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Major/Minor Threat to Apple's living room vision: Microsoft's new Xbox One game+media hub?
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Wednesday Highlights: Tim Cook goes to Washington, under fire from the US Senate over offshore tax shelters including Ireland, China, makes no apologies, defending his company and telling senators they need to fix the tax system; Cook even plays a little Genius Bar as Senator John McCain complains of having to constantly update apps on is iPhone; plenty more in our Apple/Macintosh, Op/Ed, and Finances sections; Apple claiming Samsung Galaxy S4 infringes on five patents including customizations Samsung has done on the Android Jelly Bean OS; a "sophisticated 'operation hangover' gang in India" said to be responsible for new OS X Oslo malware; Mactuts+ offers help for those having issues downloading apps from the Mac App Store; Macworld shows you where to get some nice, free or low-cost fonts; and the staff at Macworld have another tutorial for switchers from Windows to OS X; and here's how to sync calendars for those of you balancing between Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard systems; according to new stats, Samsung and Motorola have cut Apple's lead in customer satisfaction by half; Apple updates online store in preparation for Father's Day; TechHive shows you which major US carriers have the most LTE throughout the states; Tim Cook says the USA-made Macs are to be built in the great state of Texas, with Apple spending $100 billion in the endeavor; Flickr, Vimeo integration rumored for iOS 7, and a couple interesting iPhone 6 concepts hit the web; LAPTOP Mag gets a hands-on with LifeProof's Fre iPad mini case; is Apple held to different standards than other companies?; Rush Limbaugh has no love for the Senates "high-tech lynching" of Apple; Microsoft's Xbox One means "goodbye freedom".
WEDNESDAY BLOWOUT: Every NEW or RENEWING paid subscriber receives 2 YEARS FREE.
"iPad sales surpass 1 million in Korea" The Korea Herald 7:51 AM
"iPad 3 Is Coming, but Is It Worth an Upgrade?" eWeek 10:40 AM
"iPad 3 to Pave Way for 1080p iTunes Content and a New Apple TV?" MacRumors 1:26 PM
"ITV warns Apple not to brand smart television 'iTV': ITV has written to Apple to warn the Silicon Valley technology giant off using its three-letter name for its long-awaited, 'iTV' smart television." Telegraph 8:07 AM
"Eddy Cue Accepts Special Grammy Award Honoring Steve Jobs" MacRumors 11:39 AM
"Analysis: Competitors Size up Apple's iBooks Author" The Mac Observer 2/10
"Mac and iOS Browsers: Options Galore" Low End Mac 2/10
"Apple OSX Lion & Microsoft Exchange: The End of Fanboy Days" ["I still carry my MacBook Air. For me, it is still the ultimate computer in the galaxy. I don't mind having the crippled Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 running on this computer because I don't do any administrative functions with it. But, if I didn't have an executive admin and an administrative assistant who keep my calendar, I would have to choose between crippled Outlook functions or non-functional appointment compatibility in iCal. Two unacceptable options."] Shelly Palmer 2/10
Press Releases
"Excel Software Adds Win 32/64 and Enhanced: Protect, Activate and License any Mac or Windows Software with QuickLicense 6.0" Excel Software 4:36 PM
"Want Special Valentine's Day Card? Check iGreetingCard Lite Now" prMac 8:20 AM
"Fun Game: A Dark Castle, A Wolf, A Ghost and You" Cult of Mac 2/11
"Newly DVD to QuickTime Converter for Mac Released By E-PDF" prMac 2/11
"WhatRoute gets new icon, loses legacy image" FairerPlatform 2/10
"Tension Software announces it's first sandboxed app, NoteList 3.0 to stores data in a free format" Tension Software 2/10
"Google releases Chrome 18 Beta -- get it now!" BetaNews 2/10
"Family Vacation: California Available From MGS" Inside Mac Games 2/10
"Empire: Total War Gold Edition coming to Mac" MacNN 2/10
"Newly MXF File To FLV Converter for Mac Released By iLifesoft" prMac 2/10
"Text Cleaner 3.5 Now Shipping - for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion" prMac 2/10
"MacXDVD Software Upgraded Product Lines for the Upcoming iPad 3" prMac 2/10
"PixelEspresso releases BadPlastic 1.0 for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion" prMac 2/10
"Book Palette: First Templates for iBooks Author on the Mac App Store" prMac 2/10
"XEffects Tech Transitions Released Exclusively for FCP X" prMac 2/10
"A New Way to Organize your Photos with Photo Transformer" prMac 2/10
"US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration drops BlackBerry for iPhone" The Verge 2/11
