3 hours ago | Posted in: networking
In a letter filed with the US Federal Communications commission regarding the pending net neutrality proposal, pro-cable company advocacy group The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) believes that if the "fast lane" net neutrality proposal stands as is, then "hyper-giants" like Amazon, eBay, Netflix, Facebook, and Google could charge the cable companies to allow customers to access services, essentially holding Internet Service Providers hostage. The cable companies allege to have no defense against such tactics, and claim to lack a "practical ability" or the incentive to throttle said large Internet companies.
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5 hours ago | Posted in: industry
Some authors have begun to side with publisher Hachette in its struggle against Amazon. A letter signed by almost 900 authors is objecting to the way that Amazon is handling Hachette, saying that the fight is "harming authors who have nothing to do with this dispute to gain leverage." Amazon claims to be looking out for the customer in the dispute, and has already responded to the unpublished letter, calling the spearhead of the campaign "entitled" and an "opportunist."
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Though the increase is insignificant in the larger picture of overall global Mac web traffic, new numbers from GoSquared suggest that the release yesterday of the Yosemite (OS X 10.10) public beta, limited to a pool of one million Apple ID holders already running Mavericks, doubled the number of people using the forthcoming new update on the web literally overnight. According to GoSquared's live analytics page, use of Yosemite jumped from 0.26 percent on Thursday to 0.57 percent on Friday.
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17 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
On Friday, Apple revealed that it had purchased book analytics and discovery company BookLamp for an undisclosed sum, though TechCrunch estimated the sale between $10-15 million. While it acknowledged the deal, the iPhone maker's only comment on the deal was its standard "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans" line. The company is likely to use BookLamp technology in its iBookstore to help readers discover new content.
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19 hours ago | Posted in: Investor, Apple
Regulatory have revealed that Apple spent another $5 billion during the June quarter as part of its share-repurchase program to retire an additional 58 million shares of stock at an average (split-adjusted) price of $85.23 per share, still well below the current trading average, and about the same price per share as well CEO Tim Cook first announced the buyback plan just over two years ago. The recent expenditure is less aggressive than seen in quarters where the share price was lower, signalling reduced buyback activity.
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In an unexpected move, and avoiding a potential fight, the House of Representatives has passed bill S517, aiming to make cellphone unlocking legal. The amended bill, passed by the Senate last week, was passed with no changes -- a controversial clause of the bill previously passed by the House, prohibiting bulk unlocking by companies, has been removed from the final passed version.
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This week in the MacNN forums, Mac Elite "PeterParker" asks "Why isn't anyone excited about Yosemite?", to which a variety of answers ranging from "I'm ecstatic" to "Yosemite is...eh" have been provided. Dedicated MacNNer "gregfripp" is trying to fix something in his dock, but is unable to do so, and has turned to the forums looking for advice.
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Today Apple's online store has a variety of refurbished Mac models on sale, starting as low as $719. The refurbished 11.6-inch MacBook Air with a 1.3GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of flash storage has been reduced by $130 to $719. A $150 discount drops the price on the refurbished Mac mini with a 2.3GHz Intel quad-core i7 processor, OS X Server, 4GB of RAM and dual 1TB hard drives down to $849.
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Starting October 1, Verizon will begin throttling some of its "unlimited" LTE users, according to an official announcement. The carrier promises that only five percent of that group -- those using 4.7GB or more per month -- will be affected, and "only in places and at times when the network is experiencing high demand." Unlimited 3G access has been throttled in a similar manner for some time.
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This week at B&H.com, save $300 on the 15.4-inch Retina MacBook Pro which has been cut from $3,099 down to $2,799. That discount makes this nearly $160 less than the lowest price offered anywhere else. Included is a free copy of either Parallels Desktop 9 or LoJack. This MBP features a 2.3GHz Intel Core i7 (Crystalwell) processor, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of PCIe-based flash storage. It is backed by a one-year warranty on parts and labor from Apple.
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In a court filing discovered today, Bose is suing Beats over noise cancellation headphone technology. Bose claims that Beats has knowingly infringed on 50 years of "signficant investment in the research, development, engineering, and design" on the technology, with the Beats lineup for sale now using "36 US patents and applications" that Bose now owns or has filed for.
