U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace in Delivering Broadband Service - NYTimes.com
"San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States, a progressive and economically vibrant metropolis of 1.4 million people sprawled across south-central Texas. But the speed of its Internet service is no match for the Latvian capital, Riga, a city of 700,000 on the Baltic Sea."
Review - Apple’s New Mac Pro Computer - NYTimes.com
"It’s Apple’s top-of-the-line desktop computer, aimed at, as the name implies, the creative professionals who have always relied on Macs for video, graphics, music and photo manipulation. It makes everything around it look vaguely slower. It also makes me want to increase my homeowner’s insurance, in case of a break-in. The Mac Pro is daring, extravagant and elite — or maybe it’s just for the elite."
User Upgradeable Everything: The New Mac Pro Is The Most Future Proof Mac Ever | Cult of Mac
"There was a time when one of the few parts of your Mac that you could upgrade was the CPU, but recently, Apple has phased out CPU upgradeability in favor of slimmer form factors with soldered-in silicon chips.
One surprising exception to Apple’s stance against user upgradeability, however, is the 2013 Mac Pro, which is now confirmed to have a processor that can be upgraded by the user."
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/260048/user-upgradeable-everything-new-mac-pro-future-proof-mac-ever/#SiFxgusqGXyXGM7k.99
Pondering the ever-bright future for Chrome OS
I think it’s going to take many years to happen, but I firmly believe Microsoft Windows will keep losing ground as more and more of what we do is Internet-based. Families that have been all-Microsoft will experiment using a cheaper Chromebook. Android customers will enjoy the natural integration of Google’s services on these products. In time, this will eat into Microsoft’s operating system share. That’s my working thesis anyway.
Researchers report security flaw in Samsung's Galaxy S4 | Mobile - CNET News
An Israeli security team says a vulnerability in Samsung's Knox security platform enables malicious software to track e-mails and record data communications.
Top 10 predictions for the mobile market in 2014 | Mobile - CNET News
If you're in the market for a better value for your wireless plan, 2014 should be a good year for you. AT&T recently announced a new Mobile Share plan that offers an incentive to customers who use an older phone or bring their own unlocked device to the network. It's a plan similar to one that T-Mobile started offering in March.
Under the AT&T plan, consumers can save $15 a month on every smartphone connected to their plan if they don't take a device subsidy and sign a two-year contract. This plan and T-Mobile's plan, which also offers a discount on monthly service if you already own your phone, is a positive step for consumers and shows that some major operators will be aggressively fighting for consumers looking for a better value on their wireless plans.
The iPhone forced Google to start over … or not, depending who you believe
"A pithy quote from a Google engineer working on Android on the day the iPhone was launched has been doing the rounds today. As a consumer I was blown away. I wanted one immediately. But as a Google engineer, I thought ‘We’re going to have to start over. The quote, attributed to Google engineer Chris […]"
“Apple’s new Mac Pro is a stunningly fresh take on the desktop computer. But it’s probably not for you,” Dan Ackerman reports for CNET. “It breaks the decades-long tradition of putting desktop computer components in a rectangular box, whether a massive full tower of the kind that dominated offices and dens for many years, or a small cube such as Apple’s own Mac Mini.”
Halley's Comet May Be Linked to Famine 1,500 Years Ago | Space.com
"A piece of the famous Halley's comet likely slammed into Earth in A.D. 536, blasting so much dust into the atmosphere that the planet cooled considerably, a new study suggests. This dramatic climate shift is linked to drought and famine around the world, which may have made humanity more susceptible to "Justinian's plague" in A.D. 541-542 — the first recorded emergence of the Black Death in Europe."
Netflix Is the Breakthrough Brand of 2013
Two years ago, Netflix was all but written off for dead.
Netflix decided to split its DVD rentals and online streaming offerings in July 2011, effectively hiking the price by 60% for those accustomed to getting both. Two months later, Netflix doubled down on unpopular moves by announcing plans to split its DVD-by-mail service into a separate business that would be called Qwikster.
Customers took to social media to protest. The stock lost two-thirds of its value in a three-month period. Reed Hastings, the company's CEO, was declared the worst chief executive of the year by the New York Times and TheStreet.
