search for user names and passwords. It looks for a number of domains – websites such as Google, Yahoo!, CNN; bank websites; PayPal; and many others. Presumably, the people behind this malware are looking for both user names and passwords that they can immediately exploit – such as for a bank website – as well as others that may be reused on different sites.Notably, Intego reports that the trojan aborts its own installation if it detects the presence of any of several antivirus applications on a user's Mac, presumably seeking to remain below the radar while focusing on vulnerable systems.Intego recommends that users on Mac OS X Snow Leopard make sure that Java is fully up-to-date by running a check through Software Update, and for all users to be aware of the social engineering trick the trojan uses in attempting to gain permission for installation. The company of course also recommends that users equip their systems with antivirus software.While malware has not been a tremendous threat to Mac users so far, its presence has been growing. Apple has stepped up its efforts to combat malware by enhancing its File Quarantine system to provide for the daily definition checks. OS X Mountain Lion will see another significant step with the introduction of Gatekeeper, a system by which users can limit installation of apps to sources such as the Mac App Store and developers who have registered with Apple as "identified developers".Apple's Developer-ID program will utilize digital signatures on applications to link applications with a specific developer. If the developer is later discovered to be distributing malware or otherwise behaving improperly, installations of its existing apps can be deactivated by Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper does have its limitations, however, as it only scans applications downloaded through a handful of mechanisms such as browsers and can not detect applications that are modified by malware after their initial launch. read more..
Android Smartphones-Htc
The rumor mill has been hard at work these past few months circulating information about HTC's latest line of smartphones, but now HTC CEO Peter Chou has announced that the company's new line of smartphones will indeed sport the "One" brandChou hasn't yet jumped into details about specific phones yet, but expect that to come shortly. read more..
Mac App Store-Civilization-Aspyr
Users trying to download an update to the turn-based strategy game from the Mac App Store are unable to do so if they’re running Mac OS X Lion. Why Aspyr works with Apple to fix the issue, it's offering discounts on earlier versions of Civilization and promising to provide a free scenario pack to current and future Civilization V users. read more..
Jim Bob Duggar-Miscarriage
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, quiverfull parents of TLC's "19 and Counting" lost their 20th child. A 19-week ultrasound detected no heartbeat and the Duggars have opted to let the miscarriage occur naturally, says People magazine. Here are stillborn-infant and miscarriage information for parents. read more..
Breast Cancer Survivors-Genetic Mutations-Healthday News
THURSDAY, Dec. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Breast cancer survivors carrying specific genetic mutations, known as BRCA1 or BRCA2, have a 10 percent greater risk for developing cancer in their other breast, and the risk rises further when a woman receives her first diagnosis before age 40, new research suggests. read more..
Revenue Growth-Apple
The New York Times today addressed Apple's record growth in both revenue and stock price in the context of the "law of large numbers".Apple is so big, it’s running up against the law of large numbers.Also known as the golden theorem, with a proof attributed to the 17th-century Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli, the law states that a variable will revert to a mean over a large sample of results. In the case of the largest companies, it suggests that high earnings growth and a rapid rise in share price will slow as those companies grow ever larger.If Apple’s share price grew even 20 percent a year for the next decade, which is far below its current blistering pace, its $500 billion market capitalization would be more than $3 trillion by 2022. That is bigger than the 2011 gross domestic product of France or Brazil.Put another way, to increase its revenue by 20 percent, Apple has to generate additional sales of more than $9 billion in its next fourth quarter. A company with only $1 billion in sales has to come up with just another $200 million.Apple has posted annual revenue growth of 16%, 56%, and 69% over the past three years respectively, with sales rising from $39 to $61 to $103 billion. Staggering growth for a company this large, but Apple seems to be continuing the trend for fiscal 2012. Apple reported more than $46 billion in revenue for the first quarter, and provided guidance of $32.5 billion in revenue for the second quarter.This $78 billion in revenue for the first half of fiscal 2012 (which will likely be higher, as Apple traditionally underestimates on guidance) represents yet another massive increase in revenue from the year-previous quarters. The Q1 2012 number is a rise of more than 73% over the prior year, and the Q2 guidance would represent a 32% increase growth.The enormous growth Apple has shown in recent years is largely on the backs of two products: the iPhone and the iPad.The iPhone, as a product category, has grown from a mere $630 million in sales in 2007, to more than $47 billion in fiscal 2011. The iPad, for its part, tallied more than $20 billion of Apple's revenue last year. Between the two of them, Apple's main iOS devices account for more than 65% of Apple's total sales. Remove those two and Apple is a much different company.It's all a bit of a theoretical exercise, of course. The iPhone and iPad halo effects are real, and have had a beneficial impact on other parts of Apple's businesses -- but the point remains: Apple's astounding growth is the direct result of the company's move into new product categories.As the above chart shows, Apple's overall year-over-year revenue growth is impressive, but if the iPhone or iPad is backed out, the revenue growth is much less awe-inspiring. Without the iOS devices, Apple only showed 12% and 8% revenue, versus 56% and 69% otherwise.To continue doubling its total revenue every two years, there are two main possibilities:Apple would need to show extraordinary -- perhaps impossible -- growth in its iPad and iPhone divisions. Massive sales growth from the iPhone (which has grown more than 90% each of the past three years) and iPad can drive Apple's revenue growth for quite a while, but not forever.If the iPhone were to continue its 90% annual growth for two more years (which would count 5 consecutive years of near 90% annual sales increases), in 2013 Apple would have nearly $170 billion in revenue coming just from the iPhone. The iPad, which grew an astounding 330% from 2010 to 2011, would report $78 billion in sales that same year -- $248 billion between the two.Impressive (hypothetical) growth, and given Apple's astounding first quarter numbers, perhaps doable. But follow those numbers out to 2015 and the numbers begin to grow to improbable sizes.The more likely prospect is for Apple to launch into yet another product category, in addition to the g read more..
