News Archive for 09/07/23

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Palm webOS Restores iTunes

07/23, 8:05pm

Palm webOS 1.1 restores iTunes sync

Palm tonight countered Apple's move to break iTunes syncing by releasing webOS 1.1. The previously promised update restores full syncing with iTunes 8.2.1 and lets both the Pre and future webOS phones once more transfer music, photos and videos directly from the jukebox software. It's not clear what was changed to restore access, though Apple explicitly mentioned that its iTunes patch checked the authenticity of devices, hinting that Palm has found a way to bypass or fool the check.

PED3-Bike mount ships

07/23, 7:10pm

PED3-Bike iPhone mount holsters cased devices

Thought Out has introduced a bicycle and motorcycle mount for the iPhone and iPod touch, the PED3-Bike. The mount can adjust 360 degrees depending on the required orientation, while the base attachment is constructed of steel. The PED3-Bike utilizes a secure grip that attaches to 1-inch and 25mm diameter handle bars. Three holder versions of the device are available: bare iPhone, bare iPod touch and the FORM. The latter version works with devices wearing any case or skin.

Vocabulary Assistant ships

07/23, 6:50pm

Vocabulary Assistant provides language learning tools

Sona has released its newest application, Vocabulary Assistant, which offers tools to help users learn various languages. The application features several activities including multiple choice, dictation, flash cards and slideshows. Vocabulary Assistant also provides example sentences and notes, designed to add context to difficult words. Images and sound clips are also displayed to aid the .

Maingear eX-L notebook

07/23, 6:05pm

Maingear eX-L notebook boasts Core 2 Extreme, 2 GPUs

Maingear on Thursday introduced its latest high-end notebook, the eX-L 18, featuring dual 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M GPUs and an 18.4-inch display with 1920x1080 resolution. CPU options include several Core 2 Duo components up to 2.8GHz, along with the quad-core Core 2 Extreme running at 2.53GHz.

Kensington iPhone dock

07/23, 5:35pm

Kensington intros iPhone nightstand dock

Kensington has detailed its upcoming Nightstand Charging Dock for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch, which includes an application available to download for free via the App Store. The Rise & Shine Clock & Weather application will turn the iPhone or iPod touch into a bedside clock and provide users with weather information. Throughout the night, the screen will not turn off, staying on all night just as a regular clock would. It could be set to dim, however.

Orb BT headset is a ring

07/23, 5:30pm

Orb Bluetooth headset turns into a ring

A solution to the problem of storing a Bluetooth headset when not in use has been put forth by a team effort between Hybra Advance Technology and AbsolutelyNew in the form of the Orb. The headset will twist into a ring a user can wear on his or her finger when not using the device for making calls or listening to music. It uses NXT technology to deliver bone conduction audio to a user's ear without requiring the user to jam it into their ear.

Gateway QX2800 Ion nettop

07/23, 5:20pm

Gateway readying QX2800 nettop

A listing on Taiwanese site PCADV has revealed that Gateway will soon release its QX2800 nettop PC, which is a near clone of Acer's Ion-powered nettop, the Acer AspireRevo. The main differences involve the Gateway's dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU rather than Acer's single-core Atom. Also, Gateway opted to use a larger capacity 500GB hard drive, doubling the Acer's 250GB drive.

Microsoft Q2 2009 Results

07/23, 5:15pm

Microsoft revenue plummets in spring

Microsoft this afternoon reported a steep drop in its financial health for the spring triggered by its most important businesses. The Windows developer experienced its first-ever sequential drop in revenue and saw its revenue fall 17 percent year-over-year to $13.1 billion. The company's net income also declined by a sharp 29 percent compared to spring 2008, landing at $3.05 billion.

iPhone encryption weak?

07/23, 4:55pm

iPhone encryption too easy to hack?

The iPhone's current data encryption system is far too easy to crack, claims an iPhone developer familiar with the technology. "It is kind of like storing all your secret messages right next to the secret decoder ring," says Jonathan Zdziarski, who also teaches courses on recovering data from iPhones. "I don’t think any of us [developers] have ever seen encryption implemented so poorly before, which is why it’s hard to describe why it’s such a big threat to security."

