35,000 Sign Petition Calling For Apple To Stop Worker Abuse In Chinese Factories

 

It seems that lengthy report looking into the poor working conditions in Chinese factories assembling Apple products is going to haunt the Cupertino company for some time yet. The latest backlash comes from consumer group SumOfUs, which has launched a petition calling for Apple to “stop worker abuse,” with over 35,000 signatures collected in just 24 hours.

It all started with a New York Times report that was published on January 26, detailing the chilling conditions that Chinese factory workers must suffer while they assemble our favorite Apple devices. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has already expressed his outrage at the report, which he labeled “patently false and offensive.”

Cook also assured Apple employees that the company has “made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers,” but this hasn’t deterred the protesters.

A petition launched by SumOfUs has collected 35,000 signatures from people who are calling for Apple to do more to improve working conditions in Chinese factories. The company’s executive director, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, believes the considering Apple’s “famous” attention to detail, the only way the company can not know what’s happening in Chinese factories is through “willful ignorance.”

But despite this, Stinebrickner-Kauffman loves her iPhone:

“I use an iPhone myself. I love it, but I don’t love having to support sweatshops, and neither do millions of other Apple consumers.”

“The hip, educated market that Apple aspires to corner is largely composed of responsible consumers who don’t want to be complicit in sweatshop labor. Apple’s attention to detail is famous, and the only way they could fail to be aware of dozens of worker deaths, of child labor, of exposure to neurotoxins is through willful ignorance.”

Stinebrickner-Kauffman concludes by blasting Tim Cook, who she believes could do more to fix the problems if he was really offended by the allegations:

“If Tim Cook is really offended by these allegations, why isn’t he doing anything to fix the problems? Every time a Foxconn worker is killed or disabled making an Apple product, Mr. Cook bears personal moral responsibility. Apple’s enforcement of razor-thin profit margins at suppliers invites – and may even force – them to slash workers’ rights. But Apple is going to have much bigger longer-term problems than paying a few extra dollars for its products if it loses its luster with ethical consumers.”

While factory working conditions may need addressing, Apple has stressed the efforts it is making to do this on numerous occasions. It has also launched a Supplier Responsibility section on its website that allows us to track these improvements, and it has signed up to support the Fair Labor Association.

While additional pressure on the Cupertino company may inspire it to do more, maybe it’s also time for us to turn to the other manufacturers, like Dell, HP, Sony, and many more, who also use Foxconn factories for product assembly, and may not be taking the same steps Apple is to improve these issues.

If you’d like to sign the petition yourself, you can do so by visiting the petition page on the SumOfUs website.

"

 

(Via Cult of Mac.)

Apple updates Final Cut Pro X with multicam editing, broadcast monitoring

 

Apple this morning updated its Final Cut Pro X video editing software with the much-needed new capabilities. A significant update, Final Cut Pro X version 10.0.3 appeases to pro editors with two new features: Multicam editing which automatically syncs up to 64 angles of video and photos and broadcast monitoring. The software also advances XML support for better plug-in compatibility and boasts enhanced chroma keying.

Multicam editing is done in a typical Apple fashion: In addition to taking advantage of the timecode to sync camera angles, Final Cut Pro X can also sync scenes using audio waveforms. As for broadcast monitoring that lets you connect to waveform displays, vectorscopes, and calibrated, high-quality monitors to ensure that your project meets broadcast specifications. This requires a Mac Pro with a PCIe card or a Thunderbolt device. In the case of the latter, customers will be able to monitor their project live, while on a shoot.

Interesting, broadcast monitoring is being released as a beta feature, which is unusual for Apple. Then again, the iPhone 4S digital secretary named Siri is also in beta so perhaps this marks a change at Apple towards getting major new features out of the gate as soon as possible and smoothing out the rough edges over time. Full release can be found after the break.

 

When Apple released Final Cut Pro X last summer as a $300 digital download exclusively on the Mac App Store. However, the software was met with such a harsh criticism that the company moved to temporarily block reviews on the Mac App Store. Apple also posted a FAQ promising major enhancements in the near future and even issued refunds to disgruntled customers. While the video editing program won praise for its revamped interface, people hated it for its bugginess, heavy requirements and lack of pro features such as multicam editing.

