Macgasm

A lot of people were pretty disappointed this morning when they read the words that came out of the Netgear CEO’s mouth. We ran an article today that highlighted words spoken by Patrick Lo (link) that essentially alluded to Steve Jobs “going away” during a lunch in Sydney.

It’s obvious that the choice of words spoken by Lo were pretty poor. But, we weren’t expecting an apology so soon. Turns out that’s exactly what just rolled into our inbox.

Here it is:

Hi.  As many of you know I spoke in Sydney on Monday, at a lunch with more than a half dozen of Australia’s leading technology and business journalists.  We covered a wide range of topics including the emergence of new IP protocols, cloud computing, wireless routers/repeaters in the home, the National Broadband Network (a current major Government project in Australia) and much more. During the course of the discussion, I shared my views about the future of Apple and Microsoft, as well as the surge of Android.  Some of my comments were covered by the media who attended, and were reported more broadly outside Australia by media and bloggers who picked up on the story.

I stand by the opinions I stated on the business issues.  Supporting open standards and environments in order to ease seamless networking integration of multimedia content is good for the consumer and good for content providers.

However, I deeply regret the choice of words I used in relation to business decisions Apple must grapple with in the future in relation to open vs. closed systems, which have been construed by some to be references to Steve Jobs’ health and which was never my intention.  I sincerely apologize that what I said was interpreted this way, and I wish Steve only the very best.

Patrick Lo,
NETGEAR
Chairman and CEO

My days never go quite as well when I’m not listening to music. If it wasn’t for iTunes and my readily available music collection, I don’t know what I’d do all day. I’d probably be a lot more ornery than usual.

Music keeps me sane, and even gives me a pick-me-up when I’m trying to bust out articles at a rapid-fire pace. Hopping in and out of iTunes can be a pain in the rear, but thankfully Tracks solves a lot of my problems.

Tracks lets you control iTunes and search music from your menubar (as well as keyboard shortcuts). Initiating a search is quick and effective. Tracks has taken over my Mac as a primary iTunes controller.

There is one thing I’d love to see, but it’s probably more of an Apple problem than a Tracks problem: getting their search engine into Spotlight would be huge. It’d save me a menubar space, and it would make infinite more sense for most users.

Anyway, the application is free on the Mac App Store, but only for today. So, if you want to try out a snazzy iTunes controller for free, now’s your chance to grab Tracks.

I’d even go so far as recommending that you purchase it if you like it once it goes back on sale at a regular price.

Today, chipmaker Intel announced that design issues have been found with its up-coming Sandy Bridge family of processors:

As part of ongoing quality assurance, Intel Corporation has discovered a design issue in a recently released support chip, the Intel 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and has implemented a silicon fix. In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives. The chipset is utilized in PCs with Intel’s latest Second Generation Intel Core processors, code-named Sandy Bridge. Intel has stopped shipment of the affected support chip from its factories. Intel has corrected the design issue, and has begun manufacturing a new version of the support chip which will resolve the issue. The Sandy Bridge microprocessor is unaffected and no other products are affected by this issue.

The affected chips include second-generation quad-core Core i5 and i7 processors, believed to surface in future iMacs and MacBook Pros, and possibly even the Mac mini. Intel expects to have the fix in place and processors rolling out the door by the end of next month, with production ramping to full capacity by April.

Water, what an ass. Whenever it gets the chance, it beats down our devices, and then laughs at us when companies deny our warranty. It’s almost like water is out to get us. Even today’s umbrellas rarely hold up against the wet onslaught brigade.

Apple knows this, and any chance they get they deny warranties based on water damage. The good news is that not all of us are giant lying douche bags. I’ve never dropped my phone in a toilet, or puddle, or ocean or any other body of water, but for some reason I can clearly see that the water sensor is red. Normally I’d just admit defeat and not even try to get my phone repaired, but Apple has officially tweaked their water damage policy.

According to a new document, “If a customer disputes whether an iPod with an activated LCI has been damaged by liquid contact and there are no external signs of damage from corrosion, then the iPod may still be eligible for warranty service.”

Hurrah!

No one knows why there was a sudden change of heart over at Apple, but there’s no time like the present for Apple to right a wrong. Hopefully this news doesn’t spark off an explosion of douche bags trying to get their phones fixed for free, and treating Apple Genius’ like crap.

Article and Image Via igeneration
Header Image Credit: JAGDesign

The Galaxy Tab was often a major point of contention in our comments late last year. It was probably the number one device that was referenced as a major competitor to the iPad, and that was before it even shipped. A lot of Android fans thought that the Galaxy Tab would easily knock the iPad off and reign supreme. Today there’s mixed news for the iPad vs. Android / Galaxy Tab debate. First, Android has eatten up 22% of the tablet market, and secondly, Samsung hasn’t really sold many Galaxy Tabs to consumers. Out of the 2 million Galaxy Tabs sold during the fourth quarter last year, very few of the devices were actually sold to consumers. Instead, the majority of sales went to distributors.

How interesting is that? It makes you wonder about some of these statistics and earnings reports that we see these days. Clearly most numbers have nothing to do with devices in consumers’ hands. I don’t know for certain, but out of the 22% of Android devices sold last quarter, how many of those made it into customers’ hands? How many are going to distributors?

Here’s a nice little quote from the Samsung’s Head of Product Planning from back in September 2010:

• WP Hong “didn’t see any features [on the Galaxy Tab] that were weaker than the Apple iPad“
• “Its advantages are: communications features, something we have that doesn’t exist in the iPad, and we expect consumers to enjoy video chat”
• “Previous tablets are seen more as ‘living room devices’, because people are putting them on a table or on their lap, and have to use two hands to hold. ”This means their device is defined as living room, where ours is on the go”

It looks like the public doesn’t agree.