See also: Netflix Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself
It was an abrupt and shocking turnaround for a company that had long been viewed as one of the savviest in the tech industry, and doubts about the company lingered long after it killed off Qwikster, apologized and started to grow its subscriber base again.
The Birth of the iPhone — Book Excerpts — Medium
Excerpt from “Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products”
lkahneylkahney in Book Excerpts
Despite the tight pricing, the Acer C720 Chromebook has demonstrated that it's best effort to date in this space. Although we still wish there was some way to have a better screen and touchpad, Acer has packed a great deal of performance and battery life into a solid 11-inch form factor that costs the exact same as the underpowered competition. Toss in the fact that you can pick up a C720 with 2GB of RAM for $199 if you're price-sensitive, or bump up to $299 if you want a touchscreen experience, and we definitely have a winner here.
If you've been looking into getting a Chromebook, whether as a primary or secondary machine, the Acer C720 needs to be at the top of your list. The experience on offer here is exactly what using a Chromebook should be like — solid, portable, fast and inexpensive.
Review: Acer and Haswell give Chrome OS the battery life it deserves | Ars Technica
I personally own and like this eleven inch Chromebook. It works well and is a significant improvement over last year's Acer and Samsung models.
Racism linked to infant mortality, learning disabilities » State & National News » The Stanly News and Press (Albemarle, NC)
"A pair of Emory University studies released this year have connected the large share of African-American children born before term with the biologically detectable effects of stress created in women's bodies after decades of dealing with American racism. The studies' findings don't end there.
Racism, and its ability to increase the odds that a pregnant mother will deliver her child early, can kill. There is also evidence that racism can alter the capacity for a child to learn and distorts lives in ways that can reproduce inequality, poverty and long-term disadvantage, the studies found.
"Racism is an incredibly powerful force," said Elizabeth Corwin, dean of research at Emory University's Woodruff School of Nursing,"
- See more at: http://www.thesnaponline.com/statenews/x1956132289/Racism-linked-to-infant-mortality-learning-disabilities#sthash.SwegJKvR.dpuf
President Obama Meeting With Tim Cook And Other Leaders Tomorrow To Talk Tech | Cult of Mac
"President Obama Meeting With Tim Cook And Other Leaders Tomorrow To Talk Tech.
The White House has announced that President Obama is scheduled to meet with a number of top-level tech executives in the industry tomorrow, including Apple’s Tim Cook. Topics of discussion will be the recent controversy surrounding the NSA’s phone surveillance, HealthCare.Gov, and ways the government can work with tech companies to grow the economy.
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/258432/president-obama-meeting-tim-cook-tech-leaders-tomorrow/#DgcJkgTF9oOA16ws.99
NSA divided over possible amnesty deal for Snowden | Politics and Law - CNET News
"Whether return of that cache is worth a deal with Snowden is a contentious subject within the NSA. Rick Ledgett, who runs the NSA task force assessing the damage on the Snowden leaks, told CBS' news program "60 Minutes" during a segment aired Sunday (see below) that an amnesty deal is "worth having a conversation about. I would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured, and my bar for those assurances would be very high. It would be more than just an assertion on his part." (Disclosure: CBS is the parent company of CNET.)"
New York City Launches Nation's Largest Free Public Wi-Fi Network
"In a new step to improve the city's Internet access, especially in lower income areas, New York City has announced the launch of what will be the nation's biggest Wi-Fi network, which will blanket 95 blocks of Harlem."
Snowden says tech capabilities mustn't trump laws and values | Politics and Law - CNET News
"We've learned that we've allowed technological capabilities to dictate policies and practices, rather than ensuring that our laws and values guide our technological capabilities."
That's the word from Edward Snowden, who sent a statement to Foreign Policy Wednesday night in lieu of attending the magazine's reception for those named to its "Leading Global Thinkers of 2013" list.
Google Glass wearer challenges distracted driving charge | Politics and Law - CNET News
"Is Cecilia Abadie guilty of distracted driving for wearing Google Glass behind the wheel? She says no."
Light transmitted and partially absorbed - CNET News
"Using the Hubble Space Telescope's powerful Wide Field Camera 3, which is capable of peering at exoplanets trillions of miles away, two teams of scientists have found faint signatures of water in the atmospheres of five distant planets.
