Even if you read our story earlier tonight on iPod Godfather Tony Fadell’s new company Nest Labs and its new Learning Thermostat, you may still be wondering how anyone could make a thermostat an object of beauty. So we sat down with Fadell to get a video demo of the device that brought him out of retirement and has been eighteen months in the making.
True to the Apple aesthetic it’s one big dial you can spin and push to control a sophisticated array of features.
It’ll be the first thermostat marketed directly to consumers. Can they get excited enough to plunk down a couple hundred dollars? My husband and I are finally putting a new heating system in our drafty San Francisco Victorian. After this demo, I was sold. How about you? → Read More
For the last eighteen months, the tech world has been anxiously awaiting news of what iPod godfather Tony Fadell is up to. His staff has been sworn to secrecy since word got out he was leaving retirement to do something new. Despite reporters camping out in front of his office with cameras, the news somehow stayed a secret– no small feat in the ever-leaky land of Silicon Valley.
No doubt the anticipation raised expectations in fan boys’ minds that the next great entertainment or communication device was going to be unveiled by the former DJ who oversaw 18 versions of the iPod and the first three versions of the iPhone.
Fadell is well aware that those fan boys may be in for some confusion or some disappointment today. Because he’s announcing what finally got him to come out of retirement and start a new company: A desire to reinvent thermostats. → Read More
If you’re one of the many Apple fanbois outside of the original seven countries in which Apple initially launched the iPhone 4S, I feel your pain. Though I placed my pre-order early, “complications” at AT&T have forced me to endure another 21-18 days and suffice it to say, I’ve turned a nice pukey shade of green with envy. But it’s possible you may get your new iPhone 4S before I do.
Apple has today opened up pre-orders in 22 new countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The 4S will be available in-store next Friday, October 28, reports MacRumors. → Read More
To add to the ever growing list of social networks out there, a “Twitter for video” mobile application called Shoutz is just making its way into the App Store and Android Market. The app allows users to connect with friends (or followers), along with their favorite sports stars or celebrities by both sending and receiving 15-second video clips, aka Shoutz.
Much like Google+ and now Facebook, Shoutz lets you choose who you’d like to share certain Shoutz with, whether it be a one-on-one convo, a message to your family, your weekend softball team, gambling buddies, or your entire community of followers. The app has also partnered with different groups like the Nascar Members Club and NFL Alumni to let users join fan clubs, through which they can see Shoutz from their favorite drivers, players, artists etc. → Read More
Before I begin, two points:
1) I do not own any Apple stock. I have absolutely no interest in whether the stock goes up or down.
2) One can make an argument that there may be other reasons to sell Apple’s stock now (namely, uncertainty following the passing of Steve Jobs), I’m simply arguing that the stock’s collapse today due to yesterday’s earnings is laughable.
Watching the stock market following Apple’s Q4 earnings yesterday and into today, I’m reminded of a famous Steve Jobs quote. “If you see a stylus, they blew it.” Reworked, the quote today would be: “If you’re investing based on Apple analysts, you blew it.” → Read More
Yes, Apple missed with their earnings today. It’s the first time in a long time that has happened. Some are suggesting that hasn’t happened since 2002. That’s big news. But it’s also masking even bigger news: Apple’s expectations for next quarter.
In a press release, it can be hard to tell what numbers on a page signify. But those who follow Apple closely must have taken one look at Apple’s guidance for next quarter and had their jaws drop. I know mine did. Apple is projecting to make $37 billion in revenue next quarter, their holiday quarter. They’re projecting an EPS of $9.30. Both are insane (in a good way).
To put this in some perspective, Apple has never had a quarter over $30 billion in revenue. The closest they’ve come was last quarter, when revenue hit $28.57 billion (this past quarter was their second best ever). A year ago during the holiday quarter, Apple did $26.7 billion in revenue. They’re projecting these numbers to be $10 billion higher. → Read More
A tipster informs us that UberMedia, the company behind social networking apps like Echofon and UberSocial / Twidroyd, has unintentionally pushed its new iPhone application onto the App Store (iTunes link). This is plausible, because the Chime.in website isn’t accessible yet at the time of writing, although the support pages appear to be live already.
So is Chime.in the oft-rumored challenger to Twitter, which UberMedia has had run-ins with in the past? UberMedia has always denied that it had plans to launch a competing social network, so it’s a question worth asking. And the answer is no, not really. → Read More
News from the never-ending patent war between Apple and Samsung: the Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Samsung filed for preliminary injunctions in the Tokyo District Court and in the New South Wales Registry, Australia. This time, the goal is to block sales of the iPhone 4S, which launched in both countries last Friday.
