During its quarterly earnings call Wednesday, Apple reinforced its
skepticism in netbooks, saying their low-powered CPUs, cramped
keyboards and small displays are not enough to satisfy customers.

“We’ve
got some ideas, but right now we think the products in theory will not
provide the experience to customers that they’re happy with,” said Tim
Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer.

Cook added that netbooks
are “principally based on hardware,” and throughout the call he
repeatedly stressed that Apple believes “software is the key
ingredient.”

Despite Cook’s criticisms, the economic downturn is driving sales of netbooks—inexpensive, low-powered, miniature
notebooks—through the roof. Powered by Intel Atom processors, netbooks usually measure 8
to 10 inches in screen size, and pricing on average hovers around $300 to $500. Their cramped keyboards, track pads and screens certainly can be frustrating to some, but in hard times, consumers don’t appear to mind the compromise.

Apple would be ignoring trends seen in its own earnings report if it refused to offer a device in the netbook category. In Wednesday’s earnings call, Apple announced it sold a record number of iPods in the quarter: 22.7 million. With iPods priced no higher than $400, it’s clear the netbook price range is attractive to consumers.

Additionally, the netbook category is taking off like a rocket. ABI Research forecasts that manufacturers will ship 200 million
ultra-mobile
devices, including netbooks by 2013 — which is about the same
anticipated size as the entire laptop market worldwide. And analysts
predict the netbook market will grow at least 100 percent in 2009.

Though Apple is stalling on offering netbooks, that doesn’t mean they’re ruling out the idea entirely. Cook’s
statements advocate Apple could be devising a product that fits into the
netbook category, and a new software platform will blow away operating
systems that current netbooks are running.

In an October 2008 conference call, CEO Steve Jobs stated Apple couldn’t
produce a notebook in the netbook price range that wasn’t a “piece of
junk.” However, similar to Cook’s statement Wednesday, Jobs did say Apple has “interesting ideas” if the netbook category evolves.

See Also:

• Puny, Trendy Netbooks Are Growing Up to Suit Business Users …
• Cheap, Easy-to-Mod NetBooks Are a Hacker’s Paradise
• Five Things That Netbooks Need Now
• Analysis: ARM Chips Could Appear in Apple Netbooks, Tablets …

Photo: Brian X. Chen/Wired.com

Source[wired]

Probably because they were my first sexual fetish—after my English teacher—when I was ten, I still love those old strip-a-girl pens, which get pinups naked as you turn them around. Like iFloaty for iPhone.

That’s exactly what iFloaty is: A new—official—application for iPhone which gets a girl half naked when you turn it upside down. The art is not as good as the old Vargas pinups, however.

Shake Mates, on the other side, has superior graphics (gotta love the stockings) although it’s not the kind of cheesecake material I would like in a thing like this. It also has a totally different strip action: To get these girl naked, you need to shake the iPhone. The more you shake it, the more clothes come out.

Lovely. [Macenstein]

Source[gizmodo]

TiVoRemote: The App Store’s First TiVo Remote App [IPhone Apps]

TiVoRemote is the first network-based remote control program for the iPhone. Aside from the novelty of changing the channel, you can use the iPhone’s full QWERTY keyboard to search for programming.

Realize that the software isn’t officially TiVo-branded. And we wouldn’t call the UI stunning, or even attractive—though it certainly looks simple enough to use.

But since it’s priced at a buck, we’re willing to take our chances (and hope for a glossy black update sometime in the near to far future). [iTunes and TiVoRemote]

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I’ve nearly no apps in my iPhone, only the most useful ones for NYC. But iSteam, a steam simulator, looks like a fun one to install and keep.

As you can see in the video, the application adds ultra-realistic steam to your screen when you blow on the microphone.

After that you can use your fingers to clean it, causing squeaky sounds, condensation, and drops that get affected by the orientation of the phone, like it would happen in real life. But without frying your iPhone. It’s silly. It’s useless. It was a must get when it was free. Now that it is $0.99, I’d consider it.

Kostas Eleftheriou

Casio Robo-Watch Superheroes Celebrate G-Shock Anniversary [G-Shock]

Casio’s 25 years of G-Shock party continues with a new set of characters designed by Shiro Nakano. Normally we don’t pander to marketing gimmicks, but these toys might be cooler than the watches themselves.

