Apple : Tim Cook: 'Apple is not going to change' |
- Tim Cook: 'Apple is not going to change'
- Opinion: Jobs' superpower was the ability to say no
- In Depth: 12 most memorable Steve Jobs moments
- In Depth: Why Apple is in safe hands with Tim Cook
- Steve Jobs resignation sees Apple stock tumble
- Steve Jobs' resignation letter
- Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO
- Mac OS X Lion USB drive now on sale
- Man who 'found' prototype iPhone 4 charged
- Apple becomes world's most valuable company
- Tutorial: How to install and run Windows on Mac
- Apple sued over OS X Fast Boot feature
- Updated: Apple to launch updated low-spec iMac for students?
- Apple to merge iOS and Mac OS in 2012?
- Updated: iCloud: all the latest details
- In Depth: OS X Lion problems solved
| Tim Cook: 'Apple is not going to change' Posted:  Tim Cook has sent his first memo to Apple staff after taking over as CEO after Steve Jobs resigned yesterday, telling staff that "Apple is not going to change." After praising his "leader and mentor" Steve Jobs, Cook goes on to reassure staff that the company will "stay true" to the company and culture that Jobs built up. One thing's for sure, Cook has definitely inherited his predecessor's love of hyperbole, with 'amazing' and 'incredible' popping up twice, and even a cheeky 'magical' making an appearance towards the end. EmotionalApple stock has teetered throughout the day after the shock resignation came yesterday, but here at TechRadar we reckon Jobs has left his legacy and company in a safe pair of hands. The full email from Tim Cook, new CEO of Apple, is below: Team: I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world. Joining Apple was the best decision I've ever made and it's been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years. I share Steve's optimism for Apple's bright future. Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve's ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman. I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple's unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that—it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do. I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role. All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring. I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is. Tim Ars Technica, which first published the email memo, points out that it comes from a reliable source and "the headers have been verified". |
| Opinion: Jobs' superpower was the ability to say no Posted:  There will be thousands of words written in praise of Steve Jobs in the coming days; from co-founding Apple in his garage to his triumphant return to the company and its subsequent upturn. But, to me, the most vital thing that Steve Jobs brought to the technology world was the ability to say no. Perfectionists are ten a penny, but perfectionists who have risen to the top of successful companies are much harder to find. The luxury of being uncompromising is often the first thing to evaporate when commercial pressures are brought to bear. By keeping to his vision, Jobs earned himself a rare untouchable quality in the tech world, but also within Apple.
That meant that any project within the company could be sent back to the drawing board or even skewered by Jobs, however late in the design process it got, and by being uncompromising, powerful and having the authority to back his own judgement, his personal desire for the gadgets that he wanted shone through. That's not to denigrate the designers and engineers that provided the spark of genius in the likes of the iPhone, iPad and Macs, but merely to point out that by knowing that it had to tick all the boxes of man who could sink their hard work with a word, people could not afford to give less than their all. Jobs is not the only man to have risen to these heights; Sony founder Akio Morita was renowned as a man with a spark of genius and the capacity to change his company's direction if he though it appropriate. Famously, Morita went against the advice of his engineers because he wanted to introduce a portable tape player, after watching the way that people were consuming music on the go.
Indeed, Morita's favoured Walkman moniker was (eventually) adopted globally on his say-so, despite marketing teams launching the product under other names for global markets because they considered it bad English. Drawing direct parallels with Sony, a company that has struggled of late despite once being held up as the bastion of quality electronic goods, may be uncomfortable for Apple fans. Morita had the final say on Sony products, allowing him to bring a vision that shone on a global scale, and it is clear that Jobs has a similar role within Apple. The trick, it would seem, will be bringing in someone who is capable of saying no; not "no if the board agrees to back me", or "no unless Steve says so" and certainly not "no unless the investment has been big". Tim Cook has some truly large shoes to fill – but he's had plenty of practice in the past few years and as long as he channels the Steve Jobs perfectionism then Apple is big enough to survive the end of an era. |
| In Depth: 12 most memorable Steve Jobs moments Posted:  We're going to miss Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO - not just because of his talent, but because of his talent for making tech interesting. Just when things start to get dull, Jobs pops up with a new device, a new philosophy or a new feud - and the tech industry will be all the poorer without him. These are some of our favourite Jobs moments from the last 14 years. 1. "Tell me what's wrong with this place"After more than a decade away from the firm he founded, Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. It was the beginning of one of the most incredible chapters the technology industry's ever seen. On his first day back, Businessweek reports, he asked executives to tell him what was wrong with the stricken Apple. "After some mumbled replies, he jumped in: 'It's the products!'" 2. "Thoughts on music"Jobs has never been afraid to pick a fight, and in early 2007 he gave the music business both barrels, damning DRM copy protection and urging the labels to wise up. "Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats," he wrote. 