Mobile World Congress-Htc
In Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress, Taiwanese handset maker HTC yesterday gave us a glimpse of its new, lean-and-mean smartphone strategy, HTC One -- a unified set of Android devices complete with features and services that it hopes will help bring it back into the thick of things.One thing that was very absent, though, was the M word. read more..
Interesting Thinkers-Ideas Festival
The Aspen Ideas Festival gathers some of the most interesting thinkers and leaders to discuss their work and the issues that inspire them.Listen to tracks from the annual festival dedicated to dialogue and exchange on iTunes U.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Journal Science-Bird Flu
A study published in the online journal Science has found that H5N1, more commonly known as bird flu, might be far less deadly than previously thought, according to a report by Reuters. The research contradicts earlier estimates by the World Health Organization. read more..
Rheumatoid Arthritis-Pharma Research-Science
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drugmaker-funded science isn't always more likely to favor new medicines than studies paid for by non-profits, according to a new report on past research in rheumatoid arthritis. The finding flies in the face of a large body of evidence showing industry studies tend to promote new drugs and downplay potential side effects. That potential bias has fueled concerns that medical care could be guided by warped science, not least because more and more research is being done or paid for by companies with money riding on the results. ... read more..
Hospital Set Guidelines-Inflammation-Pneumonia
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After one hospital set guidelines for how to treat children with pneumonia, the number getting the right antibiotic shot up, a new study finds. Pneumonia refers to inflammation in the lungs caused by an infection. In babies and preschoolers, pneumonia is usually caused by a virus, and the infection goes away on its own. Some children develop pneumonia caused by bacteria, however, and those cases are typically more serious -- with symptoms like high fever and breathing problems that require antibiotics and sometimes a stay in the hospital. ... read more..
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo-American Film Institute-Top Ten Movies Of 2011-Tattoo Soundtrack
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was named one of the top ten movies of 2011 by the American Film Institute. Get the soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross now in preparation for the December 21 film release.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack is on iTunes.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Antidepressant Drugs-Health Problem-Jim Bob Duggar-Troubled World-Miscarriage
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, quiverfull parents of TLC's "19 and Counting" lost their 20th child. A 19-week ultrasound detected no heartbeat and the Duggars have opted to let the miscarriage occur naturally, says People magazine. Here are stillborn-infant and miscarriage information for parents. read more..
Women and depression: Factors that contribute to depression
Depression is a major health problem in today's troubled world. Thousands of women each day struggle to get up, go to work, and take care of themselves and their children. Antidepressant drugs are prescribed by the thousands each day. What is contributing to the climbing rate of depression in this country? read more..
Socialist President-Malignant Tumor-Cancerous Tumor-Type Of Cancer-World Leaders
(Reuters) - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said he will undergo another operation in Cuba in the coming days, months after surgeons removed a large cancerous tumor. Here are details of some world leaders who have had cancer while in office. * VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ: - The 57-year-old socialist president declared himself free of cancer in October, four months after surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his pelvis. He is due to return to Cuba for a new operation to remove a small lesion in the same place where the tumor was removed. Doctors have not disclosed the type of cancer he suffered from. ... read more..
National Institute On Drug Abuse-A Charlie Brown Christmas-Vince Guaraldi-Healthday News
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Alcohol use by American teens has dropped to historic lows, but more of them are using marijuana and don't believe it's a dangerous drug, according to an annual national survey conducted by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Michigan. read more..
