The dust has settled, everyone has cleared out of the Guggenheim in New York City, and we all know Apple’s education plans, which include an update to iBooks and new iBooks Author and iTunes U apps. Before we switch back to gossip about the next iPad or even the iPhone 5, let’s address the rest of today’s news, which includes the unfortunate (and unsurprising) bankruptcy of photo legend Kodak. Here’s the rest of the news for this Thursday, January 19, 2012.
If you need further proof that the world has gone app crazy, look no further than Wednesday night’s Facebook pow-wow, which introduces the concept to Timeline. According to The Facebook Blog, users can now “enhance your timeline with apps that help you tell your story, whether you love to cook, eat, travel, run, or review movies.” Sure, Facebook has always had bolt-on apps, but the new initiative promises to integrate them into a user’s Timeline in a more organic way, with 60 companies providing apps at launch, including Foodspotting, Foodily, Ticketmaster, Pinterest, Rotten Tomatoes, Pose, Kobo, Gogobot and TripAdvisor. Facebook promises “there will be apps for all types of interests, as more apps will launch over time.” You have been warned…
The rumor mill has unfortunately churned up another true tale, as AllThingsD is reporting that photography legend Kodak has filed for bankruptcy protection. The news isn’t much of a surprise and “follows years of struggle by the film giant to transition to a digital imaging company.” Kodak will continue operations using 0 million in financing from Citigroup and hopes to come out of restructuring next year. “Kodak is taking a significant step toward enabling our enterprise to complete its transformation,” said Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in a company press release. “At the same time as we have created our digital business, we have also already effectively exited certain traditional operations, closing 13 manufacturing plants and 130 processing labs, and reducing our workforce by 47,000 since 2003. Now we must complete the transformation by further addressing our cost structure and effectively monetizing non-core IP assets. We look forward to working with our stakeholders to emerge a lean, world-class, digital imaging and materials science company.”
The Big Apple was home to a (little) Apple media event this morning at the Guggenheim, which introduced iBooks 2, iBooks Author and iTunes U to the educational community. Along with those releases, Apple also pushed out a minor update to iTunes which is now available for download. “iTunes 10.5.3 allows you to sync interactive iBooks textbooks to your iPad,” the release notes explain. “These Multi-Touch textbooks are available for purchase from the iTunes Store on your Mac or from the iBookstore included with iBooks 2 on your iPad.” Hit the link to download the update directly or check Software Update if you prefer a smaller download.
Siri may be old news to those of us who bought iPhone 4S handsets back in October, but for patent junkies, things have just started to get interested. Patently Apple is reporting today that “the first killer patent application behind Siri was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.” Not surprisingly, Apple doesn’t plan to limit the technology to iOS devices but instead “envisions the technology playing a role in vehicles and in-vehicle entertainment systems where an Intelligent Assistant will be considered the king of user interfaces.” The website has a lengthy and detailed examination of the Siri patent filing, dating back to 1987’s “Knowledge Navigator Concept” which proves that Apple has envisioned this kind of technology well before the iPhone was even introduced. The report closes with some prospective uses for Siri which includes “the iPod touch (a personal digital assistant), iMac (desktop computer), MacBook (laptop computer), iPad (tablet computer), consumer electronic devices, consumer entertainment devices; iPod (music player); camera; television; Apple TV (set-top box); electronic gaming unit; kiosk or the like.”
Riddle us this: How can textbook publishers manage to sell a textbook for only through Apple? According to AllThingsD, it’s a matter of simple volume — or at least that’s how McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw is looking at it. But there’s more than meets the eye, because such publishers traditionally sell their printed textbooks direct to schools, which continue to use them for “an average of five years.” The new iBookstore method is only .99 (or less), but the burden of the purchase is on the student (or their parents), although many schools will provide students with codes to download their textbooks. Since the digital textbook can’t be resold or passed on to another student, McGraw views it as a win for his company because in theory, each year another student will be purchasing a copy — and in five years’ time, they’ll have netted the same amount, even after Apple takes their slice of the pie. Apple’s Eddy Cue also confirmed that .99 isn’t part of any kind of “pilot pricing,” explaining “all of our books will be .99.”
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It’s been one of those busy days for tech enthusiasts: Rather than dreaming about the weekend ahead, we’ve had product launches all over the place in the mad pre-Christmas holiday rush before things start to shut down next week. If you’ve already played around with your Facebook Timeline update or nabbed that sweet new Roku iOS app and are waiting for your Apple TV to update, take a breather and see what’s new for this Thursday, December 15, 2011.
