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Posts tagged with "apple"

Spotify on the Back Burner as Labels Sign Deals for iCloud

According to an article by Eliot Van Buskirk at Evolver.fm (republished by Gizmodo), US record labels are waiting for Apple’s rumored iCloud music service to launch publicly before closing the remaining deals that are preventing Spotify, a popular music streaming service, from launching in the United States. Several rumors claimed Apple is working on an online interface for iTunes to allow users to upload and stream their music collections from the cloud, with a report from last night suggesting Apple will adopt a system similar to Lala (which they acquired last year) to scan a user’s library and mirror songs to their servers, also offering subscriptions and possibility to get access to higher-quality versions of the same songs.

We heard an interesting theory the other day from a well-connected source: Record labels accustomed to receiving big checks from Apple want to give Steve Jobs and company a crack at offering a music subscription service to Americans before Spotify enters the ring, so they’ve been dragging their feet (i.e. demanding too-high payments) in their negotiations with Spotify, preventing it from launching here until after Apple’s cloud music service does.

Spotify has long been rumored to be getting ready for a US launch, though the European company never managed to ink the final deals with the Universal Music Group and Warner Music group. It was previously reported that Spotify had signed papers with Sony Music and EMI for a US launch, alongside the fact that record labels were demanding the adoption of premium subscriptions only, forcing Spotify to ditch their freemium model if they wanted to launch in the US. On the other hand, Apple is believed to be approaching the final stages of negotiation with Universal Music Group, as EMI, Sony and WMG are already on board for the iCloud announcement at WWDC. Others have also reported Apple will have to finalize deals with music publishers, besides labels, before launching any music service, with negotiations also quickly moving forward on that end.

Evolver’s article reminds of an old rumor that claimed Apple executives (including VP of Internet Services Eddy Cue) were pressuring labels to decline Spotify’s offers to prevent the European company from launching a freemium music service in the US. However, the new theory seems slightly different in the way the labels are willing to wait for Apple’s iCloud to become available before closing deals with Spotify. Spotify currently offers desktop and mobile applications to listen to an online music catalogue thanks to the deals the company has signed with European labels. Apple’s new service is rumored to offer a similar setup, with iOS devices capable of streaming music from the cloud and iTunes for Mac and Windows handling uploads and other functionalities.

Rumor: Apple Testing A5-powered MacBook Air

According to a new report by Japanese blog Macotakara, Apple is testing internally a new version of the MacBook Air powered by an ARM-based A5 processor and Thunderbolt connectivity. The website reports the machine is made by Quanta Computer, and this speculation comes amidst rumors of a MacBook Air refresh featuring Intel’s Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt set for a June or July launch.

According to this source who saw live A5 MacBook Air actually, this test machine performed better than expected.

Though it’s not clear which Mac OS X or iOS is pre-installed on this A5 MacBook Air, iOS seems to have difficulty to use features of Thunderbolt without Finder. And even if Mac OS X is installed, developer should spend time to support A5 on Universal Binary Applications. As considering these situation, this A5 MacBook Air seems to be made just for experiment.

The shift to an ARM architecture on OS X would require Apple to rewrite parts of the operating system (though iOS, derived from OS X, runs on ARM chips) and, most of all, third-party developers to update their applications to be universal binaries capable of running both on Intel and ARM CPUs. This would be a resource and time consuming process according to many, similarly to when developers had to switch from PowerPC to Intel years ago, though a recent report claimed that Apple was willing to implement ARM on the desktop, perhaps also offering converting tools and other utilities to make the transition easier. Still, Macotakara seems to suggest this alleged A5-powered Air is being tested as an experiment, which, if true, wouldn’t come out at least until next year; the website correctly pinpointed many of the iPad 2 hardware and design features in the past months, offering credible mockups of the device ahead of its launch.

Fast Company: Our Interview With Dieter Rams, The Greatest Designer Alive→

Fast Company: Our Interview With Dieter Rams, The Greatest Designer Alive

Here, Rams talks about being bum-rushed at a party by Philippe Starck, who exclaimed, “Apple is stealing from you!” But when it comes to Ive and Apple, Rams subscribes to the adage “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

Dieter Rams, perhaps the most inspiring creative mind of the pre-Jobs generation, makes a guest appearance in a fantastic series of video interviews via Fast Company. His designs, elegant and leaving only what’s necessary, have clearly been an inspiration in Apple’s products. If you’re at all interested in the creative genius of Dieter Rams, and his current thoughts on a variety of topics from sustainability to startups, the interview is a must read and watch.

