WSJ: iCloud to Gain Obvious Features

Posted on May 14, 2012 in Apple

Jessica E. Vascellaro at the WSJ:

The new features, expected to be announced at Apple’s world-wide developer conference beginning June 11, will allow iCloud users to share sets of photos with other iCloud users and to comment on them, these people said. Currently, users can only store one set of photos in iCloud through a feature called Photo Stream, which is designed to sync those photos to other Apple devices, not share them.

Apple is also working on a new feature that will allow iCloud users to sync their personal videos via iCloud, these people said, as well as allow users to access “Notes” and “Reminders”—two of its apps for jotting down quick thoughts—through iCloud.com. Currently, those items have to be accessed via apps for those features.

This seems like an obvious extension of iCloud, and I think, a great one, as long as it isn’t a clone of the old MobileMe gallery feature and app. Something more like Instagram would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath for something like that.

The addition of Reminders and Notes online is also obvious, but helpful. With Mountain Lion bringing the two services to the desktop in stand-alone apps, having a web interface will be great.

Toy Story 2 Almost Deleted

Posted on May 14, 2012 in General Geek

Holy cow.

Speaking of Sources…

Posted on May 14, 2012 in Apple, Journalism

Philip Elmer-DeWitt, on the story that Foxconn CEO Tery Gou leaked Apple’s upcoming “iTV” product:

What none of these reporters mentioned (or apparently bothered to consider) is that Gou — whose factories assemble 40% of the world’s electronic devices — is one of the industry’s most secretive executives. He is privy to the future product plans of the most valuable electronics brands — not just Apple, but also Sony, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and the rest. He is trusted by his business partners because he never leaks their secrets.

Given how jealously Apple guards its own secrets, and how relentlessly it pursues those who spill them, what are the chances that Gou would say anything — ever — about an unannounced Apple product, real or imagined?

I’d say, nil.

In the race to hit publish, many writers simply took the source at face value, without thinking much about it. That sort of reporting simply isn’t accurate — or responsible. Real reporters should question everything — including the validity of sources.

DigiTimes Sucks as a Source

Posted on May 14, 2012 in Apple, Journalism

TUAW wins the Internet today.

Best Buy Chairman Steps Down

Posted on May 14, 2012 in General Geek

The Associated Press:

Best Buy’s founder Richard Schulze is stepping down as chairman after an investigation found that he knew that the chief executive officer was having a relationship with a female employee and did not alert the audit committee.

Whoops.

RSS Sponsor: Igloo Software →

Posted on May 14, 2012 in Sponsor

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The Human Race is Doomed

Posted on May 13, 2012 in Apple

Blimey.

On ‘Going Paperless’

Posted on May 13, 2012 in Reviews

My pal David Sparks has a new book out, and it’s great.

In The MacSparky Field Guide to Going Paperless, David de-mystifies the process of going paperless, using Apple products as the core tools to doing so. He talks about apps and hardware that make the process as easy as it could be. This is vital, because if a new workflow isn’t easy, people won’t switch. Even as someone who already uses a Doxie Go scanner almost everyday (coupled with Evernote and other apps), I picked up some nice tips in this guide.

As a bonus, the book was built with the free iBooks Author software, so it’s loaded with images, galleries, screencasts and more. It’s like a book from the future.

Pick it up on the iBookstore for just $5.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted on May 13, 2012 in Family

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I’m so blessed my kids have such an awesome mom. Happy Mother’s Day, Merri!

Adobe Working to Patch CS5 After All?

Posted on May 12, 2012 in General Geek

According to the Verge, Adobe is working to patch the tif bug in CS5.

I’ll believe it when I see it.