Microsoft Remains on Offensive with ‘Apple Tax’ Report and Latest Laptop Ad

Microsoft has been particularly aggressive in attacking Apple specifically in their latest television ad campaign as well as commissioning a report detailing what it calls the "Apple Tax".

The latest television advertisement continue...

Screen Grabs: Liz Lemon dons mock turtleneck, invokes Reality Distortion Field to save TGS’s budget

When TGS is faced with budget cuts on 30 Rock, Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon did the only thing she knew to do: appeal to her superiors with a full-on Steve Jobs impression, mock turtleneck and all. Of course, if she was really Steve Jobs, that turtleneck would've fired three writers on the spot and introduced the Tracey Jordan Nano. Check out the three pillars key to her show's success in the gallery and video after the break.

Continue reading Screen Grabs: Liz Lemon dons mock turtleneck, invokes Reality Distortion Field to save TGS's budget

Screen Grabs: Liz Lemon dons mock turtleneck, invokes Reality Distortion Field to save TGS's budget originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patent Watch: Apple Dreaming of Aluminum Unibody iPhones?

MacNN has unearthed an Apple patent that shows the concept of aluminum unibody design, first displayed in the current MacBook line, applied to iPods and even — potentially — the iPhone.

Gizmodo has presented some concepts along these lines before, though we’re still not sure how Apple would get around interfering with the 3G HSPA, and future 3.5G HSPA+ and 4G LTE and other radios inside a connected device (which is why they switched to plastic in the current gen iPhone to begin with).

Still, from a sheer design, build quality, and fit and finish perspective… drool.

[Image via Gizmodo]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Patent Watch: Apple Dreaming of Aluminum Unibody iPhones?

MobileMe Discontinues .Mac HomePage

Before MobileMe there was .Mac, and before there was iWeb, there was .Mac HomePage. Well, good thing the latter has been replaced ’cause Apple is officially declaring them EOL (end of life) come July 7. After that date, whatever is there will remain there forever (or until Apple gets tired of it and yanks them down). So get with converting to iWeb or rolling yourself something custom.

Full text of the mailing after the break…

Dear MobileMe member:

On July 7, 2009, the .Mac HomePage web application will be discontinued. As of this date, you will no longer be able to create new pages or edit existing pages using HomePage. Any pages you’ve already published will remain live at their current web address for as long as you like. If you need to make changes to your existing pages, please do so before July 7.

Instead of HomePage, we recommend the other sharing features of your MobileMe membership. With MobileMe Gallery, you can share photos online directly from iPhoto or the web application at www.me.com. And using iWeb on your Mac, you can create custom websites and blogs and publish them to MobileMe.

We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause. For more information, please read this FAQ. And thank you for being a MobileMe member.

Sincerely,

The MobileMe Team

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

MobileMe Discontinues .Mac HomePage

Apple to Discontinue .Mac HomePage and Groups

Apple today announced that two legacy tools associated with .Mac, HomePage and Groups, will no longer be offered as of July 7, 2009. The two services are not currently offered as part of MobileMe but were still accessible to former .Mac users whose ...

SwirlyMMS brings MMS to Jailbroken iPhone [iPhone App Review]

Qualcomm developing FLO TV accessories for iPhone OS 3.0, other smartphones

Qualcomm's fledgling FLO TV service might be on to something this time. President Bill Stone's announced plans to offer mobile broadcast to phones via add-on peripherals, including an iPhone 3.0-compatible antenna /chip accessory that's currently in the works, although without an estimated release window (Business Insider suggests it'll be ready sometime next year). The company's also looking into accessorizing Windows Mobile phones, either with a plug-in or some device that connects over Wi-Fi / Bluetooth. Seeing as the latest comScore statistics say less than one percent of all phone users watch mobile broadcast TV, which at the moment has to come built-in, this could prove to be a boon for the service -- assuming Q or the carriers can do something about those excessive pricing plans or fierce competition from Sling.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

Qualcomm developing FLO TV accessories for iPhone OS 3.0, other smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: iStat for iPhone

iStat displays data about your iPhone. But its true value comes when you pair it with the free iStat Server for the Mac to get remote access to your Mac's statistics.

Apple Push Notification Service Available for Testing… Today!

Apple has just let developers know that they can start testing the upcoming Push Notification Service starting today!

Start testing your applications using the Apple Push Notification service today. Log in to the iPhone Dev Center and review the Apple Push Notification Programming Guide and Getting Started video. Team Agents can log in to the iPhone Developer Program Portal and proceed to the App ID section to create the components necessary to enable and test applications using the Apple Push Notification service.

So, what Apps do we want to see getting pushy? Twitter clients? Instant messengers? Fart Apps? Let us — and your favorite developers! — know.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Push Notification Service Available for Testing… Today!

Apple Still Pursuing iChat ‘Answering Machine’ Technology?

A patent application published today reveals that Apple may still be working on a video "answering machine" technology for inclusion with iChat. The technology made a brief partial appearance in early OS X Leopard developer seeds in December 2006, b...

