Watch our LIVE 9to5Mac Happy Hour April 12, 2013
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Funny Or Die Producer Allison Hord discusses making their version of a Steve Jobs biopic [Video]
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Via Bloomberg. Trailer to the movie is here.
Pebble Watch SDK goes live, new watch faces and apps to come
Pebble, the E-Ink smart-watch for iPhones and Android devices which raised over 10 million dollars on Kickstarter is about to get a lot of new features. Today, Pebble announced that the watch SDK is being released today. The SDK will allow developers to create custom watch faces, alerts and new apps.
At the moment, there’s less than 10 available watch faces and only one app, but expect those numbers to grow dramatically now that developers can get their hands on a public SDK.
You can grab the SDK from Pebble’s website right here.
‘LookAway Player’ brings Samsung’s Smart Pause-inspired feature to iPhone
Sensitivity and Settings menu of LookAway Player
Samsung’s new eye-tracking features on its Samsung Galaxy S IV are arguably some of its coolest yet.
One of them, Smart Pause, is built right into the video player on the device and recognizes when you are watching a video. If you look away from the screen while it is playing, the GS4 automatically pauses the video for you and starts playing it again when you look back.
Many are wondering when or if a similar feature will launch on iOS. While Apple may never implement such a feature, iOS users can try out the feature.
LookAway Player for iOS is a YouTube player that includes the same look-away-pause, look-back-play features found on the Galaxy S IV. LookAway uses a technology developed by Cube26, which utilizes the front-facing camera to track eye movement.
While it is not yet clear how well the player actually works, it is available to try out yourself on the App Store.
CNBC Analyst Jim Cramer goes off on AAPL (Video)
Cramer doesn’t seem to be too happy about AAPL news of late.
Related: AAPL is up 8 points as of this writing
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NVIDIA introduces GeForce 700M Series GPU, prime fits for the next high end iMacs/MacBooks
NVIDIA announced a new series of notebook GPU’s today branded as the 700M series. Introduced today are five new graphics cards in total, and NVIDIA said they would be available in a long list of laptops over the next few months. The five new graphics cards include two options aimed at the “mainstream segment”, the 720M and the 735M, while the remaining three, the 740M, 745M, and 750M, will be “for the performance segment” of the market.
The graphics cards are being touted by NVIDIA to “maximize performance and experience,” but they also more power efficient than their predecessors. Because the 700M Series is notebook-only, expect these to be less powerful than a desktop version of the 700 Series that may be announced sometime in the future.
Helping our new 700M chips reach such lofty levels of performance is GPU Boost 2.0, a GPU innovation that extracts every ounce of available computing power from the graphics processor. Before GPU Boost, GPUs were held back by synthetic benchmarks that pushed chips and power usage to the limit, far beyond the levels typically seen when playing games. This ‘worst case scenario’ forced us to throttle GPUs, leaving spare performance on the table when playing games.GPU Boost resolves this problem by monitoring power usage and temperatures, enabling the GPU to use every last ounce of performance without exceeding safety or comfort limits.
While the press release from NVIDIA said the new GPUs will be available in nearly every notebook maker other than Apple, it is possible these GPUs will be seen in the next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The current 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display sports a NVIDIA 650M GPU, as does the high-end 21-inch iMac model, so an upgrade to the 700M series only makes sense.
The full press release is available below.
New NVIDIA GeForce 700M GPUs Squeeze Every Drop Of Performance Out Of Notebooks, Automatically
Monday, April 1, 2013
NVIDIA today announced five new notebook GPUs which deliver a trifecta of technologies that seamlessly and automatically maximize a consumer’s notebook performance and experience.
With no effort or input from the notebook user, the technologies work in the background to save battery life, enhance performance and enrich the visual experience — providing the best notebook experience the GPU can deliver. They include:
New NVIDIA GPU Boost™ 2.0 technology, which intelligently adjusts GPU clock speed to maximize graphics performance.
NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology, which enables extra-long battery life by switching the GPU on and off so it runs only when needed.
GeForce® Experience™ software, which adjusts in-game settings for the best performance and visual quality specific to a user’s notebook and keeps GeForce drivers up to date.
