Apple picks up legal win, a chip company, and a Grammy
Apple spends reported $400-500M on memory companyIsrael-based flash memory maker Anobit is now owned by Apple, according to reports this week. A story from Israeli news site Calcalist says the deal has gone through, and cost Apple somewhere in the $400 million to $500 million range. The apparent acquisition should beef up Apple's in-house hardware efforts, and adds to its previous hardware acquisitions including Intrinsity and P.A. Semi. Apple takes aim at Samsung in Australia, againA federal court in Australia was the scene of another Apple legal volley against Samsung this week. In a hearing, Apple said Samsung was infringing on "at least 10" of its design patents with the designs of its smart phones and 10-inch Galaxy Tablet. This follows moves by Samsung to change its tablets in that market to comply with a previous Apple complaint. Steve Jobs nabs a GrammyLate Apple co-founder Steve Jobs will be posthumously awarded a Grammy this year. The Recording Academy this week said that Jobs was to be given one of the organization's Special Merit Awards for helping how people consume music, TV, movies and books. Apple itself nabbed a technical Grammy in 2002 for its audio software efforts.Apple building "prototype" store in Palo AltoApple is planning to give its Palo Alto, Calif., retail store a reboot as part of an upcoming construction project that will build a new store just a block away. The $3.15 million project will bring a 15,030-square-foot store to the area, which Apple says will serve as a prototype of sorts. It's the latest in a series of projects to revitalize some of Apple's retail locations. Bought a TV show from a series? Apple now offers the option to get the whole season at a discount.Josh Lowensohn/CNETApple tweaks "complete my season" and "album" iTunes Store servicesApple made two key adjustments to its digital media store this week, the first being the quiet removal of a policy that would only give users 180 days to complete an album at a limited price after purchasing selected tracks. The second bit adds the completion feature to TV shows on iTunes, letting users subscribe to an entire season after having purchased an episode or two, without having to re-buy those same shows when purchasing a whole season.Apple replacing overheating first-gen Nanos with new modelsDespite having promised those with recalled first-generation iPod nanos replacements from the same generation, some users have been getting back Apple's latest model instead. Apple's original stance on the issue when the recall went out last monthwas to provide users with refurbished versions of the same model.RumorsApple chatting up TV plans with media execsA report from the Wall Street Journal earlier this week noted that Apple's been talking to a handful of media executives about TV, particularly with how it could make use of voice and physical movement. Apple is expected to debut a TV set as soon as next year. The company's current living room effort centers around its $99 set top box, the Apple TV.Apple working on wearable Siri gadgetsApple and Google are said to be working on gadgets that can be worn, things like wristwatches and curved glass iPods. Those details, which came from a New York Times report this week, said such ideas were still in the conceptional phase, and could tap into Apple's recently-released, iPhone 4S exclusive Siri voice assistant to become more useful. A smaller iPad 2012? Nope says analyst.No 7-inch iPad in 2012, analyst suggestsWith a recent rumor pointing to a smaller version of the iPad being on the way, analyst Brian Blair of Wedge Partners this week told investors that such a product would be unlikely. "(Steve) Jobs was emphatic in his view that 7-inch tablets were dead on arrival, and we believe it would be unlikely to see the company test the waters in this category anytime soon," Blair wrote. As an alternative, Blair suggested that Apple would keep the iPad 2 around, like it does with previous versions of its iPhone, and selling it at a lower price point. iPad 3 launch to coincide with birthday of Steve JobsA report out of Focus Taiwan this week (via 9to5Mac) claimed that Apple was pushing its suppliers hard to get the next iPad ready to go in time for the birthday anniversary of late company co-founder Steve Jobs on February 24. That included making employees at Apple's manufacturing partners avoid taking vacation during the holidays.
Long songs slated for extinction-
Long songs slated for extinction?
