Jul 23

Personal Audio sues Apple again, targets iPhone 4, iPad 2 and newer iPods

Posted in: Apple, ipad 2, Ipad2, iPhone, ipod, lawsuit, legal, patent, Today's Chili
Thought the Personal Audio / Apple brouhaha was over? Think again, because everyone’s favorite patent licensing company is back, hitting Cupertino with another suit. You’ll recall an earlier ruling by a federal jury in Eastern Texas found the CE maker guilty of infringing upon PA’s playlist-related IP with an assortment of older iPods. This new filing alleges that newer Apple devices, like the iPhone 4, iPad 2 and modern day iPods — which weren’t part of the original 2009 case — also violate that same IP, in a move we’d surmise serves to pad Personal Audio’s coffers. Not like Apple’s apt to feel the pinch should Personal Audio snag another victory, but hey….

Personal Audio sues Apple again, targets iPhone 4, iPad 2 and newer iPods originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jul 2011 01:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BGR  |  sourceFOSS Patents  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 23

Apple Store coming to Grand Central Terminal, travel disruptions guaranteed for next iPhone launch

Posted in: Apple, business, industry, new-york, retail, Today's Chili, us, usa

It’s one thing for Fifth Ave. to get clogged up each time a new iPhone or iPad gets released, but Grand Central Terminal? Avid NYC commuters best plan their vacation days accordingly, as one of the city’s biggest transit hubs is about to get a heck of a lot more busy — and not because White Plains is the new Southampton. The New York Post is reporting that Apple and the MTA have agreed on a decade-long deal that’ll see a 23,000-square foot Apple Store take the place of Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant, with Cupertino’s rent to be set at $800,000 per year (rising to $1 million after ten years pass). For those curious, that’s around $500,000 more than the eatery before it, and Apple’s responsible for refurbishing the space. That cacophony of voices you hear? Touristy cheers drowning out local jeers.

Apple Store coming to Grand Central Terminal, travel disruptions guaranteed for next iPhone launch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceNew York Post  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 23

Mac OS X Lion: what’s broken (or working) for you?

Posted in: Apple, Mac, mac os x, MacOsX, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Software, Today's Chili

Funny — we (almost) asked this same exact question in August of 2009, just after Snow Leopard had been loosed on the unsuspecting public. But as fate seems to have it, each and every OS overhaul brings gobs of issues, and regardless of how hard the problem finders in Cupertino work, there’s simply too many unchecked variables to squash each and every bug prior to release. And with that, we present to you just a handful of the biggest quirks that have cropped up since a cool million of you downloaded Lion. For one, you can kiss Rosetta support goodbye, and secondly, it seems as if 10.7 is seriously cramping third-party NAS support for Time Machine. We’ve also had numerous reports from folks that are having issues dragging application installs to their Applications folder, not to mention an uptick in Guest account crashes. Of course, there’s also the whole “I can’t get my free update to Lion!” thing, busted Windows partitions and a veritable plethora of dilemmas when looking at Pro Tools and Cubase. Hit the links below to join the misery party, or feel free to start your own in comments below. Oh, and if you’re furious that Lion and its incompatibilities have ruined your livelihood… well, welcome to the downside of early adoption. Here’s hoping a raft of updates cures whatever’s ailing you in the days and weeks to come.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

View Poll

Mac OS X Lion: what’s broken (or working) for you? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jul 2011 13:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceApple Forums (1), (2), CNET, Sound on Sound  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 22

Charlie Miller finds MacBook battery security hole, plans to fill with Caulkgun

Posted in: Apple, firmware, hack, laptop, macbook, macbook air, macbook pro, MacbookAir, MacbookPro, security, software update, SoftwareUpdate, Today's Chili

Those batteries have probably met a worse fate than the white MacBook line they came from. According to Forbes, Charlie Miller’s managed to render seven of them useless after gaining total access to their micro-controllers’ firmware via a security hole. Evidently, the Li-ion packs for the line of lappies — including Airs and Pros — are accessible with two passwords he dug up from an ’09 software update. Chuck mentions that someone could “use them to do something really bad,” including faulting charge-levels and thermal read-outs to possibly even making them explode. He also thinks hard-to-spot malware could be installed directly within the battery, repeatedly infecting a computer unless removed. Come August, he’ll reportedly be detailing the vulnerability at the Black Hat security conference along with a fix he’s dubbed Caulkgun, which only has the mild side-effect of locking-out updates by Apple. Worth being safe these days, though. Right? Full story in the links below.

