The Apple Core

November 19th, 2009

iTablet goes OLED, bumped until late 2010

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 10:03 am

Categories: Rumor, Tablet

Tags: Apple Inc., DigiTimes, Tablets, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Jason D. O'Grady

Optimistic customers waiting for Apple to release its mythical tablet will have to wait a little longer if rumors coming out of China are true.

DigiTimes is reporting that the Apple tablet has been delayed from March 2010 to some time in the “second half” of 2010. Citing sources from component makers, the report claims that the delay is a result of Apple’s decision to switch to a 9.7-inch Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) panel from LG Display.

In addition to upgrading to an 9.7-inch OLED panel Apple is also reportedly considering keeping a less-expensive 10.6-inch Thin Film Transistor (TFT) model in the lineup, most likely for price reasons.

The story also reports that Apple has enlisted two additional manufacturing partners to build the tablet. iPod maker Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) will be joined by long time Apple contractor Quanta Computer and Pegatron Technology.

DigiTimes estimates that with 9.7-inch OLED panels currently costing about $500 — normally about 30% of the final price tag — a 9.7-inch OLED tablet Mac will cost between $1,500 and $1,700. And that’s Apple’s cost. Assuming component costs drop to around $1,200-1,500 in the second half of 2010 - that could push the retail price of Apple’s OLED tablet upwards of $2,000.

Gulp.

The good news is that the 10.6-inch TFT-based version should retail for a much more managable $800 - $1,000 as has been rumored for quite while.

OLED has many benefits over TFT:

OLEDs enable a greater range of colours, gamut, brightness, contrast (both dynamic range and static) and viewing angle than LCDs because OLED pixels directly emit light. OLED pixel colours appear correct and unshifted, even as the viewing angle approaches 90 degrees from normal. LCDs use a backlight and cannot show true black, while an off OLED element produces no light and consumes no power. Energy is also wasted in LCDs because they require polarizers that filter out about half of the light emitted by the backlight.

It’s a compelling technical argument, for sure, but I’m not sure if consumers will pay twice the price for a iTablet with an OLED screen.

What are some of the ways that Apple could further differentiate the high-end model? What would justify paying double the price?

Photo: A juicy fake from TUAW, circa 2006.

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November 19th, 2009

GrooveMaker is a loop junkie dream come true

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 1:00 am

Categories: App, App Store, Music, Review, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, Loop, GrooveMaker, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

Groovemaker is one of my favorite new iPhone apps. It’s an 8-track loop machine that comes preloaded with five songs and hundreds of loops that you can remix into unlimited unique jams.

Start by tapping the “random” button in the upper right, then tap on each of the eight pads in the center and swap out loops for each. Each loop is dropped exactly on beat and the music never stops. You can perform an entire set with just one of the included songs, thanks to the high-quality seamless loops.

If you prefer to start from scratch just pick a drum beat, add a bass riff and some effect loops and you’re up and running in seconds. The best part is that you can experiment with hundreds of loops and change the tempo with no stop to the music. You can even mute, solo and control the volume and pan or each individual pad. It’s really quite impressive.

When you’re done with your masterpiece you can save it all as a new remix and export it on your Mac/PC for your own compositions, compilations or video soundtracks. The pop-up reminders to join their Facebook group, enter contests, etc. at launch are a minor annoyance but it’s otherwise an amazing app that allows anyone to be a remix DJ – instantly.

(Headphones or powered speakers are highly recommended as the teeny speaker in the iPhone and iPod touch simply doesn’t do the app justice.)

Eight Grovemaker Packs are available including Hip-Hop, House, Trance and Club ranging from $5 to $10 and a free version is available that you can try before you buy.

If you’re going to be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 20) you need to stop by the iPDJ event at Voodoo Lounge to see history being made as DJs battle with Groovemaker on their iPhones/iPods. DJ Chris Domingo, DJ Scratch-D and DJ Speechless will be in the house shredding it up on their iPhones.

November 18th, 2009

AT&T loses bid to stop Verizon ads, responds with its own

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 11:09 pm

Categories: AT&T, Legal, Television, Verizon

Tags: Advertisement, Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Corp., Wireless And Mobility, Jason D. O'Grady

When Verizon Wireless aired a television commercial claiming it has fives times the amount of 3G coverage as “the nation’s number 2 wireless company” AT&T promptly filed suit and posted a rebuttal it “blatantly false and misleading.”