"U.S. Air Force planning to purchase up to 18,000 iPads" Los Angeles Times [Free Registration Required] 2/10
"Google guns for Apple TV: Google is working on an in-home entertainment gadget able to stream content from the internet - or, at least, it's testing such a device in employees' homes." Register Hardware 2/10
"Apple vs. Google: The Stakes Are Rising/Google Inc. is developing a home-entertainment system that streams music wirelessly throughout the home and would be marketed under the company's own brand, according to people briefed on the company's plans." WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 2/10
"63% of iPhones were activated outside the U.S. last quarter: And that percentage is likely to increase sharply now that China has the iPhone 4S" Fortune 2/10
"Sprint bondholders like iPhone strategy" Bloomberg News 2/10
"Sprint's iPhone Sales Connect With New Customers" WSJ Blogs 2/10
"Apple Manufacturer Foxconn Hit By Hacktivists" InformationWeek 2/10
"USA Today's internal app Stats show Amazon's Kindle Fire trouncing other Android tablets" GeekWire 2/10
"Apple Posts a Pair of New iPhone 4S Commercials: 'Road Trip' and 'Rock God'" Mac|Life 2/10
"Apple Highlights Siri in Two New iPhone 4S Ads" The Mac Observer 2/10
"Apple founder Steve Jobs 'took drugs and abandoned his family" Telegraph 2/10
"Steve Jobs file reveals frank assessments" CBS News 2/10
"Steve Jobs did serve in the first Bush Administration" 9 to 5 Mac 2/10
"BlackBerry out at U.S. climate agency, iPhone in" Reuters 2/10
"Apple's new Siri ad: Remind me to do WHAT again? Would that the iPhone's intelligent assistant were as smart as the latest TV ad suggests" Fortune 2/10
"Watch: Apple Wants To Convince You That Siri's Not A Silly Gimmick" Business Insider 2/10
"Ngmoco Suffers Staff Lay-Offs As Development Of iOS Title Is Cancelled" RazorianFly 2/10
"Like the Apple Store Nearby, but This One Has Windows" New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required] 2/10
"Quick Cuts: Video Showcases Almost Every Apple Product in 30 Seconds" Techland 2/10
"South African President, Jacob Zuma, Prepares Nation Address On iPad – [Photo] RazorianFly 2/10
Non-Apple News
"The Hidden Tax on Every Smartphone and Tablet You Buy" Yahoo! News 2/10
"Amazon readying 9-inch Kindle Fire for 2012, analyst predicts" CNET News 2/10
"IT guy answers daughter's Facebook rant by shooting her laptop" [Video Report] The Register 2/10
"Logitech Touch Mouse M600 has no buttons" TG Daily 2/10
"Tech! Tech! Teeeeech! Women want gadgets for Valentine's" Register Hardware 2/10
"Hackers target lonely hearts with Valentine's spam and phishing scams" PCWorld 2/10
"Murtazin: The Samsung Galaxy S II Will See Ice Cream Sandwich On March 1" TechCrunch 2/10
"275 PSP games will be downloadable on Vita" TG Daily 2/10
"Hirai outlines vision for leaner Sony" Financial Times [Paid Membership Required] 2/10
"Sony Incoming CEO Hirai Vows to Take Painful Decisions to Cut Fixed Costs" Bloomberg 2/10
"Cars That Can Tweet Are Hitting the Road: WSJ's Joe White has details of new technologies being piled into vehicles, everything from 17-inch dashboard screens to abilities to check Facebook and purchase movie tickets." [Video Report] MarketWatch 2/10
"Alcatel to Rearrange Work Force, Including Bringing Back Outsourced Jobs" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 2/10
"Google Paid Out Over $700K For Security Flaw Detections" eWeek 2/10
"Google Is Testing Wireless Entertainment Device, Filing Shows" Bloomberg 2/10
Publications/Podcasts
"The Talk Show #78: Wow, is that a Pen? John Gruber and Dan Benjamin talk about the rumors of iPad 3, Windows 8 on ARM, LTE hardware, and Google Drive, about the Super Bowl ad Apple didn't run, the Samsung stylus, and Path doing the wrong thing the wrong way." 5by5 2/10
"Engadget Podcast 280 - 02.10.2012" ["00:34:21 - Apple announcing iPad 3 first week of March? Anonymous sources think so"] Engadget 2/10
"Gene Steinberg meets commentator Kirk McElhearn, the NDP Group's Stephen Baker, and Laptop magazine's Avram Piltch this week on The Tech Night Owl LIVE" The Tech Night Owl LIVE 2/10
"iPad 3 rumors, iTunes Match royalties, universal apps, plus more! (Podcast)" Insanely Great Mac 2/10
"Writing Kit Review: Writing Kit is a text editor that focuses on writing and editing text in markdown format." 148Apps 2/10
"Doodlecast Pro Review: A simple recording tool with endless possibilities." 148Apps 2/10
"Remarks Review: Remarks has the raw ingredients of a great app, but lacks some basic features." 148Apps 2/10
"Apps for Cartoon-like Output on the iPhone: Cartoonatic, Cartoon the World and ToonCamera" eXtensions 2/10
