By Greg Mills

Someone needs to explain the concepts behind selling things at a profit and buying things competitively to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer. The conversation ought to be in one syllable words, quit simple, so he can understand.    

One might imagine selling the rights for to use a fresh mobile OS to the biggest cell phone company on the planet (for the time being) would net you a chunk of change enough to retire on. The great dealmaker Ballmer actually agreed to pay one billion dollars to Nokia for them switching to Windows Mobile 7.  

Nokia had already publicly indicated they were throwing in the towel on their own mobile OS efforts, so Ballmer had them over a barrel. Smelling blood in the water, like a great white shark, Ballmer circled his prey and then viciously bit his own foot off.  

Now, anxious to outdo his Nokia deal making blunder, rumors are that Microsoft has agreed to pay US$4.5 billion more than...

The SemiAccurate (http://macte.ch/LUHV) web site generated a lot of discussion over the weekend when it said that Apple was planning to dump Intel from its laptop lines within 2-3 years. That's an interesting idea, and perhaps it's on target, but I don't think that's going to happen.

But first, some background. Here's part of SemiAccurate's report: "The short story is that Apple is moving the laptop line, and presumably desktops too, to ARM based chips as soon as possible. With A15/Eagle allowing more than 32-bit memory access, things look up, but it seems silly to do so before the full 64 bit cores come in the following generation. Nvidia is directly telling certain favored analysts that they will have Denver out in Q4 of 2012, maybe Q1/2013, and that uses the full on 64-bit ARM instruction set. It won’t be out by then, but that gives you a good estimation of when that ISA will break cover from one vendor or...

By Greg Mills

"Star Trek" has a rosy view of the future where hunger and want are historic, and computers listen to users to input information. To access a computer you say "computer," and then give your command or search information. You dictate text and it just appears on the screen. That is a cool concept and it has been hinted at for years on PCs of both stripes.

Speech interpretation is problematic for a number of reasons. Background noise we instinctively tune out easily confuses speech recognition. Strong accents also tend to stumble speech recognition. Once the bugs are fixed, the potential is amazing. The form of speech software to come may be pretty interesting. The old system of speech recognition was for the local computer to do the work of interpreting the sounds into text. The next generation of speech-totext involved the cloud.  

I have a number of MP3 audio files I would really love to convert to text, to clean it up and publish...

While digital home-video options are gaining in popularity and Apple CEO Steve Jobs calls Blu-ray a "bag of hurt," more than three quarters of U.S. consumers continue to view movies on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Nearly 80 cents of every dollar spent on home video movies goes toward the purchase or rental of physical discs.

According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, consumers are still using DVDs and Blu-ray Disc (BD) to watch movies more than all digital-video options combined. Over the past three months, 77% of consumers reported watching a movie on a DVD or BD, which is unchanged from last year. Those who viewed movies from physical discs reported watching an average of four hours per week, which is also unchanged from the prior year. By comparison 68% watched a movie on a TV or cable network channel, 49%t at a theatre, and 21% used paid video on demand through their TVs.

According to data from NPD's "Entertainment Trends in America" report, when...

Apple will provide over-the-air updates for iOS 5, while the upcoming version of Mac OSX Lion will be delivered via the Mac App Store, according to two separate reports (http://macte.ch/RkI8A). Instead of having users chained to iTunes for their iOS updates, Apple may introduce wireless OS updates, removing the need for a computer in the process.

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty says the company sees product cycles as being driven by software rather than hardware and is expected to announce major software updates at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, according to "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com).

The follow-up to the iPad 2 will incorporate a glasses-free 3D screen. The claim comes from an alleged Hollywood insider who told RCR Wireless (...

By Greg Mills

Sometimes the synergy of two companies are so symmetrically fitting a merger or takeover is like a marriage made in heaven. Everything just fits like a glove.

Sometimes, such a business marriage is conceived in a far darker and hotter place. PC Magazine's Peter Pachal appears to be having hallucinations or the blue screen of death happened on his PC, once too often. The URL for the story is: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384918,00.asp (this article is best read while eating corn flakes).

Peter Pachal has suggested that in some way Microsoft and RIM could merge and in combination break into Apple's monopoly in the smartphone and tablet markets. This is partly due to a surprise announcement yesterday that RIM will make Bing the default search engine for RIM devices. We don't know how much Microsoft is paying RIM for dumping Google. More on this development later.