To many of us, Vince Guaraldi’s laid-back jazz from A Charlie Brown Christmas is...
To many of us, Vince Guaraldi’s laid-back jazz from A Charlie Brown Christmas is as warm and wonderful as a crackling hearth. From the bounce of "Linus & Lucy" to the sly swing of "O Tannenbaum," this is what Christmas sounds like.Download A Charlie Brown Christmas, a perennial holiday classic.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Sunday 26 February 2012
Video Poker-Bet
I saw Smappsoft's Pokertini in development at Macworld | iWorld, and now it's out and available in the App Store. It's a freemium take on video poker, so your feelings on this game will probably revolve around that one. Those who enjoy playing video poker (where you get five cards, and get to hold or pass on them for one more draw, trying to make the best hand you can) will enjoy Pokertini. Smappsoft has put a few twists on the game as well, but unfortunately none of them are all that strong. The biggest difference between this game and Vegas is that you have a shared bet across three different hands, and before the second draw, you can move your bet around between the three. That means that you can pile up on hands that look like they might turn out well, which is a good idea in theory. In practice, however (and maybe I'm just unlucky), I tend to bet on hands that promise big but don't deliver, meaning I lose my money anyway. Placing the bets just right can help, but it's still a gamble most of the time. There are also "twists" that you can buy with coins that will do things like block certain cards from showing up or shake up the hands you're playing. That seems like a good idea, but is less intriguing then you'd think. The coins come from your total, and they only add more randomness to the proceedings. If they were more powerful (like buying you an ace or guaranteeing a card you want), they might be more interesting, but then of course they'd always make you money, giving you no reason to buy coins from the in-app purchases. The app also has ads sitting right on top of the main gameplay space, which is a little much, given that those in-app purchases are on offer as well. Smappsoft obviously has to make money, but the ads make the whole experience a little too garish (so much so that they've been cut out of the screenshots in the App Store). The whole idea of tying fake coins to real money feels a little strange in general. Maybe if they'd left the gameplay alone, and had in-app purchases for less gameplay-specific items like themes or card art, the whole thing would sit better. Given those issues, I do like a good game of video poker, and Pokertini definitely has that at its core. If you're also a video poker fan, the game is definitely worth a download, and you get 1000 coins for free to gamble away. It's a shame that the game is more focused on monetization and less on fun. Yes, every developer wants to make money, but the best freemium titles on the App Store have shown that if you provide fun first and then hook up in-app purchases, there's plenty of money to be had.Daily iPad App: Pokertini brings freemium video poker to iOS originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Internet Advertisers-Google
Google decided on Thursday to get behind Do Not Track, technology that lets users opt out of online tracking done by websites and Internet advertisers. So where does Do Not Track stand now? We've put together some answers for you. read more..
Violin
The world’s rockinest violin dancer, Lindsey Stirling http://goo.gl/fDFsT, has taken on everything from “Party Rock” to video game soundtracks and now Dubstep. What should she tackle next?Dubstep Violin- Lindsey Stirling- CrystallizeSource: pub.vitrue.com read more..
Cat Scratch Disease-Definitive Answers-Pregnant Women-Babies
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The largest-ever review of outcomes for pregnant women with cat scratch disease -- including just eight cases -- suggests the infection is not damaging to babies, but its authors say there are too few instances to glean any definitive answers. Six of the women gave birth to healthy babies, while one woman had a miscarriage and another opted for an abortion for reasons unrelated to the infection itself. "I think we can find some mild amounts of reassurance by saying, 'well, six out of these eight pregnancies ended in a normal, healthy live birth'," said Dr. ... read more..
Genetically Engineered Bird Flu-Dangerous Virus
Scientists have genetically engineered bird flu so it can spread easily between mammals — work necessary to prepare in case the dangerous virus ever mutates on its own and spreads from person-to-person. Now the U.S. government is asking those researchers not to publish the details in scientific journals. read more..
