Under the plan Apple proposed to Comcast, Apple’s video streams would be treated as a “managed service” traveling in Internet protocol format—similar to cable video-on-demand or phone service. Those services travel on a special portion of the cable pipe that is separate from the more congested portion reserved for public Internet access.
This is the kind of arrangement Apple would just love to make happen. A dedicated portion of the cable pipe just for them. The connection should be much more reliable than normal internet services. It would also mean that Apple TV content would not count towards users’ download caps.
Thieves dug a 50ft tunnel under a building to steal thousands of pounds from a cash machine.
Police believe the gang spent months digging the ‘complex’ structure from nearby wasteland to get at the cash at a Tesco store in Eccles, Greater Manchester last Friday, March 14.
The elaborate heist has been linked to the so-called ‘mole-in-the-wall’ gang, who are believed to have carried out three similar plots in the city since 2007.
If this story wasn’t fantastic already, the police said to lookout for people acting suspiciously “possibly covered in soil”. So good.
Tim Cook may have called the Haunted Empire book ‘nonsense’, but the derisive comments about the book from Apple executives do not end there. Personally, I found the pen-throwing anecdote too funny and decided to ask Cue whether it was true or not. I wasn’t really expecting a reply, but to my surprise he actually did.
I normally avoid linking to my own 9to5 stuff here, but I have to make an exception for this. Not only is it hilarious in its own right, but the bluntness of the response is spot on. Cue implies agitation without explicitly saying anything. Also, there’s a rather childlike reaction in me to see Yukari Kane’s story fall apart through a one sentence email and a measly three word reply.
Cue could be lying, of course. Based on the countless denials of other stories in Haunted Empire, it’s extremely hard to give her the benefit of the doubt.
It is a very real product. I am wearing it on my hand as we speak and have been using it for the last few weeks. It’s very, very real, I promise. I am touching it right now.
Is it really going to ship? Is there any reason to be worried about that given the Lenovo acquisition?
Yes, this is going to ship this summer.
If it is a real product, why not just show it off to Stern right there? Despite much fanfare, this device exists only as Photoshopped mockup images so far.
Each category of functionality is a card in the Healthbook. Cards are distinguished by a color, and the tabs can be arranged to fit user preferences. As can be seen in the above images, Healthbook has sections that can track data pertaining to bloodwork, heart rate, hydration, blood pressure, physical activity, nutrition, blood sugar, sleep, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and weight.
The scope of this project is insane. Apple isn’t starting small with this one. Although it is currently unknown where Healthbook sources this vast array of data from, I have to think it’s an Apple wearable. Apple is a selfish company; they only spend significant effort on stuff that directly benefits themselves. Healthbook will only be useful if it gets a constant stream of reliable data backing it — the only way for Apple to guarantee that is by making a device it controls.
By way of an overseas regulatory agency, similar to our very own FCC, we continue to hone in on the elusive Amazon media streamer. As the story goes, a fall launch was delayed with the Roku Apple TV competitor now looking quite likely for March or April. Netflix and Hulu appear to be confirmed, as does a forked Android build – similar to what Amazon has done with their line of Kindle Fire tablets. Which makes gaming out of the box quite likely.
Let’s be frank here: it doesn’t look good. Plasticky and boxy and just generally not nice. I wouldn’t want to use that. Hopefully, Amazon will support third-party controllers over Bluetooth.
Sheldon and Leonard will be geeking out on CBS for years to come thanks to a mega three-season renewal pact that CBS has struck with Warner Bros. TV for “The Big Bang Theory.”
Deal for primetime’s No. 1 comedy runs through the 2016-17 season, shoring up a cornerstone of CBS’ schedule. “Big Bang” has logged its highest ratings to date this season, its seventh, averaging 19.79 million viewers and a 6.1 rating/19 share in adults 18-49.
I like Big Bang Theory and I’m glad to see they are getting renewed. Whether they can sustain three more seasons worth of content is uncertain, of course. The current cast’s story lines are progressing rapidly. The current season, whilst still enjoyable, is not their best work.
I also doubt they’ll be able to keep all seven leading actors on the show for three more years. Although, maybe they need some fresh blood to open up some new story lines.
The Cupertino company is now testing iTunes Radio as a standalone application with iOS 8, according to sources briefed on the plans. iTunes Radio first arrived as a feature within the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system’s Music application. As a tab in the already-existing Music app, iTunes Radio has not received a promoted presence on iOS, and this likely has deterred growth for the service in terms of advertising revenue and usage.
I have conflicting opinions about this change. iTunes Radio is a big draw for customers and probably deserves to be given some more prominence on iOS. Equally, though, I think the Home Screen suffers from enough ‘application creep’ as it is.
