Apple TV 2 Sales Set to Hit One Million Mark This Week

December 27, 2010


by PatrickJ on December 21st, 2010 on iSource

AppleTVflat

Apple® today announced that it expects sales of its new Apple TV® to top one million units later this week.

The new Apple TV doesn’t appear to be a huge consumer hit like the iPad or iPhone, but one million sales in its first three months on the market is still a good pace and well ahead of the previous generation Apple TV. Here’s a couple more numbers from Apple’s press release on this today:

iTunes® users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day.

I’m mostly happy with my new Apple TV so far. It’s had a few sketchy moments when playing movies and while using AirPlay – but that is big fun when it’s working smoothly.

How are you all finding the new Apple TV?

News Via: Apple

Filed under Apple, Gadgets & Toys

Apple Preparing to Shut Down MAC OS X Download Page, Folding it into Mac App Store

December 27, 2010


by Alex Jordan on December 20th, 2010 on iSource

Screen shot 2010-12-20 at 8.42.16 PM.png

Apple has just sent emails to registered developers informing them that the Mac OS X Downloads page will be shut down as of January 6th, which is the same day that the Mac App Store is slated to go online.
Here is the meat of the email Apple sent:

Thank you for making the Mac OS X Download site a great destination with apps that offer users new ways to work, play, learn, and create on their Mac.

We recently announced that on January 6, 2011, the Mac App Store will open to users around the world, presenting you with an exciting, new opportunity to reach millions of customers. Since the introduction of the App Store in 2008, we’ve been thrilled with the incredible support from developers and the enthusiastic response from users. Now we’re bringing the revolutionary experience of the App Store to Mac OS X.

Because we believe the Mac App Store will be the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download your apps, we will no longer offer apps on the Mac OS X Downloads site. Instead, beginning January 6, we will be directing users to explore the range of apps available on the Mac App Store.

So, to be clear, Apple is shutting down the Mac OS X Downloads page, in favor of their upcoming Mac App Store. This shouldn’t be a surprise, considering Apple is known for cutting down on overlapping functionality.

Filed under Apple, Apple Mac, Mac OSX

Apple Releases iPhoto 9.1.1 Update, Brings New Email Features

December 27, 2010


by Alex Jordan on December 21st, 2010 on iSourceiPhoto_08-165.png

Apple has released iPhoto 9.1.1 to the public. The update addresses a few minor bugs while also adding a few minor features to the app such as new email themes, compatibility with third-party email programs, and the ability to resize the images once they are in an email.
Here are the release notes:

This update adds new email options to iPhoto ’11. It also improves overall stability and addresses a number of other minor issues. Specific fixes include:

- Adds a preference allowing photos to be emailed using an external email application
- Adds “Classic” and “Journal” themes to email.
- Photos attached to an email can now be sized to Small, Medium or Large
- Improves reliability when upgrading a library from an earlier version of iPhoto
- iPhoto now correctly preserves the sort order of Events after upgrading a library
- Event titles displayed in headers can now be edited in Photos view
- Addresses a problem that could cause duplicate photos to be added to a MobileMe album
- Scrolling overlay now correctly displays ratings when photos are sorted by rating
- Photos are now sorted correctly when a rating is changed and photos are sorted by rating
- Fixes a problem that could cause text formatting controls to become inaccessible when editing a calendar

Because the the version numbers can get a little confusing (at least it does for me), iPhoto 9 is the version included in iLife ’11. Also worth noting, is that the download is 62MB in size and requires Mac OS X 10.6.3 or later. You can download the update via Software Update, or manually here.

Filed under Apple, Apple Mac

Dev Team Releasing Test Version of Untethered Jailbreak for 4.2 This Weekend

December 27, 2010


by PatrickJ on December 24th, 2010 on iSource

redsn0w

Image Source: slashgear.com

The Dev Team is prepping a test release of an untethered version of their redsn0w jailbreak for the latest iOS devices running iOS 4.2, for release this weekend.

The test release is intended to help the Dev Team to find any bugs in the new redsn0w version and fix them all before a full public release.

There are already untethered jailbreaks around for the iPhone 3G, and old-bootrom ipt2g or iPhone 3GS. Untethered jailbreak, by the way, means one that ‘sticks’, as in does not require you to re-jailbreak each time you  reboot your iDevice.

There are some very specific requirements for who can take part in this test release. For starters, it is Mac only at this stage. They also ask for testers who do not need the ultrasn0w unlock, and those that have legitimate (registered developer) access to the iOS 4.2 Beta 3 .ipsw (firmware) file and have got their 4.2b3 SHSH hashes stored via Cydia.