Text Messages-Phone Calls-Facetime-Iphone
Buzz Contacts from Savvy Apps (US$0.99) is a fast way to reach contacts from your iPhone. Organize them into groups for one-tap access to phone calls, text messages, email or FaceTime sessions. The UI is about as clean and tidy as one can get and conveniences like pre-written text messages are quite helpful. Here's my look at Buzz Contacts for iPhone. UI The no-frills, utilitarian look of Buzz Contacts is appropriate for a handy utility. Once you've set up some groups (more on that later), they're laid out on a 4 x 4 grid. Each contact is listed by name and an icon depicts the action associated with each button (phone, text, email or FaceTime). If a group contains more than four members, a swipe to the right reveals the next grid of four while a swipe to the left produces a list view. A toolbar pops up from the bottom of the screen allowing for group actions, so you can send an email or a text, for example, to everyone at once. The large buttons are hard to miss, so the risk of unintended taps is nominal. Use It's easy to create a group. I made one called "Family" which includes my wife, mother, father and two sisters. To begin, swipe to the right and tap "New Group." Next, tap the title to customize it and then tap the icon in the upper right. A list of your contacts appears. Tap the one you'd like to add and chose the method of contact. Keep adding contacts in this fashion until "Page One" is filled, meaning you've added four contacts. You can re-arrage the order in this screen as well. Make as many groups as you like, swiping to the right to toggle between groups. From there, you simply launch the app and tap the appropriate block to initiate just the type of communication you want: FaceTime with your sister, iPhone call to your co-worker, text message to your son or daughter. It's speedy and a time-saver. Buzz Contacts also lets you call those not in a group from the dialer. To use the dialer, swipe to the right again and tap Dialer. A keypad appears. Start tapping a number and Buzz guesses which one you're after. Give it a tap and you're off. There are a few thoughtful niceties in the app. Tapping a contact set up as an email or FaceTime session asks you to confirm your intention before placing the call, so you won't place accidental phone calls. Also, there's a list of pre-written text messages to choose from, like "Running Late. See you soon." and "On my way." Combine that with a group text message to send a lengthy message to the whole gang with little effort. I love useful utilities and Buzz Contacts is one. Since I pretty much only call the people in my family group, I've replaced the phone app in my iPhone's Dock with Buzz Contacts. It's definitely worth a try at $0.99.Buzz Contacts for iPhone offers fast access to contacts originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments read more..
Mountain Lion-Company-Apple
This was a significant week for Apple: It settled lawsuits, met with shareholders, and bought a company. Oh, and let's not forget it's only been a week since the company unveiled Mountain Lion to the masses, and we've spent much of that time pondering the forthcoming OS update. read more..
Bass Masters-Nascar News-Buck Fever-Race Fans-Ipods
Race fans, start your iPods. Buck Fever, Bass Masters, and Buzz Cutler host this revved-up podcast dedicated to NASCAR news, interviews, and gossip.Follow the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season with the Rowdy Racing News podcast on iTunes.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Cat Scratch Disease-Definitive Answers-Smoking Cessation-Pregnant Women-Lung Cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The largest-ever review of outcomes for pregnant women with cat scratch disease -- including just eight cases -- suggests the infection is not damaging to babies, but its authors say there are too few instances to glean any definitive answers. Six of the women gave birth to healthy babies, while one woman had a miscarriage and another opted for an abortion for reasons unrelated to the infection itself. "I think we can find some mild amounts of reassurance by saying, 'well, six out of these eight pregnancies ended in a normal, healthy live birth'," said Dr. ... read more..
States called on to restore anti-smoking funds
Steve Panetta smoked for 34 years, the last 10 at a three-pack-a-day clip. He watched his father die from lung cancer and his stepfather struggle with emphysema. He tried quitting six times before a state-funded cessation program helped him beat the habit in 2002. read more..
Food And Drug Administration-Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Signs Of Heart Disease-Electronic Cigarettes
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Along with helping people with obstructive sleep apnea get a better night's sleep, machines that help keep the airways open during sleep can also help improve the symptoms of metabolic syndrome, according to new research. read more..
Electronic Cigarette Makers Must Prove Safety of Products: Report
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- A new report details exactly what kind of scientific proof the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should require from the makers of electronic cigarettes and tobacco lozenges to show that what they are selling is not harmful to the overall public health. read more..
Quebec City
No lift pass? No problem! [Network A] is on the scene as pro boarders transform Quebec City into an urban terrain park.Snowboarders Take Over Quebec CitySource: pub.vitrue.comStay tuned to the channel: www.youtube.com/NetworkA read more..
Revolver Golden Gods-Carrie Brownstein-Black Veil Brides-Amber Tamblyn-Jeff Goldblum
Winners of the 2011 Revolver Golden Gods Award for Best New Band, Black Veil Brides released a new EP that includes a take on Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” as well as a collaboration with guitar titan Zakk Wylde.Download Rebels, an exclusive iTunes exclusive EP.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Portlandia is almost here. Season 2 of Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s hila...
Portlandia is almost here. Season 2 of Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s hilarious sketch comedy show will feature guest appearances by Tim Robbins, Jeff Goldblum, Eddie Vedder, Andy Samberg, Amber Tamblyn, and many others.Get ready for Season 2 with a free Portlandia featurette.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Saturday 25 February 2012
Institute Of Psychiatry-Mexican Researchers-Effects Of Heroin-Patent Heroin-Addiction
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - While Mexico grapples with relentless drug-related violence, a group of Mexican scientists is working on a vaccine that could reduce addiction to one of the world's most notorious narcotics: heroin. Researchers at the country's National Institute of Psychiatry say they have successfully tested the vaccine on mice and are preparing to test it on humans. The vaccine, which has been patented in the United States, works by making the body resistant to the effects of heroin, so users would no longer get a rush of pleasure when they smoke or inject it. ... read more..
