Feb 25, 2012
Apple’s intent was to block advertising-related tracking. The language in Safari’s preferences menu, Apple’s promotional materials, and developer discussions all indicate that advertising-related tracking was a central motivation for the cookie blocking feature.
Apple’s purpose was not messing with Google. The default cookie blocking feature that Google circumvented was implemented in Safari 1.0, which shipped in 2003—long before Google was in the third-party display advertising business, and long before relations between the companies soured over smartphones. Furthermore, Safari has repeatedly been a pioneer in browser privacy. Safari 1.0 included a simple “privacy reset” choice for clearing browser settings; the other major browsers followed with similar features. Safari 2.0, released in 2005, was the first browser to provide a “private browsing” mode; again, all the other major browsers followed.
Feb 24, 2012
Tim Cook met with shareholders for the first time following the passing of Apple’s cofounder and former chief executive Steve Jobs, revealing his own very distinct personality but also strong commonality with Jobs’ wit, passion and analytical focus.
Following an introductory vote on seven issues before shareholders, Cook took the stage as Apple’s chief executive and addressed the audience noting the loss he and the rest of Apple felt, saying, “not a day goes by that I don’t miss him.”
Cook acknowledged the condolences expressed by many in attendance, and said he is determined to “continue the journey” Jobs had been leading, as “that’s what he’d want.”
Steve Jobs was born Feb. 24, 1955.
Feb 23, 2012
Our sources say that Chomp CEO Ben Keighran and CTO Cathy Edwards are already at work at Apple. Keighran has joined the iTunes Marketing team and Edwards is now a Senior iTunes Engineer.
Feb 17, 2012
Factor in a slight but annoying lag stemming from wireless networking and real-time video compression/decompression and you are unlikely to use AirPlay Mirroring to beam fast-paced action games from your Mac to your television. Now, Apple introduced new streaming APIs in the Core Graphics framework to help AirPlay Mirroring, and they make it easier to capture updates to the display in a real-time. These new APIs also provide for scaling and color space conversion services and they support viewing and modifying metadata for popular image formats.
The iPhone is great in many ways, but perhaps one of the best cases is in a medical emergency. KVAL reported a 57-year-old Oregon man was suffering from a diabetic reaction while driving down a local highway. (Video link here.)
When two medical responders came to the scene and tried to assist the man, they ran into quite a language barrier. The man only spoke Chinese, but luckily, one of the responders knew to reach for his iPhone. He fired up Google Translate and was able to speak Chinese with the man to figure out his condition and give him the help he needed.
Feb 15, 2012
Earlier this month, Jonathan Golub, the chief U.S. equity strategy at UBS AG, caused a stir among his clients by publishing two versions of his regular quarterly earnings update: one for the companies that make up the S&P 500, and another for what he calls “S&P 500 ex-Apple.”
This could put the sudden dip today in perspective.
Apple on Wednesday announced a future update to iOS will restrict App Store software from accessing a user’s address book without their permission.
Videos, Keynotes, speeches, and interviews.
Feb 13, 2012
The U.S. Department of Justice approved on Monday several patent purchases and acquisitions, including a collection of Nortel’s intellectual property to be acquired by Apple, Microsoft, Research in Motion and others and Novell patents that Apple has purchased.
Feb 8, 2012
A person has a song on her computer hard drive. She clicks on the song and plays it. No one is getting paid,” Price wrote. “The same person pays iTunes $25 for iMatch. She now clicks on the same song and plays it through her iMatch service. Copyright holders get paid.
