MacRumors links to a video showing a reported new iPhone front panel being measured and compared to one from the iPhone 4s. If this isn't a real component, Apple has done a masterful job of misdirecting the rumor press. There's sure a lot of smoke coming from this design. I guess we'll find out in several short weeks if there's fire.
In what can only be described as a disaster for Microsoft, the company has decided to drop the very nice "Metro" name for the design of their new operating system for the oh so catchy "Windows 8-style UI" name. Peter Bright has the details over at Ars technica.
The gist of the story seems to be that Microsoft legal is fearful of infringing on Metro trademarks of a German company, Metro AG. Microsoft is making a huge error. The Windows brand is tarnished already, and many people, myself included, think it should have been dropped and replaced by Metro. Instead, the Windows name will be as prominent as ever on what are essentially ground up OS redesigns.
But what choice did they have, you might ask? I seem to remember a time a little more than 5 years ago when Apple chose to launch the iPhone despite the trademark being owned by Cisco. Steve Jobs realized the importance of branding and his solution to the problem was to launch and then deal with the consequences later.
What good is it to be a company as large and rich as Microsoft if you're not willing to throw around a little of that cash in a behind the scenes deal to license a brand you've already presented to the public? Someone in Redmond needs to wake up and fight for their company's future.
Hat tip to Daring Fireball.
Ben Brown has floated some very interesting thoughts on the current password problem faced by most users. It turns out many people never remember the password to the various websites they access. Many simply use the password recovery option each time they visit. Ben takes the time to lay out an option that would eliminate the need for passwords.
As a geek, I'd like the option to continue using passwords because I'm addicted to 1Password. But I think this idea has a lot of merit for the 99% of users who've never even heard of 1Password and use lousy passwords.
Hat tip to Marco.
Following on the heals of yesterday's confirmation of a September Apple event, Horace Dediu has a post up today laying out his estimate for iOS device shipments in the coming two quarters. It's going to be huge. For people not following the Apple story closely, and I don't mean the daily quibbles with the design asthetics of of fake leather on an iOS app, the earnings report in January 2013 is going to be a major shock.
Following on the heals of yesterday's confirmation of a September Apple event, Horace Dediu has a post up today laying out his estimate for iOS device shipments in the coming two quarters. It's going to be huge. For people not following the Apple story closely, and I don't mean the daily quibbles with the design asthetics of fake leather on an iOS app, the earnings report in January 2013 is going to be a major shock.
iMore has a very impressive track record over the last year when it comes to predicting Apple events and product launches. The reason is pretty simple. They wait till they have solid information and stay away from the daily chatter. If that record stays true, Apple will be holding a special event on September 12, followed by a new iPhone release on September 21st. You can read about the details in a story posted early this morning.
Late in the day, Jim Dalrymple had this to say over at the Loop. That 'Yep' is like the sweetest music in the world to this Apple follower.
If the photos in this iMore story are to be believed, I like the design of the next iPhone very much. The big question is if the design is real or an elaborate misdirection play by Apple? We all remember the tear-drop shaped iPhone from last year after all.
Apple discussed investing in Twitter. Past tense. Thanks Wall Street Journal for setting the New York Times straight.
According to this Reuters report, Apple has made a bid to acquire a company that designs fingerprint sensor technology. I'd say there's no doubt Apple has big plans to leverage all those credit cards they've stored up over the years.
The launch of the Passbook app with the release of iOS 6 in the fall will be the first step. I'd expect the implementation of NFC and this kind of verification technology to follow in subsequent hardware releases. Most likely in 2013 or 2014.
The day after Apple released OS X 10.8 exclusively on the Mac App Store, Marco Arment has penned a very interesting post calling into question the long range prospects of the store. While I don't believe the present or future is quite as dire as Marco paints it, there are fundamental problems brewing that I hope Apple is pondering how to address.