3. "A glass of ice water to somebody in Hell"The good Mr Jobs is rarely short of a memorable put-down, and his comments on Windows in 2007 were no exception: giving a Windows user iTunes was like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in Hell. 4. "The Post-PC era"Speaking at the D8 conference in 2010, Jobs outlined his vision for the future: iPads and iPhones are cars, and PCs are trucks. "We're moving into the post-PC era, and this transformation's going to make some people uneasy." 5. "They have restaurants and swimming pools... for a factory, it's pretty nice"Jobs doesn't always get it right, and his comments about subcontractor Foxconn - whose employees appeared to be committing suicide in alarming numbers - caused something of a storm. 6. "The whole ecosystem will go down the shitter"Steve Jobs kills the Mac clones, first by attempting to change the licensing terms and then by shuttering the programme altogether. 7. "Don't be evil is a load of crap"What do you think of Google's "don't be evil" motto, Steve? Speaking to Apple employees at a company event in early 2010, Jobs accused Google of trying to kill the iPhone - "we won't let them" - and railed against Flash. That's something Jobs would come back to just days later. 8. "Thoughts on Flash"Did someone mention picking fights? Steve Jobs taking on Flash was jaw-dropping: "Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticising Apple for leaving the past behind," he wrote in 2010. Flash remains a no-no on iOS. 9. "We're not perfect"The iPhone 4 "antennagate" furore was a rare example of Jobs fumbling Apple's PR, with Jobs managing to apologise for the issue while implying that everybody in the world was an idiot. 10. "The excitement of the internet. The simplicity of Macintosh."Look! Steve's in a suit! Tear your eyes away from that, though, and look at the first iMac: a splash of colour in a world of beige, and one of the most influential designs of all time. They were pretty good computers, too. 11. "We love music""No-one has really found the recipe for digital music," Steve said in 2001 as he introduced the iPod. "This is huge". He wasn't kidding. 12. "No one wants to die"Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement speech was typically Jobsian: smart, funny and serious. "Have the courage to follow your heart and your intuition," Jobs said, explaining how his cancer diagnosis had affected his worldview. "They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." |
| In Depth: Why Apple is in safe hands with Tim Cook Posted:  He wears blue jeans and trainers. He's a workaholic. He's incredibly intelligent, doesn't miss a detail, and can destroy you with a single question. He's had a brush with mortality. He's intensely private. He eats, sleeps and breathes Apple. Does Tim Cook remind you of anybody? He may not have Steve Jobs' fearsome temper or quick sarcasm - his sense of humour is bone dry and he's more likely to disarm you with his slow, southern drawl than go ballistic. But like Jobs,Tim Cook is a force to be reckoned with. And as Jobs Steps aside to become chairman of Apple, there's no doubt that Apple has been left in capable hands with its new CEO. The former Compaq and IBM executive joined Apple in 1998 with the job of sorting out Apple's manufacturing and distribution. To say he sorted things out would be an understatement. Cook has slashed Apple's costs and turned it into an intensely profitable moneymaking machine - and the magical appearance of new products when Steve Jobs says "boom" is entirely his doing. He's also overseen some exceptionally smart deals that made Apple's competitors weep, such as pre-ordering enough flash memory in 2005 to corner the market for at least five years, and he's the man who hammers out iPhone deals with phone companies. Shared attitudesCook may not have Jobs' eye for design, but there's no doubt that he shares Jobs' attitudes. When some new MacBooks were unveiled in October 2009, Cook listed six reasons for Apple's ever-growing Mac sales: better computers, better software, compatibility through Boot Camp and virtualisation - "when I look at this, frankly, it sends a shiver up my spine," he drawled, as an image of an iMac running Windows appeared behind him noting Windows Vista's woes, marketing and retail stores. As Apple watcher John Gruber noted at the time, "What does not appear on that list is price... Cook's list isn't marketing bullshit - it's an accurate, succinct description of Apple's computer business." As Gruber points out, Cook summed up the entire Apple Special Event - and Apple itself - in just five words: "We don't compromise on quality." And in July, Cook couldn't resist a dig at Windows PCs during Apple's earnings call."I think there was some cannibalisation of new Macs by iPad. We shipped a record 9.2 million iPads during the quarter, which is over two times the number of Macs that we shipped," he said. "And it's clear that some customers chose to purchase an iPad instead of a new Mac. But the thing that really excites us is that more customers chose to buy an iPad than a Windows PC." Outside Apple, Cook is on the board of Nike, munches energy bars, is a huge fan of Lance Armstrong and spends most of his free time hiking, biking or in the gym. After a health scare in 1996 - he was wrongly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis - he began competing in cycling events to raise money for MS, and apparently gives away most of his money. He also funds a scholarship at Auburn University, where he did his engineering degree. So what will Apple be like under his leadership? For a while at least, it'll be exactly the same: Cook has been running most of Apple for several years as Jobs' right-hand man, and was in charge of the entire company while Jobs recovered from surgery in 2004 and then again during Jobs' more recent medical leave of absences- most recently earlier this year. As Fortune notedin 2008, "the heads of important departments like legal, finance, design and marketing report direct to Jobs. But no other executive touches as much of Apple as Cook." With Cook running the ship and Jonathan Ive taking care of design, Steve Jobs is leaving Apple in very capable hands. |
