29 posts tagged “apple”

Microsoft Entourage

<Stolen from The Entourage Help Blog>

With the help of a plug-in, the Finder can display the contents of Entourage mail messages without having to open them in Entourage. Shin-ichi Kawamura has posted Entourage QuickLook Plug-In ver. 1.1 as a free download on his website.

The website and the included Readme.rtf file are in Japanese but I needed no translation to tell me when I opened the .dmg file that I simply need to drag and drop the Entourage QuickLook Plug-In.qlgenerator file into the /Library/QuickLook folder. Installation is that simple. If you’re not an administrator on your Mac and do not have privileges to install items into the main Library folder then you can place the plug-in inside ~/Library/QuickLook where “~” is your own home folder. You will need to create the QuickLook folder if it doesn’t already exist.

Read the rest at The Entourage Help Blog.

Steve Jobs

This was a great read about Steve Jobs.

<stolen from Fortune Magazine>

In October 2003, as the computer world buzzed about what cool new gadget he would introduce next, Apple CEO Steve Jobs - then presiding over the most dramatic corporate turnaround in the history of Silicon Valley - found himself confronting a life-and-death decision.

During a routine abdominal scan, doctors had discovered a tumor growing in his pancreas. While a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is often tantamount to a swiftly executed death sentence, a biopsy revealed that Jobs had a rare - and treatable - form of the disease. If the tumor were surgically removed, Jobs' prognosis would be promising: The vast majority of those who underwent the operation survived at least ten years.

Yet to the horror of the tiny circle of intimates in whom he'd confided, Jobs was considering not having the surgery at all. A Buddhist and vegetarian, the Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) CEO was skeptical of mainstream medicine. Jobs decided to employ alternative methods to treat his pancreatic cancer, hoping to avoid the operation through a special diet - a course of action that hasn't been disclosed until now.

For nine months Jobs pursued this approach, as Apple's board of directors and executive team secretly agonized over the situation - and whether the company needed to disclose anything about its CEO's health to investors. Jobs, after all, was widely viewed as Apple's irreplaceable leader, personally responsible for everything from the creation of the iPod to the selection of the chef in the company cafeteria. News of his illness, especially with an uncertain outcome, would surely send the company's stock reeling. The board decided to say nothing, after seeking advice on its obligations from two outside lawyers, who agreed it could remain silent.

In the end, Jobs had the surgery, on Saturday, July 31, 2004, at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, near his home. The revelation of his brush with death remained - like everything involving Jobs and Apple - a tightly controlled affair. In fact, nary a word got out until Jobs' tumor had been removed. The next day, in an upbeat e-mail to employees later released to the press, he announced that he had faced a life-threatening illness and was "cured." Jobs assured everyone that he'd be back on the job in September. When trading resumed a day after the announcement, Apple shares fell just 2.4%.

Apple entertained no further questions about Jobs' health, citing the CEO's need for privacy. No one learned just how long Jobs had been sick - or that he had contemplated not having the surgery at all. "It was very traumatic for all of us," recalls one of those in whom Jobs confided, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the topic's sensitivity. "We all really care about Steve, and it was a serious risk for the company as well. It was a very emotional and very difficult time. This was one page in the adventure."

***

The Steve Jobs adventure: By now it's one of the most remarkable stories in business. When Jobs returned in 1997 to Apple - then facing its own near-death experience - he arrived with a tarnished legend. He was, of course, the charismatic boy wonder who at age 21 had co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak in his parents' garage back in 1976. He was worth $200 million by 25, made the cover of Time magazine at 26, and was thrown out of the company at age 30, in 1985.

What he's accomplished in the past decade has not just restored Jobs to the Silicon Valley pantheon but elevated him to the status of superstar. On the brink of bankruptcy when he returned, Apple now has a market value of $108 billion - more than Merck, McDonald's, or Goldman Sachs; $1,000 invested in Apple shares on the day Jobs took over is worth about $36,000 today. And it isn't just Apple and its investors that have benefited from Jobs' executive skill. Pixar, where he served simultaneously as CEO, has come to dominate the animation business, churning out megahits like "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles" that prompted Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) to buy the company in 2006 for $7.5 billion. (Jobs now owns 7.3% of Disney, worth $4.6 billion, in addition to Apple stock worth $682 million.)

It sounds like we're not only (FINALLY) getting the SDK, but hopefully they've used their licensing of ActiveSync from M$ so we'll be able to talk to Exchange via more than just IMAP and POP.

<stolen from CNET>

Apple distributed invitations Wednesday morning for "an iPhone software road map" event next week, which means we're finally going to hear details on the plans for an iPhone software development kit.

As you might be aware, next week is March, not February, which means Apple will have missed its deadline for shipping the SDK this month. Still, on Thursday, March 6, at 10 a.m. PST the company will hold a "town hall" meeting at its headquarters in Cupertino to discuss the State of the iPhone, and probably answer several questions about how iPhone application development will unfold.