CUPERTINO, California—January 31, 2012—Apple® today released Final Cut Pro® X v10.0.3, a significant update to its revolutionary professional video editing application, which introduces multicam editing that automatically syncs up to 64 angles of video and photos; advanced chroma keying for handling complex adjustments right in the app; and enhanced XML for a richer interchange with third party apps and plug-ins that support the fast growing Final Cut Pro X ecosystem. Available today as a free update from the Mac® App Store™, Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3 also includes a beta of broadcast monitoring that supports Thunderbolt devices as well as PCIe cards.

Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3 includes a collection of groundbreaking new tools for editing multicam projects. Final Cut Pro X automatically syncs clips from your shoot using audio waveforms, time and date, or timecode to create a Multicam Clip with up to 64 angles of video, which can include mixed formats, frame sizes and frame rates. The powerful Angle Editor allows you to dive into your Multicam Clip to make precise adjustments, and the Angle Viewer lets you play back multiple angles at the same time and seamlessly cut between them.

Final Cut Pro X builds upon its robust, one-step chroma key with the addition of advanced controls including color sampling, edge adjustment and light wrap. You can tackle complex keying challenges right in Final Cut Pro X, without having to export to a motion graphics application, and view your results instantly with realtime playback.

In the seven months since launch, the third party ecosystem around Final Cut Pro X has expanded dramatically. XML-compatible software like DaVinci Resolve and CatDV provide tight integration for tasks such as color correction and media management. The new 7toX app from Intelligent Assistance uses XML to import Final Cut Pro 7 projects into Final Cut Pro X. In addition, some of the industry’s largest visual effects developers, including GenArts and Red Giant, have developed motion graphics plug-ins that take advantage of the speed and real-time preview capabilities of Final Cut Pro X.

Broadcast monitoring in Final Cut Pro X is currently in beta and allows you to connect to waveform displays, vectorscopes, and calibrated, high-quality monitors to ensure that your project meets broadcast specifications. Final Cut Pro X supports monitoring of video and audio through Thunderbolt I/O devices, as well as through third party PCIe cards.

Pricing & Availability
Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3 is available from the Mac App Store for $299.99 (US) to new users, or as a free update for existing Final Cut Pro X customers. A 30-day free trial of Final Cut Pro X is available at www.apple.com/finalcutpro/trial. Full system requirements and more information on Final Cut Pro X can be found at www.apple.com/finalcutpro.

"

 

(Via 9 to 5 Mac.)

Who is Apple’s new retail boss, and what will he do?

 

Tim Cook has made his first major appointment since taking the reins at Apple, bringing in the head of British technology retailer Dixons, John Browett. He comes in to fill the gap left by the departure of Ron Johnson, the man who spent a decade building the Apple Store into a force to be reckoned with.

To say that Browett inherits a big job is an understatement. Apple’s retail strategy has been phenomenally successful over the past decade — responsible for $14 billion in sales in 2011, according to the company’s most recent results — and the company scoured the globe and waited several months to find somebody.

Immediate reaction to the news was intriguing, because it was split down the middle. On one side were those who read Browett’s credentials and the PR puffs. To them, it looks as if Apple has just hired a man who has succeeded at most things he’s tried, and spent the last five years steering a large retail business with more than 1,200 stores through a difficult period for the economy.

On the other hand, for those who know Dixons as it exists in the real world, the reaction was somewhat different: the most common refrain I saw was “Has Tim Cook ever been in a Dixons store?”.

I’m sure John Browett is a smart guy, and that Apple knows what it’s doing. But the idea of Apple Stores going Dixoney… *shudder*

— Christopher Phin (@chrisphin) January 31, 2012

Dixons operates two major store brands — Currys and PC World — and a number of online outlets, and their approach probably puts them somewhere in the region of Radio Shack and Best Buy. They are not widely loved by the public. And while it’s fair to say that Browett inherited a troubled company and improved its offerings to ordinary shoppers, he has also presided over a calamitous 90 percent fall in its share price over the last five years.

But Apple is standing by its choice, with Cook suggesting that “our retail stores are all about customer service” and Browett “shares that commitment like no one else we’ve met.”

So perhaps it’s worth asking who Browett actually is.

Let’s take a look at the evidence to try and understand what he might do at Apple.

