Once the burglar, Kariem McFarlin, was apprehended by the authorities, the stolen merchandise was tracked down and Mr. Kahn, previously unaware of the iPad’s origins, gave the device to the police. “It would be like getting a football from Joe Montana that was stolen out of his house,” Mr. Kahn said. “It’s bizarre; it’s really…
Jim Tanous
Articles by Jim Tanous
Tim, We Need to Talk About John Browett
The Mac Observer checked with sources in United States and found that, at least in the markets that were surveyed, there were no serious disruptions. However, reports kept coming in from the United Kingdom and MacRumors continued to receive tips about U.S. and Canadian stores that were experiencing unusual workforce reductions. Cut to Thursday morning…
Browett: Apple Retail Layoffs Due to “Mess Up,” Will Be Fixed
Now Apple’s new retail chief, John Browett, has told company leaders that the staffing changes were the result of a “mess up” caused by a temporary trial of a new staffing formula, according to Down Jones Newswires. Mr. Browett communicated his clarification to Apple Retail leadership and instructed them to inform their employees that the…
Apple Calls DOJ eBook Settlement “Unlawful & Unprecedented”
Apple and five book publishers were sued by the DOJ in April for allegedly conspiring to increase the price of eBooks and remove Amazon’s ability to offer books at a lower price by prohibiting books offered by Apple’s iBookstore from being sold for less anywhere else. Apple and the publishers deny any collective agreement and…
Third Party Apps Missing from iTunes Search for “Podcasts”
Users who search for “podcast” or “podcasts” within iTunes receive only one app result, Apple’s official podcast application, launched in June. Selecting “See All” or otherwise trying to find any of the excellent third-party options, such as Instacast, fails to reveal additional results.The results when a user searches for “podcast” or “podcasts” in the iTunes…
Microsoft’s iPad Rival Surface Tablet to Launch in Oct. at $199
Theories on price ranged from around $500 all the way to $1000. While Microsoft still has yet to announce the official price, Engadget reports that the Redmond company is getting ready to launch the ARM-based Surface tablet on October 26 for a surprisingly low price of $199. At a sub-$200 price, the Surface would line…
Rabbis Call on Apple to Remove Anti-Semitic App from App Store
A European rabbinical group is protesting an anti-Semitic text distributed as an app on Apple’s App Store and calling for its removal, according to The Jewish Press. The app, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” is a forged work from 1903 that describes a supposed Jewish plot to take over the world. The Brussels-based…
iPad mini to Resemble Larger iPod touch Rather than Smaller iPad
The rumored ‘iPad mini’ may look more like a larger iPod touch than a smaller iPad, according to a growing consensus powered by third party case leaks and schematics. In contrast with the iPad, which maintains a roughly uniformly wide bezel around the entire screen, the iPad mini may have a relatively thin bezel on…
Steve Jobs’s Family Home Burglarized, Suspect in Custody
Authorities arrested Kariem McFarlin, 35, on August 2 in connection with the crime. He was arraigned five days later on one count of residential burglary and selling stolen property. Mr. McFarlin, if convicted, would face a maximum prison sentence of seven years eight months, which is a year longer than normal due to his “excessive…
Apple Releases (PRODUCT) RED Charity Bumper for iPhone 4 & 4S
The PRODUCT (RED) campaign, founded in 2006 by musician and activist Bono, partners with various retailers to offer special edition products from which a percentage of revenue is directed for charitable purposes. Aside from Apple, participating companies include Nike, Starbucks, Beats Electronics, Gap, and Hallmark, among others. Participating companies pay the organization a licensing fee…
How to Wipe a Mac Remotely with iCloud (and Get the Data Back)
After Mr. Honan indicated that his data, which was unfortunately not backed up, was likely lost for good, it got us wondering about what exactly happens when a remote wipe is triggered via iCloud. How does the process work? Does it wipe all drives connected to the Mac or just the system drive? Is the…
New Site Helps Users Find Apps for Retina Display MacBook Pro
Improvements will come as more developers make their apps “Retina-ready,” but part of the cost of early adoption is waiting for third parties to catch up. New Retina Display MacBook Pro owners therefore eagerly await Retina updates to their favorite applications. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a central listing of apps that were…
More Internal Samsung Docs Show Love, Desire to Copy iOS