Attention world: The iPhone dislikes moisture

Filed under: Hardware, Apple, iPhone, ipod shuffle

There's a story at Click2Houston (I would have embedded the video if I had that option) about iPhone users who have had their devices ruined by excessive exposure to sweat. Specifically, they've been bringing them to the gym to provide a soundtrack to their workouts. Of course, sweat leaks into the iPhone's two moisture sensors (one in the headphone jack, one in the docking port) and it stops working. From the article:

"Both [customers] Keneker and Pittman use their iPhones at the gym to listen to music or use the calorie-counting fitness applications that actually come with the phone. They said Apple employees told them their sweaty palms are the likely culprit here."

There are no calorie-counting fitness applications that "...come with the phone." Sure, you can buy them in the App Store, but they're not built in. Also, Apple just so happens to make an iPod that was designed specifically as a workout accessory and it costs less than $80US. My guess is, if you can afford an iPhone, you can swing a shuffle -- or a case that blocks the dock port, which is a pretty accessible area for moisture.

I know it sucks to have your sweet iPhone ruined, but this was completely avoidable. Plus, aren't most phones with cameras banned from gyms?

[Via CNET]

Attention world: The iPhone dislikes moisture originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Attention world: The iPhone dislikes moisture originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Bobby Carrot Forever for iPhone

It may look kid-friendly, but this puzzle-based RPG adventure game gets challenging quickly, even for an experienced gamer.

iPhone OS 3.0 Screenshots: Video Recording Feature, Remaining Battery in Percentage & More

Nerdy App of the Day: Star Trek Phaser

Apparently there’s a new Star Trek film due to be released soon. I’m not a huge fan, but this app caught my eye as being kinda cool – Star Trek Phaser. I guess the hype and promotion train for the new movie will be gaining momentum soon, and we’ll see more App Store entries soon. In [...]

Read it Later for iPhone allows offline reading

Read It Later plugs one of the gaps in its mission to offer your reading bookmarks anywhere at anytime with an official iPhone application, which features browser syncing and offline saving. Read It Later lives primarily as a Firefox extension, but offers bookmarklets for any browser, including the iPhone’s mobile Safari. Still, the “later” part of [...]

Rumor Mill: Apple orders 100 million 8GB memory chips?

DigiTimes, a blog and news service, is reporting that Apple has placed a massive order for 100 million 8GB flash storage chips, mostly from Samsung, that will then be combined into larger capacities. What could this purchase indicate? The quantity, twice the size of last year’s order, is likely to make such chips scarce in [...]

Reports: Apple to bulk up iPhone storage

Reports that Apple is ordering large amounts of flash memory have some people speculating that a larger capacity iPhone is in the works.

Dictionary.com for iPhone. Everyone should have it

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Freeware, iPhone, iPod touch

Every so often a free app comes along for the iPhone/ iPod touch that I think everyone should have. That certainly applies to Dictionary.com [App Store link]. It's an iPhone version of the Dictionary.com web site which gives you definitions, a thesaurus, audio pronunciations, and my favorite, word origins. (I was interested to learn that the word 'waver' goes back to the 13th century German word for moving about. I love stuff like that.) The app also provides a word of the day, and examples of your specified word in sentences.

This app is every bit as good as the paid dictionary apps, and oh so more versatile. Happily, Dictionary.com does not need an internet connection for the dictionary and thesaurus, but does need it for the rest of the features. With all that information on board, the download is about 36 megabytes.

As you type a word, the dictionary auto-completes, saving you some time, and when you go back to your 'recents' list you have a choice of seeing the thesaurus or the dictionary. Nice. Pronunciations of the words are quite handy. Sometimes you get a female voice, other times a male.

One small nitpick. You should be able to click on words that the thesaurus finds and get a definition. You have to retype them.

Dictionary.com was released in late March, and I don't think the word is out sufficiently so people know it is there. Consider this the 'word', and consider the occasion a propitious one. Look it up.

Screen shots:

Dictionary.com for iPhone. Everyone should have it originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dictionary.com for iPhone. Everyone should have it originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: MLB At Bat 2009 for iPhone

MLB At Bat 2009 is a no-brainer for any baseball fan with an iPhone and a love of baseball on the radio.

Ten crazy iPhone cases

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

I ended up going with an iSkin Revo for my iPhone as a thin little protective case, but now that I've seen some of these crazy cases, I'm reconsidering just a little bit. Who wouldn't want to encase your iPhone in what appears to be bacon, or try out the tactile iPhone case above (which transmits button presses to a customized home screen -- not something I'd want to use all the time, but it is wild and it has a purpose).

That Dexter case is cool too, though there are probably plenty of promotional cases out there. It's almost too bad -- when I picked up my plain black case, I was thinking a lot more about function than appearance. There's all kinds of cool things out there to put your iPhone in.

[via Urlesque]

Ten crazy iPhone cases originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ten crazy iPhone cases originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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