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Ten years ago, Apple's iPod inspired Duke University to hand them out to incoming freshmen so that they could listen to recorded lectures and other material. But what began as an iPod-giveaway has since morphed into the Duke Digital Initiative (DDI), a program that embraces technology in many forms to better the education process. In…

Earlier on Tuesday, Blue Microphones announced—finally—Mo-Fi, professional quality headphones for audiophiles and musicians. The company gave us this maddening, teasing not-quite-a-glimpse back at CES in January, and I've been waiting eagerly since. Fortunately, Blue gave me early access to them, and this review is based on hands-on and ears-on testing for the last two weeks.…

Like other major cities, London has a proud tradition of quirky boutiques, and independent stores. Now, instead of trying to kill them off with online transactions, some of the residents of its start up scene are trying to use mobile technology to save them.  Streethub is a new iOS app launched by London based entrepreneurs…

Point your browser to Apple's iPhone 5 Battery Replacement Program webpage Select your country from the drop down menu on the left Enter your iPhone's serial number in the Eligibility field, then click Submit Apple is replacing some iPhone 5 batteries that don't hold a charge If your iPhone 5 qualifies, you can make an…

Blue Mo-Fi Over-the-Ear Headphones The four bar linkage system (Blue has a patent pending on it) is a key aspect of why these headphones are different. In addition to eliminating stress points common to most spring-loaded headbands, it also serves to keep the cups snug against your ear. With thick padding and adjustable tension, they…

The relevant passage from SB-962: Any smartphone that is manufactured on or after July 1, 2015, and sold in California after that date, shall include a technological solution at the time of sale, to be provided by the manufacturer or operating system provider, that, once initiated and successfully communicated to the smartphone, can render the…

At issue is the reality that Chinese tech companies haven't developed their own operating systems that can compete with OS X, iOS, Windows, or Android. Not only does that result in billions of dollars flowing out of China (at least when piracy isn't involved), Chinese security services feel like it exposes the country to espionage…

___________________ Some examples are in order. A phone carrier starts with unlimited service to entice customers and later does everything it can to force-convert customers into capped or metered service. A company, which had a fine product for sale can't generate enough growth with a mature technology, so it makes its product available via subscription…

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the Fire Phone on June 18 with several novel features and a 4.7-inch display. This TMO review takes a close look at the Fire Phone from a technical perspective that steers away from politics and towards what the iPhone or any potential owner would want to know about this very…

Steve Ballmer, Clippers Owner Mr. Ballmer's letter largely serves as an endorsement for change at Microsoft, and there are times when one could read it as saying that Mr. Nadella needs a board fully committed to that change. The implication could be that Mr. Ballmer isn't the best instrument for achieving monumental changes—if so, it's…

It's a bunch of crap, of course, and this weekend Xiaomi demonstrated its commitment to proving it. Xiaomi gets compared to Apple for a number of reasons. Lei Jun, the company's founder and CEO dresses like Steve Jobs, for instance. He has a certain flare and a penchant for imitating Apple's media events and Steve…

______________________ The modern customer who surfs on top of the blue waters of the Internet generally has no idea of what's going on under the water. The enormous layers of complexity and software abstraction mean that we can no longer understand what's going on under the hood ouf our devices with the time we have…

It's a sad day for the Mac world, as Dr. Bott LLC announced on Thursday that the company is shutting its doors and liquidating its inventory. Dr. Bott is a reseller that specialized in distributing Mac and iPhone accessories companies in addition to selling some of its own products. Dr. Bott LLC is the U.S.…

______________________ My wife, who is now a professor at a local college, was looking for a Thunderbolt (or mini DisplayPort) to VGA adapter for her MacBook Air. This is for in-class presentations with a projector. She assumed Apple would always have such an item in stock, but it turns out to be an adapter that's…

Perhaps no other brand understands the power of push notifications as well as Apple, thanks to privileged place of push within the iOS ecosystem. Push notifications are the most critical engagement tool for mobile apps. They serve as a necessary conduit in the flourishing app economy, where iOS remains the prettiest girl in the room.…

___________________ In September of that year, I wrote: … I’ve started a pilot project to eliminate most of my paper magazine subscriptions and convert to digital format on the iPad. Of course, this has been possible previously on the Mac in some cases, but the size and portability of the iPad creates a critical psychological…

_________________________ I started thinking about this when TMO's Bryan Chaffin pointed me to this add for a “Starfleet TR-590 Mark IX Tricorder.” You can pre-order this replica from the Roddenberry Shop for US$499.95. I am a big fan of Star Trek: The Original Series (although my favorite series is Star Trek: the Next Generation), and…

Skype promises happy faces for OS X Leopard users with compatibility update In a note on the Skype forums, the development team said, Those of you that have been using older versions of Skype for Mac until now have recently seen a prompt to upgrade Skype when trying to sign in… There was some confusion…

The Spectrum Wired Optical Mouse from Satechi is certainly different. For one thing, it offers seven different colors of LED illumination as backlighting: red, green, blue, yellow, white, violet, and turquoise. Users can have the colors rotate, select one color to be on all the time, or turn off the illumination option. Spectrum mouse offers…

Synology NAS systems hit with SynoLock ransomeware attack A company spokesman told The Mac Observer, So far, it looks like the matter is localized to non-updated versions of [DiskStation Manager] 4.3, but we are actively working on, and researching the issue to see if it also effects DSM 5.0 as well. Synology's advice to customers…

The Department of Transportation wants to officially ban in-flight cellphone calls The DOT is currently putting together a “notice of proposed rule making,” according to the Wall Street Journal, that will be presented in December. The proposal will outline the the DOT's reasoning behind why inflight calls should be banned and will be open for…

Inateck has released it’s BP 2001 Bluetooth speaker, a speaker specifically designed to work with iPads and iPhones. A groove across the width of the speaker holds an iPad, iPad mini, or iPhone and any one of them will instantly pair with the speaker. The design of the groove means that it should work equally…

According to the White House, “The bill not only restores the rights of consumers to unlock their phones, but ensures that they can receive help doing so if they lack the technological savvy to unlock on their own.” The idea of unlocking your mobile phone means that it can move to another network, though this…

Apple buys Vivendi's stake in Beats Music Vivendi confirmed the purchase this week, according to Bloomberg, and the deal puts Apple another step closer to wrapping up its buyout deal with Beats. Vivendi's 13 percent stake in the company had been held by Universal Music Group, one of the other properties it owns and also…