100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time-Jimi Hendrix-Metallica
Jimi Hendrix is on top of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list. Learn more about the six-string maestro with this immersive app. Which Jimi riff is your favorite?Jimi Hendrix: The Complete Experience is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Metallica held an historic residency at the Fillmore in San Francisco last week,...
Metallica held an historic residency at the Fillmore in San Francisco last week, celebrating 30 years as a band. To commemorate the event, they released Beyond Magnetic, a four-song EP borne from the Death Magnetic sessions.Download Beyond Magnetic now.Source: facebook.itunes.com read more..
Poverty In The United States-Annie E. Casey Foundation-Youngest Residents-Economic Setbacks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Years of economic setbacks have taken their toll on the nation's youngest residents, with another 1.6 million children living in high-poverty neighborhoods, according to one study that shows nearly 8 million children residing in poor areas in 2010. In 2000, 6.3 million children lived in high poverty in the United States, a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found. The growth - a 25 percent increase - reverses the trend just a decade ago that saw fewer children living in communities with high poverty rates, according to the nonprofit group. ... read more..
The British Medical Journal-European Health Authorities-Faulty Breast Implants-Cognitive Decline
In the report of a 10-year clinical study on cognitive decline, including memory loss, published yesterday in the British Medical Journal, researchers reported their findings that such decline may begin occurring in the fourth decade of life. This conclusion represents a change from traditional thinking that cognitive decline begins at age 60. read more..
Mixed advice in Europe over faulty breast implants
European health authorities issued widely different recommendations Friday in dealing with potentially faulty French-made breast implants, with Germany and the Czech Republic following France in recommending their removal, while Britain insisted there isn't enough evidence to suggest they should be taken out in all cases. read more..
Food And Drug Administration-Fda Limits Some Antibiotics-Livestock
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday ordered farmers to limit the use of a type of antibiotics they give livestock because it could make people more resistant to a key antibiotic that can save lives, encouraging news for public health advocates who say such animal antibiotics are overused. read more..
Colon Cancer Screening-Precancerous Lesions-Precancerous Polyps-Colorectal Cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although colon cancer screening is recommended by many organizations, less clear is which method is best to detect tumors and precancerous lesions. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that a relatively inexpensive and non-invasive test may be just as effective as a colonoscopy. Meanwhile, a 23-year study, also published in the journal, has confirmed that removing precancerous polyps, known as adenomas, during a colonoscopy can reduce the risk of death from colorectal cancer by half. In an editorial in the Journal, Dr. ... read more..
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-Lou Gehrig's Disease-Breast Cancer-Mastectomy-Lumpectomy
Why did I chose a mastectomy over a lumpectomy? I had both options available to me. It was a tough decision to make. After speaking with my surgeons, I decided that a mastectomy was the best choice for me. There is a lot to consider before making this important decision. read more..
ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, Affects Many Famous People, Including Stephen Hawking
The physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking turns 70 this weekend. Hawking was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at age 21. ALS is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease named after the hall-of-fame baseball Yankees first baseman who was stricken with ALS in 1939. read more..