HBO On Demand from Comcast

07/23, 4:35pm

Comcast first to offer HBO On Demand in high-def

Comcast on Thursday said it will be the first to offer downloads of HBO programs and movies in high definition via its online On Demand service. To access the library, users need to be both Comcast On Demand customers and HBO subscribers. They will then have unlimited access to the HD content, including TV shows such as Entourage, The Sopranos and The Wire, among others. Movies in HD will also be available, including The Dark Knight, American Gangster and more.

Crush Bunny, aPhoto GPS

07/23, 4:15pm

iPhone apps: Sea Captain, Years, WritePad Pro

Sea Captain ($1) is a game where players must guide ships into their respective ports. As the colored ships move onto the screen players must draw a path into the appropriate dock and ensure that ships do not collide along the way. Sea Captain includes three different levels, New England, the Arctic, and the Caribbean Sea, each which contains both a day and night variant.

Verizon roaming agreements

07/23, 4:10pm

Verizon to allow small providers more roaming

Verizon indicated in a letter that it would make a compromise on roaming service agreements with smaller wireless providers by allowing them to use its network in areas where they lack network coverage but own wireless airwaves, according to a Wednesday report. While there is no current law requirement to this end, Verizon is pre-empting an upcoming regulatory change. Current roaming regulations put smaller providers at a disadvantage, which is why the government is eyeing a rule change.

ATT on US iPhone carriers

07/23, 4:00pm

AT&T admits likelihood of multiple iPhone carriers

AT&T is unlikely to hold onto its position as the only American iPhone carrier, the company's CEO has acknowledged. "There will be a day when you are not exclusive with the iPhone," said Randall Stephenson, speaking at a Fortune technology conference Thursday. The issue is now thought to be critical for AT&T, whose profits have become heavily dependent on the iPhone. One analysis suggests that AT&T customer additions could shrink to a fraction of previous sizes without Apple's handheld.

Sony 400-disc B Ray Player

07/23, 3:50pm

Sony bows 400-disc Blu-ray changer, Wi-Fi player

Sony this afternoon aggressively bolstered its Blu-ray player lineup with three high-end models. The BDP-CX960 MegaChanger is built to address a whole movie collection and manages 400 titles whether they're Blu-ray, DVD or audio CD. It also has an Ethernet port that helps auto-tag movies and music for easier searching as well as BD-Live support for newer Blu-ray releases.

Disney Paid Video Site

07/23, 3:10pm

Disney readying subscription video site

Disney chief Bob Iger late Wednesday explained at the Brainstorm Tech conference that his company is developing a subscription-based online video service. He provided few details, including release dates or monthly rates, but said it would include not only movies and TV shows but also games and extra entertainment. It's unofficially expected by Variety and others to have a partial social network component.

FontGenius 1.0 ships

07/23, 2:50pm

FontGenius 1.0 identifies unknown typefaces

FontGear has introduced the first version of FontGenius, a Mac-based graphics utility. The software scans supplied images for text, and attempts to identify fonts as accurately as possible. Lists of candidate fonts are presented, matched to installed fonts as well as those kept in a local database.

Razer intros Orochi mouse

07/23, 2:30pm

Razer intros Orochi Bluetooth gaming mouse

Razer on Thursday introduced its latest gaming mouse, the Orochi. One of the company's first real notebook mice, it communicates over Bluetooth 2.0 but sports a very high-sensitivity 4,000dpi optical sensor. The design is ambidextrous, and a 3-foot cord is included in case the two AA batteries lose their charge. There are seven programmable buttons, with their custom functions saved in built-in memory.

iPod Camera Case Flurry

07/23, 2:25pm

Case leak flurry supports iPods with cameras

Several leaks today appear to all but confirm plans for Apple to introduce camera-equipped iPods with its next update. While small resellers have occasionally claimed to have cases before, multiple Chinese case manufacturers are now believed by Wired to have received concrete details for the dimensions of fifth-generation iPod nano and third-generation iPod touch units as early as May. Many are confident enough that they have already begun retooling their production lines to build the new cases.