“There is an elegant simplicity to NVIDIA’s GeForce 700M notebook technologies,” said Rene Haas, vice president and general manager of the notebook business unit at NVIDIA. “You use your notebook how you want, and GeForce makes your experience awesome.”
Incorporating all three of these technologies, the new lineup of NVIDIA GeForce 700M GPUs includes GeForce GT 750M, GeForce GT 745M, and GeForce GT 740M GPUs for the performance segment, as a well as GeForce GT 735M and GeForce GT 720M GPUs for the mainstream segment.
NVIDIA GeForce 700M GPUs are available today. Every leading notebook manufacturer will be introducing notebooks with GPU Boost 2.0 technology, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.
More information about the GeForce 700M family of notebook GPUs is available at www.GeForce.com.
Trailer to Funny or Die Steve Jobs biopic released (Video)
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Those Switcher ads are never going to be the same. Doesn’t seem like this is a comedy. (via)
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Apple CEO Tim Cook in high school: Most studious, plaid pants, War Eagle (Gallery)
Some fine images from CEO Tim Cook’s high school days [1975-6] via Redditor whitbaker
Tim Cook attended the same high school as my mother, and she spoke highly of him. These are pictures from the 1975 and 1976 yearbooks from Robertsdale High School in Robertsdale, AL. She passed away in February 2011, but was following his success in Apple, and was quite proud (she was two years older). She served as editor of the yearbook her senior year, and he was part of the yearbook staff. Also, while in high school, he worked for my grandfather’s independent pharmacy in town. He passed it down to my mother, and I am currently working there now. I hope you guys enjoy these old pictures, I thought it was cool to see someone so successful back in the day! Auburn fans, notice the “War Eagle” on the last page!
[re: Your/You’re] Haha yes, he sure did! He was a tenth grader at the time, so I guess we can let him slide. And yes, we are from a small town in south Alabama, and he is our claim to fame, I guess. His parents still do business at our drug store, and my uncle actually saw him in Starbucks during the holidays and introduced himself. I was jealous! :)
Deal: Dragon Naturally Speaking 3 for $100 (50% off)
The deal of the day at 9to5Toys.com today is Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac for $100. That’s half off and the lowest price we’ve seen (and $21 off Amazon’s price). Dragon uses the same Nuance recognition that Apple uses in Mountain Lion but adds all kinds of extras as you can see in the video above.
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Apple Stores pushing new table-based sales strategy, minor emphasis on third-party product support
Apple is slowly rolling out a new customer service initiative across its retail stores called ‘table selling.’ With the new strategy, Apple Store employees are assigned a product table where they are responsible for working with groups of customers with different needs, albeit the same device, according to people familiar with the strategy. Previously, customers were individually helped on a first-come, first-serve basis and organized by an “iQueue” system that often resulted in lengthy wait times and customers walking out.
Retina MacBook Pro hits new $1299 low at MacConnection shipped ($200 off)
From 9to5Toys.com:
MacConnection quietly updated their price on the 13-inch Retina MAcBook Pro to $1299 with free shipping last night. That’s $200 off Apple’s price and the lowest we’ve ever seen for a Retina Display MacBook Pro. This is the base model with 2.5GHz Core i5, 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD.
A quick look at our Retina MacBook Pro Product page shows that this is easily the best deal out there:
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Flipboard 2.0 update allows you to make your own magazines, personalized recommendations and more
Popular iOS news app Flipboard was updated today to version 2.0, and it brings a refreshed look, speed improvements, and the ability to create your own magazines. The UI enhancements include a more prominent search bar with improved personalize recommendations and updated sharing buttons to Twitter, Facebook and Google +.
The most notable new feature in the update is the ability to create your own custom magazines article by article. The way the feature works is: if you want to save an article that you’ve found online or within Flipboard, you bookmark it and it’s automatically added to your personalized magazine. Once you’ve finished creating your magazine, you can publish it publicly or save it privately.
https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/316729661843443712
According to TheVerge, Flipboard also announced today that it reached 50 million users.
The update to Flipboard is available today and should be available on Android next month.
What’s New in Version 2.0
★ You can now collect and save content into your own magazines, tap the new “+” button to get started.
