Never before seen Steve Jobs video clip

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This is a cool clip from 1994 that was released today and posted on EverySteveJobsVideo. It’s 2 minutes of never before seen, and incredibly awesome, footage with the late Apple co-founder answering a question about what would be his legacy. It’s an interesting take on how what he builds will be obsolete in short order and no one will really remember it or look upon it – “it won’t be a church or a beautiful painting people admire hundreds of years from now… in 10 years you won’t even be able to fire it up and see what it looks like.” Check it.

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* It should be noted that yesterday Steve Wozniak fired up 3 Apple I computers at the History San Jose centre, proving part of Steve Jobs’ statement incorrect. I think Steve Jobs was half right about not leaving a legacy – the machines he built will become obsolete, but the legacy he leaves is greater than the machines themselves. It’s the DNA and culture he embedded in Apple that will long outlast those individual iPads, iPhones and MacBook Airs… the legacy is not the machines but Apple itself.

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AT&T Emergency Alert System for iPhone

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AT&T has made a potentially life saving software update announcement. Mandated by the FCC, AT&T subscribers with the 5 or 4s will now receive automated emergency alerts through their phones.  Subscribers in limited areas with the iPhone 4  will also be able to receive the alerts.

These alerts are government issued and will be sent/received in the form of WEA. The FCC, CTIA, and the Federal Emergency Alert Agency, collaborated to create the WEA, short for Wireless Emergency Alerts. The WEA system has ben up and running for certain devices since April 2012.

Here’s a breakdown of the types of alerts you will receive:

  • Presidential Alerts – Alerts issued by the President or a designee;
  • Imminent Threat Alerts – Alerts that include severe man-made or natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc., where an imminent threat to life or property exists; and
  • AMBER Alerts– Alerts that meet the U.S. Department of Justice’s criteria to help law enforcement search for and locate an abducted child.

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You’ll be able to get these alerts for free and they will get to your phone through the WEA system faster than a text message.  If you have iOS 6.1 or higher the WEA system will automatically be added to your next update. For older phones you will have to connect to iTunes.

AT&T’s new alert system could potentially will give you seconds or even minutes faster updates on emergencies, which could make the difference between life and death if a tornado or earthquake threatens your area. Now you have an even better reason to get an iPhone if you already don’t have one (but you might want to wait until September when the new iPhone launches with lots of cool new features).

Damn, Gina! Apple TV adds HBOgo & ESPN (and more)

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Apple has updated it’s Apple TV software to version 5.3 today, adding some new quick access channels. The biggest additions (and some of the most popular Apps) are HBOgo and WatchESPN. Apple also included SkyNews, Crunchyroll (whatever that is) and Quello. If you’re an HBO subscriber and love your HBOgo – this now makes life even easier for Apple TV viewing – gone are the days of having to mirror the App from your iPhone or iPad. It’s an easy software update on your setting menu for Apple TV (or it will more than likely update automatically and next time you fir the Apple TV up you’ll be prompted to “reboot and install.”

Apple has been slowly but steadily adding content channels to it’s Apple TV lineup, only adding fuel to the speculation fire that they are getting serious about “real” Apple TV. I don’t know about you, but I look forward to the days when I can subscribe to channels a la carte and not have to pay $100 and only watch 10% of the channels I receive. Think of it as how the music industry used to charge $19 for a CD with 90% shitty music on it but you had to buy the whole thing if you wanted that one awesome Backstreet Boys track. Apple changed the game with .99 songs. They will soon (this year or next) change the game with how we watch and pay for TV.

How to search NSA free

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There’s a lot of hoopla out there about the NSA tapping into companies like Google, Microsoft and more recently Apple. While we are never going to be free of big brother… there are some steps you can take to keep you, your search history and information a little more safe. Enter duckduckgo. A better way to search.

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Here’s the breakdown. When you search for something on Google your searches and all sorts of information on you, the user, are stored on servers somewhere so Google can better target you with ads and therefore make more money on said ads. The better the targeting, the more money advertisers are willing to pay to get in your face. Makes sense. Here’s the downside: Google has to store all that information on servers somewhere. They have billions of trillions of oodles of dodles of information on you. If the NSA comes a knocking (with a valid warrant) or wants to sneakily access Google’s servers (like they do) – the information is there for the taking. Simple. You surf. They save. Someone can find all that info.

Duckduckgo.com is a search engine that stores nothing. As soon as you search, your data and info is tossed and not stored on servers. Even if the NSA showed up with warrants for everything – duckduckgo could easily comply but have nothing to turn over since nothing is stored. Pretty cool. They still sell ad space and make money but they do it a bit differently. Let’s say you type in “Mortgage Rates Chase Bank” – your search results page will more than likely show ads for banks or mortgage companies. Basically they target ads based on keywords in your search. That’s it. They don’t store your search or info on you for future targeting use. Duckduckgo has been around for about a year and a half. They went from 0 to 2 million users a day in that time period. In the last 8 days their traffic has jumped to 3 million a day and counting.

