Design

The small, round and short design the time command mini is similar to a hockey puck, but slightly larger. It easily rests on a nightstand or end table without causing too much commotion and even has a pivoting 30 pin connector to ensure proper fit while your iDevice dons its favourite case. Naturally, the dock has two speakers, which easily fill a small room, but sound slightly distorted at maximum levels, which is a downside.

App+Function

Without the actual app the docking station is well, just a docking station. It is nice to have the more complicated features of an alarm clock tucked nicely in an app, as the controls are arguably easier to manipulate with a graphical interface.

Pros:

• iPad, iPhone, and iPod compatible
• Excellently enhanced with the companion app
  
• Built in sleep relaxation tracks
• Local weather
• Slowly wake to increasing volume levels
• Control screen brightness

Cons:

• Price
• Requires firmware updates to the dock
• No battery backup option

Yesterday, Apple officially closed the services of MobileMe to Apple users across the globe, finalizing the long-term period that allowed MobileMe users to transfer there accounts to iCloud, along with all there downloads.

Since the beginning of yesterday, the MobileMe site has been closed, no longer allowing any data to be retrieved in anyway. So if you didn’t transfer.. You may have a bad time.

And so, what may of been the most embarrassing era of all time for Apple has now finally come to an end, as the newest of era’s begin with iCloud.

What’s shocking about the very release, right back from the beginning of MobileMe, is that the whole project was entirely seen as a failure, voted by both consumers and Apple employee’s themselves.

But it doesn’t end there. iWork.com is also now almost impossible to visit, as the link automatically directs you to Apples home page, also making any data extraction from that website seem impossible.

He told them this:

Shipments will start in August,” Sharp’s new president, Takashi Okuda, said at a press briefing in Tokyo on Thursday after the company released its latest quarterly earnings.

The same report also suggested an October release for the iPhone:

Japan’s Sharp Corp. said it will start shipping screens destined for a new Apple iPhone that is widely expected to be released in October ahead of the pre-Christmas shopping season.

I am surprised that this information has been released since Apple have said that they will be a lot stricter on leaked information.

It is a little weird that Sharps president would announce this publicly.

Finally the wait is over!

Research In Motion have released their 4G LTE PlayBook Today!

2 days late, the initial launch day was 31st, but they said they have already shipped their tablets worldwide and should be on the shelfs by tomorrow!

Frankly, i don’t see any luck/chance for RIM anymore.

They are gone.

They will be bought from Microsoft, thats FOR SURE.

Or by some other company but if they do plan on being sold, Microsoft will be the FIRST to buy them.

Though, i do wish RIM all the very best!

Press Release

WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – August 02, 2012) – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM)(TSX: RIM) today launched the new 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with built-in support for cellular networks. The new 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook maintains a sleek and ultra-portable form while delivering overall faster performance over the original BlackBerry PlayBook, as well as support for blazing fast 4G LTE networks. Launching in Canada first, the new 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook allows customers to work more productively and connect to the Internet, as well as access their email, on-line apps, media and content, from more places than ever.

“We’re excited to bring customers the first BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with support for 4G LTE networks,” said David J. Smith, Executive Vice President, Mobile Computing at Research In Motion. “The new 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook offers a broad range of premium features, including a stunning 7 inch display, front and rear facing HD video cameras, HDMI out and stereo speakers, and it also offers premium performance on high speed cellular networks, helping customers to be more productive than ever and to make the most of their time on the go.”

 

Featuring the latest BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2 software, the 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet gives customers access to high speed mobile networks around the world (LTE and HSPA+)(1) and offers an exceptional, high-fidelity, fast web experience that supports more HTML5 functionality than any other native tablet browser on the market(2). The powerful unified inbox allows users to easily manage multiple personal and work email accounts, as well as messages from Twitter®, Facebook® and LinkedIn, all in one place. The built-in Calendar and Contacts apps offer features to help customers better manage schedules and prepare for more effective meetings. Plus, the apps’ unique integration with social networks can provide customers with a wealth of information about their contacts at their fingertips.

The 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is also enterprise ready. It can be easily managed with BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and includes BlackBerry® Balance technology, which allows a user to use a BlackBerry PlayBook for both work and personal purposes by keeping business information highly secure and separate from personal information.

Out of the box, the 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet comes preloaded with the tools customers need to be productive as well as to have fun, whether in the office, at home or on the road. Thousands of apps for work and play are also available on the BlackBerry App World storefront, such as the recently launched BlackBerry Video Store for all PlayBook customers in Canada, bringing additional functionality and value to customers. The BlackBerry Video Store offers a catalog of thousands of movies and TV shows. Customers can begin watching media as soon as they start to download a file, so they won’t have to wait for the entire file to transfer before they can begin enjoying great entertainment on the tablet’s high resolution display or on an HDTV using the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s HDMI output. Canadians can download the free Video Store app on BlackBerry App World.

The 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will come with 32GB of memory storage and will be available from Bell, Rogers and TELUS in Canada on August 9, 2012. Additional variants of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet supporting various high speed cellular networks are expected to be available in the coming months from carriers in the US, Europe, South Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

For more information about the 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, please visit:http://ca.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet.html. Data plans are sold separately.(3)

(1) LTE connectivity is currently only available from a limited number of carriers in specific countries. Where LTE is not available, the 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet can automatically adjust to connect on HSPA+.