★ Your magazines are public, but can be made private (viewable only to you).
★ Use the new bookmarklet to add items to your magazines from your browser.
★ Get Flipboard notifications when people like, comment or subscribe to your magazines.
★ Easily email or share magazines to Facebook, Twitter, G+, etc
✓ Search is now front and center on your Flipboard, with new improved results.
✓ Faster page-loading and faster flipping performance.
★ Personalized recommendations for more to add to your Flipboard.
Free Mac App bundle: Grappler, MacCleanse, Data Guardian, Video Rotate, PhotoBatch, more
From 9to5Toys.com
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MacUpdate is offering 9 solid Mac Apps valued at $131 for free. Normally, I’d throw in a “you get what you pay for” clause in here but there are some seriously useful tools on offer. Grappler is fantastic for pulling audio off the web. Backblaze for 3 months is way better than their normal 15 day free trial. Video Rotate, and SnapNDrag always helpful for correcting iPhone videos as are Color Strokes, LightFrame and PhotoBatch for images. Others here are great utilities (especially MacCleanse and Data Guardian).
Don’t forget there are 2 days left on MacUpdate’s Parallels 8/DevonTHINK 10 app bundle as well. Details below or at MacUpdate:
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You can now buy an iPad Mini from the Apple Store for $299 (refurb)
From 9to5Toys.com
Apple started selling refurbished iPad Minis at the Apple Store a few weeks ago but only offered more high end versions. Today, they’ve unleashed the floodgates and you can now buy base models for $299. Currently black is available for $299.
Apple refurbished items are often indistinguishable from new items and ome with the same 1 year AppleCare protection.
Ending: $100 iTunes gift card for $80 at Best Buy, 15% off all cards at Target
Ending tomorrow from 9to5Toys.com:
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iTunes gift cards are good for all music, movies, books, iOS and Mac apps and everything else Apple sells in its iTunes and App Stores. Getting a big discount on an iTunes card saves you on purchases you are going to make in the future.
Best Buy offers the $100 iTunes gift card for $80 with free shipping or in-store pickup. Ends tomorrow.
Target offers 15% off in store or online using promotion code TGFHJVZ8 at checkout on all denominations. This offer also expires 3/23/2013 at 11:59pm ET.
Some more excellent deals this weekend at 9to5Toys.com include DoorBusters at Best Buy like $200 off the 13″ MacBook Air and Retina MacBook deals at MacMall ($300 off).
Software deals include the Mac Variety Bundle, Toast 11 Bundle and extended Parallels 8 Bundle from MacUpdate.
Don’t forget to Bookmark the DailyDeals aggregator page for the best daily deals from over 35 US retailers in under a minute.
Ending: Two great Mac Bundles headlined by Parallels 8 and Roxio Toast 11 for $50/ea
Bundle Season at 9to5Toys.com is coming to an end:
Ending in a few hours:MacUpdate’s Parallels Desktop 8 bundle which effectively knocks $30 off the price of Parallels 8 and then hooks you up with DEVONthink Pro and 8additional Mac applications for free (normally $618). A free demo is also available.
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– Parallels Desktop 8 ($79.99) – Run Windows/Linux/Chrome on your Mac.
– DEVONthink Pro ($79.95) – Info manager.
– Prizmo ($49.95) – OCR Scanner for editing printed documents
– MacUpdate Desktop ($10.00) – Software update utility
– MotionComposer ($149.00) – Design animated and interactive Web content.
– 1000 OpenType fonts Collection ($99.00) – OpenType Fonts.
– iStat Menus ($16.00) – Monitor your Mac from the menubar.
– PhotoStyler 6 ($29.99) – Stylize your photos with filters, presets, more.
– DiskAid 6 ($29.90) – File transfer tool for iOS devices.
– Mac Internet Security 2013 ($29.99) – Malware/anti-virus utility.
Also ending this week, Stacksocial has their Spring 2013 Bundle which is headlined by the normally $100 Roxio Toast Pro 11 media creation software for $49.99 but also includes nine other great apps valued at over $390 below:
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Hook up Your Mac With 10 Elite Mac Apps!
