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My friend Carmen is a busy woman. She travels on business a lot, constantly on the go. When she went looking for a smart phone several months ago she originally bought an Android device. I forget which one, but she quickly found that incorporating it into her daily routine was not as easy as she'd…

Apple released a security bulletin listing 163 vulnerabilities in iTunes that were patched with version 10.7 this week. The underlying WebKit engine is the (open) source of these vulnerabilities, and Google was credited with fixing 74 of the 163 issues. iTunes 10.7 was released on Tuesday and added support for iOS6 and the latest iPod nano…

Apple Store surveillance of a robbery offers us a wonderful glimpse at massive getaway driver FAIL. The robbery took place last week at the Promenade Temecula Apple Store, when Equonne R. Howard (age 22), allegedly crashed his own 2003 BMW X-5 through the front of the store. Smash-n-Grab (You can see the full video below)…

At the iPhone 5 media event, we witnessed a parade of Apple executives, each with his own speaking style. Some were great and some not so great. ______________________ Apple's iPhone 5 (and music) media event was a big deal, covered by the TV networks and likely seen all over the world now that the video…

Verizon Wireless will not charge customers extra or require that customers purchase specific data plans in order to use FaceTime over its cellular data network, the U.S.-based mobile carrier stated late Wednesday in a press release. FaceTime over cellular networks will also be available for U.S. iPhone customers on Sprint, although AT&T has controversially restricted…

Apple’s Greg Joswiak introduced an all-new iPod nano at Apple’s media event today. The seventh-generation of the popular music player features a multitouch display and Apple’s new “Lightning” interface. At 5.8 mm thick, it is the thinnest iPod nano ever. Physical buttons on the side of the device control playback, and a 2.5-inch multi-touch display…

A video has been posted to YouTube claiming to be the “Official iPhone 5 Promo Video for September 12 2012.” It's a brilliantly made video, but we're calling it a fake. With the world holding its breath in anticipation of Apple's media event on Wednesday, fake or not, it's worth a looksee. Frame from Fake…

The Phiaton PS 210 BTNC sells for US$159, which may sound like a lot of money to the average earbud user. But for those who revel in headphones, the price is not too bad at all, especially given all that they can do. The PS 210 BTNC Ear Pieces My reference earphones are Etymotic●4 that…

Following last month’s controversy over drastic changes to Apple Retail Stores, Apple Retail Chief John Browett addressed retail employees during the company’s quarterly meeting Sunday night, according to an audio recording obtained by 9to5Mac.  Speaking to the stores via a video message, Mr. Browett spent most of his three minute speech talking about Apple Retail…

The one million unique device identifiers (UDIDs), unique codes that correspond to individual iOS devices, released by hacker group Antisec last week were likely stolen from the servers of a mobile app publishing company and not from an FBI laptop, as the group claimed, according to NBC News. An analysis of the data released by…

Samsung executives confirmed on Monday that the company plans to sue Apple for patent infringement after the new iPhone model is announced. The new model is expected to be unveiled at a media event this Wednesday, and Samsung is ready to take Apple to court over the iPhone's rumored LTE support. Samsung says it's ready…

During presentation of the new Kindles by Jeff Bezos on Thursday, he proposed the idea that Amazon wants to make money when people use Amazon services, not when they buy the hardware. The problem with that is that the device really doesn’t belong to the customer and control is lost. Examples are becoming alarming. Imagine…

The iShower from iDevices US$99.99, is an almost perfect Bluetooth speaker for the shower or anywhere that might get wet. The engineering and design on the iShower is wonderfully thorough. iDevices seems to have thought about just about everything and come up with a very useful design and a wonderful feature set. iShower with a…

Activists have finally turned their attention to a tech company that doesn't have “Apple” in its name, accusing Samsung of exploiting workers, unsafe working conditions, and knowingly employing children to work in the Chinese factories that make its electronic goods. According to China Labor Watch: “Student Workers and Child Workers During Break Time” China Labor…

> Apple hasn't hosted its September 12 media event yet, or even announced that a new iPhone is coming, but that isn't stopping GooPhone from promising to sue the company for stealing its smartphone design. That design, by the way, is based on parts that are allegedly for the upcoming next generation iPhone.

> The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington upheld a lower court's finding on Tuesday when it ruled that Apple didn't infringe on patents owned by Mirror Worlds. The patent fight between the two companies started in 2008 over claims that the Cover Flow, Time Machine and Spotlight features in OS X infringe on Mirror…

If you need a speaker for your iOS device that can handle the outdoors, the Braven 625s Outdoor Portable Bluetooth Speaker might be the solution. The 625s is a Bluetooth speaker for the outdoor enthusiast, whether for camping trips, tailgating or just backyard barbecues. The speaker is just over 6 inches long, 2.5 inches high,…

> The hacker group Antisec released a million iOS device identifier codes for iOS devices, or UDID codes, over the weekend — and those codes apparently all came from an FBI laptop. The laptop held a file with over 12 million UDID codes, along with associated user names, cell phone numbers, addresses, and push notification…

Byword One of my favorite text editors for iPhone and iPad (and Mac) got one heckuvan update. Byword 1.1 now supports folders in iCloud, Dropbox, or good ol’ fashoined local storage, and you can now enable both iCloud and Dropbox to be used simultaneously. You can also export your documents to PDF and search full…

Adobe confirmed on Thursday that many of its Creative Suite 6 products will soon be optimized for HiDPI displays such as the Retina Display on the MacBook Pro. This enhancement will be available first to those Adobe customers subscribing to the Creative Cloud service, while other customers will need to wait for the next release…

Apple and several major book publishers caused controversy in 2010 when they agreed to work together on a drastically different eBook distribution model than the one in place with then-eBook king Amazon. Prior to Apple’s agreements with the publishers, Amazon purchased the rights to distribute eBooks at a wholesale price, which was typically about half…

Scosche has released the reference grade RG656m headphones that include the tapLINE III control and mic, and the product is awesome. Scosche RG656m Headphones The headphones present a balanced sound and have been equalized to create highs, mids, and lows that compliment each other. The RH656m is only available in white. Rather than position over…

I’ve mentioned before how useful the Console application is for troubleshooting problems. Within its cryptic and repetitive logs, I often find solace. Comfort, even, for my ailing machine—indeed, to my ailing soul. Sorry, I drifted off there. What I mean to say is that the program is critical when you need to find out what’s…

TMO Artist’s Rendition of the Conversation (Click the image for a larger version) No agreements have been leaked, but the mere fact that Messrs. Cook and Page have been talking suggests that some kind of agreement is possible. Apple has been attacking Google’s Android platform by going after Android OEMs. Apple won a sweeping victory…