(2) As measured by the independent HTML5 test site athttp://html5test.com/results/tablet.html

(3) Check with your wireless service provider for availability, terms and conditions.

It features offline viewing, automatic syncing of your play state across various devices and platforms and more! Here’s a screenshot:

Screenshot of Amazons new app

The app is called “Amazon instant video” and is a free download, however It’s only available for iPad, perhaps later the app will get updated with iPhone/iPod Touch support.

Here are the latest release notes:

• Stream thousands of titles available from Prime Instant Video at no additional cost with a Prime membership, or watch over 120,000 videos available from the Amazon Instant Video store
• Download purchased and rented videos from Your Video Library
• Shop over 120,000 videos available from the Amazon Instant Video store by visiting Amazon
• Add videos to your Watchlist from a PC, Mac, or Kindle Fire for later viewing on your iPad
• Subscribe to a TV Season Pass by visiting Amazon and episodes will automatically be available on your iPad the day after they air
• Start watching on your iPad, and resume watching right where you left off on a Kindle Fire, PS3, PC, Mac, or hundreds of models of connected TVs and Blu-ray players with Amazon Whispersync.

Two more screenshots:

Screenshot1

Screenshot2

Now, I have a question for you guys:

Where do you get your entertainment from these days, iTunes or Amazon?

Judge Lucy Koh obviously wasn’t happy with Samsungs actions, and she had these words for them:

Judge Koh was none to pleased with the move herself, calling for an immediate meeting with Quinn.

“Tell Mr. Quinn I’d like to see him today,” Koh said. “I want to know who drafted the press release, who authorized it from the legal team.”

Samsung pleaded for this to be admitted as evidence, as it would obviously clarify the fact that Samsung hadn’t copied Apple. However, Judge Koh responded with ”Don’t make me sanction you. Please.”

I would like to stress the difference between a “proxy” based siri server and a “google” based server. i4Siri uses a google based server and this uses Google Speech API to translate the audio captured by Siri to words then i4siri’s server sends a response or action back to the device. A proxy acts as a tunnel to apple and uses apple for speech recognition and processing of the command.

Google Speech API based Siri Servers should be fine. It is hard to tell though what Apple can and can not do.

Apple sent this email out, this is only part of the email for privacy reasons.

We represent Apple Inc. (CASE ID). It has come to our attention that a website hosted by Host.com, (Website), IP: (YOUR SERVER IP) , is facilitating the distribution of “Siri Proxy’s” to its customers. The service sold by Apple on its device iPhone 4S. The “Proxy’s” are unauthorized reproductions of copyrighted material distributed by Apple, and has been published without the permission of Apple. Apple protects the applications sold on its website with digital rights management technology that effectively controls access to and copying of the applications. The publishers of this “Siri Proxy’s” have (CODE ID); that protection in violation of the anti-circumvention measures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 1201(a)(1)(A). Apple therefore requests that you take steps to immediately disable this website. Please notify me by reply e-mail once you have done so, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely

The email below is from a Siri Proxy’s host provider:

Dear Valued Customer,

You are receiving this e-mail because (YOUR HOST) has received a complaint on the specified IP address in the subject of this e-mail.

You are hereby requested to address this complaint within: 12 HOURS
Action being taken immediately by (YOUR HOST): NA
Additional notes:

Addressing this complaint includes pin-pointing the cause, and disabling the abusive behavior, or either declining this report with supportive reasoning.

The abuse complaint is to follow after this e-mail.

Regards.

Siri Proxies look to be meeting their end but will Apple take action against Google based Siri servers?

Earlier today, Joshua Hill (better known as p0sixninja: his online handle) announced that he has officially left the Chronic Dev Team:

While his reasons for straying from the group he helped elevate to the top of the Jailbreaking community are unknown, shortly after his big announcement, he clarified that he was never in it for the money:

The Chronic Dev Team however will presumably carry on as normal and continue their work on Jailbreak utilities as Apple releases new firmwares.

New York Times Co, which publishes the prestigious newspaper, said it stopped supporting its applications for BlackBerry and the Palm Pre as of Monday, meaning the apps will no longer download news stories.

“It’s a matter of usage of our apps, and we dedicate our resources where we think there’s the highest level of usage,” said New York Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy.

But Murphy said the company has not ruled out developing an app for devices that will run on RIM’s new operating system, BlackBerry 10, due out early next year.

Northern Securities analyst Sameet Kanade said he was not surprised by the move, given how much time is needed to build apps compatible with all the different BlackBerry phones.

What do you guys/gals think, will the New York Times app come when the Blackberry 10 will come out?

PatentlyApple’s report points out  that this device is actually for a wearable computer. The patent is specifically named  and made for a “Display Resolution Increase with Mechanical Actuation.”, which translate to that the patent says in detail about a technology that can increase the pixel density of a display put over someone’s eye. PatentlyApple also reports that this patent tell us that the technology can be used for “other types of display devices such as television sets, computer monitors, projection systems, and so forth.”