| Steve Jobs resignation sees Apple stock tumble Posted:  Apple shares dropped by five percent during after-hours trading on Thursday, following Steve Jobs' resignation as CEO. The iconic leader of the world's biggest tech company stepped-down to continue his battle against health issues. Apple made the announcement following the close of the NASDAQ stock exchange on Wednesday, but after-hours trading saw the company shed an estimated $18.6 billion in market value. The company closed in New York at $376.18 per share, but in the evening fell $20.18 to $355.99. That's one-twentieth of the company's value. True testHowever, the true test of whether Wall Street thinks Apple can continue in the same rich vein of success without Steve Jobs as CEO will come when trading begins on Thursday. History suggests that a bigger dip may be incoming. Back in 2009, when Jobs took his first medical leave of absence saw Apple stocks plummet by 10 per cent. Earlier this month Apple had a brief stint as the world's most valuable company, toppling Exxon Mobil as stocks reached reached record highs. Cook to the rescue?Jobs' new role as Chairman of the Board and the quick announcement that Tim Cook will replace Jobs as CEO may help to steady the ship for worried investors. Cook has been taking on more and more responsibility in the leader's absence and is widely regarded as a safe pair of hands to take the company forward. It's also interesting to point out that during his second stint as the head of Apple, company shares have grown by 6,681.8 per cent (Forbes). |
| Steve Jobs' resignation letter Posted: Steve Jobs has announced his departure as CEO of Apple with an emotional letter to colleagues and fans around the world. The iconic Jobs, who led Apple from near-bankruptcy to become the world's most valuable company, resigned his position at the head of the company on Wednesday evening due to ongoing health issues. In a letter Jobs published himself, he explained that he could 'no longer meet expectations' as CEO and reinforced his recommendation of new CEO Tim Cook, as part of Apple's 'succession plan.' 'Best days ahead'Here's the letter in full: To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community: Saved AppleJobs' departure from the hot-seat drew huge praise from the Apple board who credit him with saving the company and inspiring the creative staff to untold heights. In the official press release, board member Art Levinson said: "Steve has made countless contributions to Apple's success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple's immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration." "Steve's extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world's most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple's success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple's immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration." |
| Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO Posted:  Steve Jobs has stepped-down as the CEO of Apple. The announcement follows a lengthy absence from the Apple hot-seat due to health reasons. Current COO Tim Cook is the new CEO of the company following a "strong recommendation" from Jobs, who will now take on a new role as chairman of the board. Statement"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come," said Jobs in a resignation letter. "I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it," he added. "And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role. "I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you." IconicJobs' announcement will send shockwaves through the tech world and marks the end of a 14-year period in charge, since he rejoined the near-bankrupt company in 1997. Over the last decade-and-a-half, Jobs' stewardship has seen Apple produce one of the most stunning comebacks in business history, culminating with overtaking Exxon Mobil as the world's most valuable company, this month. Jobs himself has undoubtedly been the most influential man in the technology world since the turn of the century. Cook takes overAs we mentioned, the man with the unenviable task of replacing Jobs is current Apple COO Tim Cook, who now becomes Chief Executive Officer. Cook, 50, has taken on more and more responsibility at the top of the company in the last couple of years and especially since Steve Jobs went on hiatus in January. "The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO," said Apple board member Art Levinson. He also said that Jobs will "continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration." ConcernDespite this second lengthy absence for health reasons, Jobs, who also received a liver transplant in 2009, has continued to be the public face of the company. He was last seen at the Apple WWDC event in June, where he unveiled the iCloud platform and iOS 5, the new mobile operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Obviously his departure as CEO raises more concerns about Jobs' current condition. We wish him the very best in his recovery efforts. |
| Mac OS X Lion USB drive now on sale Posted:  Apple has made Mac OS X Lion available for sale on a USB drive, almost a month after it arrived to download from the Mac App Store. For those users insisting on owning a physical copy of the new operating system, it'll cost over twice as much as the digital download. While the Mac App Store version cost a recession-friendly £20.99, the USB drive is £55 - making it probably the most expensive flash drive ever. You can pick it up from both the online store and retail outlets. The end of physical mediaClearly Apple, is hoping to make physical software disks a thing of the past and wants you to follow suit by putting faith in the Mac App Store ecosystem. However, Lion is a pretty hefty download at 3.49 GB and not everyone has a broadband connection fast enough to achieve this in a reasonable time. From that perspective it appears that those users are being punished by having to stump up twice as much as the turbo-charged broadband users in order to get their hands on the new OS. Mac OS X Lion arrived in July boasting over 250 new features including, Versions, full-screen apps, Mission Control, Resume, Air-Drop and Auto-Save. Link: LA Times |
