Hey everybody and welcome to another edition of AppleTalk Thursday. We have a bit of Apple news to discuss this week so let’s get right into things.
Mac App Store is Here
Of course hours after last week’s AppleTalk Thursday went out, Apple rolled out the Mac App Store as part of the 10.6.6 update. Among the notable apps is Angry Birds and Flight Control HD which are popular games on the iOS devices and the Twitter app (formerly Tweetie). They also are selling the iLife (3 of them anyway) and iWork apps, although the iWork apps are still the ’09 variety and not the updated iWork ’11. iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand each sell for $14.99 which if you add them up, come up to $45, a single license copy of iLife ’11 sells for $49 in optical media format but you can actually install the apps on the Mac App Store on multiple computers so if you add in the Family Pack cost of $79 you are getting quite a deal. Pages, Keynote, and Numbers sell for $19.99 each compared to $79 for optical media single copy and $99 for Family Pack. Of course not all the developers have jumped on board yet, they maybe taking a wait and see approach. But I love it, it is like having one big software virtual mall. It also scans your other apps that you have pre-installed and will alert you to an update for it if that application is part of the store. Apple has reported it had 1 million downloads of apps in the first 24 hours of its launch.
Verizon gets the iPhone 4
I discussed this on Tuesday Tech Talk as it broke that day. I had quite a bit of information on it and you can find that post here. What has not been determined yet is the cost of the data plans from Verizon for the iPhone. One would think they would be the same as the data plans for their other smart-phones. But the fact they are throwing in a mobile hot spot device (MiFi) to connect up to 5 devices to it, is pretty sweet and reinforces Verizon’s confidence in their network where AT&T had to be dragged kicking and screaming to a still pricey tethering plan for the iPhone. Now comes word that the iOS 4.3 update will include mobile hot spot feature as part of the OS so clearly, Apple by teaming with Verizon can negotiate with AT&T from a position of strength for a more competitive tethering plan. The Verizon iPhone will go on sale on February 10th at Apple and Verizon store locations as well as their online stores. Also of note Verizon and Apple will sell a CDMA based iPad as well.
Microsoft fights Apple on “App Store” trademark
Microsoft being the crybabies they are (see Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer), have filed an objection with the US Patent & Trademark Office over Apple’s plan to trademark the term “App Store”. Hey Microsoft, it sucks to be dominated doesn’t it? In my opinion, Apple was the first to launch such a store way before Android and Windows Phone 7, and BlackBerry so they should get the right. Be creative enough to come up with your own name losers..oh wait this is Microsoft we are talking about...they have no imagination!
Jobs and Murdoch to launch The Daily on January 19th?
The much rumored iPad only digital magazine The Daily is expected to be announced on January 19th in San Francisco. If it is anything like NewsCorp’s Wall Street Journal app for the iPad, then it would be well worth subscribing to at the 99 cents per week expected cost.
Apple eliminated restocking fees
Wow, first Best Buy and now Apple will be eliminating restocking fees according to an article from 9 to 5 Mac starting this past Tuesday. Not heard anything confirming this so take the article for what its worth.
AT&T and Apple lower price of 3GS iPhone to $49
If you just want to get an iPhone but don’t need the latest and greatest there is good news, both Apple and AT&T have dropped the price from $99 to $49 on the 8GB 3GS iPhone. So if you missed out on the Radio Shack and Best Buy offers, the deal is here to stay. iPhone 4 pricing remains the same though.
iOS App Reviews
Apple Remote (FREE) - If you have an AppleTV did you know that with the Apple Remote app you can control it from your iPhone or iPad? I have used both for controlling mine and I actually prefer it over the line of sight based remote that comes with the AppleTV. Course it can also play iTunes content from your Mac(s) while you are sitting in the recliner or pulling into the garage and pulling a nice prank on your unsuspecting significant other who thinks your Mac is possessed all of the sudden (Yes, I did this once.)
Goodreads (FREE) - If you are a user of Goodreads and have an iPhone, then this app is a must have! For those that don’t know, Goodreads allows you to share what books you are reading, have read or want to read with other friends that are book readers. Think of it as Facebook for book worms. So sign up for the service which is free and download the app. You can find me here to see what I’ve been or will be reading.
Green Bay Packers (FREE) - Ok so I am a bit bias here as Green Bay is my team in the playoffs right now being that my Chargers and Titans failed to make it this year. But this is a good model for how any sports team thinking about making an app should follow. Videos, schedule, injury updates, etc. it is all there.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of AppleTalk Thursday. Look forward to sharing more Apple related news with you here same time next week!
Showing posts with label NewsCorp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NewsCorp. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tuesday Tech Talk #70
Hey everybody and welcome to another installment of Tuesday Tech Talk.
Big Brother looking at disabling your cellphone in a vehicle
This is somewhat tech and a lot political, but it was enough to fire up the libertarian in me (note the small “L”). Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was quoted as stating the following:
“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,” said LaHood on MSNBC. LaHood said the cellphone scramblers were one way, and also stressed the importance of “personal responsibility.”
Now here is the problem I have with this statement, scramblers would scramble any cellphone in the vehicle so even if you are a passenger in the vehicle, your cellphone would be scrambled too. Of course if you are driving you should not text and drive that is just personal responsibility which he states at the end. Never the less, with the whole controversy of TSA naked X-Ray machines and pat downs, the last thing the American people want to hear is how someone else in the government wants to take away more of our freedoms. Go shove it Mr. LaHood!