If you’re at all concerned about security and your personal info – this is definitely something you should test out. It’s simple and works like a browser should. Check it.

App Attack: Mextures

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These days almost everyone has at least an 8whatever megapixel camera in their phone. Thus we all like to think we are brilliant photographers as we snap a shot of some gourmet hamburger, give it an X-pro filter, and tag  #FoodPorn on Instagram.  While in our own minds we like to think of ourselves as Picasso’s of mobile photography, the filters on Instagram can only do so much to make your pictures unique and interesting. If you’re bored with the preset-filter apps that everyone uses,  you have to get Mextures for your iPhone.

Instead of  giving you a slightly altered version of the same filters on the 12,000 camera apps out there, Mextures offers original textures like grit and grain, light leaks, emulsion, grunge, landscape enhancers, and vintage tints.  Although these filters may sound familiar, Mextures lets you add multiple layers of filters and with customizable opacity and blending options. Once you craft the perfect 80s, space, beachy tint for your selfie Sunday post, you can save your formula of gradients to your library to use again in the future on more pictures.

Here’s a picture I took in Malibu, CA edited with my original filter formula from Mextures. I saved the formula as “beach sunset” and then applied it to another picture of a beach near Santa Monica Pier.

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Become the Michelangelo of filters and give your photos some hipster inspiration for $1 in the app store.

The Rest of WWDC 2013: Mavericks, Mac Pro, Macbook Air, Airport Extreme

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Along with the all new look and functionality of iOS 7, at WWDC 2013 Apple also introduced a handful of new products centered around their Mac lineup.

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Launching this fall on the App Store, OS X Mavericks is the latest edition of  Apple’s computer operating system.  After running out of cat species to name their OS system, Apple’s OS X will be named after California locales. Renowned for its colossal waves, Mavericks is a famous surfing spot in Northern California. At least they didn’t pick a cliche self praising name like Cupertino or Silicon Valley. I’ll give a quick run down of the newest features.

  • Tagging:  Finder now allows you to tag your documents with any word you like to better organize and find your files. For example you can tag your next big screenplay with words like “drafts” “emotional” and “No Channing Tatum”. If you want to come back to that particular document  or find other files with the same tags, just search for those words.
  • iCloud Keychain: your passwords and usernames will be linked and updated across all of your apple devices. A new password generator creates strong passwords for online sites and Keychain now works with your credit card information. Now you won’t have to worry about forgetting a password or having to use your dogs name for most of them.
  • Multiple Display Support:  No longer do your separate screens have primary and secondary displays, now all screens have their own dock and menu bar.  Among many scenarios you can now run a full screen app on each screen or even go to mission control on one screen and run a full screen on the other. Even more awesome: if you have Apple TV, your HDTV can be used as a separate monitor while you work on other projects on your laptop, and share a Keynote presentation with the room.
  • Timer Coalescing: Smart power and computing functions can reduce computing power by 72%. There’s a lot of nerd tech that goes on behind the scenes to make this happen and it’s pretty boring, but the only thing that matters is that this works and it will be AWESOME for power saving/battery life.
  • iBooks: now available on your Mac. Read, take notes, highlight… all on your Mac.
  • Maps: The maps app comes to your desktop, utilizing the superior graphics power and displaying the world in gorgeous views like “Flyover” and  ”Interactive 3D.” Another handy feature – send directions straight to your iPhone or even send to a friends iPhone to share directions.
  • Calendar:  Simplified, organized, and cleaned-up with continuous scrolling to future or past calendar dates. Added features to scheduling like ETA and weather.
  • Safari: Faster browsing, continuous vertical scrolling of “Reader” articles, and efficient browsing tech technology that doesn’t waste power on pages in the background.

Now lets move on to an awesome machine that I wish I needed in my office – the new Mac Pro. Apple pulls a fast one on the traditional rectangular tower desktop computer designs and brings out a sleek cylindrical shape 1/8 the size of its predecessor and something reminiscent of the old Apple G4 Cube.  It even has a badass thermal core that sucks the heat off the processors and shoots it up and out the top. Apple essentially made a Darth Vader nuclear computing tube the size of an Ewok with the speed of the Millenium Falcon (how’s that for a nerd analogy).  Some of the main features include dual GPUs,  Thunderbolt 2, flash based storage, support for up to three 4K monitors, and 2X faster than the current Mac Pro. With words like 7 teraflops and thermal core, you know this compact beast won’t mess around when it comes out in the fall. Check out more in depth features here.

The WWDC also unveiled updates to products like the new Macbook Air and the Airport Extreme. Along with other improvements to speed and functionality, the new Macbook Air offers a massive battery life improvement. 9 hours (up from 5) on a 11inch, and 12 hours (up from 7) on the 13″. Size matters, but you’ll still be able to compute all day long on a ridiculously light device.  Additionally, Apple revealed the new design of the Airport Extreme wireless hub, putting out  3x faster speed and the newest 802.11ac wireless technology for much faster wireless speeds.

