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HP is reportedly planning on laying off between 25,000 and 30,000 employees, according to dueling reports from Bloomberg and AllThingsD. Both reports come on the heels of a different source who told BusinessInsider that HP would lay off between 32,000 and 48,000 people.

HP Plans Layoffs
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Shares in Apple Inc. closed at almost a three month low on Thursday, ending the day at $530.12, down $15.955. That’s the lowest close since February 28th, 2012, when the stock closed at $525.76.

Three Month AAPL Chart
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Simon & Schuster has settled antitrust suits launched against by several states attorneys general. CNet reported that Judge Denise Cote, who is overseeing the case from 29 states dismissed the publisher from those suits, leaving Apple and two other major publishers accused of colluding to raise ebook prices. [Updated: The story has been updated to show that Simon & Schuster is the third company to settle with the states. - Editor]

States vs. Books
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Display News Briefs: More from Thursday May 17th, 2012

Bluetooth Sliding Keyboard Case for iPhone

The Deal Brothers found us a deal on the Bluetooth Sliding Keyboard Case for iPhone for $34.99, which is 30% retail. As the name suggests, this is a case for your iPhone that includes a built-in sliding Bluetooth keyboard.

Bluetooth Sliding Keyboard Case for iPhone

ComcastComcast Ditching Data Caps, Moving to Allotments

On Thursday, Comcast announced that it will be testing a tiered, allotment approach to Internet data and will eventually do away with the current, absolute 250 GB data cap.

Comcast
By · 1 Comment
iOS securityNew, Surprising Facts About iPhone Security

With all the emphasis Apple puts on iOS security, one would think that it’s a backburner issue. But there are interesting new developments, and John Martellaro had a chat with Juniper Networks to find out more.

iOS security
By · 3 Comments
Divoom iBase-1Satechi’s iDevice Speaker/Charger Does Double Duty Beautifully

We all know we don’t need or want that refrigerator with the built-in toaster, but the Divoom iBase-1 will charge your “i” products while it plays your music, and this double duty product has merit.

 

Satchi’s Divoom iBase-1
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Apple vs. KodakKodak Questions Apple’s Patent Claim Timing & Validity

Kodak has questioned the timing and validity of Apple’s efforts to block the sale of a key patent. In documents filed with a federal bankruptcy court, Kodak said that Apple is playing games intended to keep it from paying infringement damages, and that both the U.S. International Trade Commission and the courts have already rejected Apple’s ownership claims to some key Kodak patents.

Apple vs. Kodak
By · 1 Comment

news

 
Robbie Bach: Zune was a Mistake - 11:30 AM ET
Robbie Bach: Zune was a Mistake

Former Microsoft executive Robbie Bach was involved in the company’s failed Zune portable media player, and he thinks the project was a mistake. Instead, he’d push for a music service if he could go back in time and try again.

By · 11 Comments
China Mobile: We’re Working on Getting the iPhone

China’s largest cell service provider, China Mobile, has confirmed that it is negotiating with Apple to officially bring the iPhone to its network. The carrier already supports some 15 million iPhone users, and an official deal could bring even more iPhone owners to its network.

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Reader Discussion: Deciphering iPhone Update Rumors

Rumors surrounding the next iPhone are heating up, and some are hinting at a summer release for the next version of Apple’s combination iPod and smartphone. Today TMO readers are talking about the next iPhone and when they think it will really hit store shelves.

Forum Discussion

Time Warner, Viacom Settle iPad Streaming Dispute

A year-long legal dispute between Time Warner Cable and Viacom over streaming content to Apple’s iPad has finally been resolved with an agreement that lets the cable company’s customers legitimately watch Viacom channels such as Comedy Central And Nickelodeon on their mobile devices.

By · 1 Comment
Apple Wins Control of iPhone5.com Domain

Apple’s fight to take control of the iphone5.com domain name ended successfully with the original holder handing over control to Corporation Service Company. The Mac and iPhone maker had filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization in a effort to take the domain.

By · 1 Comment

Wednesday May 16th, 2012

Gartner Mobile Phone Unit SalesApple Claims 7.9% of Mobile Phone Market in Q1

Apple’s share of the handset market grew to 7.9 percent during the March quarter of 2012, according to new data from Gartner. That’s the company’s share of all mobile phones, and not just smartphones, and it makes Apple the third largest mobile phone maker on the planet behind Nokia and Samsung.

