Archive for the ‘Products’ Category
Apple’s plan to wipe out disc drives is nearly complete | Apple – CNET News
The disc drive is dead — or it\’s at least issuing a triumphant death rattle.
Not in PCs just yet, but certainly in Apple\’s Macs. Earlier this week Apple introduced updated versions of its MacBook Pro with Retina Display, alongside an all new Mac Pro. What wasn\’t updated was Apple\’s line of non-Retina MacBook Pros, the only Apple devices that were still sporting a disc drive. In fact, Apple axed the 15-inch version and trimmed the non-Retina line to a single, 13-inch machine. The company has whittled away at product lines like this in the past, and it\’s usually a sign of imminent extinction.
via Apple’s plan to wipe out disc drives is nearly complete | Apple – CNET News.
Justin Timberlake’s ’20/20′ Tour: How the Star Got Cornered by Live Nation Deal
The seemingly flawless rollout of Justin Timberlake’s new album, The 20/20 Experience, which sold 968,000 copies during its first week of release, has confounded many in the music business. After all, it wasn’t long ago — June 2011, to be exact — that the 32-year-old singer declared in Playboy, “Music is not my focus right now,” shortly after telling Vanity Fair: “I wouldn’t say I’m not going to put out another [album]. I would say that would be a bad bet, if you were betting.”
One entity that was putting money on the former ‘N Syncer’s musical future: Live Nation. In 2008, the concert industry giant entered the business of Timberlake when it acquired Signatures, a leading merchandising company that counts the pop star among its exclusive licenses. Months later, it announced a multiyear agreement to feature 901, the premium tequila brand Timberlake launched, as the official tequila of Live Nation venues.
via Justin Timberlake’s ’20/20′ Tour: How the Star Got Cornered by Live Nation Deal.
The Most Stunning Ad Ever Made for a Used Car With 128,000 Miles That’s Been Puked In Twice | Adweek
“You’re going to need an abacus to keep track of all the ass you’ll be getting in this thing!” That’s one of dozens of stellar lines in the homemade ad below—a truly astonishing collage posted to Craigslist by one Nate Walsh, who may be a scrapbooking fanatic (he hasn’t replied to our email yet) but is certainly one of the most inventively twisted human beings in the greater southern Illinois area. Each section is more hilarious than the last, as Walsh pitches what’s clearly a piece of crap not just with humor but with panache.
It ends up reading like the most amusing infomerical script you’ve ever read—complete with the stunning price reveal at the end, and the car framed by Wieden-esque images of fighter jets, explosions and fireworks. Seriously, you couldn’t do better than this. (It makes that earlier homemade Pontiac ad look like it was made by a preschooler.) Because people are stupid, it’s already been flagged for removal from Craigslist. Via Happy Place.
via The Most Stunning Ad Ever Made for a Used Car With 128,000 Miles That’s Been Puked In Twice | Adweek.
Compelled To Forever Wander, The Nomad Is An Espresso Machine That Gathers No Moss | TechCrunch
Compelled To Forever Wander, The Nomad Is An Espresso Machine That Gathers No Moss
It’s not as compact as an Aeropress, but the Nomad looks like a solid way to get an espresso shot from a small device. The tiny machine, which is currently on Kickstarter, boasts the same principles used in full-sized espresso machines. The Nomad is just a lot smaller, more efficient, and doesn’t require any power making it rather portable — hence the name.
The company is looking for $100,000 on Kickstarter. Pledge $165 to pre-order a Nomad. It’s available in black and green. I’m in for one.
As the videos show here, the shots seem smooth and proper. By using pressure from dual micro chambers, the Nomad can apparently achieve the same results as a full-size lever espresso machine.
via Compelled To Forever Wander, The Nomad Is An Espresso Machine That Gathers No Moss | TechCrunch.
The Future of Car Gadgets: What Comes After the Vacuum | NBC 7 San Diego
On Tuesday night Honda revealed that its new Odyssey would feature a vacuum cleaner built into the vehicle. No longer will you have to struggle with dust busters, cigarette lighter adapters, extension cords or coin-operated vacuums to clean up after the kiddies.
“I thought it was a joke at first,” concedes Peter De Lorenzo, founder of Autoextremist.com. “And then I thought about it, and I guess for some people it might float their boat, but I think it’s kind of ridiculous. But people with vans do different things… maybe it will be a miracle invention for them.”
via The Future of Car Gadgets: What Comes After the Vacuum | NBC 7 San Diego.
Crystal Frantzen Allegedly Gives Gary Tipton Oral Sex For ‘Better Deal’ On Car
Crystal Frantzen, 28, was spotted performing oral sex on 58-year-old Gary Tipton in public “in exchange for a better deal” on a Cadillac she wanted to buy from him, according to a Sullivan County, Tenn. Sheriff’s report obtained by the Smoking Gun.
