News

Netflix uses the H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC) compression algorithm for content up to and including 1080p video. Years ago, when they adopted this algorithm, Netflix developed what's called a bitrate ladder. That is, for a given video resolution, they selected bitrates best, on average, for the video stream. This was independent of the kind of…

Nathan Donato-Weinstein reported that the space was last used by Maxim Integrated Products, a semiconductor firm that also sold the property to Apple. The significance there is that the building has clean room facilities, though it's far too small to significantly contribute to Apple's voracious chip needs. Marketing materials for the site described the space…

New York wants to know if your broadband is too slow The state is using a broadband performance test website, according to Reuters, that lets users check their Internet speed. Mr. Schneiderman wants users to snap a screenshot of the test results and complete an online for so he can use the data as part…

Steve Jobs Mural by Banksy Photo credit: Banksy's website Mr. Jobs, the biological son of a Syrian immigrant, is featured in the mural with a Mac in one hand and a bag of possessions over his other shoulder. The Jungle is where many Syrians and other refugees have gathered as they try to illegally reach…

iPhone 6s Smart Case “As you probably know from being a user of this now, one of the real insights here is, have you ever used other cases and tried to get them on? If you make this solid all the way across, in order to get it on, you'd find it very difficult to…

Episode #154   My friend Lesa Snider is a talented photographer and author, which is why I keep copies of Photoshop: The Missing Manual and Photos for Mac and iOS: The Missing Manual within reach whenever I’m using Photoshop or Photos. Lesa’s concise step-by-step instructions and crystalline prose makes them my go-to books when it…

Apple's “Not much has changed” ad. The article that got me thinking about all this is my showcase article of the week by Myles Udland. “The #hashtag is a false idol.” Amongst the many things the essay addresses is the modern futility of thinking that social media can further the goals of a corporation. Mr.…

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is cranky about the how his successor is handling some aspects of the business. During Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, Mr. Ballmer was critical of the company's accounting methods for his cloud and hardware businesses, as well as current CEO Satya Nadella's plan to bring more apps to Windows Phone.…

The Department of Justice took Apple to court over accusations that the iPhone and iPad maker engaged in an anticompetitive conspiracy with book publishers ahead of the original iPad launch to drive up ebook prices. At the time, Apple was trying to get deals in place for its iBookstore, and publishers were trying to stop…

Apple CEO Tim Cook Mr. Cook and the other recipients will be honored during the 2015 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala, a charity event to raise money for the Center. Tickets for that event are available now and start at US$1,500. A quarter million dollars will get you two seats at…

I'm pleased to welcome this week's sponsor, Digiarty, makers of MacX DVD Ripper Pro back here to TMO. Having a simple, DVD-ripping solution is vital as we all move to consuming our content on iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs. MacX DVD Ripper Pro makes this easy with a single app solution that you can download…

Oops! Dell's PCs are open to phishing attacks. Security blogger Hanno Böck said Dell included a root certificate called eDellRoot Certificate and corresponding private key on its computers, effectively giving attackers everything they need to craft their own valid certificates for webpages. He said, Laptops from the company come with a preinstalled root certificate that…

Many years ago, when I bought my first Mac, it was accompanied by a beautiful manual that gave me color instructions for how to hook it up, turn it on, and run the software included in the box. The documentation that came with that Mac and many Apple devices that followed set the bar for…

Opening up an Apple Pencil may be ugly, but what's inside is pretty cool Apple Pencil is the companion stylus for the iPad Pro. It's pressure and angle sensitive, and charges in minutes. What it doesn't have is a replaceable battery, or any way to repair damaged components. iFixit had to slice open Apple Pencil's…

Governments and intelligence agencies charged with protecting us are already on edge because of encryption built into iOS, Android, and even individual chat apps, and it's a sure thing that some of those governments will use the Paris attacks to push legislation mandating back doors into encryption systems or simply outlawing encrypted communications entirely. That…

Verizon gets Wi-Fi calling waiver from FCC Carriers are supposed to file for an FCC waiver allowing Wi-Fi calling because the feature doesn't reliably support TTY systems for hearing impaired calls. T-Mobile and Sprint have offered Wi-Fi calling support for months because they never filed for the waiver, while AT&T only recently got on board…

Apple is open.” It was a standalone sentence in a long email from Apple CEO Tim Cook to his employees in the wake of a racial profiling incident at an Apple Store in Australia. That email reiterated a philosophy Mr. Cook has stated many times, that Apple is a company open to everyone, “regardless of…

First, the incident itself, which was captured on video, posted to Facebook, and then to YouTube:

Apple CEO Tim Cook Interviewed by RTE News Apple has increased its headcount in Cork from 4,000 to 5,000 employees in just the last 12 months, according to Mr. Cook. Over the next 18 months, Apple plans to add another 1,000 people. Mr. Cook said that roughly a quarter of Apple's European staff are based…

Uh oh! More malware found on the App Store! InstaAgent, or more properly Who Viewed Your Profile-InstaAgent, was download more than 500,000 times by people who presumably wanted to know who was looking at their Instagram profile. Instagram is a social networking service owned by Facebook that lets users post photos for others to view.…

Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs Data from Box Office Mojo showed the weekend gross for Steve Jobs was US$823,000, and that so far it has brought in only $16,684,073—a far cry from its $30 million budget. Mr. Sorkin's script was very loosely—more like inspired—by Walter Isaacson's official biography of Mr. Jobs. That, it turns out,…

Court shoots down Apple employee bag check class action lawsuit The class action lawsuit claimed checking their personal bags was demeaning and embarrassing, and that they should've been paid for the time managers spent looking through their belongings needed to be compensated instead of off the clock. Judge Alsup disagreed saying employees weren't required to…

Amazon Books in Seattle's University Village Source: Amazon If you're not familiar with Seattle, but University Village rings a bell, that could be because it boasts an Apple Store, which then led to Microsoft opening up one of its retail stores across the street. I'll get into Apple-envy later in the piece, but the first…

GTAT equipment auction will settle its score with Apple GTAT struck a deal to make synthetic sapphire glass for iPhones, but failed to produce the quantity or quality Apple needed. Apple fronted $578 million to help the company ramp up its sapphire production and transition from being an equipment maker into a glass supplier, and…