If we examine the situation Pachal proposed, one has...

According to "Gigaom" (http://macte.ch/yFDta), Apple has reportedly hired Tomlinson Holman as its new audio chief, according to a tweet by Leo Laporte Wednesday morning. Laporte said he had it “on good authority” that Holman “is joining Apple to run audio.” Holman is the brain behind Lucasfilm’s THX sound, and the world’s first 10.2 surround sound system.

According to "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) with the release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion this summer, Apple will make the switch to a new kind of digital distribution for its operating system upgrades by releasing the software first through its new Mac App Store. The Mac App Store, available to all users running the most recent version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, will become the de facto method for obtaining the Lion upgrade, the article says, quoting "people familiar...

By Greg Mills

Sometimes  two elements of current events cross paths.  I just about died laughing at a cartoon I saw where it was implied bin Laden was taken down due to carrying an iPhone.  

The truth is, he didn't trust anything more electronic than a toaster and only toasters without an LED on them. The Australian press ran a story speculating that a million dollar villa that didn't have a telephone or Internet was part of what confirmed to our intelligence agencies that someone who lived there was hiding. The tracking of everything electronic by governments around the world is well known. The extent of that surveillance is not as well known.  

Unlike a lot of people who carry smart phones, the notion that your phone carried a virtual map with dated location points came as a shock to a lot of us. From what I hear, Apple will be removing the location cache held on the computer iOS devices sync with and reducing the maximum location files to...

A handful of Apple patents have appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.

Patent number 7936946 is for migration of an old image database. Techniques are described for causing digital image data to be interpreted according to a particular technique of a plurality of techniques. According to an embodiment, digital sensor data is received, and user input is received that specifies which technique of a plurality of techniques to use to generate a display that depicts an unmodified image from the sensor data, wherein each technique of the plurality of techniques generates a display from the sensor data in a different manner than each other technique of the plurality of techniques. The inventors are Nikhil M. Bhatt and Curtis A. Bianchi.

Patent number 79372306 is for a display digital signal visualizations with increasing accuracy. Digital signal visualizations may be displayed with increasing...

By Rick Sutcliffe

Apple bids fair to take over the electronic world as iSteve's little Cupertino company doubles revenues year over year, pushes profits to heights not previously imagined, and bids to continue on this path indefinitely.

As previously predicted in this space, many of the purchasers of iProducts are now buying Macs as well, ensuring a growing dominance in that space as more and more people come to realize that it's better to use a real operating system rather than a cheap, buggy knockoff. Eventually business will "get" it too, and when that tide turns, the whole industry will reach a cusp.
Perhaps this past quarter offered a defining moment of sorts, as Apple's profit surpassed that of MS for the first time since the early nineties (by several hundred million, and no looking back). Given that Apple is a relatively high-cost hardware operation, and MS an extremely low marginal cost software house, this is a truly...

Apple does exceedingly well in the education market, but there's still room for growth, as shown by the "Academic Library Computer Technology Benchmarks" from Research and Markets(http://www.researchandmarkets.com), which looks at the computer use and purchasing plans of academic libraries worldwide.

According to the study, the mean number of personal computers purchased in the 2010-11 academic year by the colleges in the sample was 18.6. Approximately 10.06% of planned acquisitions were for Macs -- less than 1% for community colleges but more than 20% for research universities. The libraries in the sample had a mean stock of only 6.36 dual boot computers that can run both the Mac and Windows operating systems.

Over 10% of planned purchases is substantial, considering Apple has just under 10% personal computer market share in the US and under 5% worldwide. But with the "halo...

Apple patent (number 20110099519) for a menuing structure for media content has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. It involves the Apple TV and its on-screen menus and its interaction with Macs on a local network.

According to the patent, methods, systems, articles of manufacture, and apparatus for causing a computer system such as a media device to perform operations may include receiving input from the user selecting a media type category, identifying media content items within the selected media category that the user has previously selected for presentation, prioritizing the identified media content items based on a predetermined set of rules, and presenting to the user a menu of at least some of the identified media content items in an order based on a result of the prioritization. The inventors are Jeffrey Ma, Elbert D. Chen, Jeffrey Robbin, Calin Pacurariu, William Martin Bachman and James A. Young.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the...

Apple should take a hint from Amazon's Kindle Library Lending and implement such a capability for its iBook/iBookstore app/technology for iOS devices.