New internal Samsung documents that indicate the Korean company based its device hardware and software on Apple designs were made public Friday as part of the patent litigation between the two mobile device giants. The latest documents come just three days after Apple successfully admitted another set of internal Samsung documents supporting the same claim.…
Samsung’s Attorney Caught Without License to Practice v. Apple
One of the U.S. attorneys representing Samsung in its California patent litigation with Apple was not admitted to practice law in the court’s jurisdiction, Samsung and the attorney admitted Thursday. Susan Estrich, a law professor and legal commentator for Fox News, recently represented Samsung in a motion concerning the deletion of relevant emails by both…
Publishers & Authors Begin Editing Opinions on eBook DRM
Merging the growing trend of Mac software bundles popularized by sites such as MacHeist and MacUpdate and the “pay what you want” mentality of sites such as the The Humble Music Bundle, a new promotion called StoryBundle offers to give readers an opportunity to purchase several well-reviewed DRM-free eBooks for as little as $1. The…
iOS Q2 Market Share Slips Amidst Competing Metrics
The Android and iOS mobile operating systems combined to power 85 percent of all smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2012, according a new report published by research firm IDC Wednesday. The total represents a new high for the two dominant mobile platforms together, but shows a rare iOS market share decrease despite an…
RIM Stock Jumps on Samsung Takeover Rumors
Reviving rumors from earlier this year, Research in Motion [RIMM] is up over 10 percent in early trading on rumors that mobile giant Samsung is interested in acquiring the beleaguered device maker. Today’s rumors follow a Barron’s report Tuesday that the future of RIM remained bleak and that a partnership or acquisition was necessary to…
Taiwan Man Sues Apple in China Over FaceTime Patent
A Taiwanese man has filed suit against Apple in China, alleging that the Cupertino company’s FaceTime video calling service infringes on his patent, according to Chinese site QQ Tech and translated by M.I.C. Gadget. The Intermediate People’s Court in Zhenjiang will hear the case but, thus far, Apple has failed to respond to the Court’s…
How to Avoid a Mat Honan Style Mac & iCloud Hack
Wired Journalist Mat Honan (via Wired) UPDATE: For those interested, we’ve done some investigation into what exactly happens during a remote wipe of a Mac via iCloud. You can read our findings here. By now, the news of Wired journalist Mat Honan’s “Epic Hacking” has hit the mainstream news. Late last week, in a matter of minutes,…
Leaked Images Claim to Show Nano-SIM Debut in Next iPhone
The next generation iPhone may use the new nano-SIM standard, according to supposedly leaked images obtained by French tech site Nowhereelese [Google translation]. The new SIM card, developed by Apple and approved in Europe in June, is even smaller than the micro-SIM used by Apple since the iPhone 4 and will allow more space inside…
Wozniak: Cloud Computing Will Cause “Horrible Problems”
Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak (via AFP) Cloud-based computing will experience “horrible problems” in the coming years, according to comments made Saturday by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Issues surrounding security and content ownership will create a “horrendous” atmosphere for users over the next five years, the tech icon predicted. Mr. Wozniak made his comments following a…
Apple Reportedly Seeking to Buy Social Shopping Site “The Fancy”
Apple is reportedly in talks to acquire The Fancy, a social e-commerce site in the style of Pinterest, according to information obtained Saturday by Business Insider. With the acquisition, Apple allegedly hopes to grab a slice of the growing e-commerce market, expanding the choices for the company’s 400 million iTunes customers from digital media to…
Specs Claim to Show 2012 13” MacBook Pro Sans Retina Display
The image, which appears to be from the product box of the unreleased MacBook Pro, was supposedly provided to the poster by a “friend inside Apple.” The layout matches the design and style of Apple’s on-box technical specifications, but could also easily have been fabricated. Another difference between the claimed 2012 iteration of the 13-inch…
TMO Workspaces: Bryan Chaffin
This week, we’re taking a look at The Mac Observer’s Co-Founder and Co-Publisher, Bryan Chaffin.All of Bryan’s articles, analyses, and creative endeavors take form on his primary workstation, a 2008 8-core Mac Pro running at 2.8GHz with 18GB RAM and an upgraded Radeon HD 5770 GPU. Two displays are connected to the Mac: a 27-inch…
