It turns out that his hobby 9to5Mac blog was always his favorite and in 2011 he went full time adding his Fortune Google followers to 9to5Google and adding the style and commerce component 9to5Toys gear and deals site. In 2013, Weintraub bought one of the Tesla’s first Model S EVs off the assembly line and so began his love affair with the Electric Vehicle and green energy which in 2014 turned into electrek.
In 2018, DroneDJ was born to cover the burgeoning world of drones and UAV’s led by China’s DJI.
From 1997-2007, Weintraub was a Global IT director and Web Developer for a number of companies with stints at multimedia and branding agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Madrid and London before becoming a publisher/blogger.
Seth received a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California with a minor in Multimedia and Creative Technology in 1997. In 2004, he received a Masters from NYU’s Tisch School of the Art’s ITP program.
Hobbies: Weintraub is a licensed single engine private pilot, certified open water scuba diver and spent over a year traveling to 60 cities in 23 countries. Whatever free time exists is now guaranteed to his lovely wife and two amazing sons.
USB Storage: 32GB PNY USB Stick at Best Buy: $12.99 16GB Sandisk Cruzer Fit $8.99, 32GB: $15.99 Seagate Expansion 3 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive: $99, 2TB: $79 Centon 128GB DataStick Sport USB 2.0 Flash Drive: $59 WD My Passport 2TB Silver Portable USB Hard Drive with Free Case: $129 (Careful of the Mac Tax)
WD 1TB Elements USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $50 after rebate + free shipping
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BodyGuardz, Apple device protection 40% sitewide discount for everyone, 50% for returning customers
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SSDs/HDDs Seagate 3TB 7200RPM Bare drive: $99 Hitachi 4TB Deskstar 3.5″ SATA III Internal Hard Drive: $189
Cameras: Canon PowerShot S100 12.1-Megapixel Digital Camera+ 8GB SD Card: $229 Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera (Body): $2499 Pentax K-01 Mirrorless Camera w/ 40mm Lens:$417 Canon EOS Rebel T3 12MP DSLR w/ 18-55mm Lens: $400 Canon EOS 7D Body (Refurb): $959 More Canon Deals
It is the holiday shopping season again, and we know many of you will be looking to buy Apple- and Apple-related products this year. To help out, we’re compiling a new section of 9to5Mac called Apple products and separate sections for each of Apple’s lines. Elsewhere, we have seen buying guides, pricing guides, related news and predictions, but we’re wrapping them up into one page per product.
2. For the last few months and going forward, every post we do on a related product will be propagated to the page so you’ll have a roundup of the latest information on each product line. Additionally, in every post on a topic, you’ll notice a new link to the product section on the right.
3. We’ll also have a record of Apple’s past updates on each product, which should help in estimating the next product cycle.
4. Finally, we have our best predictions on upcoming products from 9to5Mac’s editors headed by Mark Gurman.
Together—this information should help Apple product users and buyers make smart, informed decisions.
Mac bundle season continues with a big one from StackSocial. Dubbed the Mac Utility Bundle, they’ve managed to knock $20 off the price of Parallels ($79 regular price) alone and added 4 more helpful utilities to boot. Great way to start off any Mac Purchase you may be doing this holiday season.
Apple is doing its trademark “explode out of the box” ads on various websites. This one is for iPods and was found on pitchfork.com. If you can find it, the 3D is pretty cool…but don’t have the volume too high.
Apple’s Mac partner Intel is having trouble getting its chips into the booming tablet and smartphone space. That has lead to flat earnings and trouble for the once-dominant chipmaker. Today, Intel announced that CEO Paul Otellini would be replaced in May.
Sprint just announced that it would begin selling the iPad Mini in some of its physical stores starting later today. That likely indicates other carriers and Apple stores will begin stocking their shelves with the LTE iPad Mini. We heard earlier that Apple Stores had received shipments of the 4G iPad Mini and AT&T would begin stocking shelves today. We also know that Best Buys have been receiving stock and will likely begin selling today, too.
After updating its iOS app with new messaging features, multiple photo sharing, and Facebook Gifts in version 5.1 earlier this month, Facebook just released a new version of the iOS app with more new features. Facebook updated the app’s news feed to include a new Share link for reposting stories and a button next to News Feed in the left sidebar to sort your feed. Other improvements in version 5.2 include the ability to tag people in any post, comment, or photo and new heart and smiley emojis in messages.
What’s New in Version 5.2:
Now you can share the best stories from your news feed with just one tap.