The strengths of the water signatures varied on the five planets WASP-17b, HD209458b, WASP-12b, WASP-19b, and XO-1b. Each orbit a star, allowing for observation. WASP-17b and HD209458b had the strongest signals, but the readings from the other three planets -- WASP-12b, WASP-19b and XO-1b -- also are consistent with evidence of water."
Amazon: In 4-5 Years, We Will Start Delivering iPhones & iPads Using Robotic Drones | Cult of Mac
"Even though Amazon has been working on drone delivery for a fair time, Bezos cautions that PrimeAir won’t debut until at least 2015, and even that’s unlikely. In fact, Bezos says that once you account for FAA approval, PrimeAir is probably four or five years out, and safety is a big concern: “This thing can’t land on someone’s head,” says Bezos.
Can you imagine ordering a new iPad and having a robot deliver it to you 30 minutes later? Welcome to the 21st Century to come, my friends."
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/256448/amazon-in-4-5-years-we-will-start-delivering-iphones-ipads-using-robotic-drones/#bWVqJQaICIBmW1JA.99
iPad Is The Big Winner Of Black Friday | Cult of Mac
" iPad Is The Big Winner Of Black Friday
Now, where is that 100-pound bag of dog food?
The euphoria of Black Friday is over, and like the comedown after any spend-heavy holiday it’s time to look at the receipts.
According to analytics firm InfoScout, the iPad Air and iPad mini were two of the day’s big winners.
InfoScout analzed 3,000 Target receipts and 5,000 Walmart ones to draw its conclusions: observing that the iPad Air 16GB, the iPad mini 16GB, and the iPad Air 32GB models were the three top sellers at Target, with price tags of $479, $299 and $599 respectively.
The sales of these iPads accounted for 8.2 percent, 7.5 percent and 2.4 percent of the overall sales at the chain — totaling 18.1 percent in all, which increases to 22 percent when factoring in other Apple products."
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/256382/ipad-is-the-big-winner-of-black-friday/#7qc4TS8I4xg4CDsg.99
Slowly but surely, Chromebooks are finding their niche | Android Central
"Today, Chrome OS hardly measures on any market share studies. But there are plenty of people talking about the potential for Chromebooks and even the "desktop" version Chromebox, which is sort of like the Mac Mini of the Chrome OS platform. I don’t think today’s market share numbers matter much. Some of the use cases are just so obvious that they speak for themselves. I think it paints a clear picture of falling market share for Microsoft while Google makes gains in the enterprise."
Steve Ballmer's replacement needs to make this phone call | Microsoft - CNET News
" For years, Ozzie tried to steer Microsoft into a post-PC future, predicting the emergence of Internet services and Internet devices.
But his prophecies fell Cassandra-like on deaf ears.
For those not familiar with his resume, Ozzie made a big mark with his invention of Notes, a 1990s-era collaborative groupware application that was revolutionary for the time. IBM later paid more than $3 billion to buy Lotus in order to get the program -- really big money in those days -- as well as to bring along Ozzie. Without Notes, Lou Gerstner would have never bothered with Lotus, which was getting clobbered in the market by -- you guessed it -- Microsoft."
US download speeds sluggish compared with other countries | Internet & Media - CNET News
"Does your Internet download speed seem painfully sloth-like? This could be a result of the country you live in. The US ranks a lowly 31st in the world's consumer download speeds."
Microsoft Takes On The iPad Yet Again With New Surface 2 Ads [Video] | Cult of Mac
In its two latest ads, Microsoft tries to convince us that the Surface 2 is better because it supports hand gestures and multiple user accounts.
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/255911/microsoft-takes-on-the-ipad-yet-again-with-new-surface-2-ads-video/#eo9uPuJVoLJOIIJr.99
"Canalys predicts that Apple's share of the tablet market will shrink further in 2014 under the continued onslaught of less expensive Android and Windows tablets. Apple's cheapest tablet is the original iPad mini, which is priced at $299 and still significantly more expensive than competing products like the $229 Nexus 7 from Google and the $229 Kindle Fire HDX from Amazon."
Can Intel turn Android into Windows? | Mobile - CNET News
" The reality is for the last decade we've been essentially 100 percent Microsoft on the client [but] we're starting to see in emerging markets...demands for Android.
