The GigaOM Network: Cleantech | Tech Insider | Gadget Gurus | Online Video | Open Source | Web Life | Research | Live Events | About | Contact

Archive for the ‘CNN Big Tech’ Category

Apple Ranks a Lackluster Fourth in Notebook Reliability Study

Written on November 17, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 19 people have commented

Apple is fairly reliable, but not the most reliable company of all when it comes to notebooks, according to a new study by research firm SquareTrade. The top honor goes to Asus, which surprised me, but I suppose shouldn’t have when I consider the build quality of my fairly inexpensive Eee PC. Toshiba and Sony [...]

Apple’s Black Friday Sales Leaked Early

Written on November 17, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 21 people have commented

If you’re planning your holiday shopping but want to get a good grasp of the budget available to you in advance, it helps to know what kind of deals you’re going to get. Luckily, Apple’s Black Friday discounts have been leaked early, so you can factor in those price reductions while you’re figuring out how [...]

Apple’s App Store Approval Process Now Includes an Automated Layer

Written on November 17, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 12 people have commented

App Store developers now have more to contend with than just the fickle tastes of the humans Apple has reviewing submissions. Now, submissions also go through an automated filter that determines whether or not the app is obeying the rules and not using any of Apple’s private APIs, which is a no-no, according to the [...]

Apple Set to Release “Concierge” App to Make Scheduling Appointments Easier

Written on November 16, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 6 people have commented

Scheduling a Genius Bar or One to One training session appointment has never been that difficult. Just go to Apple’s web site, enter some information, and you’re done. But a new rumor over at AppleInsider suggests that it’s about to become even easier, thanks to a new in-house developed iPhone app that could be forthcoming [...]

AdMob Could Have Gone to Apple, Sources Say

Written on November 16, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 3 people have commented

AdMob, the mobile advertising firm that recently made headlines thanks to a Google acquisition, might have become part of the Apple fold if things had worked out differently, according to a report by Bloomberg that appeared this weekend. Apple reportedly approached AdMob with interest before the Google deal went down.
That’s according to “people familiar with [...]

The Apple Store: An Unsung Hero

Written on November 13, 2009 by Charles Jade and 7 people have commented

Apple previewed its Upper West Side store in New York yesterday. Besides welcoming the media into the company’s latest example of retail minimalism taken to its logical extreme, Apple Senior VP Ron Johnson talked retail.

Glass and stone enclose 8,500 square feet of retail space on street level, topped with a glass ceiling 45 feet above, and [...]

App Store Devs Flaunt Copyright Troll With Name Changes

Written on November 13, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 8 people have commented

iPhone devs are a rebellious bunch, and they don’t like to be bullied by anyone other than their Apple, which both frustrates and affirms their existence. Now, in light of what some might call a campaign being waged against the App Store by a well-known trademark troll, many iPhone devs are protesting what they see [...]

VESA Issues Mini DisplayPort Standard

Written on November 10, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 3 people have commented

Earlier this year (right at the beginning, in fact), we brought news that the Video Electronics Standard Association (VESA) might potentially make the Mini DisplayPort standard, meaning that manufacturers outside of Apple can now use it in their products without Apple’s approval, including rival computer makers, among others.
The Mini DisplayPort (mDP) standard is described as [...]

Art or Virus? Symantec Villifies Spoof Apple “Trojan”

Written on November 05, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 6 people have commented

Security firm Symantec is warning computer users about a new Mac-specific Trojan that deletes files on the user’s hard drive, according to Techworld.com. It has dubbed the piece of malware “OSX.Loosemaque,” and uploaded a YouTube video of how it goes about its nefarious purpose.
Basically, it’s a Space Invader clone wherein when you kill an alien, [...]

Command & Conquer: Red Alert Brings the Red Menace to Your iPhone

Written on November 04, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 4 people have commented

It’s a game series that’s gotten much love over the years, despite, or perhaps because of, the cheesy live action cut scenes featuring actors like Tim Curry. Now, Command & Conquer comes to the iPhone with Command & Conquer: Red Alert ($9.99, iTunes link), named after its PC and console counterpart released in 1996.
How well [...]

