World of Apple

Apple has released Backup 3.1 through its Software Update utility. The update is described accordingly by Apple:

“Backup 3.1 delivers added support for some backup destinations and addresses file restoration and other issues. Backup 3.1 is recommended for all users of Backup 3.0. Significant areas addressed are: improved support for iDisk, local hard drives, and some network destinations (Mac OS X Tiger only); new iWeb QuickPick and updated iLife plan; and addresses issues with restoring files.”

This page contains a video and several images showing some of the touch screen patents that Apple owns. Although the video appears to be for research purposes it contains some interesting footage on just how these patents could be used.

Just to confirm to the confused world this is no way affiliated with Apple (as far as we’re aware) but the hand gestures this guy uses in this video is very similar to those recently patented by Apple. Thus we came to the conclusion that this video would be an excellent an example of the potential in one of these products.

Incase the site goes down I’ve posted the movie over the jump

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Apple has today released the much rumoured 1GB iPod nano, the nano is priced at $149 (£109).

The iPod shuffle has had a small price shift but is still available in 512MB and 1GB formats.

Apple has once again added further video content to the iTunes Music Store. This time it adds shows from the Showtime network.

Episodes available include Sleeper Cell, Weeds, and Fat Actress, as always episodes available for $1.99.

Apple will open another Apple Store this weekend. Situated in Southern California theApple Store Irvine Spectrum will open at 10:00am with the usual celebrations.

As always if you’re attending we want to hear from you.

Apple has announced its upcoming milestone of 1 billion song downloads.

As always prizes will be awarded at every 100,00 song milestones starting at 950,100,000, prizes will include a 4GB Black iPod nano and a $100 iTunes Music Store card.

The grand prize will be awarded to the person who downloads the 1 billionth song, the prize will consist of a 20-inch iMac, 10 60GB iPods (5 white, 5 black) and a $10,000 iTunes Music Store card.

Apple has sent out invitations to select members of the media, inviting them to a Special Event on February 22nd 2006.

The event will be held in the Moscone Centre in San Francisco, more details when we get them.

World of Apple cannot be assured of the legitimacy of this invitation. We just got excited, you know how it is….

[Update - We’re now pretty sure this is fake. If you know different, then tell us.]

The year is 1985 and Steve Jobs is in trouble, after hiring Sculley as new CEO of Apple he began to enter a struggle over power in an attempt to regain control over his beloved Apple. In a move that was strange to Jobs he was banished to the distant office known as “Siberia” and it didn’t take long before he left…

$7 million and seven employees later Steve Jobs had a new interest, NeXT Computer. They originally worked on PostScript like technologies, working closely with Adobe but they soon found direction. It didn’t take long before Apple targeted a lawsuit at NeXT and in January of 1986 it was agreed that NeXT would be restricted to the workstation market.

NeXT was overall a successful company, the company had good hardware sales for some years but was especially prevalent in the software market, NeXTSTEP was the name of the Operating System and some say it has strong resemblance to OS X, not only was NeXTSTEP an Operating System ahead of its time but NeXT Computer was constantly pushing new technologies including WorldWideWeb the first web browser, although it was a third party application, NeXT was an ideal platform for developers with its object orientated programming and simplistic OS.

But things at NeXT soon began to slide and on December 20 1996 Apple announced it would be acquiring NeXT Software for $400 million, most of that in cash! Apple had an idea, they wanted to use NeXTSTEP as the foundation for its outdated Mac OS.

Here is an extract from the original press release;

CUPERTINO, Calif.–Dec. 20, 1996–Apple Computer, Inc. today announced its intention to purchase NeXT Software Inc., in a friendly acquisition for $400 million. Pending regulatory approvals, all NeXT products, services, and technology research will become part of Apple Computer, Inc. As part of the agreement, Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of NeXT Software, will return to Apple–the company he co-founded in 1976–reporting to Dr. Gilbert F. Amelio, Apple’s Chairman and CEO.

The acquisition will bring together Apple’s and NeXT’s innovative and complementary technology portfolios and significantly strengthens Apple’s position as a company advancing industry standards. Apple’s leadership in ease-of-use and multimedia solutions will be married to NeXT’s strengths in development software and operating environments for both the enterprise and Internet markets. NeXT’s object oriented software development products will contribute to Apple’s goal of creating a differentiated and profitable software business, with a wide range of products for enterprise, business, education, and home markets.

It was a great move for Jobs putting him in a position on the board again and not long after he was in the position of Interim CEO. A few months later 9 years ago today Apple Completed its purchase of NeXT and the future of Apple was set in stone, with Steve Jobs at the head again Apple soon took a foot hold and has been climbing to the stop ever since.

Today we start a new series on World of Apple. The Bloggers Edition will be a collection of posts over the next few months written in a blogging fashion with the aim of making an opinion rather than communicating news. With the addition of the Bloggers Edition Series we welcome a new writer John. Be nice now.

Can the new iPod video stand up to the durability of the earlier models? I take it on a head to head test with the older models.

Overall I have had at least one of every model iPod which I have to admit is a little stupid, but I have noticed something, going towards the more recent iPod releases. They scratch a lot easier than earlier models. Apple has been sued by many angry iPod nano owners which has been noted about because they are scratch prone and all apple did was include a flimsy cloth case, which can even scratch the iPod. They also did this with the new video iPod. I got my video iPod the week after it was released, of which I had to trade 4 iPods in to get it and I listened to it on the train ride back from the city, where the Apple reseller I got it from is located, and I noticed one thing, I had gotten off the train and got into my car when I noticed a scratch. I was infuriated because it was in the case the whole time and it was in my pocket with nothing else in it and I was babying it. Naturally when I got home I tried rubbing it out, using iPod scratch remover, which didn’t work. I eventually got over it and bought an agent eighteen case, which did the protecting job nicely, but then I noticed more scratches under the light. I read Apple’s forums up and down and I heard bad and good things about brasso. So I decided to try it because there was a can of it in the garage. I followed a step by step website I found on Google, which was for a nano but the video is basically the same outside makeup. The gentleman on the site said it took him somewhere around three hours, so I wasn’t discouraged and started. At first it looked like it was working. I worked for four hours on it then let it dry overnight before doing anything, and in the morning I woke up and it was SCRATCHED MORE! I couldn’t believe it! So now all I have to say to people who are trying to use brasso to wipe away scratches on their iPod are taking a risk, not a very good risk, because you can cause more harm to your iPod if you do not do it correctly.

The CoStar realty group has posted information referring to the signing of a deal between Apple and IBM over a 116,830 square foot building.

The building is at 10400-10450 Ridgeview Court in Cupertino.

“Apple Computer signed a deal for the entire 116,830-square-foot building at 10400-10450 Ridgeview Court in Cupertino. About 56,315 square feet was a direct deal with the landlord and the remaining 60,515 square feet was a sublease from IBM,” Lindsay Austin reports for CoStar Realty.