First, he comes with serious academic chops, with degrees from Cambridge University (albeit in zoology) and an MBA from Wharton. In this Retail Week profile from 2009, he is called “affable and intellectual”, and a fierce advocate of good customer service who prides himself in knowing the ins and outs of every product on sale:

A tour of a PC World or Currys store with him reveals a schoolboy enthusiasm for talking at length about the technology behind flatscreen TVs.
On another occasion, he revealed his hands-on nature when a disgruntled customer barged into a back room after realising who Browett was. He leapt to his feet and attended to the customer.

It’s not quite on a par with the late night email habits of Steve Jobs, but this is the sort of detail that Apple will love. They will also like his reputation for driving very, very hard deals with suppliers: Browett is known for trying to extract every last ounce of value from a deal.

Meanwhile, in a Guardian profile published in 2007, just as he was about to take over at Dixons, a friend is quoted as saying that Browett is not the sort to rant and rave.

“He’s more measured, and more democratic – but not too much of a democrat.” The new DSG boss was “full of enthusiasm in a low-key, measured way” when they spoke last night, according to Mr Hyman. But the group could be in for a shake-up, Mr Hyman believes, saying: “You don’t hire John Browett if you’re not looking for some quite important strategic changes.”

This suggests his personal style is likely to fit with Cook’s own approach — but it is the last part that interested me the most: he is the sort of man who wants to have a strategic impact, wherever he goes.

Why is this particularly interesting? Because of the other businesses he’s linked to.

Browett cut his teeth with Tesco, the world’s third-largest retailer and a dominant force in British supermarket retailing. He was the man responsible for building Tesco’s online presence, creating a leading web-based grocery outlet and delivery service, and he also expanded the company’s ranges way beyond food.

He’s also been on the board of EasyJet, the low-cost airline that became famous for its cheap and cheerful approach to flying, for the past five years. Things have been pretty good at the company recently, but it is locked in a battle with the founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who has publicly attacked the company’s directors for what he sees as greed. The board is trying to push through a pay deal that would grant directors substantially more cash than they currently receive.

Both Tesco and EasyJet are companies that seem to come from a very different place than Apple. They both built their reputations through being cheap, aggressive and expansionist. Of course, they pay attention to customer service — but they also achieve highly variable results.

Customer service review site Trustpilot ranks both companies as “acceptable” — Tesco with 6.6 out of 10 and EasyJet with 6.4. Dixons, meanwhile, gets just 4 out of 10: by comparison, Apple scores an 8.

At this stage it’s hard to know what this all means for Apple’s retail strategy. But take a look inside a PC World store and you see that it’s much closer to a pile-em-high approach of Tesco than the pared back approach that Apple prides itself on. The question is whether Browett’s smarts will simply be subsumed into Apple’s existing approach, or whether his instincts for squeezing value out of the lower end of the market will start to dribble into the company.

"

 

(Via TheAppleBlog – Apple and iOS News, Tips and Reviews.)

Firefox 10 Released to Download

 

Firefox 10 has been released and is available to download for Mac, Windows, and Linux users. The new version isn’t too different from version 9, but includes bug fixes, better extension management, an auto-hiding forward button, improvements to CSS3 capabilities, and antialiasing support for WebGL, as well as some other additions that the average user probably won’t notice. The release notes are posted below for those interested, otherwise just download and enjoy.

Download Firefox 10

• Mac OS X
• Windows
• Linux

Unfortunately, the browser is still lacking the now standardized OS X Lion full-screen button, and the 10.0 release didn’t include any new Mac-specific features. All in all, for a 10.0 release it’s kind of boring, but you can make it more attractive by giving it a Google Chrome style Omnibar with this add-on for Firefox that merges the search and URL bars into one.

Firefox 10 Release Notes:

The forward button is now hidden until you navigate back

Anti-Aliasing for WebGL is now implemented (see bug 615976)

Full Screen APIs allow you to build a web application that runs full screen (see the feature page)

CSS3 3D-Transforms are now supported (see bug 505115)

New bdi element for bi-directional text isolation, along with supporting CSS properties (see bugs 613149 and 662288)

Inspect tool with content highlighting, includes new CSS Style Inspector

We’ve added IndexedDB APIs to more closely match the specification

Some users may experience a crash when moving bookmarks (681795)

Some synaptic touch pads are unable to vertical scroll

For some users, scrolling in the main GMail window will be slower than usual

If you try to start Firefox using a locked profile, it will crash

This version of Firefox will not work on Macintosh hardware with Power PC CPUs

Under certain conditions, scrolling and text input may be jerky

Firefox notifications may not work properly with Growl 1.3 or later

"

 

(Via OS X Daily.)

