Apple

Tyrant Kim Jong-Il’s Favorite Computer Was a MacBook Pro 15

Samsung? Lenovo? Sony? Dell? Nah. This was the favorite computer of Kim Jong-Il, the dead North Korean dictator, keen observer and purveyor of all things fattening: an Apple MacBook Pro 15. Sophie Schmidt—daughter of Eric, Google’s president—had the unique opportunity to visit the Bigass Leader’s mausoleum, the heavily guarded building that used to be his…

Angled Lens Case Turns Your Smartphone Into a GoPro

G-Form’s made a name for itself with extreme phone and tablet cases that can protect a gadget during falls from over 100,000 feet. But since rarely are any of us in a situation where we fumble and drop our toys from space, the company’s new G90 case that turns your phone into a GoPro-like action…

The Amazing Story of How a Savvy Entrepreneur Sold Two Companies You’ve Probably Never Heard of to Apple

In December of 2009 Apple bought a small startup led by Bill Nguyen named Lala. The company was named after the first words of Nguyen’s adopted son. It was also a word play on the solfège note “La”. Lala struggled through pivot after pivot in the music industry, buying digital radio stations, a CD swapping…

Reuters: Sharp Cuts Screen Production as iPad Demand Drops

Reuters is reporting that Sharp has “nearly halted” production of its 9.7-inch iPad screens, as demand for Apple’s large tablet drops. According to “sources familiar with the matter”, screen production at Sharp’s Kameyama plant in central Japan has “fallen to the minimal level to keep the line running” following a gradual slow down since the…

This Case Made of Old Fire Hoses Will Keep Your iPad Dry

Fire hoses transfer millions of gallons of water at hundreds of pounds of pressure. They’re tough, hard wearing pieces of kit—so what better use for them when they’re retired than a waterproof iPad case? The brainchild of Hosewear, a company set up by two design students, these slip cases are manufactured from a variety of…

Google’s Nexus 7 has overtaken the iPad in terms of market share in Japan. A trend that could spread? [CNET]

A Glimpse at the New American Airlines and Its Techie Future

This morning American Airlines revealed its plans for a “New American” with a fresh redesign of its livery, which hasn’t been updated since 1968 and a handful of tidbits about its techie new future. The new paint job can be seen on its new Boeing 777-300 when it takes flight at the end of the…

Amazon’s MP3 Store Now Has a Slick Web Version for Your iPhone or iPod

Amazon’s iOS Cloud Player app, which allows you to play all of the music you’ve got stored on Amazon’s servers in sky has been around for a while, but until now, actually buying a song from Amazon’s MP3 Store from your iPhone has been a pain in the tuchus. Amazon just launched an HTML5 web…

Whyyyyy Are Headphone Jacks on the Wrong Side of Computers?

This is a problem. It’s not the biggest problem in the world, but it’s a just such a dumb, thoughtless, annoying design flaw that it bears mentioning. Apple’s doing headphone jacks wrong. Actually, no, everyone’s doing them wrong. In short: Headphone cords almost uniformly insert into the left cup. Some still connect to both, but…

11 Apps to Put Your Musical Taste Back on the Right Track

Most people probably remember having a song, album, or band change our lives. It’s a fairly common experience, even for those unfortunate beings who don’t live and breathe music. It’s a good thing to have happen to you (unless you’ve become too obsessed). Still, anyone can get bored of the music they already know, or…

AT&T Will Finally Let Everyone FaceTime Over 3G Network

In a move overdue since FaceTime over cellular launched in September, AT&T is finally letting most of its customers actually freaking use it. In a blog post, AT&T says it has extensively tested the feature and that it will be enabled to all customers on tiered data plans at no additional cost. Previously, FaceTime was…

Yes, Apple Is Cutting Down iPhone 5 Orders (and It Isn’t Giving Any Explanation)

The New York Times confirmed today that Apple is drastically cutting iPhone 5 orders, just as the Wall Street Journal and Nikkei of Japan reported yesterday. Apple hasn’t answered the reports, even while there is really no excuse not to do so except the perfectly fine “because we don’t want to.” https://gizmodo.com/wsj-apple-cuts-orders-of-iphone-parts-following-low-de-5975661 It’s too early…

How Apple Sets Its Prices

Apple pricing is unlike almost every other brand in consumer tech: consistent across each and every retailer, and rarely discounted. How do Cook and Co manage to pull that off? MacWorld has an interesting article about the techniques which Apple uses to keep its prices fixed. From the article: Most products move from manufacturers to…

Gravity-Controlled Pac-Man Must Come to My Phone *ASAP*

Not Pacman is the Pac-Man I want to play right now. Sadly, this wicked, mind-twisting, gravity-controlled version of Pac-Man is available only for Windows, OS X and Linux. Fortunately, the source code is available, so perhaps someone will port to iOS/Android/Windows Phone as soon as possible. [Stabyourself via Crackajack via Animal NY]

Build Your Own Custom iPhone Controlled Car With These Lego Wannabes

Unfortunately, the pieces won’t jive with your existing building sets, but for $40 to $50 you can get one of these Lego knock-off kits that include a remote controlled powered base that wirelessly connects to your iPhone Each set also comes with an infra red dongle that attaches to the bottom of your phone—in lieu…

Gasp! Microsoft’s Former Windows Chief Uses an iPhone

Just a few short months after leaving Microsoft, the former head of Windows Steven Sinofsky has been busted for firing off some of his tweets from—HOLD THE HANDSET—an iPhone. Traitor! https://gizmodo.com/the-president-of-windows-steven-sinofsky-is-leaving-mic-5959997 Or maybe this isn’t such a big deal? As @stevesi quite reasonably responded to inquiring Twitter user Albert Jelica, it’s not odd for a…

WSJ: Apple Cuts Orders of iPhone Parts Following Low Demand

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has cut orders for iPhone 5 components due to “weaker-than-expected demand” for the device. Citing “people familiar with the situation”, the Journal claims that Apple has cut its orders of iPhone 5 screens for the January-March quarter, for instance, by half. If the rumors are true, they…

Car Crashes Directly into Chicago Apple Store (Updated)

Insert a bad Apple Maps joke here: a car just slammed directly through the wall of an Apple store in Lincoln Park, and is now inside the Apple Store. This is going to be hard for the staff of the store to handle, given that Apple Geniuses aren’t allowed to say the word crash. https://gizmodo.com/how-to-be-a-genius-this-is-apples-secret-employee-trai-5938323…

We Would Not Have Survived CES Without This Gear

New gadgets take the spotlight at CES. And though we’re occasionally blinded by the bright, shiny things, we know where our loyalties lie. Behind the barrage of posts and sprinting between booths, the real stars of the show are the tried and true bits of gear we’re using behind the scenes. Particularly that from BorrowLenses.com,…

Drexel’s MacBook Machine Spits Out Free Loaner Laptops

Philadelphia’s Drexel University has introduced a 24 hour vending machine that dispenses MacBooks instead of sugar water and snacks. But instead of selling the laptops to staff and students, the kiosk lends them out free of charge—with proper ID—for five-hour periods. These days a laptop is a must-have accessory for anyone pursuing higher education, so…