Yesterday a federal judge in Atlanta dealt AT&T a serious blow denied its request to have Verizon’s “There’s a map for that” ads pulled from the air.

So what’s AT&T to do?

Why, respond with another TV commercial, naturally!

It features actor Luke Wilson saying that AT&T has “the nation’s fastest 3G network, talk and surf at the same time, most poplar smartphones, and access to over 100,000 aps” all giving marks to AT&T, then lastly giving one mark to Verizon for “name that starts with the letter V”.

AT&T shouldn’t have bothered sparring with Verizon in the first place as it has only brought them more publicity and cost AT&T a ton of money in the long run. AT&T would have been better off spending the money they wasted answering VZW on improving their network infrastructure.

What are your thoughts on the new AT&T ad?

November 18th, 2009

Gallery: Unboxing Chumby One

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 12:41 pm

Categories: Appliance, Gadget, Internet, Review, Unboxing, WiFi

Tags: Successor, RSS, Internet, Jason D. O'Grady

Chumby Industries just released the successor to their widget-based Internet appliance, the Chumby One. The $99 device, is essentially a small touchscreen computer that grabs data from your WiFi connection and displays purpose-built widgets in a rotation.

Some liken Chumby to a Web-enabled alarm clock, but I prefer to keep one in my kitchen and bathroom to catch up on my RSS feeds while cooking and yes, brushing my teeth. (Chefs: do yourself a favor and check out the Big Oven widget).

Chumby does much more than display RSS and recipes however. Although I use mine mostly as a glorified RSS client, there are widgets for weather, time, horoscopes, Twitter, Facebook, music and games.

I previously reviewed the Chumby Classic in May 2008 and the latest model looks like a worthy successor. At only $99 it’s half the price of the original and features a hardware volume knob, snooze bar and a more, ahem, professional looking form factor that would complement any workspace.

I’ve only had it for an hour, so I’ll reserve my judgment for a future installment in these pages, but so far, it’s a worthy successor to the original, ground-breaking device.

I’ve posted some unboxing photos in this gallery, including some photos comparing Chumby One to the “classic” beanbag version.

November 17th, 2009

Adding a Wizard to your Magic Mouse

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 7:19 pm

Categories: Mouse

Tags: Mouse, Mice, Hardware, Peripherals, David Morgenstern

MouseWizard,  small utility program from developer Samuco, reportedly adds a range of extras to Apple’s new Magic Mouse.

I don’t have one of the’s new gesture-savvy mice, however, this new $2.50 program can expand the standard set of gestures, the company says.

By using MouseWizard, you can give your Magic Mouse two extra buttons, ‘pinch’ and ‘bloat’ trackpad gestures, and special features such as ‘coverup’, to make your Mac go to sleep.

November 17th, 2009

Microsoft offers Office 2008 promotion for the holidays

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 6:52 pm

Categories: Microsoft, Office

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Office, Desktops, Office Suites, Software, Hardware, David Morgenstern

Microsoft on Tuesday said customers can now purchase versions of Office 2009 for Mac with a discount ranging from $20 to $50.

The deal was promoted on Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit blog with a post by senior marketing manager Amanda Lefebvre. She called it the “gift of productivity,” which for some may not have quite the same heartfelt resonance as the famous O’Henry story.

So here’s the deal…starting today (November 17), you too can add a little productivity to your life AND save a few bucks. At participating resellers you can save:

- $20 on Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition
- $50 on Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition
- $40 on Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition Upgrade

The promotion will run through January 5, 2010.

November 17th, 2009

Apple's Black Friday discounts leaked

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 1:00 am

Categories: Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Store, Retail, Rumor

Tags: Apple iPod, Apple Inc., Digital Music, Digital Media, Personal Technology, Consumer Electronics, Jason D. O'Grady

Though it’s still a full 10 days away, Boy Genius Report got tipped off about what may be a major retail sale in the offing from Apple.

According to the rumor, complete with flyer (pictured), Apple will be offering the following deals on the Friday after Thanksgiving:

• up to 30% off on all iPods (except iPhone and iPod shuffle)
• up to 25% off Macs
• up to 15% off all accessories as well as Apple software and hardware.

The catch? The deals are only good on Friday, November 27. And that it’s a rumor, of course.

