Desktop applications on the other hand were purchased through licenses and advertisements downloaded from the net through desktop applications were deemed security issues that security firms like Symantec blocked through their anti-spyware or anti-adware programs.

Steve Jobs is on the other side of the bed as he wants advertising to fill our operating system with ads and has filed a patent that embeds advertisement right on your desktop. Are we getting the operating system for free?

The patent attorneys were focused making sure every aspect and detail of the patent are well explained. One of the sections of the patent says the operating system can halt the operating of the system to make sure the user gets to focus on the advertisement. Again, are we getting paid when that happens? The patent goes even further by making sure they have not identified the personal computer only for the advertisement but it encompass every device that has an operating system which includes tablet PC, portable devices, pocket PCs, celfones, etc.

Microsoft is the largest software company in the world and its operating system is running on 1 billion of the 1.2 billion computers in the world. I wonder what the software giant is thinking about that patent. Should have they thought about that sooner? Or have they thought about it and felt it was plain stupid.

Microsoft is making lots of money through its licenses and I don’t think they would ever change that business model. Apple has been a revolutionary company and they may be able to pull this through especially when they offer to give out rebates or money back to the sale of the operating system whenever their OS has made money through advertising directly to the desktop.

Image from my Windows 7 computer.

Post from: EveryJoe

Advertising Embedded on the Operating System

Gizmodo is reporting insider information that the iPad will do a lot more than surf the web and run iPhone apps. Apple is looking to take on Amazon’s Kindle, too — and redefine what an ebook is. A big push of the iPad will be into the arena of college textbooks, where Apple believes it can present a more appealing opportunity to textbook publishers by cutting out bookstores, who re-sell the expensive tomes yearly without the publishers seeing a dime. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The rumor is that Apple has been talking to major newspapers, magazines, and book publishers about creating a new format of ebook that upgrades the entire format to something more interactive. This could take the form of some kind of hybrid multimedia book, where audio, video, and imagery are used to make the typically static formats of traditional books into something truly next-gen.

Image: Robin Parrish.

Post from: EveryJoe

Apple Tablet Hopes to Redefine Print

In the “yes” column: iTunes 9.0. Full-length album download format. Facebook & Twitter integration in iTunes. Lower iPod prices. Whole new iPod Nano with built-in video camera, FM radio tuner, microphone, speaker, pedometer, available today.

And all this under the long-awaited return of Steve Jobs.

Let’s break it down.

iTunes

iTunes got a major upgrade today in the form of iTunes 9.0, which sports a clean, fully redesigned interface and tons of enhancements both big and small:

• The big news is iTunes LP (the project formerly code-named Cocktail), a snazzy new format for downloading entire albums. Purchase a full album that’s LP-enabled and in addition to all the songs, you get full lyrics, photography, liner notes, videos, and other “extras” similar to what you might get on a DVD.
• Similar to iTunes LP is iTunes Extras, additional interactive content and “DVD Extras”-style features for downloadable movies.
• Greatly hyped was the new ability to manage iPhone/iPod Touch Apps from inside iTunes. This is something users have been begging for, for years: the ability to reorganize how Apps are displayed on your home screen.
• Genius Mix is a new function that culls together music from your playlist in a never-ending stream of like-minded songs, like your own personal radio station.
• Home Sharing lets you copy any media from one version of iTunes in your house to any other version of iTunes in your house — on up to 5 computers.
• Twitter and Facebook have been integrated with iTunes at last, thanks to little arrows next to the “Buy” button on each song, that let you do more than just buy: you can add a song to a wishlist, gift a song to someone else, or microblog about a song on Facebook and Twitter.

iPod

There was less unveiled here than everyone seemed to be hoping for, with the biggest news being the new model iPod Nano. The Nano, which Apple says is the “most popular music player in the world,” now comes with a built-in video camera, a built-in FM radio tuner, a pedometer that can be synced to Nike’s popular workout software, a microphone, and even a speaker — a first for a non-Touch iPod. Two models are available: an 8GB version for $149, and a 16GB version for $179. They come in nine high-gloss colors.

The iPod Touch saw no major enhancements, but got a price drop down to $199 for the 8GB version, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for the new 64GB version.

The iPod Classic did not get discontinued, as some had speculated it might. Instead it also got a bump up in capacity, from 120GB up to 160GB, but the price remains the same: $249.

The iPod Shuffle was another device some thought might end up on the chopping block, but it ain’t so. The device itself got no major improvements but Apple announced that new and different kinds of headphones will soon become available for the Shuffle, all with the Shuffle’s controller built into their connector cord. Five new colors were introduced for the Shuffle, which sells for $59 (2GB) and $79 (4GB). A special edition brushed stainless steel version was also shown off.

iPhone

Not to be left out, the iPhone got a little love today as well, in the form of iPhone OS 3.1, which adds the Genius function to Apps, to recommend Apps you’d like based on ones you’ve already bought. Also included is the ability to buy and download Ringtones right from your iPhone for $1.29 a pop. Apple claims to have 30,000 Ringtones available from all four major record labels. OS 3.1 is a free download that’s available today.

Looks like that’s about it, kiddies. The fabled iPad tablet remains exactly that: a fable. The Beatles catalog won’t see the light of day for a while, if ever. But we have a whole new iTunes and some mild upgrades to the various iPod models.

