The gist of the company’s 12-page response to Congress is that every iPhone “checks in” with its zip code once every 24 hours. (Of course, location-based services can be turned off in iOS by customers.)
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MacPaint and QuickDraw Source Code Released
The Apple Macintosh combined brilliant design in hardware and in software. The drawing program MacPaint, which was released with the computer in January of 1984, was an example of that brilliance both in what it did, and in how it was implemented.
For those who want to see how it worked “under the hood”, we are pleased, with the permission of Apple Inc., to make available the original program source code of MacPaint and the underlying QuickDraw graphics library.
On the Power Mac G4 Cube
Ten years ago today, Apple announced the G4 Cube at Macworld New York.
The G4 Cube was an interesting machine. It was a powerful G4, packed into a 8-inch cube, suspended in clear molded plastic. It ran silently, without a fan. It featured some of the most impressive industrial design Apple has ever shipped — the entire “core” of the computer came out with a single click, giving quick access to internal components.
On Apple and AT&T’s Relationship
Indeed, Jobs actively considered splitting with AT&T early in the partnership. Just months after the iPhone launched, and not long after Rinne asked Apple to limit YouTube usage, Jobs was investigating another possible solution: dropping AT&T and striking a deal with Verizon. But because Verizon’s network ran on a different transmission technology, making the move would require an entirely new chipset.
The whole piece is fascinating.
Nokia Siemens Buys Motorola Unit
Jenna Wortham of the New York Times:
The Motorola unit that Nokia Siemens is buying supplies wireless carriers with the equipment needed to build and maintain cellular networks, including infrastructure for the fourth-generation mobile technologies known as LTE and WiMax.
$1.2 billion. Holy cow.
Apple Peddling Revised iPhone 4s Through Genius Bar Replacements?
I got this email from a friend tonight:
So I swapped my iPhone 4 for another at an Apple store due to a proximity sensor issue. New phone has a smooth matte-like coating around band and over antennas. Can no longer run finger over antennas and feel gaps. Looks like they have silently fixed this in the newer production runs can’t replicate signal loss any more.
During the press conference, Jobs said that they company would “revisit” the topic at the end of September. If Apple is handing out replacement phones with this “matte-like coating,” it may be that the company is testing this as a long-term solution they will announce in the fall.
Droid X Has Apple Scared? I Doubt It.
Apparently, these are the droids consumers have been looking for: Early numbers indicate that the new Motorola Droid X, carried by Verizon Wireless, has been a big hit, selling out online and in many stores since its debut on Thursday. Time to get scared, iPhone 4.
The success of this smart phone compared to its biggest competitor, Apple’s problem-ridden, antenna malfunctioning iPhone 4, has got to be rankling Steve Jobs just a little bit.
Jobs on Vacation While Engineers Working Overnight?
Bloomberg is reporting that Jobs’ statement yesterday that he and his team are “working our butts off” means “cots in the engineering department and cars in the parking lot at all hours of the night.”
Yikes.
More yikes? Jobs was on vacation this week prior to Friday’s event. Here’s Jobs in the Q&A session after his presentation:
I’m doing fine, I was doing better earlier in the week when I was on vacation in Hawaii.
Gannet Centralizing Page Design
The Des Moines Register will be one of five regional design centers for Gannett Co. newspapers, the company announced Tuesday.
The announcement is expected to bring 35 to 60 jobs to Des Moines, said Carolyn Washburn, the Register’s editor and a vice president. Gannett hasn’t determined the timeline for the project, but it is expected to take at least two years.
The Des Moines center will design news pages for 21 newspapers, including the Iowa City Press-Citizen, and other locations in South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Simplenote on Android
Finally, I can kick Evernote to the curb once and for all.
On Apple’s Press Conference
Apple’s press conference this morning is pretty much what a lot of people expected — lots of praise for the iPhone 4, followed up with a solution that doesn’t involve a recall or hardware revision.
I think Apple did a good job at highlighting that lots of other phones show the same issue that the iPhone 4 does. I know that my Motorola Droid exhibits the issue when I’m in an area with poor reception. That said, the whole thing came off as a little passive-aggressive.
Apple Shows Attenuation on Other Smartphones
This page on Apple’s site just leaked passive-aggressive juice all over my MacBook Pro.