A lot of Android apps were written for a phone...in portrait mode. A significant percentage don't even exist in landscape mode, so they can't scale to large screens, whether it's a notebook or an all-in-one. So, we're going to do a number of things here. We're going to scale Android to 64-bit. We're going to allow it to scale from Atom [processors] all the way to the high-end of the Core processor family. We're going...to enable it to deliver a great experience as we go into larger scale screens, allow mutli-windowing.
We don't yet have the ability to treat it as a full-on enterprise vPro client [so] there's a significant investment as we embrace Android."
Recommended read from Salon.com: Internet access won't fix inequality
"There’s a misconception that just because someone has Internet access, the digital divide," the gap between those with Internet access and those without, "has been eliminated,” charges Ortega, who heads a chapter of the digital literacy group One Million New Internet Users."
Want to see Aereo survive? This senate bill does too | Internet & Media - CNET News
If courts decide the streamer of over-the-air TV isn't breaching copyright, proposed legislation would keep hefty content fees out of Aereo's costs. It's one facet of a bill Sen. Jay Rockefeller says will make online video more competitive.
Twitter a news source? Not so much | Internet & Media - CNET News
A new Pew survey shows only 16 percent of US adults use Twitter and only 8 percent use the social network for news. But these users tend to be young, educated, and wealthy.
Nexus 5 Unboxings Reveal New KitKat Features, iCloud For Android | Cult of Android
Here are some of the most interesting findings:
KitKat boasts a new, complete backup solution that’s described as “iCloud for Android.” It offers up to 100GB of storage (though it’s unclear how much this costs), and it backs up everything from app data to saved games and settings.
Read more at http://www.cultofandroid.com/44053/googles-new-nexus-5-gets-unboxed-early-new-kitkat-features-revealed/#l011UDmTJMqH72Hs.99
OS X Mavericks: A Free OS Worth Paying For [REVIEW]
Even though Mavericks may be the start of a new naming convention, make no mistake, this doesn’t feel like the beginning of a new desktop era for Apple. If anything, the refinements and features feel ever-closer to their natural end points. This isn’t to say Mavericks feels old or outdated — it doesn’t — but it also doesn’t have the same kind of freshness and paradigm shifts that we saw with OS X 10.0 back in 2001.
Still, there are new features (Apple touts 200 of them on its website) and whether this is the beginning of the end or the beginning of something else, Mavericks feels every bit as realized as it should.
Why Apple's iPad Air raises the bar in tablet computing | TabTimes
Apple may be able to make them a bit more light and thin but we are hitting a point in tablet hardware where we need to expect and appreciate the improvements because pushing the bounds of innovation will not come every year and in fact it won't come even every few years.
Eric Schmidt: The Future of Magazines Is on Tablets
Eric Schmidt has seen the future of magazines, and it's on the tablet.
At a Magazine Publishers Association conference on Wednesday, the Google chairman took the stage with Wired editor-in-chief Scott Dadich to talk about the future — it's mobile — and how magazines fit into it. The latter isn't a subject he's devoted much thought to, Schmidt admitted, but he is confident that magazines' future is not in print, but on tablets.
Apple's new iPad pricing: A head scratcher or brilliant? | Apple - CNET News
You can spend anywhere from $299 to $929 to buy an iPad this year, but things get very muddled with a mix of old and new.
The Secrets of Online Money Laundering
Money laundering is increasingly becoming a cybercrime. Gone are the days when the bad guys would pop down to the casino and hope to convert their loot into a clean win on the roulette table. And less popular is the old scam of taking out an insurance policy and then redeeming it at a discount.
Instead, modern criminals are focusing on the Internet. And the opportunities for turning dirty money into a spotless shade of green are plentiful.
Evernote CEO on how company was saved at eleventh hour | Bootstrap - CNET News
At the annual Y Combinator startup school, Phil Libin details the most important lessons he's learned from his founding of three companies -- and how Evernote stepped back from the precipice of failure.
Google's Third Quarter Results and Other News You Need to Know
Google announced its Q3 results — the company brought in an impressive $14.9 billion in revenue, 12% more than the third quarter of 2012.
