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Is this the new face of the iPhone?
Dutch iPhone blog iphoneclub.nl is posting pictures of what it claims to be shots of the new iPhone. The
photos reportedly come from an accessory vendor who received a model early for the purpose of getting accurate measurement for things like cases.
The photos reportedly show an iPhone with a definitive curve to the bottom and rounded edges similar to the MacBook Air. The site speculates that the curved bottom is intended to hold a larger battery required to power the energy-hungry 3G antenna.
Take the photos with a grain of salt, though. Faking Apple news and photos has become a favorite pastime to many people.
More news on Apple's worst kept secret
Well, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point. The 3G iPhone is coming very soon, most likely June 9th. Short of a flat out acknowledgment from Apple, the new iPhone couldn't really get much more in the way of confirmation.
Still, that doesn't stop an iPhone crazy public and media following from scouring the planet in search of some sort of 3G iPhone "scoop."
The latest piece of 'news' is the revelation that the 3G iPhone will, indeed, have 3G connectivity.
New blog MacRumors obtained info from a developer that the latest version of the iPhone software features a hidden preference to to turn the 3G connection on and off. The story gets a little weird from there.
More people took a look at the firmware and confirmed the feature. For some reason, however, the screenshot of the feature didn't look right. Engadget took a look at the image and decided that it was, indeed, a fake photo of a real feature.
Regardless, the consensus seems to be that Apple will allow users to turn the 3G connection on and off. A cool feature, but not entirely a shock, as Steve Jobs said last year that Apple wasn't thrilled with the battery drain on 3G phones.
Analysts shine on Apple
Sure, the AppleTV may not have exactly gotten off to a record start, but at least one group of analysts believes that within five years, Apple's going to take over your living room.
Forrester Research recently put out a report advising cable and satellite companies to formulate a plan on how to work with Apple or risk being swept out the door by Saint Steve and Co as soon as 2013.
Forrester predicts that Apple will expand into a series of eight different products in order to take control of the market. In addition to the Apple TV, the Mac, iTunes and the Apple store, the analyst firm predicts the company issuing four new offerings: a home server, a sort of universal remote, a home installation service and a collection of digital home gadgets such as frames and alarm clocks.
The concept Forrester is putting forward is not new. Back in 2006 when Apple first rolled out the movie rental service and the AppleTV, pundits began to suggest that Apple was looking to get a jump on the living room of the future.
The product predictions are a bit spotty, and rightfully so. Anyone who claims to know what Apple will be rolling out in five years is lying, and Forrester recognizes this, pointing out that their prediction is just that, an educated guess. Still, evidence suggests they're going to be right about a few things. The new Time Capsule box and Time Machine backup system aren't far from a home server system. Combine Time Capsule with an Apple TV, and that's essentially what you have.
The in-home service is also not so far-fetched. If Apple were so inclined, they could stick a "Mac Genius" in a car and launch a home installation service. This would, however, be quite a change for a company that prides itself on the simplicity of installing and using its products.
The remote control, photo frames, and alarm clocks seem a bit less likely, as Apple has traditionally left that sort of thing to the third-party peripheral and accessory makers like Logitech and Kensington.
New report: June 9th iPhone a sure thing
The latest word from Gizmodo reportedly confirms what pretty much everyone had already speculated: a new iPhone will be here by June 9th.
The site names a source "very, very close" to the matter as saying that Saint Steve will be announcing the 3G model at WWDC. No more specs have surfaced on the new iPhone, however. That will be the big scoop, and as such, it's most likely being carefully guarded from the leak-prone pack of carriers Apple is partnering with.
New iPhone to come before WWDC?
It appears to to just be a matter of time. A new iPhone is all but imminent at this point.
Apple has let iPhone sales slow down to a trickle as stockpiles of the first editions of the phone wane carriers are buzzing with rumors about where and when the next incarnation of the the iPhone will surface.
The accepted date now seems to be June 9, when Steve Jobs will take the stage in San Francisco for the Worldwide Developers Conference.
If history is any indication, however, the rollout may not wait that long...
Let us not forget the focus of WWDC: Developers. Or, as one famous Mac nemesis put it: Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers!
The WWDC keynote has famously been the showcase for the most essential tool in the Mac development world: the Mac OS. The stage is traditionally used to showcase upcoming versions of OS X and the features that will accompany them.
More recently, the iPhone SDK has been added to that list. Last year, the stage was used to explain the web-app process of development, and this year Apple has already promised to make the new iPhone SDK a major part of the conference.
