MobileMe is set for some improvements in 2011, if a purported email from Steve Jobs is to be believed. A forum user over at MacRumors emailed the CEO to complain about the online service, and asked if it would get any better. The reassurance came in the form of a characteristic Steve Jobs one-liner without a lot of detail.
When MobileMe launched back in 2008, there was a host of problems. Email servers folded under the load of tens of thousands of new users, and reports with deleted emails and data lost in syncing persisted for months. To this day, users still have problems with contacts, emails and calendar entries being duplicated and reduplicated every time they sync.
One user emailed Steve Jobs to vent his frustration:
Jobs replied in his standard terse way:
In context, it seems like he’s talking about stability and performance improvements, which would obviously be welcomed by the users who are still shelling out $100 a year for the service. Rumors have hinted at new functionality for years, though, and we still don’t know what Apple’s doing in the North Carolina woods. It will be interesting to see what the new year will bring.
Source: MacRumors
With the success that the Cydia store has had, It seems apparent that cydia is going to begin a new program designed to allow users to purchase custom iOS cases that will match the theme of your choice. (assuming the designer has submitted one)
Here’s a quote from Patrick J. Dietzen, VP of Business Development:
Here’s an example of one of the designs that k.nitsua has submitted, just to give you an idea:
When more information comes to light we will let you know. Keep your eyes peeling in the store. The concept sounds extremely interesting and really brings everyone closer to their favorite place on their device… Cydia and Winterboard 
This news comes from K.nitsua. Thanks for the tip.
Apple calls the new MacBook Air “the next generation of MacBooks,” in an indication that they are planning on incorporating the innovative features of the refreshed model in all Apple laptops. Chief among these is the solid-state drive (SSD) flash storage that replaces the hard drive, cutting weight and extending battery life. Apple has telegraphed in a number of ways that the ‘instant-on’ capability of the MacBook Air and iPad will become standard on MacBooks – if not on all Macs – in the future.
“All notebooks will be like this someday,” Jobs said on the stage yesterday, calling the MacBook Air “the future of the MacBook.” In the press release accompanying the Air launch, Apple strongly asserted that “the first of a next generation of notebooks which will replace mechanical hard disks and optical drives with Internet services and solid state flash storage.” So it’s clear that they intend to standardize on flash storage as opposed to mechanical hard disks. Apple is already the largest buyer of NAND flash memory in the world, snapping up so many of the silicon wafers that it’s single handedly caused worldwide shortages time and time again. However, their purchasing power has also enabled them to get flash at a good price, and further driving the price down by forcing manufacturers to increase production.
So is this a good development for the future of the MacBook, as well as the notebook industry in general? For one thing, the lack of moving parts eliminates the number one killer of hard drives: head crashes. Also, start-up time and access time is faster in solid state memory than in mechanical hard drives, again because of no moving parts. Heat buildup is limited and power usage is much lower. On the downside, the high price makes storage larger than the 256GB in the 13-inch Air impractical, though as production ramps up we should see prices come down. One major drawback is that there are a limited number of write cycles with flash memory; mechanical hard drives can be rewritten as many as ten times more than flash chips.
Technical and price shortcomings will doubtlessly diminish over time, and for a user who needs a light, medium-duty laptop – and has money to spare – the current crop of MacBook Airs are a fine choice. For those who are looking for a more affordable, durable option and are not rabid early adopters, waiting a year or so might be appropriate.
image via Apple
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MegaReader: 1.8 million e-books on your iPhone
MegaReader provides easy access to 1.8 million free e-books. (Credit: Inkstone Software) If I’m ever stranded on a desert island, I hope I’ve got MegaReader on my iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. And, um, a solar charger. And 3G. And a Starbucks would be nice. Because MegaReader, you see, supplies enough reading material to last a lifetime. The app promises access to a whopping 1.8 million free e-books …
Read more on CNET
In a pile of new Apple patent applications released today, one surprise stood out: Apple is working on an external transceiver that would turn an iPod touch – or any mobile device, from a media player to a game console – into a full-featured cellular phone. The patent, called “Accessory Transceiver for Mobile Devices,” was highlighted by Patently Apple today. In addition to giving calling services to an iPod, the patent also details how the transceiver could be used to connect an iPhone to a different cellular network, specifically referencing a CDMA network like the one used by Verizon in the US.
The patent, credited to Apple engineers Paul Holden, Robert Borchers, Jesse Lee Dorogusker, Emily Clark Schubert and Stephen Chick, was one of 27 that were released today. In the introduction, the inventors noted that “conventional mobile devices are often dedicated to performing a specific application,” such as MP3 players that only play music or dumbphones that are limited to making calls. The invention aims to add communication functionality to devices that don’t currently have it, allowing you to, for example, make calls from a PSP, or browse the Web from a phone without data services. The patent notes, significantly, that “a mobile device can be equipped with an internal transceiver that allows the mobile device to communicate with a mobile phone network, for example, a GSM mobile telephone network can use an accessory transceiver to communicate with a different mobile phone network, for example, a CDMA mobile telephone network.” So this invention would allow any iPhone to access Verizon’s network, whether or not Apple ever comes out with the long-rumored CDMA version of the phone.
A more likely Apple product based on this patent, though, would be an accessory that would give cell phone capability to iPad or iPod touch devices. The drawings attached to the patent, in fact, show the iPod touch as the controlling device for the transceiver. In addition to a cell network, the transceiver could be used to access other wireless data systems, such as satellite networks, WiFi, WiMAX, and so forth. The transceiver could either be connected by a cord to the device or, in some “embodiments of the invention,” wirelessly.
source: Patently Apple