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Macworld Expo rebranding as Macworld | iWorld for 2012
In line with the ever-expanding impact of iOS devices and mobile technology on the userbase-formerly-known-as-the-Macintosh-market, the premiere tradeshow for all things Apple will have a new name in 2012. The 27-year-old Macworld Expo event will now be known as Macworld|iWorld: The Ultimate iFanEvent. The branding change acknowledges the reality that iOS is a huge and growing part of the Apple product ecosystem; registration for the January show/conference is open now.
Paul Kent, IDG's maven for all things Macworld Expo -- sorry, Macworld|iWorld -- discussed the branding change with the expo's corporate cousins at Macworld magazine. "We want a heavy influence of OS X developers on the show floor this year," Kent said, but the show will be balancing the iOS impact as well as moving outward to re-emphasize the cultural connections to Apple products.
Music will play a major role this year, with showcase performances at the Music Experience and expanded evening events outside the core Moscone venue. Film and other creative pursuits will take their turn on center stage as well. IDG is projecting about a 20% growth in total exhibitor count, which is a healthy step up from last year; the 2010 and 2011 shows represented a major downscaling from 2009, which was the last time Apple exhibited at the show.
TUAW has been pleased to participate in Macworld Expo over the years, including our live video streaming interviews in 2010 and 2011. We don't know yet if we'll be back with a booth on the show floor for 2012 at MW|iW, but we'll certainly have some sort of presence -- and we look forward to seeing you there.
[Any similarity to the name of Apple's short-lived online service, eWorld, is almost certainly unintentional.]
Macworld Expo rebranding as Macworld | iWorld for 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Macworld Expo mirrors Apple's product shift with new 'iWorld' name
Apple, Oreo and Capri Sun top list of popular youth brands
Harris Interactive put together a survey asking American youth from ages 8-24 what their favorite brands were, and Apple came out on top in the computer, tablet, and phone space. That's not too surprising, given how powerful Apple's marketing is (not to mention how great its products are), but it is true that "the old" Apple tended to go for the slightly older audiences. Since the introduction of the iPod ten years ago, Apple's marketing and products have skewed younger and younger.
What's perhaps even more interesting in this report is the other brands that are popular with this age group: Oreos! Capri Sun! Nintendo? These kids are into the same things I liked as a kid! Oreos and Capri Sun especially -- I believed those lunchbag standbys were old school, but apparently they're still popular on the contemporary playground. Next you'll tell us that kids today still dig Trapper Keepers and Ecto Cooler!
Apple, Oreo and Capri Sun top list of popular youth brands originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iOS 5 Safari speed gains demonstrated in New Relic infographic
Web application performance company New Relic released the results of a study comparing the mobile browsing speeds of iOS 4 and iOS 5 on the same model of iPhone. What did they find? That iOS 5 / Safari 5.1 is much faster than iOS 4 / Safari 5.0.
New Relic complied their test results into the nifty infographic seen below. I love their conclusion: "Time to upgrade!" What has been your personal experience with web browsing or web app response times under iOS 5 and Safari 5.1? Leave your comments below.
iOS 5 Safari speed gains demonstrated in New Relic infographic originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple's iPhone 4S, Mac mini & MacBook Air are 'Bluetooth Smart Ready'
China Mobile claims 10 million iPhone users
China Mobile Chairman Wang Jianzhou told Reuters that its wireless network is home to over ten million iPhones. This number is a very small part of China Mobile's 600 million subscribers, but it's surprisingly high for a carrier that does not currently sell any model of the iPhone. These iPhones on China Mobile are either purchased directly from China's five Apple stores, converts from China Unicom which does carry the iPhone 4 or are iPhones obtained on the black market. It's well known that many iPhones being sold in China are smuggled in from foreign countries and sold to customers in open air markets.
This illicit market may face some competition as China Mobile hopes to carry the iPhone when Apple manufacturers a version compatible with the carrier's TD-LTE standard for 4G. According to Wang, China Mobile does not have a contract with Apple, but Apple has supposedly promised to support TD-LTE when it develops an LTE-enabled iPhone handset. Steve Jobs and Tim Cook have reportedly visited with China Mobile executives to discuss this technology and a possible carrier agreement.
