Apple Archive

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Apple Store Photos Become an Art Exhibit

By
khoward
– February 1, 2012Posted in: Apple, Gadgets, Innovation

It should perhaps be obvious – but that spontaneous picture you took with the Apple Store iPhone (and didn’t delete) is there for anyone to see – including Irby Pace.  While visiting Apple stores in Texas and New York, he collected more than 1,000 images from iPhones, iPads, and iPods – a collection he has pared down for a gallery exhibition he calls “Unintended Consequences.”

According to Pace’s website, “since these images are anonymous the participants can represent themselves however they chose to without scrutiny.”  He argues that the subjects of the photos in “Unintended Consequences” are willing participants, since they knowingly left behind images that anyone could see.  But they probably didn’t expect their self-photos to become part of a gallery exhibit – and the fact that they didn’t think about what they were leaving behind seems to be the entire point of “Unintended Consequences.”

If nothing else, this might make us all think twice before testing out the camera on the latest Apple Store gadget – and makes a strong case for deleting impromptu photo shoots in public places.

(Story and Image via Wired)

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The Final Cut Pro X upgrade is here

By
kduffy
– January 31, 2012Posted in: Apple, News, Software, Tech

Filmmakers can be excited about Apple’s latest Final Cut upgrade; the company is describing their latest additives as “significant.” This version is more synced in with 3rd party apps and plug-ins that are used within the continuously evolving film editing software.

Apple’s blog highlighted the new and improved Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3, and this version “includes a collection of the groundbreaking new tools for editing multicam projects. Final Cut Pro X automatically syncs clips from your shoot using audio waveforms, time and date, or timecode to create a Multicam Clip with up to 64 angles of video, which can include mixed formats, frame sizes, and frame rates.”

Apple has almost forced themselves to change to fit the professional film-making realm, as Ars Technica points out Apple’s taken a “beating” from the industry’s use of FCXP because of filmmaker’s worry of the company lacks commitment to the movie industry.

This will be the second update Apple’s issued in the past four months or so, and could be part of a promise the company had made to “appease its critics.”

If you want to give the software a shot for your next feature, Apple is offering a 30-day trial; after that it’s available from the Mac App Store for $299.99.

(via Ars Technica; photo via MacRumors)

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The Apple Developments You’ll Never See

By
khoward
– January 30, 2012Posted in: Apple, Innovation

Making it through Apple’s extended and extensive interview process doesn’t mean you’re ready for the real work behind the company’s popular gadgets.  Adam Lashinsky’s book Inside Apple relates that new Apple employees are sometimes put on fake projects.  This trial run apparently lasts until the new hires prove themselves trustworthy – and capable of maintaining Apple’s code of secrecy.

The statement about employees being tested on fake projects to prevent information leaks was confirmed by a man claiming to be a former Apple engineer.  Whether or not the fake project test is a reality for Apple hires, it only proves what we already know, as stated by Time Techland’s Keith Wagstaff: “You shouldn’t always trust Apple rumors, even if they come from somebody at Apple.”

(Via Gizmodo, Image via AppStorm)

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What is the price to pay for doing business within a troubling supply system?

By
kduffy
– January 26, 2012Posted in: Apple, Gadgets, News, Tech

For some workers overseas, it may cost them their life.

After a Foxconn factory explosion last May, killing 3 employees and injuring 15, questions arose about the legitimacy of Apple’s manufacturing partner’s working conditions—despite the defense of them being legitimate.

When Apple announced their record-breaking Q1 profits, which ended up totaling to about $13 billion (nearly $17 million for each Apple store), we looked at these numbers in awe; we never really thought too much in depth about the external factors of Apple’s device: where it came from, who made it—also factoring in the repercussions of disposing these devices, as there is no easily-accessible option for recycling Apple devices.

In fact, the working conditions for Apple’s most notable device are anything but safe. According to company reports and various advocacy groups around China, “[s]ome say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records [.]”

