• apple

    Videos That Make Me Happy

    I was feeling a little under the weather last night, so I decided to share two videos that helped pass the long sleepless night.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAo8gnUCWzE]

    Steve Jobs: We don’t ship junk!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBq3WoQyinY]

    Come on, who doesn’t love some flying toaster?!

  • apple,  ipad,  iphone

    WSJ: Apple Testing Larger Screen, Smaller Screen Devices

    In this morning’s edition of the Wall Street Journal, a story appeared stating that Apple was working with one or more suppliers to develop different sized screens for prototype devices.

    From WSJ.com (subscription maybe required):

    “People at Apple’s suppliers said it asked for prototype smartphone screens larger than its current iPhone in recent months, and has asked for screen designs for a new tablet measuring slightly less than 13 inches. Whether the designs will make their way to market is unclear, but they could lead to Apple phones and tablets that are larger than the current 4-inch iPhone 5 and 9.7-inch iPad.”

    Shocker.  Is anyone really surprised that Apple is not standing still and working on prototype devices?  My guess? This is a “strategic leak” to get the spotlight off of the recent developer portal website hacking.

    [Via WSJ.com…]

  • apple,  security

    Apple Developer Center Hacker Identified

    Earlier today, Ibrahim Balic, a “security researcher” identified himself as the hacker who breached Apple’s Developer Center portal.

    According to AppleInsider, Balic identified himself as the person who hacked into Apple’s servers on the TechCrunch website.

    “Balic said he found a total of 13 bugs on Apple’s site, one of which provided him with access to user information. He claims to have taken 73 user details — all of whom are Apple employees — and given them to the company as an example.”

    “Security researcher” or “hacker,” I think we should let the courts decide, don’t you?

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

  • galaxy s4,  galaxy tab,  samsung,  sdc

    Samsung Announces Developer’s Conference

    Earlier today, consumer electronics giant Samsung announced a cross-platform developer’s show, Samsung Developer’s Conference , or SDC.

    Scheduled to take place October 27-29 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel, Union Square, the event is being billed as a cross-platform event that will cover topics including their Android-powered Galaxy smartphones and tablets, Windows PCs, Windows Phone smartphones, and even their SmartTV and Boxee offerings.

    If I was Larry Page, I’d be more than a little worried that my largest Android partner is “going rogue.”

    Bottom line: still looks like Samsung can’t come up with any original ideas.

  • microsoft,  surface rt,  windows rt

    Microsoft Surface RT with Touch Cover Now $379

    I can’t say that I’m a “fan” of the Microsoft Surface RT tablet, but I am intrigued by it.  But, even at $349 for the entry level 32GB version, it still is a bit expensive to buy at a toy.

    But if you are in the market for a Microsoft Surface RT, you might want to also consider that the Redmond company is now selling referbrished 32GB Surface RT tablets, with the $100-ish Touch Cover, for $379.

    Check it out now in the Microsoft Online Store.

  • apple

    Apple Developer Portal Attached By Hacker

    Apple’s Developer Center portal has been offline since Thursday, and now, iMore’s news team has the reason: the website was attacked by hackers.

    “Apple has sent an email out to developers addressing the reason behind the ongoing multi-day outage of their developer portal, confirming suspicions that it was the result of a security breach.”

    The email that was sent out by Apple reads:

    “Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website. Sensitive personal information was encrypted and cannot be accessed, however, we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers’ names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed. In the spirit of transparency, we want to inform you of the issue. We took the site down immediately on Thursday and have been working around the clock since then. 

    In order to prevent a security threat like this from happening again, we’re completely overhauling our developer systems, updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database. We apologize for the significant inconvenience that our downtime has caused you and we expect to have the developer website up again soon.”

    Before announcing that the Developer Center was attached by a hacker, Apple posted a generic system maintenance page that appears below.

    [Via iMore.com…]

  • apple,  ios,  rumors

    Rumor: Apple Having Trouble with iPhone 5S Biometric Sensor

    DigiTimes, which has a spotty track record with regard to their Apple rumors, is reporting that the iPhone maker is having trouble with low yield rates with the rumored fingerprint reader that is said to be part of the upcoming iPhone’s Home button.

    From DigiTimes:

    “Volume production of fingerprint-recognition and LCD driver chips for the iPhone 5S should have started at the end of June or early in July, but issues related to yield rates will delay commercial production of the two chips to the end of July, therefore affecting the initial supply of the iPhone 5S, the sources explained.”

    Many people, myself included, expect Apple to follow last year’s September announcement of a new iPhone followed up with October shipments.  If that is true, and full production runs of the iPhone 5S are just now ramping up, there should still be plenty of time to build the millions of iPhone 5S handsets that will be needed globally in October.  If that is true, one had to wonder how a device that Apple has not yet publicly talked about or announced be considered ‘late’ if it ships in October and not September.

    I think that there are two more important things to consider here.  The first is that Apple really does leverage last year’s acquisition of Florida based AuthenTec to build and include a biometric fingerprint scanner into their smartphone.  I would love to be able to use that technology to secure my iPhone with a finger swipe rather than a clumsy PIN code.  That would be an amazing feature that will be a head of the competition.

    The second thing to consider is whether iOS 7 is ready in time to be installed on the new hardware.  If the software takes longer to work the major bugs out, it could impact the ship date as I don’t see Apple launching the iPhone 5S without iOS 7.

    [Via DigiTimes.com…]

  • apple,  iphone,  rumors

    Rumor: iPhone 5S Said To Begin Production This Month

    With iOS 7 still cooking, Apple is said to on track to begin building the next iPhone, largely expected to be the iPhone 5S.

    From BGR:

    “Apple’s manufacturing and supply chain partners are reportedly gearing up to begin mass production of the iPhone 5S later this month. The news comes from a new research note issued by well-respected Jefferies & Company analyst Peter Misek, and it closely follows an earlier report that claimed Foxconn is currently hiring more workers to accommodate heavy iPhone orders from Apple.”

    It is also largely expected that Apple will launch the iPhone 5S in late September or early October.

    [Via BGR.com…]

  • blackberry,  blackberry os,  bold,  rim,  rumors

    New BlackBerry OS 7 Smartphone On the Way

    “Wait, what?!” was my reaction when I saw the news the BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, or BlackBerry LTD as they like to go by now a days, was releasing a new phone running BlackBerry OS 7.

    If reports from BGR and Crackberry are correct, the new phone will be similar in design to the BlackBerry Bold series devices, but actually be associated with the consumer Curve family of devices.

    The new phone is rumored to have the following specs:

    • It’s listed as the BlackBerry 9720
    • Full QWERTY keyboard
    • Display resolution is 480×360
    • Runs BlackBerry OS 7.1
    • Supports: 802.11b / 802.11g / 802.11n / 3G
    I’ve carried a handful of BlackBerry devices over my many years in IT, from the pager-like devices to the Curve, and even the Storm 2 (Which, believe it or not, I liked.)
    I want to see BlackBerry do well enough that they can at least stay in the corporate game as their devices really are good at messaging.  But I’m having a hard time getting excited about to seeing customers getting excited about a phone running an outdated operating system.  The only way I see this working is if this new phone is the new, cheap – as in low low cost – entry level device to “emerging markets.”  Coming in at north of $300 I don’t see the Q5 doing that.