• New Share link to re-post stories from your news feed
• Tag your friends in any post, comment or photo
• Smileys, hearts and other emoji in messages
• To sort your feed, tap the button next to News Feed in the left sidebar Expand Expanding Close
The Apple Bears appear to be winning over the past month and change. Apple’s stock price is now at its lowest price since May and is closing in on its February price in the 520s. At 530, Apple’s market cap is now below 500 billion. So much for those $1 trillion valuations? Expand Expanding Close
French language website MacBidouille claims to have some bad news from its retail sources. While they were expecting to see iMacs arrive Nov. 27 (we also heard a similar time frame—with availability beginning around Black Friday) for the 21.5-inchers and later in December for the 27-inchers, both may now miss the all-important holiday shopping season.
The source blames a welding process for the delays, which would push the iMacs into 2013. The new iMacs also have a redesigned display that features a new thinner lamination process.
We first noted the delays in new iMac production in October and questioned whether the devices would be announced at the iPad mini event. Interestingly, we also heard that Apple might introduce an updated Thunderbolt Display in the not-so distant future that may be tied to the launch of the 27-inch iMac. Stay tuned for more information on that soon.
Yonhap News reports that Samsung doesn’t plan to follow the same route that rival HTC did in settling its patent disputes with Apple.
“It may be true that HTC may have agreed to pay 300 billion won (US$276 million) to Apple, but we don’t intend to (negotiate) at all,” Shin Jong-kyun, who heads the South Korean tech giant’s mobile and IT division, told reporters.
The figure is an estimate based on an analyst prediction of $6 to $8 per phone, which may or may not be accurate. The news would seem to be in stark contrast to some predictions that the HTC settlement would “create a blueprint from which other Android manufacturers could settle with Apple”. It also could simply be Samsung playing hardball.
Samsung is now the world’s largest patent holder and smartphone manufacturer with some estimates putting its last quarter sales units around double of Apple’s.
“We have no such intention,” J.K. Shin, the head of Samsung Electronics’ mobile unit, told reporters on Wednesday when asked if Samsung would seek a similar settlement. Expand Expanding Close
Apple has confirmed the opening of a store brand in Brazil. The first Apple Store will open in Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and will also be the company’s first own store in South America “We look forward to the opening of the first Apple Store in Brazil, where we have long standing customers and hope to win many more each day. [We] can not wait to offer the unique Apple retail people of Rio de Janeiro and customers from across the region,” the company said by email on Tuesday
The news comes after it was recently discovered that Apple was hiring retail employees for both Rio and Istanbul, Turkey.
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Per Apple’s financials, the company plans to open 30 to 35 new stores in the coming year with 75 percent of those being outside of the United States. Both Rio and Istanbul are iconic cities that fit well with Apple’s retail vision. Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s Holiday Gift Guide just went live as part of the online Apple Store. The new page breaks down gifts by product line, catalogs the best of the Apple Store, and Apple notes it offers free shipping on all products. Santa, if you are listening…
Apple now asks you to try resetting the iPhone before making a reservation at the Genius Bar to fix your iPhone notes a Reddit user. Interestingly, they don’t offer the same helpful hint to iPad or iPod users (or for Macs for that matter) though the move would probably save them billions in Genius bar hours per year.
Perhaps one last Browett strategy slipped through?
Just in time for the holidays comes the rumors that your Apple products may soon be out of date earlier than you expected. The Taiwan-based Chinese Commercial Times today reports that Apple will introduce new, perhaps lower-cost versions of its iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV in the first half of 2013. The translation, below, is a little rough, but it would be great and appreciated if readers want to either email or comment with a better translation.
Apple against Samsung quietly trial production, December edition iPhone (rumored iPhone5S) of 5 to 10 million units in the first trial production point of view, forecast massive shipment of the first quarter of next year. The industry pointed out that Apple’s new machine together, the new version of the iPhone, iPad and iTV in the first half of next year will be launched, including in low-priced products are also expected to debut, breaking Apple over the years, the practice of the year a new machine.
Industry, said Apple’s new iPhone certification send samples has been officially start trial production in December estimated 5 to 10 million units iPad facelift version is about to send samples, estimated the trial production of the second quarter of next year, components Jingji large Li-guang, jade crystal light is Wei Zhen Ding and Taiwan county are outside the new iPhone machine certification is made, the Japanese manufacturer, Kanto, KONICA Japanese soft-mill Fujikura (Fujikura) also joined the camp, Hon Hai is also naturally become assembly preferred .
The reasons for the quicker-than-usual cycle are said to be increased competition from Samsung as well as low-yield rates on the iPhone 5 design. We’d caution that it is hard to tell when Apple is going to ramp up their iPhone and iPad refreshes based on what suppliers are being asked for now. Also notable (and unlikely) is that “low priced products” are expected.
