Steve Wozniak to Star in an Upcoming Reality TV Show Focusing on Futuristic Tech [Mac Blog]

Based on information from a press release obtained by Gizmodo , Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is planning to star in a reality television show where he will co-host with former Mythbusters star Kari Byron. The show will focus on gadgetry and the future of technology.

Embarking on an adventure. Like partner my new partner in crime? http://bit.ly/1yHZpob

— Kari Byron (@KariByron) November 24, 2014

Said to be titled The Woz, the show will feature Wozniak interacting with and testing futuristic gadgets hands-on. The press release goes on to say that the show "introduces the audience to facilities where science fiction is quickly becoming reality."



Though a Tweet by Wozniak suggests the show was at least pitched to Discovery Channel, little else is known about The Woz at this time.

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Posted in 2014 at 03:57PM, December 02

Mobile MOBA Game Vainglory, Showcased at iPhone 6 Keynote, Launches Today [iOS Blog]

Vainglory, showcased as one of the examples of the capabilities of the iPhone 6 back in September, is now available for download. Developer Super Evil Megacorp announced today that the game can be downloaded on the App Store in North America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa, with a European launch coming this Thursday. Japan, China, and Korea are promised to closely follow. The game actually launched unexpectedly early, with some users able to download the app yesterday afternoon.



Vainglory is a MOBA (Massively Online Battle Arena) that puts players in teams of three, each team fighting to destroy a crystal at the opponent's home base in "fast-paced, 20 minute online multiplayer matches." Mobile MOBAs are nothing new, with games like Fates Forever and a handful of others finding success in taking the PC-centric sub-genre and grafting it onto a mobile phone touchscreen.

“Vainglory is not about casualizing a core genre or making a direct port of an existing game,” said Stephan Sherman, Chief Creative Officer of Super Evil Megacorp. “To make Vainglory, we started from scratch to create that core MOBA experience — the highs and the lows, the build-up of anticipation, the sweet victory or bitter defeat. We want you to feel how it feels to play a core game — with the immediacy of touch.



“Vainglory opens up a whole new world of experiences in touch-screen gaming by playing together with friends in the same room, as a LAN party. While queuing up solo for online multiplayer games is fun and rewarding, the intensity of team play with friends around the table is incredible. Plus, trash talk. It’s like the LAN parties of old — except no heavy PC equipment required.”

The game is free-to-play, with certain characters available to everyone at specific time intervals. Users can use in-game cash accrued through gameplay to unlock new classes, or opt to pay real-world money for those classes if impatient. Notably, however, users can't use real money to purchase character perks and upgrades or one-time-use in-game bonuses.



Vainglory's biggest advantage is its positioning as the killer app of the moment for Apple's newest iPhone, much like Infinity Blade III was for the iPhone 5s and even the original Infinity Blade was for the iPhone 4. Though it's touted for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the game can be played on the iPhone 5s as well. iPad options include the iPad Air, iPad mini with Retina Display, iPad with Retina Display, and iPad Air 2.



Vainglory is available to download for free on the App Store for the iPhone [Direct Link] and iPad [Direct Link].

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Posted in 2014 at 03:57PM, November 18

Verizon still thinks you’re stupid

One of the most difficult parts of getting a new phone is deciding which of the preinstalled bloatware apps might actually serve a purpose at some point in the future and which of the apps to delete. Android is most notorious for this practice, but we all have software on our phones that doesn't belong there, which makes this report from The Information all the more baffling.

Continue reading...

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Posted in 2014 at 03:57PM, August 20

Apple's Share Price Hits $100 for the First Time Since June Stock Split

Apple today saw its stock hit the $100 mark for the first time since its seven-for-one split that took place in early June. Following the split, Apple was trading at roughly $92 a share, but since that time the stock has trended upward until hitting the $100 mark today.





The company is also very close to an all-time high stock price, accounting for the stock split. Apple's all-time intraday high was set on September 21, 2012 at $100.72 ($705.07 on a pre-split basis), and the all-time high closing price was set just a few days earlier on September 19 at $100.30 ($702.10 pre-split).



Even as Apple sits at almost record high share prices, the company is not ready to set a new high for overall market capitalization, which is calculated as the share price multiplied by the number of shares available. That is due to Apple's aggressive stock buyback program that has seen the company reduce its share count by almost 600 million over the past two years.



The move is intended to boost value to investors by reducing share supplies while also putting to use some of Apple's vast cash holdings. Much of the share repurchase program is, however, being financed by low-interest debt, as the majority of Apple's cash is currently held overseas, and it would be considerably more expensive for Apple to pay required taxes on that cash to bring it home for domestic uses than to simply pay for the repurchase program out of its ongoing domestic earnings over time where tax is already being paid.



The repurchase program has also signaled to investors that Apple has believed its stock to be undervalued, demonstrating the company sees purchasing its own stock as a better use of cash than other investment opportunities. And finally, reducing share counts also eliminates future dividend payments that would have been made on those now-retired shares, providing an additional financial benefit to the company.

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Posted in 2014 at 03:57PM, August 19

Apple Declines to Invest in Intellectual Ventures' Patent Buying Fund [Mac Blog]

After collaborating with patent buying company Intellectual Ventures to purchase Kodak patents in 2012, Apple is now rebuffing offers by IV to invest in is latest patent acquisition fund, reports Reuters . Though both Apple and Intel have declined to participate, rivals Microsoft and Sony have been persuaded to contribute to a new round of patent buying.

"Microsoft and Sony's investments give IV a fresh war chest to buy new patents," said Kevin Jakel, chief executive of Unified Patents, which advises tech companies on alternatives to patent aggregators like IV.

Intellectual Ventures is one of the top five patent owners in the U.S. and has a portfolio of over 70,000 patents and intellectual property assets. The company has raised $6 billion for patents and is courting investors like Apple to raise an additional $3 billion.





Microsoft, Sony, Apple and Intel have invested in Intellectual Ventures in the past, giving them access to IV's patent holdings and a portion of the royalties it collects. Apple didn't comment on its recent decision not to invest in IV, but one intellectual property expert believes it is not related to the company's recent efforts to influence patent legislation in the U.S.

"Amy Landers, an intellectual property professor at University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, said Apple and Intel's decision on IV's latest fund was probably unrelated to the political debate on patent reform.

"The companies that are not investing in the fund have probably just found better uses for their money," Landers said.



Apple recently joined the new Partnership for American Innovation, a patent reform lobbying group that includes DuPont, Ford, General Electric, IBM, Microsoft and Pfizer. The group is opposing recent patent reform legislation that they claim may hurt actual innovations that need patent protection.

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Posted in 2014 at 03:57PM, April 11