| Man who 'found' prototype iPhone 4 charged Posted:  A man who claims to have found an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar, before selling it to a technology blog has been charged by police. Brian Hogan, who sold the prototype for $5,000 after an Apple employee misplaced the device, has been charged with a handling stolen goods and misappropriation of lost property. A second man, Sage Robert Wallower, who allegedly shopped the handset around to the various tech blogs has also been charged with misdemeanor offences by the DA in San Mateo County, California. However, no charges will be brought against Gizmodo or editor Jason Chen who bought the device, revealed it in photos and videos on the internet before tearing it down to check out the innards. "After a consideration of all of the evidence, it was determined that no charges would be filed against employees of Gizmodo," said a statement from the District Attorney's office. Within the lawThe discovery of the iPhone 4, which turned out to be one launched by Steve Jobs in June last year, proved one of the biggest tech stories of the year and defied Apple's notorious code of secrecy. Gizmodo earned the scoop of the year and Chen gained a lot of plaudits for having the courage to run with the story when its rivals turned down the prototype. However, Chen himself was soon the victim of a police raid at his home, and the influential blog has since been blacklisted by Apple as a result of the iPhone 4 revelation. Gawker Media, owner of Gizmodo added: "While we have always believed that we were acting fully within the law, it has inevitably been stressful for the editor concerned, Jason Chen, and we are glad that we can finally put this matter behind us." Serving hard timeIf found guilty of the charges, Hogan and Wallower face up to a year in country jail and a fine of up to $1,000 dollars. Court proceedings will begin in Redwood City on 25 August, which is where poor Apple computer engineer Robert Gray Powell is said to have left the iPhone prototype on the bar after a beer or two. There's a pattern emerging this week? Everyone accused of stealing from Apple is suddenly falling foul of the law. Link: PC Mag |
| Apple becomes world's most valuable company Posted:  Apple officially became the world's most valuable company on Tuesday. The tech giant has overtaken Exxon Mobil after volatile market conditions on Monday and Tuesday saw the oil giant's stock prices take another hit, continuing a two week slump. Apple has so far proved resistant against the market slowdown and the contrasting fortunes of both companies saw Cupertino leap ahead to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company. On Tuesday Apple's value rose to $341.5 billion with Exxon falling to a mere $341.4 billion. The markets are yet to close in the US, so it's possible that Exxon could regain its position by the close of play. Record breakingApple's value has risen by an incredible 41 per cent in the last year, thanks largely to the success of the iPad 2 launch and the continued prominence of the iPhone 4 and Mac computer lines. As of the last record-breaking Apple quarterly report in July, the company had moved within $50 billion of Exxon's marker. Most analysts had expected Apple to topple the oil giant, but not until later this year. The recent market turbulence comes as a result of the United States government's decision to raise the country's debt ceiling, causing the US to be downgraded from its AAA credit rating. Link: Financial Post |
| Tutorial: How to install and run Windows on Mac Posted:  Windows on Mac: your options explainedWhether you're a Mac user who occasionally needs to use Windows, or a Windows user who's just switched to Mac, it's great to know you can enjoy the best of both worlds and run Windows on Mac without having to run completely separate computers. That is, as long as you Mac has an Intel CPU inside you can run Windows on your Mac. All you need is a copy of Microsoft Windows, of course, some virtualisation software and for your Mac to meet Windows' minimum specs Whether you own a Mac with multiple internal SSD or hard disk drives or just the one, the principle is the same: you'll need to create a Windows-compatible partition or dedicated drive that you can install and run Windows on Mac. Run Windows in Boot CampOne of the easiest and cheapest ways to do this is to use the Boot Camp Assistant software that comes bundled with every copy of Mac OS X - you'll find it in your Mac's Applications > Utilities folder. Boot Camp enables you to choose where you'd like the Windows-compatible partition to go, how big you'd like it to be and then enables you to install all the drivers you need for Windows to take advantage of your Mac's features - from its keyboard and trackpad to its graphics card and Wi-Fi. Boot Camp's only real disadvantage is that it only enables you to run one operating system at time.
IN LION: Boot Camp Assistant is the built-in Windows installer for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. You'll find it in the Applications > Utilities folder To use Windows and its bundled applications like Internet Explorer, you'll need to reboot your Mac - something that's a bit of a time-waster and can be cumbersome to do - especially if you'd like to share files between the two. You can choose which operating system you wish to boot into by holding down the <Alt> key when you start your Mac. Run Windows in Parallels Desktop or VMware FusionThe alternative is to use dedicated virtualisation programmes such as Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac (£64.99) or VMware Fusion 3 for Mac (£53.95 standalone / £67.37 with 12 months' worth of updates) These enable you to run both operating systems at the same time - either by running Windows in its own dedicated window (the guest OS) in Mac OS X (the host OS) or by switching to full virtualisation mode where Windows-only apps like Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player appear to run in Mac OS X just like any other app on your Mac.
