Apple’s Latest Ads Continue to Respond to Microsoft’s Campaign

Apple has started airing two more "Get a Mac" ads featuring Justin Long as "Mac" and John Hodgman as "PC". The latest ads continue to target Microsoft's aggressive Laptop Hunters campaign which has focused on Apple's relatively higher prices than co...

Steve Jobs Almost Entirely Focused on Tablet Project?

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that Steve Jobs has been focusing almost exclusively on Apple's much-anticipated tablet computer since his late June return from a medical leave of absence for a liver transplant. The report no...

Streaming Music Service Rhapsody Might be Coming Soon to the iPhone

Madden NFL 10 for iPhone ready in September

Madden NFL 10 is set for a September release on the iPhone, according to EA.

Google addresses FCC examinations regarding Skype, Voice app

Google on Friday, like Apple and AT&T, responded to a Federal Communications Commission inquiry, and also disputed a report that alleged the application Skype had been blocked from use on Android. The document Google provided to the FCC, as it looks into Apple’s non-acceptance of the Google Voice application on the iPhone platform, was heavily redacted, [...]

Review: Deer Hunter 3D for iPhone

Beautiful graphics and detailed terrain elevate this hunting simulator. But there are drawbacks, too. Unless you're a fan of the Deer Hunter series of games, the thrill of the hunt may wear thin after a while.

Analyst: Apple Likely to Sell 5 Million Copies of Snow Leopard This Quarter

In a note to clients released this morning, Piper Jaffray research analyst Gene Munster estimated that Apple will sell approximately 5 million copies of OS X Snow Leopard during the remainder of this quarter. Apple announced earlier this morning tha...

Real Networks submitting Rhapsody music service for iPhone. Duck!

Filed under: Audio, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Now this will be interesting to watch. RealNetworks, not always best of friends with Apple, is submitting an iPhone app so subscribers can access the Rhapsody music service.

The app is designed to be full-featured, and will let Rhapsody subscribers get easy control of the on-demand music service. Real Networks has described the app's operation on its Rhapsody blog:

You'll see a menu bar across the bottom of the screen, as is found in many apps. You'll have the option to check out the queue, your library, browse the Rhapsody library (ahem, all 8 million + songs of it), search, and settings. The app has all the functionality of the client, or Rhapsody.com, only super portable.

The Rhapsody app is designed to stream music over 3G, EDGE or Wi-Fi networks. If approved, it will require a Rhapsody To Go account, which is US$15.00 per month. Spotify, a similar European music service, also has an app awaiting approval for the iPhone.

Apple already allows the Sirius/XM app, which is a different, but still a paid subscription service, and of course Pandora, Last.fm and other streaming music services.

All these apps are competition to iTunes, so the world will be watching to see if Apple draws the line with RealNetworks, or keeping a careful eye on the FCC, approves it.

Real Networks submitting Rhapsody music service for iPhone. Duck! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Real Networks submitting Rhapsody music service for iPhone. Duck! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PicPosterous for the iPhone is nearly perfect

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Internet Tools, iPhone, App Store, App Review

I've spent the last few weeks with Posterous, a blogging platform from Sachin Agarwal and Garry Tan. The result is both a modest record of my travels and a powerful enthusiasm for the service.

Posterous is going to be huge. Even Andy says so.

Over the years, I've used every blogging platform I've found, including (but not limited to) WordPress, Typepad, MovableType, Squarespace, Vox, Livejournal, Blogger and Textpattern. The easiest among those are the hosted solutions, like Typepad, Livejournal, Blogger, Squarespace and Vox (note that Typepad, Livejournal and Vox are all products of Six Apart). WordPress and MovableType are (usually) self-hosted and require the blogger* to create and link to a database.

After installation is complete, they all require some degree of fiddling. Customizing the layout, design, colors, graphics etc. takes time. Adding something like an image gallery is even more time consuming, and often requires a plug-in which you must find, upload, configure and test on your own.

By contrast, here's how you create a complete blog with Posterous:
Send an email message to post@posterous.com.

That's it.

Here's how you create a full-featured, thumbnailed photo gallery with built-in navigation on Posterous: Email your photos to post@posterous.com.

Want to post a video? Same thing. It'll even encode it for you. Send nearly any codec you want.

It's brilliant because there's nothing to learn. Everyone knows how to send an email message and customers can use the email client they already know; the client that's always available via a laptop, phone or iPod. Additionally, Posterous can notify your other accounts, like Facebook and Twitter, each time an update is posted.

The only drawback I found was in updating a gallery throughout the day. Let's say I want to document a trip with multiple photos added to a single post as the day progressed. How can I do that? PicPosterous [App Store link] is the answer. I spent the last couple of weeks using a beta of PicPosterous and spoke with Sachin about it. Click below to read my reaction and conversation with Sachin.

