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Posts tagged with "apple"

Apple Planning To Open First Apple Store In Russia

According to a report by ifoAppleStore yesterday, Apple is finalising plans and decisions to lease and open up its first Apple Retail Store in Russia. Top executives of the Apple retail division including senior vice president of Retail Ron Johnson and vice president of Real Estate Bob Bridger were seen touring the reconstructed Hotel Moskva where Apple is looking to lease a two-level, 16,000 square-foot space for an Apple Store.

Hotel Moskva is currently in the final stages of a reconstruction; the historic building is close by to the Red Square, the Kremlin and other historical monuments and sites in central Moscow that are popular among tourists. Whilst no lease has yet been signed, a decision could be made soon according to sources of ifoAppleStore. The hotel with its beautiful stone façade will also be home to the first Four Season’s hotel in Russia and numerous other retail stores in an extensive and modern shopping mall.

Eastern Europe is currently devoid of any Apple Stores and the opening of its first store in Russia could signal a significant commitment to expanding growth in the eastern Europe region, similar to that of its plans for Asia. Currently the most eastern store in Europe is the recently opened Altmarkt-Galerie in Dresden, Germany. But beyond that there are “no Apple stores in any of the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union (USSR), which dissolved in 1991”.

[Via ifoAppleStore]

 

Toys R’ Us To Sell The iPad 2 Next Month?

Despite the continuing shortages of the iPad 2, modmyi is today reporting that Toys R’ Us will next month begin selling the iPad 2 in the United States. If it comes to fruition, Toys R’ Us will join other third party retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart and Target in selling the iPad 2.

The source, an employee working at Toys R’ Us, also revealed to modmyi a series of employee training materials that have been distributed to ensure employees are up to scratch of the features of the iPad 2. Amongst the materials include a photo of the iPad with its various features noted including its two cameras, A5 processor and the home button and how it is “instant on”. There is also a quiz for employees to complete, which includes questions such as asking what size screen the iPad 2 has. Jump the break for a picture of the training diagram on the iPad 2’s features.

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US Privacy Investigation Targeting Smartphone App Developers

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey are reportedly investigating whether various smartphone applications are illegally obtaining and transmitting data from users without their consent or knowledge. In the US it is a violation of federal computer fraud laws for companies to collect information about a user without notice or authorization.

The prosecutors are investigating whether various apps on smartphones such as the iPhone and various Android phones are not notifying users what data is being collected and why such data is required by the app. This data being collected ranges from a users location to the unique identification data for that device and even personal information. The Wall Street Journal tested 101 apps and discovered that 56 of those transmitted the unique identification number for the device without letting users know, 47 transmitted the phones location and 5 sent a users age, gender and other personal information. Worryingly 45 of the apps tested did not have any privacy policy either in the app or on their website.

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Survey Reveals 37% Of Teens Will Soon Buy An iPhone, 22% Of Them Have “A Tablet”

When I was a kid, having an iPod meant you wanted to be different and you cared about the quality of your music. At least in my town, most kids bought MP3 players from a variety of popular / unknown brands at the local electronics store or mall, and they didn’t really care about the functionalities of the device as long as they could “put MP3s” into them. I know the situation was different in the States and, perhaps, in other towns of Italy too, but that’s what I remember.

The scenario nowadays, of course, is completely different. Every teenager knows what the iPod is, they have iPhones and, when they really want to go Apple all-the-way, they also have Macs. Apple’s sales numbers and popularity have dramatically changed (for the better) over the past decade, and with 100 million iPhones and 15 million iPads out there the company has surely created a new market for smartphones and tablets. Yet there’s still a huge room for growth, and according to Piper Jaffray’s latest bi-annual survey of high school students in the US, the numbers for Apple are promising. Among the 4,500 surveyed kids, 37% of them plan on buying an iPhone in the next six months, and 17% of them already have one. That’s up from 31% and 14% in Spring 2010. What about tablets? 22% of high school kids said they own one (and I guess they’re talking about the iPad here), whilst 20% plan on buying one in the next six months.

