Purported iPhone 6 pictures show protruding camera, rounded edges | 9to5Mac

Purported iPhone 6 pictures show protruding camera, rounded edges | 9to5Mac - a considerably thinner profile than the current iPhone 5s.

Hard to imagine "considerably thinner than iPhone 5" as a descriptor for

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella points to Office for iPad’s early App Store success | 9to5Mac

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella points to Office for iPad’s early App Store success | 9to5Mac - Sure, you could argue that Microsoft’s shiny new Office apps for iPad are only ranking so well because they’re freemium apps since they’re listed for free but require a subscription to fully function, but they are taking up the top four spots nonetheless.

I must confess to being slightly wistful at the thought of Word for Windows source code being open sourced at the same time Office for iPad makes it's debut.

This is the room where the iPhone was born | 9to5Mac

This is the room where the iPhone was born | 9to5Mac - Ahead of the latest Apple-Samsung trial, Apple is sharing some of the details regarding the creation of the iPhone with the WSJ. As an aside, Apple also shared a shot of the secret windowless room where the original iPhone meetings took place. 

Such humble beginnings.

Apple engineer Greg Christie discusses the process of creating the original iPhone | 9to5Mac

Apple engineer Greg Christie discusses the process of creating the original iPhone | 9to5Mac - When the team found itself floundering and unable to settle on how the phone should work, Christie was told that his team could either figure it out over the next two weeks or be moved to another project so someone else could solve the problems.

Nothing like a good deadline to motivate!

How Scopely is building a hit factory, one mobile game at a time (interview) | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi

How Scopely is building a hit factory, one mobile game at a time (interview) | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi - But Scopely has figured out how to market and distribute the games that its developers are making, and the results are showing. The Los Angeles publisher of mobile games has grown revenues 300 percent in the past year and tripled its staff.

Neat article. Could be a winning model for mobile developers. They don't discuss the revenue split.

Non-poaching emails show Jobs was warring with Google long before iPhone was launched | 9to5Mac

Non-poaching emails show Jobs was warring with Google long before iPhone was launched | 9to5Mac - The damage had been done, however. Two years later Apple would unveil the iPhone, and just one year after that Google would go public with its own competitor. Jobs decided enough was enough, and a rivalry was born.

Since it's not possible to build an iPhone competitor in a year, it is safe to assume that Android only became an iPhone competitor when the iPhone emerged. Prior to that, it was a Symbian and Windows Phone competitor.

The Day Twitter Music Died - Digits - WSJ

The Day Twitter Music Died - Digits - WSJ - A big indication of the troubles facing the product was perhaps the departure of Kevin Thau, the business development executive who led the project. Thau left shortly after the #Music was launched to join Jelly, a company started by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.

Lack of commitment. Twitter itself took years to gain traction. Why would any other app be different? And why is it a separate app?

The future of Silicon Valley may lie in the mountains of Afghanistan | VentureBeat | Gadgets | by Richard Byrne Reilly

The future of Silicon Valley may lie in the mountains of Afghanistan | VentureBeat | Gadgets | by Richard Byrne Reilly - Sony Energy Devices Corp. invented the lithium-ion battery in 1994. It was hailed as a breakthrough, providing longer battery life and without the “memory effect” that gradually reduced the effective capacity of previous types of batteries.

You don't hear Sony blabbing about how they invented the lithium battery without getting due accolades from the fan-boys.

9to5Mac: Apple iPhone, Mac and iPad News Breaking All Day

9to5Mac: Apple iPhone, Mac and iPad News Breaking All Day - When you do genuine like-for-like comparisons with truly equivalent products, the Apple premium shrinks considerably.

While I think the reasoning behind this post is sound, I'm not sure the facts are correct. For example, the Google Nexus 7 has a very high build quality and retina-type display. It's about half the price of an iPad.

I have a lot of Apple devices. The Nexus is just as good as any of them.

9to5Mac: Apple iPhone, Mac and iPad News Breaking All Day

9to5Mac: Apple iPhone, Mac and iPad News Breaking All Day - The Wrap is reporting that David Fincher is eyeing Christian Bale as his ‘first choice’ to play Steve Jobs.

I enjoyed Jobs. Looking forward to this.

Medium launches on iOS as read-only app focused on content curation

Medium launches on iOS as read-only app focused on content curation - Unlike its Web counterpart, Medium for iOS is read-only, making it more of a consumption app than a tool for production. Instead, the app plies Medium's clean and easy-to-use user interface to mobile content aggregation and discovery.

If I am not mistaken, blogger, twitter and medium. Let's see if three's the charm.

Check out some more of the best pitches in our 30-second video pitch contest | VentureBeat | Business | by Kia Kokalitcheva

Check out some more of the best pitches in our 30-second video pitch contest | VentureBeat | Business | by Kia Kokalitcheva - VentureBeat’s 30-second pitch contest, Win30s, is back for another year. And we’ve extended the deadline, so there’s still time to enter for a shot at $100,000 in prizes and investment and of course, eternal glory and immortal awesomeness.