Apple names European retail executive John Browett its Senior Vice President of Retail

 

Filling a void left last year by former Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson, Apple has announced that John Browett is its new Senior Vice President of Retail.

CUPERTINO, California—January 30, 2012—Apple® today announced that John Browett will join the company as senior vice president of Retail, reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Browett comes to Apple from European technology retailer Dixons Retail, where he has been CEO since 2007. Beginning in April, he will be responsible for Apple’s retail strategy and the continued expansion of Apple retail stores around the world.

“Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like no one else we’ve met,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are thrilled to have him join our team and bring his incredible retail experience to Apple.”

Prior to joining Dixons Retail, Browett held a series of executive positions at Tesco plc including CEO of Tesco.com. Earlier in his career he advised retail and consumer goods clients at Boston Consulting Group. He holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an MBA from Wharton Business School.

Browett is leaving his job as CEO of Dixons, a major consumer electronics retail chain in Europe, to join the Apple executive team. Browett will lead all of Apple’s world-wide retail operations beginning in April. Peter Oppenheimer has been the Apple executive guiding the retail division since Ron Johnson’s departure, and will likely do so until Browett officially takes over in about two months.

"

 

(Via 9 to 5 Mac.)

iOS-ification of Lion continues: Apple ports iOS AirPort Utility to Lion

 

Apple has released a new iOS-like AirPort Utility for Lion today. It’s not an upgrade to the current OS X AirPort utility that you’ve grown to love either. Nope, it seems that Apple has released both a port for the iOS application for OS X and an update to the normal Lion utility.

As of now there are two versions of AirPort Utility. Version 5.6 is a slight update to the AirPort that we’ve all grown accustomed to in OS X, and Version 6.0 is the edition that looks exactly like the iOS application.

This move is both brilliant and utterly confusing at the same time. It’s obvious that Apple’s looking to rid its iOS users of the confusion of using a second application on OS X, should they be accustomed to the iOS version of AirPort Utility. Instead of having to relearn the application in OS X, iOS users, who are likely using an Apple product for the first time, can jump in and configure their AirPort devices. On the other hand, it’s utterly confusing because there is now two very distinct ways to do one thing. That’s very un-Apple like.

Either way, it looks like Apple’s still committed to bringing things Back to the Mac, even if those things were never on the Mac to begin with.

The iOS-ification of OS X continues, and in this case, it’s not really a terrible thing. The iOS version of AirPort Utility is fantastic; however, the jury hasn’t even been selected yet, so clearly we have no idea what the verdict is on whether this is amazing or not.

We’ll keep you posted as we play more with it.

Article and Photo Via MacStories

"

 

(Via Macgasm.)

And now, a video of Jony Ive talking about design and alu-minium

 

There’s something remarkably simple and yet profoundly complex about the design of Apple’s products. While many have tried to argue that Apple’s design for products like the iPhone were “obvious” choices, this video of Jony Ive talking about the creation of the aluminum unibody MacBook illustrates the level of thought that goes into every single decision about the materials used to design products. It’s a short video, but it also really hammers home Apple’s love for great design.

Anyone else get the feeling that this man could easily be the CEO of Apple at some point in the future? This guy embodies the Apple spirit, “An indicator has value when it’s indicating something, but if it’s not indicating something it shouldn’t be there.”

Sounds a little familiar, doesn’t it?

Update: Maxim Harper has pointed out that this clip is from a larger documentary called Objectified. He recommends it. We’re gonna check it out.

"

 

(Via Macgasm.)

Never Wait For A Genius Bar Appointment Again Using The Apple Store App [iOS Tip]

 

Outstanding reliability is just one of the reasons why we fall in love with our Apple products. But unfortunately, everything goes wrong from time to time. That’s why we have the Genius Bar.

Did you know it’s incredibly easy to book Genius Bar appointments on an iOS device using the official Apple Store app? Here’s how to do it.