Even after Apple was alerted about these red flags, Apple and Foxconn failed to fulfill the promises of improving working conditions. The Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior group in Hong Kong write in their case study, “Foxconn has primary responsibility in labor right abuses. The clients, including Apple and HP, which declare decent working conditions at their suppliers have indispensible obligations to put their promise to practice. [...] Apple, the sole buyer of [the] Chengdu plant,must take actions to improve working conditions at Foxconn.”

Li Mingqi, former Foxconn Technology manager (one of Apple’s most important part manufacturing partners), said, “Apple never cared about anything other than increasing product quality and decreasing product cost [.] [...] Workers’ welfare has nothing to do with their interests.”

While we love Apple products and think the company does a lot of good, we can’t help but resent them for not making it a top priority to maintain such a  prominent factor in their production—especially while sitting on that giant wad of cash.

(via the New York Times; photo via Inquirer Technology)

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SoulCalibur for iOS Review

By
kduffy
– January 20, 2012Posted in: Apple, Apps, Gaming, Industry News, Internet Trends, News, Tech

It’s here! We heard the other day SoulCalibur was coming to iOS and we got excited to get our hands on the beloved game. For a limited time it is available for a 20% discounted $11.99 in the Apple App Store; the price is expected to rise in a few days, so if you’re strongly considering, we recommend buying in the next day or two (or waiting a few months until it sells for probably half the price).

Graphics are expectedly outstanding. Some of our favorite characters like Tira are missing, but the 10 characters you have to choose from are Voldo, Ivy, Sophitia, Mitsurugi, Kilik, Xianghua, Maxi, Nightmare, Taki, and Astaroth – each character has two costume options as well, which we thought was a cool bonus for a mobile version.

At first we thought operating the game via touch screen would be difficult, but it turns out developers must have had this down to a science, as the joystick shown in the main photo on the left operates smoothly so you’ll be making moves without delay.

There are quite a few modes, too: standard Arcade ladder, Time Attack, Survival, Extra Survival, and Practice—leaving out the Team Battle and Mission modes from PlayStation and XBOX versions, but still an abundant amount.

If you haven’t yet played SoulCalibur and fancy other classic arcade fighting games like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, well, this is a revolutionary version of those games. The only thing is, for now the game is one player, which is a problem if you consider multi-player a determining factor when buying a game like SoulCalibur.

We haven’t heard news about SoulCalibur streaming live, or anything regarding an Android version, but we assume both are likely to come as an update soon.

(photo is a screenshot taken with iPhone)

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What will the mysterious Apple event this month bring us?

By
kduffy
– January 3, 2012Posted in: Apple, News

We’re hoping Apple is announcing some crazy iPad 3 feature to make up for the lack of the iPhone 5 this past year (OK, so the 4S isn’t all that bad), but various sources are claiming the unofficial rumored January event will have a lot to do with Apple’s publishing and iBooks.

All Things D announced yesterday that, “Apple is planning an important—but not large-scale—event to be held in New York City at the end of this month that will focus on a media-related announcement[,] [and] [p]er usual caveat, the tech giant is well known for moving around their public show-and-tells, so this could certainly change at any moment.”

And while our hopes were set on something iPad-related, the event being iBook exclusive seems appropriate, seeing as it is being held in New York, a significant publishing hub here in the US.

Then again, they could also be announcing the Apple TV…and as always, we’re left in the dust, not knowing a thing. So as always, just keep on waiting (and saving), Apple fans.

(via CNET; photo via All Things D)

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The Ultimate Grab Bag?

By
khoward
– January 2, 2012Posted in: Apple, Gadgets, News, Tech

Apple Store Shoppers in Japan celebrated the New Year by paying 33,000 yen (around $428) for a chance at an iPad 2 or MacBook Air.  The event was part of a New Year’s tradition in Japanese retail, where stores sell Lucky Bags – an unknown collection of the store’s products, usually with a discount.

