VoloMedia Awarded Patent for Podcasting
Remember how in 2006, Apple tried to stopPodcast Ready, Inc. from using the word “podcast” because it infringed on their trademarks? For a brief time, there was talk of Apple cracking-down on anyone who dared use the term in their products or services.
Apple’s lawyers finally relaxed (or perhaps they were distracted by 2007’s struggles with Cisco over the iPhone trademark). Today everyone uses the term with wild abandon.
Well, hold on to your hats because we’re about to see a fresh drama unfold along fairly similar lines. This time it’s not about trademarks, but about who invented podcasting. And, according to the U.S. Patent Office, that would be VoloMedia, “the leading provider of advertising and reporting solutions for portable media,” or so their website says. Read the rest of this article »
Beta Watch: SeaMonkey 2
I’ve been looking for an up-to-date, Gecko-based browser to replace the discontinued Netscape Navigator 9 on my old G4 Pismo PowerBook running OS 10.4 Tiger. Navigato still works well, is based on the now-ancient Firefox 2 and probably has some security vulnerabilities. Firefox 3.5 and Camino 1.6 are great on my Intel Mac, but kinda sluggish on the Pismo with its RAGE 128GPU and 8MB of VRAM.
Happily, another Gecko with relatively modest hardware demands is still actively developed.SeaMonkey is the last of the Internet suite browsers, with built-in email and newsgroup client, IRC chat application and a WYSIWYG Web page composer — essentially an updated, refined, security-patched iteration of the old Mozilla Application Suite and Netscape Communicator. Read the rest of this article »
“Unusual” Character Hack May Put All iPhones in Peril
Cybersecurity researchers Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner claim they can bring down your iPhone by sending it just a single “unusual” character, according to Forbes, which first published news of the exploit earlier this week.
A single square character or a series of “invisible” messages can be used to confuse an iPhone, leaving it open to hackers. The exploit affects all models of iPhones, running all versions of the iPhone OS. The only way to protect the phone from attack is to shut it down. Read the rest of this article »
Hot CPU? Three Ways to Keep Your Cool
For a product as cool as the MacBook Pro, it sure does get hot. Too hot, sometimes. I’ve had many laptops in my time, and I’d never go back to plastic IBM compatibles as long as Apple keeps churning out these beautiful aluminum machines. But heat dissipation is a real problem for anyone who makes their MacBook work hard.
It’s important to keep temperatures as low as possible because a hot CPU is a stressed CPU, and if a processor runs too hot for too long, it runs a higher risk of becoming damaged. Until then, a machine that runs too hot is prone to freezing or crashing.
There are two things to keep in mind before we get started. The first is that — for the most part — MacBooks don’t normally “overheat.” Sure, they get hot, but they are designed to get hot. A casual few minutes spent on Google reveals far too many people casually talking about their machines “overheating,” when what they really mean is that their machines are getting “hot.” And by “hot,” we mean “very warm.” But not painfully hot. And certainly not egg-frying hot. If your MacBook truly reaches those temperatures, you should stop using it and take it to your nearest Apple dealer for repair, not complain about it on discussion boards!
The second thing to keep in mind is that a MacBook’s fans have been pre-programmed by Apple. There’s more on this below, but it’s worth remembering that Apple has invested a great deal of time and expense developing today’s MacBook range. If anyone can be considered an expert in MacBook cooling, it’s Apple. So if you are unsure about how to proceed, or don’t feel comfortable modifying your Mac’s settings, then simply skip to the Common Sense Fix below.
I have a three-pronged approach to keeping my MacBook cool. There’s the Hardware Fix, the Software Fix and, overarching both of those, the Common Sense Fix. Let’s start with that one.Read the rest of this article »
When Does Apple Become Anticompetitive?
When the Palm Pre/iTunes Syncing fiascostarted, especially when Apple blocked the hack Palm was using and people started screaming about Apple’s monopolistic practices, I pretty much shrugged the whole thing off. In Apple’s eyes, iTunes exists for one reason, and one reason only: to sync with iPods and iPhones; Apple is under no obligation to open its software to Palm any more than Epson is under any obligation to make their scanner software work with Canon’s.
With the App Store, it’s a little different. A year ago, Steve Jobs stood on a stage and painted a picture of Apple as benevolent Guardian of Light. The types of software Apple would disallow seemed like a no brainer: porn, malicious apps, bandwidth hogs, etc. Now, I’m starting to think that scene could have been from a remake of the Godfather. Read the rest of this article »
Steve Jobs Asked to Deliver CES 2010 Keynote
Update: Charny has updated his article now saying it is “not clear” if Jobs will attend. In addition Ryan Block, who was apparently there with Shaprio when he was talking about this, completely refutes the idea that Jobs was ever even asked to deliver the keynote.
He’s probably the best keynote presenter in the history of history.Probably. And now Steve Jobs has been asked to present the opening keynote at next year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Nevada.
A report yesterday from the Wall Street Journal’s Ben Charny reveals that Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) chief executive Gary Shapiro asked Jobs to deliver the keynote at next year’s show. The CES is the world’s biggest consumer electronics trade show. Apple is a confirmed attendee for 2010, marking the first time it has attended the event since the trade show began thirty-odd years ago. Read the rest of this article »
Freeverse Joins ngmoco’s Plus+ Social Gaming Network
ngmoco recently introduced a social gaming platform that was billed as the iPhone’s Xbox Live equivalent. Plus+ is meant to track players’ in-game achievements, rankings, and allow them to challenge one another to compete in asynchronous multiplayer battles. It’s a well-designed system, and it works well, but since only ngmoco titles are supported, it feels a little limited.
All of that changes today, as another independent game maker has announced a partnership with ngmoco to include Plus+ features in its titles, as well. Freeverse, maker of Flick Fishing, Moto Chaser, and Grunts, among many others, is the company in question, and Plus+ support has been officially unveiled as coming to Flick Fishing, and to the upcoming space conquest and trading game Warp Gate. While no other games are officially on the Plus+ list as of yet, it’s likely more will quickly follow pending the success of the initial launch.Read the rest of this article »
Apple Adds 2TB Time Capsule, Now Available
Without much fanfare, and over a day later than it usually announces products, Apple has released a new version of its integrated network storage/Wi-Fi router today.
The new Time Capsule sports an industry pace-keeping 2TB of hard drive space, and can be yours for a mere $499. Not bad, considering your average external USB 2TB drive will cost you around $250 at the low end, and an Airport Extreme on its own is $199. Read the rest of this article »
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