First, ensure you have the Apple Store app installed on your device. It’s a free download from the App Store. Once installed, open it up and tap on the ‘Stores’ tab along the bottom. You can now search for a store or select one nearby.

 

 

After selecting the store you’d like to visit, tap the ‘Genius Bar’ tab, then select the device you’d like to see a Genius about.

 

You can now select a date and time for your appointment. What’s great about this is that it only displays appointments that are currently available, and once you book, the appointment is yours. You don’t need to wait for it to be authorized by the Apple store, though you will get a confirmation email.

Once you’re happy with the appointment you’ve chosen, simply tap the ‘Select Date & Time’ button, then ‘Book Reservation’. You’ll need to sign in with your Apple ID to confirm your reservation, which you can then add to your calendar.

 

Once your appointment is made, you can also see it within the ‘My Reservations’ section of the app.

"

 

(Via Cult of Mac.)

T-Mobile UK Unleashes Its Full Monty Plan – UK’s First Truly Unlimited Calls, Texts And Internet

 

T-Mobile UK has announced that they will be bringing the UK its first mobile phone plan to offer consumers the freedom to make unlimited calls, send unlimited texts, and use as much mobile internet as they want – with no fair use restrictions. This is a breakthrough plan for the UK and one I wish all carriers would adopt. The Full Monty plan will be available via T-Mobile stores, online, telesales and in-direct partners.

As you can see from the chart below, Full Monty plans will start from £36 a month and run all the way up to £61 a month for unlimited talk, text, and internet. You’ll also notice a couple excellent phones being offered for free with these new Full Monty plans. Take a look below:

Aside from the unlimited everything, T-mobile UK says you can use your mobile internet for whatever you like – including tethering! T-Mobile UK say what? Now that’s the way it should be. If you’re lucky enough to live in the UK you’ll be able to take advantage of this truly unlimited plan. For more information on the Full Monty plans, visit www.t-mobile.co.uk/TheFullMonty.

Source: T-Mobile UK via Android Police

"

 

(Via Cult of Mac.)

Accuracy Of NYT’s Report On Apple Factory Worker Abuse Is Under Fire

 

Tim Cook was outraged by a recent report from The New York Times that provided a detailed look at the poor working conditions for Chinese factory workers assembling our Apple gadgets. It seems he’s not the only one. The BSR, a leader in corporate responsibility which works with Apple to develop sustainable business strategies, has labeled the report “inaccurate” and “misleading,” and has requested that it is corrected by the NYT.

The BSR, established in 1992, “uses its expertise in environment, human rights, economic development, and governance and accountability to guide global companies toward creating a just and sustainable world.” Its CEO, Aron Cramer, wrote to the NYT on January 27 — a day after its report was published.

Cramer first praised the report for shining “a light on important supply chain issues that are a crucial part of the global economy.” Then he points out that the piece “mistakenly quotes” a BSR representative and focuses on Apple when the conditions in the global supply chain should be of “immense importance to all companies.”

This article shines a light on important supply chain issues that are a crucial part of the global economy—one of the sustainability challenges BSR has worked on with business and other stakeholders for 20 years. Unfortunately, the article mistakenly attributes several quotes to an unnamed “BSR consultant,” presenting a false impression that those views should be associated with BSR.

While the story focuses on Apple, the question of conditions in global supply chains is of immense importance to all companies, in all sectors. There is no doubt that, while more and more companies are committed to ensuring good working conditions in their supply chains, additional steps should be taken. The key to progress is a combination of renewed commitments by the private sector, better enforcement of laws by governments, collaboration between businesses and NGOs, and worker empowerment. Global companies who are active in this space know that long-term, sustainable change takes time and requires many players working together.

On the BSR website, where the letter was also published, Cramer brands the report “misleading” and calls for “several important inaccuracies” to be rectified.

The NYT’s report provided a chilling insight into the poor working conditions faced by thousands of Chinese workers who assemble the latest gadgets — not just for Apple, but for the likes of Dell, Sony, HP, and many, many more. Shortly after it was published on January 26, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed his frustrations in an email to Apple staff, in which he said the report was “patently false and offensive.”

Cook reassured Apple employees that the company has “made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers.”

[via Macworld]

"

 

(Via Cult of Mac.)

