Posts tagged Apple
Polls show Canadians optmistic about RIM’s future
Jan 31st
by Nestor E. Arellano
I was taking drive to Leamington, Ont. this weekend in my lawyer friend’s car when our conversation took a turn towards the one topic that people ask you about lately when they know you’re a tech journalist – what do you think about RIM?
Nestor Arellano
They want to know what new bit of info I have on the company, and I – lacking anything new to add to what they have already read online – attempt to turn the tables on them and try to get them to voice out their own thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »
What to expect when moving from BlackBerry to iPhone
Jan 24th
by Kye Husbands
So you’re contemplating the jump from BlackBerry to iPhone and wondering what you should expect. Having done the same thing a few months ago, I wanted to share my experience and help you save some time getting your iPhone set up to suit your needs.
You’ve already heard how great the iPhone is, so instead of preaching more of the same, I thought this blog would be more helpful if I highlighted a few of the challenges with making the switch or, a few things you may want to consider before making the switch. Read the rest of this entry »
This anti-piracy battle may nearly be won, but the war isn’t over
Jan 19th
Minecraft.net's Web strike day splash page graphic.
By Brian Jackson
“PIPA and SOPA? How about NOPA!” So read the protest splash page on Minecraft.net in place of its usual content during Wednesday’s Web strike against anti-piracy legislation being considered by U.S. lawmakers.
While the legislation hasn’t been defeated yet and many Web firms that joined in the protest say they aren’t done, surely they must be doing at least a small happy dance after the Web strike stunt went so swimmingly. Twitter lit up like a Christmas tree with support for the movement and shocked statements of surprise about Wikipedia not being available to instantly deliver answers (which made me concerned about some student’s ability to research, but I digress). Several U.S. law makers publically backed away from supported the Stop Online Piracy Act (in Congress) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (in the Senate), and Google reported that 7 million signed its online petition against the bills.
Even the White House publically acknowledged a petition against the bills, saying “we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”
But the White House staff writing the letter also had this appeal: “Rather than just look at how legislation can be stopped, ask yourself: Where do we go from here? Don’t limit your opinion to what’s the wrong thing to do, ask yourself what’s right.”
This points out that even if SOPA and PIPA are defeated, the root problem hasn’t been solved. There are powerful content-based industries out there that see their business model as being under threat. Without the ability to control the means of distribution as it used to, the movie and music industries are seeing what used to be profitable business models slowly erode. While I’m skeptical that piracy has played as crucial a role in this as industry lobby groups say that it has, it is no doubt a part of the problem. Piracy, and Internet distribution systems in general have created a generation that expects to be able to receive content for free.
This race to the bottom on price is perhaps most evident in the mobile app market, as I was reminded when attending this week’s GameON: Finance conference in Toronto. A couple of years ago, it was common to see almost as many paid-for apps in Apple’s App Store as there were free apps. But now there are so many free apps to compete against that most mobile developers consider it folly to even try to put a price tag on their product. The accepted ratio of mobile app downloaders willing to pay versus never willing to pay is two per cent to 98 per cent. Read the rest of this entry »
HP makes Web OS open source
Dec 15th
by Kye Husbands
You read that right and the first question probably going through your mind is, well, why the heck not?
Three months ago HP’s Touchpad, Web OS and their whole computer business were in the garbage, but HP’s recent move could resurrect Web OS and spur a whole new level of interest and traction for HP down the road.
HP Toucpad
Let’s be clear about this. This is a gamble by HP but they really don’t have anything to lose by doing it and rather, everything to gain. However, this move has the potential to be very disruptive to what was quickly becoming a two horse race between Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.
So what does open sourcing Web OS mean for the smartphone industry?
3 things you should know before jailbreaking your iPhone
Oct 18th
by Yale Holder
I’ve had a scary experience unlocking iPhones that I hope no one else has to go through.
Having unlocked phones already, mainly BlackBerry phones, I thought that unlocking iPhones would be just as easy and not as complicated – boy was I wrong. Here is what I learnt… Read the rest of this entry »
Steve Jobs’ greatest product the Apple II, Canadians say
Oct 17th
Steve Jobs’ death resulted in a worldwide outpouring of grief as millions came to grips with the loss of one of the top technology visionaries of this generation.
There was intense interest in Jobs’ obituaries in top media outlets around the world, many of which hailed him as one of the greatest CEOs ever and credited him with kick-starting personal technology revolutions. The Guardian wrote that Jobs “made an unprecedented impact on the world’s consumer electronics markets with a string of successful products, including the iPod media player, iPhone smartphone and iPad tablet.”
Brian Jackson, Associate Editor, ITBusiness.ca
iPhone 4S packs in over 200 improvements
Oct 11th
by Kye Husbands
Looks like we all got it pretty wrong today with Apple’s non announcement of the highly anticipated iPhone 5. What we did get, however, was a serious upgrade to the existing iPhone4 in the same package called the iPhone4S.
The new iPhone 4s enhancements are really all about the guts, you know the inner workings, but for many a little soft on the glory. You see, once a new design for the iPhone was off the table or a new iPhone5 many peoples expectations were thrown a curve ball, so everything else seemed pale in comparison. Read the rest of this entry »
A gamer remembers Steve Jobs: My favourite Apple machine
Oct 5th
by Jason Wilson
By 1987, I was a dedicated gamer. Several consoles littered the Wilson home, along with some old computers (a Tandy, an Apple II, and some nameless IBM compatible).
I gamed on all of these machines, and while I have fond memories of all of them, the Apple IIGS was special. At the time, the Apple IIGSwas the hottest system out there. It could display more colours than any other machine, making it a wonderful computer for games. It had a graphical user interface, one I felt was superior than the black-and-white U.I. of the first Macintosh. It was one of the first 16-bit systems. And it had a synthesizer chip that KO’d the sound quality of any other PC or gaming system. Read the rest of this entry »
Six iPhone 5 features we expect to see
Oct 4th
by Kye Husbands
After months of speculation, and I mean major speculation, Apple sent out invitations today for its October 4 “Let’s talk iPhone” event, so Kudos to my partner, who hit the nail on the head with the October prediction.
The iPhone5 is probably the most anticipated cell phone ever to launch, given Apple’s resounding success in the mobile space and the rapid adoption of smart phones. Read the rest of this entry »
Windows 8 faces several challenges to success
Sep 23rd
It always amuses me how passionate a reaction people can have over the release of a new operating system, and Microsoft Corp.’s recent unveiling of Windows 8 at its Build conference was no exception.
As Microsoft was in the midst to the keynote – complete with an Oprah moment that saw them give away every developer in attendance a free Samsung tablet loaded with Windows 8 developer preview– the live stream on Twitter was full of platitudes and punishment for the product. Some hailed it as the paradigm-changing future of computing, while others lambasted it for copying what Apple has already done.
Brian Jackson, Associate Editor, ITBusiness.ca