Apple Products-Abc Nightline-Foxconn
Update: You can now watch this full episode on ABC.com. (US only, of course) I just finished watching the ABC Nightline report cleverly named iFactory: Inside Apple. ABC's Bill Weir was given unprecedented access to Foxconn, where iPhones, iPads and Macs are assembled. If you've been following this saga for a while, there wasn't that much new here. It was good to see ABC provide some context as to why people go to work at Foxconn, and the report provided some background on working conditions at the plant. Weir starts off touching upon the Apple mythos, then goes straight into how our iDevices are made. For example, it takes 141 steps to make an iPhone. Something that surprised him: Apple products are largely made by hand. Weir points to a tiny iPad camera module, noting that with two 12-hour shifts each day Foxconn can crank out 300,000 of those in a day. According to ABC it takes 5 days and over 300 hands to assemble an iPad, but they aren't made by robots, they are made by people. Mostly young people. "No one looked over 30," observed Weir. In fact, Weir was there on a day when thousands of young people lined up to apply for work at Foxconn. What was remarkable was that the only requirement seemed to be a valid national ID card. But, as Weir points out again and again, the demand for Apple products is so high that Foxconn can't keep up. They hire en masse and train people for days before putting them to work. Workers at Foxconn tend to be quite young, around 18, and they will often come from impoverished rural areas for the work. This actually has a positive benefit to the people left behind in the villages who told ABC that they felt life was better without the young people around. "More of everything," noted one villager. I have to imagine the generation gap was at play here somewhat, as family ties would still find some people missing their grandkids. But the opportunity at Foxconn is what causes workers to flock to the factories. As for working conditions, I saw very little that was shocking. The only exception was the nets, placed around dorms and other buildings with high floors, which are designed to make potential suicide victims think twice before jumping. Those you don't see many places. Of course, the suicides at Foxconn are partly what drew so much attention to the factory. Louis Woo, a Foxconn executive, explained how Tim Cook flew to China to help organize counseling for people to prevent further suicides. Otherwise, the Foxconn areas shown in the report looked far nicer than any American factory I've been in (and I've been in a few). People complained about a lot of the same stuff you find anywhere -- pay, food, hours. But then, workers do work a 12 hour shift. And they stay in dorms with seven other people in a room that makes my college dorm look grandiose by comparison. Still, this isn't unusual in a country with the single largest population on the planet by far. Weir did show footage of workers napping at their stations, saying that if one ate their meal fast enough, they could catch a quick nap. Foxconn workers have two one-hour breaks to eat, but the executive who led Weir around the factory explained the naps after meals are, in fact, a Chinese tradition. Foxconn offers workers what looked like a very pleasant Internet cafe, recreational facilities (a soccer field was shown) and some education, like English classes. ABC gave no percentages on how many workers use these amenities, but it was pointed out that most people are there to simply work. Then there were the inspections by the Fair Labor Association. The head of that organization explained that he expected Foxconn to put on a show, but that they will conduct "bottom up" interviews to ensure working conditions are decent. I won't spoil the rest, but ABC fairly points out that several other companies contract Foxconn, and Apple takes heat because they are so visible. While the report didn't have any huge revelations (they were denied an interview read more..
Friday 24 February 2012
Potential Victims-Windows Pcs-Gatekeeper-Apple
The argument's long been that Macs are safer than Windows PCs because malfeasants choose to target the larger pool of potential victims. But that doesn't explain why iOS is safer than Android. Apple's continued focus on security does. read more..
World Health Organization-Death Rate-Bird Flu
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bird flu may be far less lethal to people than the World Health Organization's assessment of a death rate topping 50 percent, scientists said on Thursday in a finding that adds fuel to the heated controversy over publication of bird flu research. Scientists led by virologist Peter Palese of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York argue in an analysis published in the online edition of the journal Science that the WHO, a U.N. agency, is calculating the death rate using an estimate of human bird flu cases that is simply too low. ... read more..
Noteworthy Features-Mountain Lion-Mail
When Apple released Lion (OS X 10.7), Mail received its biggest overhaul ever, gaining many new and noteworthy features. The changes to Mail in Mountain Lion are more subtle, though there are some nice improvements, along with one significant omission. read more..
Moderate Asthma-Healthday News
FRIDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of patients with mild or moderate asthma may have a different type of disease than those with more severe symptoms, perhaps explaining why common treatments don't work well for them, new research suggests. read more..
Description-Apps
There are several recent examples of unsavory titles slipping through the cracks of Apple's approval process. Apps like counterfeit Pokemon apps and a cloned beer timer app have made it into the walled garden of the iOS App Store. Instead of relying on Apple to be a safety gate, iOS owners need to be more vigilant when purchasing apps. Before you hit that "Buy App" button, you should follow these handy tips to help you steer clear of counterfeit and knockoff apps. If you have any tips of your own, please share them in the comments. Read the description The quality of the description is one sign that an iOS app is counterfeit. If the description reads like it's written by a six-year-old, then you should probably walk away from the app. Either the developer doesn't care enough to write a decent description or the description is a mass-produced, poorly-translated piece of prose from an overseas scam factory. Look at the comments on an app Customers who buy an app and then discover it's a scam are vocal. They will leave scathing comments that make it clear the app is a fraud. This will work to your benefit as you can learn a lot about the developer and the app from even as little as five to ten comments. If there are no comments, then you'll need to use some of our other tips to dig a little deeper into the developer's history and the reputation of the app. Scan the App Store Be sure to search the App Store before you buy an app to make sure it is the correct one. As we pointed out last week, some copycat apps are so brazen they will steal the underlying code, the name and the icon of the original app with minimal changes. Misspellings of popular titles or closely worded app titles like "Angry Birdy" are also red flags. Spend a few minutes comparing the app icons, looking at the product images, and carefully reading the description. If you're not sure which version is the right one, then you'll have to do some detective work to identify the legitimate developer. Does the developer have a history? If you find an app you want to buy, then look at the developer's history to make sure he or she is legitimate. Experienced developers will have multiple apps in the app store and each will have comments. You can see a list of the developer's apps on the left hand side of the iTunes window underneath the app requirements. Some scammers will release one app they hope will fly under Apple's radar and grab a thousand downloads before it disappears. At 99 cents a pop, all it takes is a couple hundred downloads for the developer to make his or her money back on the developer's fee. If someone can easily recoup the developer's fee, there's not much stopping them from signing up for another account and doing it all again when their app gets the boot. Another warning sign is a developer who has dozens and dozens of apps. Quality apps take a long time to write, and an indie developer with many apps could be a scam factory producing garbage or counterfeit apps. This isn't a hard and fast rule as some apps, like wallpaper collections or simple games, lend itself to multiple versions. Likewise, there are new developers who only have one app. Because this tip may penalize reputable developers, you should use it along with the other tips. If the developer has a poorly written description, a title whose name is a misspelling of a popular title and 175 published apps, then you may want to think twice about your purchase. When was the app updated? Once an app is approved, most scammers won't take the time to update a title. They are in the App Store only to make money and aren't interested in the process of developing and improving their title. You can find the date of the last update and the app version number underneath the "Buy App" button. You can also search a site like App Shopper which will list all the version and price changes made to the app. Is there a face behind the name? If a developer has a support link in iTunes, then click on it and see i read more..