HP’s Not Even Pretending Not To Be Shamelessly Copying Apple Anymore [Image]

 

Meet the HP Envy 15, a laptop that Engadget says “unapologetically copies the MacBook Pro” but “stumbles in several critical areas” including being heavier than the MacBook Pro and having a worse display, touchpad (pictured), keyboard and battery life.

Completely shameless, no? It’s the tech equivalent of The Third Man’s Harry Lime selling counterfeit penicillin on the post-war Viennese black market. Accept no substitutions.

"

 

(Via Cult of Mac.)

Retro Heaven: Bill Gates’ 1980s Game Donkey Returns For iOS [Review]

 

Back in 1981, Bill Gates co-wrote a PC game called Donkey, commonly known (as some apps were back in those days) by its filename, DONKEY.BAS. If you’re old enough to remember those days and old enough to yearn for them, you might enjoy playing Donkey all over again on your iPhone.

If you’re not that old, be warned now: Donkey comes from a simpler, more primitive age. Angry Birds it isn’t.

The premise is this: you’re driving this car and there are zombie donkeys on the road. Don’t crash into them. Tap to change lanes. That’s it.

OK, there’s a little bit of modern technology tucked in behind the scenes, particularly Game Center support. But other than that, this is about as retro as gaming gets.

Your kids will probably hate it. But if you remember 1981 with fondness, you’ll probably think it’s worth a dollar for the memories alone.

Rating: ★★★½☆

 

"

 

(Via Cult of Mac.)

Rare 128k Mac Prototype Surfaces with 5.25″ Floppy Disk Drive

 

photo: mactwiggy/applefritter

For fans of vintage Macintosh computers and truly rare finds, a very unusual item has just surfaced in the wild: a 128k Macintosh prototype that used a 5.25″ “Twiggy” floppy disk mechanism, the same kind Apple used with the first generation Lisa workstation.

Pseudonymous user mactwiggy posted some photographs of his rare find (location unspecified) over at applefritter. Production Mac models used 3.5″ 400k floppy disk drives, a format Apple largely introduced to the world. This pre-production system used the proprietary Apple Twiggy 5.25″ disk format, which was notoriously unreliable and eventually shelved in the Lisa 2 in favor of 3.5″ disks. No shipping Macs were ever released using 5.25″ internal disk drives.

Comparison of final Macintosh 128k with 3.5″ drive to prototype (right) with 5.25″ drive

The story behind the system brings hope to vintage Mac scavengers everywhere:

I bought it through an online ad. The elderly gentleman I purchased it off of is a retired engraver. The company he worked for was hired to make some award medallions for a ceremony at Apple. It would have been some point in 1983 I personally think, but he really couldn’t recall. They sent over this Mac to use as a model for him to work off of. When the job was done, they tried to make arrangements to send it back. Apparently after several attempts, Apple just told them to keep it.

He knew what he had, and knew the price he was asking was low, but didn’t want to deal with trying to market it. He was really just happy it was going to someone who knew what it was and would appreciate it.

photo: mactwiggy/applefritter

Notable on the motherboard is a riser card with 4 custom EPROMs. These were early testing systems and the Mac firmware wasn’t finalized yet. Also interesting are two silkscreened icons of “Mr. Macintosh” on the logic boards, which was an early logo and marketing symbol for the Mac that got jettisoned before launch.

photo: mactwiggy/applefritter

 

Mr. Macintosh on logic boards

 

Truly a vintage find! More photos at applefritter.

Thanks to Des at LisaList for the heads up.

"

 

(Via Cult of Mac.)

Will the iPhone 4S overtake the Kinect as the fastest selling consumer product device?

In 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of Guinness Breweries, was involved in a drunken argument about which of Europe's many game birds could fly the fastest. Unable to settle the argument even after consulting a well-stocked library, he commissioned a new reference book that would be filled with the sort of facts that people routinely argue about over beer -- the fastest, furthest, most expensive, largest, and so forth.

Thus was Guinness World Records born, and it has continued to this day. Last year it announced that Microsoft's Kinect was the "Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device" ever. The Xbox 360's motion-sensing controller sold an impressive eight million units in its first 60 days on sale.