Amazon, HTC to develop line of smartphones, report says | Mobile - CNET News
The online retail titan is working with mobile-device maker HTC to produce smartphones, according to the Financial Times.
Rupert Murdoch calls for Google to be 'exposed' | Technically Incorrect - CNET News
Utter Stupidity
"So I am imagining Rupert Murdoch on Sunday night, slurping on a glass of fine, golden beer, seated in a red velvet smoking jacket.
Clutching his phone, filled with the kind of irritating news a boss often receives, he cast his frustrations to the wind. Or, rather to the Twitterati.
For Sunday night, News Corp.'s heart and soul offered: "'Please expose Eric Schmidt, Google' etc. Just wait!"
There is so little here, and yet so much. Firstly, what secrets can possibly be hidden by the always open government of Google? What dark insinuations are being proposed here?
Is it merely to do with the alleged theft of all the world's news? Or might there be something even more menacing and filled with acronyms such as NSA, LSD, or LOL?
And why single out Executive Chairman Schmidt? Why not Google's true self-driving force, Larry Page? Is there something of a personal nature that Murdoch would like exposed?"
HP gets serious about Android and Chrome | Mobile - CNET News
Hewlett-Packard saw the future this week, and that future has more and more Android and Chrome devices in it.
Why You Might Want Your Face in Google’s Ads | Cult of Android
Danny Sullivan wrote a nice FAQ on “shared endorsements.”
But in a nutshell, here’s what it’s all about. On November 11, Google will start adding names, Google+ profile pictures and partial comments of over-18 users in small thumbnail size to paid advertisements and in other contexts under specific conditions. First, the user pictured in the ad must have plus-oned, positively reviewed, shared, circled a brand’s Google+ page, commented on a brand’s Google+ page or posted about that product publicly. Second, the viewer of the ad must be in at least one Google+ circle of the person shown in the ad as an endorser.
Read more at http://www.cultofandroid.com/43112/why-you-might-want-your-face-in-googles-ads/#8Z672bAuEzWJmORv.99
Broadcasters petition Supreme Court in Aereo fight | Internet & Media - CNET News
Over-the-air television networks rankled by Aereo's service are asking the US Supreme Court to weigh in, saying courts have drawn conflicting conclusions and the service threatens the broadcast industry.
Apple vs. Samsung: The Secrets To Success | Mac360
One could easily argue that when it comes to premium mobile devices, Apple is Samsung’s research and development arm. I can almost picture Samsung’s R&D building as a colossal copying machine, which takes in Apple’s latest devices and spits out copies with the Samsung logo.
While Apple focuses on a limited line of products with a tightly integrated OS and ecosystem to create revenue and profits, Samsung splatters the market with dozens of devices in all shapes, sizes, colors, and capabilities, itself a somewhat profitable strategy for the technology conglomerate (they make washing machines and televisions, too).
Samsung’s early successes in the modern smartphone and tablet arena were nearly atomic level copies of Apple’s successful iPhone and iPad. That copycat gamble ranged from hardware to software to television commercials and brought about lawsuits, convictions, and fines, which have damaged Samsung’s already tattered public image as a company run by rulers without rules.
A Terrible, Tragic Game - NYTimes.com
That said, the speaker is wrong once again. This unfortunately is a game. It’s a game that he allowed himself to be pushed into playing and one he can find no easy way out of. It’s a game in which he thought the president would blink. But President Obama is staring straight ahead, wide-eyed like a long-haul trucker at 3 in the morning. This is a game in which the speaker cared more about keeping his job than about keeping the American government running, the people who work for it and those who depend on it.
It is most definitely a game, a terrible, tragic game that House Republicans are playing in the People’s House.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition: For Serious Users Only [REVIEW]
Bottom Line: The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is so impressive a slab of technology it's almost overwhelming, but accessing its most interesting features is too reliant on its S Pen stylus.
Google to ad makers: Code once, display everywhere | Internet & Media - CNET News
The days of Flash-based ads could be numbered, thanks to Google's new, free Web Designer tool to help ad makers build in HTML5.
BlackBerry's dying, Ballmer's crying. Apple won, right? | Technically Incorrect - CNET News
" It's been a week of sick feelings.