As for MP3 players, 86% of the kids who have one are using an Apple iPod. Other devices from Microsoft, Sony and Dell follow in the chart with incredibly lower numbers. But the MP3 player is clearly decreasing in popularity as kids prefer to listen to music on their phones rather than a dedicated device: in Fall 2010, 90% of surveyed kids had an MP3 player; in Spring 2011 “only” 80% of them have said they own a standalone device for playing music. And of course the iTunes Store has a 95% share among the “legal ways” of downloading music online; on the other hand, 65% of kids still use P2P services to illegally download music from the Internet.

So this survey leaves us with an interesting question: what will the popularity of tablets be like in 12 months? What’s going to happen to the iPod and, most of all, will Apple reboot the entire line to make sure it still makes sense for a kid to have an MP3 player alongside an iPhone? We know the iPod touch makes for a great gaming device, but I can see how having an all-in-one device (phone+music+games) can be a more attractive option. Check out the full survey here.

New Final Cut Pro to be Announced on April 12th?

The ProVideoCoalition reports this evening that the new Final Cut Pro isn’t just amazing, but that it’s slated for an April 12th launch date at the tenth annual SuperMeet at the Bally’s Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Rumors are flying that Apple will be using the Vegas Supermeet to announce the next version of Final Cut Pro. Supposedly, Apple will be taking over the entire event for their announcement, canceling all other sponsors, including AJA, Avid, Canon, BlackMagic, Autodesk and others, who were set to give presentations.

So far, ProVideoCoalition has confirmed that Canon, Avid, and Autodesk will not be presenting on the 12th. Avid reported that Supermeet canceled their sponsorship for the event, while Canon cancelled speaker Philip Bloom’s stage appearance. However, Bloom may make a guest appearance at the event.

Early in January, Hardmac proposed that Apple was testing a beta version of Final Cut Pro, and that it was slated for a late March or early April release date. In February, Techcrunch’s Alexia Tsotsis reported that video editors were visiting the Apple campus to get a preview of the new software.

Apparently Apple is still putting the finishing touches on “the biggest overhaul to Final Cut Pro since the original version was created over 10 years ago”and wanted pro user feedback. Emphasis on “pro.”

MacRumors quotes Final Cut author Larry Jordan, who writes on his blog:

I’ve Seen The New Version of Final Cut Pro… and it’s a jaw-dropper. Last week, Apple invited a few folks, including me, to a short meeting in Cupertino where they previewed the up-coming version of Final Cut Pro. While I am under NDA and can’t talk about what I saw, I CAN tell you the meeting happened and that it showcased the new Final Cut Pro.

Ripe with rumors pointing to an April launch, I’d expect the next iteration of Final Cut Pro to launch this month. The last time we saw any activity with Final Cut Pro was in 2009, and many are expecting dramatic interface changes to coincide with 64-bit support and the launch of Lion.

[via MacRumors]

 

 

Apple Launches Free App To Browse iAds

Released a few minutes ago in the App Store, iAd Gallery is a new iPhone app developed by Apple and aimed at showcasing the best iAd campaigns that landed on iOS in the past weeks. The app collects several iAds for iPhone, you can browse by advertiser, category or ad feature thanks to a spinning wheel that lets you easily jumo through ads and select the ones you want to “watch”. You can also learn more about the advertising agencies behind a campaign, and check out the latest ads from the iAd network. You can also “love” specific iAd campaigns and access them at any time from the Loved tab in the bottom toolbar.

The iAd Gallery is a celebration of advertising, featuring iAd campaigns from some of the world’s best brands and their advertising agencies. The iAd Gallery gives you easy access to a selection of the fun and informative ads that have run in some of your favorite apps. Use the Browse feature to discover ads you haven’t seen, or to find those you want to see again. Even lets you tag your favorites to a Loved section that’s all your own.

From a first quick test, it appears that the app takes a few seconds to load the initial gallery (even on a fast WiFi network), but once loaded everything is quite responsive. Browsing through ads in the wheel feels smooth and fast; in the More section, you can contact the iAd team to ask for more info about joining the network. Clearly this is an app meant for media and business to showcase the capabilities of iAds, and perhaps also educate App Store users about the interactivity of Apple’s ad platform. We’re not sure what kind of message Apple is sending to advertisers here, and if the impressions generated in this app account for the iAd campaign itself. It is worth nothing, though, that Apple recently cut the minimum iAd buy in half to $500,000 from the previous $1 million, and a released a desktop tool called iAd Producer to simplify the creation of iAds for designers and developers. Advertisers claimed that iAd wasn’t off to a happy start at all after the initial hype, although we’re hearing iAd revenue for iOS devs has seen a huge rise in the past three weeks. Apple also rolled out fullscreen iAds for the iPad.

