Author Archive | Ed Oswald

A Layman’s Guide to Apple’s WWDC

Posted by Ed Oswald on June 1, 2009 at 1:02 pm

macmondayMany had hoped that Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference would signal the triumphant return of Steve Jobs. It looks like that may not be happening, but there looks to be plenty of other possible outcomes for what we might see at Apple’s yearly developer confab.

Traditionally this has been a developer event, thus any announcements we see here usually are non-consumer. If its not consumer news, what should you expect? Announcements on Mac OS X, new computer systems, new development tools.

At WWDC 2009 it may be slightly different, but only because of the way Apple’s refresh cycle is falling combined with products it already had in the pipe that are ready for prime time. Below, I’ve listed what I think is the Most Likely, Likely, and Not Likely as a guide for those of us Apple fans who may not have the time (or will) to track every Apple rumor that comes across the wires. My thoughts are below the fold.

Before I forget: be sure to participate in our WWDC Prediction Challenge for a chance to win a $100 Apple gift certificate!

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Twitter Not A Big Hit Among Young Adults

Posted by Ed Oswald on June 1, 2009 at 11:11 am

TwitterWhile the 18-24 year old demographic is almost entirely on one social network or another according to a study by the Participatory Media Network — 99 percent to be exact — only a little over a fifth of this group is using Twitter.

The study was released at TWTRCON ’09 in San Francisco, which if you didn’t know (and why didn’t you!) Technologizer’s own Harry McCracken was the “official Twitterer.”

Of this group, 85 percent follow their friends, 54 percent follow celebrities, and 29 percent follow both family and companies. PMN says that this highlights that there is room to grow Twitter as a “marketing vehicle,” but as Caroline McCarthy at Cnet seems to argue on the flipside companies have already been using the microblogging service for marketing purposes for quite awhile.

She seems to say that this isn’t the best news for these folks, and I’d tend to agree. Maybe companies have overestimated the desire for a deeper connection to their customers, and the demand isn’t there. In any case, its all still fairly new so it might be too early to judge just yet.

Regardless, Twitter seems to have quite the untapped potential customer base in this ever increasingly connected demographic. It will be interesting to see what this means for its future. It’s clear the company is going to have to continue to invest in infrastructure as these folks come online — it also could mean Mr. Failwhale may become an ever more increasing visitor to us already dealing with Twitter’s not-so-stellar record of uptime.

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Bing: Am I Missing Something?

Posted by Ed Oswald on June 1, 2009 at 10:24 am

Bing LogoWell, the tech world is all aflutter over Microsoft’s Bing, which as Harry pointed out early this morning is live in preview mode. I have tried this search engine, and honestly I am not seeing what the big deal is over it.

Yes, this is a massive improvement over Live Search — I 100% agree with that. I don’t know what Microsoft may have been going for that other than to rebrand MSN Search after it went Live-crazy. I always found Live Search to be severely lacking in the results department.

Bing definitely improves on that. But I don’t see where it excels over what’s already available out there on the Internets. I’d argue that Microsoft’s latest effort for all intents and purposes merely matches Google, rather than surpassing it by any great distance.

In the end, is this enough to make people switch? I doubt it. Most of us are quite comfortable with using Google for our daily searches, cause it works well. Why would we want to switch to another that only seems to really “skin” what Mountain View was already somewhat doing?

This is not to say by any means that Bing will be a failure. #1, it will get a huge boost in the next month or two simply from interested surfers wanting to see what the buzz is all about. #2, it is an improvement, and not everybody is so tied to Google that they won’t switch.

For me however, Bing just isn’t it. I’m glad to see Microsoft is finally serious about search — but I don’t think matching your competition is going to win the day in the end.

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Sirius XM Set to Raise Rates Yet Again

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 29, 2009 at 11:58 pm

sirius-xm-mergerAlready peeved satellite radio customers will have one more reason to be upset with Sirius XM: yet another rate increase. While you were able to escape the last one by simply electing to forgo online access, this one is unavoidable.

Every subscriber will pay at least $2 more per month. The reason is this: beginning in August, the company would be able to raise rates to cover the costs of higher royalty payments to the record companies.

