Neil Young: iPod inventor Jobs preferred vinyl
Neil Young wants a convenient digital device to play music — like an iPod — but with higher-quality sound than consumers hear now with digitally compressed files.
The rock legend — whose ‘Heart of Gold’, ‘Old Man’ and many others are still top-sellers on iTunes — said he had discussed the idea with late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and that he and Jobs were working on the issue before he died.
Although Jobs was “a pioneer in digital music and his legacy is tremendous, when he went home he listened to vinyl,” Young said on Tuesday at a conference sponsored by the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital blog. “You’ve got to believe if he lived, he would have done what I’m trying to do,” Young added.
Now that Jobs is dead, “not much” is going on in that area, and development will be up to “some rich guy” who sees the need for crisper music from a device that fits in your pocket, he said.
Consumers hear just a fraction of what musicians create in the studio but deserve 100 percent, he added.“People should not associate high resolution with inconvenience.”
Tech wrap: Apple’s iOS 5 debuts
Apple rolled out its iOS 5 mobile operating system, one week after pancreatic cancer claimed the life of its former CEO and visionary Steve Jobs. The update adds voice recognition software called “Siri”, instant messaging and support for Apple’s iCloud service, although the inclusion of Siri is limited to the iPhone 4S. MacWorld’s Dan Moren says the free update is “ambitious” and that “there’s hardly a part of Apple’s mobile operating system that isn’t altered in some way”. Engadget’s Dante Cesa says that “other than turn-by-turn navigation, more multitasking APIs and some delectable widgets, there isn’t much, headline-wise, left on Apple’s hit list for iOS 6“.
Despite Jobs’s death, investors still like what they see at Apple and want the company to start giving up some cash, according to a Reuters Poll. Apple has a cash hoard of $75 billion and record demand for the iPhone 4S has pushed its stock price near an all-time high. Six of the 11 money managers polled by Reuters called for a dividend payout as a reward for their loyalty.
A three-day disruption of BlackBerry services spread to North America, frustrating millions of users of RIM smartphones and putting more pressure on the company for sweeping changes. RIM advised clients of an outage in the Americas and said it was working to restore services as customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India continued to experience patchy email delivery and no access to browsing and messaging. RIM said the root cause of the failure was the malfunction of a core router switch and the subsequent failure of a back-up system to kick in. It then experienced a severe backlog of unrouted messages that is taking time to deliver.
South Korea’s Samsung said it will soon release upgraded versions of three Galaxy smartphones in Europe to get around temporary sales bans on earlier versions of products that violated an Apple patent.
Samsung ambushed the launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S in Sydney, Australia, offering $2 smartphones to the first 10 customers per day in a temporary store, a stone’s throw from the official Sydney Apple store. Accustomed to long lineups leading up to and even after the release of its products, at one point Apple took second place to those waiting for their chance to snap-up a Galaxy S2 phone.
Facebook executive and eBay board member Katie Mitic unveiled a partnership between the two companies designed to create a new crop of e-commerce applications with social networking features. Mitic said that Facebook’s Open Graph — the map of connections that Facebook users create with friends and online content — will be integrated “seamlessly” into applications developed with certain eBay services and technologies. EBay is trying to encourage outside developers to create applications for its e-commerce platforms and is making a particularly strong push in mobile commerce.
Sony said that a third party had tried to sign in to 93,000 active accounts on its PlayStation and other networks this month. The company said it had frozen the accounts and informed affected customers by e-mail, adding that it believed only a few of the accounts were actually accessed.
Wow, yeah I sort of like the new firmware but it didn’d make a WHOLE lot of difference. What do you think?
Marc Isaac
Check out MY blog at http://www.thetechnoperson.blogblogspot. com
Thanks!
Tech wrap: Apple’s iPad 2 launches
Hundreds of people across the U.S. lined up to get their hands on Apple’s iPad 2, the update to last year’s wildly popular tablet computer. If you’re wondering how much the iPad 2 could cost you, Michael Hickins of The Walls Street Journal adds up the tab and discovers you could easily spend $300 on top of the $499 price tag for the cheapest model. Tablet sales are expected to surge to more than 50 million units this year, with Apple capturing more than 70 percent of the market.
