Oct 07

Steve Jobs planned ahead — 4 years of future products?

By Brian News No Comments »

Even when death must have looked certain and his time on this earth was quickly coming to an end, visionary Steve Jobs was hard at work planning the future of Apple. For more than a year, Steve worked on future iterations of the iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBooks, with blueprints in place to fill a product pipeline for conceivably the next four years. Also, Jobs managed to get plans approved for a futuristic company headquarters in a park-like setting in Cupertino that will house 12,000 employees. A touching aspect to this land acquisition for the new headquarters is the fact that Steve had a part-time job for Hewlett Packard on the same site when he was 13 years old and he made sure that Apple bought the land as soon as it was available.

Few people in human history have impacted the lives of so many — dare I say the entire human family — and arguably Steve Jobs is one of these people. He was a pioneer in making personal computers accessible to everyday people and he did it with such enthusiasm, showmanship, and genuine delight that it was nigh impossible to refrain from opening one’s wallet. He envisioned two decades ago that the future of computing and media consumption would be portable, and not just by way of laptop computers — enter iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iCloud. Steve Jobs brought his amazing products into our lives, thus changing forever how we conduct business, social, and entertainment activities. Now, we can look forward to potentially 4 more years of products with his personal touch — thank you, Steve, for an amazing legacy that will continue to delight us for years to come.

[graphic: Jonathan Mak]

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Aug 25

Steve Jobs resigns, Tim Cook new CEO at Apple

By Brian Editorial, News 1 Comment »

As iconic as Steve Jobs is, you have likely heard already that he has abruptly resigned as Apple’s CEO and has taken the role as chairman of the board. Tim Cook, formerly the COO of Apple, is now the CEO moving forward. What will this mean for the future of Apple? It’s good to know that Steve Jobs is still very much a big part of Apple’s vision as the chairman, choosing to remove himself from the day-to-day responsibilities and pressures that the CEO must endure. His health should be his greatest concern right now and given what he has accomplished for Apple, no one can blame him for stepping away and tending to personal matters.
I can’t help but reflect on the Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates story, depicted several years ago in “Pirates of Silicon Valley”. Indeed, Bill Gates won the battle at the time with the licensing of Windows for the PC platform, arguably an inferior product to the computing experience that Apple has offered, particularly with products like the classic MacIntosh computers. Now, given the epic turnaround of Apple starting in the late nineties under the guiding hand of Steve Jobs, it could be fair to say that he has won the war — Apple is the most valuable technology company due to revolutionary products like iPod, iPhone, iPad, and a complete remastering of their Mac and MacBook computer products.
Just as Disneyland has survived and flourished these many years after the departure of Walt Disney long ago, I’m sure that Apple will continue to amaze us with revolutionary products long after Steve Jobs has exited, stage left. Clearly he has shared a remarkable vision with the world and those of us who have bought and used anything Apple can attest to the magic. Thanks, Steve, for bringing so many amazing products to the market that have educated us, enriched us, made us more productive, entertained us, and quite frankly have just been a lot of fun. We most certainly will miss you now that you are no longer the captain at the wheel.
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Dec 08

MarketWatch names Apple’s Steve Jobs as CEO of the Decade

By Brian News 1 Comment »

Without the return of Steve Jobs to Apple more than a decade ago, we would not have the iPod, the iPhone, or our beloved iPad tablets. In fact, Apple would not be the juggernaut it is today and, more than likely, would have ceased to exist years ago. However, the prodigal Apple co-founder returned and the rest is history. Given Apple’s miraculous turnaround and revolutionizing of mobile products, MarketWatch has named Steve Jobs the CEO of the Decade:

“The resurrection of Apple is just the most astounding story that’s probably happened in business in at least a decade – you might be able to go further and say it’s a half-century,” says Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies, a technology-industry think tank. “It’s on par with Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell in terms of its total impact.”

And there’s more:

During the first decade of the new millennium, Jobs and Apple managed to thrive even when the rest of the country didn’t. Apple’s shares blossomed, pausing only when Jobs’s health was in doubt. While the stock trades at roughly 43 times its level of a decade ago, the S&P 500 has lost about 7%.

Sales are up twelvefold from the end of 2000, surging from $5.4 billion for fiscal 2001 to $65.2 billion for fiscal 2010, which ended in September. Cumulatively, Apple has racked up more than $229 billion in total sales during the decade.

I’ve certainly given Apple plenty of my hard-earned cash for some amazing products that have changed my life. For me, there is no argument that Steve Jobs has earned the accolades. Thanks for bringing us some incredible mobile products, Steve, and please keep ‘em coming!

[MacRumors]

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Nov 16

Apple announces The Beatles on iTunes

By Brian Announcements, News 2 Comments »

It’s been a hard day’s night and I’ve been working like a dog. Well, sleeping, actually. But I got up in time to make sure our readers are aware of a significant Apple iTunes event — for the first time ever, you can download any one of the 13 Beatles studio albums or grab the entire box set on iTunes. So whether you want to download to listen on your computer, your iPad, iPhone, iPod, iPod touch, or any other iDevice you have, take a step or two back in time when the mop-top was fresh and psychedelia was bold and new and start downloading The Beatles classic music. No matter your musical tastes, no one did it like John, Paul, Ringo and George.