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Group Plans Protests At Apple Stores Over Proposed Tax Breaks

On June 4, just days prior to WWDC, the US Uncut group plans to target Apple retail stores in protest against Apple’s support of the ‘Win America Campaign’ (WAC). The goal of the US Uncut organization is to fight companies that try to avoid taxes, and they are unhappy with what they claim is Apple lobbying Congress for a $4 billion tax cut. The group will be protesting for Apple to leave the WAC, cease such lobbying activities and to refrain from engaging in tax loopholes.

Apple plays huge games with their taxes. By disguising profits in the U.S. as foreign earnings in low-tax countries, Apple dodges billions of dollars of taxes they should be paying. We are all disappointed to see a great company like Apple participate in such a deceitful campaign that violates their commitment to operate in a socially responsible manner

The WAC group, which is supported by a number of other technology conglomerates including Microsoft, Google and Adobe, is currently lobbying Congress for the Freedom Invest Act of 2011 to lower taxes on American companies involved in selling goods and services overseas. The drafters of the bill claim the money companies save from taxes could be re-invested within the country.

Apple is US Uncut’s main target in the demonstrations on June 4th and has put together an “action kit” with signs, leaflets, chants and slogans. The group will even enter Apple Stores and perform a “dance-in flash mob”, audaciously planning to record the result on the Apple computers on display. CNet contacted Apple for comment, but they did not respond. Jump the break for a video from US Uncut campaigning against Apple and the WAC.

[Via CNet]

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iCloud Will Scan iTunes Libraries, “Mirror” Songs Online

In a post detailing the current state of cloud-based music services from Google and Amazon, Businessweek relays some information on Apple’s upcoming iCloud service, rumored to include streaming of iTunes collections to a variety of devices and computers and said to be formally introduced at the WWDC keynote on June 6. Similarly to a rumor posted a few months ago that indicated Apple was working on a solution to let users backup & upload their collections to the cloud directly from the desktop, Businessweek says “three people briefed on the talks” (between Apple and music labels) have suggested Apple will provide a scanning tool that quickly mirrors songs to iCloud’s servers, also offering a way to replace those songs with better-quality versions if quality is not deemed “good enough.”

Armed with licenses from the music labels and publishers, Apple will be able to scan customers’ digital music libraries in iTunes and quickly mirror their collections on its own servers, say three people briefed on the talks. If the sound quality of a particular song on a user’s hard drive isn’t good enough, Apple will be able to replace it with a higher-quality version. Users of the service will then be able to stream, whenever they want, their songs and albums directly to PCs, iPhones, iPads, and perhaps one day even cars.

Businessweek also briefly mentions Apple could use a subscription-based model to give users access to these functionalities and stream songs they purchased or uploaded. Whilst the general consensus among bloggers seems to be that Apple will either allow users to upload entire music collections or listen to songs they don’t own like Spotify enables subscribers to access the company’s online database with a subscription, the technical details on Apple’s iCloud service are still unclear. A patent design suggested Apple could make users sync small bits of music locally and fetch the rest online to avoid buffering between songs; others claimed it will be a simple system revolving around uploads and streaming like Amazon’s Cloud Player; several reports also pointed at Apple building a new service that combines subscriptions, partial uploads and scanning tools to reduce upload times on a user’s end. Businessweek seems to believe the latter option, with a subscription-based payment and a desktop utility that scans iTunes and somehow mirrors everything quickly to the cloud.

Apple Patents LCD Screen That Plays Nice with Sunglasses

A new patent application surfaced at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office entitled “Display that Emits Circularly-Polarized Light” and discovered by AppleInsider today points at a new kind of LCD screens capable of playing nice in outdoor viewing when an iPhone or iPad user is wearing sunglasses to protect himself from harmful UV rays. The problem with polarized sunglasses – not necessarily LCD screens exposed to directly sunlight, something Apple’s own displays have long been criticized due to poor performances when compared to the Amazon Kindle – is that they “only allow through light with an electric field that vibrates in the vertical direction”, and considering current LCD displays have an electric field that vibrates in one direction, the user wearing polarized sunglasses may see distorted images when looking at the screen from certain angles. Polarized sunglasses and LCDs don’t play nice together, and Apple’s proposed solution is aimed at building an LCD display that, with circularly polarized light, allows sunglasses to not see black areas, distorted images, and so forth.