The bundle includes 10 HIGH-QUALITY Mac apps valued at over $390 for an EXCLUSIVE price of $50!
This all-inclusive bundle has just about something for everyone.
The Mac Apps Include:
- Roxio Toast 11 (
$100) – Titanium makes it easier than ever to capture, burn, convert, copy and share digital media. - Set for iWork (
$69) – Over 1100 unique designs for Pages, 100 spreadsheet templates for Numbers, 50 first-class slideshow themes for Keynote, and 1300 images for illustrating your content. All templates are available in the US and international paper sizes. - LaunchBar (
$35) – Get instant access to applications, documents, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, media libraries, search engines and so much more – just by typing short abbreviations. - TasksBox (
$25) – TasksBox is a simple and beautiful task manager that helps you to easily manage your daily tasks so that you can spend more time on what you love. - Animationist (
$30) – Create perfect title art animations for your YouTube videos, iMovie or Final Cut projects, showcase videos and even TV broadcasts. - iFinance (
$30) – Start recording your income and expenses right now, be it a coffee during lunch break or a brand new car – finally, you’ll get a clear overview of what exactly you spend your money on. - Habits (
$20) – Habits is based on the scientifically proven principle that it takes a continuous chain or repetition of an activity to create a new habit, make a habit out of a resolution or replace an existing habit with a new one. - MainMenu Pro ($
10) – Run daily, weekly and monthly maintenance scripts to keep your Mac strong. - Corel Paint it! (
$40) – This photo painting software includes multiple painting styles, brushes and realistic effects that let you add a personal touch to any creative project. - Stationery Pack 2 (
$25) – Turn your favorite photos into greeting cards and send them with Mail.
Plus a BONUS App if You Buy Right Now!
That’s right, if you buy this bundle RIGHT NOW, you’ll also get Trickster as an added bonus!
Trickster ($10) – Trickster is the ultimate productivity booster for you.
This bundle has been hand-picked to ensure that quality apps make it onto your desktop. There’s no better opportunity to start enhancing your Mac that with this Spring 2013 Bundle.
Enjoy!
Free Money: Get an $100 iTunes gift card for $80 at Best Buy, 15% off all denominations at Target
From 9to5Toys.com:
Best Buy continues to offer the $100 iTunes gift card for $80 with free shipping or in-store pickup.
Today however, Target jumps in with 15% off in store or online using promotion code TGFHJVZ8 at checkout on all denominations. Offer expires 3/23/2013 at 11:59pm ET. Pad your order to $70 or more to avoid shipping or take the below coupon into your nearest location.
iTunes gift cards are good for music, videos, movies, iBooks, Mac and iOS Apps and much more.
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BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins says iPhone is old news
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“Clackedy-Clack”
The CEO of BlackBerry, whose market cap is around $7.7 billion at the time of this writing, had some nice words and some harsh words for the folks doing the innovating over at Apple. According to the Australian Financial Review, Thorsten Heins doesn’t think Apple has done much in the way of innovation since its original and revolutionary iPhone touch-design in 2007.
“Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market … They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that,” Mr Heins said.
“History repeats itself again I guess … the rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about is now five years old.”
Mr Heins said one area that the new BlackBerry phones had surpassed the iPhone was in the ability to multi-task – running multiple apps at once – meaning that users could work in the same fashion on their smartphone as they liked to on a laptop.
Along with Samsung, other phone makers, like HTC and Nokia have also impressed industry watchers with the quality of their top-end smartphones, leading to questions about whether Apple needs to speed up its release cycle of new iPhones.
“The point is that you can never stand still. It is true for us as well. Launching BB10 just put us on the starting grid of the wider mobile computing grand prix, and now we need to win it,” Mr Heins said.
BlackBerry’s market share has collapsed in recent years and its hopes of survival are now pinned on the new BlackBerry 10 devices. With the $7.7 billion market valuation (much less than Apple’s quarterly profits), it doesn’t seem like investors are putting much faith in the new OS’s key differentiators that include multi-tasking of up to eight apps, BlackBerry Enterprise Server integration, and BlackBerry Messaging.
