Apple

The ugly truth: Apple vs. PC design

Walk into any Best Buy and you're hit with an ugly truth: PCs aren't pretty.

A 15-inch HP Windows 8 laptop that sells for $270 (Best Buy's "Deal of the Day") isn't meant to be pretty. It's meant to be practical.

But a $330 iPad Mini is also very practical for a lot of people. And pretty too (consumers and reviewers seem to think so). Pretty and practical are two reasons Apple can sell tens of millions of Minis.

Why bring this up? I was struck by a statement from an Intel executive … Read more

Apple 1 breaks auction record, goes for $671,400

One of what's believed to be only six still-working Apple 1 computers set a record at auction Saturday, selling for $671,400 in Germany.

The machine, built by Steve "The Woz" Wozniak in Steve Jobs' parents garage back in 1976, was sold along with the original owner's manual and a signed letter from Jobs to original owner Fred Hatfield.

Breker, the German auction house that handled the sale, sold another Apple 1 in December for $640,000, a substantial jump in price from the Apple 1 sold by Sotheby's in New York last June for $374,500.… Read more

How Xbox One opens the door for the next Apple TV

Imagine this.

It's 2014. Apple has gathered everyone together for a special event. As Tim Cook presents, he says, "Today we're introducing three revolutionary new products. The first one is a cable box. The second one is a revolutionary streaming-media device. The third is a new way to play games on your TV. So, three things: a cable box, a streaming box, and a game console. Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we're calling it iTV."

The next Apple TV, that long-fabled product, doesn't exist … Read more

Apple cuts prices on reburbished iPad Mini and iPad 4

Those of you eyeing an iPad Mini or fourth-generation iPad can now save a bit more money on refurbished models courtesy of Apple.

As of Friday, Apple is offering 15 percent to 17 percent discounts on all flavors of refurbished units of the iPad Mini and the iPad 4.

The 16GB Wi-Fi-only iPad Mini is selling for $279, 15 percent off the usual price. The 32GB Wi-Fi Mini is available for $359, 16 percent off the full price. And the 64GB Wi-Fi Mini can be had for $439, 17 percent off the regular price.

The 16GB Wi-Fi version of the … Read more

Apple's iOS 7 overhaul said taking a black-and-white tack

Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design and the new design chief for iOS, has one idea in mind for the mobile operating system: out with the old and in with the new.

According to 9to5Mac, which cited unidentified sources who claim to have knowledge of the major changes intended for the upcoming iOS 7, Ive's new design ideas boil down to "black, white, and flat all over." What that means, the sources told 9to5Mac, is that Ive has decided to drop the textures, the shiny icons, and the lifelike design features in favor … Read more

New iPhone 5 ad celebrates Generation Me-Me-Me, La-La-La

If you don't have (white) headphones in your ears, what kind of human being are you?

How can you possibly even classify yourself as human if you don't have a thousand playlists and ensure that every step you take, someone is playing to you?

The modern world is about creating your own soundtrack, in order to navigate its troubling paths and irritate fellow travelers.

Yes, you might be hugging your lover, but you have to be wearing your headphones and so does he. Otherwise, this isn't love. It's just a passing fling, free of melody.

This … Read more

iPhone 5 repairs won't come cheap

It's happened to a lot of people -- their iPhone drops from their hands, falls off their lap, plunks into a toilet, or gets knocked off a table.

Showing off a cracked iPhone screen is sometimes almost a point of pride. I have one friend who lovingly calls his damaged phone "The Hurt Locker," referring to the 2008 movie about a bomb disposal team working during the Iraq War.

But, many of these damaged iPhones cease to work after going through various mishaps. That's when repairs come into play -- and, they're not cheap.

Currently, … Read more

Jon Stewart accuses the Senate of all being Apple fanboys

In our philosophy class today, we will be discussing this existential question: What is the opposite of a Genius Bar?

In Jon Stewart's view, it's a group of senators attempting to fawn all over Apple CEO Tim Cook, instead of heating him up next to their goat steak and their veal sausages.

It was inevitable, perhaps, that Stewart might have an observation or two about Cook's odd appearance in front of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. (I say "odd appearance" because he was wearing a tie.)… Read more

Judge: Evidence shows Apple colluded to fix e-book prices

Pressure seems to be mounting for Apple in the e-book lawsuit brought against it and five publishers by the U.S. Justice Department.

With less than two weeks before the trial is set to start, the judge presiding over the case said Thursday she thinks evidence will establish that Apple indeed colluded with the publishers to fix e-book prices, according to Reuters.

"I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including … Read more

iPhone 5S and low-cost iPhone said to be multicolored

Apple's rumored iPhone 5S and low-cost iPhone are said to be coming in a rainbow of colors, according to an article by Macotakara.

While Apple has yet to confirm it's even producing the two new types of smartphone, rumors are flying about the phone's specs and appearance.

The low-cost iPhone, which is said to have a plastic shell rather than aluminum, could come in white, pink, green, blue, and yellow-orange -- or, navy, gold orange, white, and gray, according to MacRumors, which translated the Macotakara article. The phone is also speculated to cost around $350 to $400.… Read more