The royalty rate increases were allowed by the FCC as a result of a December 2007 agreement on those rates. The company was not able to pass along these increases due to the stipulations of the approval of the merger. However:

“After the first anniversary of the consummation of the merger, the combined company may pass through cost increases incurred since the filing of the combined company’s FCC merger application as a result of statutorily or contractually required payments to the music, recording and publishing industries for the performance of musical works and sound recordings or for device recording fees.”

That anniversary is coming up on July 29. According to unconfirmed reports, after this date a $2 charge on the primary radio, and a 97 cent charge on additional radios will be applied as a “royalty fee.” In other words, you will be paying at a minimum $14.95 per month for service.

People with knowledge of the situation are quick to point out that this isn’t an increase from Sirius XM per se, but rather a pass through of charges that were already being paid by the company because it can no longer afford them. You don’t say–after all its financial situation is pretty damn bad.

(See this link for a copy of the internal memo to customer service reps who are sure to be facing the brunt of yet more consumer dissatisfaction.)

Worse yet, this fee will increase by .5% per year through 2012. Thus it will be at least $2.10 in 2010, $2.21 in 2011, and and $2.32 in 2012. So much for those rate freezes eh?

This is really bad for Sirius XM. The Internets are flooded with consumer complaints about the service post-merger, and many are looking for a reason to drop sat radio like a rock.

I don’t see how the company doesn’t lose more customers over this. The company better get more responsive to programming complaints or there may be big trouble in sat radio-land.

Sirius XM customers out there — is this the last straw for you?

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US Army Servers May Have Been Hacked

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 29, 2009 at 12:01 pm

An Anti-US hacking group known as “m0sted” has apparently hacked into at least two sensitive Army servers, InformationWeek claims, citing “exclusive” information. The breaches are being investigated by the US Army, although they have not been publicly disclosed.

The two servers known to be hacked were one at the McAlester Ammunition Plant in McAlester, Okla. on January 26, and another U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Transatlantic Center in Winchester, Va which occurred on September 19, 2007.

In the earlier case, the divisions webpage was hacked redirecting to the group’s own site. That site hosts anti-US and anti-Israeli messages. It is not known whether the group was able to access or download any sensitive data.

Both hacking attempts took advantage of SQL injection vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s server software. Even though the Defense Department has put in place tools to prevent such attacks, the hackers have apparently found a way to bypass those measures.

As part of the investigation, search warrants against Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have been executed in an effort to reveal the hacker’s identities. The Defense Department is not commenting on the report.

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Mac Clone Maker (Not Psystar) to Open Retail Store

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 29, 2009 at 10:15 am

Lemonade StandMac clone manufacturer Quo computer said it would be opening a retail location in Los Angeles area on June 1. It will be located at 2401 West Main Street in Alhambra, a locality northeast of LA’s downtown district.

The company plans to offer three models, the Life Q, Pro Q, and Max Q. While Quo has not released details of what each model would entail, the company is using Apple’s current product lineup for guidance.

As with Psystar, the company is installing copies of Mac OS X Leopard on its equipment before shipping it to the consumer. This means Quo is breaking the same part of the EULA that Apple has sued Psystar over. In all likelihood, Quo will be the target of Cupertino’s legal guns next.

Quo is run by Rashantha De Silva, a Sri Lankan immigrant who has used Macs for nearly 25 years. A search on his name shows that he is a fairly frequent contributor to Apple’s support forums, so he’s no stranger to the Apple platform.

Sure to upset Apple even more is Quo’s business strategy: targeting education. This is one of the company’s most lucrative channels, and De Silva wants to put these clones in the hands of teachers and students.

While I commend companies like Psystar and Quo taking on Apple and forcing them to become more open–I am one of those Mac folks that believe allowing quality clones would be a good thing for the platform–they’re still breaking the law.

Apple’s EULA specifically forbids the use of the software on non-Apple machines. Until the courts find this clause illegal, it is pretty much akin to theft and prosecutable.

I’m fairly confident that the courts will rule against Psystar barring some unforeseen circumstance. Maybe future cloners will learn from the Psystar case and apply it to their efforts at breakng Apple’s grip on its OS software.

