OMG! Apple is having a media event next week! But don’t get too excited… the invitation essentially spills the beans on this education-centric event, so we’ll be surprised if CEO Tim Cook shows up with an iPad 3 under his arm. But hey, it’s an Apple event, so we’re excited to see what they have to say, even if some of us are way too old to be concerned about going to school. While you ponder what Cupertino has in store for next week, have a quick read of the rest of the tech stuff that’s making news for this Wednesday, January 11, 2012.
Adobe touched a nerve with customers still using Creative Suite 3 and 4 products at the end of last year by announcing there would be no upgrade path for them to the forthcoming CS6 (CS5 and CS5.5 users can upgrade as usual). Needless to say, that was an unpopular decision, and today Adobe backpedaled with a special upgrade offer for CS3 and CS4 customers to get Creative Suite 6 and the new Adobe Creative Cloud, which are expected “in the first half of 2012.” The company hasn’t released any actual pricing quite yet, but the “special introductory upgrade pricing” will be in effect from the CS6 release through December 31, 2012, which should give those old-school users time to take advantage of it.
The Loop was among the first to report on a new Apple event announced today, which will take place on January 19 at the Guggenheim Museum. As widely predicted in recent weeks, the media event will be focused on education. Rather than a cryptic tease, Apple has sent the invitation shown above to the press which reads, “Join us for an education announcement in the Big Apple.” So, that makes it pretty clear that we shouldn’t be expecting an iPad 3 or an Apple-branded HDTV. The event kicks off at 10am EST, so check back next Thursday to find out what’s new.
The folks at Shazam Entertainment have introduced a new app for the iPhone and iPod touch called Shazam Player. Rather than listening to and recognizing music around you, Shazam Player is essentially a replacement for Apple’s Music (formerly iPod) app, with a twist. With Shazam Player, users will get streaming lyrics in real time for the music they play through the app, with the ability to share what they’re listening to on Facebook or Twitter. Watch YouTube videos and concert clips without leaving the app, and you can manage your music — including creating new playlists from your iOS music library. Needless to say, if you should happen to hear a tune you like while jamming away with Shazam Player, you can switch over to the Shazam app instantly. The free app is available now from the App Store and requires iOS 4.3 or later.
If you’re attending the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, you may have bumped into an Apple employee and not even realized it. Don’t worry: You didn’t miss some invisible Apple booth! According to AppleInsider, “over 250 of Apple’s employees are registered for this week’s show,” says the usual “person familiar with Apple’s plans.” On Tuesday, a reporter for paidContent was the first to spot Apple vice president of product marketing Greg Joswiak lurking near Sony’s booth, with his show badge “strategically arranged” to cover his name and company. Reporter Tom Krazit explains: “Joswiak said he was interested in how other companies present their products at events such as CES, from things like booth layout and aesthetics to which products are highlighted within a company’s booth.” Apple, of course, is not a CES exhibitor and even famously backed out of the Macworld Expo back in 2009 in favor of focusing on their own events.
As we briefly reported on Tuesday, Adobe has decided to rebrand their Carousel consumer subscription photo service as Adobe Revel. And sure enough, late last night, a new version of the universal iOS app and Mac App Store version were pushed out to new and existing users. Today, the company made it official with a blog post on Photoshop.com that explains the decision and offers some insight as to what’s new. The biggest change is “the ability to automatically import photos from the Camera Roll on your iPhone and iPad” as well as photo sharing via Flickr, which certainly is a good first step toward addressing some of users’ early concerns. Despite the name change, Adobe Revel is still a .99 per month or .99 per year subscription service, which is processed as an in-app purchase through the iOS app.
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If you got all excited by the news yesterday about a new Apple media event later this month, you might want to temper your expectations — unless you’re an educator or student, that is, in which case you’re likely to be excited by today’s followup report on the subject. Meanwhile, RIM is making headlines again (and not in a good way) and there’s plenty more in store for this Tuesday, January 3, 2012.
Following a report from AllThingsD on Monday about a possible Apple media event in New York City later this month, other sites have been digging for further information on exactly what Cupertino might have in store for us. According to MacRumors, the rumored event might focus on digital textbooks and the education market, which was of particular interest to co-founder Steve Jobs just before his death in October. Ars Technica believes the event will focus on digital textbooks that include support for the EPUB 3 standard, enabling “a wider variety of multimedia and interaction features.” The website speculates: “Digital textbooks represent another nascent market that Apple could potentially upend as it did with music and mobile apps.” Makes sense to us, but it’s likely to bum out those waiting for the iPad 3 or something more exciting.
The bad news keeps coming at BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, who is having a new fire sale on their BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with a bizarre twist: All models are priced at 9, a significant savings from the high-end 64GB model that launched at 9. According to AppleInsider, the savings are only available from RIM’s website and the sale ends on Wednesday, so snap ‘em up while the getting is good. Meanwhile, The Vancouver Sun is reporting today that RIM may soon get a good “corporate shakeup” that will remove co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie as joint chairmen of the board, but keep them installed as co-CEOs. Board member Barbara Stymiest is reported to be a candidate for board chairman.