The Kindle Lending Library is a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States. It will be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps (http://www.amazon.com/kindle).

Customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or free Kindle app for an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android device, Blackberry, Windows phone, Windows PC or a Mac. If a Kindle book is checked out again or that book is purchased from Amazon, all of a customer’s annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.

Amazon is working with OverDrive, a provider of digital content solutions for...

By Greg Mills

Sort of an admission and a defense rolled up into one page... 

1. Apple denies ever tracking iPhone or iPads but the explanation doesn't mention the detailed location files with timestamps reported by
some researchers.  Apple claims the file amounts to sort of a map of cell towers and WiFi sources.  More information on the details of the Location logs needs to be given.

2. Users are confused?  Thanks a lot Apple, I will try not to hold my iPhone or iPad wrong.  

3. This answer does not explain GPS coordinates with time stamps found by some researchers.

4. Reducing both the size of the location cache and reducing the length of time it is held are good moves that fulfill privacy demands of uses.

5. The issue isn't as much Apple knowing who the data came from as someone accessing your personal location data without your consent and knowing who's device they are downloading the location information from....

A new Apple patent (number ) at the US Patent & Trademark Office indicates that Apple has perhaps at least considered making a television set, as some folks are predicting. Of course, the patent for "positioning a first surface in a pre-determined position relative to a second surface," can also pertains to an iMac, a Cinema Display, even laptops.

The patent is for a method and an apparatus for positioning a first device in relation to a second device. An optical signal from a first device is sent to a second device. A reflection of the optical signal from the second device is received. A position of one of the devices relative to the other device is adjusted based upon the reflection. Gabriel G. Marcu is the inventor.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Innovations in the computer display area have resulted in dramatic improvements of products that are used for displaying computer input and output. Monitors attached to computers have...

High resolution artwork discovered in the latest build of Mac OS X Lion indicates that Apple could be planning to bring a Retina display to the Mac. If true wouldn't that make a great feature for the next rev of the iMac.

Preview 2 of Lion features icons in sizes up to 1024×1024, and a desktop background at a resolution of 3200×3200. According to "MacRumors" (http://www.macrumors.com), Apple has reportedly built in support for what it calls “HiDPI display modes." These HiDPI modes allow developers to supply 2x-enlarged images to support double-high resolution displays. Like the iPhone 4′s Retina Display, this means that user interface elements will remain the same size, but everything will be twice the resolution and therefore twice as detailed, says "MacRumors."

Imagine a 27-inch iMac (my model of choice) with 3840 x 2160 resolution. The current high-end model has "only" 2560 x 1440 resolution....

By Greg Mills

Steve Jobs is the new evil Big Brother. I would like to retract my statement posted November 21, 2010: "Jobs and Apple gone evil? Not so." Remember the iconic Apple commercial of the woman running down the aisle and throwing a hammer at the theater screen picture of big brother (as in the Orwellian novel "1984")?   The evil dictator's image was shattered and we all cheered. Could Steve Job's face become the modern big brother image? This sort of location tracking that came to light last week, previously reserved for the most dangerous criminals has been applied to us all by Apple, and for what? So that Apple could sell stinking pizzas!?

As news of the audaciousness of Apple secretly tracking and recording the detailed movements of everyone who innocently purchased the hugely popular iPhone and iPad sinks in, the question of why Apple did it comes to mind.  While some still want to give Apple the benefit...

It's been a while since I took the time to lament the lack of Blu-ray (which Steve Jobs has called a "bag of hurt") on the Mac. So it's time for another lamentation with good news of sales on the Blu-ray front.

But IHS Screen Digest says 3D technology is about to find a real foothold among fans of Blu-ray discs. Some 3.2 million homes this year will have the equipment needed to watch Blu-ray discs in 3D. That a 305% increase over last year.

The 3D discs can be played on Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles as well as 3D-enabled Blu-ray players. Studios will release about 65 titles on 3D Blu-ray this year, IHS says. That total will include 15 from Disney such as "Tron," "Beauty And The Beast" and "The Lion King."

As a result, the research firm predicts that US consumers will spend US$160.8 million this year on discs that provide 3D images to 3D-enabled TV sets. IHS figures that consumers will buy 5.7 million 3D discs at an average of $28.33 a pop. That contrasts with...

Here are some words you probably won't hear often from me: I agree with Dell. Let me explain.