IN PARALLEL: Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac enables you to create a virtual machine for Windows on your Mac. You can even use it to migrate all your files, settings and preferences from your PC In Parallels this is called Coherence, in VMware Fusion it's called Unity. The major advantage of these approaches is that you'll be more easily able to share files between the Mac and Windows platforms - and you won't have to keep rebooting every time you want to use a specific app. If you only use plan to use Windows occasionally on your Mac, the price of Parallels or VMware Fusion maybe hard to justify. Run Windows in Oracle VirtualBoxLuckily there is an alternative in the shape of Oracle VirtualBox It feels a little antiquated and lacks the bells and whistles of Parallels and VMware Fusion, but it's also open source and - best of all - free. If you're switching from PC to Mac full-time, then both Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac and VMware Fusion 3 include Migration Assistants than make it easy to move all your stuff from your Windows machine to your new virtual one, while keeping all your Windows settings, preferences, etc in tact. Neither Boot Camp or Oracle Virtualbox includes these features. Now that's sorted, lets take a look at how you can install and use Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp, Parallels, VMware Fusion and VirtualBox Windows on Mac: how to installHow to install Windows using Boot Camp on your MacBoot Camp is the dedicated Windows installer for Mac OS X. It enables you to create a separate partition (or dedicated internal disk drive, if you have more than one) and prompts you to download and burn to disc the additional drivers you need so Windows can take advantage of all the features and hardware in your Mac. You can then insert the Windows install disc to install the operating system. Your Mac will reboot from the disc so you can install Windows just as you would on a PC. After several restarts you can use the disc you burned earlier to install the Boot Camp drivers Windows needs.
How to install Windows using Parallels Desktop 6 For MacFirst install Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac (a trial version is available) then launch it to begin the Windows installation process. It can find and use an existing Boot Camp partition, if you have one, or you can use its assistant to create one from scratch. You can also use its built-in migration assistant to copy any existing preferences, settings and files from your user account on a Windows PC. Like Boot Camp, Parallels will prompt you to install a toolbox of drivers when you first run Windows so it can take advantage of the hardware features of your Mac. Parallels enables you to run Windows in a dedicated window in Mac OS X or use its Coherence mode. This enables you to access features like the Windows Start menu from within Mac OS X as well as to launch Windows-only apps such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player.
How to install Windows using VMware Fusion 3 for MacThe installer and operating environment works in a similar way to Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac - although Parallels has the edge when it comes to performance and user-friendliness. Again you can use an existing Boot Camp partition drive or create a virtual machine from scratch. Like Boot Camp and Parallels, VMware Fusion prompts you to install suitable drivers when you first fire up Widows.
How to install Windows using Oracle VirtualBoxA less polished - but free - alternative to Parallels and VMware Fusion, VirtualBox also enables you to run Windows as guest OS to the Mac OS X host. Installing and using it works on similar lines to the other two virtualisation apps, including the ability to run Windows-only applications alongside Mac OS X ones using a 'seamless' approach.
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| Apple sued over OS X Fast Boot feature Posted:  No rest for Apple's lawyers, with yet another patent infringement case filed against the company, this time relating to Mac OS X's fast boot feature. The patent, which relates to the quick start-up of the OS, is owned by a company called Operating Systems Solutions (OSS), but the original owner that the patent was granted to was LG Electronics. The patent involves "a method for fast booting a computer system" comprising of several specific steps. It's very likely that the OSS suit is simply a case of patent trolling – companies bringing a case against a competitor despite having no real intention to make use of the technology themselves, just hoping to cash in. TrolledBut the existence of LG somewhere along the line is what makes it interesting; LG is one of the few manufacturers that aren't currently directly embroiled in a patent dispute with Apple. The company is a staunch Android supporter, having enjoyed reasonable success with its LG Optimus line of Android-running smartphones and tablets; in this free and easy patent suing time, it's not beyond the realms of possibilities that this lawsuit could be a stealth attack on LG's part. But at this point, there's no evidence to suggest that LG is involved in the lawsuit in any way, other than having once owned the patent. Apple is currently fighting off and launching patent lawsuits against Samsung, HTC and Google. |
| Updated: Apple to launch updated low-spec iMac for students? Posted:  The latest word on Apple Street is that a new cut-down iMac is in the offing as part of the company's education scheme. Updated: Apple has unveiled the official tech specifications for the 21.5-inch iMac, with the mooted 3.1GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and AMD Radeon 6750M processor intact. Looks like these puppies will be getting a UK release date of 'Late 2011'; no word yet on pricing. The rumoured iMac is said to rock a 3.1GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB hard drive and an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor. That's not much processing power or storage space compared to the current lowest-end consumer iMac, but debt-laden students and struggling university lecturers may be willing to sacrifice on spec for a cheap deal. Bargain basement Apple's last education iMac deals started at £880, so we'd be anticipating a similar kind of deal for these updated version - but with the quad-core iMac coming in at around £990, you'll only be saving around £100 for a severely reduced machine. 9to5Mac's anonymous source tips the new desktops as arriving later this month, citing 16 August as the scheduled 'soft launch' date. Given that the new academic year will start in September in the UK, that timing makes sense to us.