Apple should put a hard line on how many first-party apps it puts on the Springboard now. If it wants to make iTunes Radio standalone, it needs to choose another app to cull.
77% of respondents could not identify what SEO means. SEO stands for “Search-Engine Optimization”
27% identified “gigabyte” as an insect commonly found in South America. A gigabyte is a measurement unit for the storage capacity of an electronic device.
42% said they believed a “motherboard” was “the deck of a cruise ship.” A motherboard is usually a circuit board that holds many of the key components of a computer.
23% thought an “MP3” was a “Star Wars” robot. It is actually an audio file.
18% identified “Blu-ray” as a marine animal. It is a disc format typically used to store high-definition videos.
15% said they believed “software” is comfortable clothing. Software is a general term for computer programs.
12% said “USB” is the acronym for a European country. In fact, USB is a type of connector.
It’s hard to tell whether these surveys are at all reliable, but they are nonetheless hilarious.
They finally did it, just 16 days after starting. Whoever thought this up was a genius. It got coverage online, in newspapers and on national TV news … a true internet phenomenon.
Apparently, they are going to do the Silver/Gold generation next.
The ties between Apple and Disney are tightening even more thanks to their unprecedented collaboration on the new Movies Anywhere app. This ambitious project has been percolating at Disney for years and aims to make purchasing and viewing digital content easier than ever.
A direct shot at UltraViolet, the Movies Anywhere app allows users to purchase and play movies within the app or through any device with access to your iTunes library. Previously purchased films on DVD, and Blu-ray can be added to the app if they shipped with a digital redemption code. All past iTunes purchases are eligible.
There is actually a hidden partnership with Apple behind this app. You can sign into your iTunes account and the app imports all the films you have already bought from the iTunes Store. Conversely, if you buy a movie in the app, it automatically gets added to your iTunes account too.
Like the 5S, the S5’s home key features an integrated fingerprint scanner, which can be used to unlock the phone or authenticate purchases online (Samsung is partnering with PayPal to enable this feature, though it doesn’t validate purchases from the Google Play Store). Samsung’s version requires a vertical swipe over the home button to activate the scanner, and we found it to be quite unreliable and virtually impossible to activate when holding the phone in one hand. It can store up to three different digits, but it was very particular about the speed and orientation of the swiping motion used — if we weren’t doing a perfectly straight swipe down, it would refuse to unlock the phone.
The display on the Gear Fit is the real draw: it’s a rectangular, curved AMOLED touchscreen panel with characteristic-for-Samsung vibrant colors and exceptionally wide viewing angles. The curve in the display allows the Fit to conform around your wrist yet still have a large enough screen to make text readable and buttons easy to press with your finger. It’s not the first product from Samsung to have a curved display, but it does feel like it’s the first to actually benefit from its curvature. Plus it just looks cool.
It looks cool, but isn’t it sideways … When you turn to look at your wrist, the display will be vertical but the UI is horizontal?
Apart from that oddity, the device looks genuinely cool. It’s a nice, simple fitness band; clock, notifications, pedometer and heart-rate sensor.
Netflix Inc. has agreed to pay Comcast Corp. to ensure Netflix movies and TV shows stream smoothly to Comcast customers, a landmark agreement that could set a precedent for Netflix’s dealings with other broadband providers, people familiar with the situation said.
In exchange for payment, Netflix will get direct access to Comcast’s broadband network, the people said. The multiyear deal comes just 10 days after Comcast agreed to buy Time Warner Cable Inc., which if approved would establish Comcast as by far the dominant provider of broadband in the U.S., serving 30 million households.
Paying Comcast for peering access sets a precedent for Netflix to pay other providers to do the same. Netflix has tight margins — they can’t afford to pay every ISP to open peering agreements. They are standing on shaky ground.
We’re going to be returning to just one, universal version of Clear for iOS, with the original version of Clear gaining iPad support. If you already own a copy of Clear, you don’t need to do anything as we’ve just launched an updated version of Clear with iPad support.
As Apple doesn’t offer a way to migrate users between copies of an app, we’re going to make Clear free for 24 hours so owners of Clear+ can move to the correct version free of charge.
So, they pushed out a (universal) paid-for iOS 7 update in September. People complained that they were being shortchanged for iPad compatibility. Realmac backtracked by adding iPad support to the old Clear app, effectively running two identical versions of the same app.
This put them in a right mess and now to get out of it they are having to forfeit revenue for a couple of days. Loads of people — including me — will exploit the ‘free window’ selfishly and be able to get Clear without paying a penny.
