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- Woz: How it all began
Filed under: The Woz
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and inventor of the Apple I and II, talks with the BBC about starting Apple in 1976. "Everything was ... thinking about the good of humanity," he said. His starting salary? $24,000 a year: maybe a quarter of what an Apple engineer makes today.
For those of you new to the Apple universe, this is an entertaining 10-minute brief of how it all began.
Woz has probably told this story a million times, but he talks about it with the same enthusiasm as if it happened yesterday. He discusses the Silicon Valley homebrew movement, Microsoft, and the perceived animosity between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
Also -- and totally off-topic -- Woz wears a giant watch. I mean, seriously. Huge.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - A Mercedes-Benz for your iPhone
Filed under: Accessories, iPhone
For those of you who want more than a leather case for your iPhone, how about a Mercedes-Benz luxury car?
Mercedes-Benz is now shipping its new Apple iPhone Cradle in Germany. The cradle fits in the center console and connects to the the audio system of the car through an optionally available Media Interface or the iPod Interface Kit. You, the driver, then use the multi-function steering wheel controls in your sweet ride to control the phone and audio features of your iPhone. The vehicle's display shows you the iPhone's phone book or phone status, as well as the currently playing music track and artist. Your iPhone is charged up as you drive, and the antenna of your car boosts your phone reception.
The Apple iPhone Cradle is compatible with C, E, CLK, CLS, S, CL, SL, M and R-Class vehicles, and costs €249. Check with your dealer for availability of this accessory outside of Germany.
[via iLounge]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Watch out for PokerGame trojan
Filed under: Security
In the wake of the ARDAgent vulnerability discovered yesterday, we all have something new to look out for: OSX.Trojan.PokerStealer is the official name of a trojan horse masquerading as a poker game. The trojan is distributed in a 65K .zip archive.
According to security company Intego, running the trojan activates SSH, and transmits the username, password hash, and IP address of the computer to a server. It asks for an administrator's password after displaying a message about a corrupt preference file that needs to be repaired.
The "PokerGame" application is 159,843 bytes, and includes the text "Copyright 2008 Andrew" in the version information (visible in Get Info).
As always, please remember to use extreme caution when running applications downloaded from the Internet, or received via email.
Thanks to Rosaline from Intego for the heads-up.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Tracking the mysterious 'black stick'
Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends
In its hardware repair instructions and videos, Apple frequently mentions the "black stick," a plastic tool that can be used to pry things apart without damaging our precious glossy exterior finishes (or the sensitive electronics inside). The problem I've found is that nobody seems to have these, instead opting to use credit cards, pens, screwdrivers, chisels, circular saws, or whatever else is handy to crack open the case.
My beautiful girlfriend Michelle is a chemist, and she brought home a giveaway nylon lab spatula (pictured) from a trade show. I found it perfect for use as a black stick. Best of all, it was free.
Other companies sell black tools online. PowerbookMedic offers black nylon "flat probe tool spudgers" for $2.90 apiece. These, they claim, are the same style as Apple uses in its repair videos and documentation.
Stanley also offers a nylon soldering tool that works just as well, and it's less than half the price at $1.30 each.
If anyone else knows of any other ESD-safe, non damaging pry tools (especially for cheap!), feel free to share in comments.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - What will you do with your old iPhone?
Filed under: iPhone
So like a gadzillion people have asked me: "What do I do with my old iPhone now that I'm upgrading to a spiffy new 3G unit?" I thought about doing a top ten list. I thought about clever and amusing ways to use an old iPhone. But seriously, it just comes down to this. So read my lips.
Jailbreak it. Unlock it. Give it away or sell it. The end.
Get yourself a copy of iLiberty+ or ZiPhone or whatever tool you like. Once unlocked, you can sell it for a badzillion dollars on eBay, because contrary to what I originally thought, AT&T isn't going to let you walk away with a new 3G iPhone without signing over your first born, your personal bank account and possibly your soul. So the demand for 1st gens is going to go through the roof (as will the demand for posthumous mobile air conditioning units once AT&T is through with you). Over at Google, those $250 refurb iPhones from a few weeks back are going for $500 and up. Ebay has relative bargains at $350 and up.