Hey, would you look at that… after teasing us nearly two months ago, Facebook has finally gone ahead and officially rolled out the red carpet for its new Timeline profile feature. According to The Facebook Blog, users will have a seven-day “review period” to review everything appearing in your Timeline before anyone else can see it, and as always, you can choose “View As” to get a preview of what it will look like to the public at large. Timeline is also rolling out to Android and the Facebook mobile site, but sadly no iOS love quite yet. So how do you get it? It will gradually appear for all users soon enough, but you can kickstart things into action right now by visiting this web page and clicking “Get Timeline.”
After repeated rumors of an imminent launch, the third Nexus-branded Android handset has finally arrived on U.S. shores with the release of the Samsung Nexus Galaxy through Verizon Wireless. According to The Verge, the flagship Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich handset with 4G LTE will cost users a cool 9.99 with two-year contract, but e-tailers such as LetsTalk.com are already offering it for nearly half that price with discounts — although it’s currently backordered and “likely to ship in one to two weeks.” According to BGR, eager early adopters have already been spotted outside a few Verizon stores nationwide to be the first to get theirs. It’s not quite the frenzy iPhone users have become accustomed to with their product launches, but clearly demand is higher than normal for these handsets on launch day.
Now here’s an odd one for Apple update fans: According to MacRumors, the company pushed out a new version of iOS 5.0.1 specifically tailored to the iPhone 4S — but those of us who have already updated receive nothing. What’s in this mysterious new Build 9A406? Beats us, but with iOS 5.1 already in beta testing, everyone will be getting a new update soon enough. Meanwhile, the second-generation Apple TV was also updated to version 4.4.4, which Apple claims “includes general performance and stability improvements, including a fix for an issue that displayed an error when playing some video content.” Fair enough.
If you own one of the Roku streaming boxes and also carry an iPhone in your pocket, there’s a little treat awaiting you in the App Store today. According to the Roku Blog, the company has finally introduced an official, free iPhone remote control app — and best of all, it works on all Roku boxes, including a first-generation model we had lying around here. Users of the newer Roku 2 or Roku LT players will need to grab the software update version 4.2 before they can use the app, but older players already received the necessary update with a recent version 3.1 update. The company is also promising an Android app, for those of you on that side of the fence, but gives no firm date for its availability.
After a premature rollout last night that early adopters were quickly refunded for, Apple’s new “scan and match” subscription service, iTunes Match, appears to be going live around the world. According to MacRumors, the service popped up again on the radar in the U.K. and was soon followed by Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Australia, France, New Zealand and Spain. Users in these countries are reporting success in subscribing to iTunes Match and matching their libraries accordingly, so it would seem as if the second time is the charm in this case. The rollout today was kicked off by Apple updating their iTunes terms and conditions in these countries, which specifically mention the iTunes Match service.
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It was both a blessing and a curse to be an Apple fan last week, with the iPhone 4S announcement immediately overshadowed the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. But now, the second full week of October is in full swing, with more than a million preordered iPhone 4S units headed to customers this Friday. Here’s what else is making news for Monday, October 10, 2011.
If there’s one internet company with an identity crisis right now, it’s Netflix. According to a posting on The Netflix Blog by CEO Reed Hastings, the company has reversed their decision to split the streaming and DVD services up, with the optical discs being shuffled off to a new site called Qwikster. Those plans are now dead, with everything staying put under the Netflix shingle. However, the CEO didn’t say what will be happening to the company’s plan to start offering video games via Qwikster, so there could still be some blowback yet to come from that camp.
Still looking for a slick IM app for your iPhone? How about one that also does double duty on your iPad as well? Look no further than Verbs IM, which is celebrating the arrival of a universal version 2.2 with full iPad support with a price drop to 99 cents for a limited time only. The app delivers GTalk, AIM, MobileMe and Facebook IM chat in a slick, clean interface, but take note: You’ll need to shell out .99 via in-app purchase if you want Pro features like push notifications or keeping your account logins valid for up to seven days.
Apple’s Phil Schiller gleefully touted a 2x increase in speed with the iPhone 4S over the previous model, but was it all just marketing chatter? Apparently not, with MacRumors reporting on the first hands-on video from AppVV.com, where the handset scored 89567 using BrowserMark, a Mobile Safari-based benchmark tool. By comparison, an iPhone 4 running iOS 5 clocked in at a poky 44856 — just a hair under the promised 2x speed boost. Sounds like we’ll all be flying come October 14!
iCloud is rolling out to users on Wednesday alongside iOS 5, but according to AppleInsider, Apple will be rolling out some necessary updates ahead of time to get you ready. Japanese blog Macotakara claims that OS X Lion 10.7.2 and a new version of iTunes are both due either Monday or Tuesday, but they failed to mention that iPhoto will also need an update to support the iCloud Photo Stream feature. Developers have been beta testing iTunes 10.5, but no one knows for sure if that will actually be the version pushed out this week to support iCloud. Stay tuned!