The new iPhone would take away from this. Not only would it distract attention from what is traditionally Apple's showcase of software tools, it will also throw a hitch into the conference planning of attendees, many of whom are currently laying out their agendas with the understanding that there won't be new hardware to deal with. Hearing on Monday morning that there's new iPhone hardware to work with could alter more than a few schedules and lead to some very packed seminars.
In short, don't be surprised if the new iPhone surfaces well before June 9th.
Big day at the Office
Normally, things are all about the PC up in Redmond. Microsoft made its fortune off of PCs, partially at the expense of Apple. The two companies are still bitter rivals in multiple areas, and few things will irk die-hards in either camp like dropping the name of the other guys.
That is why Microsoft's latest triumph has a bit of a twilight zone feeling to it...
The folks over in Microsoft are touting the success of its Macintosh Business Unit. The MacBU, as it is otherwise known, is responsible for putting together the Mac version of office. It's not an easy task, as they not only have to create and maintain a Mac software suite, but they have to do it while leveraging code from the PC version of Office and on top of it all make sure that both versions run seamlessly.
If sales figures are any indication, however, the MacBU is doing its job quite well. Microsoft said today that Office 2008 for Mac is selling at a rate of roughly three times that of Office 2004. In a move that will make the fanboys wince, Microsoft said that the success "reaffirms its commitment to future products for the Mac."
Yet another criminal nabbed by the Mac
Some of you may remember the story of the computer thief who was remotely photographed by the webcam from the iMac he stole.
Well, it seems that we have yet another case of the mighty Macintosh crusading for justice and apprehending thieves with its iSight superpowers.
A pair of men in New York decided to rob the apartment of a person they met at a party. Among their haul was a MacBook equipped with a webcam and the .Mac service.
Upon finding out from a friend that the computer was again appearing online, our clever victim decided to put the Mac's superhero abilities to use. She logged into her .Mac account online and fired up the "back to my Mac" remote control service. Have regained control of her MacBook, she proceded to fire up the built-in iSight cam and snap a shot of the thieves.
A housemate recognized the men in the picture and turned them over to the cops. The pair are being charged with burglary and possession of stolen property.
Latin America joins the iPhone world
Well, if the Australians were mad about being pipped to the iPhone parade by Ireland, they're really going to miffed to hear that America Movil has inked a deal to distribute the iPhone.
The Latin American mobile operator will be taking the iPhone to at least 15 countries in South America and the Caribbean. Among the countries targeted for the rollout are Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Columbia, the Dominican Republic and Peru.
The announcement officially indicates that the iPhone has become a global phenomena. Whereas early on it was limited to a few highly-developed countries, Apple's mobile phone has now officially made the jump to nearly every continent and into multiple environments and economic models.
If there was any lingering nugget of doubt that the iPhone should be taken seriously in the mobile phone world, this should just about kill it.
The 20 million iPod monster
Like something out of the pages of a William Gibson novel, a new report from a pack of US scientists suggests the design for a new supercomputer built from 20 million iPods.
Okay, not really. The design actually calls for linking up about 20 million of the same type of low-cost CPU chip used in the iPod to build a cloud computing system. Still, it's a nice image: millions upon millions of old iPods jury-rigged together into a massive supercomputing system a-la the homemade PS3. Perhaps with a talking face on a giant screen to top it all off.
So maybe 20 million is a bit ambitious, but how about a system made from, say ten or twenty old iPods? I'm sure there's some enterprising Macfreak out there with access to an electronics recycling program and a lot of free time...
Apple's tech support sucks the least
Nobody likes to have to deal with tech support. Ever. But there's something to be said for a decent tech support staff that doesn't prolong the misery.
That's why Mac users will be pleased to know that Apple has been named the best tech support company in the business.
Perhaps its because Apple's support staff is more knowledgeable about the computers they service, or perhaps it's a by-product of the new retail focus that has come with the Apple store. I'd also suggest that Apple's policy of simply issuing replacements for faulty products on-site and then sending the bad hardware off-site for repairs has a lot to do with it.
So the next time your Macbook or iPod takes a dive and you find yourself having to deal with tech support, look forward to knowing that when it's all said and done you'll only want to kill yourself half as bad as the guy next door who bought a Dell.
Support for latest Java added to Leopard
Last fall, word first surfaced that Leopard was unable to stomach Java 1.6 (AKA Java 6.)
The problem existed in the Java Virtual Machine used to rune the code. Sun offerst to build the virtual machine for some operating systems, but Apple is among the companies that choose to develop the component in-house rather than use a Sun build.
This wasn't a very big deal to most users, but for developers that for one reason or another needed to write code in Java 6, it was a major headache. Some developers even said they would have to revert back to Tiger because of the issue.
Well, now everyone can go Leopard. Apple has issued an update which adds support for the new Java.