Apple also said to expect details on "some exciting new enterprise features," which at first blush sounds to me like a method of getting the iPhone to work more closely with corporate e-mail software. It's not clear whether the SDK will actually become available next week, or whether Apple is planning to use the occasion to explain what options developers will have for getting their applications on the iPhone. Check out our report on the iPhone SDK and the possibilities for official third-party application development for more background on what might be discussed next week.

Apple will be playing host twice next week, holding its annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday and then two days later having us all trek down I-280 once again for the iPhone event.

Apple

<stolen from Wired>

By Bryan Gardiner

Mac_market_shareTucked away in 10 predictions about the future of the tech sector, Gartner had some lofty forecasts for one company in particular: Apple. Specifically, the firm said it expects Apple to more than double its PC market share in the U.S. and Western Europe by 2011. With the company's current share hovering around 6 percent -- a number itself that has doubled in the last three years -- that means Apple would have a 12 percent PC market share in the U.S. by 2011.

Interestingly, this future share snatching will result not only from Apple's continued success with Mac sales, but also from "the failures of the rest of the industry," Gartner predicts.

According to the report:

    Apple is challenging its competitors with software integration that provides ease of use and flexibility, continuous and more frequent innovation in hardware and software, and an ecosystem that focuses on interoperability across multiple devices (such as iPod and iMac cross-selling.)

That's some high praise, to be sure. But it's even more remarkable when you consider that, as the Macalope points out today, two of Gartner's analysts actually called on Apple to entirely abandon the hardware business and license Mac OS X to Dell a year ago.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think Gartner's expectations are unreasonable, especially with Apple coming off a quarter where it sold 2,319,000 Macs and saw 44 percent unit growth and 47 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter.

But it continues to amuse me that these votes of confidence would never have happened just a few years ago. It becomes even more amusing when you consider that Apple's recent successes can largely be attributed to the fact that the company does NOT obsess over market share numbers. As Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe has noted before, Apple's overall business value keeps going up because it focuses on customers and profits…in that order. Not market share.

In Howe's words:

    For over a decade now, they've been the most profitable computer maker in the U.S. And while Apple has since diversified into other markets, that one metric says more about their success than any other.

Apple's current stock price may not reflect it, but the company continues to have a lot of momentum behind it. What the current stock price does show, however, is what these increasingly high expectations can do, if say, Apple falls short of meeting those heightened expectations. Under promising and over delivering (Apple's typical MO) can be a dangerous game, especially when you involve Wall Street. Still, if Steve Jobs had to choose between more market share or bigger profits, my money would be on profits every time.

<stolen from The Unofficial Apple Weblog>

by Nik Fletcher

Back at Macworld we saw a sneak-peek from 1Password creater Dave Teare of the (then forthcoming) iPhone form-filling, username-storing 1Password bookmarklet for iPhone (pictured above at Moscone). Today sees a new build of 1Password pushed out for beta-loving users who want to take advantage of it.

Of course, one main qualm people may have with this is "just how secure is my data?" The 1Password data is saved in the bookmarklet itself using "448-bit blowfish encryption". Users set up password to use with the bookmarklet, and 1Password outputs all your data in an encrypted format to sync via iTunes' 'Sync Safari Bookmarks option'. Once on the iPhone, you navigate to the page such as Pownce, choose the bookmarklet, enter your previously-set password and choose the login you wish to use. All the form filling, and form submission, is handled by the Javascript.

I've been long-in-need of something like this for the iPhone -- the typical 'too many usernames, too many unique passwords' scenario -- and using it this evening, it's been mighty handy. If you're wanting to get your hands on it, simply set your copy of 1Password to check for beta releases (all the usual beta disclaimers apply) and download the most recent release!

Geek

<stolen from Yahoo!>

By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer

Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday it will buy online audio book seller Audible Inc. for $300 million in a bid to expand its reach in digital audio content.

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Amazon said it agreed to buy Newark, N.J.-based Audible for $11.50 per share, a 23 percent premium over Wednesday's closing price.

Audible's catalog includes about 80,000 audio books, radio programs, spoken word selections and other digital content for download.

Amazon and Audible have been partners since 2000, when the companies, with Microsoft Corp., launched an e-book and audio-book store on Amazon.com. Company executives would not comment Thursday on whether the partnership, which adds links to Audible on some Amazon book pages, has been financially successful. The executives did not detail any future plans, and said Audible's brand and Web sites will continue to operate.

In the last year, Amazon has bulked up its own digital content offerings, which include the Unbox movie download service, an MP3 music store and Kindle, the retailer's e-book reader and accompanying store, which stocks 90,000 books, newspapers and other content and can play Audible files.

