Edible Apple

Apple has compiled a list of the most popular applications available from the iTunes store for 2008.  I suppose there’s no need to specify the year as the app store has only been around since 2008.

The top 10 paid apps include, in no particular order, Koi Pond, Texas Hold’em, Super Monkey Ball, Enigmo, iBeer, Cro-Mag Rally, and Crash Bandicoot.

The top 10 free apps include, in no particular order, Pandora, Facebook, Tap Tap Revenge, Shazam, Google Earth, and Urban Spoon.

For a more specific breakdown of popular applications, check out iTunes over here.

Related: The iTunes App Store is Thriving

It was inevitable.  The Macworld rumor mill has started churning, and MacBlogz leads things off with reports from an anonymous tipster that Apple will unveil 32 GB iPhones at Macworld 2009.

Since Apple confirmed that no new products would be shipping before the holiday season, nearly everything can be rumored in regards to Macworld 2009. An anonymous tip MacBlogz received back on November 3rd claimed to know information regarding a 32GB iPhone. “That rumored red iPhone… It’s not happening. The only iPhone news I know for certain is that it’s getting bumped to 32GB in January,” the tipster explained. More 32GB iPhone and Verizon iPhone info can be found here, and here.

The ongoing legal saga between Mark Papermaster and I.B.M has been put on the fast track, and trial has been scheduled for February 2009.  Papermaster, a server expert and chip guru, initially left I.B.M to work for Apple before he was sued for violating a non-compete agreement in his contract. I.B.M. asserted that Apple and I.B.M are competitors and that the trade secrets Papermaster acquired as a high level employee at I.B.M would necessarily come into play in his role as head of Apple’s iPod and iPhone division.  The court agreed and issued a preliminary injunction preventing Papermaster from starting his new position at Apple.

“Because Mr. Papermaster has been inculcated with some of IBM’s most sensitive and closely guarded technical and strategic secrets, it is no great leap for the Court to find that Plaintiff has met its burden of showing a likelihood of irreparable harm…

It is likely that Mr. Papermaster inevitably will draw upon his experience and expertise in microprocessors and the ‘Power’ architecture, which he gained from his many years at IBM, and which Apple found so impressive, to make sure that the iPod and iPhone are fitted with the best possible microprocessor technology and at a lower cost.”

The court, however, was also cognizant of the fact that Papermaster was unable to work anywhere as litigation loomed, and noted that the proceedings would be sped up as much as possible.

In a filing dated November 25, 2008, Judge Kenneth M. Karas issued the following schedule for the parties which included the following:

• All fact discovery shall be completed by both parties by January 28, 2009.
• A list of all potential witnesses for trial must also be completed by January 28.
• All expert discovery shall be completed by February 13, while all trial exhibits must be exchanged by February 16.
• A final pre-trial conference is scheduled for February 23, 2009, and trial is scheduled to commence no earlier February 24, 2009.

IBM fears that Papermaster, should he work for Apple, would disclose proprietary information about IBM’s processors and server technology, helping them to develop rival products. Apple, though, states that Papermaster will lead Apple’s iPod and iPhone engineering team, and Papermaster himself noted that his new position at Apple involves “entirely different technology from what he managed at I.B.M.” He also noted that he was hired by Apple primarily for his managerial skills than for his technological expertise.

Check out this trailer from the upcoming documentary “Welcome to Macintosh” which chronicles the history and devoted following of Apple.

The film has won numerous film festival awards, and is now available for pre-order over here for only $19.84. How cheeky.  The film doesn’t have any interviews with Woz or Jobs, but contains interviews with a number of other influential figures (such as Andy Hertzfel) who were an instrumental part of Apple’s early success and who helped it become the company that it is today.

It’s almost been 3 months since Steve Jobs first unveiled a new model of high-end Apple headphones at Apple’s “Let’s Rock” event back in September.  The headphones, however, remain conspicuously absent from store shelves.  What gives?  Well, MacBlogz is reporting that a re-design of the product is to blame for the shipment delay.