Speaking of Samsung, Chosun.com reports that Korea-based conglomerate is increasing the prices it charges Apple for its A-series processors by 20 percent. The processors, produced in Samsung’s Austin Texas plant, are designed by and produced exclusively for Apple. Obviously with all of the competition and lawsuits happening, Apple has been rumored to be looking for a new long-term chip-making partner. In the meantime, Samsung may be looking for additional revenue to help re-tool its plant.
US tech giant Apple has dished out 20 million Swiss francs ($21 million, 17 million euros) to compensate Swiss national rail operator SBB for using its famous clock without permission, a Swiss daily reported Saturday.
The Mondaine clock is an O.K. design, but I think Apple could have done a better job on its own and probably could have saved a few million bucks in the process. The $21 million figure represents about 10 cents per device if you figure 210 million devices going to iOS 6. The exact terms of the deal weren’t given.
A SBB rep said at the time that SBB was more interested in bringing clarity to where and how Apple could use the logo than in raking in cash. “We’re rather proud that a brand as important as Apple is using our design,” she said in September.
The clock was designed in 1944 by Swiss engineer Hans Hilfiker and remains the property of SBB. It is still used in SBB’s stations.
Hopefully this doesn’t embolden Braun to go after Apple, because it pretty clearly ripped off the German company in its original iOS calculator design:
Apple will also be forced to keep the notice up on its U.K. website until Dec. 15, much longer than the original period.
Groklaw notes that Apple’s “unprofessional actions” in the U.K. Samsung Galaxy Tab ruling and subsequent penalties have now forced the company to pay Samsung’s legal fees including everything like “parking, phone calls…from day one”. While the fees are a drop in the ocean of Apple’s income and holdings, it is an embarrassment to the company.
We noted last week that Apple used special code in its website to push the apology below the fold no matter the display size of the browser device, but it has since removed it.
Apple wasn’t even being penalized for that (yet). The penalties were levied because Apple changed the court-ordered apology copy with “misleading” statements and apparently delayed the posting beyond what the judges deemed reasonable.
We just got the above email via an Apple employee from CEO Tim Cook showing the Cupertino company is looking after those on the other coast of the U.S. Apple will donate $2.5 million to the Red Cross to benefit Hurricane Sandy victims. Apple previously set up a page in iTunes for donating directly to the Red Cross, and Apple says it collected millions from both Apple customers and employees.
Apple—under Cook—has increased its charitable giving, and this latest effort is just one example of a more generous Apple.
The Verge has learned through several sources close to Microsoft’s plans that the company will release Office versions for Android and iOS in early 2013.
Office Mobile will debut in the form of free apps that allow Android and iOS users to view Microsoft Office documents on the move. Like the existing SkyDrive and OneNote apps, Office Mobile will require a Microsoft account. On first launch, a Microsoft account will provide access to the basic viewing functionality in the apps. Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents will all be supported, and edit functionality can be enabled with an Office 365 subscription.
The report notes “Very basic editing” will be enabled on the apps, but it doesn’t sound anywhere near the functionality of iWork apps or even Google’s Docs in their current forms. Folks should expect iOS apps in late February and Android versions a month or so later, and you’ll need to pay for an Office 365 plan.
Over the last month, we received page views from Mac OS 10.9 machines geo-IP located both on Apple’s corporate network and in the Bay area. There are at least four different IP addresses that these hits are coming from, and the screen resolution on at least two of them is consistent with the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro’s display.
It is possible, technically, that these could be faked, but the timing and IP addresses are in line with what we expect from beta testers of the next version of Mac OS 10.9
We received additional information that others have also started seeing 10.9 in their logs.
While it isn’t particularly surprising that Apple is testing its next generation Mac OS, it does indicate that wider testing has begun.
A working exploit for Sophos 8.0.6 on Mac is available, however the
techniques used in the exploit easily transfer to Windows and Linux,
due to multiple critical implementation flaws described in the paper.
Testcases for the other flaws described in the paper are available on
request.
Sophos responded with a post on the multiple vulnerabilities, and it responded over and over that “Sophos has seen no evidence of this vulnerability being exploited in the wild.” But, is that really good enough? How about issuing a fix in the two plus months that they’ve known about these issues? It only takes one wild exploit.
Sophos gave 9to5Mac the following comment:
Some were fixed last month, and for others we started rolling out patches to our users today. :-)
Users of Sophos products should be automatically updated, but if anyone wants to be sure they can initiate a manual update. Expand Expanding Close
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