Yet another example of how Hollywood culture and Silicon Valley culture mirror each other. Let's put on a dog and pony show to beg for some money. And just as a script written from a vacuous pitch results in a crappy movie, so it is with blah-blah-blah from suits with biz degrees creating moronic dot coms -- wait, dot jay-ess-es.

Google launches Android Wear: A new project to bring Android to wearables like smartwatches | VentureBeat | Gadgets | by Harrison Weber

Google launches Android Wear: A new project to bring Android to wearables like smartwatches | VentureBeat | Gadgets | by Harrison Weber - Currently, Android Wear is only available in the form of a developer preview.

I love the Nexus platform. Except for those pesky in the background updates that throw off my practical use of the device.

Unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 5s now available from Apple's online store

Unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 5s now available from Apple's online store - Unlocked versions of Apple's new flagship iPhone 5s have been available since the model's launch in September, but previously came preinstalled with a T-Mobile SIM card. The iPhone 5c, in contrast, has been available in an unlocked, SIM-free configuration the entire time.

Curiously costs about the same as a MacBook Air.

9to5Mac: Apple iPhone, Mac and iPad News Breaking All Day

9to5Mac: Apple iPhone, Mac and iPad News Breaking All Day - Apple’s former Vice President of Marketing Allison Johnson talked about her time at Apple during the U99 conference, as reported by Cult of Mac. Johnson now works with companies like Jawbone and Anki.

Cool, courtesy of http://www.cultofmac.com/.

How Android lost global open market share to Apple's integrated iOS

How Android lost global open market share to Apple's integrated iOS - This All Happened Before

Another way of looking at this is that the iPhone is about to go the way of Symbian. I see large screened phones everywhere I look. Those are Samsung phones. The phone market completely turns over ever 3 years.

Review: DJI Phantom 2 Vision, a high-end iPhone-compatible flying camera drone

Review: DJI Phantom 2 Vision, a high-end iPhone-compatible flying camera drone - The Phantom not only handled snow and wind with ease, but it even fared impressively when we tested it in more extreme conditions: -25 Fahrenheit while in the mountains of Banff in Alberta, Canada. Exposed to these temperatures, our iPhone completely shut down and made us lose control of the camera, and yet the DJI Phantom 2 Vision kept right on flying with no troubles (though we kept it close by, just in case).

Live drone from Banff. Times have changed.

Notification overload: Why I'm turning off my phone alerts ... at least until my apps know me better | VentureBeat | Mobile | by Andy Hickl, A.R.O.

Notification overload: Why I'm turning off my phone alerts ... at least until my apps know me better | VentureBeat | Mobile | by Andy Hickl, A.R.O. - That’s right — I’ve officially opted out of the mess that is smartphone notifications. No more chimes reminding me that I’m scheduled to attend a meeting in 20 minutes. No more winking LEDs teasing the promise of an email. No more Google Now cards. Nothing.

More is not always better.

New Jersey Becomes Third State To Ban Tesla’s Direct Sales Model | TechCrunch

New Jersey Becomes Third State To Ban Tesla’s Direct Sales Model | TechCrunch - Today the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission passed a rule that will end Tesla’s direct sales of cars to consumers. Tesla, a manufacturer of all-electric cars, does not lean on dealerships to sell its vehicles as other car companies do.

This will be a surprise to anyone that isn't watching Boardwalk Empire. Another victory for the Nucky Thompsons of our era.

How USC built one of the top video game schools in the country | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi

How USC built one of the top video game schools in the country | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi - Mike Zyda, the founding director of the University at Southern California’s interdisciplinary game program, has counted the number of games that have been shipped by alumni from his school’s game program

Education, education, education!

Apple adds support for new, previously-unknown iPad models in iOS 7.1

Apple adds support for new, previously-unknown iPad models in iOS 7.1 - In addition to updates for the company's latest iPhones and iPads, Apple's download server plays host to iOS 7.1 bundles targeted at iPads with model identifiers iPad4,3 and iPad4,6. As first noted by iClarified, those identifiers have not been seen before in the wild.

Sneaky leaky!

Apple mistakenly aired Nokia licensing terms while sanctioning Samsung for doing the same

Apple mistakenly aired Nokia licensing terms while sanctioning Samsung for doing the same - In a court filing late Tuesday, Samsung revealed that Apple publicly disclosed details of its patent licensing terms with Nokia, as well as NEC, on the PACER electronic court records system, while at the same time seeking damages from the Korean tech giant for leaking that very information.

Let me be the first to say "Whoopsy doodle!"

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer joins board of directors at Goldman Sachs

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer joins board of directors at Goldman Sachs - Oppenheimer will be a member of the Audit, Risk, Compensation and Corporate Governance, Nominating, and Public Responsibilities committees at Goldman Sachs. He will be one of 10 independent directors on the company's board.

Or as they say in a good movie, the beginning of the end.

Google launches Scraper Report to report scammy sites, gets reported as best example | VentureBeat | Business | by John Koetsier

Google launches Scraper Report to report scammy sites, gets reported as best example | VentureBeat | Business | by John Koetsier - Dan Barker, an e-commerce and digital marketing expert, pointed out via a simple screenshot that Google scrapes vast swathes of the Internet, especially Wikipedia.

This is hilarious. And telling.