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The Senate hearing was convened by Senator Franken following revelations about the ways in which Google and Apple were collecting location data through their smartphone platforms (Android for Google and iPhone for Apple). “This hearing is the first step in making certain that federal laws protecting consumers’ privacy-particularly when it comes to mobile devices-keep pace…

So why I am getting a 3D television anyway? The main reason is that most of the top-end TVs have 3D included. At this end of the market (which is where I am), you wind up getting 3D whether you want it or not — at not too much extra cost. Having 3D does not…

Apple goes looking for customer feedbackCustomers that agree to participate in the Customer Pulse program will be asked to participate in no more than two surveys each month. Apple said answers will be anonymous, and that survey results will always be viewed as a whole instead of individually.Apple’s other feedback tools have typically been reactionary,…

“The performance gains and power savings of Intel’s unique 3-D Tri-Gate transistors are like nothing we’ve seen before,” Mark Bohr, Intel Senior Fellow, said in a statement. “This milestone is going further than simply keeping up with Moore’s Law. The low-voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what we typically see from one process generation to…

Mr. Laporte’s tweet, which reads: “I have it on good authority that Tomlinson Holman (of THX fame) is joining Apple to run audio. Major upgrade.” Leo Laporte is a very well connected and highly respected blogger and podcaster in Silicon Valley, giving his tweets more weight than many other sources. If he’s right, this would…

“When we compared a white iPhone 4 with a black iPhone 4 in our Yonkers, NY, lab using high-quality calipers, we found they were both the same thickness (0.37 inches),” CR said in its report. The magazine’s tests were conducted after sites such as Engadget reported late last week that the white iPhone 4 was…

The Portable Quick Stand from AViiQ is 11-in. long and raises the laptop two inches off the work surface.  When folded it is not quite ½ inch thick and weighs 5.5 ounces.  It features a 12 degree typing angle that reduces wrist strain.  The MSRP for the stand is US$39.99 and is available now as…

The nano maintained its stealth presence when the pants were tossed in the washing machine. It remained undetected when the pants were next transferred to our dryer. It was only when I went to put the freshly-cleaned pants back in my closet that I finally discovered the nano. The nano had almost literally been put…

Apple bought icloud.com? Seems likely.News of the second unnamed source comes courtesy of AllThingsD. GigaOM offered up its own anonymous source earlier who also said the deal set Apple back over $4 million.Adding a little more credibility to both reports, Xcerion has rebranded its icloud online storage service as CloudMe, and the icloud.com domain redirects…

Apple passed Microsoft on the revenue side in the September quarter of 2010, as you can see in the chart below. It took three more quarters for Apple to pass its erstwhile foe in profits, however, in part because of the disparate nature of the two companies’ business models. Apple and Microsoft revenues in billions…

Even handheld devices enjoyed a certain segregation, though, admittedly, these devices were far more personal. They resided in pockets, purses, briefcases, or riding the hip of fashion challenged nerds, and were always ready. Though they were personal they, nonetheless, maintained a strict adherence to the unwritten Law of Human/Machine Fraternization, which loosely states that Man…

Nokia has faced a triple assault on its global domination of the smartphone business from Google’s Android platform, Apple’s iPhone empire, and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry corporate tool. Nokia once owned more than 50% of the global smartphone market, a market in which Nokia was a leading pioneer, but the company has watched its market…

Apple and Google were both invited to attend a hearing on mobile privacy that Senator Al Franken convened in the wake of revelations about the kinds of data collected or stored by both Apple and Google on smartphones. Android devices were found to be transmitting location data and a unique identifier back to Google, while…

When I read that Equinux was introducing Mail Designer, an application that works with Apple’s Mail application and allows the user to send out designer emails, I was immediately interested. So interested that I asked for the opportunity to review it. I was not disappointed. I send out at least a dozen e-mail messages a…

Apple filed for a trademark on for the name “App Store” when used as an online marketplace for downloadable apps (and other related uses). The company met with resistance from Microsoft, which asked the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) to throw out the trademark, arguing that it’s a generic term that should not be…

I am an adequate musician for many tasks, a barely competent recording engineer (that’s probably being generous), and when it comes to producing and mixing, I know just enough to be a significant danger to myself and those who love me. But I love music — I love playing, I love writing, and I love…

Illinois now investigating Apple, Google mobile privacyThe meeting request follows reports that Apple’s iPhone tracks user locations, and stores that data on their phone and computer in unencrypted files. It appears that Apple isn’t collecting the logs from user’s computers, but Google is apparently gathering location data from Android-based devices more than once an hour.The…

IDAPT has introduced a new entry into it’s line of universal chargers.  This one, the i2+, can charge up to three devices at once.  There is a base unit which measures 4 x 6-in. and contains one USB port.  On top of the base unit are two charging points which will accept interchangeable tips, designed…

  “Apple became the world’s largest handset vendor in wholesale revenue terms during Q1 2011,” Strategy Analytics said in a statement. “Fueled by strong volumes and high wholesale prices, the PC maker has risen to the top of the mobile phone market in just four years. In revenue terms, Apple is now the world’s largest…

Senator Franken questions Apple’s data policies Word that the iPhone and 3G-enabled iPad track and log detailed information location data spread like wildfire on Wednesday when two security researchers released an application that overlays the information on a map. The collected data is transfered from user’s iPhones to their computer during a standard synchronization, and…

Commenting on slow company growth during the Verizon iPhone launch, Mr. Shammo commented “The fluctuation, I believe, will come when a new device from Apple is launched, whenever that may be, and that we will be, on the first time, on equal footing with our competitors on a new phone hitting the market, which will…

71 million visitors passed through Apple’s retail stores for the quarter, up 28 million from Q2 2010’s 43 million.The company sold some 3.76 million Macs during its second quarter, up 28 percent compared to the same quarter last year. It also sold 18.65 million iPhones, and 4.69 million iPads.iPhone sales were up 113 percent compared…

It’s that recasting that I want to talk about with respect to Apple’s data centers. A lot has been written about Apple’s new data center in North Carolina, but no one has been able to put together a coherent picture of what it all means. Most articles wax into lofty notions of a massive data…

Firstly, there’s The Clutch: It’s a case for the iPad that is designed to look like a woman’s clutch bag, from which it takes its name (Happy Owl offers a similar case designed for men called The Wallet). In addition to holding an iPad, it also has compartments for many other things that women often…