App Store Hits 100K in 481 Days

Written on November 04, 2009 by Charles Jade and 5 people have commented

481 days. That’s how long it took the App Store to go from opening its virtual doors with 500 applications on July 11, 2008 to a catalog of more than 100,000 applications downloaded more than 2 billion times.

Not surprisingly, the folks at Apple are pleased.
“The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly [...]

Rumor Has It: China Ontrade Reveals iPhone 4 Part

Written on November 03, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 5 people have commented

China Ontrade, a wholesale parts distributor that ships pre-production parts from upcoming devices, has just posted a part it calls the “Apple iPhone 4 Generation Midboard.” While not particularly pretty to look at, or indicative of any exciting, new features for the upcoming model, the part is tantalizing because it represents the first piece of [...]

Is Backup on Apple’s Back Burner or Simply Abandoned?

Written on November 03, 2009 by Dave Greenbaum and 22 people have commented

When Leopard was introduced, backing up became an automatic and effortless operation. Set it and forget it. Unfortunately, Time Machine backups are not off-site and don’t protect you against an on-site disaster. When I previously covered some online off-site backup solutions, Apple’s backup utility was not one of them.
Apple Backup is still [...]

Chrome to Pass Safari in Browser Market Share

Written on November 02, 2009 by Charles Jade and 19 people have commented

For October, OS X 10.6 and iPhone OS 3.0 continued to make incremental gains in market share, as did Safari. Unfortunately for the Apple web browser, Google’s Chrome is gaining faster.

Compiling data from more than 160 million visitors to its worldwide network of sites, web metrics firm Net Applications has released numbers for the month. [...]

Mac Market Share Hits All-Time High Following Windows 7 Launch

Written on November 02, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 2 people have commented

Microsoft’s advertising strategy with the latest installment of Windows is basically to none-too-subtly deride its predecessors, and it does appear to be helping Windows 7 gain traction among consumers. Unfortunately, it also might be contributing to the success of Mac OS X, or at least, it isn’t doing anything to slow down the steady progress [...]

Apple Closing in on RIM in U.S. Market Share

Written on October 29, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 3 people have commented

A new survey by research firm ChangeWave has Apple’s iPhone on course to eventually best BlackBerry as the U.S. device of choice when it comes to smartphone options. It also reflects good news for the smartphone industry in general, since overall ownership of the data-hungry cellular devices is up to 39 percent of respondents, which [...]

Apple TV 3.0 Will Support iTunes LP and Extras, Needs More Still

Written on October 29, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 10 people have commented

Apple recently introduced two new formats, iTunes LP and iTunes Extras, which deliver additional content to album and movie purchases, respectively. Apple also only just updated the iTunes Store Terms and Conditions agreement, and AppleInsider spotted some key changes in that document that point to an upcoming Apple TV update that will support the new [...]

Apple Issues Magic Mouse Update, But Where Are the Mice Themselves?

Written on October 28, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 29 people have commented

Last week, Apple announced the Magic Mouse, which is its new standard pointing device, complete with Bluetooth connectivity and multitouch gesture support. I promptly called my local Apple store, and a staff member told me they weren’t in stock and to try back again later in the week. I did, and again, no luck. It’s [...]

VMware Fusion 3 for Mac Now Available

Written on October 27, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 5 people have commented

VMware Fusion 3 for Mac is now available. That’s right, new virtualization software for your Mac, conveniently timed for the release of Windows 7. Actually, it’s very likely the release of VMware’s latest iteration of its OS virtualization software, Fusion 3, got its release date precisely because of Microsoft’s street date for its latest operating system, [...]

Rumor Has It: Apple Sharing Tablet Info With Australian Media?

Written on October 27, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and No one has commented

The tablet rumor mill is heating up, which is in keeping with the early 2010 release date that’s been mentioned in earlier reports. The latest news to hit the web is that Apple has been talking to the Australian media about content provision for the fanboi device of legend.
The news comes via Australian paper The [...]