It turns out that Viacom and Hulu are squabbling about the ad revenue split. Hulu put some nice spin on the situation, saying, “After a series of discussions with the team at Comedy Central, though, we ultimately were unable to secure the rights to extend these shows for a much longer period of time.” However,…
John Martellaro
John Martellaro was born at an early age and began writing about computers soon after that. With degrees in astrophysics (B.S.) and physics (M.S.), he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple. At Apple he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager, a Federal Account Executive and a High Performance Computing manager. His interests include chess, science fiction and astronomy. John is the host of the TMO podcast Background Mode.
Articles by John Martellaro
The Lowdown: Technology and Politics of HTML5 vs. Flash
On February 11th, I wrote an editorial, “What Should Apple Do About Adobe?” Part of the discussion related to Adobe’s Flash Player on the Mac, updates and security. Inevitably, the comments escalated to a discussion of Steve Job’s distaste for and blocking of Flash on the iPhone and iPad. The question is: is Apple’s stance…
How to Remove Unwanted Software Update Agents
Sometimes those software update agents are innocuous. But other times, they’ll leave behind remnants of themselves, for example Menu Bar items. Or they’ll constantly pop up in Little Snitch, if you use that, begging for permission. It can get a little annoying. At the very least, it’s messy to leave these persistent messengers around (that…
3D Sun for iPhone Provides Solar News & Views
Launched in 2006, the two STEREO satellites are actually in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, one ahead of the Earth and one trailing behind the Earth. The goal is to monitor the Sun, with stereo capability, and reveal eruptions and events that could affect power grids and near Earth orbit satellites.View of Sun (171…
Where Are the i5/i7 MacBook Pros?
One school of thought says that resources have been diverted from the new MacBook Pros to Mr. Jobs’ pet project, the iPad. I believe that because while Apple is rich in revenues and cash, it still runs very lean organizations. I’m betting that Bob Mansfield, SVP of Mac Hardware Engineering is busier than [fill in…
Pogoplug Safely, Seamlessly Shares Your Personal Cloud with Others
There are many solutions for sharing files with others on the Internet. Some have some risks, and some are rather technical and not appropriate for non-technical associates. Pogoplug is a device that serves files, isolated from your own LAN, to others on the Internet in an easy, secure fashion. Think of it as your personal…
What's Next For Google? Becoming an ISP?
Of course, a lot of work in high speed networking has already been done by the U.S. Department of Energy. Its nationwide network of National Laboratories, like Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Livermore are connected via cross country backbones made up of multiple OC-192 optic fiber lines, and scientists at those labs have been…
The Killer Surprises Waiting for Steve Ballmer
Computing, as we know it is going to change dramatically over the next decade. A slew of new technologies, appliance computing, better security models, Android, and mobile computing will fundamentally change the nature of our computer experiences. All of this new technology is being formulated by Apple and Google, and Microsoft, with questionable leadership, is…
A Personality Trait that Drives Corporate Innovation
On Thursday, Bryan Chaffin posted news of an op-ed article in the New York Times, written by a former Microsoft V.P. Dick Brass. In addition to the revelations there, but I’d like to add a little background because what Mr. Brass described is not peculiar to Microsoft alone. In fact, Apple itself was troubled by…
North Face Snow Report Gives Skiers an Edge
I’ve been using this app ever since it was released, and I love it. Not only is it well conceived and beautifully laid out, but it also displays, at least in the weather section, both English and metric values. The first thing of interest is the easiest to find, snow totals for the last 24,…
The Estimated iPad Bill of Materials
Note that the difference between the retail price and the cost, divided by the retail price is the Gross Margin. For example, for the base iPad model, ($509 – $290.50)/$509 is 42.9 percent. Here is the Broadpoint AmTech BOM, published January 28th. iPad BOM – Published with permissionNote that Apple charges an extra $100 over…
Analyzing the Analyst: Brian Marshall
