cooking

Venus transit app lets users track the planet's rare voyage

One of the rarest celestial events viewable from Earth will occur Tuesday -- the planet Venus will make a trek across the face of the sun. Such an event has only been observed six times in recorded history, and the next occurrence won't come until 2117, so space buffs are gearing up for the big show.

One way to stay tuned -- and also help scientists record Venus' voyage -- is by using an app called VenusTransit. With this app, which is available on Android and iOS, amateur astronomers can join the ranks of historic explorers like Capt. James … Read more

Apple TV will start slow revolution in 2013, says analyst

Apple will release a television in 2013 for between $1,500 and $2,000, but it won't instantly revolutionize the industry, says Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. You have to wonder how much time it takes to trim a hedge that big.

Munster says the content offerings on an Apple-branded set might not initially be that much different than that of the currently available Apple TV set-top box, but that within five years he would expect the company to push back against the current cable and satellite TV models and move toward more DVR in the cloud and unbundled channels that consumers can pick and choose. … Read more

Google's fear: An Apple-Facebook love fest

These are troubled times for technologically inclined.

Facebook's share price is swooning like a '40s actress. A departing Google employee suggests Google isn't Google any more because of Google+.

And, of all heresies, some are even contemplating that the iPhone isn't cool any more.

In times like these, when everyone seems plagued by insecurities, normal behavior is to huddle together for a little warmth, a heartfelt human hug.

So just a few words from Apple CEO Tim Cook -- speaking last week at the D10 Conference -- surely sent shivers into the skins of those who might … Read more

Mike Daisey blasts Mossberg, Swisher over Tim Cook interview

Mike Daisey, a longtime Apple critic and monologist, has turned his sights on All Things Digital's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher over their interview this week with Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"Kara and Walt -- do you really think you asked hard questions tonight? Goodness, you got Cook to admit that Ping was a failure! That's amazing," Daisey wrote on his personal blog yesterday. "If only you had another hour, so you could get him to tell us who he liked best on Dawson's Creek and what kind of ice cream is best: vanilla … Read more

Apple's Cook right about PC-tablet fusion fantasy

Apple's Tim Cook expounded on prior comments he has made on trying to shoehorn a PC into a tablet at the D10 conference last night. The Microsoft-Intel camp should listen.

Let's begin with what Cook said.

In my view, the tablet and the PC are different. You can do things with a tablet if you aren't encumbered by the legacy of a PC -- if you view it as different. If you say this is another PC, all of a sudden you're pulling all of the leadweight of the PC market and you wind up with … Read more

Apple wants to make products in U.S., but that's not so easy

Let's make the iPhone in the good ol' U. S. of A. Who's with me?

There are few Americans who don't like the idea of an all-American iPhone, iPad or MacBook. "Designed in California," sure -- but why not made there, too?

During the D: All Things Digital conference this week, Apple chief executive Tim Cook suggested that he wanted his celebrated tech company to make more components, and perhaps assemble them, here in the U.S.

But it's not that easy.

Cook knows it. As a longtime operations guy, there are probably few … Read more

Google fills search with Zagat ratings

It's time to rate your world on Google+ Local, double down on secrets and lose the hashbang:

Google+ has teamed up with Zagat to add a new feature encouraging users to review local establishments. It's called Google+ Local, and even if you don't use Google+, you'll start to see these ratings pop up around Google search and maps.

Apple CEO Tim Cook shared some interesting comments at the D10 conference Tuesday. To summarize, Cook didn't say if Apple was working on a television set, he vowed that the company will "double down" on … Read more

At D10, Tim Cook speaks his mind (video)

When the CEO of Apple speaks, people's ears tend to perk up.

After all, Apple has been the dynamo of the digital world for some time now, setting the pace with products from iTunes up through the iPhone and iPad and, so rumor would have it, perhaps eventually a newfangled Apple TV. The company is also embroiled in fierce fights with heavyweights including Google and Samsung for the hearts, minds, and wallets of consumers.

Last night, Apple CEO took a turn in the spotlight at All Things Digital's D10 conference, where he weighed in on those topics and … Read more

Cook: Steve Jobs was a notorious flip-flopper

Steve Jobs was a hard man to pin down, according to Tim Cook, his successor as Apple chief executive.

"He would flip on something so fast that you would forget that he was the one taking the 180 [degree], polar position on it the day before," Cook said this evening during an onstage interview at the D10 conference in Palos Verdes, Calif. (see video below). "It was an art; he would never know that he fought the opposite. I saw it daily."

But Cook also called this tendency a "gift," pointing out that "… Read more

Tim Cook: 'I've never really felt the weight of trying to be Steve'

In a live interview at the D10 conference tonight in Palos Verdes, Calif., Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked once again what it's like to fill Steve Jobs' shoes.

"Steve was a genius and a visionary, and I've never viewed that my role was to replace him," said Cook. "Steve was an original. I've never really felt the weight of trying to be Steve. It's not my goal in life. I am who I am. I am focused on that. On being a great CEO of Apple."

He was further asked with … Read more