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| Apple to merge iOS and Mac OS in 2012? Posted: Some analysts are suggesting that Apple will fully merge Mac OS and its mobile operating system iOS at some point in 2012. A note to Apple investors from analyst Peter Misek suggests that Apple might use the A6 quad-core processor to unify its iOS and computer platforms. He notes: "We believe Apple is ready to start sampling the A6 quad-core app processor and will be the first to such multi-device platform capable of PC-like strength." All about the A6With several iOS-like features already present in Mac OS X Lion, it's fairly obvious that Apple wants to encourage users to work and play in the same ways on an iPhone, iPad and Mac. "Users want to be able to pick up any iPhone, iPad, or Mac (or turn on their iTV) and have content move seamlessly between them and be optimized for the user and the device currently being used," adds the analyst. "Apple can use a 32-bit ARM architecture to address the vast majority of the OS X ecosystem's needs in 2012-13 except for high-end professional devices. When 64-bit ARM is available in 2016, we believe Apple will have a single OS and hardware architecture." VertigoOther Mac experts are less convinced, however. "At the 'Back to the Mac' event in October last year, Steve Jobs said quite famously that "touch surfaces don't want to be vertical", says Graham Barlow, editor-in-chief of MacFormat and Tap! The iPhone and iPad magazine. "After a lot of ergonomic testing Apple decide that a vertical touch screen was a bit of a disaster, which is why we haven't seen a touchscreen Mac. "And all the new gestures in Lion are done on a trackpad. For this reason I can't ever see the same OS being run on a desktop computer with a vertical screen and a keyboard and on a tablet device like an iPad - you use the two devices in fundamentally different ways." |
| Updated: iCloud: all the latest details Posted:  iCloud features, release date and moreAlthough it had been rumoured for years that Apple would somehow finally fully embrace the cloud, it was only recently that it felt as though Cupertino was moving in the right direction. Steve Jobs took to the stage for the WWDC 2011 keynote on 6 June 2011 and announced the Apple iCloud service. iCloud will indeed store your content and wirelessly push it to all your devices. Apple says it's serious about the cloud and even showed pictures of the company's third data centre during the keynote. You can check out T3's Apple iCloud video here: "Today it is a real hassle and very frustrating to keep all your information and content up-to-date across all your devices," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iCloud keeps your important information and content up to date across all your devices. All of this happens automatically and wirelessly, and because it's integrated into our apps you don't even need to think about it - it all just works." Check out our full guide to iCloud features: iCloud price Apple says that iCloud will be completely free for 5GB of storage - it will be set up by default on new iOS 5 devices. Users get up to 5GB of free storage for mail, documents and backup. Music, apps and books purchased from Apple, and the storage required by Photo Stream doesn't count towards this 5GB total. You will need to pay for bigger iCloud storage though. 10GB of additional space will cost £14 a year, 20GB extra will be £28 a year, while 50GB of space on top of the free offering will be £70 every 12 months. However, don't fret, this doesn't include any media files, such as photos from the Photo Stream functionality or music. iCloud release date iCloud will shop at the same time as iOS 5 in the Autumn for the public. The service has gone live for registered Apple developers, with those lucky few able to test the functionality using iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion. Feedback so far from the developer community has been mixed with some parties disappointed that full document editing in iWork using iCloud doesn't offer Google Docs-like solution many had hoped for. iCloud replaces MobileMe During the keynote Jobs also noted that as of today, MobileMe - which cost $99 - is no more. MobileMe apps have been rewritten to work with iCloud. The former MobileMe services - Contacts, Calendar and Mail - have all been completely re-architected and rewritten to work seamlessly with iCloud. Users can share calendars with friends and family, and the ad-free push Mail account is hosted at me.com. Your inbox and mailboxes are kept up-to-date across all your iOS devices and computers. iCloud Documents in the Cloud there's a number of features with iCloud, including Documents in the Cloud. This is a Google Docs rival, where you can access all your documents uploaded to iCloud. If you edit them, then you edits will automatically sync. iCloud iTunes in the Cloud iTunes is also being made available on iCloud, so you can share purchased songs on all your devices."You know, it's the same old story," said Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple. "I buy something on my iPhone, and it's not on my other devices. I grab my iPod and it ain't there. "For the songs you've already bought, we've added a purchased button. It shows the history of all the songs you've bought on any device. I can download any song to any device by pushing that little cloud button. "It shows the history of all the songs you've bought on any device. I can download any song to any device by pushing that little cloud button. At no additional charge. "This is the first time you've seen this in the music industry: multiple downloads to different devices for no charge. So in the future, it will push it to all of my devices." The files are high quality 256 kbps AAC, and it only works with music purchased from iTunes, so if you buy elsewhere for the cheaper prices, you won't be able to make use of the iTunes iCloud service.