One touch ejection patent

07/23, 1:40pm

Apple files for one-touch ejection, aperture patents

Several of Apple's patent filings have been made public; one relating to one-touch ejection for iPods and iPhones, and the other involving dual-purpose apertures. The one-touch ejection system is designed to avoid data loss if the user accidentally removes the device from the USB cable without first following the ejection prompts within iTunes.

Finder Rename, Clipboard

07/23, 1:40pm

Apps: iPhoto2Twitter, Music Liberator, Sequoia

iPhoto2Twitter 1.5 ($7) is a plug-in that allows users to send short messages and photos to Twitter from within iPhoto. Users can set up multiple Twitter accounts and switch between them quickly. Version 1.5 has added support for uploading images to Mobypicture. In turn this also now allows users to send media to services such as Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, and more. [Download - 0.23MB]

Walmart outs $300 notebook

07/23, 1:35pm

Walmart offers new $298 Compaq notebook

Walmart on Thursday announced it will offer a notebook for less than $300 on Sunday, with the 15.6-inch Compaq Presario CQ60-419WM. Part of Walmart's early back to school sale, the notebook is powered by a 2.1GHz AMD Sempron processor and otherwise offers 3GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive preloaded with Windows Vista and a DVD burner. There is Wi-Fi capability, and an NVIDIA GeForce 8200M chipset providers graphics processing. A six-cell battery is standard fare with the CQ60.

New ViewSonic netbooks

07/23, 1:15pm

ViewSonic intros new netbooks, media players

Normally known for its monitors in North America, ViewSonic has announced two new netbooks, initially slated for Asia and Europe. The VNB100 uses a 10.2-inch display, capable of resolutions up to 1024x600. Inside is an Atom N270 processor with 1GB of RAM, supplemented by a 160GB hard drive. Other features include Wi-Fi, a memory card reader, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and three USB ports. Unusual is the presence of an ExpressCard 34 slot, typically reserved for full-sized notebooks.

Apple 91pc of Prem Laptops

07/23, 12:45pm

MacBooks 91% of premium notebook market

Apple has virtually complete control of the high-end notebook market in the US, the NPD Group says. In June, MacBooks represented 91 percent of all US portables sold priced over $1,000. The figure is an increase on an already high 88 percent in May and even higher than in early 2008, when Apple held just 66 percent of the same audience. The jump has already been credited to a 25 percent jump in MacBook sales following the launch of new MacBook Pro models, suggesting the sheer popularity of the new models as the main factor.

FLV converter ships

07/23, 11:55am

Pavtube launches FLV converter for Mac 1.0

Pavtube Studio has launched Pavtube FLV Converter for Mac 1.0, allowing for Flash video conversion to a variety of other video formats. The new converter works with FLV and F4V flash movies, converting them into iPod, iPhone, mobile phone and Apple TV capable formats like MP4, 3GP, MOV, MKV and MP3, among others.

US Airways go Gogo in 2010

07/23, 11:45am

US Airways to get in-flight Wi-Fi by 2010

US Airways on Thursday announced it has partnered with AirCell to bring that company's Gogo in-flight hotspot service into its airplanes by early in 2010. Via Gogo, fliers will be able to browse the Internet, chat via instant messaging programs and download e-mail on their Wi-Fi notebooks, smartphones and other portable hardware. The Airbus A321 will be the first aircraft to get the feature and will carry Wi-Fi on some of its domestic flights.

Jobs' leave pay disclosed

07/23, 11:35am

Jobs expenses less than $4,000 during leave [u]

(Updated with correction) Apple CEO Steve Jobs was compensated approximately $132,000 during his 2009 medical leave, which ended in June, a filing with the SEC reveals. The company recently submitted a 10-Q form to go along with its third-quarter results; among other details, the form shows $102,000 in expense payments to Jobs during Q3, following a substantially lower $30,000 presented during Q2. The payments are notable in that they were meant to cover business use of Jobs' private jet, which was likely reduced during the executive's recuperation.