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Beginning with iOS 8 beta 4, Apple is warning owners of iPhoto for iOS that some features may not make the transition to its replacement, at least at first. Much as with iPhoto on the Mac, users will eventually be migrated over to an all-new, native Photos app, a huge overhaul of the existing iOS Photos app. When trying to run iPhoto in the current beta of iOS 8, an error message now appears stating that iPhoto isn't supported; instead, people are offered the choice to migrate data to Photos, with the exception of "layouts and text added to Books, Journals and Slideshows."
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Lyft has conceded many of its talking points to the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), but has forged an agreement to commence operation. Pickups will commence today at 7PM in all five boroughs, but all drivers need to be licensed by the TLC prior to accepting pickups. As part of the deal, Lyft will also need to shut down in Buffalo and Rochester to enhance insurance that it offers to riders and drivers.
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Fri July 25, 2014 | Posted in: Investor, Apple
Data from Apple's 10-Q filing with the SEC indicates that Apple spent $15.4 billion on manufacturing and components during the June quarter, a 22 percent increase quarter-over-quarter, notes Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. Apple put another $5.6 billion towards other commitments including advertising, R&D, Internet/telecommunications, and product tooling/manufacturing equipment. Combined the company's commitments totaled $21 billion, a 36 percent increase quarter-over-quarter, and 46 percent year-over year. The former is said to be the highest sequential growth for any Apple Q3 since the build up to the iPhone's launch in the summer of 2007.
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Fri July 25, 2014 | Posted in: iPhone, iPad
Although mass production of a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is underway, other Apple products due this fall -- including new versions of the iPad Air and iPad mini, and the 5.5-inch iPhone -- have yet to begin assembly, according to Chinese-language publication UDN. The new iPads are expected to enter production in September, but there is no reported timeframe for the 5.5-inch iPhone. UDN makes no mention of the iWatch, something generally anticipated in the fall.
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Fri July 25, 2014 | Posted in iOS apps
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Tweetbot is a Twitter client that includes multiple timelines, smart gestures, and support for a number of other social services such as Instapaper and CloudApp. Timeline position, direct message read statuses and mute filters are also synced automatically between the iPhone and iPad via iCloud. A number of issues specific to the iOS 8 beta have been fixed in this update, along with problems with Flickr image previews.
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Fantastical is a calendar utility that allows users to create events by explaining events in basic English. For example, a user can enter "Lunch with John at 123 Main Street on Tuesday," and the software will add all of the relevant information to a new event. In v2.1, events now include snooze options. Users can also now search and add locations or contacts’ addresses when creating new events, as well as use keyboard shortcuts when typing on an external keyboard.
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Reeder is an RSS reader that includes support for several RSS services, including Feedbin, Feedly, and Feed Wrangler. Support for a number of new sync services, including FeedHQ, Inoreader, NewsBlur, Minimal Reader, The Old Reader, and BazQux Reader, has been added in this update. in addition, improvements have also been made to both Feedbin and Feed Wrangler syncing.
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Procreate is an iPad painting app that features 48 different brushes to choose from. The software runs on the 64 bit Silica engine and includes support for canvas resolutions of up to 4096 x 4096 on the latest iPad models. Version 2.1 introduces a number of new features, such as ColorDrop which allows users to just drop a color where they want it to fill. Users can also now swipe any inking layer with two fingers to activate it as a reference. Any other layer can than be filled with ColorDrop based on the reference.
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Castro is a mobile podcast client that can help users keep up to date on all the shows they follow. The v1.1.3 adds a Chinese (Traditional) localization and will no longer bother users with reminders when their mobile data is turned off. Additionally, a bug that could result in the play position being lost when headphones where unplugged during playback has been fixed.
It's that time of the week again! Time for Friday Deals! Every Friday, we're going to take a look at current sales, and bring you what we think are some of the best bargains on prime apps, gadgets, and peripherals for you, the discriminating MacNN and Electronista reader. All prices are verified at the time of publication, but any sales may not be valid if you're reading a few days down the line. Check pricing before you click buy! We have a tendency to add deals over the weekend as we find them, so check back often!
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