One more week to go! By this time next Friday, we’ll all be waiting anxiously for the fat man in the red suit to sprint down our chimneys and leave some (hopefully Mac-related) goodies under the tree. In the meantime, the tech news is showing no signs of letting up, with plenty of rumors and product news to keep you busy on this fabulous Friday, December 16, 2011.
AppleInsider is reporting that more than 20 new countries can now grab their very own iPhone 4S today, thanks to the latest roll-out which caps off a banner year for Cupertino. The list of countries includes Bahrain, Chile, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam as well as Russia, Brazil and Taiwan, as rumored earlier this month. As promised back at the October introduction of the handset, the iPhone 4S rollout is Apple’s most aggressive to date, although one key territory is still waiting: China. That may soon change, as the device was approved for sale there last week and is expected to debut on the mainland by the end of this month.
Fortune is reporting that the 630 page official biography of Steve Jobs could wind up being just a bit longer, according to author Walter Isaacson. The writer spoke this week at a Commonwealth Club of California event moderated by Fortune senior editor Adam Lashinsky, and one of the tidbits discussed involved “an addendum that addresses the period surrounding Jobs’ death.” Isaacson refers to the biography as a “first or second draft,” claiming “it’s not the final draft.” Sounds good to us -- we enjoyed the book but were left wanting more after finishing it, so bring it on!
Who can forget then Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously dismissing seven-inch tablets during a conference call with investors? As Amazon’s Kindle Fire appears to be burning up the sales charts with the same form factor, Digitimes is reporting that Apple may be planning a 7.85-inch iPad to debut in the fourth quarter of next year, separate from the iPad 3 that’s likely to debut within the next three or four months. “In addition to purchasing 7.85-inch panels from LG Display, Apple will also buy panels from AU Optronics (AUO),” Digitimes sources reveal, “adding that makers in the supply chain are likely to begin production of the 7.85-inch models at the end of the second quarter of 2012.” We’ve heard this one before and Apple continues to deny it, but we think it will happen sooner than later...
iPhone 4S users are enjoying Siri, their new personal assistant, but the more you use it, the more you wish it could do for you -- shopping at Best Buy, for example. Well, buckle up, because 9to5Mac is reporting that this dream has come (partially) true. According to RaziorianFly, Wolfram Research announced Thursday that the company’s Wolfram Alpha database can now tap into Best Buy’s public API -- and since Siri can tap into Wolfram, iPhone 4S users can now answer product-related queries by pulling the answer from said database, which contains “more than 35,000 appliances and consumer electronics products sold by Best Buy.” We’re living in the future, folks.
German developer Boinx Software has introduced an iPad edition of their popular iStopMotion, which allows iPad 2 owners to create stop motion animation movies of anything they want. The company promises that it’s “so easy to use, your kids will master it before you do.” iStopMotion for iPad uses a camera overlay for “visually orchestrating one exciting frame to the next, instant playback for instant smiles, a beautiful timeline and export options that make sharing movie masterpieces with friends and family simple.” Best of all, the app arrives with a wallet-friendly price tag: Only $4.99 for a limited time! iStopMotion for iPad is compatible with all iPad 2 models running iOS 5 or later.
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masini
December 19, 2011 at 8:54am
This is truly a step forward. I think technology has made many steps forward in recent times and will do. I was expecting another technology boom, which is good. This version is superior to the previous one anyway.
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