No, I'm not talking about staring at iOS 7 and feeling like releasing one's breakfast. I'm talking about BlackBerry and Microsoft.
BlackBerry admitted that it's lost a lot of money and it's struggling to survive. Microsoft, which recently admitted that it, too, had lost a lot of money, said goodbye to its CEO with a flashdance from him to the music from "Dirty Dancing."
In the case of both companies, they stared at what Apple was doing in phones and tablets and declared: "Ach, that'll never catch on."
Yet catch on it did. It was BlackBerry and Microsoft that didn't catch on, until it was far too late.
It all seems obvious now.
Humans are lazy. The easier you can make it for them to have all their information in their pockets, handbags and manbags, the more likely they are to like that."
Google's dilemma: A faster but fragmented Web? | Internet & Media - CNET News
A powerful new Google+ photo app embodies a sticky situation facing Web developers: embrace the Native Client tech for high-performance Web apps and risk sites that only work for Chrome users
Judge appears to back Google's defense of digital books project | Internet & Media - CNET News
A U.S. judge made comments Monday that suggest favor for Google's defense of its digital books project, which could hobble an authors group's effort to stop it.
The Authors Guild, which represents the interests of authors, says the project constitutes massive copyright infringement. Google, which has scanned more than 20 million books since forming partnerships with several major universities to digitize their research libraries in 2004, argues that the project is exempt under the "fair use" provision of copyright law because it shows only short "snippets" of text online.
I am operating system agnostic. Apple clearly makes the best laptops and has the best software developers for the desktop and laptop platforms. Apple also had the best hardware and software for mobile. Android clearly has caught up and passed Apple in some ways, especially value, in the mobile sphere. Android is more flexible than IOS. The Android share page is unequaled in IOS. Being a fan of a company is fine, but rather childish. They, the companies, are only a fan of your money. The game is about who can push the technological envelope to make you desire their products. That is why I sold my iPad 2 and bought a Nexus 10. That is why I have bought both generations of the Nexus 7 instead of an iPad Mini while using every generation to find iPod Touch devices with a hot spot and Jawbone headset as my phone. I started with a paid Skype in account and moved to a paid Magic Jack account. That saves me $1200 every two years over a regular smartphone plan from a cellular company. It is absolutely the best technology at the best price.
John H. Armwood
Microsoft adds 200GB storage option to SkyDrive | Microsoft - CNET News
The company unveiled the 200GB plan, which costs $100 a year, on the same day it launched its Surface 2 tablets.
Microsoft Surface 2 - Tablets - CNET Reviews
Overview User Reviews
202 CommentsFacebook514Twitter54Pinterest12More
CNET Editors' Take September 23, 2013 8:00 AM PDT
Microsoft's Surface tablet was supposed to usher in a new generation of Windows RT products, targeted to compete more with iOS and Android tablets than full-featured laptops. The lukewarm reception Windows RT received meant that we've seen very few RT products since, and the Surface tablet itself was outshone by the superior Surface Pro, a slightly heftier version that ran full Windows 8 with an Intel Core i5 CPU.
Hands on with the Microsoft Surface 2 (pictures)
1-2 of 12
Scroll Left
Scroll Right
Both halves of the Surface line have been refreshed just in time for the 2013 holiday season, but it's the Surface 2, still running Windows RT, that has undergone a more complete makeover.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
This updated Windows RT version of the Microsoft Surface features a slightly slimmer body, an updated 1.7GHz Nvidia Tegra 4 processor (as first reported by CNET), and a higher-resolution screen than the original Surface. Both the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 share the same 1,920x1,080-pixel-resolution screen now, and it's been color-tuned for greater accuracy. Surface 2 also has improved front and rear cameras (3.5MP front, 5.0MP rear) for Skype and other Webcam use.
While the Windows 8 Surface Pro 2 still comes in a slatelike black, the Windows RT Surface 2 is now a lighter color, more of a silver/magnesium (and the bodies of both are made of mostly magnesium).
Kamikaze Congress - NYTimes.com Delay and Default
Gail Collins: Knowing When to Worry (September 21, 2013)
Opinion Twitter Logo.
Connect With Us on
That is the House Republicans’ brilliant plan in their last-ditch effort to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act. It is a plan that threatens to grind the government to a halt and wreak havoc on the economy.