Charlie Miller finds MacBook battery security hole, plans to fill with Caulkgun originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceForbes  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 22

Apple expands iOS and Mac App Store into 33 new territories, Tuvalu strangely absent

Posted in: Apple, AppStore, ipad, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, Mac, mac os x, MacOsX, Today's Chili

Brought that shiny new unlocked iPhone 4 home to Tanzania, only have your first App Store experience end in tears? We certainly sympathize, and apparently Apple’s heard your plea. Interested developers can now head on over to the iTunes Connect portal, where they’ll tick some new checkboxes and soon be on their way, peddling their wares to an additional 33 locales — but not the home of .tv, unfortunately. Curious if your nation made the cut? Hop on past the break and see if Cupertino thinks you’re worthy.

Continue reading Apple expands iOS and Mac App Store into 33 new territories, Tuvalu strangely absent

Apple expands iOS and Mac App Store into 33 new territories, Tuvalu strangely absent originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 22

Engadget Podcast 249 – 07.22.2011

Posted in: Apple, earnings, Google, macbook, MacbookAir, motorola, nokia, os x, OsX, podcast, podcasts, sony, thunderbolt, Today's Chili

Here at Engadget, and here on the Engadget Podcast in particular, we’re all about customer service. OK, maybe not all about customer service, but on this episode we’ve dedicated twenty percent of our breath to answering your questions! If you happen to enjoy a bunch of Apple news too — which we heard you do you — then we’re at about fifty percent on-track to serving you completely. If you like Apple news, having your questions answered, and a healthy dose of other up-to-the-minute information in the spacecraft, e-reader, and digital camera realms…well, let’s just say we got this.

Host: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Guests: Dana Wollman
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Paradise City

02:44 – Apple Mac OS X Lion available now in the App Store
06:00 – Apple refreshes MacBook Air with Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt, and backlit keyboards
08:35 – Apple OS X Lion (10.7) review
17:32 – The MacBook drops from Apple’s Store (update: confirmed)
22:37 – Apple updates Mac mini: Core i5 and i7, Thunderbolt, AMD Radeon HD, no SuperDrive
22:55 – Apple rolls out 27-inch Thunderbolt Display with FaceTime HD camera, built-in speakers
23:45 – Apple’s Q3 earnings exceed estimates: $28.57 billion revenue, $7.31 billion profit, 20 million iPhones sold
25:13 – Apple outpaces Nokia in global smartphone shipments
28:00 – Nokia Q2 2011: ‘clearly disappointing’ results as challenges prove ‘greater than expected’
32:35 – Motorola Droid 3 review
37:35 – Sony Alpha NEX-C3 review
42:55 – iRiver Story HD review
49:51 – Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down in Florida, won’t be going back up again
50:44 – Google ‘winding down’ Labs, likely due to meddling older sister
51:40 – Listener questions

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Engadget Podcast 249 – 07.22.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 22

iOS 5 beta 4 released, we start the next jailbreak timer (update: time’s up!)

Posted in: Apple, breaking news, ios, ios 5, Ios5, Today's Chili

Under eight hours. That was the time it took to jailbreak beta 3 of iOS 5, which dropped back on July 11th and was unleashed later that day. Now beta 4 is out and, well, our stopwatches are ticking. A new beta of iTunes has also been included, though looking through the change log there’s nothing particularly amazing about this release. Among other minutia, the Twitter app will now prompt you if it’s unable to identify your location before you exit it, MobileMe local contacts are deleted instead of being merged, and iCloud file names are now case sensitive. Yes, we can hear you CamelCase lovers cheering.