Fusion Systems-Macbook Air-Amd
In an upcoming profile of AMD, Forbes reports that the company's Llano family of Fusion combination CPU-GPU systems was under consideration by Apple to be used as the brains behind the MacBook Air for its 2011 revision. AMD lost out to Intel, however, as the necessary parts were late in being delivered to Apple and had unacceptably high failure rates.AMD struggled with its new fabless model while trying to crank out “fusion” processors that combined a CPU and a GPU in a single part. On paper the idea was promising. A notebook processor dubbed “Llano” got a close look from Apple for an update to the ultralight MacBook Air, scheduled for launch in mid-2011.But AMD couldn’t get early working samples of Llano to Apple on time, one former employee says. Several former AMD employees disagree on just how close AMD came. “We had it,” one says. But too many of the Llano parts were faulty. AMD lost the deal.The company reportedly also pitched Apple on using its Brazos family of Fusion systems in the Apple TV, but Apple proved to be uninterested in the proposal.Forbes' Brian Caulfield has more on AMD's efforts to lure Apple in a separate article in which he talks further about yield issues on the Fusion chips planned for the MacBook Air.The claim echoes a November report from SemiAccurate alleging that AMD's Fusion platform was Apple's "Plan A" for the 2011 MacBook Air and that such machines were "on the verge of production" before Apple ultimately decided to stick with Intel. Apple had been struggling with chip options in its small portables for several years as licensing issues prevented graphics companies such as NVIDIA from developing integrated graphics solutions for Intel's latest processors. With Apple being forced to choose between slower Core 2 Duo processors paired with fast NVIDIA graphics and faster Intel Core i-series processors hampered by slow integrated graphics from Intel, Apple opted to continue using the aging Core 2 Duo processors for much longer than it would have otherwise liked.Improvements in Intel's integrated graphics did allow Apple to transition to significantly improved Core i5 and i7 processor in the current generation of MacBook Air models, but it seems that Apple was also weighing AMD's offerings as it sought to work its way out of the constraints of Intel's graphics issues. read more..
The General Elections-Friendraising-Social Media-Custom Apps-Sean Parker
Just in time for the general elections coming up later this year, Votizen, the social media site that helps like-minded voters get together and influence how those elections go, has raised $750,000. And while that may sound like a modest number -- in true voter influencer fashion -- it's the backers that are going to count here. read more..
The BYOD struggle: From writing custom apps to defining security
Companies are grappling with the question of whether and how to let employees use their own smartphones and tablets at work even as a huge push is being made to set up internal "app stores" of approved and custom-built corporate mobile apps. read more..
President Hugo Chavez-Presidential Election-South American Nation-Cancer Surgery
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's ailing socialist president, Hugo Chavez, will fly to Cuba on Friday for an unknown period to undergo new cancer surgery that has shaken the South American nation before an October presidential election. "Once more into battle!" said Chavez, 57, in typically militaristic language at a lengthy televised Cabinet meeting on Thursday. After two operations in Cuba last year, Chavez said he would fly back on Friday for more surgery early next week to remove a lesion in the same pelvic area where a baseball-sized tumor was found during the original treatment. ... read more..