Last year Apple offered a $101 discount on the unibody MacBook, a $51 discount on the white MacBook, $51 and $101 off the aluminum iMacs, plenty of iPod discounts ($11 off 8GB iPod nanos, $21 off iPod classics, and $21 off iPod touches) and a $21 discount on Apple TV and 500GB Time Capsule.

You couldn’t catch me dead in a retail store on Black Friday, but hey, that’s just me.

November 16th, 2009

Google Earth for iPhone revved to 2.0

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:22 pm

Categories: App, App Store, Google, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, Google Inc., Google Earth, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

Google Monday revved the iPhone version of Google Earth (free) to version 2.0. The major update to Google’s venerable map app adds the ability to log in and see maps created on your desktop computer, explore the app in new languages, and improved icon selection and performance.

As a bonus, you can also view maps that others have created and shared:

Maybe you’re on a trip and want to see where Tony Wheeler, the co-founder of Lonely Planet, most likes to travel. Or perhaps you’re walking around looking for a restaurant and you want to see where world-famous chef Ferran Adrià likes to eat. All you have to do is click “Save to My Maps”, open Earth on the iPhone, log in with the same account information, and voilà, you have your same collection of My Maps right in your pocket.

Nice work.

November 16th, 2009

Apple contemplating free, ad-supported iPhone?

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:38 pm

Categories: Advertising, Patent, iPhone, iPod

Tags: Apple iPhone, Advertisement, Apple Inc., Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

When I first read the piece in the New York Times about Apple’s recent patent application for forced advertising I was as shocked as most.

The technology can freeze the device until the user clicks a button or answers a test question to demonstrate that he or she has dutifully noticed the commercial message.

After all, who wants to view and acknowledge ads via an “enforcement routine” that gives the user no other choice? Certainly not someone who paid $100-$300 for the iPhone (plus $75+ per month) – that’s for sure.

However, someone who doesn’t want to plunk down $100-$300 may be interested in an ad-subsidized iPhone if it brings the initial price down. Heck, Apple could even subsidize the monthly fee, although that’s less likely because most of it goes to the carrier, in this case AT&T.

What about a digital equivalent of washing dishes when you forget your wallet at the restaurant? Apple could allow users to “pay down” their tab by watching advertising and taking a quick quiz. Got some time waiting in the doctor’s office or in line at the DMV? Why not take Ford lifestyle vehicle “quiz” and take $10 off your bill.

Any form of forced advertising makes me a little uncomfortable, but then again I’m not the target demographic for the technology. My 18-year-old cousin, on the other hand, would probably kill to get his mitts on an ad-supported iPhone if it was free.

Apple’s latest patent isn’t just for iPhones and iPod touches. According to the NYTimes piece there’s also a version planned for music players that inserts commercials with an audible prompt to verify the listener’s attentiveness. So free ad-supported iPods could be on the horizon as well.

While the technology is more than a little tacky and sounds a tad Orwellian to me, Apple is obligated to its shareholders to pursue all revenue oppotunities when it comes to its golden goose, the iPod. Can you blame them?

My main qualm with this latest patent is that if it’s really about capturing more market share and ultimately, revenue, why doesn’t Apple consider a music subscription service?

November 16th, 2009

iPhone UI: The age gap and other stats

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 1:01 pm

Categories: Developer, iPhone, iPhone 3.1

Tags: Apple iPhone, Developer, Apple Inc., Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, David Morgenstern

Sessions at this month’s iPhone Tech Talk in Seattle revealed differences in usage by age groups, according to a developer report from the conference.

Developer Brian Lane, posted a rundown of the sessions he attended, including sessions on UI design, application purchasing, networking and database handling. He pointed to a number of interesting stats about iPhone use.

At the UI Design Essentials session, Lane was told that a majority of users purchase new apps from their phones. He was surprised by this and so am I since I never buy on the fly and instead check out on iTunes reviews and other editorial before buying.

Because of this buying behavior, developers were told to refine their icons and app titles.

Your icon is your business card and it will make or break the success of your app. Most users buy with their phones (this surprised me, I buy with iTunes) so all they see is your icon and the name of your app in their search results. The brain processes shapes and colors first, then texture and smaller details. This means your icon should have distinctive colors and a clear outline, not a complicated and cluttered design.

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