Interestingly, this is the first version of iOS5 that is said to be able to be applied OTA — though that particular option comes with the warning that all photos will be deleted should you give it a try. We’re guessing that “feature” will not be present in the final release candidate, but we could be wrong. Would certainly make for a fun Easter egg…

Update: We’re actually having issues applying this on our many and myriad devices, and we’re seeing others reporting the same. We’ll keep trying, but let us know how you’re getting on in comments.

Update 2: Looks like we got it. We had to go back to 4.3.4 and then we were able to move up to beta 4. Maybe that’ll work for you. Maybe you’ll be still stuck in the doldrums of beta 3. Either way, you’re still okay by our book.

Update 3: Looks like the jailbreak is out in full force. Not too shabby, eh?

iOS 5 beta 4 released, we start the next jailbreak timer (update: time’s up!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceApple  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 22

Comscore: Android’s UK market share explodes as Apple overtakes Symbian

Posted in: Android, Apple, europe, Google, market share, marketshare, nokia, smartphone, Smartphones, symbian, Today's Chili, uk

Look at the chart above and you’ll see two things happening. First, Apple has overtaken Symbian to become the top smartphone platform in the UK (with a 27 percent market share). And secondly, Android has grown 634 percent year-over-year to shoot into second place, with less than half a percentage point keeping it from the top spot (other reports already place it ahead). As you might expect, much of that growth isn’t coming from folks switching from one smartphone to the other, but from new smartphone users — Comscore found that 42 percent of all mobile users in the UK used a smartphone in May of this year, compared to just 27 percent a year ago. Of course, that also means that 58 percent of UK cellphone users are still potential smartphone users (to say nothing of those that still don’t have a cellphone at all), so there’s certainly still plenty up for grabs for all involved.

Comscore: Android’s UK market share explodes as Apple overtakes Symbian originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceComscore Data Mine  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 22

Did Google’s Photovine sprout from Piictu?

Posted in: app, Apple, Google, ios, iPhone, IphoneApp, social networking, SocialNetworking, Today's Chili, video


“Plant a photo, watch it grow.” Photovine’s tagline is just as catchy as the concept behind its launch — a mobile app-based picture sharing service that groups images together using common photo-driven themes. These groupings, called vines, let you connect with strangers while sharing photos of everyday items that you wouldn’t otherwise have any interest in photographing. You can have a vine focused on Swingline staplers, or magazine covers, or bottle caps. But as clever as this concept may seem, it’s difficult to ignore Piictu, which budded several months before the Google app. It’s certainly not uncommon for duplicate services to sprout, all based on the same underlying concept. But Photovine doesn’t stop there — the app’s design is also remarkably similar to Piictu, down to page layouts and even main category tabs. For Piictu’s “Following” tab, Photovine has “Watching.” Piictu’s “Latest” section is matched with “Fresh,” and Photovine didn’t even bother searching for a synonym for “Popular,” which you’ll find in both apps. Jump past the break for a deeper look, along with statements from the makers of both apps.

Continue reading Did Google’s Photovine sprout from Piictu?

Did Google’s Photovine sprout from Piictu? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePiictu (App Store), Photovine (App Store)  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 22

T-Mobile hawks Micro SIMs for ‘free’, hopes your iPhone likes EDGE data

Posted in: Apple, free, ipad, ipad 2, Ipad2, TMobile, Today's Chili

Been wanting to stick it to Ma Bell, but have found yourself shackled by those pesky micro SIMs and your inexplicable fear of all things pointy? If you’re wielding an unlocked device with a diminutive slot, T-Mobile’s giving away the pint-sized cards gratis — provided you’re also willing to sign your precious life away on contract. It’s a shameless play for Cupertino’s sweetheart, sure, and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the carrier try to ship us some teensy SIMs. Making the plunge? Enjoy your rebellious ways while they last — we hear Little Magenta’s assimilation by the borg isn’t too far off.

T-Mobile hawks Micro SIMs for ‘free’, hopes your iPhone likes EDGE data originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Scoop  |  sourceT-Mobile  | Email this | Comments

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