You can find iAd Gallery here. More screenshots below. Read more

Apple Asks Toyota To Take Cydia Theme Down

Two days ago we reported Toyota launched a new advertising campaign in the Cydia through ModMyi’s repository based on a custom theme iPhone users could install on their jailbroken devices. The theme promoted Toyota’s affiliate Scion 2011 tC vehicle, with graphics on screen depicting the car in various elements of the standard iOS interface. Toyota didn’t directly get in touch with Cydia’s creator Jay Freeman to launch the ad campaign, which was organized and hosted through ModMyi’s repository. Many saw the advertising campaign as the first step for large companies like Toyota to avoid the App Store altogether to promote their brands and products on the iPhone. With 10-15 million jailbroken devices out there, launching an ad campaign in Cydia through a third-party repo must have sounded like the perfect opportunity to Toyota.

Too bad Apple didn’t think that was a really good idea. In fact, Toyota was apparently asked by Apple to take the theme down, and Toyota accepted to “maintain their good relationship with Apple.” The campaign had been in the works since April 2010 with Toyota and advertising agency Velti.

Kyle Matthews of ModMyi reports:

Apple also heard about the theme and ad campaign. I received a call from our contact at Velti this evening as well as an email asking me to please take the theme out of Cydia. On the phone, he explained Apple had contacted Toyota and requested they remove the theme and stop the advertising campaign. They (Velti) in turn contacted me relaying the message.

Apple doesn’t obviously like jailbreak (they called it “illegal” before the Digital Copyright Millennium Act updated its rules and observed jailbreaking a phone is in a consumer’s rights), and they’re taking another hard stance against those who promote or support (or make business with) Cydia in any way. Sorry Toyota, but you’ll have to take that theme down.

Radio Reporter Uses iPhone 4 As A Replacement For Bulky Equipment

A decade ago Neal Augenstein packed and took with him a suitcase full of heavy equipment so that he could cover news events in the field for the WTOP radio station. Today? It’s an iPhone 4, iPad and a few accessories.

As a radio reporter, the fundamental aspect for Augenstein is audio capture, currently that role is fulfilled by the iPhone 4’s inbuilt microphone (the third-party one he used to use with his 3GS doesn’t yet support the iPhone 4) and whilst it isn’t quite up to the quality he previously experienced, he says it is 92% as good as before. For audio editing he uses the VC Audio Pro app that lets him quickly and easily pull cuts, edit, assemble and adjust the volumes on a three-track screen. This is Augenstein’s favorite improvement on his previous workflow, because he is now able to push out a report in something like 10 minutes rather than 30 minutes.

For live reports Augenstein experimented with two expensive options but left unsatisfied went with the tried and tested Skype which gives him (and his station) a free VoIP service that he says “often sounds as good as the pricy apps”.  Twitter has also become a complementary avenue of reporting and he writes that he will often “break stories on Twitter, and follow-up with audio and website reports.”

Augenstein also carries an iPad primarily for taking down notes during press conferences and a “jury-rigged” stand for the iPhone for when there is no podium to place the iPhone on. In essence Augenstein highlights the very benefit of ditching his old equipment for the iPhone 4 when he says: “I can produce intricate audio and video reports, broadcast live, take and edit photos, write web content and distribute it through social media from a single device.”

[MediaShift via TUAW]

 

EyeTV App Update Adds AirPlay Support

In its latest update, Elgato’s EyeTV, introduces support for AirPlay - something many users have been requesting be added.  You’ll be able to stream both live TV and recordings from either the iPhone or iPad version of the app straight to any TV connected with an Apple TV.

One might ask why you would bother streaming TV (particularly live TV) via a Mac to an iPhone to only send it back to a TV. But this can be handy if you have another TV, perhaps in a bedroom and don’t want the hassle of having to install another antenna or set top box which can also cost a lot more than just an Apple TV. That way you could just set up your Mac and EyeTV to record your favourite TV shows and stream it to that bedroom TV.

Don’t forget that there are a number of hacks/workarounds that allow you to stream (using AirPlay) from your iPhone or iPad to another iOS device using AirTuner or even to a Mac using Banana TV.

[Via TUAW]