Former Apple Exec Warns About Ballmer’s “Distortion Field”

Jean-Louis Gassée is a former Apple exec and BeOS founder, and he’s warning us about Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer distortion field.

As you can read on Monday Note:

“Microsoft shareholders ought to worry about Steve Ballmer’s own distortion, and about the self-inflicted effects of such a strong field,” Gassée writes today. “We all remember Vista, it was a godsend for Apple. Did Ballmer acknowledge that there were problems? What about the Xbox 360 reliability nightmare? The apologies were left to underlings.”

Seems like everybody hates Ballmer these days. Remember when he was rumored to get on stage at the WWDC and introduce developer tools for iPhone OS? Good times.

[via 9to5mac]


Leaked Intel Roadmap Reveals 2.8GHz Core i7 Processors, New Macbooks Later This Year?

A leaked Intel roadmap has surfaced on Engadget, and it turns out that the company will release a speed bumped Core i7 processor later this year. As Macrumors reports:

“The upcoming Core i7-640M will run at a base frequency of 2.8GHz with “turbo boost” speeds up to 3.46GHz. This new processor draws the same power as the current MacBook Pro processors so should be a natural upgrade for Apple.”

Indeed it’s very likely that Apple will implement these new processors in the new Macbooks sometime this fall or next year, but you can bet that the next Macbook line won’t be just about speed bumping. Also, we don’t think we’ll be hearing anything about desktop computers at the upcoming WWDC. Remember, it’s about the iPhone OS platform.


Opera Releases 10.60 Alpha

Opera has just released a first alpha version of its browser, labelled 10.60. It’s available for download here, and the final version will be released “this summer” for Mac, Windows and Linux at the same time.

10.60 seems to be a “finely tuned” version of the popular 10.50, with enhanced tab functions (visual peeks on hover) and an even faster Javascript engine. Other changes include widescreen speed dials, a more visible Menu button and many other fixes.

Go download it here.


Netflix for iPad Morphed into iPhone Version, then Blocked

Consumers are practically begging for a Netflix app on the iPhone at this point, as one frustrated developer went ahead and hacked about the iPad version until it was iPhone compatible. After tinkering with the Netflix app and the iPad mediaplayer frameworks, he made a suitable version that really wasn’t too difficult to implement. In fact, Netflix seemed to have been preparing for an iPhone debut, as it was already bundled in (it just needed some tweaking to activate). Modmyi.com does a fantastic job of covering both the app was ‘unlocked’ and how we could install the version for ourselves, but it seems big brother didn’t appreciate such silly antics. With a simple press of the panic button, the iPhone implementation discovered in the iPad version has been squashed (erm, disabled) into oblivion. Whether this was an Apple or Netflix call, we don’t know, but it’s interesting that the original function was there. Perhaps AT&T wouldn’t appreciate movies streaming through their 3G network. Click past the break for screenshots courtesy of ModMyi.

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Mark As, A Checklist for Entertainment

Certainly there are plenty of task managers out there, but they all involve the concept of projects, getting things done, etc. What about those nights when you have some free time, and you want to catch up on your favorite video game, TV show, book, or movie? Mark As for the iPhone is your checklist for entertainment.

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iPhone 4G to have 960x640 Resolution, IPS Panel

Alright, so we’ve heard rumors about what the iPhone 4G’s screen technology would be, but we haven’t confirmed it yet. According to Engadget, some folks in the Czech Republic at SuperiPhone.cz have taken a microscope to one of the iPhone 4G’s screens floating around, measuring pixel density and analyzing the screen technology. It’s confirmed: you’ll have an high res 960x640, IPS panel in your next iPhone.

Note: I don’t know what the SuperiPhone’s error is, but I assume the site is being hammered. It’s the source Engadget links to, so we’ll roll with it for now.

UPDATE!: Reader Koohan has shared with us video from iphonemania.mobilmania.cz


Magic Mouse Patents Revealed

Two Magic Mouse patents that never made their way to the USPTO’s public database have magically showed up in the European Patent Office for reasons unknown. Patently Apple reveals that of the two patents covered, both reference optical tracking, and suggests that implementing laser tracking was a last minute decision. The patents themselves cover how Apple handles touch based input (mainly how the mouse decides between what’s an actual gesture or an erratic movement).

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