So are you excited by what Apple showed off today? Or was it too much hype and not enough action?

Images: Apple Inc.

Post from: EveryJoe

Apple lowers iPod prices, unveils iTunes 9

Veering away from tradition of having the events on Tuesdays, Apple’s September music event is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept 9, 2009. The venue is yet to be announced but according to the Digital Daily it’s sure to push through.

Apple’s September event is usually a music centered event. Last year saw the launch of iTunes 8 with the Genius feature, the 4th Gen iPod Nano a.k.a Nanochromatic, the 2nd gen iPod Touch. What will Apple pull out of it’s proverbial magic hat this year and will it’s number 1 magician be the one to perform its tricks?

Rumors are circulating that this year will bring us a new for of “Digital Album” dubbed Cocktail. This is apparently a collaboration between Apple and the music labels to entice more people to buy the whole album rather than just individual songs. This will help music labels make more money with bulk sales rather than just individual songs. The album will include lyrics, notes and photos plus other interactive goodies.

Of course we can’t have a new format without new hardware. Next generation iPod Nanos and iPod Touch are reportedly set to make their debut. With both of them reported to get cameras. There have been leaked photos (true or not) of the iPod Touch with the cameras.

A camera for the iPod Touch would be sweet. I’ve played around with the iPhone 3GS’ photo app and the tap to focus is niiicceee.

While most of us are awaiting the launch or the Apple Tablet/NetBook or whatever you want to call it, don’t hold your breath. The reports say it won’t be coming out this month. It’s more of a 2010 product.

Products are good but what excites me the most is the chance that Steve might actually do the keynote. It’s a good time for him to do this since, one, he’s back at work full time and this will be a good way to show people that he’s back on top. Two, this is a much shorter keynote and should be less stressful than a regular keynote should it should make for a good comeback.

Well, with a little over a couple of weeks till September 9th, Apple hopefuls are now giddy once again. Will it be an early Christmas for us? We’ll see.

Post from: EveryJoe

September Apple Event A Go

“Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever.”

Image: Wikimedia Commons

It’s from Steve Jobs. Couple that with the recent sighting of Steve Jobs at the Apple campus, does this mean that the Apple CEO is back to work? Well they did say that Jobs is set to return at Apple by the end of June. It is almost the end of June. Whether or not he’ll be coming back full time remains to be seen. It has been reported that Jobs underwent a liver transplant two months ago but is said to be doing fine.

Post from: EveryJoe

Steve Back At Work?

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple was also quoted to have said that Jobs seemed to be healthy and energetic during their last phone conversation. Ben Charny’s post on Digits, (blog for WSJ) had this to say about Wozniak’s comment regarding Jobs.

On the sidelines of the All Things D conference, Mr. Wozniak said Mr. Jobs “doesn’t sound like he’s sick,” nor did he seem to be in a health crisis. Mr. Wozniak said, however, he has never directly asked Mr. Jobs how he is.

So things seem to be pointing to the return of Steve Jobs, which is well and good. This might be part of the reason why Apple’s shares have shot past the $140 level the past week. That and the imminent launch of the 3rd generation of the iPhone.

June, which is the start of the 2nd half of the year looks to be promising. If Steve Jobs returns to Apple, then we’re off to a good start.

Post from: EveryJoe

Jobs Set To Return To Apple

This leads me to ask and ponder if Steve Jobs will come back to Apple. The optimist in me says that he will, but having lost someone close to me recently to Pancreatic cancer, I’m not holding my breath.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Jobs was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and had surgery to remove the cancer last 2004. Ever since then he’s been in remission until he had been getting thinner and thinner in the months prior to taking a leave. Some people say it’s a recurrence, while Steve’s official announcement about it was it was caused by a hormonal imbalance. Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen.

If Steve Jobs doesn’t come back, what would the world be like without him at Apple? I’m not worried for the immediate future. Apple has products in the pipeline and is set to roll them out in the coming couple of years. What happens after that?

Is the current team at Apple enough to keep the company going? I have no doubt about Tim Cooks’s operating capabilities. He has turned Apple into a lean, mean cash machine which has about 20 something billion dollars in the bank and no debt. I have no doubt in Johny Ive’s design capabilities. He has afterall crafted some of the most gorgeous computers that I’ve ever seen. Plus, the other people at Apple. They’ve all done a great job. The question that begs to be asked is do they have the vision?

With very little news about Steve lately, I’m starting to get worried. I do hope he comes back. I hope he surprises us at the WWDC and walks onto the stage. That would be awesome.

Post from: EveryJoe

Is Steve Jobs Coming Back?

Jason, celebrating his three-year anniversary at Microsoft Weblog, sees a surge in Zune’s popularity since the 30GB Zune owners started experiencing widespread failure and Microsoft subsequently updating them about its fix. He still wants to buy Zune, but do you recommend it?

Clair introduces us to a cool terminal user whom all lovers of CLI can follow on Twitter and Identi.ca, and teaches two techniques off adding watermark to your images.

Jayvee laments about the closing of Electronic Gaming Monthly and cheers the usage of Youtube by Ohio Police to solve a crime.

Milo lists 4 correct moves made by Microsoft in 2008 and reacts to 5 things that Steve wouldn’t tell about Windows 7.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tech Channel Roundup From Steve Jobs to Steve Ballmer