iCloud iTunes Match Music not purchased from iTunes can gain the same benefits by using iTunes Match, a service that replaces your music with a 256 kbps AAC DRM-free version if Apple can match it to the over 18 million songs in the iTunes Store - so that means any rubbish It makes the matched music available in minutes, and uploads only the small percentage of unmatched music. iTunes Match will be available this fall for a $24.99 annual fee - we've no word on UK pricing as yet. Reports are saying this is US only for now, but no doubt it will come to the UK at some point. iCloud Photostream As you might expect, iCloud will allow the syncing of photos to the cloud. This is just displayed as aseparate album in Photos, so it's not actually a different app - which is handy. Photos are stored on iCloud for 30 days, forever on your Mac or PC (of course) while the last 1,000 pictures can be stored on each of your iOS devices or Apple TV so they can then be moved elsewhere. Photostream doesn't count within your 5GB of storage. Photostream automatically uploads the photos you take or import on any of your devices and wirelessly pushes them to all your devices and computers. Photo Stream is built into the photo apps on all iOS devices, iPhoto on Macs, and saved to the Pictures folder on a PC.
iCloud Contacts Contacts are stored in the cloud and pushed to all devices. Changes are automatically replicated on your other devices. This sounds so much better than Google Sync. iCloud Calendars There's also full calendaring support in iCloud - calendars can also be shared between users, too. iCloud backup iCloud Backup automatically and securely backs up iOS devices to iCloud daily over Wi-Fi when you charge your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Backed up content includes purchased music, apps and books, Camera Roll (photos and videos), device settings and app data. If you replace your iOS device, just enter your Apple ID and password during setup and iCloud restores your new device. iCloud Storage The service seamlessly stores all documents created using iCloud Storage APIs, and automatically pushes them to all your devices. When you change a document on any device, iCloud automatically pushes the changes to all your devices. Apple's Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps already take advantage of iCloud Storage. iCloud apps and books The App Store and iBookstore now download purchased iOS apps and books to all your devices, not just the device they were purchased on Want to look back? Check out the iCloud rumours we looked at before the event: Apple's rumoured to have splashed out $4.5 million on the Cloud.com domain. The company is also said to be striking deals with a number of record labels (in stark contrast to the gung-ho approach taken by Google and Amazon for their respective cloud-based music services) and has even posted a job advert for a 'Media Streaming Engineering Manager'. Latest rumours also suggest that iCloud could be free to Mac OS X Lion users. Here are the 10 things we want to see from Apple when it unleashes iCloud: 1. Cross-device support Apple's often championed for its integrated approach. Apple kit isn't perfect, but it generally works well with other Apple kit, software and services. Therefore, when Apple's iCloud ambitions are revealed, we'd like them to work with Macs and iOS devices, offering similar features to all (although we're not crazy enough to hope anything running less than the latest versions of Mac OS X or iOS will be supported). 2. iOS data back-up/restore Cloud services could be the means to detach iOS devices from PCs and Macs, finally making iPhones, iPods and iPads truly standalone units. You'd be able to store data in the cloud and access it from a range of apps. Apple should also back-up and enable you to restore iOS app data. It's absurd that when you delete an app or a game, your data and progress is gone for good - you should be able to optionally reinstate these things on an app reinstall.
GET IT BACK: Delete an app and your data disappears. With cloud-based data restore, this needn't happen in future 3. Music locker Apple's iOS devices are hardly known for their generous storage, and now Macs are going the same way, embracing SSD. If you've tons of music, chances are your iTunes library is the biggest folder on your Mac, and you can't fit much of your music on your iPhone. But if Apple can figure out what music you own and enable cloud-based access to it via iCloud, problem solved. 4. Label participation Of course, any major shifts in how Apple deals with music will need label backing. Rumours suggest Apple's in talks with the 'big four', which should give Apple more options than its rivals. It remains to be seen whether labels would allow playback of content not purchased through iTunes, but remember when DRM was removed and iTunes enabled you to 'upgrade' your tracks for a small cost? Perhaps Apple could do the same again with iCloud - a few pence to enable you to play a track from the cloud. 5. Music streaming For people who don't really want to buy music but still enjoy listening to it, Spotify's more appealing than iTunes. While Spotify is still struggling to expand into the USA, Apple already has worldwide presence and ongoing discussions with labels. Perhaps another string to its music bow will be a streaming subscription service to complement a music locker. 6. Movie and TV streaming Historically, the movie industry has been even more bone-headed than music labels when it comes to new technology. Therefore, we're not holding our breath about Apple announcing movie and TV-show streaming through its iCloud services, but this would be great to have, again dealing with storage issues on iOS devices and SSD-equipped Macs. 7. Fast media playback One problem with cloud-based media playback is speed - too often, you have to wait while files buffer. Rumours suggest http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/apple-music-streaming-to-be-sped-up-by-local-storage--957549 Apple might deal with this problem by storing small portions of files locally on your device. Playback would start locally and then sync with a downloaded file, reducing caching problems. 8. Improved existing services Apple's been pretty bad at unveiling new online services and letting them die a long, lingering death. We like the concepts behind the likes of iWork.com, Ping and Game Center, but the execution in all of them is lacking; a new iCloud offering would be a great excuse to beef up and integrate these services.