In February 2011, Dell and Intel commissioned Forrester Consulting to leverage its Forrsights Workforce Employee survey along with supplemental customer survey analysis to determine IT decision-makers' adoption plans for tablets in the enterprise. Forrester discovered that notebooks, desktops and smartphones were found to be “must-have” devices, while tablets, slates, and netbooks were “nice-to-have” technologies.

The study says tablets can bring new benefits to a work environment, such as increased productivity, flexibility and mobility, but they also bring with them security and management challenges. They can replace paper-based systems and introduce new productivity places, but this only makes them a companion device, not a replacement for existing computers, according to the study, which is a position I've espoused for a long time.

In the Virtual Era, where we're...

Think the Smart Cover for the iPad 2 is intelligent? Just wait. Apple is working on follow-up devices that may reach the genius level. An Apple patent (number 20110090626) for a cover for a portable electronic device has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office.

Per the patent, the cover can include at least one electrical component. For example, in one embodiment, an electrical component can be embedded in the cover. When the cover is placed on or mated with the portable electronic device, the electrical component embedded in the cover is able to interact with electrical circuitry of the portable electronic device. Advantageously, the cover can not only provide a protective and/or ornamental covering for the portable electronic device but can also augment the electrical capabilities of the portable electronic device. The inventors are Quin C. Hoellwarth and Brett Gregory Alten.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Typically, the surfaces...

An Apple patent (number 20110090244) for an electronic sighting compass has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. The invention relates to a portable electronic device -- iPhones, no doubt, as well as, perhaps, iPod touches and iPads -- having a compass function and, more particularly, to a device wherein the compass function is integrated with a camera function to provide an electronic sighting compass.

Per the patent, a portable electronic device provides a compass bearing display juxtaposed with or superimposed on a camera viewfinder display. The device includes an image sensor and an electronic compass. When the device is held with the image sensor pointed in a generally horizontal direction, the displayed viewfinder image from the image sensor is combined with a graphic indicating a compass bearing corresponding to the imaging axis of the image sensor. The display may be presented as a linear scale to indicate off-axis headings as well. Achim Pantfoerder is...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 20110088838) for self fixturing assembly techniques used in creating the "unibody" design of many Macs, including the portable line.

A process, apparatus, and system for joining at least two work pieces together using at least two adhesives each having substantially different cure times. A first adhesive having a first cure time is used to form a first bond between the two workpieces, the first adhesive having a first cure time.

A second adhesive having a second cure time, the second cure time being substantially shorter than the first cure time is used to form a fixturing bond. The fixturing bond maintaining the first and second workpieces in position prior to the first adhesive curing. The inventors are Peter M. Thompson, Martin Adamcyk, Timothy G. Van Vorhis, Arthur J. Lucchesi, Thomas A. Moore and Matthew B. Morris.

Here's Apple's summary of the patent: The outward appearance of a portable computing device,...

By Greg Mills

As with most any piece of new electronic hardware, the iFixit site sends someone to stand in line to scoop up one unit for immediate teardown. They meticulously pry the darn thing open and prepare a parts list of the innards.  

They estimate the cost to assemble the device and what the parts list amounts to. Then they post pictures and cost to manufacture the new item for all the world to see (http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/BlackBerry-PlayBook-Teardown/5265/1).

As it turns out PlayBook is pretty well constructed and has four speakers, two cameras and pretty good memory and processors. Today at 3 pm (Eastern) iFixit will release their estimated cost to manufacture the PlayBook. They are working to identify all the chips and parts used to estimate a likely cost to RIM for each...

Apple has been granted two patents by the US Patent & Trademark Office for the Apple TV (referred to as the iTV in the patents) and iTunes. They could also relate to the rumored HDTV Apple is working on, if you buy into those rumors.

Patent number 7930650 is for an user interface with menu abstractions and content abstractions. Per the patent media menu items are generated within a media interface environment. Media menu item abstractions are generated, one of the media menu item abstractions arranged in a foreground position, and one or more of the media menu item abstractions arranged in background positions in the media interface environment. Selection of a media menu items transitions to a corresponding content menu interface. The inventors are Rainer Brodersen, Rachel Claire Goldeen, Jeffrey Ma, Mihnea Calin Pacurariu, Eric Taylor Seymour, Jeff Robbin and Thomas Micheal Madden.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Media devices, such as...