If you do buy an iPad and you happen to be a politician, you might not want to use how much you paid for it as an example of why inflation isn’t a problem when you head into a working-class neighborhood.
Neil Young, the CEO of mobile-gaming success story Ngmoco, tells VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi about his quest to create a multibillion-dollar mobile entertainment company. And how he’s relying on two technologies, Mobage and NG Core, combined into a worldwide mobile social network, to make it happen.
And if your only alarm clock is your iPhone or iPod Touch, you’re “springing forward” for Daylight Savings time this weekend and you want to wake up on time on Monday, you might want to consider a backup, writes Business Insider’s Steve Kovach.
Apple’s list of top apps offers insight into mobile web
Among the year-end lists popping up around the web, one of the most closely watched is Apple’s annual Rewind lists. It’s almost like an awards ceremony for the things we carry around on our mobile devices, and it’s an especially informative proxy for trends that emerged in the burgeoning market for mobile apps.
Unlike previous years, Apple didn’t break out the top-selling games and non-gaming apps into different categories, making comparisons a little tricky. Even so, there are a couple of interesting things to note. For example, the top-selling iPhone games of 2009 were largely from big gaming companies like EA and Gameloft. Four of the top five were from Electronic Arts alone, including the Sims and Madden NFL.
This year, the most popular free apps on the iPhone games were developed inside small gaming companies: Angry Birds was the clear winner: It was the only app that appeared on the iTunes Rewind free and paid lists. The game was developed by Finland-based Rovio, and its distributor Chillingo was bought by Electronic Arts in October, so EA sort of bought its way onto the Rewind list this year.
Following Angry Birds were Lima Sky’s Doodle Jump and Freeverse’s Skee-Ball. Nine of the top ten selling games cost 99 cents, suggesting that the lower-cost apps are delivering on high volumes.
As for top-grossing apps, the list was led by MLB.com’s At Bat 2010, boosted by a substantial upgrade to the features in the app this year. In 2009, turn-by-turn navigation apps were well represented – MobileNavigator North America was the top grosser last year – but this year only Tom Tom USA ranked in the top ten, taking the No. 7 spot.
Also interesting to note was that games didn’t dominate the lists of top iPad apps. Angry Birds HD and Pinball HD were popular, but it seems more people were using productivity apps like Apple’s Pages and Numbers, or media apps like Netflix, Pandora Radio and Kindle. Perhaps the iPad isn’t yet emerging as the killer gaming platform that it first appeared to be.
It’s worthwhile noting what isn’t represented so strongly on the iPhone and iPad lists: location apps and augmented reality, for example – two areas that were expected to be big drivers of app downloads in 2010. Popular apps like Facebook – the iPhones most popular free app in 2010 – use location as a feature, but it’s surprising that apps like Foursquare didn’t make any of the lists.
Spotify isn’t in talks to be bought by Apple or anyone – source
Music industry types must have had been reaching for their tranquilizers this afternoon, following a report that Apple is in early stage talks to buy Spotify. The report spread quickly, as these things do, and some thought it made a lot of sense. So Apple, maker of the world’s most popular music device, the iPod, which already owns the No.1 music download retailer iTunes, would be buying Spotify –the much-loved and critically acclaimed music streaming service, just as it’s finalizing deals to launch in the U.S.? This would be too much to handle for many music executives, who think Apple already holds way too much power.
They’ll probably be relieved to know that after an initial flurry of panicky phone calls we got a helpful call from one person close to Spotify, who shot down rumors of a potential sale to Apple or anyone else as “completely untrue”.
Founder Daniel Ek has often tried to position Spotify as a company working with the music industry for the long term, as he did here on his company blog.