NEW AND IMPROVED: Unveiling new cloud services gives Apple a good excuse to improve mediocre existing offerings 9. Document storage When using iOS devices, moving documents between them is a pain. Even worse, if you want to move something between your Mac/PC and an iOS device, you have to use email or hideous iTunes File Sharing. Many apps now get around such problems by using Dropbox for storage, but Apple doesn't control this and it's not fully integrated. It'd therefore be great to see Apple provide a service of the same quality in iCloud. (Sorry, iDisk - you just don't cut it.) 10. Optional sync/merge Finally, if Apple offers even a fraction of these things with iCloud, it must enable users to more easily manage their computers and devices, along with the information on them. You should be able to easily sync and merge app collections, music, movies and documents. Using iOS devices and Macs is typically simple and intuitive; Apple must bring similar thinking to the complexities of document and media management across a number of devices and computers. |
| In Depth: OS X Lion problems solved Posted:  OS X Lion is a great operating system, but as with any new large-scale software project, some people will encounter OS X Lion problems and issues. Some of those issues will be incompatibilities, others will be bugs, and still others will be minor niggles that could all too easily become major OS X Lion annoyances. Read on to discover our pick of the problems together with our solutions. And, afterwards, why not read our OS X Lion tips and tricks? Q: I'm worried that my apps won't work
Some apps, such as Office 2004 and Logic Pro 8, aren't supported by Lion (officially, anyway: there's a way to make Logic Pro 8 work). Find out whether your apps will still work before you upgrade by visiting Roaring Apps. Q: Lion's download only, and my broadband is slow and capped. How do I get it? Get thee to an Apple Store, where you can use the free Wi-Fi to download Lion. If that's not an option, Apple plans a USB stick version for later this year - although it'll be two or three times Lion's £20.99 download price. Q: How do I install Lion on multiple Macs? You'll need to be running Snow Leopard for this one. Download but don't run the Lion installer (it zaps itself once you've used it) from the Mac App Store. Find it in your Applications folder, right-click and choose "Show Package Contents". Look for Contents > SharedSupport > InstallESD.dmg. Now, launch Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities and drag InstallESD.dmg to the sidebar. If you're burning a DVD, all you need to do now is insert a blank disk, select InstallESD.dmg in the sidebar and click on Burn. Q: I don't have a DVD drive either! Make sure you have an 8GB USB drive - smaller capacities aren't sufficient - and follow the steps above to locate InstallESD.dmg. Now, go to Disk Utility, select your drive, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for its format and click Erase. Make sure you've got the USB drive selected here! In Disk Utility, drag InstallESD.dmg, control or right-click and select Restore. The source is InstallESD.dmg and the destination is your USB drive. Once it's done - it takes a while - stick it in the machine you want to install Lion on, reboot and hold down the Option key. Select your USB drive and Lion will now install. Q: Lion says "some features of Mac OS X Lion are not supported for the disk" during installation During installation, Lion creates a recovery partition on your hard disk, and if it encounters problems doing that you'll get the error message above. It's often the result of fiddling with Boot Camp, although we encountered it on an unfiddled-with MacBook Pro. Reinstalling Snow Leopard and running the Lion installer again fixed the problem for us, although as Apple notes, if you're using RAID drives the partition won't work. It won't stop Lion from working, but it means you can't use FileVault or Lion's disk repair tools. Q: Lion freezes when I play video clips
The Internet is full of people whose computers lock up at the first sniff of a YouTube clip, and Apple's working on a fix. We found that updating the third-party QuickTime codec collection Perian solved our non-Flash freezes, while the ClickToFlash plugin stops unwanted Flash videos from playing in Safari. If you're using Chrome, you can disable Flash by typing about:plugins in the address bar. Q: Where's Front Row? It's gone - but a nice man can get it back! But not if you've upgraded to iTunes 10.4! Q: My Mac won't sleep Your Mac may be trying to share with other computers. Have a look in System Preferences > Sharing and untick any services you don't need. Internet Sharing seems to be the culprit on many people's machines. Q: LaunchPad is full of crap!
The free LaunchPad Cleaner is your friend. Q: How do I stop All My Files appearing in new Finder windows? You can change the default in Finder > Preferences > General. Q: How do I Save As? In Lion-friendly apps, Save As is no longer there. Instead, you have to choose Duplicate. You can then save the duplicated file with a new name. Q: How do I get the Dock in full screen mode? Scroll to the bottom (or to the left or right if that's where your Dock lives), and then try to scroll again in the same direction. Behold the dock! Q: Where's my Library folder?
Library is hidden by default. Bring it back by launching Terminal and typing chflags nohidden /Library - or just navigate to it by Option-clicking the Go menu in Finder. Q: How do I stop applications re-opening everything? Quit by using Command-Option-Q or press Option when you select Quit from the menu bar. When you reopen the program it won't open all your previous windows. Q: How do I make Lion work like Snow Leopard did? If you don't like natural scrolling and wish you had the keyboard repeat back, it's easy to change: in System Preferences > Mouse and > Trackpad, untick "Move content in the direction of finger movement" to return scrolling to normal. To disable the accented characters pop-over and get your keyboard to repeat, open Terminal and type: defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false. Logout and login for the change to take effect. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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