Instrumental "post rock" bands like Tortoise, Sigur Ros, and Godspeed You Black Emperor specialize in 10-minute-plus epics, and Fantomas purposely tracked their 2004 album Delirium Cordia as a single 74-minute track, although it consists almost entirely of broken fragmented bits of music (as all Fantomas albums do), plus a 15-minute outro of near-silence.I picked up Neil Young's latest studio CD, Chrome Dreams II, for a bargain price a couple weeks ago in New York, and finally sat down to give it a straight through attentive listen last night. It's a mixed bag--I liked it a lot better than Pitchfork did, but I'm a big fan of his mid-'70s and early-'90s stuff, which this resembles. But the reason I bought it was the long songs. Neil's never been afraid of stretching a song out to six, seven, even ten minutes, but this one has two all-time stemwinders on it: "No Hidden Path" at 14:26 and "Ordinary People," which clocks in at a Neil-record 18:12. Neither is as strong as his last epic, 1994's "Change Your Mind" (14:39)--the long bent guitar note in the middle of that song is the pivotal point where the entire album (the excellent Sleeps with Angels) changes. But both of the new epics have a nice effect--they're slow and repetitive enough to have a hypnotic or meditative effect, but varying enough to capture your continuing attention. In this random-shuffle quick-twitch short-attention-span world, it's nice to sit in one place and just listen to somebody perform variations on the same theme for fifteen or twenty minutes.Unfortunately, the music industry is inevitably moving back to a singles-driven business model, enabled by iTunes and other download services, which allow users to buy only the songs they know they like. I'm as guilty as any fan--whenever a long song comes up on random shuffle, I almost always skip to the next track. Long songs just don't fit into the shuffle paradigm--I want to be surprised, to have my mood shifted rapidly between heavy metal and 70's R&B, not sit down and listen to an artistic statement from start to finish. (I collect records for that.) In this world, I wonder how many artists will feel encouraged to stretch a song beyond the typical three-to-five minutes that most listeners will tolerate in the middle of a playlist. It's sad, but apart from live jams,the long rock epic is probably as dated as a wanking guitar solo and paisley. Of course, there's always classical music.
Instrumental "post rock" bands like Tortoise, Sigur Ros, and Godspeed You Black Emperor specialize in 10-minute-plus epics, and Fantomas purposely tracked their 2004 album Delirium Cordia as a single 74-minute track, although it consists almost entirely of broken fragmented bits of music (as all Fantomas albums do), plus a 15-minute outro of near-silence.I picked up Neil Young's latest studio CD, Chrome Dreams II, for a bargain price a couple weeks ago in New York, and finally sat down to give it a straight through attentive listen last night. It's a mixed bag--I liked it a lot better than Pitchfork did, but I'm a big fan of his mid-'70s and early-'90s stuff, which this resembles. But the reason I bought it was the long songs. Neil's never been afraid of stretching a song out to six, seven, even ten minutes, but this one has two all-time stemwinders on it: "No Hidden Path" at 14:26 and "Ordinary People," which clocks in at a Neil-record 18:12. Neither is as strong as his last epic, 1994's "Change Your Mind" (14:39)--the long bent guitar note in the middle of that song is the pivotal point where the entire album (the excellent Sleeps with Angels) changes. But both of the new epics have a nice effect--they're slow and repetitive enough to have a hypnotic or meditative effect, but varying enough to capture your continuing attention. In this random-shuffle quick-twitch short-attention-span world, it's nice to sit in one place and just listen to somebody perform variations on the same theme for fifteen or twenty minutes.Unfortunately, the music industry is inevitably moving back to a singles-driven business model, enabled by iTunes and other download services, which allow users to buy only the songs they know they like. I'm as guilty as any fan--whenever a long song comes up on random shuffle, I almost always skip to the next track. Long songs just don't fit into the shuffle paradigm--I want to be surprised, to have my mood shifted rapidly between heavy metal and 70's R&B, not sit down and listen to an artistic statement from start to finish. (I collect records for that.) In this world, I wonder how many artists will feel encouraged to stretch a song beyond the typical three-to-five minutes that most listeners will tolerate in the middle of a playlist. It's sad, but apart from live jams,the long rock epic is probably as dated as a wanking guitar solo and paisley. Of course, there's always classical music.