According to 9to5Mac, Apple CEO Tim Cook has fired off an internal email to employees, announcing the company’s plans for a private celebration of co-founder Steve Jobs’ life which will take place on October 19 in the outdoor amphitheater on the Cupertino campus. The full email can be found by hitting up the link above, which opens with Cook confessing, “I have experienced the saddest days of my lifetime and shed many tears during the past week.” While it’s hard for all of us as fans, you can only imagine how difficult it will be for those who actually worked side by side with the man.
In related news, Bloomberg today confirmed that Jobs died at his home in Palo Alto and a death certificate released this afternoon listed the cause of death as respiratory arrest caused by a “metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumor.” The time of death was listed as 3pm PST on October 5; no autopsy was performed and Jobs was buried at a “non-denominational cemetery in Santa Clara County” on October 7.
Facebook has just rolled out a big iOS version 4.0 update, including the addition of native support for the iPad as part of the newly universal app. There are seriously a huge amount of changes noted with the release, so it’s probably easier to just head to the App Store and get downloading rather than sitting here reading this. Seriously… just do it.
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Oh Facebook. You just up and change everything without telling anyone, acting like you own the site or something. And now we find out that this Ticker and these Subscriptions are just scratching the surface, and you are planning to flip our profile pages inside out and upside down. Do you think that is going to go over well?
Actually, it will probably go over really well. Your new profile page is where the power of the new Facebook is going to shine. You’ll now have the ability to add significant customization, tell the story of your life from birth, and manage the new apps that will connect you with friends and family like never before.
These changes will not be rolled out for a few weeks, but don’t despair: you don’t have to wait if you don’t want to. Lets take a look at the major changes, and then we’ll tell you how you can get your new profile page today.
Covers are the new huge image that takes over the top third of your profile page, and you can fill with whatever you want. Your profile pic can still be whatever you want, but now you can greet people with something besides just your face in a tiny little box.
You couldn’t fit an image so cool in your old profile pic box.
If you want to make something customized, the size of the Cover is 851 x 315 pixels. You can however upload any picture, but so far cropping options are somewhat limited. Either way, you just got some personalization on your profile page separate from your profile pic, and we think that is excellent.
Scroll down past your Cover and you find your posts, photos, and life events organized based on when they happened. This is your Timeline. It is wider than your old profile, and a lot more visual.
You can control what is featured on your timeline; you can make important things bigger and hide other things completely.
If key parts of your life aren’t included because they happened before Facebook, no worries. You can now add them to your timeline, and fill in the gaps from your birth to the last song you just listened to.
It’s like havng a digital scrapbook of your entire life.
You can also skim back through your private activity log, where you’ll find everything you ever shared since you joined Facebook. You can highlight any of these items to showcase them on your timeline, too.
Once you have a snazzy looking cover image and your timeline all backfilled, the logic behind all of the recent changes starts to become apparent. Your profile page is like the digital hub of your life. While you can keep track of your friends on the Ticker, it is on your profile page where the new Facebook really shines, and that light is coming from Apps.
Apps are being developed for this new platform that will allow you and your friends to instantly share the content you enjoy. Listening to a great new song on Spotify? One of your friends can, too. One of your friends is watching the latest episode of your favorite TV show on Hulu? You can, too. Right through Facebook.
Those activities won’t spam your friends newfeeds, but will quickly pop on on the Ticker. But, now your friends can come to your profile page, click on the Music tab, and get a display of every song you’ve ever played using a music service with a Facebook app — like Spotify. From right on your page, your friends and click and play any song you’ve ever listened to.
Never heard of Sleeper Agent? Click and listen!
So if you have a friend with great music taste, you can enjoy their selections anytime you want. Now imagine the same connections for movies, TV show, books, food recipes, hiking routes… the possibilities are limitless. The more you and your friends include and share about your life, the more magical the new Facebook becomes.
And when you are digging through the stacks of your friends music list, having the Ticker by your side so you don’t miss anything suddenly make a lot of sense. Honest, it does.
The new profile pages don’t go live for a few weeks, but you can click here to visit Facebook’s official page about Timeline, scroll to the bottom, and request an early invite. If that is not fast enough for you, than check out the slideshow below and we’ll show you how you can have the new profile page in just a few minutes.
Adrian covers daily news as well as the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. You can follow him on Twitter, if you want to.
This started annoying me about twenty minutes ago, so I thought I’d write about it to express my discontent with the constant sharing that every app seems to do these days. This kind of constant posting is bound to get me “hidden” by my Facebook friends. Also, unsubscribed to. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?
To disable this annoying function without entirely disconnecting from Facebook, go to Spotify > Preferences in the menu bar. Scroll down to Facebook and uncheck “Get personal recommendations…”
Voila! Now, stop annoying your Facebook friends and get back to the music.