A few of the Apple Store’s Lucky Bags where really “lucky” – sending buyers home with a coveted 16 GB iPad 2 or an 11-inch MacBook Air.  Most of the bags, known as Fukubukuro in Japan, included items like an 8 GB iPod Touch, cases, headphones, and other gadget accessories.  While $428 seems like a lot to pay for a bag of random items, the chance at an Apple tablet or notebook had Japanese customers lining up to make the purchase.

(Story and Image via SlashGear)

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iPhone shockingly dominates AT&T holiday smartphone sales

By
kduffy
– January 2, 2012Posted in: Apple, Google, News, Tech

If you were wondering who dominated the AT&T holiday shopping market for smartphones this year, it was Apple. Between the period of December 1st- December 27th, AT&T sold nearly 981,000 iPhones (66% of total sales), compared to the 128,000 Android devices (8.5%) that were activated. There were even more flip phone sales than Android—as they seem to have got them beat by just a smidge, contributing to 8.6% of total phones sold. BlackBerry’s accounted for 5%, as well as QMD.

Since Verizon accommodated the iPhone, much of AT&T’s phone sales were lost, but this recent report leads us to believe that their sales are doing just fine—981,000 iPhones is a lot of iPhones!

But on a global scale, Android seems to still have iOS beat. MSNBC reported a victorious statistic: Android’s 47% share has iOS beat; Apple makes up 29% of the global market, followed by BlackBerry’s 16.6%. In terms of growth, Apple succeeded due to their end-of-the-year 4S release, rising from 9.8% to 11.2%.

So what does this mean for 2012?

According to Forbes, it will be good for some, bad for others. While Android took the lead this year, their main concern in 2012 deals with Oracle patent wars that could jeopardize either their system code or cost them a giant fee.  Microsoft will also be thrown into the mix with the latest Windows Phone and BlackBerry, but Ewan Spence thinks, “Microsoft [will] make no impact on the mobile market, and they withdraw the grand unifying experiemtn of Metro UI on Xbox, Widnows 8, and Windows Phone. [...] [and with] [RIM’s] delay to handsets with the new version of the OS, it’s hard to see what else they could do to damage themselves in the market[.]”

Many factors could switch up the numbers, so nothing is set in stone for 2012—just the annual anticipation for the next big phone announcement.

(via Redmond Pie & Forbes)

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iPad is the Small Business Choice

By
khoward
– December 29, 2011Posted in: Apple

The iPad may have topped consumer lists for this holiday season – but Apple’s tablet also tops the list of small businesses.  An NPD study revealed nearly three-quarters of small and medium-sized businesses are in the tablet market – and most of them are eyeing up the iPad.

According to the survey, the larger companies in the group are more likely to buy tablet computers for workers – 89% of companies with 501 to 999 employees are interested buyers.  Both small and medium-sized businesses looking at tablets preferred the iPad to other tablet options.

Given the popularity of iPads in the consumer market, the NPD’s findings are probably what should be expected.  Apple’s main tablet competition, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, takes a far more consumer-based approach, while a launch plagued with issues has put a damper on the Blackberry PlayBook.  With the prevalence of Microsoft software in most businesses, the long-awaited Windows tablet could be a strong contender in the business sector, but that remains to be seen.

(Story and Image via Mashable)

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iOS Kindle’s New Magazine and PDF Features

By
khoward
– December 21, 2011Posted in: Apple, Apps, News, Tech

Having recently updated its Kindle Fire software, Amazon today released an upgrade for the iOS version of the Kindle app.  Features that better match the magazine access of the Kindle Fire and a built-in PDF reader make Kindle 2.9 a noteworthy update for the iOS.

For iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch Kindle users, the update provides Amazon Cloud storage for access to personal documents on iOS and other supported Kindle devices.  The Kindle PDF reader supports table of contents and thumbnail navigation, as well as access through the Amazon Cloud.  A revamped library for all Kindle iOS versions allows viewing of Kindle Books, Newsstand, and Docs.

Kindle 2.9 for iPad lets customers access the more than 400 magazines and newspapers available to Kindle Fire owners.  On the iPad, the update also allows customers to read print replica text books with support for highlighting and notes.

(Via Engadget, Image via iTunes)

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