China Mobile is the world's largest wireless carrier and an official agreement would vastly increase the number of potential iPhone owners. Though China Mobile has publicly said several times that it wants the iPhone in an offical capacity, Wang isn't upset by the number of unauthorized iPhones on China Mobile's network. Wang said, "The total number of iPhones in China Mobile's network has reached 10 million -- and we didn't pay any subsidies." That's a nice hidden benefit.
China Mobile claims 10 million iPhone users originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Bluetooth Smart announced, iPhone 4S is ready
Lost in the hype about Siri is the fact that the iPhone 4S is the first available smartphone to support the Bluetooth 4.0 standard. Announced in early 2010, Bluetooth 4.0 focuses on low-energy, sensor-filled devices that can be powered by button cell batteries. Examples include pedometers, heart rate monitors, glucose meters, and home automation tools.
Now that the first Bluetooth 4.0 ready handset has hit the market, the Bluetooth SIG group has created a new logo and name to describe these low-power devices. Starting soon, any device with a Bluetooth 4.0 compatible radio will be branded with the name Bluetooth Smart or Bluetooth Smart Ready. A new Bluetooth logo will be emblazoned on packaging to help customers locate this category of Bluetooth products.
The iPhone 4S may be the first Bluetooth Smart compatible smartphone, but it's not the first Bluetooth 4.0 hardware available from Apple. The Cupertino company also added Bluetooth 4.0 support to the latest Mac Mini and MacBook Air models. These Apple products will be ready to connect to Bluetooth Smart devices once they begin to hit the market in the upcoming months.
Show full PR text Bluetooth SIG Extends Bluetooth Brand, Introduces Bluetooth Smart Marks
Market and Use Case Expansion Create Need to Denote Compatible Bluetooth v4.0 Devices
KIRKLAND, WA - Oct. 24, 2011 - The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced two new brand extensions to its globally recognized logo today in an effort to create consumer awareness around compatibility for new devices implementing Bluetooth v4.0 - the Bluetooth Smart Ready trademark and the Bluetooth Smart trademark. Bluetooth Smart Ready devices are phones, tablets, PCs and TVs that sit at the center of a consumer's connected world and implement a Bluetooth v4.0 dual mode radio. Bluetooth Smart devices are sensor-type devices like heart-rate monitors or pedometers that run on button-cell batteries and were built to collect a specific piece of information. Bluetooth Smart devices include only a single-mode low energy Bluetooth v4.0 radio.
Bluetooth Smart Ready devices can connect to the billions of Bluetooth devices already in use today and also to new Bluetooth Smart devices just starting to enter the market. Bluetooth Smart devices, due to their revolutionary low power consumption, will only connect with products denoted with the Bluetooth Smart Ready mark, plus those designated specifically by product manufacturers.
"Here's the truth of the matter: Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth Smart Ready devices will revolutionize the way we collect, share and use information," said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. "In order to ensure consumers know what these extraordinary devices have to offer, we created the Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth Smart Ready marks. These new logos will help consumers manage compatibility, and encourage manufacturers to build their best Bluetooth devices yet."
A recent In-Stat report forecasts Bluetooth device shipments will exceed two billion in 2013 alone, fueled largely by the rapid introduction of Bluetooth Smart devices across many different industry segments.
"Consumers can look at new Bluetooth Smart Ready devices the same way they would a 3D ready TV - having the TV is just the first part of the puzzle, you need glasses and content in order to really experience 3D," said Suke Jawanda, CMO of the Bluetooth SIG. "Once consumers have a Bluetooth Smart Ready device, like the new iPhone 4S, they can continue connecting to existing Bluetooth devices and are also ready to experience the new world of Bluetooth Smart peripheral devices that will carry the Bluetooth Smart logo."
Bluetooth Smart announced, iPhone 4S is ready originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iPod designer Tony Fadell takes on thermostats with Nest Labs
Tony Fadell, Apple's former Senior Vice President of the iPod Division, oversaw iPod and iPhone development between 2001 and 2009. Ten years after his most iconic project first saw the light of day, the "father of the iPod" has a new product: Nest, a home thermostat that's smarter than the average bear.
Nest is a new breed of home thermostat that Fadell has developed with partner Matt Rogers, who led an engineering team at Apple's iPod division in 2009. Mike Matas, formerly of Delicious Monster and Apple, contributed to the design.
