Macnn servicesAvantago Feed
| Wednesday, Feb 15th |
Gartner: Apple No 1 vendor in Q4, but faces likely slowdown |
| 02/15, 6:20am Research analytics firm Gartner has released its Q4 report, which shows that Apple took a 24 percent share of the global smartphone market -- the largest share of any single smartphone maker. This was aided by pent-up demand following the extended 15-month period where the iPhone 4 was on sale resulting in Apple achieving a a 121.4 percent of year-over-year increase in iPhone sales over the October to December period. While Apple reported that it shipped 37 million iPhones during the last quarter, Gartner estimates that 35.5 million of these ended up in users' hands helping to push Apple past LG as the world’s third largest mobile phone maker. |
Proview: Chinese customs 'unlikely' to ban iPad |
| 02/15, 5:30am Proview Technology has said that Chinese customs authorities have told them a ban on the import and export of Apple’s iPad would be difficult to enforce, according to Reuters. The Hong-Kong based company is currently locked in a dispute with Apple over its use of the iPad name, which Apple believes it legitimately purchased from the Proview and trademarked in China and nine other countries. Customs authorities in China have said that any attempt to ban the iPad from China would meet opposition because of its popularity. |
Verizon staff get limited-run red Droid RAZRs |
| 02/15, 5:00am Verizon staff have been offered the opportunity to pick up an exclusive version of the Motorola Droid RAZR in red, matching the company’s signature color. Staff have been give the choice of a 16GB version for $99 or a 32GB MAXX model for $199 due to arrive in April. The models will also come with a unique number engraved on the rear of each device, a bonus docking station, as well as the word’s ‘Limited Edition’ inscribed on the front. |
Cook: iCloud over 100M users, Siri a new UI paradigm |
| 02/15, 3:00am During his rare private appearance at an investors and analysts technology conference hosted by Goldman Sachs, Apple CEO Tim Cook talked on a number of topics, but raised some eyebrows when he mentioned that Apple's iCloud service, which was just launched in October, was now at 100 million users. The last time Cook had mentioned iCloud numbers -- during the quarterly analyst conference call on January 24th -- he said it had just over 85 million users. |
Adobe posts 'Sneak Peek' video of improved Content Fill |
| 02/15, 1:00am In the latest of the series of "Sneak Peek" videos for Photoshop CS6 (all of which have been done on Macs so far), Adobe Photoshop Senior Product Manager Bryan O'Neil Hughes demonstrates a substantially improved Content-Aware Fill technology that allow users to make easy, loose selections but still pull off substantial changes (such as moving people from one place to another or removing objects like power lines) and better choose how the fill works. |
AMD Radeon HD 7750, 7770 GHz Edition hit entry level video |
| 02/15, 12:30am AMD took its Radeon HD 7000 series to the starter level quickly on Wednesday. The Radeon HD 7750 and 7750 GHz Edition step back in visual processor counts versus the 6700 line, from 720 and 800 cores to 512 and 640 respectively, but make up for it through more than a year's worth of technology. Both the new overall architecture and a shrink to a leaner 28 nanometer building process let the 7750 and 7770 climb to 800MHz and 1GHz core speeds (up from 700MHz and 850MHz). |
To-do app Clear now available on App Store |
| 02/15, 12:00am While iOS and the App Store have no shortage of ways to create and manage to-do lists, RealMac Software along with Impending are offering up Clear, a new to-do app now available for $1 for a limited time. Clear is a visually-oriented, iPhone-centric task and note app that offers basic features but done in an elegant way. Though the app is compatible with iPad, the company says an iPad-centric version is in the works. |
| Tuesday, Feb 14th |
ZTE Light Tab II set to arrive in UK |
| 02/14, 11:35pm ZTE has introduced yet another budget-priced Android tablet, the Light Tab II, that is set to arrive in the UK market. The tablet offers a modest set of hardware features, centering around a seven-inch touchscreen and a 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm processor. |
Alienware M18X R2 to get dual Radeon HD 7970M, Wireless HD |
| 02/14, 11:20pm More leaks have surfacesd around the upcoming Alienware M18X R2 that have outlined its potential graphics power. The two higher-end graphics cores, the as-yet unannounced Radeon HD 7970M and GeForce GTX 675M, will both be available in twin-chip setups for very high-end systems if Dell-Lab's historically accurate tips are right. A GeForce GTX 660M would occupy the bottom and might be the only graphics without a dual-chip option in the 18-inch gaming notebook. |
Beastie Boys' Mike D pushes AT&T to embrace net neutrality |
| 02/14, 11:15pm The US Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly ordered AT&T, Verizon and Sprint to allow net neutrality proposals to be included in annual shareholder votes. The move is said to be partially inspired by pressure from shareholder groups such as Trillium Asset Management, which represents high-profile AT&T investors including Mike D of the Beastie Boys and his wife Tamra Davis, director of "Half Baked" and "Billy Madison." |
Adobe updates Photoshop Express for iOS, adds border options |
| 02/14, 11:00pm Adobe has updated its iOS photo-adjustment app Photoshop Express (free) to version 2.1, adding a new in-app purchase of frames and borders known as the Adobe Border Pack. The optional purchase, which costs $2, adds 22 new borders and frames, and users can try out the frames before they buy. The new version also brings support for direct Flickr uploading, enhances e-mail sharing of pictures with pre-populated subject lines and image captions, and more. |
Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos gets surprise intro in India |
| 02/14, 10:55pm Samsung's Indian branch brought out four dual SIM card phones with the surprise introduction of a genuinely new model. The Galaxy Ace Duos keeps the original Ace's 3.5-inch, 320x480 display and defining form but adds the Duos line's twin SIM slots to let GSM users keep two lines. It still uses Android 2.3 and hinges on an 832MHz processor with a large 1,650mAh battery, but it adds CDMA and EVDO Revision A 3G for some local carriers, like Reliance and Tata. |
Twitter admits to storing iPhone contact info for 18 months |
| 02/14, 10:20pm Twitter has reportedly admitted that it currently stores smartphone contact information for 18 months after users initiate the "find friends" feature found in the company's mobile apps. The data stored on the company's servers includes address book fields such as names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers. |
US government: LightSquared GPS interference "unavoidable" |
| 02/14, 9:25pm The National Telecommunications and Information Information, which manages government and commercial spectrum management in the US, has determined that interference between LightSquared's LTE network and existing GPS equipment is "unavoidable." The ruling appears to solidify the government's opposition to the technology, which has been shown to jam GPS receivers. |
Apple cuts iAd minimums, raises developer profits |
| 02/14, 9:20pm In a sign that softening mobile ad budgets and strong competition from Google and other ad agencies has hurt its high-end intentions, Apple's iAd program has cut the minimum amount it charges advertisers to run a campaign on iAd from its original price of $1 million to just $100,000, and is increasing the percentage of ad revenues developers will receive to 70 percent from the previous 60 percent. The company is also making other competitive adjustments. |