Gartner Mobile Phone Unit Sales
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Verizon Giveth, and Verizon Taketh AwayVerizon Eliminating Unlimited Data for Users with 4G LTE

Verizon customers who currently have a $30 per month unlimited data plan will not be able to keep that plan after they migrate to 4G LTE. Verizon plans to offer a data share plan starting mid-summer and 4G LTE customers will have to move to that plan. No pricing details have yet been released regarding the new data share plan.

Verizon Giveth, and Verizon Taketh Away
By · 6 Comments
IHS Calls Apple’s iPad 2012 Tablet Domination ‘No Contest’

Apple lost tablet market share in the 4th quarter of 2011, but that was nothing more than a speed bump, according to research firm IHS. The company issued a report on Wednesday that said Apple’s domination of the tablet market in 2012 will be “no contest,” and pinned the company’s advantage on its whole widget model. 

By · 9 Comments
QuickTime for WindowsApple Patches 17 Security Issues in QuickTime 7.7.2 for Windows

Apple released QuickTime 7.7.2 for Windows, a security update that Apple is pushing for all QuickTime 7 users on Windows. The patch addresses 17 specific issues. [Updated with the specific security issues addressed in the update.]

QuickTime for Windows
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Rumor Roundup: Apple’s New Products - 02:30 PM ET
Rumors galoreRumor Roundup: Apple’s New Products

Rumors are flying fast and furious about almost every major Apple product. Here’s a roundup of all the rumors and how good we think the rumors are.

Rumors galore
By · 12 Comments
PowerShadow i4 iPhone 4S Battery Case and Charge/Sync DockSpyder PowerShadow i4 Battery Case for iPhone 4/4S

Dave Hamilton takes a moment to review the Spyder PowerShadow i4 Battery Case and charging stand for iPhone 4/4S. 

Spyder PowerShadow i4 In Dock
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Mac Pro 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon:  $2119

The Deal Brothers noted that Apple is offering a deal on the refurbished Mac Pro 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon for $2,119—we don’t often see Mac Pro towers at this price point. This system was originally released in August of 2010, and it ships for free.

Mac Pro

Apple Asks Court to Drop Siri Lawsuits

Apple has filed a lawsuit asking a California court to dismiss a group of lawsuits seeking class action status over claims that the Siri voice recognition in the iPhone 4S doesn’t perform as advertised. According to the lawsuits, Apple intentionally misstated Siri’s capabilities in its advertising — an accusation that Apple denies.

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Judge: Apple at Heart of Ebook Price Fixing Conspiracy

U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote denied a request from Apple and ebook publishers to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing them of price fixing, and at the same time said that Apple and Steve Jobs were in the middle of the conspiracy.

By · 6 Comments
John F. Braun Looks at Mac Security on Not Another Mac Podcast

Mac Geek Gab co-host John F. Braun joined the Not Another Mac Podcast to discuss Mac security, cloud services, and more.

By · Add a Comment
Aaron Sorkin Adapting Steve Jobs Bio for Film

Aaron Sorkin will pen Sony’s movie version of the biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Mr. Sorkin is known for “Social Network” and the Oscar-nominated “Moneyball.”

By · 1 Comment
iPhone 4S: My Favorite Siri Commands - 08:35 AM ET
iPhone 4S: My Favorite Siri Commands

If you have an iPhone 4S and you don’t use Siri much, Melissa Holt is disappointed in you. So disappointed, in fact, that she’s decided to write an entire tip on her favorite uses for Apple’s friendly personal assistant. She hopes by doing so that she can convince you to start talking to your electronics in public—after all, the more people start doing that, the less insane she looks when she does. We’d call that a win-win.

By · 12 Comments

Tuesday May 15th, 2012

The iPad Crystal BallBarclays: 7-inch iPad Appears ‘More Likely’

Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes told clients on Tuesday that Apple releasing a 7” iPad “appears more likely.” In a research note obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Reitzes said that, ” recent research still leads us to believe that Apple may be planning to add another form factor to its iPad line in the 7” range for the fall.”

The iPad Crystal Ball
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Dave Hurban & his iPod nanoiDermal: Man Implant Magnets to Hold iPod Nano

So you want to wear your iPod nano like it was a wristwatch, but the idea of a fat band to hold it just really turns you off. What’s a fellow to do? If you’re Dave Hurban, you make the only logical move that you can and surgically embed four magnets into your own arm to hold that nano where it belongs, on your wrist.

Dave Hurban & his iPod nano
By · 8 Comments

deals

 
Darth Vader USB Hub:  $49.99 - 03:05 PM ET
Darth Vader USB Hub:  $49.99

The Deal Brothers found a deal on a USB hub from the Dark Side. It’s powered, but it only has four ports. Who cares?It’s Darth Vader! Oh, and it’s $49.99.

