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iPhone announcement coverage

October 4, 2011 / Staff

RandomMaccess will be covering the Apple iPhone announcement as it happens. Check back here starting at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern Time. And look for RandomMaccess Publisher Chuck La Tournous on a special MacJury session reviewing and analyzing the announcements.

Among the anticipated (OK, rumored) enhancements we’ve seen bouncing around the web: Voice Assistant, Dual Core processor, 8 megapixel camera, “teardrop shape,” larger screen, 4S/5 or both, iPod touch 3G, App rentals…did we miss any? Read on to see what’s really announced.

Click here for the live coverage page.

The Loop unveils new design, membership plan

September 1, 2011 / Staff

Our good friends Jim Dalrymple and Peter Cohen announced a new, less cluttered and almost ad-free redesign of their popular Mac, tech (and occasional RIM-bashing) news site, The Loop. Also new is a membership plan for an enhanced RSS newsfeed: $3/month or $36/year.

Jim writes:

In April, I started looking at the site the way a reader would see it, not the way the owner would see it. To be blunt, I didn’t like what I saw and knew that something needed to change.

The site looked cluttered, and it was hard for a reader to enjoy a story. This is the last thing I wanted for The Loop.

So, we spent the last few months coming up with a solution that would be better for the reader, better for our sponsors, and still allow us to make a living.

Jim and Peter are two of my favorite tech journalists, and two of the few worthy of the name. Jim’s contacts within the industry in general and Apple in particular are especially impressive.

The site looks great and its content is always worth a read. I wish Jim and Peter much success in this new phase of The Loop’s run.

MacObserver post: ‘Ruminations on Apple’s second “Post-Jobs” Era’

August 26, 2011 / Staff

“Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?” Thirty-some years after he asked the question it’s clear Steve Jobs didn’t just change it once, but several times: computing, music, movies, mobile phones and now the tablet are all vastly different because of one adopted kid from the orchards of Silicon Valley. Now that Jobs is stepping down from his role as CEO of Apple, Contributing Editor Chuck La Tournous posits that Apple’s success in a “post-Jobs” era all comes down to one question: Is Steve Jobs Apple or has Apple suceeded in becoming Steve Jobs?

‘Unfortunately, that day has come:’ Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO

August 24, 2011 / Staff

In a letter the the company’s board of directors and the “Apple Community,” Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak in 1976:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Following his recommendation, the company announced that Tim Cook had been named CEO and would have a seat on the board and that Jobs had been named chairman.

To quote from my own post on Twitter et al: “Thanks for everything, Steve — you really did change the world. Here’s wishing you a long tenure as Chairman of the Board.”

What was that about innovation?

July 19, 2011 / Staff

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, on the lawsuits being brought against the company over claims its Android phones infringe on patents, including Apple’s:

The big news in the past year has been the explosion of Google Android handsets and this means our competitors are responding. Because they are not responding with innovation, they’re responding with lawsuits. We have not done anything wrong and these lawsuits are just inspired by our success.

Hmm. If the lawsuits are inspired by Google’s success, I wonder what’s inspiring Google. Here’s what Android phones looked like before the iPhone:

Photo Credit: Gizmodo

Here’s what Android phones looked like after the iPhone:

Photo Credit: Engadget

Now let’s talk about who lacks innovation. (via Andrew Warner.)

Wall Street Journal: Borders to go out of business

July 18, 2011 / Staff

The Wall Street Journal reports that bookseller Borders is giving up on its attempt to restructure under bankruptcy and will liquidate the remainder of its stores, as early as September.

A few years ago I would have thought it would be Barnes & Noble, and not Borders that would be going under. But B&N had the vision (and the willingness to take the risk) to expand into digital and develop the Nook, when much of the industry thought it was too little, too late. It may still be ultimately, but they’ve outlasted a major competitor.

Stagnate and die. Stagnate and die. (via Daring Fireball.)

Comic Life for iPad half price for 48 hours

July 14, 2011 / Staff

From a press release by Plasq:

Our boss is away on vacation — so we’ve decided to go crazy! Starting at 12:00 am on July 15 and lasting until 12:00 am July 17th Comic Life for iPad will only cost USD $3.99! That’s right, for 48 hours you can get 50% off Comic Life for iPad at the iTunes App Store!

The perception of pricing on mobile apps (and iOS apps in particular) continues to fascinate me. At $8, I perceived Comic Life (a very well done program) as too expensive for me. At $4, though, I’ll probably grab it. What I still haven’t figured out why that’s the case. I think it’s less to do with the idea that mobile apps aren’t as sophisticated as desktop apps — there are certainly enough examples to disprove that idea. I think it’s more of a volume thing. I have dozens of apps (maybe) on my Mac; I have hundreds (easily) on my iOS devices.

There’s a lot of very interesting psychology going on here — I hope someone with more time that I have writes a thesis on it one of these days.

Gesture controlled helicopter via Kinect

July 5, 2011 / Staff

This is very cool. A college student’s project involves rigging a Kinect to a radio-controlled helicopter. The result? Controlling the copter by hand movements, which as it turns out, creates something that looks like it came straight out of Harry Potter.

Indistinguishable from magic indeed. (via CrunchGear)

AmpliTube iRig puts a recording studio in your pocket

June 27, 2011 / Staff

I’ve been playing bass guitar since I was 12, and while I’ve always loved the playing music side of playing music, I’ve never been much on the lugging-equipment-around aspect. I deplored it so much, in fact, that I quit the wedding band business for a time, only coming back when the band agreed to hire roadies to take care of our gear for us. Even breaking out the practice amp was a chore I avoided, which meant that I didn’t rehearse nearly as much as I suppose I should have.

The end is near: app to track asteroid near-collision is half-price today only