Stay tuned for more updates on all of Apple’s new products coming out this fall!

Apple WWDC 2013: iOS 7 Sexier than Kate Upton?

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Apple’s WWDC 2013 unveiled a plethora of exciting new software and products. Highlights of the San Francisco keynote conference include iOS 7, iOS X Mavericks, iTunes Radio, and the new Mac Pro. Even if you’re not an Apple fanatic, you can’t help but drool over the tasteful presentation from the Darth Vader-esque design of the Mac Pro to the entirely remodeled iOS 7. I’ll focus on iOS 7 for this article and the other highlights will be featured in subsequent posts. You can check out Apple’s iOS 7 video from the conference here.

iOS 7

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Today is a great day for birthdays.  Apple’s iOS mobile operating system turns 7 today with a long awaited overhaul, while the stunning model Kate Upton celebrates her 21st. And after todays reveal of the sexy, redesigned iOS, I’m not sure which fine piece of art I’d rather take home with me.

Here’s a quick rundown of the updates/new features:

New Design

A “flat”, yet multi-layered, redesign with many added and overhauled features.  Beautifully simplistic, the new look and feel of iOS 7, as  Sir Jony Ive expresses in his dulcet British accent, is about “brining order to complexity.”  App icons no longer retain their glossy skeumorphic appearance, but rather take on  elegant, flat, grid based designs with vibrant colors. The interface seems to utilize the screen space to its maximum and also uses translucency in the app screens.

Features

  • Motion Tracking: Your iPhone/iPad will track its motion, thanks to its built in gyroscope, allowing the apps on your screen to “move” with your eyes. This is very cool when you see it in action. This creates depth and a layered hierarchy, which is visually stunning.
  • Control Center: Swiping up from any screen opens the control center: easy, quick access to apps and controls you need. Among many controls:  Turn on/off Wifi, bluetooth, and Airplane mode, adjust brightness, and music, or turn on a flashlight (finally).
  • iTunes Radio: Within the iTunes app lives iTunes Radio, Apple’s answer to Pandora and Spotify. Listen to all music sold on iTunes for free with advertisements or listen without advertisements with a $25 a year iTunes Match subscription.
  • Multitasking: See full preview screens of all running apps by double pressing the home button. Swipe the screens up to close them. Learns your app habits: if you check Facebook everyday at 9:00 am, your feed will be waiting for you at that time.
  • Camera:  Incorporates 4 camera platforms: still, video, panorama, and square (format for instagram) on one app. Swipes left and right to switch between the camera modes. New LIVE filters for photos.
  • Safari:  Improvements include full screen look, smart field search, parental controls, iCloud Keychain integration, new tab interface (looks like a vertical “cover flow” of web pages), and reading list enhancements.
  • Airdrop: An easier way for iOS 7 users to share photos, videos and contacts with other iPhone users by simply tapping “Share” over a wifi or bluetooth connection.  Available on all of Apple’s most recent devices – iPhone 5, 4th gen iPad, and iPad mini.
  • iOS in the Car: iOS 7 allows for sophisticated integration with in-dash displays. Your in car monitor will display the iOS system and apps like maps, music, phone, and more. Full Siri integration and more than likely full streaming, ad supported iTunes radio will be in cars starting in 2014. We won’t have to deal with car companies’ inferior quickly outdated user interfaces. This seems like a Trojan horse if you ask me… imagine if Apple does to car dashboards what it did to phones and tablets. Pretty friggin’ bad-ass.
  • Siri:  Along with a gorgeous new look (and KITT style “voice wave”) to the assistant that lives in your pocket, Siri also gets a smoother, less robotic, voice with both male and female options. Siri isn’t just a sweeter talker, it’s smarter too. Siri can adjust your brightness, turn on/off bluetooth, control iTunes Radio, play voicemails, while also incorporating search results from Twitter, Bing, and Wikipedia… all with the power of your voice.
  • Audio FaceTime: You now have the option to receive audio only FaceTime calls over wifi, just like VOIP calls on Skype.
  • App Store: Along with the new clean, tasteful look, Apps will now update automatically. Gone are the days of a red circle filled with high numbers next to your App store icon. The new “Apps Near Me” allow you see which apps are helpful or popular in your current location. So  If you’re in New York City, the App store might suggest apps for show tickets, subway maps, sports games, restaurants, etc. A genius way to help you sort the 900,000 plus apps in the app store.
  • Activation Lock: If someone steals your phone and tries to wipe it or turn off “Find My IPhone” the pesky thief wont be able to do it without your iCloud username/password.

If you are an app developer you can get the beta version of iOS 7 today, and if you’re not a member of that exclusive tribe you’ll have to wait like the rest of us peasants until the fall.