One trusted source says Steve Jobs mandated that, in Apple style, “the new headphones should beat the sound and build quality of all other high end ear buds.”  This high standard was not met and Apple engineers have had to revise the design. Apple’s overseas contractors, then had to retool their manufacturing process - moving the manufacturing lead time past November.  Apple has been known to completely redevelop products the company deems not up to par, even near the ship date. They would rather move the shipping date back and rework the design rather than bring a sub-par product to market.

It will be interesting to see just how well these new headphones take to the market once released.  Apple always likes to hype up how great their headphones are, yet they continuously get subpar reviews from hardcore audiophiles.  Then again, hardcore audiophiles aren’t necessarily the market Apple is going for.  In any event, if the above rumor proves to be true, it will be interesting to see how Apple will be able to compete with already established and popular headphones from leading manufacturers such as Bose and Sony.  If you ask an audiophile, Apple has nowhere to go but up.

Check out the full article over here.

Check out the MacBook, which made a brief appearance in Disney’s latest movie, Bolt.

Related: The Significance Of Apple Product Placement

Via CultofMac

ArsTechnica has an interesting ‘first impressions’ review of Apple’s 24-inch LED Cinema display over here and AppleInsider has high quality unboxing photos of Apple’s newest cinema display over here.

Electronista reports that Mac webshare hit 8.9% last month, while Firefox saw its share of the browser market top 20% for the first time in history.  Internet Explorer’s share of the browser market dipped below 70%, a significant fall considering that at one point it had over 95% of the market.  Internet Explorer has increasingly been losing marketshare to Firefox and Apple’s Safari, and with Google’s Chrome now in the mix, Microsoft’s next iteration of Internet Explorer better be something worthwhile or it risks losing even more marketshare.  The latest version of Internet Explorer is IE7 which was released in 2006.  IE8, which is currently in Beta and should be released sometime in 2009, will reportedly be more compliant with web standards.

The Register has an interesting article discussing how the success of Apple’s suite of video and editing software, and specifically Final Cut Pro, is rendering certain jobs obsolete.

As the cost of video-editing equipment has come down and the capabilities of commodity server-based software, such as Apple’s Final Cut Pro, have increased layers of complex older technology, with machines costing hundreds of thousands, even millions of pounds, being rendered redundant. The people in the industry whose work and skills are based on this equipment face job destruction. They might as well be working in analogue camera film developing and printing. Just as digitisation swept away those jobs and trades so the same is happening in video production and editing.

With software like Final Cut, the video editing server is becoming the single window through which video editors do their work, using plug-ins to Final Cut such as Motion, where necessary. When constructing a video obituary of a rock star they don’t want to have to send a runner to a tape vault somewhere. It takes too long, it’s uncertain what they’ll find and the tapes may not actually be properly readable when brought back to the editing suite.

AppleInsider reports that Apple sales this Black Friday weekend went well despite less than ideal economic conditions.

“Crowds remain the norm in the Apple Stores that we visited, with some having lines outside the stores even after the initial early-morning rush,” Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey wrote in a report summarizing his firm’s observations on Friday. “Checkout lines also seemed healthy throughout the day and Apple continues to take advantage of its ‘instant checkout’ throughout its Stores to speed purchases for Macs and iPods.”
 
…Over at Kaufman Bros., analyst Shaw Wu had similar observations about Mac sales during Black Friday, which he believes were helped by big discounts from third-party retailers and unadvertised price matching by Apple. In a note to clients Monday morning, he also pointed to strong iPod sales, noting that traditionally well-stocked Amazon.com is reflecting backlog of several iPods, including the iPod touch.

“iPod touch was surprisingly stocked out and now has lead times of 11 days for the 8 GB model and three to five weeks for 16 GB,” he wrote. “This is likely due to unexpected strong demand and we find this interesting as iPod touch is Apple’s highest-end iPod.”
 

“Your heart is blacker than your turtleneck!” Check out this great piece of Apple-related satire from tonight’s episode of The Simpsons.

An interesting look back.

Via iPhoneSavior via MyAppleSpace