If they can’t take over Washington, they’ll shut it down. It’s their way or no way. All or nothing.
Behold! Jonathan Ive's Apple | Apple - CNET News
With iOS 7 and the iPhone 5C, Apple signals that the company belongs not just to CEO Tim Cook, but also to its world-famous head of design.
iOS 7 review: Radical redesign is more than skin-deep | Macworld
"
Design may be the watchword of iOS 7, but as Steve Jobs once noted in a sound bite destined to be repeated as long as history remembers him: “Design isn’t just how it looks. Design is how it works.” iOS had in some ways reached a plateau over the last six years, with successive updates reduced to picking off the increasingly sparse low-hanging fruit. So Apple has done more than just change the way iOS looks and feels. It has also reimagined the way iOS works."
Apple’s new iPhone lineup pricing and positioning – MacDailyNews - Welcome Home
MacDailyNews Take: Bzzt. Android is simply not going to go 64-bit and have a working biometric security system that the world of commerce will trust within the next 6-9 months. Ain’t gonna happen.
Evans writes, “When you only make a handful of products, all of your moves are carefully considered. All of them have an agenda, and all of them are intended to achieve something. In other words, I’m cautious of applying the word ‘just’ to anything Apple does. There’s generally a plan.”
“Apple did not spend the last 12 months running advertising for the iPhone 4S. That was an “old phone”, and it was a phone you bought if you wanted an iPhone 5 but couldn’t afford it. The 5C is different. It’s a new iPhone, and indeed I think it’s the main iPhone. The iPhone 5S is the high-end one for people who want the latest tech – the 5C is the one for normal people. The same money now buys you a cool new phone, not a discounted old one,” Evan writes. “If you spend all of your time looking at this space you can miss this point. You know that the iPhone 5c is mostly the same as the 5 – ‘just’ the 5 in a new case, more or less. But consumers neither know nor care. They don’t go into the shop and ask how new the chipset is – they look at the phone itself as a buying proposition.”
Read more at http://macdailynews.com/2013/09/17/apples-new-iphone-lineup-pricing-and-positioning/#vOx4Zku7OoPekU18.99
Magnepan's ultraskinny speakers make big, fat sound
The Super MMG system ($1,199) sounds very different from any box speaker I've ever tested in this price class. The sound is more open and spacious, and vocals are incredibly natural, more human, and real-sounding; that was consistent with every reasonably good recording I tried. Then there's the Super MMG's clarity; it's a vivid sound that draws you in. Rickie Lee Jones' new CD, "The Devil You Know," sounded more fully developed and natural with the Super MMG than any other speakers you're going to hear for the price. Magnepan doesn't refer to the DWM as a subwoofer, it's a woofer that extends the system's low bass down to around 40Hz, but any decent sub will reach a lot farther down. So if you crave really deep, pants-flapping, room-shaking bass the DWM won't cut it.
Netflix follows the pirates to decide which shows to pick up
In a separate interview with Tweakers, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the company is trying to position itself as an alternative to piracy sites that he said actually creates demand for his company's pay service.
"Certainly there's some torrenting that goes on, and that's true around the world, but some of that just creates the demand," said Hastings, who believes ease-of-use will help convert illegal downloaders. "Netflix is so much easier than torrenting. You don't have to deal with files, you don't have to download them and move them around. You just click and watch."
Hastings claimed in an interview in May that usage of the popular file-sharing protocol BitTorrent in Canada has declined significant since the streaming service's launch in that country three years ago.
Cult of Android MobileMicrosoft Is About to Get Scroogled | Cult of Android
Microsoft has a weird business model, and a fragile one.
Their model is: Get people to need Microsoft software, then sell that software at high prices.
Contrast this with Apple’s model, which is: Get people want your consumer electronics so bad they’ll pay a lot for it, then sell the hardware, software, services and content at high prices.
And finally, Google’s model: Get people use the Internet more by making it awesome and free, and make money when people use the Internet.
All three companies make operating systems for phones, tablets and desktop computers.
But which models will succeed in the future and which will fail?
I think it’s clear that Google’s model is most likely to succeed and Microsoft’s most likely to fail. And Apple will do just fine.
Here’s what’s happening.