Apple's FaceTime on Mac OS X, Windows
Apple's FaceTime on Mac OS X, Windows
A French Web site, Mac4Ever, posted a short article claiming the Cupertino computer crafters are creating software for Mac OS X, presumably an update to iChat, that will allow desktop and notebook users to communicate via FaceTime with compatible iOS devices.The information is not backed up with sources, but the site has been known to have semi-accurate predictions (SD Cards on last year's iMac release, though incorrect in predicting the release of iLife '11 in August of this year). Translated via Google Translate, the site reports that, "it is rumored that Apple is preparing to leave FaceTime for Mac and PC, the Mac version coming to settle down in the iChat software."I still believe FaceTime is the most important feature introduced with iPhone (and iOS) 4. Considering its recent foray into social networking (Ping and Game Center), Apple is positioning itself as the quintessential personal connection company. By pioneering open communications standards like HTML5 (Internet) and FaceTime (video calling) Apple is able to protect its ecosystem of integrated hardware and software by providing an unmatched experience using those standards, proving Apple's value. It's genius really.Including FaceTime compatibility on Mac OS X and Windows would be a major plus for users and cause a major scare for companies deep in the desktop video communications game (read: Skype). FaceTime is an open industry standard (Skype is not) for video chatting and (for now) only requires a Wi-Fi connection to use. Including FaceTime on Mac OS X and creating a corresponding Windows program would trump many of Skype's current advantages in the video calling market and thrust Apple to the head of the class in yet another niche. The recent release of FaceTime for iPod touch shows that Apple has figured out how to authenticate the service without a phone provider--a hurdle that should clear the way for inclusion on desktop and notebook systems that have web camera capabilities.And let's not forget about iPad. Rumors surrounding the initial iPad release and subsequent product breakdowns show that a front-facing camera is well within engineering specs for the touchscreen tablet. It would be hard to imagine the next iteration of the iPad without a camera and FaceTime. Could FaceTime on your Mac or PC replace Skype?MacRumorsThough it is widely expected that FaceTime will be added to iChat (part of Mac OS X), rumors of an imminent release of iLife '11 have suggested the inclusion of a "mystery application" replacing iDVD. Could this be a FaceTime-specific program? I'm still holding out for a vector drawing program to be included in iLife, and I think iChat makes more sense than a dedicated FaceTime application.Would you ditch Skype (or other clients) in favor of FaceTime on your Mac or PC? Let us know in the comments!
A French Web site, Mac4Ever, posted a short article claiming the Cupertino computer crafters are creating software for Mac OS X, presumably an update to iChat, that will allow desktop and notebook users to communicate via FaceTime with compatible iOS devices.The information is not backed up with sources, but the site has been known to have semi-accurate predictions (SD Cards on last year's iMac release, though incorrect in predicting the release of iLife '11 in August of this year). Translated via Google Translate, the site reports that, "it is rumored that Apple is preparing to leave FaceTime for Mac and PC, the Mac version coming to settle down in the iChat software."I still believe FaceTime is the most important feature introduced with iPhone (and iOS) 4. Considering its recent foray into social networking (Ping and Game Center), Apple is positioning itself as the quintessential personal connection company. By pioneering open communications standards like HTML5 (Internet) and FaceTime (video calling) Apple is able to protect its ecosystem of integrated hardware and software by providing an unmatched experience using those standards, proving Apple's value. It's genius really.Including FaceTime compatibility on Mac OS X and Windows would be a major plus for users and cause a major scare for companies deep in the desktop video communications game (read: Skype). FaceTime is an open industry standard (Skype is not) for video chatting and (for now) only requires a Wi-Fi connection to use. Including FaceTime on Mac OS X and creating a corresponding Windows program would trump many of Skype's current advantages in the video calling market and thrust Apple to the head of the class in yet another niche. The recent release of FaceTime for iPod touch shows that Apple has figured out how to authenticate the service without a phone provider--a hurdle that should clear the way for inclusion on desktop and notebook systems that have web camera capabilities.And let's not forget about iPad. Rumors surrounding the initial iPad release and subsequent product breakdowns show that a front-facing camera is well within engineering specs for the touchscreen tablet. It would be hard to imagine the next iteration of the iPad without a camera and FaceTime. Could FaceTime on your Mac or PC replace Skype?MacRumorsThough it is widely expected that FaceTime will be added to iChat (part of Mac OS X), rumors of an imminent release of iLife '11 have suggested the inclusion of a "mystery application" replacing iDVD. Could this be a FaceTime-specific program? I'm still holding out for a vector drawing program to be included in iLife, and I think iChat makes more sense than a dedicated FaceTime application.Would you ditch Skype (or other clients) in favor of FaceTime on your Mac or PC? Let us know in the comments!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)