"It's a thermostat for the iPhone generation," says Fadell. Aside from its striking looks and color-coded, digital display, the Nest thermostat boasts impressive features. For example, a motion sensor notices if there are people in a room and adjusts its temperature accordingly. It also learns your habits and preferences, so there's no programming to be done.
Even fine-tuned adjustments of just a few degrees can make a big difference for consumers and the environment. The New York Times notes that each degree cooler (in winter) or warmer (in summer) a house is kept translates into a 5 percent energy savings, according to experts. John E. Bowers, director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency at the University of California, Santa Barbara, likes the idea of using an smart device to monitor those adjustments. "There is a huge amount that can be gained in homes, and an intelligent thermostat could be a great opportunity," he told the Times.
The Nest will ship sometime in November at US$250, via the company's site and Best Buy's website. It certainly looks cool, but what would you expect from "the father of the iPod?"
iPod designer Tony Fadell takes on thermostats with Nest Labs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Conan O'Brien pokes fun at Siri
Siri is quickly becoming everyone's favorite personal assistant. It helps you navigate, sends messages on your behalf and provides quirky answers to life's most difficult questions like "Where do I hide a dead body?" Siri's capacity for juvenile amusement was not lost on Conan O'Brien who used Apple's Siri commercial as the basis for his latest Apple parody. As you would expect, his short skit pokes fun at the voice assistant's ability to answer just about any question you ask of it. For a chuckle or two, check out the Team Coco video below.
Conan O'Brien pokes fun at Siri originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Sony wants 'Social Network' scribe to pen Steve Jobs movie
Steve Jobs bio debuts atop Amazon, Barnes & Nobles best-seller list
Steve Jobs's biography debuted ahead of schedule this week and skyrocketed to the top of the charts at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Exact sales numbers are not available, but the biography is the top seller on Amazon's Kindle, hardcover and audiobook bestseller lists. It also tops the charts on Barnes and Noble's hardcover, Nook and audiobook lists.
The biography, written by former Times editor Walter Isaacson, was originally scheduled for a March 2012 launch. That date was pushed up to November 21, 2011 over the summer. The biography unexpectedly became available on Sunday via the Amazon Kindle Store and Apple's iBookstore, while the hardcover version went on sale in stores and online starting yesterday.
Now that it is officially in the hands of Apple fans worldwide, details of the book are now being publicly released. The juiciest tidbit to come from the biography is the suggestion that Jobs and Apple were possibly working on an Apple-branded television set. The book also details Jobs's dislike of Android and his vow to go nuclear in his fight against the competing platform.
Steve Jobs bio debuts atop Amazon, Barnes & Nobles best-seller list originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
10.7: Removing a Delay in SSH commands to some hosts
In connecting to a local server, my ssh command would take about 20 seconds to complete. Non-Macintosh clients would not see this delay. After searching for the web and slogging through a number of posts that suggested how to change the server to fix ssh delays, I pieced together enough information to find out how to change my client configuration to solve the problem.
The first, and largest cause of delays, was my client and the server working to authenticate me using 'GSSAPI' (Kerberos) authentication. That seemed to be a good 15-18 seconds of the delay. I fixed this problem by adding a configuration file for my user that disabled GSSAPI authentication for the host. The file I added is ~/.ssh/config and I created it to read: ...
10.7: iCal Reminders Lists displayed separately from Calendars
To see the Reminders Lists, click on the word 'Reminders' above the list of reminder items on the right side of the screen. To create a new Reminders List, select File » New Reminders List.
You may have a Calendar and a Reminders List with the same name. But you can also have Calendars and Reminders Lists which are only displayed in the one place.
When I upgraded from MobileMe to iCloud, I thought some of my calendars had disappeared, except the reminders from those calendars still appeared in the list. These were special calendars I had that only contained reminders. Then I clicked on 'Reminders' and discovered that they were listed separately.
[crarko adds: Seems like a good addition.]
iOS 5: Send as SMS without waiting for iMessage timeout
If, however, you already know that the recipient doesn't have a data connection, you can force the iPhone to send it as an SMS immediately without having to disable iMessage.