Apparently, the Japanese think so too because they’ve caused quite a stir amongst local connoisseurs of rugged watches. Unfortunately, the robot characters themselves are not available for sale, which I think is a major oversight on Casio’s part. These things would make for excellent bedside clocks. [IT Media via DVICE]

Popularity: unranked [?]

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Video: Base Jumping off the World’s Longest Peak2Peak Gondola [Stunts]

Riding the new Peak2Peak Gondola that connects Whistler’s Blackcomb and Whistler Mountain summits, over 2.7 miles, must be exhilarating. But jumping off it is just insane.

Shortly after opening, these Two Red Bull sponsored lunatics rode a automobile to the mid point of the ride and jumped. That makes for a good preview of the fall, should one of these boxes full of 28 people ever fall out of the sky. (I couldn’t help thinking of this, I have a decent fear of heights.)

The Gondola itself holds records for its unsupported span of 1.88 miles between the two furthest towers, and for its rise, measuring over a quarter mile above the ground at its highest point.

At 16 miles per hour, it makes the traverse between the mountain tops, in 11 minutes. Contrast that with the usual ski down one peak, plus a drive to the base of the other, plus a number of gondola, chair and tow rides upward, which easily could take over an hour or three.

I’ve been to Whistler once before, and remember two things: a 45 minute run down blackcomb’s glacier to the village, and a Nintendo sponsored park. I guess I have yet another reason to go back.

Popularity: unranked [?]

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Mobile RFID Reader Brings Large Brother To Your Pocket
For the lovable on-the-go security informants in your family, the first portable RFID printer is now available as a great last-minute gift. And nothing states “Merry Christmas” and “We Trust You and All of Your Decisions, Honey” like an RFID…

Via [gizmodo]

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Honestly, most of the solar gadgets we see aren’t terribly practical, and often rely on a primary, wired power source. Not the Nextar NXBT handsfree kits—these are the real thing.

The NXBT is modest in its goals, serving as a no-frills Bluetooth handsfree kit for your automobile. It offers a simple caller ID interface as an upgrade, boasts either 150/6 or 250/10 hours of standby/talk time depending on the model, and recharges its batteries by just sittin’ on your dash, soakin’ up some rays, or something.

The point is, this device will probably succeed because of its plainness. Too many solar-powered gadgets use the tech as a gimmicky augmentation, or an impractical addition that renders the device useless for days at a time. The Nextar NXBT will sit in one of the sunniest places it could, perform one valuable function for a reasonable amount of time, and—with any luck—perform it well. The NXBT-001, with the lower speak time and no caller ID, will ship in Spring for $60, while the upgraded NXBT-002 will go for $70. Both will be on display at CES 2009. [Nextar]

Via [gizmodo]

Popularity: unranked [?]

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This is the Israeli Defense Force’s official YouTube channel, where they’re posting several gun camera videos per day of bombs falling on Gaza. That is, until Google temporarily shut it down.

It’s back up now, but a message on the idfnadesk channel’s profile (Age: 60, the wit) explains:

We were saddened earlier today that YouTube took down some of our exclusive footage showing the IDF’s operational success in operation Cast Lead against Hamas extremists in the Gaza Strip. Fortunately, due to blogger and viewer support, YouTube has put back up some of the footage they removed.

Naturally, the comments sections turned into a firestorm of hateful back-and-forths before they were disabled, which was probably a condition for re-upping the censored videos.

It’s a propaganda campaign, pure and easy. Even though you can see far worse in the chillingly note-perfect AC-130 stage in fucking Call of Duty 4, there are people dying in those buildings, and no, not all of them are terrorists. No war in history has been fought without the warring celebrations attempting to control the story with info dissemination. But using a forum like YouTube, a public community where smartbombs destroying buildings in a populated city are adjacent to sleeping kittens and 12 year olds’ rants on why homework sucks, and where stated 12 year olds (literally, and those of 12-year-old intellect) can fill the comment sections with racist hate-spew, is this where we draw the line? [idfnadesk - YouTube]

Oh, and any of stated hate spew in the comments here will be grounds for an immediate banhammer. And it has a gun camera and its own YouTube channel too.

Via [gizmodo]

Popularity: unranked [?]

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