I’m not saying they should have offered the iOS 7 update from it. That’s fine. What they shouldn’t have done is backtracked. Stick to your decisions or you get stuck in an endless spiral of compromises and reimbursements.
I recently got the opportunity to try out a Chromebook first-hand. Although I have written up my feelings towards ChromeOS in the past, I couldn’t pass over the opportunity to try one out. As such, I’ve been testing the Samsung Chromebook 303C12 (product naming is still a huge flaw in so many companies) for the last week or so.
Hardware-wise, from the outside, it looks like a 2009 netbook owned by a fanatic Google user. To my dismay, the Chrome logo is not a sticker. It’s affixed in the plastic of the lid. I think that’s a bit flamboyant and arrogant. You could make the same criticism of the glowing Apple logo in the back of MacBooks, but I think it is the coloration of the adornment that annoys me. If the logo was grayscale it would be okay.
Still keeping the lid shut, the hinge bulged outward from the casing. This was really weird to me, but I have to assume that this a convenient (read: cheap) way to maintain the otherwise slim profile. The laptop’s weight is decent and there is an abundance of ports along the sides for connectivity. The inclusion of a HDMI output was a genuine surprise. That increases the potential utility a lot. Reminiscent of Furbies, on the underside is a small emergency reset hole. Only God knows why it is there.
When I did eventually open the thing, I did a double-take. On the inside, this thing is a blatant Air ripoff. You can’t ignore the black chiclet keys … The trackpad is better than I expected. You get two finger scrolling and I actually quite like the clickiness when depressed.
The keyboard is interesting. The caps lock key is replaced by search, which I think is a great choice. I never use Caps Lock, so replacing it with any other feature is a benefit to me. However, I know a lot of non-technical people (which is the ultimate market for this kind of product) rely on Caps Lock. Holding Shift doesn’t enter their mind. You would get used to it, but that’s definitely a potential point of friction.
On the software side, there’s not that much to say. It’s an OS that launches browser windows. Chrome is a great browser so browsing is — naturally — great. There’s a helpful three-finger trackpad gesture for switching between tabs, which is helpful because almost everything you do in ChromeOS opens as a new tab. The trackpad is a little small for this action to be immediately comfortable but I think you get used to it.
The display is low-resolution by modern standards, which I noticed constantly. Unfortunately, I am spoiled by Retina displays. To my surprise, Flash content performed exceptionally. The fans didn’t even spin up whilst juggling Gmail, iPlayer and YouTube simultaneously.
Full screen mode is well done. There’s a dedicated keyboard button for it and I used it a lot. Maximising screen real estate on a ~12 inch display is important. Unlike OS X, the view doesn’t feel tagged on, because apps open in tabs rather than windows. You could run in full screen mode all day long and be very happy. You don’t have to keep toggling between view modes, which gets annoying very fast on the Mac.
You can save Chrome Apps to a special ‘dock’ area but they are still just web apps. I would avoid them all apart from Google Docs. Docs is a capable online word processor but the Chromebook seemed to struggle with running it. After a few paragraphs of text, the onscreen display started lagging behind my typing. I tried Pages for iCloud too, with similar results.
This sounds overly negative, but this all needs to be counterbalanced by the price-point. It is unreasonable to suggest that this budget machine will be on par with my daily driver, a Retina MacBook Pro, a machine that cost in excess of $2000. That’s what I have to compare to, because that is what I use day-to-day, but that doesn’t mean this thing is awful.
Compared to any other cheap laptop, I think this thing is great. The 16 GB SSD accounts for a lot of the upside — it turns a mediocre laptop into a cheap ultrabook. The SSD makes the laptop feel fast, despite running on a lacklustre mobile processor behind the scenes. Bootup takes about fifteen seconds. Undoubtedly, the SSD is a big factor in making the machine achieve a respectable six-hours of battery life between charges. Asleep, this thing will happily sit here for days.
I would recommend this for people looking for cheap laptops. Netbooks were bad because they only browsed the web and were crap at everything else to boot. The Chromebook only browses the web but in return gives the user a fast, silent machine with great battery life.
The spanner in the works here, not just for the Samsung 303C12 but for Chromebooks and ChromeOS in general, is that demand for cheap laptops is diminishing. I find it hard to recommend this over an iPad. For only a little bit more money, you can get a Retina Display, a touchscreen and a whole world of native apps and games to enjoy. Moreover, you enter an ecosystem that is actively developed and thriving. Throughout ChromeOS, stuff feels abandoned. Angry Birds wouldn’t even load. I get the impression Google has given up too, focusing all their attention on Android.
Three years ago, I tweeted the following only minutes after Google originally announced ChromeOS. I think it still holds true today.