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Oct 04

Target stores now selling iPad

By Brian News No Comments »

As far as big box stores go, I’ve been a fan of Target for quite some time now. There is a Super Target somewhat close to where I live and they have some nice products at reasonable prices. Although you won’t find any discounts and end up paying the same price as if you walked into an Apple Store, Target has now added the Apple iPad to their lineup of Apple and third-party accessory products.

For quite some time now you could walk into a Target store and buy iPod, iPod touch, and even iPhone cases, chargers, and more. Now, you can pick up an iPad in any of its six configurations, but only at the store, NOT online — just saunter into your local Target store and lay down some cash or plastic and you can walk out with a shiny new iPad (after picking up a gallon of milk and some Oreos, of course).

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Sep 13

Target selling Apple iPad on October 3rd?

By Brian Rumors 2 Comments »

Target stores already sell the iPod Classic, nano, shuffle, and touch, so even though the prospect of Target selling Apple’s iPad is still grounded in the shifting sediment of rumor, it would make sense for Apple to expand into other retail outlets — especially more box stores. Given that Apple is increasing iPad production, and also considering an alleged inventory list that alludes to an unnamed product set to become available on October 3rd in six different versions, located in Target’s “Digital Audio” section, and priced exactly like the current iPad offerings, it’s not a difficult stretch to believe that Target will be selling the iPad just in time for the Holidays.

What do you think about buying an iPad at Target?

[engadget]

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Sep 10

Cool Media: Apple iPod nano watch and watchband

By Brian Cool Media, News 5 Comments »

I don’t currently own an Apple iPod nano with its new touchscreen, but the idea of wearing one as a watch does intrigue me and, although it doesn’t quite fit my personal taste for watches, I think it’s a cool concept. CountyComm, located in Santa Clara, CA, makes watchbands for a variety of watches and they even have a pouch that just so happens to fit the iPod nano and watchband perfectly.

According to their site, their 22mm Maratac Nylon Single piece bands fit the iPod nano nicely — sliding neatly through the clip. They offer a variety of colors and offer up a great way to sport your iPod nano. I don’t yet have an iPod nano OR one of these watchbands, but the whole idea is intersting, particularly if there are several watch faces to choose from on the iPod nano.

What do you think about wearing an Apple iPod nano as a watch? Check out more pictures after the break.

Continue reading »

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Sep 03

Apple’s Ping already loaded with spammers

By Brian Editorial, News 4 Comments »

Caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware. Along with announcements of a new Apple TV and new iPods, Apple has unveiled their new music-based social network, Ping, which allows users to follow music artists and friends and integrates with iTunes so that a customized top 10 list of music will be created based on what those artists and friends are downloading. Ping also provides information about local concerts and will let your friends know if you are attending. I suppose there’s still room in the world for yet another social network, right?

So why do I issue a warning at the beginning of this post? Apparently Ping, even in its infancy, is already heavy-laden with spammers offering up all kinds of promised goodies and scams, with most of the spam focused on providing links claiming to offer up free iPhones and iPads and other Apple products in exchange for filling out surveys. According to Sophos security expert, Chester Wisniewski:

If half as many free iPads, iPhones and iPods were being given away as Ping comments might lead you to believe, there will be no reason to bother with going to an Apple Store. But if you actually want an Apple device, my advice is to go out and buy one, as filling out surveys will likely only end in tears.

Once again, there’s no free lunch. So why is all this spam saturating Ping already? There are a couple reasons why spammers are liking Ping. First of all, Ping does not feature any spam or URL filtering, so currently it’s a spamming paradise. Also, over 160 million iTunes account owners can access Ping — and these owners have active iTunes accounts and credit card numbers associated with these accounts. Ergo, they have buying power. If you decide to use Ping, just keep in mind you’ll have to do your own spam and scam filtering.

[AppleInsider]

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Aug 25

Apple holding special event on September 1st

By Brian Announcements, News 1 Comment »

The sure signs of approaching Fall — football, the leaves start changing, there’s a crispness in the air, and… Apple holds a “special event” in San Francisco. By the way, we are loving the sweet Apple-fied acoustic guitar. It must be how Steve-o croons to the ladies when he serenades.

On a more serious note (no pun intended), it’s likely this event will concern the new Apple TV (iTV?) and maybe some new iPods. Also, this is right around the time that we can expect iOS 4 for the iPad (folders, anyone?) and maybe — pure rumor, conjecture and speculation here — a whiff of the 7″ iPad?

What do you think Apple’s “special event” will bring?

[engadget]

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May 26

Apple edges out Microsoft as top tech dog

By Brian News No Comments »

With a little help from the stock market today and a lot of help from folks like you and me buying Macs, iPhones, and most recently, the iPad, Apple edged out Microsoft today to become the top tech dog — the most valuable technology company in the world. Just to give you a little play-by-play of how this happened today, today’s trading resulted in Apple shares rising 1.8 percent and Microsoft shares dropping about 1 percent, resulting in market capitalization of $227.1 billion (yep, billion with a “B”) and $226.3 billion, respectively.

Ultimately, by the end of the trading day, both stocks fell along with the rest of the market, but Apple stayed on top with a market cap of $222.1 billion and Microsoft ended with $219.2 billion. This amazing turn of events comes after Apple was on the ropes, a pulse faintly felt, merely a decade ago. Now, they lead with products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad (not to mention their gorgeous notebooks and desktops) while others play catch-up.

Well done, Apple. Let’s hope that Apple continues innovating (RIP, Palm) and that virus-peddlers continue to keep their focus on Microsoft.

[New York Times.com]

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