If you feel sure you fit the bill for this testing and you’d like to help the Dev Team work towards a stable and bug-free release of redsn0w for latest devices and 4.2, then here’s what you should do:

– Check out their full blog post on this – titled redsn0w tester invitation – here: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/redsn0w

– Follow their Twitter account for this testing for latest details and announcements: http://twitter.com/redsn0w_testers

Filed under Apple, Apple iPad, Apple iPhone, Mobiles

FAQ Article on Apple’s Massive New North Carolina Data Center

December 27, 2010


AppleNCDataCenter

by PatrickJ on December 26th, 2010

Rumors and speculation about Apple’s massive new data center in North Carolina have been floating around the web for ages now. Now there’s a handy FAQ article all about the new data center at the Data Center Knowledge site, that provides a lot of good numbers and details on this.

A few of the numbers that caught my eye in the post include:

– Apple will invest more than $1 billion over the next 10 years in the data center

– The data center campus in Maiden, North Carolina is 183 acres

– Their 505,000 square foot data center facility on the site is one of the world’s largest data centers – and they appear to be planning a second, similarly-sized, building at the site.

For lots more information on the huge new data center, check out the FAQ article here:

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/the-apple-data-center-faq/

Spotted this Via: TUAW

Filed under Apple

Skype Video Calling Coming to iPhone?

December 27, 2010


posted by Eric Slivka on Friday December 24, 2010 02:44 PM on MacRumours

Popular VoIP service Skype has had an iPhone application since early 2009, but the company has yet to roll out video calling for the iPhone or other mobile platforms.

But as noted by Engadget, a number of clues are lining up to suggest that the company will announce video calling support for the iPhone and iPod touch at CES 2011 early next month.

Skype has been telling everyone that it’ll be making a “series of video-related announcements” at CES next month… and it’s participating in a panel called “Video Calling Gets Ready for Primetime,” so yeah, needless to say, we’d have to guess that Skype’s finally getting ready to enter the mobile video calling game in a big way. Anyhow, the final piece in the puzzle filtered into our inbox this morning: a help document on Skype’s site detailing making video calls using Skype for iPhone.

The help document, available through the online help portion of the Skype iPhone application, curiously notes that users of a number of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad models can use video calling despite the fact that not all of these devices are camera-enabled.

To make video calls with your contacts, you will need an iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, 3rd generation iPod touch, 4th generation iPod touch or an iPad. Your contacts will only be able to see you if your device has a camera. Make sure your device is running iOS 4.0 or above and that you are using Skype for iPhone 3.0 or above.

While the help document notes that Skype for iPhone 3.0 is required for video calling, the current version of Skype for iPhone is only 2.1.2.

Filed under Apple, Apple iPhone, Mobiles, Video Chat

Apple Releases iPhone Configuration Utility 3.2

December 27, 2010


posted by Eric Slivka on Tuesday December 21, 2010 05:02 PM on MacRumours
Apple today released iPhone Configuration Utility 3.2 for Mac and Windows, an update to the company’s software to allow system administrators to deploy iOS devices in enterprise settings.

iPhone Configuration Utility lets you easily create, maintain, encrypt, and install configuration profiles, track and install provisioning profiles and authorized applications, and capture device information including console logs.

Configuration profiles are XML files that contain device security policies, VPN configuration information, Wi-Fi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates that permit iPhone and iPod touch to work with your enterprise systems.

It is unclear what changes are included in the update.

The Mac version weighs in at 10.17 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.6, while the Windows version weighs in at 35.31 MB and requires Windows 7. Vista SP1, or XP SP3, along with .NET 3.5 SP1.

Filed under Apple, Apple iPad, Apple iPhone, Apple Mac, Mobiles

Apple Updates ‘Remote’ iOS App to Support AirPlay, Internet Radio Control

December 27, 2010


posted by Eric Slivka on Wednesday December 22, 2010 02:55 PM on MacRumours


Apple today released an update to its universal Remote application for iOS devices, bringing support for several new features including controlling AirPlay content pushed from iTunes on a user’s computer to an Apple TV, as well as controlling Internet radio in iTunes.

What’s New in Version 2.1

- AirPlay video support to control iTunes on your computer to stream videos to an Apple TV
- Internet radio control to play thousands of internet radio streams in iTunes on your computer
- The ability to control iTunes on your computer to play Movies and TV shows that are rented from the iTunes Store
- Addresses issues connecting to an iTunes library or Apple TV
- Includes stability and performance improvements

AirPlay streaming for audio, video, and photos, has been a major feature promoted by Apple in iTunes 10 and iOS 4.2, and the company has released several updates for its various applications and operating systems to support the functionality in a number of ways.

Filed under Apple, Apple iPad, Apple iPhone, Apple Mac, Mobiles

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