802 11n WiFi Same in Final

07/23, 11:35am

802.11n Wi-Fi to go unchanged in final spec

The Wi-Fi Alliance on Thursday said that the final version of the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard should effectively remain the same as it is in the Draft 2.0 spec. The organization says that the test program for the finished version will only have some "optional additions" to support some minor new features. Choosing the conservative approach will result in most Draft 2.0 devices already supporting the final 802.11n format without any changes or even having to change logos.

Zer01 strips websites

07/23, 10:45am

Zer01 fails to launch service, site stripped

Despite announcing a launch of its unlimited wireless voice and data service on July 1st, Zer01 has yet to deliver either to customers. The company is in fact reversing course and has quietly removed information from its website, which happened in the past few days, following a recent ComputerWorld report that questioned the validity of Zer01's claims. Zer01's offer was to have included unlimited talk and data as well as text messaging for just $70 per month, all of which would be contract-free.

AdMob June 2009

07/23, 10:30am

25m iPhone OS devices sold in the US to date

Apple has successfully sold over 25 million devices running some form of iPhone OS since it started selling them two years ago, new AdMob data shows. The advertisers and researchers estimate that, of the 45 million iPhone OS devices shipped worldwide since June 2007, about 13 million were American iPhones while 12 million were iPod touch units have been sold in the country. Although the mix skews towards the iPhone, the difference was helped by the three-month lead for that device first entering stores.

New Logic Studio released

07/23, 10:25am

New Logic Studio upgrades Logic Pro, MainStage

In parallel with the launch of the new Final Cut Studio, Apple has also released a new Logic Studio, bundling Logic Pro 9, MainStage 2 and Soundtrack Pro 3. Logic Pro has been enhanced with a new Flex Time feature, which attempts to simplify the arrangement of timing and tempo. The Amp Designer and Pedalboard tools meanwhile allow for the assembly of custom guitar rigs, using 25 amps, 25 cabinets and 30 stompbox pedals.

Final Cut Studio upgrade

07/23, 9:30am

Apple upgrades Final Cut Studio suite

Apple has released a long-anticipated upgrade to Final Cut Studio, its video editing and production suite. At the center is Final Cut Pro 7, which expands ProRes codecs to support a wider number of workflows, and implements real-time collaboration through iChat Theater. Quicker export options allow for conversion to DVD, Blu-ray and other formats; some other interface changes include redesigned speed tools, simpler alpha transitions, and better markers.

Sony Touch VAIOs in Fall

07/23, 9:20am

Sony plans touchscreen VAIOs, PSN for PC

Sony plans to launch VAIO portables with touchscreens as early as the fall, company senior VP Mike Abary said in an interview today. The electronics giant fully anticipates shipping "some" computers with touch features in the fall to coincide with the launch of Windows 7, which is due October 22nd and has much better hooks for touch interfaces than Vista. Specifics weren't mentioned to Laptop, but Abary explained these were more likely to draw on Windows 7's existing touch features rather than to have a customized interface.

ATT Q2 2009 Results

07/23, 8:35am

AT&T activates record 2.4m iPhones in Q2

AT&T today posted one of its best-ever spring quarter results credited mostly to the iPhone 3GS launch. The company says it added 1.2 million cellphone subscribers, an all-time high for spring. It adds that it activated 2.4 million iPhones between April and the end of June. The number ties that of the iPhone 3G launch quarter but is considered a record as the iPhone 3GS and $99 iPhone 3G were only available for less than two weeks in the period covered by the results.

Samsung 14 5 inch LCDs

07/23, 7:45am

Samsung developing 14.5-inch notebook LCDs

Samsung is producing a new notebook display that could offer a balance smaller, thinner notebooks and mid-size models, according to tips from inside the notebook business. The company is reportedly building a 14.5-inch, LED-backlit panel that shouldn't cost any more than same-size or larger displays using older, less efficient fluorescent backlights. Its resolution and other traits aren't clarified by the DigiTimes sources, though most new LCDs use a 16:9 aspect ratio and have a 1366x768 resolution or higher.