longofest

As rumored, Apple has announced MobileMe, described by Apple Vice President for product marketing Phil Schiller as "Exchange for the rest of us." Not all of us work in an enterprise... Not all of us have access to an exchange server. Now with MobileMe, we all can have access to those features. [...] MobileMe is Exchange for the rest of us. --Phil Schiller Features - Push Email, calendar, and ...

After the Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote today, Apple previewed OS 10.6 "Snow Leopard." True to rumors, the release will focus on performance rather than new features. We have delivered more than a thousand new features to OS X in just seven years and Snow Leopard lays the foundation for thousands more, said Bertrand Serlet, Apples senior vice president of Software Engineering. In our...

After months of anticipation, the heavily rumored 3G iPhone was announced today during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote. "Just one year after launching the iPhone, were launching the new iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price," said Steve Jobs, Apples CEO. "iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps...

Contrary to claims that Mac OS 10.6 "Snow Leopard" will drop PowerPC support, Gizmodo has heard that PowerPC support may indeed be living on. The source, who claimed to get a hold of the 10.6 seed, indicated that work has been done on PowerPC drivers which indicates to them that support for the architecture is unlikely to be dropped this time around. While this rumor may inspire a bit of...

Google has announced the availability of Google Maps for mobile version 2.2. The software, a version of which runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch, includes integration with public transportation systems for retrieving directions using public transit. A video demonstration is available: Version 2.2 is available for BlackBerry and other Java-enabled phones, however Google says they're...

The WebKit project announced this week a new and improved JavaScript interpreter, code-named SquirrelFish. SquirrelFish promises 1.6 times faster JavaScript performance as compared to Webkit/Safari 3.1. This is accomplished by using "a register-based, direct-threaded, high-level bytecode engine" which aims to eliminate the overhead associated with traditional syntax tree walking interpreters...

The US Patent and Trademark Office has recently published an extensive patent application, seemingly for features related to the 3G iPhone and software version 2.0, both now expected to be released next Monday. The device supports a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instant messaging...

MacRumors member crees! has found a reference to Mac OS 10.6 in the 6th iPhone SDK installer. While not earth-shattering, this would seem to indicate that Apple does plan to continue using the Mac OS 10.x numbering scheme for its next...

Apple has applied for yet another patent for a Wii-like controller device, this time for a remote control that can distinguish infrared light sources. Via hrmph: The present invention can include remote control systems that can distinguish predetermined light sources from stray or unintended light sources, such as environmental light sources and/or reflections. Earlier this month another patent...

French website PCInpact reports that Orange, Apple's official carrier of the iPhone in France, has been contacting existing customers with upgrade offers for the rumored 3G iPhone. The first solution is a direct swap where owners can trade in their existing iPhone and get the second gen version for 50 euros. The other option for those who would to keep their current iPhone, but also want the...

Apple has released Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.1. This update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto 08 for the following cameras: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/Kiss Digital x2/450D Epson R-D1 Leaf AFi 7 Leaf AFi 6 Leaf AFi 5 Pentax K200D Pentax K20D...

Samsung today announced the L870 Symbian-based phone. Interestingly, spec sheets obtained by phoneArena.com (via Engadget) specify that the phone uses the Safari web browser. The default web browser of the S60 platform is indeed a WebKit-based browser developed by Nokia. The "Safari" designation, however, would seem to indicate some cooperation with Apple, as Safari is an Apple-registered...

Apple is reportedly using the technology behind HWPen to build its Chinese character recognition, according to a report from iPhone Atlas. HWPen (western character mode) and Apple's beta implementation of Chinese input Apple's betas have shown Chinese character input as well as Japanese character input. The general assumption has previously been that Apple has been developing the...

Check Point has released a version of Check Point Full Disk Encryption for the Mac (via MacDailyNews). With the release, Check Point is the industrys first full-disk encryption solution with pre-boot authentication to support the Mac OS. "Enterprises and organizations have to secure 100 percent of their laptops and desktops to be fully protected," said Bob Egner vice president of product...

Apple's hotly anticipated 3G iPhone may be en route to the US according to analysis by ImportGenius.com. Since mid-March, Apple Inc. and its logistics partners have imported 188 ocean containers of a product type never before declared on its shipping manifests. [...] On March 19 Quanta delivered 20 ocean containers of merchandise, described on the Bills of Lading as "electric computers," to Apple, ...

T-Mobile CEO Hamid Akhavan expects to continue to exclusively offer the iPhone in Germany when the 3G iPhone is rolled out, according to Reuters. "We have a very good relationship with Apple...at least in Germany it is exclusive, and we expect it to remain as such," Akhavan told the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in Paris. "If and when there is a 3G iPhone we expect to have it...

While users wait for Apple to implement a full desktop version of Multitouch for Mac OS X, some enterprising users have begun development of a 3rd party framework for full screen multitouch interaction. Lux, a 3rd party framework developed by Christian Moore, provides "true multitouch interaction" in Mac OS X and other operating systems. Developed using Flash and C++ (flash for rapid...

In March we reported that Intel's upcoming Core 2 Extreme QX9300 was scheduled for quarter 3 of this year. The chip promised to be the first mobile quad-core chip available, however the expected 45W power requirements was going to limit the chip's adoption. The Inquirer is now reporting that the chip may actually come in at 35W, which would be much more palatable for mobile use. Apple has...

AT&T's 3G network beat out Verizon and Sprint's competing networks in testing done by ComputerWorld. To gauge the speed and reliability of these three wireless data networks, I used my ThinkPad X300 to collect nearly 500 data points at eight different places in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, within a 50-mile radius of midtown Manhattan's urban canyons. I timed how long it took to...

The Mac web has been flooded today with news stories from prominent blog publications regarding updated MacBook Pros. The problem is that Apple did not in fact update the MacBook Pro today. Today's MacBook Pros are the same as the ones released February 26th, 2008. Note: Not all outside links above may work, as the stories have been pulled in most cases....