February 16th, 2010
Morning all,
Another blustery, snowy day outside signals the official end of a lovely President's Day weekend...we hope you had a great one. Saturday saw the end of this year's MacWorld Expo and today we'll take a quick look back at our favorite tidbits as well as Google's latest statement and DRM for e-books--in the iBookstore!
MacWorld Expo
Lots of big stuff happened at the show but, as usual, it's the little things that made us happy. Like Parrot's AR Drone, a Wi-Fi controlled quadricopter you can fly with your iPhone. Now that's cool enough ( we mean, LOOK at the thing, it's awesome) but Parrot is opening up the 'copter so developers can make games for it. It generates its own Wi-Fi, has an autopilot function to help with take off and landing and generally looks like it could provide hours of entertainment even without game play.
Check out the Drone page here.
Fans of MacTribe's video podcast will remember our (perhaps out of proportion) excitement when we first came across Joby's GorillaPod stand for cameras, iPhones and accessories...well, they've done it again. We don't know exactly what it is about these cute and functional stands but now that the company has come out with a magnetic version for point and shoots we're even more sold...maybe it's the way they pose the cameras in the promo shots, tilted to the side, but they have a special place in our hearts whether their feet are stuck to the fridge or wrapped around a tree limb helping us get that special shot.
DRM Again?
Yes, a year after we enjoyed the removal of DRM from our iTunes music we're looking at their reinstatement in the new iBookstore...at the book publisher's requests of course. The L.A. Times has quoted super secret sources in the publishing world implying that all of the top five houses already contracting with Apple have opted to use FairPlay software to limit the number of times their titles can be copied onto consumer's devices. Some publishers will certainly opt not to use the software because it can limit sales, but right now at least, these houses are all about increasing their bottom line. Boo.
Google Hearts Apple
At the Mobile World Congress, Vic Gundotra (Google's mobile engineering chief) has responded to recent rumors of a rift between the two companies by saying: "Apple is a very close and valuable partner and we're very excited about the relationship we have with them today. We have no reason to believe that's going to change."
And confronted with the Bing rumor: "We don't want to comment on those rumors. We think that relationship is stable."
Only time will tell, ja?
Think Apple's going to leave Google in the dust? Tell us on Twitter!
Till tomorrow, Newsies...
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iPad Costs
iSuppli Corp., which generally waits until it can actually get the new Apple product to estimate its production cost, has decided to forgo hands on examination in the case of the iPad. They have--from just looking at it, it's amazing--decided the base model only costs $219.35 for Apple to produce. According to AppleInsider the base model won't make Apple anywhere near as much profit as the 32 GB model with 3G wireless priced at $729...that one reportedly costs only $287.15 to produce.
That's some profit! No wonder Apple execs have said they'd stay nimble on pricing! With demand for the iPad under scrutiny and this week's news that the "Take Picture" hint was removed from the Address Book app in the iPad simulator even we are starting to wonder if it's not worth waiting for the 2nd generation.
Trust us, it's painful to say.
Google Challenges the Internet
"Think Big" indeed. This time, Google is setting its sights on the very way we transmit information and asking people from around the country to nominate their city or state to be included in an ultra-high speed open internet network of Google's building. Set to include anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people, this network will boast 1GB per second fiber optic connections that Google reps are hoping will bolster developer creativity, test new ways to build the infrastructure and challenge internet service providers to band together to create a better internet instead of shunning change to maintain their bottom lines.
This is huge news, and we hope our city is on the receiving end of the new interwebs...here's the official Google Blog if you want to read it all in detail or submit your community.
