2013-11-29

Apple widens lead over Android in worldwide ad impression share, now twice as large

Apple widens lead over Android in worldwide ad impression share, now twice as large - For the third quarter of 2013, worldwide ad impressions recorded from devices running Apple's iOS doubled those from rival Android.


In the early days of Mac, when people were "Thinking Different", the Apple platform was not considered best at blasting ads into consumers faces.

I think that was the job of big brother.

2013-11-27

Silicon Valley Isn't a Meritocracy. And It's Dangerous to Hero-Worship Entrepreneurs | Wired Opinion | Wired.com

Silicon Valley Isn't a Meritocracy. And It's Dangerous to Hero-Worship Entrepreneurs | Wired Opinion | Wired.com - But if the tech scene is really a meritocracy, why are so many of its key players, from Mark Zuckerberg to Steve Jobs, white men? If entrepreneurs are born, not made, why are there so many programs attempting to create entrepreneurs? If tech is truly game-changing, why are old-fashioned capitalism and the commodification of personal information never truly questioned?


Sili is the new Hollywood.

2013-11-26

Apple patents Lytro-like refocusable camera suitable for iPhone

Apple patents Lytro-like refocusable camera suitable for iPhone - The patent describes a plenoptic camera, otherwise known as a "light-field camera," that uses a microlens array in the form of an adaptor rather than a fixed and integrated component as seen on what is arguably the most famous consumer light field camera, the Lytro.


It's Lytro-like. How unfortunate for Lytro.

2013-11-24

Amazon's Black Friday deals kick off today, with new bargains every 10 minutes throughout the week

Amazon's Black Friday deals kick off today, with new bargains every 10 minutes throughout the week - Amazon is getting a head start on the competition by launching its Black Friday deals a full five days early, promising new bargains every 10 minutes throughout the week.


Check out the price of the Galaxy S3.

This social video app is more popular than Facebook among Japanese teens | VentureBeat

This social video app is more popular than Facebook among Japanese teens | VentureBeat - Facebook started in colleges. Japanese live video startup TwitCasting said yesterday that it owns 50 percent of the college market in Japan — and it’s coming here.


Big in Japan!

2013-11-22

Rumor: Apple field testing 'iPhone 6' with 4.9-inch display

Rumor: Apple field testing 'iPhone 6' with 4.9-inch display - Apple has begun field trials of a next-generation iPhone sporting a larger, 4.9-inch display, according to new information from one popular tech-focused Far East website.


I don't know why you'd need a mockup when the larger display size was clearly pictured behind Craig Federighi at the iPhone 5s rollout.

2013-11-20

Apple updates iMovie for Mac with support for older video cards

Apple updates iMovie for Mac with support for older video cards - Apple on Wednesday released an update to its consumer-level video editing and management software iMovie for Mac, adding support for machines running legacy video cards.


Good news for people who use Macs. As opposed to people who sell Macs.

2013-11-18

Insights from an app-developer veteran: Think simple, low-risk | VentureBeat

Insights from an app-developer veteran: Think simple, low-risk | VentureBeat - Rob Jonson is a self-taught programmer who has been releasing apps under the Hobbyist name for 10 years. Rob makes his living selling apps (including the best selling VLC Remote and VLC Streamer) direct to customers via app stores.


Weird and small and specific. Yay!

NASA to launch robotic explorer to Mars | Fox News

NASA to launch robotic explorer to Mars | Fox News - NASA is sending Maven to Mars to study its upper atmosphere. Scientists want to know why Mars went from being warm and wet during its first billion years, to the cold and dry place it is today.


To infinity and beyond! Go Buzz!

2013-11-11

Thanks to iPhone, Japan becomes Apple's hottest market

Thanks to iPhone, Japan becomes Apple's hottest market - With an estimated 37 percent of the smartphone market and 50 percent of the tablet market, Apple has seen explosive growth in Japan.


The Japanese love American design and Jazz.

2013-11-07

Amazon Studios Upload - 10.8.5 - Safari - Firefox - Mac

After several hours of hair-pulling-out activity, I was able to successfully upload a video to Amazon Studios using Firefox 25.0 (how's that for a version number) and Java 7 Release 45.

Here are some combinations THAT DO NOT WORK:

  • Safari and 10.8.5
  • Safari and 10.6.8
  • Firefox and 10.6.8

In theory, the Safari upload should work, but the Java plug-in is unable to enumerate the list of movie files in my home folder (where it has read permissions).


Hopefully this will save many directors hours of angst!

2013-11-06

In "Hatching Twitter," a Billion-Dollar Company That Almost Wasn't - Mike Isaac - Social - AllThingsD

In "Hatching Twitter," a Billion-Dollar Company That Almost Wasn't - Mike Isaac - Social - AllThingsD - Twitter’s founders may indeed have tapped into one of the most pervasive new forms of communication in the past century


Simplicity and utility are sometimes more compelling than a service which bloats itself into uselessness. The Google home page is a prime example.

2013-11-02

Review: Apple's late-2013 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display

Review: Apple's late-2013 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display - Users who want more power from their portable machine in the form of a discrete GPU will be forced to upgrade to Apple's 15-inch model, and even then it's not a standard inclusion.


The sad news is that now the iPad has a better GPU than the MacBook Pro. Pro? I mean in relative terms.

Apple-backed patent consortium sues Google, major Android manufacturers

Apple-backed patent consortium sues Google, major Android manufacturers - It is widely believed that thanks to the agreements, Microsoft makes more money each year from Android than Google does.


And if they wanted to, they could join the Android consortium, which is an open standard. If the telephone switching system wasn't an open standard, you would need an iPhone to make a call to another iPhone.