(Hat tip: CNET)

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AOL Back On Its Own Again

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 28, 2009 at 11:01 am

AOL FloppyWhen the original merger between Time Warner and AOL was announced in January 2000, it was heralded as a landmark merger between old and new media. Those rosy predictions never materialized, and as dialup faded away the company never recovered.

Google’s five percent stake in the company will be bought back. From there, the company would be spun off to Time Warner shareholders and run by current AOL chief Tim Armstrong. All of this should be completed by the end of the year.

According to Kara Swisher, Armstrong is set to make some significant changes to the business structure of the company. It would keep the access business that it has rather than sell it, and put all its acquisitions into a separate ventures division and look for outside funding.

Certainly none of this is coming out of left field. Most of us have known for a a long time (rumors of a spin-off/sale of AOL have been circulating for at least four years now) that something had to happen.

It will be interesting to watch and see where the company goes from here. Reports indicate that Armstrong is set to focus more on the traditional brands of AOL, AIM, and ICQ in an attempt to reconnect with consumers. Will it work? I’m not sure, but it’s worth a shot.

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Jobs Appears Set for June Return to Apple

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 27, 2009 at 1:16 pm

Steve Wozniak and Steve JobsAccording to the Wall Street Journal, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told the paper in a conversation at the All Things Digital conference that CEO Steve Jobs sounds “healthy and energetic.”

Woz’s straight shooting about anything Apple leads me to believe that he wouldn’t be B.S.’ing us. Maybe the time off did Jobs well — after all, as sick as the iconic CEO has been at times over the years, running a company was probably not helping him get any better.

It’s been reported that Jobs has still remained active within business decisions at the company, even if it was from his home. Apple really hasn’t missed a beat since his departure in January -and it’s a good time as ever to take a break.

The economy is in the gutter, thus everyone is pulling back. Jobs famously last October joined an earnings call to quell investor worry, and said the company had plenty of cash and no debt to make it through the rough patch that was ahead.

So taking time off when nobody is about to make any risky moves was a good idea. Chances are when Jobs gets back into the swing of things towards the latter part of summer, we should start seeing the first inklings of some type of recovery.

There is a caveat to Woz’s statements: he never has asked Jobs directly how he’s feeling. But given he’s known the man for almost four decades, you’d think he would have a good read.

Here’s hoping for a speedy return for Jobs — even though he’s likely still not going to be at WWDC.

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Apple’s Back-to-School Promo Features Free iPod Touch

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 27, 2009 at 9:22 am

Apple launched its annual Back-to-School sale on Wednesday, offering customers a free 8GB iPod Touch with a qualifying Mac purchase after rebate. In order to be eligible, a MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac or Mac Pro must be purchased.

Refurbished Macs and the Mac Mini do not qualify. The rebate is not instant: instead the customer fills out a online form to receive it. The purchaser must be either an educator, or a parent of a student or the student at a K-12 or university in order to get the rebate.

Customers can also elect to receive smaller rebates for the iPod classic 120GB, iPod nano 8 or 16GB, or the Shuffle 4GB if they do not want the iPod touch.

The promotion lasts through September 8, and the rebate forms are due by October 8.  It is similar to last years, although that rebate was $299 as the iPod Touch 8GB was $299 at that time.

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Spam, Wonderful Spam

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 26, 2009 at 6:08 pm

montypythonspamSymantec arm MessageLabs reports that 90 percent of all e-mail traffic is spam, up signficantly from the 58% just six months ago.

At that time, anti-spam efforts had reached their peak, along with the convictions and shutdowns of several major spam rings. However, since that time, spammers have regrouped and pushed spam levels to their highest in at least four years.

Even worse? Spam has shot up 5% in just the past month. Whatever these criminals have done, its certainly working very well. Thanks to the lovely anti-spam efforts of Google Apps and Gmail, I haven’t noticed any difference, but I’m sure those less fortunate probably have.

…. Spam, lovely Spam, wonderful Spam ….

Other findings include new efforts by cybercriminals to use established websites to host malware. Such a strategy would make sense, considering how much easier it would be for these folks to spread their wares. They also seem to be working on US schedules, evident by its peak between 9 and 10am, with a drop off overnight.

And if you think CAPTCHA is saving you (or these providers), think again. Spammers and malware purveyors are now making use of CAPTCHA crackers, meaning this line of defense is becoming increasingly useless.

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