Compose your iMessage as normal and hit send. Then immediately tap and hold on the sent message; a small bubble will pop up with the option to 'Send as Text Message.' The iMessage will immediately be cancelled and your text will be sent over the regular SMS/MMS cell network.
[crarko adds: I tried testing this, but the messages actually went through with iMessage quickly so I didn't get to confirm this.]
Daily iPhone App: Whale Trail
Whale Trail is a catchy little game that combines a few of my favorites lately into a cotton candy sweet package. Jetpack Joyride is in there, as you need to press on the screen to move upwards and avoid obstacles. Tiny Wings is in there too, as you keep a cute little whale flying using swooping patterns to stay up in the air. And Baby Monkey (going backwards on a pig) is in there too, as a goofy little song plays for you while flying along.
In short, it's cute, fun, and pretty darn addictive. The polish on this one is excellent -- the graphics are as airy and light as the sound effects, and while the story itself is nonsensical, the controls definitely aren't. You can do some pretty precise swinging with this little whale. A frenzy mechanic will keep you chasing down the various routes available as the game goes on, and Game Center integration offers up plenty of achievements to go after as well.
Whale Trail is an excellent title -- simple but fun, and perfect for the iPhone. It's available on the App Store right now for 99 cents.
Daily iPhone App: Whale Trail originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple design and the little things
Updated to link the source post.
Apple is known for its attention to detail. The layout of its stores, the design of its icons and the colors used in its promotional materials are all carefully planned. This attention to the littlest of things even appears in the iPhone 4. As pointed out by David Goldman of Edible Apple, pointed out by Dustin Curtis, the placement of the iPhone speakers is almost perfect.
Unlike its competitors which place the speakers on the back of the phone, Apple places the speakers on the bottom face. This bottom location gives you a loud, clear sound when the phone is laying on the table. Competitor's handsets with a rear-facing speaker will be muffled when they are placed in the same position. This might not seem like a big deal until you miss a meeting because your handset is laying on your nightstand and the muffled alarm is too quiet to wake you up.
You can also see this attention to detail in Apple's design of copy and paste. Other mobile platforms include copy and paste, but their implementation is awkward. Selecting the correct text is hit or miss because your fat fingers block the text that you are highlighting. Apple's version of copy and paste, though, lets you zoom in with a magnifying glass that appears above your finger. This simple magnifier makes it easy to select the first and last letter of the text. It's this attention to detail that makes Apple products a pleasure to use.
[via Edible Apple]
Apple design and the little things originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Steve Jobs was 'excited' about an Apple HDTV, but content deals are needed
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MobilEcho 3.0 gives iPhone users access to Windows servers
Making Macs into full network citizens has been the business of GroupLogic for quite a while; the 23-year old ISV has been selling its flagship ExtremeZ-IP server extension tool since 1999, giving Windows server administrators a solid and dependable way to extend their services to Mac clients. Back in May of this year, the company took a leap onto iOS with MobilEcho, which delivered Windows fileserver access to iPads while helping enterprise IT admins keep a grip on files and user rights.
Now the new 3.0 version of MobilEcho is arriving in the App Store, and it's adding access for another population of iOS devices: iPhones. Along with support for the smaller screens, the new version includes in-app PDF preview and annotation (avoiding the need to round-trip files to other tools), AD home directory access, better device management and password controls, and one-way push sync from the server to the device for versioning. GroupLogic is also partnering with device admin vendor MobileIron to bundle mobile device management (MDM) services.
I spoke to GroupLogic CEO Chris Broderick and product manager Brian Ulmer last week, and both are very excited about the potential new audience for the company's products. For years, GroupLogic's customer base has largely drawn from the Mac's traditional vertical markets: publishing, advertising, education. Within 36 hours of announcing MobilEcho at TechCrunch Disrupt, the first licensee was signed up -- and it was a client that GL had never talked to before, who found them via Twitter (of course).
They're now talking to new customers across many industries and vertical markets, from small companies all the way up to major Fortune 500 enterprises. The iPad's momentum in the business market is improving the outlook for all sorts of companies that help it work better with existing systems.
As you might expect for an enterprise platform, MobilEcho isn't cheap. The server software starts at US$795 and goes up from there, but there is a 21-day free trial to let you test it out in your environment.
MobilEcho 3.0 gives iPhone users access to Windows servers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.