"Irreverence as Art: Art Jam Paintings Free" eXtensions 2/10
"'End Night HD' iPad Review - An Ambitious and Horrifying Shooter" Touch Arcade 2/10
"iOS App Review: Football kicking games" Macworld 2/10
"Game Your Video Review: Video editing app offers easy-to-apply special effects and more" Macworld 2/10
"Lol-a-Coaster Review: Ride the rails in a roller coaster powered by sweets, but be sure to avoid any obstacles or the outrageous ride will get cut short." 148Apps 2/10
"Protoxide: Death Race Review/Battle and race futuristic craft in an alternate world" 148Apps 2/10
"Jigsaw Mansion 2 Review: Jigsaw Mansion 2 is bound to make plenty of puzzle fans (as in puzzle-puzzles) happy, so long as they don't mind having their hand held all the time." 148Apps 2/10
"Caylus Review: Caylus has all the trappings of a deep iOS board game, assuming complexity isn't a problem." 148Apps 2/10
"Rip-off Report: AT&T doubling its device upgrade fee" iDownload Blog 2/10
"Why iPad Textbooks Are Still Too Expensive for Schools [Infographic] Mashable 2/10
"9 Powerful Business Uses For Tablet Computers: From the warehouse to the sales floor, see how companies creatively use iPads and other tablets to save time and money, sell more, and delight customers. Tablets may even find a home on garbage trucks." [Slideshow] InformationWeek 2/10
"The 'Apple Should Be Worried If Anyone Else Has Any Success Whatsoever' School of Thought" Daring Fireball 2/10
"Before We Extinguish Flash, Let's Get HTML5 Right: Clearly, HTML5's star is rising. But declaring that Flash should be retired in favour of HTML5 is a bit like saying that everyone should adopt electric cars. Because although we can all agree it's a good idea conceptually, the infrastructure is just not there yet, particularly for online advertising." figaro|digital 2/10
"Four Reasons Why Google Won't Be Able To Compete With Apple" Forbes 2/10
"White MacBook, It Was Good Living With You" AllThingsD 2/10
"iPad 3: Everything we (might) know" DigitalTrends 2/10
"Enterprise Mobility: iPad 3: 10 Design Ideas Apple Should Borrow" [Slideshow] eWeek 2/10
"MacBook Air with Windows 7 review: the ultrabook to rule them all? Does putting Windows 7 on the MacBook Air make it the best ultrabook?" The Verge 2/10
"The Macalope Daily: ZDNuts" Macworld [Insider Content] 2/10
"China syndrome redux: Why it really is about Apple" iMore 2/10
"'These working conditions are appalling, especially for Apple'" The Register 2/10
"Why Does Apple's Manufacturing Bother Us So Much?" Forbes 2/10
"Apple Wins Skirmish With Motorola on the German Front" AllThingsD 2/10
"Apple Scores a Win in Motorola Patent Fight" The Mac Observer 2/10
"Motorola v. Apple 3G patent suit tossed by German court" GigaOM 2/10
"Ways An 'ITV' Could Stand Out From The Competition" MacNews 2/10
"Amazon gets creative with focus on original Video content" AppleInsider 2/11
"Best Android alternatives to iPod Touch" CNET News 2/10
"Tips for keeping your browsing private" [Video Report] CNET News 2/10
"Top 10 Valentine's Day technology matches made in heaven" V3 2/10
"Verizon's Latest LTE Smartphone Leaked: Is This The HTC Incredible 3?" TechCrunch 2/10
"Is This Living Room Big Enough for My TV?" New York Times 2/10
"RIM Blackberry 7.1 and Playbook OS 2.0 video demo" V3 2/10
"Coming soon from BlackBerry: 5 things to look forward to" CIO 2/10
"Cray courts the big data market: But do we still need supercomputers when we have Hadoop?" IDG News Service 2/10
"Google: Will it be vulnerable in mobile search?" ZDNet 2/10
"Trying to Be Optimistic About a Google Music-Streaming System" Techland 2/10
"After Motorola Deal Approval, Can Google Hardware Be Far Behind?" Time 2/10
"Google pushes your buttons in its top strip bar - AGAIN: Google has once again rejigged its user account navigation bar, making it ever more slavish to the company's strange devotion to all things social within its silo." The Register 2/10
"Google 'Drive' Could Step on Cloud Partners' Toes" PCWorld 2/10
"Chrome on Android: The InfoWorld tour" [Slideshow] InfoWorld 2/10
"Thanks to the cloud, integration is back -- with a twist" InfoWorld 2/10
"The Griffin Survivor - one tough cookie of a case" prMac 3:46 PM
"Snooze Me: Universal app for iPhone and iPad. Snooze Me collects all calendar alerts that have fired and lists them according to their time of popping up as banner or alert." DevArt 12:30 PM
"Get the #1 iPhone and iPad Statistics App Created by RealSimpleEDU" prMac 2/11
"MacTech Boot Camp Seattle: March 7, 2012" MacTech Magazine 2/11
"Siri's Rival Speaktoit Is Now Available on iOS" Softpedia 2/11
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