The layer receives the linearly-polarized light on one surface, converts the linearly-polarized light to circularly-polarized light, and then emits the circularly-polarized light from another surface,” the application reads. “By emitting circularly-polarized light, the display reduces the perceived distortion found at some angles when the display is viewed through a linearly-polarizing filter.

The patent design seems to suggest Apple might get around the problem of iOS devices used outdoors assuming people generally tend to wear sunglasses in direct sunlight. The patent credits John Z. Zhong, Wei Chen, Cheng Chen, Victor H.E. Yin, and Shawn R. Gettemy as inventors.

Apple Files Lawsuit Against Kid Who Sold White iPhone 4 Parts

A few months ago we covered the story of Fei Lam, whose site, WhiteiPhone4Now.com had been forced to shut down. He managed to sell $130,000 worth of iPhone 4 parts that were in the elusive (at the time) white color. The story since then went quiet, until yesterday when Apple decided to file a lawsuit against Lam and his parents.

The suit claims that the site led to the infringement and dilution of Apple’s trademarks and that it was involved in deceptive practices through selling the iPhone conversion kits. Curiously, Apple has also filed a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit, which as MacRumors suggests, may mean that a settlement has been reached, although the request for dismissal without prejudice may mean that Apple could come after Lim again at a later date.

Defendent Lam willfully and without authorization has used Apple’s trademarks in connection with the sale of his “White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits,” which among other things included white front and back panels with Apple’s logo and “iPhone” trademarks that are used in connection with the promotion and sale of Apple’s well known iPhone 4 handheld mobile digital electronic devices.

Included in the suit from Apple are quotes from an instant messaging conversation between Lam and Alan Yang, a business owner in Shenzen who obtained the parts for Lam. Of importance is that Yang notes he was having difficulties getting parts shipped out because customs agents in Hong Kong were raising concerns over trademark issues.

Apple has requested a permanent injunction barring the Lam, and his parents who are also included in the suit because he is a minor, from any further sales and forfeiture of all profits from the sale of white iPhone 4 parts, reimbursement for legal expenses and additional financial penalties. If you are interested in more details of the case, check out PatentlyApple which has done an extended summation of the suit.

[Via MacRumors]

Kickoff For Mac Aims To Simplify Teamwork

Working and communicating effectively in a group for a project can be quite painful and difficult, but Kickoff is a new group collaboration tool that aims to make it much easier for Mac users.

Designed for small teams of people, Kickoff gives users three integral features required for effective teamwork – chat, file management and to-do’s/notes. What makes Kickoff look really interesting is that each of these core functionalities are fully featured and thought through. For example it doesn’t just store files, because it also has built-in versioning and transfers within chat, whilst to-do’s can be allocated to certain people and a dashboard provides an overall glance at everything in the project.

It syncs everything over the air in real-time and because it’s a Mac app you can easily drag files, use Quick Look on files and receive dock notifications. Unfortunately pricing will probably be a bit prohibitive for many, starting at 20€ a month for up to three users, whilst for up to 15 users it is 50€ per month, although there is a two week free trial. Jump the break for some more screenshots.

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Merriam-Webster Dictionary Hits The iPad

The comprehensive and appreciated Merriam-Webster dictionary is now available in an official iPad optimized app for free. The iPad app, built upon their iPhone app, has been redesigned to take advantage of the iPad’s screen and brings a few new features.

The main new feature is a scrolling index which, when the iPad is orientated in landscape, appears on the left of the screen, and lets you scroll the entire dictionary in alphabetical order. It is largely pointless, but pretty cool – did you know the word turmeric is the immediate word before turmoil in the dictionary?

Just like the iPhone app it has voice search powered by Nuance, synonyms and antonym support, audio pronunciations, example history and pretty much everything else that a dictionary app needs. The app does have banner ads at the bottom of the screen, but they are fairly unobtrusive and considering you get an entire dictionary for free, it is well worth it.