I have been through numerous “streming media apps” lately. The thought of watching streaming tv on my iPhone is amazing. Sadly in most cases its to good to be true. Jailbreak Southpark streaming app.. Down! Family Guy streaming app.. Down! American Dad streaming… DOWN.  Its understandable for a free app to be down. Keeping up with that many hits is not easy on servers. Now TV.com has the backing to take on such a challenge and so far they are succeeding! Quality is not the best and the load time can still take a sec. But overall for free 99 you shouldnt complain to much. Networks such as CBS, The CW, Cnet, Showtime, youtube and more.

- Joe

[Source: Gizmodo]

Our rocky history with the MacBook Air Rev. A has been well documented, and while Apple would very much like us to forget all about it and plop down another $1,800 for the much-improved Rev. B, not everybody has that sort of birthday money to throw around. Reports of cracked hinges on the laptop are nothing new, but we always assumed Apple would eventually ‘fess up to the problem and comp those repairs. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case, and we just got another report of a hapless MacBook Air owner who has a broken hinge that Apple says will cost $800 to repair, despite the fact the laptop is under warranty. Our own MacBook Air Rev. A had the exact same problem — the hinge becomes loose over time, then suddenly catches and cracks from normal use, it’s not from undue stress — and Apple did the repair for free, but only after we escalated the issue to a manager, who let us know how very nice of them that was. From reading various reports, that seems the exception to Apple’s repair policy, which lists this sort of damage as “accidental,” and we’re wondering how widespread this issue may be. If you or a loved one has been affected, hit up the poll below and pour out your heart in comments. If you’re unscathed or MBA-free, feel free to show very little compassion to your fellow man. Wiggle hinge and broken hinge video is after the break.

- Joe

[Source: Engadget]

How much similarity is there between your Facebook “friends” and the contacts in your iPhone’s address book? If those two world’s align and you have an iPhone, you might want to check out a nifty utility called Photo Phonebook (iTunes link). It finds the matches between the people in your iPhone’s contact list and your Facebook friends and downloads their Facebook profile photos. Right now, there is a limit of 100 photo downloads because of memory constraints on the iPhone, but the developers are working to fix that. Enjoy in the mean time.

- Joe

[Source:  Tech Crunch]

Regardless of what Apple said at today’s shareholder meeting, I have come to the sad conclusion that Steve Jobs may never return to the helm at Apple. Skipping the shareholder meeting is a more than subtle hint that Jobs won’t be back in the active role he’s enjoyed, if at all.

It is unfair to expect anyone to be a suitable successor to Steve Jobs. I was following Apple after Jobs was forced out in 1985 and replaced first by John Sculley and, later, Gil Amelio. Both made the mistake, I think, of believing they were running a computer company. (more…)

The journalist who chucked his shoe at President George W. Bush missed his mark, and so too did an iPhone game based on the now-infamous incident. MyShoe, conceived by a Pakistan-based programmer, turned the iPhone’s accelerometer into an apparatus for imaginary footwear-flinging.

The developer has been quoted as saying the game also let you take aim at Bin Laden and other public figures. Even so, it appears that Apple wanted to dodge the controversy, with its reviewers citing the App Store’s rule against “ridiculing public figures” and flinging this idea right into the trash.

- Joe

[Source:  PCWorld]

Safari’s implementation of this been-there-done-that feature brings some flash and additional customization options to the table. First, when you click on a thumbnail, it zooms forward and fills the screen with a cool animated effect. Second, pages which have new content since the last time you visited them contain a blue star in the corner. (See the top right thumbnail in the screenshot above as an example. The concept is a neat, the implementation, for me, was a bit buggy.) Visuals aside, you can customize Top Sites in a few ways. To do so, click on the Edit button on the lower left hand side.

The one thing Safari 4 has that no other browser does (by default at least) is something Mac users are used to: Cover Flow view, which now displays web page previews instead of just album art (iTunes) or file previews (like in Finder). Go into bookmark view (hit the bookmarks button next to the Top Sites grid button on your toolbar) to flip through your history, bookmarks, or search results Cover Flow style. Still, Firefox users can get a very similar interface with the previously mentioned FoxTab extension. Lets just work the kinks out that are causing crashes.

- Joe

[Source: LifeHacker]

The anonymous investor who was the only one to press for details on Jobs’ health — had asked when the board knew Jobs planned to step away from his daily duties. Apple director Arthur Levinson responded that since Jobs announced Jan. 14 that he needed to go on leave, “nothing has changed.”

Jobs, who turned 54 on Tuesday, was not at the meeting. At one point, investors stood up and sang “Happy Birthday” to him, at the urging of one shareholder.

A survivor of pancreatic cancer who looked very thin last year, Jobs said Jan. 5 that he had a treatable hormone imbalance and would continue to run Apple. But the following week he went on leave to treat medical issues that he said were “more complex” than he had believed. Apple’s chief operating officer, Tim Cook, took over daily duties.

Despite questions about how Apple’s board handled the disclosures about Jobs’ health, all the directors were re-elected, including former Vice President Al Gore, Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt and Levinson, who is the chairman and CEO of Genentech Inc.

Back in 1987 Apple created a concept video showing a “Knowledge Navigator” which helped you with everyday tasks. Phone calls, appointments, search engine, and with a friendly human avatar. Very nice, they were close in the search engine aspect. Too bad Apple did not get into search engines after all. Who knows what kind of innovations they would come up with.

- Joe

[Source: Google Blogosphere]

Yes it is only a rumor and I will give you a reason to believe its coming, but also let me give you 5 reasons why it may not be around the corner.

Reasons to believe
Apple’s Web has been posting open positions on its site for engineers specializing in EVDO and CDMA technology!
These are both standards for Verizon networks. This would be a HUGE speed difference from the edge network.

Reasons not to believe.

1.  Apple and AT&T are still in an exclusive binding contract. Lawmen will tell you that contract must be from 2-5 years as 2 years is the minimum. So we are coming up on the 2 year mark but were not there yet.

2.  Prior trustable sources like 9to5MAC and Apple Blog had reported its coming in 08′. That did not come to be as we know..

3.  Rumor that cancels rumor: It is rumored that Steve Jobs wants to be directly involved with such a decision and in the past was not to happy about Verizon. It is said that no big changes will take place during Jobs leave of absence.

4.  Job posts on Apple for EVDO, and CDMA engineers is down.. One thought is that if Apple was going to go through with starting a new service they would need more help through the launch.

5. It is said that Apple originally wanted to do business with Verizon exclusively but Verizon refused to give Apple “control of marketing, pricing”. Which made Apple turn to AT&T. If this is true, they may still not want to deal with each other.

-Joe

[Source: PC World]

Here is a side by side  comparison of the two mobile devices, thanks to the people over at “MrGadgets” as you can see on the watermark. If you take a look at the specs of the new Palm Pre in comparison to the iPhone 3g. The Palm Pre blows the iPhone out of the water. Specifically on the processor, with the new OMAP 3430 technology in the pre, this is a hot rod next to a economy car. As for the features that are popular to most, the Pre also wins. Qwerty slide out, 3 megapixel camera, and get this, wireless charging! Not all specs are out yet but the Palm looks promising. Keep an eye out for this beast. And that brings us to the next point. Apple dont let them steal your thunder, hint us what we have in store as to stop the masses from running out and buying this new Palm. Give us a reason to wait. Thats what I think would be the best move. What do you think?

- Joe

[Source: MrGadget]