So to make it very clear – we are in this for the long haul. We are committed to building a music service that works across different devices, enables you to share music socially and that gives you the ability to choose how you want to access music. We aren’t interested in just trying to hype the company and then “flipping it”. The media coverage that Spotify has received so far is because of the product. The product has been our core and our main marketing message, and perhaps now is the time to modify that message.
That was a year ago but that hasn’t changed we hear, though we wonder if his investors feel the same way?
Apple as usual declined to comment.
Here’s Ek doing a demo at South By Southwest:
Apple’s annual audit find some violations from suppliers
Apple has identified 17 “core” violations in an audit of suppliers that scrutinized 102 of the facilities where iPods, iPhones and Mac computers are produced.
Apple said its annual supplier responsibility assessment uncovered eight violations involving “excessive recruitment fees,” three with underage workers, three relating to hazardous waste disposal by noncertified vendors, and three of “falsified records.”
For example, it said three facilities were found to have hired 15-year-old workers in countries where the minimum employment age is 16.
In addition, the company found foreign workers in eight facilities had been overcharged for agency recruitment fees, and said it required the supplier in each case to reimburse any fees over the legal limit. Apple said workers have been reimbursed $2.2 million in recruitment fee overcharges over the past two years.
Although it doesn’t identify which suppliers were responsible for the major violations or where they occurred, in its report Apple said such actions land a facility on probation, usually for a year, and management is is required to “remedy the situation immediately and implement management systems that ensure sustained compliance.”
Apple, a famously secretive company, has come under some criticism over the years for the labor practices of its suppliers, particularly in China.
Apple said its 2009 audit included all final assembly manufacturers, first-time audits of component and non-production suppliers, and 15 repeat audits of plants where a core violation had been previously discovered.
Timeline: iPad joins list of Apple product milestones
The iPad is just the latest in decades of big milestones and product introductions for Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs.
Here’s a quick list:
1976 High school buddies, and dropouts, Steven Wozniak and Steven Jobs found Apple Computer. Their first product, Apple I, built in circuit board form, debuts at “the Homebrew Computer Club” in Palo Alto, California, to little fanfare.
1977 The company unveils the Apple II, perhaps the first personal computer in a plastic case with color graphics. It is a big hit.
1983 Apple starts selling the “Lisa,” a desktop computer for businesses with a graphical user interface, the computer system most users are familiar with today. A year earlier, Jobs was booted from the Lisa project — so he started working on the Macintosh.
1984 – Apple debuts the Macintosh personal computer. It is hyped with a dark, stylized commercial in which a lone “heroine” takes on “Big Brother” characters that are reminiscent of those in George Orwell’s novel “1984″ — a metaphor for IBM. Directed by “Alien” and “Blade Runner” filmmaker Ridley Scott, the ad airs just once nationally, during the Super Bowl.
1991 Apple introduces the Powerbook 100, its first hit portable computer.
It is truly amazing how much Apple has shaped tech & gadgets over the last 30+ years.
Leftover Apple…
There were plenty of interesting little nuggets sprinkled throughout Apple’s iPad extravaganza Wednesday, some of which may have gotten lost in the headlines:
- The iPad is an impressive device to handle. It’s light and fast, with a bright screen and easy functionality. Movies appeared without a stutter and the gaming experience was an obvious asset. The iBook e-reader application had a nice look, but it doesn’t mimic old-fashioned print in the same way that Amazon’s Kindle does.
- Steve Jobs pointed out that since the iPad runs on a version of the same software that powers the iPhone and iPod touch, many people will be quite comfortable using the new tablet: “Because we shipped over 75 million iPhones and iPod touches, there’s over 75 million people that already know how to use the iPad.”
- Jobs also noted that between the iTunes Store and the App Store — and the forthcoming iBook store — “we have over 125 million accounts with credit cards all enabled for one-click shopping on all these stores.”
- No details on what books will cost on the iBook store. Also nothing on a potential TV subscription service, as had been rumored.
- The iPad has no camera, as many had speculated it might, and doesn’t support Flash.