I am your father...

Corporate KarateHow to Compete Against Apple … and Win

Smart, technical people have known for a long time why their company, their executives, and their CEO can’t seem to fight a winning battle against the competition, namely Apple. It’s a dirty little secret that no one wants to admit to. John Martellaro explores the problem.

Corporate Karate
By · 3 Comments
Apple & $$Apple’s Six Best Decisions of the 21st Century

Looking back at Apple’s unprecedented financial success over the course of this century, Ted Landau asks: What were the key decisions that Apple made over the past 12 years that contributed most to its astounding ascent? What were the pivot points? He put together such a list, consisting of six items. Here they are…

Apple & $$
By · 7 Comments
Foxconn Backtracks on Apple Television Production Statement

Hon Hai Precision executives have backtracked on a report that the company is ramping up to start production on an Apple-branded television. Now company leaders are saying those reports are wrong, and that CEO Terry Gou never said Apple is building its own television sets.

By · 2 Comments
Analyst: iPhone Supplies Dipping Ahead of Fall Refresh

Apple is scaling back iPhone 4S production ahead of a fall product refresh, according to Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. That could lead to a 25 percent reduction in sales compared to the previous quarter, and come in under analyst expectations.

By · Add a Comment
Psystar DOA: Court Rejects Appeal in Apple Copyright Case

Psystar’s long running legal battle with Apple over Mac clones seems to have finally come to an end now that the U.S. Supreme Court shot down the defunct PC maker’s appeal attempt in appealing a ruling blocking it from selling PCs with OS X installed.

By · 2 Comments
Perian Shutting Down, Going Open Source

The team behind Perian is shutting down the project after six years of development and will be releasing the code for its video codec tool to the open source community. Perian has been a popular OS X add-on because it lets users play media content that isn’t natively supported through QuickTime.

By · 4 Comments

Monday May 14th, 2012

AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router & WLI-H4-D1300 wireless media bridgeAirStation Router & Bridge Offers Fast 802.11ac Speeds

Buffalo Technology announced on Monday that the AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router and WLI-H4-D1300 wireless media bridge have shipped and are available at select electronics retailers. The significance of the new 802.11ac devices is that they offer so-called gigabit Wi-Fi speeds, and when combined, can do so even if your device doesn’t otherwise support 802.11ac.

AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router & WLI-H4-D1300 wireless media bridge
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Apple's iCloudApple Reportedly Expanding iCloud with Photo Sharing, Personal Videos

Apple’s iCloud service could soon include photo sharing (not just syncing), syncing of personal videos, and new access to Reminders and Notes in an upcoming upgrade. These features are rumored to be included in iOS 6 which is expected to be announced at WWDC in mid-June.

Apple's iCloud
By · 1 Comment
Media Player BugReaders Report Media Player Bug In OS X 10.7.4

We’ve received reports from readers who are experiencing a bug in the recently released OS X 10.7.4. The bug manifests in the media player displayed with some media attachments in Mail. When it occurs, the right side of the media player us cut off, and the play head can disappear off the edge.

Media Player Bug
By · 1 Comment
Oops!Kaspersky: Apple Didn’t Really Ask Us for Help

Security firm Kaspersky issued a statement on Monday saying that comments claiming that Apple had asked the firm for security help were taken out of context. It would appear, however, that Kaspersky overstated the situation, and that Nikolay Grebennikov, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, misspoke, and that the clarification is really a correction.

Oops!
By · 5 Comments
MGG 397: Geeks Have The Beans … And They Spill Them

Have Mac or iOS questions or problems that you just can’t figure out? Mac Geek Gab has your answers. Submit your questions to Dave & John and they’ll dig in and get you your answer. Want to know how to safely move your iTunes library? Need to find duplicate files on your hard drives? Is Gmail’s “All Mail” folder confusing your Mac’s Mail.app? Listeners just like you wrote in with these questions this week and they got answers. You can hear the answers, too — it’s free! Just press play, or even download and queue up for your next commute. What are you waiting for?

By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) · Add a Comment
Flashback IllustrationApple Releases Flashback Removal, Security Update for Leopard

Apple released Flashback Removal Security Update for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard on Monday. The software will search for and remove most variations of the Flashback malware in circulation on Macs running Leopard. Apple also released Leopard Security Update 2012-003, software that merely disables out of date versions of Adobe Flash.

Flashback Illustration
By · 5 Comments

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