*Some web hosting companies provide a one-click install for WordPress and MovableType. Wordpress.com also provides free and premium plans for WordPress users.

Continue reading PicPosterous for the iPhone is nearly perfect

PicPosterous for the iPhone is nearly perfect originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PicPosterous for the iPhone is nearly perfect originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rhapsody App Coming to iPhone - Approval Pending…

RealNetworks recently submitted their on-demand music streaming application for the iPhone and iPod Touch to Apple for review. Yes, this is the moment all of you Rhapsody subscribers have been waiting for.

Rhapsody is a subscription based service, $12.99/Month, that allows you the ability to listen to any single song or album on-demand. Current subscribers to Rhapsody can simply log into the app with their existing user name and password and can be streaming music in no time. If you are not a subscriber you will have the opportunity to take the app for a free limited time test drive.

The big question is whether or not Apple will approve this app but given the amount of negative press Apple’s app approval process is currently getting, we are leaning towards this one being approved.

Subscription based music streaming is in high demand on devices such as iPhone so it makes us wonder - when will Apple make it’s move into the music streaming business? Not that this would be likely to actually happen but Apple could even offer the service as an extra perk to all of us who subscribe to their MobileMe service.

Would you be willing to pay Apple for a service such as Rhapsody or are you perfectly content with current iTunes setup?

[Real Networks Blog via Daring Fireball]

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

Rhapsody App Coming to iPhone - Approval Pending…

Apple Retail Stores Continue to Buck Economic Sluggishness

Bloomberg reports on Apple's retail store performance amidst the current economic situation, noting that Apple's retail sales have held up remarkably well as other merchants have seen sales slip.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California,...

Rhapsody brings subscription music to the iPhone, pending Apple’s approval

Continue reading Rhapsody brings subscription music to the iPhone, pending Apple's approval

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

Rhapsody brings subscription music to the iPhone, pending Apple's approval originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HSN app for iPhone launches

I have known a few people over the years that were totally addicted to watching the Home Shopping Network. They would sit there, watch what was offered for sale, and typically buy lots of junk that they really didn’t need or have the money to buy. If you are a big ...

Discovery Channel app now available

We have probably all been flipping channels at one point or another and ran across some odd show on Discovery Channel that we sat and watched even though we didn't care about the topic. I really don’t care to see a lion eat a zebra but I once watched it ...

Apple owns 13.7% of global smartphone market

Apple is doing very well in the market with its iPhone with robust sales and huge popularity around the globe for the smartphone. The Washington Post reports that with the numbers for Q2 2009 in we now know exactly how well the device is doing. At the pace Apple has set ...

Wikipedia app hits iPhone

One of the biggest problems with Wikipedia is that you never know for sure if the person that wrote the entry you are looking at really knew what they were talking about. Still, Wikipedia is one of the most used sources of information on the internet. The Wikimedia Foundation has announced ...

Mini launches roadside assistance app

I have had several new cars during my adult life and most of them come with roadside assistance. All the cars that I had with roadside assistance, I never needed to use it. It seems like getting access to roadside assistance might be a pain in most instances. Mini has announced ...

Rhapsody music service headed for iPhone

RealNetworks wants to put Rhapsody, its music subscription service, on the iPhone. The application has been submitted to Apple and, if approved, will offer subscribers of Rhapsody's service unlimited music streaming.

The Competition: BlackBerry Browser Going WebKit via Torch Mobile?!

CrackBerry.com is reporting that RIM has acquired Torch Mobile, makers of the WebKit-powered Iris mobile browser.

Apple-backed WebKit is the open-source rendering engine behind Mac Safari and Google Chrome, which isn’t a very large segment, all told. Mobile WebKit, however, powers the portable world with the iPhone (and iPod touch) Safari, Google Android Chrome Lite, the Palm Pre/webOS browser, and some Nokia devices. Add BlackBerry to the mix and it pretty much looks like the mobile world vs. IE6 on Windows Phone — strangely inverse the desktop landscape where IE dominates and Firefox brings up the rear. (FireFox’s mobile Fennec browser is still in development).

It was just a couple weeks ago that RIM promised an iPhone-class browser from BlackBerry by next summer, and it looks like this might just give them one heckuva jumpstart in getting there.

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

The Competition: BlackBerry Browser Going WebKit via Torch Mobile?!

Apple Announces August 28th Availability of Snow Leopard

Apple today announced that Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard will go on sale Friday, August 28 at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple's online store is now accepting pre-orders.

"Snow Leopard builds on our m...