Reviews of the new BB10 phones have mostly been even-keeled to favorable, but most reviewers wonder if there is enough in the phones to turn the tide. With the new BB OS, IT integrators will face the question of whether to jump to the new OS or use one of the market leaders like iOS or Android.
As for tablets, Heins is taking a more measured approach by noting Apple’s iPad owns the space.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs told an analyst conference call that he viewed RIM [Blackberry] to be in Apple’s ‘rearview mirror’ in 2010.
Free Money: Get an $100 iTunes gift card for $80
From 9to5Toys.com:
Today only, Best Buy offers the $100 iTunes gift card for $80 with free shipping or in-store pickup. iTunes gift cards are good for music, videos, movies, iBooks, Mac and iOS Apps and much more.
THX sues Apple over iMac, iPhone and iPad narrow profile speaker design
Images from Patent no. 7433483
Apple has found itself on the wrong side of another patent lawsuit. Lucasfilm-owned THX sued Apple yesterday over a claimed infringed patent relating to the speaker designs found on the new iMacs, iPhones, and iPads.
Patent no. 7433483, filed in 2008 by THX, protects “narrow profile sound systems” that shoot sound out a “narrow sound duct.” The exact patent description reads as follows:
A narrow profile speaker unit comprises at least one speaker outputting sound towards an internal surface and through a duct with an output terminus, such as a slot, having a narrow dimension, effectively changing the cross-section of the speaker’s audio output wave. A pair of speakers may face one another, outputting sound towards a common output slot. Multiple pairs of speakers may be used to form an inline speaker unit for increased sound output. A slotted speaker unit may include multiple speakers facing the same direction, towards a groundplane or reflecting surface, and having parallel apertures for allowing sound radiation. The speaker units may be integral with or attached to electronic appliances such as desktop computers or flatscreen devices, or may be used in automobiles or other contexts.
THX was founded in 1983 as a division of Lucasfilm and was re-booted in 2001 as an independent company. Apple and THX have never had friction in the past, and, just two months ago, THX released ‘THX tune-up’. It’s an app that allows you to adjust your “TV, projector and speakers” all from your iPhone or iPad.
9to5Toys Daily Deals Tool, ‘Specials’ and Free Otterbox Armor iPhone cases contest
We have some exciting 9to5Toys.com announcements for our US readers today.
1. We’ve teamed up with Stack Social to launch Specials.9to5toys.com which will feature new software and hardware specials for Apple ecosystem folks every day. Some examples:
- The $49.99 Spring 2013 Mac Bundle (including
$99Toast 11!) - The Name Your Own Price Indie Gamer Bundle
- Amazing Photo Editing w/ PhotoDirector 4 Ultra
- BodyGuardz Bumps w/ Mic + Free Shipping
2. Specials will headline our new 1 minute Daily Deals Aggregator. This is one of the tools the 9to5Toys Team uses to scout out the best deals on the web. Now we’re releasing it to the public.
Every Day, you get the best 36 retail Daily Deals on the net including: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, MacMall, MacConnection, Woot, 1SaleaDay, Sears, NewEgg, eBay, Apple Refurbs and many others. The page gets updated every hour and is super-cached for speedy browsing. Checking all 36 Daily Deals only takes a minute using the ^ and v arrow keys.
Bookmark the 1 Minute Daily Deals page now and you are guaranteed to save some money.
3. To celebrate the launch, we’re teaming up with AT&T to offer 3 of new $99 OtterBox Armor Series iPhone 5 cases in White, Black and Gray. We will award one on each of the three major social platforms: FACEBOOK, TWITTER and GOOGLE+. Just Follow/Like/Circle 9to5Toys (if you haven’t already) and Tweet/Like/+1 this post to enter. We’ll pick winners on Monday.
Speaking of contests, our $49.99 Parallels 8 Bundle (expires this weekend, details below) winners were picked; congrats to Robert, Tyler and TK!
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Video comparison between the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S4
This is a nice overview of the features from PhoneArena. I’m pretty sure a 5-inch display is going to be a non-starter for many people.
The tale of when Shaq asked Steve Jobs personally for an iPhone ahead of launch [video]
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No surprise endings here.