Mr. Marshall was one of those who actually got to handle an iPad after the introduction, and that experience can go a long way towards building insight and wisdom about the product. In sense, once you’ve handled the iPad, you’ve been “Ived.” As in Jonathan. Scott Forstall also explained the experience in the video Mr.…
The "Say What?" Moment for Apple's Tablet
Here’s perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind as you learn about the Apple tablet tomorrow. The very people the Apple tablet is aimed at are, by and large, not the people who will be writing about it tomorrow. What that means is that technical writers have already decided on their tools and…
TMO Interviews Netflix
TMO: Mr. Swasey, Nick Wingfield of the Wall Street Journal and Daniel Sorid writing for Wired painted a rather austere picture of the resources and competitive posture of Netflix. What are your thoughts? SS: Well, the Wall Street Journal article was posted about 7 months ago. Up until then, and since that time, we’ve been…
Aerial7 Chopper 2: iPhone Headset Plus Microphone Fills a Gap
Some iPhone users may find that the supplied earbuds plus mic or a Bluetooth earpiece is all they need for voice operations on the iPhone. However, others may prefer a more capable, tangle-free true headset plus microphone for extended, battery free, conversations in the office. The Aerial7 Chopper 2 does exactly that. Introduction A Bluetooth…
The Year When Apple's Tablet Means Good Enough Isn't
Consider the following chart that compares a conventional PC to a possible Apple tablet.What jumps out at me in this chart is that refinement, user interface, user experience, and low maintenance will be of paramount importance. A system dedicated to the user, always available on demand, must reach yet a higher level of excellence, even…
The One Critical Success Factor for Apple's Tablet
I believe that the recent ruckus between Ruppert Murdoch’s News Corporation and Time Warner Cable will bear on the future of the Apple tablet. Here’s a recap: When broadcasters radiate their signals from towers, they do so with the consent of the FCC. The only revenue they receive is from ads, whether it’s local ads…
Is There a Market for Magazines on the iTablet?
The fundamental idea that’s being missed is almost quantum mechanical in its nature. The act of reading a magazine on a fabulous tablet computer will change the magazine experience so dramatically that using legacy industry metrics is practically irrelevant. iTablet concept. Credit: Jesus Diaz, GizmodoHere are some mistakes in thinking I’ve seen. Based on my experience…
V-Cockpit Integrates iPhone 3GS GPS and Magnetic Compass into Cockpit Simulation
There are two versions of this app. One is free and the paid version ( US$1.99 ) adds a heads up display (HUD), full screen zoom for each instrument, a chart mode of the data displayed (like a cockpit recorder), an analog compass, and a few other niceties. One should definitely download the free version…
Apple Chronology for July through December 2010
–Scott Adams. I am not a big fan of prediction articles for the new year. They require lot of hubris, and, honestly, no one can really make good technical predictions, even us who follow Apple very closely. If one tries, the author and the readers waste time fretting about how good the predictions were. As…
Apple Chronology for January through June 2010
14 Jan 2010. Apple stock (AAPL) reaches an all time high of $228.61. 26 Jan 2010. Apple announces its earnings for the holiday (1st Fiscal) quarter. 13.5 million iPhones, 3.3 million Macs, US$14B in revenue, profit of US$2.1B. “The best Apple quarter ever,” says Peter Oppenheimer. 09 Feb 2010. On the eve of Macworld, Apple…
MailForge Follows Ghost of Eudora Past
In the 1990s, the heyday of Macintosh e-mail programs, Eudora shone with a strong light. (As did Claris Em@iler.) But as time passed, events conspired to force Eudora to end of life. Today, MailForge, from Infinity Data Systems, continues the spirit and tradition of Eudora as a ground up rewrite. Those who were bumped off…
Xmas Crackers for iPhone is a Treat for the Kids
This modest app is simplicity itself. Use a two-finger pinch gesture to open the cracker, then the fun begins. The answer to the riddles and anagram is there with a touch of a button, and it’s easy to go back and forth. There are over 50 variations. The various Christmas music selections played in the background…
Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin mini: First Class iPhone Speaker System
The Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin mini is a first class desktop speaker system that accepts a wide range of iPods or an iPhone. Two stereo speakers plus synthesized LFE port are included in a beautiful case. One can also connect it to a Mac or PC, via USB, to serve as a desktop speaker system.…