If you have a child, a spouse, a dog or any other loved one, you can now give them the phone with a T-Mobile or AT&T SIM and they're good to go. If any of these loved ones are foreigners ("votre chien", for example, in the case of those north of the border but within the Quebecois borders), they should be able to use a non-US SIM in the unlocked unit (i.e. "Le Rogers Fido").
As we've posted before, AT&T says it will reset your contract to 2 years once you get the new iPhone, so your old one will be completely free, clear, and contract-free. No one (except, perhaps, your dog) will sanction you for unlocking it.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - I can haz an iPhone 3G case
Filed under: Accessories, iPhone
Sheeeesh. Nobody can even get their hands on an iPhone 3G for another three weeks, and already the list of cases and skins for it are as long as the line at the Apple Store 5th Avenue will be on July 11th.
One of the better-known case manufacturers, Marware, has announced a complete suite of iPhone 3G cases to meet your every need:
- Sportsuit Convertible for iPhone 3G, $34.99 -- sport armband case (far left in screenshot)
- C.E.O. Premiere for iPhone 3G, $34.99 -- leather hip case, now shipping (second from left)
- C.E.O. Sleeve for iPhone 3G, $24.99 -- leather sleeve, now shipping (middle)
- Sport Grip for iPhone 3G, $19.99 -- slip-free silicone sleeve (second from right)
- C.E.O. Glide for iPhone 3G, $24.99 -- leather slip case (far right)
- C.E.O. Flip Vue for iPhone 3G, $29.99 -- Nappa leather flip-top holster case (not shown)
Переслать - Billyuns and billllyuns of songs
Filed under: iPod Family, iTS
With apologies to Carl Sagan, it looks as if the Grand Unilateral Conspiracy to Commit Piracy(tm) (GUTCCP) has been dealt a harsh blow. As Scott posted yesterday, iTunes sales have topped 5 billion songs to date. This, despite the fact that all iPods are officially nothing more than repositories of pirated material. iTunes keeps chugging along, selling tracks at a phenomenal rate. Expect abandoned parrots and eyepatches to be offered at firesale prices if this trend continues.
The big story here isn't the exact number milestone. Rather, it's like the late Senator Everett Dirksen probably never said, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money." The story is that the consuming public can and will buy music legitimately when the opportunity presents itself as a sane, easy-to-use alternative. Getting rid of DRM seems to have increased that demand rather than opening the doors to a floodgate of proliferate pirating piranas.
Apple comes under constant pressure to raise media prices and increase per-sale revenue. It looks to me that their current pricing model has been a huge success as-is. Could the current (reportedly $0.70/track) wholesale pricing really be putting the recording industry at a financial disadvantage after 5 billion sales with rock bottom overhead for digital distribution? Let us know in the comments.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - First Look: RF telephony for iPhone
Filed under: iPhone
Internet Telephony Provider rf.com is getting ready to launch its iPhone-specific PBX service. The service allows you to place calls both internationally and to online providers like Skype using your normal iPhone minutes. So if you have a friend who's on Skype but has no Skype In access, you can call them just as if they had their own number.
RF operates its own PBX, which you connect to over a web client. Once there, it finishes routing the call using VoIP and connects it to your iPhone handset. You use your iPhone calling plan minutes whether you're talking to a guy down the block or your buddy in Beijing.
Because their client is web-based, it works with 1.1.4 and earlier iPhones as well as 2.0 iPhones and later. All the heavy lifting happens at the RF servers, connecting you through the VoIP networks. RF's service is free and still extremely beta -- so be prepared for growing pains as they stabilize their software and roll it out. RF Founder/President Marcelo Rodriguez says they're planning on keeping the basic service free for the forseeable future. They are monetizing by reselling the service to VoIP service providers such as PhoneGnome and will be offering premium features at a later date.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать
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