We haven’t been able to track down much information on that particular statistic, but given the news that the Galaxy Tab mostly went to distributors, we’re inclined to think that a large number of the 22% in sales also went to distributors as well. We’re speculating, and not stating that with any degree of certainty. For that matter, this is a two way street. How many of Apple’s iPads went to distributors? Proof positive that these “studies” are crap to begin with?

If informal studies, which include me walking around the city, are any indication, not much has caught up with the iPad in the tablet market yet.  I’ve yet to actually see an Android tablet in the wild.

Everyone wants a piece of the iPad pie these days, and it’s no surprise that the likes of RIM, Samsung, and others are trying to bring competition to the market. Apple’s been running away with consumer level tablets for almost a full year now. Shortly, Apple will be announcing the iPad 2, and some of these competitors will be forced to deal with a new iPad, effectively putting them behind a full year again. Good news for Apple, bad news for companies like Samsung.

Article Via Engadget

If you’ve been reading us for a while, you’re probably well aware that there are two recurring themes here on Macgasm. The first theme is that we pretty much want syncing for everything we can get our hands on, but the second thing isn’t as trivial: we have a real problem with the current landscape of telecommunications companies and the influence they have on government officials in North America.

We try to stay out of politically-heady topics, but this time around I just can’t sit around and watch my beloved country kowtow to the telecommunications companies. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is once again proving that big telecom companies have more influence on Canadian policy than Canadian citizens do. It’s outright disgusting.

The CRTC is on the verge of approving a bill that would allow big telecom companies to charge more for your Internet by metering bandwidth. What’s that mean for the consumer? Well, if you’re already annoyed that Canada sits at the top of the cost-per gigabyte spectrum, you’re not going to be happy that the CRTC is going to let Internet Service Providers charge you per byte. We’re already paying way too much for internet in Canada, and if the CRTC has its way, you will be paying much more than you were before. If you frequent sites like YouTube or Vimeo, watch television shows on the Global or CTV website, listen to music on Grooveshark, or look at photos on Flickr, you’re about to see a drastic increase in price on your bill if the CRTC has its way.

It doesn’t end there though, since companies like Bell and Rogers own much of the infrastructure in Canada, they’re also going to be forcing smaller, independent ISPs to charge customers based on the same money-grabbing scheme. If that’s not the exact definition of a monopoly, I don’t know what is anymore. Instead of letting companies decide how they want to charge their customers, they will be forced to ‘compete’ with Bell and Rogers in Canada by being forced to gouge customers. That kind of eliminates competition, doesn’t it?

It’s time for the monkeys at the CRTC to step down

If closing the CRTC isn’t an option, maybe it’s time for a complete overhaul of the entire ‘Commission.’ When 160,000 people sign an online petition to stop the asinine CRTC bill, it’s pretty clear that the CRTC no longer represents the interests of the people.

We’re throwing our support behind openmedia.ca and will be donating to the cause. We’re tired of old career-politicians pretending like they’re in touch with our society’s digital needs, and it’s about time Canadians stand up to do something about it.

Canadians, we’re warning you, the internet as you know it is in jeopardy, and if you sit by idly, the CRTC and Big Telecom companies will have their way with you and your wallets.

Don’t be foolish. Go to OpenMedia.ca and get educated. Call your MP and complain about the CRTC’s blind acceptance of Big Telecom pressures, and more importantly, tell everyone you know that Big Telecom is about to change the digital landscape in Canada.

You can make sure this doesn’t happen.

If you want to make a ton of money, you need to be where the money transactions occur. Playing middleman has done wonders for companies like Paypal and Square, but the big boys have yet to enter into the iWallet sphere until now.

Visa has begun testing an ‘iWallet’ payment system in Europe, likely in an attempt to circumvent Apple’s advances with an NFC-capable iPhone. It’s been rumored for a very long time that Apple has been working on an iWallet type of system that would let consumers make purchases with their iOS devices. There have been a number of patents filed by Apple in this space, and there are likely to be a ton more as the world moves to an NFC-based payment system.

There are obvious problems with an iWallet, most notable being the lack of infrastructure in some countries, but it’s not going to stop companies like Visa, Apple, and countless others from trying to change the landscape.

Would you pay your bills from an iPhone? I think I would. The less stuff I have to carry in my wallet the better. I’m no Costanza, but if I can make a payment from my phone, it’ll mean a thinner wallet, and that’s something I can get behind.

Article Via Computerworld
Photo Credit: Patently Apple

If Angry Birds can make millions, why can’t this nice little gem called Angry Turds? In the first game you fling birds at pigs, but in Angry Turds you throw poop at evil explorers. I’m not joking.

You might think that I’m pulling your leg this fine Monday morning, but I assure you, Angry Turds is real and available on the App Store for $0.99. The game, should you go looking for it, is actually called Angry T*rds.

So here’s the million dollar question: how did Apple let this one through the App Store process? The game isn’t exactly covert in its objective. The description reads:

The evil explorers have stolen all the monkey babies and it’s up to you to save them! There is only one way to stop them, throw some t**ds! With your arsenal of t**ds, coconuts, poop bombs and bananas you must defeat the explorers.

I’m pretty sure that’s as straight forward as they come these days.

If you enjoy flinging turds at men in hats, you’re going to want to download this one before Apple yanks it from the App Store.

Personally, I’m going pass.