9to5Mac is reporting that Apple is keeping up with the traditions heading into the Chinese New Year, participating in a one-day shopping event called “Red Friday” on Friday, January 6. But don’t bother looking for deals here in the U.S. store — the Red Friday bargains can only be found in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. The event comes on the heels of last weekend’s “lucky bag” promotion across Japan.
By all accounts, Amazon’s 9 Kindle Fire is making a dent in the tablet market, but no one really knows exactly how much. Thankfully, we have the educated guesses of analysts to help us fill in the blanks. According to Cult of Mac, Morgan Keenan analyst Travis McCourt is telling investors that Amazon sold upwards of four to five million Kindle Fires this holiday season, which translates to “maybe one to two million cannibalized iPad sales at most.” That may sound like something for Apple to worry about until you consider that Cupertino unwrapped 4.2 million iOS devices on Christmas Day alone, which is what Amazon likely sold in the entire month of December.
The Loop is reporting that classic game publisher Atari has been stepping up efforts to rid the App Store of knockoffs, with publisher Black Powder Games claiming the company has a “special relationship” with Apple that gets potentially infringing titles yanked faster than normal. According to GamesIndustry.biz, Atari is apparently “applying legal pressure to developers which it believes are infringing on its intellectual property rights, despite affected developers claiming that attempts had been made on their part to reach an agreement.” Apple has historically been quick on the draw when IP complaints hit their desk, so we’re not sure if Atari has any special privileges or if their stature as an established publisher of classic titles simply makes their complaint more valid.
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According to sources at All Things D, Apple is allegedly planning an important, small-scale event that will be held in New York at the end of this month. The site posits that it will be a “media-related announcement.”
Hmm, related to media you say? Well, we’ve already got a pretty hefty music, movie, and e-book distribution platform in place with iTunes. It’s possible, according to our Rumor-O-Tron, that Apple will finally make the announcement it’s entering the television game.
That Apple TV is due for an update, isn’t it? Hopefully it’s a 37-inch upgrade.
What do you think?
Our pals at MacTech Magazine have just taken the wraps off their 2012 event schedule, and it’s big! How big? Let’s just say there are more events than there are months on the calendar… that kind of big! But don’t worry, the fun doesn’t kick off until the middle of February so there’s plenty of time to schedule an event near you.
MacTech Magazine has announced its event lineup for 2012, with a whopping 15 events spanning coast to coast. That’s a significant increase after only a single event in 2010 and seven events last year, including MacTech Boot Camp for small-to-medium sized business consultants, MacTech InDepth for deep dives on single topics and the three-day MacTech Conference for IT pros and developers.
“We are thrilled with the reaction from our attendees and sponsors at all of our events. We’ve found how to build community, help people learn and network, and make for an awesome experience,” said Neil Ticktin, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of MacTech Magazine. “Next month, I’ve been publisher of MacTech for 20 years. I have never gone into a year more excited than I am about 2012.”
The excitement launches on February 16 with a one-day MacTech Boot Camp in Phoenix, sweeping into Seattle on March 7 and then a MacTech InDepth event on Lion Server Administration in Austin on March 28. New York City will be home to a Boot Camp on April 18 followed by another Lion Server Administration event the following day before moving on to Boston May 17 and 18 with another pair of MacTech InDepth events. The events move on to Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Diego, Minneapolis, the three-day MacTech Conference in Los Angeles from October 17 to 19, San Jose and finally Miami on December 5. Whew!
Registration for all events is now open, with early bird pricing of 5 for one-day events (normally 5) and multiple event discounts are available (save per event when registering for more than one). MacTech Conference pricing matches last year: 99 for on-site registration or 9 for early birds. Get the complete list of events and registration information on the MacTech website.
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Are you ready for Black Friday? Apple sure is, with the company announcing on Tuesday that “every gift list has its day” — and that day is this Friday, when the company’s online store offers special one-day only discounts.
Apple has announced its annual Black Friday event, billed as a “special one-day Apple shopping event” this Friday, November 25. For those in the United States, that date is better known as Black Friday, the day many retailers count on for a huge surge in sales to get their fiscal bottom line into the black for the year in the wake of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.
Even though Black Friday seems to be creeping earlier and earlier with many retailers pushing the celebration back into Thanksgiving itself, Apple is sticking with tradition for its annual online event.
“Mark your calendar now, and come back to the Apple Online Store the day after Thanksgiving for the special one-day event,” the website announced on Tuesday. “You’ll discover amazing iPad, iPod, and Mac gifts for everyone on your list. Until then, browse the Apple Online Store for great ideas.”
In reality, most of the Apple Black Friday discounts are usually quite modest, but since the company rarely discounts its products to begin with, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. If you’re in the market for anything in the three product categories listed above, it’s worth dropping by the Apple Online Store on Friday to check it out!
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