Increasing the amount of digital content Amazon sells will help the company improve margins — the weak spot in Wednesday's earnings report that spooked Wall Street into an after-hours sell-off of the company's shares.

Amazon's shares posted a nearly 5 percent gain in the wake of the acquisition news, even though analysts said the Audible deal itself isn't likely to make much of a dent in the margin woes in the near term.

"I don't think it makes a big difference any time soon, just based on Audible's size," Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen said in an interview. "This business of digital audio books has grown, certainly, but it hasn't taken off."

Audible hasn't seen a profitable quarter for more than a year, despite its role as exclusive provider of audio book and other spoken-word content to Apple Inc.'s iTunes store, which accounted for nearly a third of its revenue in the third quarter of 2007. The buyout won't affect Audible's agreement with Apple, which is set to expire in late 2010, according to Audible Chief Executive Donald Katz.

Scott Kessler, an equity analyst with Standard & Poor's, said Audible may have been attractive to Amazon since it has upgraded its technology infrastructure, and focused more on long-term members instead of shoppers who make only occasional purchases.

For its part, Amazon has offered little insight into how its digital content businesses are faring. In its quarterly report Wednesday, executives did not update investors on its Unbox or MP3 stores, and said only that they were having a hard time making enough of the $399 Kindles to meet demand — the device is currently out of stock on Amazon.com.

The company said late Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled and forecast strong sales growth for the coming year, but a flat operating margin outlook dismayed analysts. Operating margin is an indicator of how much a company makes on each dollar of revenue.

"I have no issue that they're not doing the right thing," Pyykkonen said. "But in my view, at the end of the day, this is still a bloody competitive retail business."

Amazon said the deal, expected to close by the second quarter, includes Audible's cash and short-term investments and outstanding stock-based awards.

Shares of Amazon gained $3.49, or 4.7 percent, to $77.70, while Audible's stock jumped $2.09, or 22.4 percent, to $11.42.

Apple

<stolen from Wired>

Apple's MacBook Air starts shipping today, which means that it's only a matter of days until we see a grinning, smug-like man stroking the Air and showing it off in the middle of the subway commute. Then, Mr. Dumas will put the notebook away in an office envelope, after which everyone in the train will slowly roll their eyes.

The MacBook Air's main features are its 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a trackpad with iPhone-style multi-touch gesture capabilities, and of course, record thinness. Potential negatives include its non-user replaceable battery, the missing optical drive, and its excessive price. 

In other news, the Apple TV's new software update, which will allow users to rent movies straight from their TV (without using the PC) has been delayed for an extra couple of weeks. Maybe Apple will use the extra two weeks to extend its rental playing limits to a more appropriate length of time.

I think the MacBook Air is beeeyoutiful.  However, as the review points out, it's not meant for power users which I pompously feel I am.  As well, it's a bit on the pricey side given it's performance.  I do look forward to Air v2.

It fits in a manila folder, you can slide it under a door, and if you threw it hard enough you could probably chop someone in half with the thing. It's the thinnest, and if we may say so, sexiest laptop around today: the MacBook Air. But looks aren't everything to everyone, and despite all the rhetoric about being a no-compromises ultraportable, Apple did leave plenty on the cutting-room floor in its quest to make an absurdly thin ultraportable that doesn't skimp on a full size keyboard or roomier 13-inch display. But, as many potential buyers have been asking themselves since last week, is the Air right to be your next machine? Read on, we'll tell you what we think.

Read the rest at Engadget.

Apple

Is this an answer to all of those mysterious viruses we've heard about on cruise ships?...

<stolen from The Unofficial Apple Weblog>

AppleTV

<stolen from Trusted Reviews>

I find it impossible to believe that anyone missed Apple's product refreshes yesterday so you should know that AppleTV is now able to access the iTunes store without needing a PC and thus download films and TV programmes directly to the device. What you can't do though, is watch good old British TV which is a crying shame and marvellously one that the BBC is apparently set to remedy by bringing the iPlayer to AppleTV, an amusing twist given the names (think about it).

According to the BBC Internet Blog on which the info was posted (By Ashley Highfield, Director of Future Media And Technology), the new refinements made to AppleTV, such as time limited downloads, will fit with the current operating model that the BBC is required to conform to, namely a 30 day limit on downloads, although presumably there would be no limitation on re-watching iPlayer content as there is on films. Bearing in mind that Virgin Media's cable TV service will be seeing iPlayer tie-in functionality later this year the precedent is there, so to speak.

According to Highfield the biggest obstacle in the way of rolling out the iPlayer is making it simple enough to use on the various platforms. Specifically he wants "a solution simple enough [for] my mum can install" which sounds very cliché but is a fair point. Hopefully we'll see some further development on this post haste, because as everyone knows the absolute epitome of AppleTV will come when I can use it to watch Torchwood and Eastenders QI and Have I Got News For You.