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Bryan Chaffin

Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.

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Second Taiwan Newspaper Reports 7” iPad Coming

In the report, ECD said that the new device would weigh about 500 grams, less than the 700 grams of the current device. Whereas DigiTimes said the new iPad model would sport an OLED display, ECD reported the device would use the same IPS display used in the current iPad. The report named two manufacturers…

NCSoft Releases Going Rogue Expansion for City of Heroes

This new system includes the introduction of two new in-between alignments, Rogue for Villains and Vigilante for Heroes. Players can undergo a series of missions where their moral choices take them down the path to the other side. Once the hit the midway Other major changes include a merger of the Villain (Red Side) Black…

Apple Supplier Admits to Paying Brokerage Fees; Could Relate to Bribes

A spokesperson for Pegatron acknowledged that Kaedar had made payments to the intermediary companies, but declined to say how much. Paul Shen Devine is accused of having accepted more than one million dollars over the course of a few years in exchange for giving advanced product information to potential suppliers. He pleaded not guilty to…

Apple Manager Charged with Taking Bribes Pleads Not Guilty

Bloomberg reported that federal prosecutor Michelle Kane asked the courts not to allow Mr. Devine to be released on bail, arguing that the former Apple employee was a risk flight. A bail hearing has been set for Wednesday, August 18th. The story of Mr. Devine’s arrest broke over the weekend, with Apple claiming that he…

Microsoft Embarrasses Itself with “PC vs. Mac” Web Site

When I first sat down to cover this momentous event, I had intended to just write up a quickie news piece and let our readers do the fun bit of deconstructing the whole thing and making mock of Big Redmond. I couldn’t, though. It’s just so bad, so…embarrassing for Microsoft, I couldn’t keep my snarky…

HP CEO Steps Down Following Sexual Harassment Investigation

Current CFO Cathie Lesjak will take over as interim CEO, but has ruled herself out as a permanent replacement for Mr. Hurd. Instead, the company has formed a Search Committee of board members who will be looking for a new head honcho for HP. The company also stressed that it’s the personal scandal involved in…

ItzaBitza: You Know, For Kids

This mechanism is executed through Sketchy, who asks kids to draw things that he then puts to use within the game. Sketchy then gives players the opportunity to earn a gold star by drawing additional items. Aimed at early readers, Sketchy used word bubbles, and when the child mouses over that word, the game will…

It’s Time to Make the Donuts on Your iPhone

The game features 110 levels, and players have to figure out how to use limited machinery and other options to make their donuts and ship them off to customers. Players drag their machines throughout their factories to develop an assembly line, and the company said that most levels have multiple solutions. Features: 111 levels and…

Deutsche Bank: MacBook + iPad = Apple #3 Notebook Maker

Mr. Whitmore also told clients that Apple’s iPad is cannibalizing notebook sales, but that this cannibalization is taking place in the PC space, not from Apple’s own laptop line. In other words, Apple’s laptop sales grew even as the iPad hit the market like the PC industry’s worst nightmare. “Our retail checks suggest this share…

Talking Larry the Bird Hits iPad & iPhone

In addition, users can poke him, feed him, strike him with lighting and make him bow and accept applause. Users can also record videos of their interactions with Larry and share them to YouTube, Facebook, or e-mail them. Application highlights: Playing on the piano keyboard will cause Larry to whistle accordingly Talking to Larry will…

Apple Aware of iOS 4 on iPhone 3G Complaints

Some users have found their iPhone 3G to run slow after upgrading to the new version of iOS, and others have complained that the device becomes too hot to use. On Apple’s support forums, there is a thread on the issue that has reached 43 pages. Apple has not yet acknowledged that there is a…

Ballmer: Competing with iPad has “Job One Urgency” for Microsoft

“Today, one of the top issues on my mind, hey there’s a category — tablets,” Mr. Ballmer said according to live coverage notes of the event published by BusinessInsider. “Apple has done an interesting job. They’ve sold more than I’d like them to sell. We think about that. So it’s our job to say, we…

Apple: Jaibreaking Your iPhone Can Void Warranty

“Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience,” the company said in a statement given to Wired’s Cult of Mac. “As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this…

Security Team Finds Safari Autofill Exploit

Mr. Grossman, the founder and chief technology officer of White Hat Security, wrote in a blog post that he had found the exploit earlier this year and reported it to Apple on June 17th. Not having heard back from the company, aside from an auto-generated confirmation e-mail, Mr. Grossman published the exploit, a proof-of-concept demonstration…

Apple Begins Automatic Refunds of iPhone 4 Bumper Cases

“As of today, we have automatically processed your refund,” Apple said in the note. “You have also been refunded for any Shipping or VAT charges that may have been applied to your order.” Apple said last Friday that it would offer free bumper cases, or one of a small set of third party cases, to…

AmpliTube for iPad Hits App Store

According to the company, there are up to 5 amp models to choose from (clean, crunch, lead, metal, bass) that offer full tonal and drive controls, 11 stompbox effects (delay, flanger, phaser, overdrive, distortion, filter, wah, fuzz, octaver, chorus and noise filter), 5 cabinets (1×12”, 2×12”, 4×12” A & B, 1×15”) and 2 microphones (dynamic…

Piqqem Sentiment for Apple Shares Drops in June, July

Piqqem’s raison d’être is to use the “wisdom of crowds” to “accurately predict the movement of stocks.” The company gathers data from Piqqem users who enter price predictions on various and sundry stocks, with Apple being one of the most active stocks within the Piqqem community (we should also note that Apple’s first outside investor…

Report: Apple Considered Dropping AT&T Many Times

Citing unidentified sources within Apple and T&T, Wired said that Apple has been frustrated with AT&T’s approach to managing the increased data demands the iPhone has placed on the company’s network. For instance, AT&T came to Apple to request that the company limit the YouTube app that shipped on the iPhone, or to make other…

Intel Turns to Former Apple Employee for Smartphone Reference Designs

“Mike will help build and lead a team with the charter to build breakthrough smartphone reference designs with the explicit intent of accelerating Intel architecture into the market,” Anand Chandrasekher, Senior Vice President of Intel’s ‘ultra-mobility’ group, told The Journal in a statement. The company also emphasized that he will be focused exclusively on smartphone…