However, let's look at some other numbers relating to another consumer electronics device you may have heard of -- the iPhone 4S. The 4S was announced on October 4 and went on sale on October 14. Leading up to this, we know that iPhone 3GS and 4 sales were down based on the widely circulated rumours of the 4S release. So we know that most of Apple's iPhone sales for the quarter would have happened after the 4S was released.

We also know that Apple sold 37 million iPhones in total in the fourth quarter of 2011 -- in other words, from October 1 to December 31. Furthermore, survey firm Consumer Intelligence Research has produced credible analysis that suggests that 89% of those 37 million sales were of the iPhone 4S model. This is corroborated by the high average selling price of the iPhone reported in Apple's quarterly earnings report. An average of $659, above the iPhone 3GS and 4 price points, suggests that the majority of sales must have gone to the more expensive iPhone 4S models.

Finally, we know that Apple sold four million iPhone 4S handsets in the first three days it was available. Oh, and that there's 78 days between the date the iPhone 4S went on sale and the end of Apple's quarterly reporting period.

So to recap: the Kinect holds a genuine world record for selling eight million devices in 60 days. The iPhone 4S definitely sold four million devices in three days, and went on to sell as many as 33 million devices in 78 days. It seems extremely likely that somewhere between those two numbers Apple comfortably eclipsed Microsoft's 60-day sales record.

The only fly in the ointment I can see might be Guinness World Record's definition of "consumer electronics device." I'm not sure if cellphones are included, or if they perhaps have their own category. Several media sources such as the Telegraph took care to point out that Kinect outsold the iPad and the iPhone 4, which suggests that these devices were considered as part of the same category. If so, come the publication of the next volume of the Guinness World Records book -- the 2013 edition, due towards the end of this year -- we can expect to see Apple take Microsoft's place as the record holder.

 

 

Will the iPhone 4S overtake the Kinect as the fastest selling consumer product device? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:00:00 EST.

Author of “Inside Apple” Talks Apple Corporate Culture and Secrecy [Video]

 

Adam Lashinsky, the author of the newly released book “Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired – and Secretive – Company Really Works”, recently appeared on an episode of InDay Speaker Series to discuss his work. The interview is about 50 minutes long and covers the corporate culture of Apple, how some internal processes work, and their legendary secrecy. If you’re interested in the business side of Apple, it’s worth watching the video below:

“Inside Apple” is available from Amazon.com for $16

"

 

(Via OS X Daily.)

Steve Jobs’ legacy lives on at Apple Campus with posters and quotes

 

Apple is continuing to infuse the legacy of their co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs with photo posters and quotes around their Cupertino headquarters. The photos of Steve Jobs range from the early days of the Mac to more recent product introductions, and they are simply motivational and powerful. Around campus are also quotes from the technological mastermind such as the one quoted by Tim Cook at Apple company-wide celebration of Steve Jobs’ life:

I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.

These quotes and posters will serve as guidance and motivation for several years to come for both the Apple employees of the current era and the future. Photos of the posters are available to view after the break:

"

 

(Via 9 to 5 Mac.)

Change or Disable the Secondary Click in Mac OS X

 

Macs have long kept things simple by keeping a single mouse button -or none at all- but while the two finger tap is very intuitive for most of us, newcomers to the Mac world don’t always remember it. If you’re switching someone from the PC world, enabling a literal right-click can be really helpful, but there are other options too, including using the left corner (for lefties), or disabling the click completely and instead relying on the keyboard.

Changing the Secondary Click

• Launch System Preferences and click on “Trackpad” (or “Mouse” if you use a mouse)
• Under the “Point & Click” tab, click underneath that to pull down the menu



• Choose one of three options: Click with two fingers (default), Click in bottom right corner, or Click in bottom left corner

The two corner options are ideal for longtime PC users who have gotten in the habit of the placement mattering, with the left corner a nice touch for left-handed users.

Sidenote: the Mouse control panel has limited choices for generic USB mice, but it does let the left and right buttons be switched to accomodate for left handed computer users. For those with a Magic Mouse, it’s basically the same as the Trackpad.

Disabling the Secondary Click

Unchecking the box next to “Secondary Click” will disable the feature from the mouse or trackpad. If you choose to disable the secondary click, users will have to hold down the Control key to perform a secondary click action.

Disabling the alternative click is generally not recommended.

"

 

(Via OS X Daily.)