According to the report, Samsung also tries to stop sales of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 in Japan. The company says that Apple – you guessed it – infringes on its technology patents (earlier this month, Samsung made a similar move in Italy and France). Samsung earlier stated it will be more aggressive towards Apple going forward. → Read More
A Japanese accessory maker called Century started selling the “monolith” [JP] today, a case for the iPhone 4, a 1,900mAh battery, and a mini projector rolled into one (it’s still unclear if the device works with the iPhone 4S as well). The monolith is sized at 63.5×126.6×22mm and weighs 97g.
Century says that users can expect images sized at up to 60cm (in 16:9 format), in 640×360 resolution, with a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and with 12 lumens brightness. → Read More
Well, this is a bit curious.
We’re all well aware that a phone such as the iPhone 4S requires a case. It’s just too damn precious and costs way too much to go unprotected, but the best cases are often expensive. That said, I’m sure many iPhone 4 owners were hoping to keep their old case when upgrading to the iPhone 4S, but if OtterBox is your go-to case brand, think again.
OtterBox iPhone 4 cases won’t protect the iPhone 4S, with the exception of the Reflex Series. But the iPhone 4S cases from OtterBox will protect the iPhone 4. → Read More
While the first teardowns of the iPhone 4 (excluding Gizmodo’s crude vivisection) were extremely exciting due to the novelty of the design, the 4S doesn’t have much to offer. The stem of the iPhone 5 hopefuls’ slight disappointment, i.e. that the 4S is essentially a spec bump, meant that this teardown would necessarily be less than thrilling.
All the same, there are changes and iFixit astutely points them out. → Read More
Viber Media, maker of fine Android and iPhone applications that let you call and text your buddies for free, is today releasing upgraded apps for both aforementioned platforms.
Viber 2.1 comes with a fresh voice engine, providing users with HD-quality VoIP calling and improvements of call quality when calls are made over low-bandwidth networks.
Also new is the ability to share photos, enabling users to exchange picture messages by adding new or previously taken photos to texts, or sending photos by email or via Facebook. In addition, Viber is introducing location-tagged messages that allow users to identify their whereabouts to recipients. → Read More
We don’t want to turn into TCMZ or anything here, but since this was such an inflammatory story to begin with and we followed up on the criminal charges a couple months ago, it seemed worthwhile to put a cap on the whole “stolen iPhone 4″ saga.
If you’ll remember, Jason Chen (editor at Gizmodo at the time) was sheltered from prosecution by journalism protection laws. But the pair of guys who sold the phone to them, Brian Hogan and Sage Wallower, weren’t so lucky. → Read More
Best Buy today announced that it will be offering the iPhone 4S, with in-store pre-orders available now and availability beginning October 14.
Just like at Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, and Apple, the iPhone 4S will cost $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for the 32GB model, and $399 for the 64GB model. All three carriers offering the 4S will be represented. → Read More
Well, what do you know?
Despite all the “disappointment” over a basic refresh rather than a newly designed iPhone, Apple has still managed to break records. Apple today revealed that pre-orders for its iPhone 4S have topped one million in the span of 24 hours, putting to shame its earlier pre-order record of 600,000 iPhone 4 pre-orders in a day. → Read More
RadioShack has a trade-in program for used gadgets that (circumstances permitting) may just save you quite a bit on an iPhone 4S. Even better, if you trade in a undamaged 32GB iPhone 4 (scratch free, no battery issues, etc.), you’ll get enough store credit back from RadioShack to purchase a 16GB iPhone 4S and still have money to burn. Well, not burn so much as spend on accessories or other RadioShack goodies, but you get the point.
Here’s how it works: → Read More
Sprint has long been Android territory, but today everything changes. There’s still about 24 hours left until the brand new, super snappy, personal assistant-equipped iPhone 4S is available for pre-order, but the yellow carrier has put the iPhone 4 up for pre-order this morning.
The 8GB iPhone 4 is running for $99 on a two-year contract with the “Now Network,” which means it’s the only iPhone 4 to offer up unlimited data. → Read More
I drop my iPhone a lot. In fact, since I decided to hang on to my 3GS and hold out for what ended up being a pretty disappointing announcement yesterday, I’ve cared increasingly less each time that thing hits the floor. Once I get my hands on the iPhone 4S… Well, that’s another story. Still, accidents happen all the time and for the cash Apple’s asking, a little insurance never hurt.
Enter: AppleCare+. → Read More
Can’t navigate around Apple’s site right now because their servers are melting? Still want to see the snazzy 5 minute video they made to introduce the iPhone 4S?
Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered. → Read More
Despite predictions to the contrary, Apple did not announce a cheaper, mass market version of the iPhone today. Instead, it announced an upgraded iPhone 4 called the iPhone 4S. It’s the same on the outside, but with all new insides.
However, there are more affordable iPhones now on the market: the old ones. Apple says it’s keeping the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 around. Not only that, it’s dropping their prices. Why would Apple keep these aging devices alive? Simple. To battle Android, Symbian, RIM and Windows Phone – especially in emerging markets. → Read More
