News

To be sure, there are many other reasons why one might prefer Android, but for those who want a larger screen, Apple's refusal (so far) to release a larger screen iPhone—let's call it an iPhablet for fun—has been the one objective reason to say that Apple lags behind Android OEMs. iPhone aficionados can say they…

Google Glass had a nifty sci-fi feel to it when the product first came out. Along the way, however, Google apparently failed to fully appreciate both why the product should exist in the chosen form and the social aspects of the device. Calls for Apple to quickly follow Google's lead now look silly. ______________________ The…

Rockstar misses out on moving Google patent counter case to Eastern Texas The patent holding company filed its infringement suit in U.S. District Court in Eastern Texas, and Google countered by filing a patent invalidation suit in California. Rockstar Consortium then petitioned the court to move Google's suit to Texas, but District Court Judge Claudia…

Kelly bends iTunes Radio to her will, and so can you! So here’s how to tune those stations, both on iOS and Mac OS: First, on iOS, here’s where the tuning options live. Launch the Music app and tap the iTunes Radio icon in the lower left: There's iTunes Radio, down in the lower left.…

If your VPN server uses OpenSSL, like OPenVPN, it's a heart bleed target OpenSSL is a system for encrypting communication between your computer and Internet servers. Heartbleed takes advantage of a code flaw in OpenSSL to trick the server into transmitting random parts of its own memory. Since that memory can include the secret keys…

It is my distinct pleasure to have Project Wizards on board this week to sponsor TMO with their awesome project management app, Merlin. Long-time followers of TMO history will note that Project Wizards has been sponsoring our Cirque du Mac party for the past 5 years straight, contributing directly to the benefit of our collective community here. Please join…

Aha, it turns out it's Yahoo!, whose CEO, Marissa Mayer, reportedly has a plan in the works to become the default search engine for Apple's iOS devices. According to Re/code, Ms. Mayer wants to leapfrog Google's choke hold on desktop search by developing a world class mobile and contextual search engine and the goal is…

T-Mobile has ramped up what it calls the Uncarrier initiative, aimed at “freeing Americans from the from the greedy, absurd practices of the old wireless companies.” That's most likely marketing hype, but whatever the case, T-Mobile's Uncarrier policies are good for customers. In the last week there were three days of Uncarrier announcements, and the…

Snap a photo of your idea sketch and make it interactive with Marvel. Even better than the good idea, the whole thing is free and you can sync via Dropbox so your resources are all available everywhere your Dropbox folder resides. If it turns out that you aren’t a designer or even particularly good at…

I recently reviewed the Rapoo Ultra-slim Keyboard for iPad  which is designed specifically for iPad use. This Rapoo keyboard, the E2700, is approximately the same size, but it is made for computers and includes a touchpad. Rapoo E2700 keyboard The keyboard, which is available in black only, measures 3.23 x 10 x 0.23-in (82 x…

Photo Courtesy of Boy Genius Report Those reportedly include a 13 megapixel rear camera, one front facing selfie/video chat camera, and four additional cameras that work in conjunction with sensors to create a glasses-free 3D effects, one of the biggest features that differentiates Amazon’s smartphone from others. These effects are reported to trickle down through the…

David Fincher Source: Wikimedia Commons “You’re not doing Transformers here,” an unnamed source “with ties to the studio” said. “You’re not doing Captain America. This is quality—it’s not screaming commerciality. He should be rewarded in success but not up front.” In other words, according to this source, the director isn't making a huge movie with…

Jeffries analyst Peter Misek says Apple is going to charge $100 more for the iPhone 6 Mr. Misek said the lack of differentiation among other smartphones is an achilles heel Apple can exploit, and that carriers will feel they have to offer the iPhone or risk losing customers. According to Street Insider he said, We…

Not sure how to deal with the heart bleed OpenSSL bug? We have more tips for you. SSL Server Test The heartbleed bug takes advantage of a code flaw in OpenSSL that could let the less than savory Internet citizens get ahold of the server keys that keep your personal information — such as passwords…

Amazon has reportedly been demonstrating the unreleased handset around San Francisco and Seattle. Apparently the distinguishing feature of Amazon’s phone is that it can display 3D images but does so in a way that doesn’t require special glasses. The WSJ pointed out that Apple and Samsung make up 49% of the mobile market, and it would…

Internal Samsung documents show 1 million Tabs sold in all of 2011, compared to iPad sales of 17.4 million, Kindle Fire’s 5 million, and even 1.5 million Nooks, putting Samsung in fourth place. This bit of information in particular caused a lot of ripples because research firms based reports on Samsung's falsified numbers. IDC said Steve…

Apple may be designing its own baseband chips for future iPhones The baseband chip handles the wireless communication between smartphones and cell service providers. In essence, it's like a little radio packed inside your iPhone that knows exactly with frequencies cell companies use for voice and wireless data communication. Rumors claim Apple has been working…

Holy comic books! Amazon to buy ComiXology ComiXology is the go-to app on the iPad for digital versions of comic books with a wide library of current and back issues available. Comics can be read online via your Web browser, and it also offers an iPad app for reading on the go — arguably a…

This week it is my absolute pleasure to welcome The Omni Group as our sponsor. And not only is The Omni Group this week's sponsor here, they were also big sponsors of ours during Macworld/iWorld recently, helping to make Cirque du Mac 2014 happen. They deserve (and got!) a big round of applause just for that. But that's…

Heartbleed potentially exposes server encryption keys What is Heartbleed? Heartbleed is a code flaw in OpenSSL's hearbeat function that lets hackers trick a server into handing over its private encryption keys. With those keys in hand, hackers can decrypt information that's passing between servers and user's computers without any detection. They can also potentially use…

If, like me, you enjoy listening to books and/or podcasts in your car or during leisure times, you should check out an app called Bookmobile Audiobook and Podcast Player from Freshmowed Software. It works on iPhones and iPads. The app is designed specifically for the spoken voice, not music, and the results are a clean,…

Nom nom nom nom “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” an Apple spokesperson said. This is the company's boilerplate response it uses for corporate acquisitions. Novauris bills itself as a “speech access company,” saying, “Novauris believes that voice will become the interface…

Brendan Eich Source: Wikimedia Commons Mitchell Baker, executive chairwoman of Mozilla, announced Thursday in a blog post that Mr. Eich was stepping down. In that post she also apologized to the Mozilla community for not acting fast enough, saying, “We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage…

According to Re/code, Apple told the jury that Samsung would try to paint a picture where companies routinely copied each other in a process called “competitive intelligence.” Apple attorney Harold McElhinny told jurors that this wasn't the real story when it came to Samsung's attempts to get its flagging smartphone business off the ground in…