2013-07-15

Amar Bose, Pioneer of High-End Audio, Dies at 83 - Stephen Miller - News - AllThingsD

Amar Bose, Pioneer of High-End Audio, Dies at 83 - Stephen Miller - News - AllThingsD: "Mr. Bose, who died Friday at age 83, had been a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His discoveries led to new designs for speakers and other audio components that reputedly made him a billionaire."


Being in Boston, he had a front row seat to the post-Edwin Land Polaroid experience. Good call Mr. Bose!

2013-07-12

FlixMaster brings interactive videos to the iPhone and Android | VentureBeat

FlixMaster brings interactive videos to the iPhone and Android | VentureBeat
FlixMaster’s platform for editing and publishing interactive videos is going mobile."

Close your eyes and say web instead of mobile and this article reads like it's 1997.

Apple drops 'App Store' lawsuit against Amazon, says no need to pursue case

Apple drops 'App Store' lawsuit against Amazon, says no need to pursue case
Apple and Amazon on Tuesday asked U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton to dismiss Apple's lawsuit over the App Store name, according to Reuters."

Hopefully this is an example of Apple wising up to Kleenex and the seminal marketing classic "Positioning" (Al Ries and Jack Trout) and not some other thing.

2013-07-07

Editorial: Apple, Google and the failure of Android's open

Editorial: Apple, Google and the failure of Android's open: "The ideological allure of 'open' is very strong. Really, who doesn't want technology to scramble ahead as quickly as possible, unfettered by the proprietary barriers erected by companies trying to make money? Except, of course, said companies trying to make money."


Kind of an embarrassing article for Apple enthusiasts if you take into account how long it took Apple to become as successful as it is at the present moment. As far as I can tell, Apple would not have a single product on the market without GCC or LLVM, let alone any of the other open technologies that are present in all their products. How's that proprietary network based on IPX/SPX working out for you? Or that telephone that only calls other telephones in it's own loop?

2013-07-04

The shocking truth about Silicon Valley genius Doug Engelbart | ZDNet

The shocking truth about Silicon Valley genius Doug Engelbart | ZDNet
Logitech, which made a lot of money from the computer mouse, one of Mr Engelbart's creations, gave him permanent office space."

This shows that there are still a few good people in the world. Even as Egypt falls and insta rises.

'Jobs' movie poster shows Kutcher as technicolor vision of Apple founder

'Jobs' movie poster shows Kutcher as technicolor vision of Apple founder: "With tag lines encouraging viewers to 'Turn on your mind,' the 'Jobs' promo poster shows Kutcher as the iPod-era version of the late Apple CEO, and the color palette isn't too far from what one might have expected from an iPod commercial for that period."


Technicolor - now that's an interesting technology story in itself. Along with Polaroid, a lesson in what the bankers do when the founder is away (or goes away)...

2013-07-01

Apple Plans A Reno Solar Farm To Power Its Data Center - Mike Isaac - General - AllThingsD

Apple Plans A Reno Solar Farm To Power Its Data Center - Mike Isaac - General - AllThingsD
In conjunction with Nevada utility company NV Energy, Apple plans to build a solar array next to its Reno, Nevada data center, eventually powering the center as well as providing energy to the surrounding community, the company said on Monday. The new solar farm is in addition to two previously announced centers in Maiden, North Carolina. "

Such a better way to grow the renewable energy field than government handouts to shysters who go bankrupt on the way to pocketing a fortune in taxpayer dollars.

2013-06-14

US assembly of Apple's new Mac Pro to be handled by Flextronics - report

US assembly of Apple's new Mac Pro to be handled by Flextronics - report: "The official Flextronics website reveals that the company already has facilities in a number of locations across the U.S., including Texas, California, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and both North and South Carolina. The report did not indicate which U.S.-based Flextronics facility will handle assembly of the new Mac Pro."


You can see why the highest priced, highest margin Mac would be a good candidate for stateside manufacturing.

2013-06-07

MacTubes - Best YouTube Downloader for Mac

MacTubes - YouTube video Player and Downloader for the Mac.

I had been a fairly faithful user of keepvid.com, using it anytime clients sent me videos that would need to be edited into a reel or otherwise repurposed. But after the big Java security scare of 2012, keepvid never seems to work correctly. So I decided to do some googling and found MacTubes. Likely, it's a secret because the web page is mostly in Japanese, but the app itself works great.

It's a free download.