Hulu Plus leaves Preview and drops its price
Hulu Plus is now for everybody and at a $7.99 price and, is available on Roku boxes. No word yet on an AppleTV deal, but with it being available on the iPad and iPhone, it can only be a matter of time before it is available for AppleTV.
Zuckerberg talks Messaging, Data Portability, and Mistakes
Last week at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the future of messaging and how email will be used in more formal communications, but more casual messaging is growing more and more through IM, SMS Texting, and Facebook messaging. He also touches on data portability and mistakes made.
Twitter CEO takes issue with China over labor sentencing over a retweet
Dick Costolo sent out a tweet last week critical of the Chinese government sentencing a woman for one year to a labor camp for “reeducation”. Here is a snap shot of the Tweet:
News Corp and Apple building iPad only Newspaper
According to Women’s Wear Daily, Apple and News Corp are collaborating on an iPad specific digital newspaper called The Daily, that would sell for 99 cents per week. There is even speculation that Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs will make a co-announcement sharing the stage together. I have thought the iPad is perfect for reading a digital newspaper, in-fact I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal newspaper on my iPad and if The Daily is anything like the WSJ, then we are in store for something special at a cheaper price than the WSJ.
Apple working on CDMA-GSM iPad?
According to All Things Digital, Apple may be working on a “World iPad” in that it would contain both a CDMA and GSM chipset to work with multiple carriers. If so this would be huge and is going to sell units in just about every wireless providers store. Take that Samsung Galaxy and Blackberry PlayBook!
GoogleTV gets double negative reviews from New York Times and Wall Street Journal
Basically calling it complex and not as straight forward as the AppleTV. The New York Times and WSJ said that GoogleTV is a step in the wrong direction and missing the mark, respectively. Quite frankly, I would agree, I played around with both the Logitech Revue and Sony-based systems and found it to be a cross between watching WebTV while viewing TV content. Look, if people want to browse the web while watching TV, their going to do it from their laptop, smartphone, or tablet device and not their TV. It may be ahead of its time possibly, but for right now it is a pure geek device and not something you would get your parents or grandparents. By contrast, the AppleTV is straight forward, you have a basic remote for browsing a basic onscreen menu to jump between the different services that all do one thing, provide video and audio content for your TV. Once again, Apple gets it, try again Google!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk, I still love you guys at Google, but with Thanksgiving this week, there will be no Googling Friday this coming Friday. You don’t need to spend your time reading my blog that day, instead spent it with your family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Big Brother looking at disabling your cellphone in a vehicle
This is somewhat tech and a lot political, but it was enough to fire up the libertarian in me (note the small “L”). Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was quoted as stating the following:
“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,” said LaHood on MSNBC. LaHood said the cellphone scramblers were one way, and also stressed the importance of “personal responsibility.”
Now here is the problem I have with this statement, scramblers would scramble any cellphone in the vehicle so even if you are a passenger in the vehicle, your cellphone would be scrambled too. Of course if you are driving you should not text and drive that is just personal responsibility which he states at the end. Never the less, with the whole controversy of TSA naked X-Ray machines and pat downs, the last thing the American people want to hear is how someone else in the government wants to take away more of our freedoms. Go shove it Mr. LaHood!
Hulu Plus leaves Preview and drops its price
Hulu Plus is now for everybody and at a $7.99 price and, is available on Roku boxes. No word yet on an AppleTV deal, but with it being available on the iPad and iPhone, it can only be a matter of time before it is available for AppleTV.
Zuckerberg talks Messaging, Data Portability, and Mistakes
Last week at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the future of messaging and how email will be used in more formal communications, but more casual messaging is growing more and more through IM, SMS Texting, and Facebook messaging. He also touches on data portability and mistakes made.
Twitter CEO takes issue with China over labor sentencing over a retweet
Dick Costolo sent out a tweet last week critical of the Chinese government sentencing a woman for one year to a labor camp for “reeducation”. Here is a snap shot of the Tweet:
News Corp and Apple building iPad only Newspaper
According to Women’s Wear Daily, Apple and News Corp are collaborating on an iPad specific digital newspaper called The Daily, that would sell for 99 cents per week. There is even speculation that Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs will make a co-announcement sharing the stage together. I have thought the iPad is perfect for reading a digital newspaper, in-fact I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal newspaper on my iPad and if The Daily is anything like the WSJ, then we are in store for something special at a cheaper price than the WSJ.
Apple working on CDMA-GSM iPad?
According to All Things Digital, Apple may be working on a “World iPad” in that it would contain both a CDMA and GSM chipset to work with multiple carriers. If so this would be huge and is going to sell units in just about every wireless providers store. Take that Samsung Galaxy and Blackberry PlayBook!
GoogleTV gets double negative reviews from New York Times and Wall Street Journal
Basically calling it complex and not as straight forward as the AppleTV. The New York Times and WSJ said that GoogleTV is a step in the wrong direction and missing the mark, respectively. Quite frankly, I would agree, I played around with both the Logitech Revue and Sony-based systems and found it to be a cross between watching WebTV while viewing TV content. Look, if people want to browse the web while watching TV, their going to do it from their laptop, smartphone, or tablet device and not their TV. It may be ahead of its time possibly, but for right now it is a pure geek device and not something you would get your parents or grandparents. By contrast, the AppleTV is straight forward, you have a basic remote for browsing a basic onscreen menu to jump between the different services that all do one thing, provide video and audio content for your TV. Once again, Apple gets it, try again Google!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk, I still love you guys at Google, but with Thanksgiving this week, there will be no Googling Friday this coming Friday. You don’t need to spend your time reading my blog that day, instead spent it with your family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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