apple

Apple settles the amazing multicolor lawsuit

The heated debate over whether Apple is tricking you into believing you can see millions of colors on your Mac has come to a quiet conclusion.

The Chicago Tribune noted last week (spotted by AppleInsider) that Apple has settled a lawsuit brought by two professional photographers claiming that the company falsely advertised the capabilities of their MacBook Pros as being able to display "millions of colors."

The plaintiffs claimed that Apple could achieve those heights only through "dithering."

There's an option in the Displays screen, under System Preferences in Mac OS X, in which you … Read more

Your common sense guide to stopping piracy

For the past decade, one of the most important debates raging in the tech industry is on the topic of piracy. Some people say that it should be stopped with the help of lawsuits and others suggest it can only be done by being slightly nicer by forcing people to pay for media. But whatever happened to the common sense route? Surely it has been espoused before and some even follow it. Why are some organizations so far behind?

As Amazon has proven, allowing people to do what they want actually works in an environment where they can easily get the same song elsewhere for free. In other words, why fight city hall when all you really need to do is agree?

Believe it or not, there is a way to almost entirely wipe out piracy once and for all. No, it's not by suing those responsible or forcing people into situations. Instead, it's by giving us what we want in a nice package for an affordable price. Does that sound so hard?… Read more

MP3 Insider 90: Subscription schmubscription

Donald and Jasmine discuss the first murmurings of music rental services for the iPod. Then, a gaggle of headphones takes over the podcast. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 90

Subscription music for the iPod?http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9902735-7.html?tag=nefd.tophttp://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9900250-7.htmlJasmine's on Crave!http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9899574-1.htmlSony PCM-D50 audio-corder: http://reviews.cnet.com/voice-recorders/sony-pcm-d50/4505-11314_7-32886466.html?tag=prod.txt.1Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 noise-canceling earphones: http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/audio-technica-ath-anc3/4505-7877_7-32815660.html?tag=links;reviewCrappy iTouchless headphones: http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/itouchless-pure-ear-active/4505-7877_7-32886415.html?tag=links;review… Read more

O'Reilly releases guide to iPhone hacking

If you were wondering whether the iPhone software development kit would end the unofficial third-party development craze, stop wondering.

O'Reilly, one of the most well-known publishers of technology primers for professionals, has released a book on developing applications for a jailbroken iPhone. iPhone Open Application Development, written by Jonathan Zdziarski, was spotted by dozens of iPhone aficionados Tuesday. Chapter 1? "Breaking Into and Setting Up the iPhone."

Zdziarski was among the first hackers to take aim at the iPhone last year in light of Apple's Web-only application policy, and his book is essentially a how-to guide … Read more

Apple gets patents on scroll wheel, iMac design

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple several patents this week on technologies inside the iPod, iMac, and Apple software.

MacNN summarized the four patents, awarded based on applications filed as far back as 2002. The most familiar ones involve the scroll wheel for the iPod and the flexible support arm used on the iMac, but the other two appear to involve sound or video editing on a split screen and speech recognition. Patent reading might just be the missing cure for insomnia.

If you're interested in further details, check out the patents themselves for the … Read more

Sony BMG: We, too, might offer a music subscription service

Looks as if the battle for elbow room in the music subscription market could get a tiny bit tougher if Sony BMG Entertainment follows through on plans to offer its digital catalog to subscribers.

In a story published Monday, the company's CEO, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that Sony BMG is working on a subscription service that would in many ways resemble the one contemplated by Apple, which reportedly has been discussing such a service with the four major music labels.

The basics of the proposed Sony BMG plan would include unlimited access to the label'… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 687: ByeMax

I think we're going to have to call WiMax dead. After all, the CEO of a WiMax network said it's a "disaster." Ouch. In other news, Sony decided it's not cool to charge $50 to get rid of something you never wanted to begin with, Comcast maybe does and maybe doesn't want to put a camera in your set-top box, and Tom's gonna win himself an X Prize. Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 687

Breaking: Sony won't charge $50 to remove Bloatware http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/03/sony-pay-an-ext.html … Read more

Apple, Safari, iPhones and the reek of Microsoft

Last week Apple decided to try its hand at bundling. Tying is just around the corner.

Apple already has a place on the desktops of many Windows users through iTunes. Like Microsoft before it, Apple figured this was a great Trojan Horse to start pushing its other software. Like Microsoft before it, Apple stepped over the line, as John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla, suggested:

What Apple is doing now with their Apple Software Update on Windows is wrong. It undermines the trust relationship great companies have with their customers, and that's bad -- not just for Apple, but for the security of the whole Web.

John then goes on to say he's not against Apple's use of iTunes to push the Safari browser. He's wrong. Larry Dignan suggests John's complaint stems from Mozilla trying to protect its lucrative search relationship with Google. He's wrong, too.

If a browser had anything to do with iTunes, this wouldn't be so egregiously bad. But it doesn't. No, Apple's move bears the imprint of a would-be monopolist that cares more about its market position than its customers. I'm guessing it has little to do with Safari and much to do with...the iPhone.… Read more

Mozilla CEO says Apple's Safari auto-update 'wrong'

A lot of people appear to be bent out of shape about Apple using its auto-update service to distribute the Safari Web browser on Windows. The CEO of Mozilla, which makes the rival Firefox browser, calls it bad business.

In a blog on Friday, Mozilla CEO John Lilly criticized Apple's practice, uncovered this week, of offering iTunes and QuickTime users Safari 3.1 on Windows through the Apple Software Update pop-up.

Lilly says that automatic updates are a good way to ensure people have the most recent and secure versions of software. It's a practice that Mozilla uses … Read more