- Not exactly news, but Jobs is still no fan of netbooks: ”The problem is netbooks aren’t better at anything. They’re slow, they have low quality displays and they run clunky old PC software. So they’re not better than a laptop at anything. They’re just cheaper. They’re just cheap laptops.”
- As many had predicted, the iPad features Apple’s own silicon, the A4 chip. Apple acquired a semiconductor company, PA Semi, in 2008.
- Apple just sold its 250 millionth iPod. Safe to say it would be thrilled to see that performance from the iPad.
What Apple’s “iTablet” could mean for Asia
Jonathan Adams serves as a GlobalPost correspondent, where this article first appeared.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Here comes, maybe, Apple’s “iTablet.” Or “iSlate.” Or “iWhatever.”
Apple’s so-called “Jesus Tablet” has been described as the ultimate gadget: A netbook, e-book reader, movie player and games platform all in one. It’s going to revolutionize publishing, and education. No mention yet on solving Middle East peace, but surely it’s only a matter of time.
Now, Apple fans are in a frenzy over a press event Wednesday at which the tablet may finally — maybe — be revealed to all. And yes, all the jokes about Moses bringing the tablet down from the mountain have already been made.
GlobalPost doesn’t have any solid information to add since our last dispatch on this topic, nearly a year ago. But here in Asia, where many of Apple’s mos popular products are manufactured, there’s been plenty of unconfirmed hearsay.
Apple doesn’t comment on its suppliers, as a rule. Calls to reported suppliers for the wonder gadget got the usual litany of “no comments” and a few chuckles that we even asked.
Just combine that with the Matias folding keyboard and you’ll have a decent netbook.
Moses could carry one in each arm.
Sony’s PlayStation chief: We’ll get iPod game dabblers
So what happens when the Apple suggests your handheld game device is sub-par? Out of touch? Passe? ‘Dems fighting words, right?******That’s what I asked Sony’s PlayStation boss Jack Tretton during a recent interview. His response? Keep talking, Apple — you’re only creating more future PlayStation users.******A little background: Earlier this month, Apple’s Phil Schiller said this about Sony’s PlayStations Portable (PSP) and the Nintendo DS, which have together sold more than 150 million units around the globe:***
When these things came out they seemed so cool. But once you play a game on the iPod touch, they don’t really stack up anymore. They don’t have this amazing multi-touch user interface. The game are kind of expensive. they don’t even have anything like the Apps Store to find great games and titles. And they certainly don’t deliver a media experience like the iPod that is built into the iPod touch.******But worst is the buying experience. Having to go to the store and trying to find a hot new title is not a lot of fun.
***Not long after, Apple CEO Steve Jobs piled on to the New York Times, saying that the new lower price for the iPod Touch would draw in gamers.******Tretton, whose full title is CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, counterpunched:***
The gaming heritage and the home of gaming is PlayStation. Dabbling in gaming is nice and ‘thank you’ for getting people interested in gaming — because they are going to end up with us.******Its sort of like saying, I got my drivers license and my first car was a beat up Subaru, but if you are ultimately going to be on the track, you are going to be driving a race car, and not something that’s basic transportation. So if you are going to be seriously interested in gaming you are going to end up a PlayStation consumer.
***Tough talk between two consumer electronics giants.******Personally, I have played games on all three devices — but not the same games — so I can’t testify to an apples-to-apples comparison. But I’ll say this: Poker and Tetris on the iPod Touch? Fun. Super Mario Bros on the DS? Cool. FIFA Soccer on the PSP? Wicked.******(Photo: Sony’s Jack Tretten at E3; Reuters)
I for one think that while casual gamers will enjoy the iPhone – eventually most casual gamers turn into full blown gamers that want a little bit more than just 5 minutes of fun.
Big fan of yours Neil, right from the time when you were all togather as CSNY, you created some beautiful harmonies vocally and instrumentally as well so yes, we would like to hear the full band playing in Hi Def. would be fantastic “old man” I would like to hear “Dark Star” in it’s full spectrum.