FDA Panel Recommends Approval for Weight-Loss Drug Qnexa
A weight-loss pill from Vivus Inc. has become the first such drug recommended for approval by the FDA in more than 13 years. An advisory panel voted in favor of approving the pill, known as Qnexa, by a margin of 20-2 on Wednesday, according to MSNBC. The FDA has until April 17 to formally approve Qnexa for use in the United States. read more..
Mac Development-Mac App Store-Gatekeeper-Apps
Apple issued a three month extension on application sandboxing today, giving devs a little more breathing room before new rules take over. June 1 2012 is now the enforcement date. We've been having many discussions about Mac development in the TUAW backchannel over the last week. The introduction of GateKeeper and the notion of signed apps, sandboxing, and developer IDs have us talking about where Apple is taking the Mac, and will be moving Mac development in general. Overall, we think things are moving towards a win for consumers and better opportunities for devs. Read on to learn more about these technologies, and how they affect developers and App Store. GateKeeper is Apple's new approach to making your Mac safer by giving you control over which applications may download and run on your computer. With GateKeeper, developers sign apps to authenticate them with the OS -- both apps that you purchase from the Mac App Store and, at the developer's option, also apps you purchase elsewhere. With Mountain Lion, you choose which apps are allowed to run. You'll be able to disable GateKeeper and run apps from anywhere if you like, although this is not the default setting. The thing is this: Apple continues moving towards a more controlled, less open, more appliance-like concept of what a Mac means. That redefinition is causing ripples, affecting app development more and more. Applications can do fewer things, access fewer system resources, and control other apps less than they did in the past. Developers who choose to enroll in the Mac development program pay a $99/year fee just as those who enroll in the iOS development program do. Once enrolled, they can sign their apps as identified developers -- as well as gain access to early beta versions of unreleased operating systems. When the iPhone SDK first debuted, many people including yours truly complained about what couldn't be done with the APIs: what files could be accessed, what routines could be called, and so forth. Coming from a general computing background, one learns to expect to build whatever one can imagine. If the building blocks are there, then why not build whatever tools you need? That all ties into a background of fully open computing. Apple's policy split the dev community into the jailbreak world and the App Store world, with many people crossing over depending on what they were building. Under jailbreak, developers gain full access to the entire iOS file system and run apps in a fully privileged mode. This gives devs a much broader development vocabulary to work with. The jailbreak world became known for its innovation, with Apple mining those forward-looking ideas and free R&D and bringing them into successive iterations of their operating system. At the same time, developers had to change. If they wanted to market through App Store, they had to relinquish product ideas that wouldn't work within the more closed-off system that App Store submission required and look instead for opportunities of development that were allowed. No one can look at App Store today, with its countless apps, and say that Apple denied developers opportunity. It's just a somewhat different opportunity than many developers expected. It's an opportunity that restricted certain kinds of applications, most typically OS enhancements and utilities (which have flourished on other mobile platforms with less oversight of developer access). Overall, Apple has provided better tools, better marketing, and better sales avenues than had existed before. The end result has been apps that are significantly better than previous generations. And now, Apple is doing the same thing for the Mac. This is emotionally hard for some long-term devs like me. We want Linux-y freedom for whatever we want to build and distribute. Now, with sandboxing (a technique that restricts application access to full system files; all apps that are not sandboxed will be removed from the Mac App Store starting June 1st [Update: Older read more..
Thursday 23 February 2012
Interesting Changes-Flashy Features-System Changes-Mountain Lion-Minor Changes
There are a bunch of interesting changes to look forward to when Mountain Lion roars onto the scene this summer. But for those uninterested in flashy features, there are plenty of minor changes, as well. Here's a quick look at ten that caught my eye. read more..
Assembly Line Workers-Foxconn Technology-Public Scrutiny-Tech Companies
Foxconn Technology, a supplier for Apple among other tech companies, said on Saturday it had raised wages for its assembly line workers in China by 16 to 25 percent. The move came amid increased public scrutiny over working conditions at its factories. read more..
Excellent Tools-Tax Software-Tax Prep
H&R Block at Home is an easy to use application that makes tax prep simple, offers tools to help you avoid audit-inducing mistakes, and if necessary, keeps a professional close at hand if you’re not sure how to handle a specific situation. read more..
Food And Drug Administration-Public Health Officials-Clinical Trials-Advisory Panel
SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) - An experimental obesity drug from Vivus Inc won the backing of a U.S. advisory panel on Wednesday, raising hopes regulators would approve a weight-loss pill for the first time in 13 years. A panel of outside experts to the Food and Drug Administration voted 20-2 to recommend approval of Qnexa, meant to treat obesity and its accompanying health problems. The FDA rejected Vivus' Qnexa in 2010 because of safety concerns related to heart rate and birth defects, along with two other obesity pills that are also seeking a second round of consideration. ... read more..