Dispatchers received complaints of indecent exposure at a gas station parking lot in Blountville around noon on March 20, WCYB reported.
The act was allegedly taking place inside the very car that Tipton was trying to sell, according to the Times News.
via Crystal Frantzen Allegedly Gives Gary Tipton Oral Sex For ‘Better Deal’ On Car.
Ford Ad Mockups Lead To Firings At JWT In India
The ad agency responsible for the Ford ad mock-ups that caused an uproar last week has fired some of the employees involved.
The website Ads of the World reportedly posted several Ford ad mock-ups online last week, including one depicting former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with three bound women and another depicting Paris Hilton kidnapping the Kardashian sisters, who were also tied up. The fake ads, which originated in India, sparked outrage in the country, which has been grappling with a series of gang-rape cases and just passed a new anti-rape law.
Ad agency J. Walter Thompson (JWT), the ad agency responsible for the ad mock-ups, told The Huffington Post in a statement Wednesday that it has fired some of its employees in response. Ford spokesman Chris Preuss also confirmed to HuffPost that JWT fired the “employees involved.”
“After a thorough internal review, we have taken appropriate disciplinary action with those involved, which included the exit of employees at JWT,” Anaka Kobzev, a spokesperson for JWT, said in the statement. “These were necessary steps owing to the direct accountability of the concerned individuals as we work to ensure that both the right oversight and processes are strictly enforced so that this never happens again.”
Apple Appears In Court In China To Defend Against Siri Patent Infringement Claim | TechCrunch
Apple is in court again in China, defending another of its products from attack based on pre-existing claims from a Chinese company. This time around it’s Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, that has landed it in Chinese legal trouble, after last year another company took issue with the iPad trademark resulting in a $60 million settlement deal.
The claim this time is from Zhizhen Technology Co., a Shanghai company that holds a patent for voice recognition software for its “Xiao i Robot,” software that was originally patented back in 2004. Siri, Inc. was founded in 2007, after being spun out of SRI International and before being acquired by Apple in 2010. Zhizhen first filed suit back in July last year, at which time this video supposedly demonstrating a version of Xiao i Robot in action on a Lenovo device surfaced.
via Apple Appears In Court In China To Defend Against Siri Patent Infringement Claim | TechCrunch.
Google Maps Beefs Up Its Live Transit Information With Updates For NYC, DC And Salt Lake City | TechCrunch
One of the things that’s frustrating about Apple’s Maps is that you don’t get the integrated transit information that’s the lifeblood of living in a place like New York City or San Francisco. Google Maps has always had that information integrated into the product, which is a huge help for people who live in those metropolitan areas.
The difficulty for Google is to keep up with all of the transit options, especially when it comes to live information. Today, it announced updates for NYC, D.C. and Salt Lake City, which will show you live departure times for seven lines on the NYC Subway system (MTA) and buses, subway in D.C. (Metrorail) and trams in Salt Lake City (UTA). There are more than 800 cities with transit information available in Google Maps, but these three cities are getting more attention, since they have the most riders.
Google Maps has been a massive success since launching on iOS last December, and transit information is a huge advantage.
Looks Like Those 1M Mystery BlackBerry 10 Devices Went To A Verizon Distributor | TechCrunch
BlackBerry delivered one of the world’s most mysterious press releases a short time ago when it revealed that it had sold a cool 1 million BB10 devices to an unnamed partner, but now it looks like some sleuthing has turned up the real client. AllThingsD and Detwiler Fenton both report that the likely source of the order was Brightstar, an international distribution company that counts Verizon, along with carriers around the world as its partners.
Brightstar is an established BlackBerry customer, and distributes handsets from the Waterloo manufacturer in some of its strongest markets, including in countries like Malaysia where BlackBerry retains very high popularity. Brightstar’s order (if indeed this is the client in question) would indeed be the largest ever single order of BlackBerry devices, but it’s also potentially a way for companies like Verizon to make a sizable bet on the company’s brand new OS and hardware, without taking on all the risk for such an order itself.
Detwiler Fenton says that the move indicates “Verizon doesn’t believe this well be a strong seller since it normally tries to allocate hot product on its own,” and that using Brightstar means it will spread out some of the responsibility and potential reward that comes with placing inventory in big-box retail locations like Best Buy, in exchange for the security of not being left solely on the hook should things go south. The U.S. launch of BlackBerry 10 happened last Friday, and while not all the cards are on the table, there’s still some early reason to believe things didn’t go amazingly well.
via Looks Like Those 1M Mystery BlackBerry 10 Devices Went To A Verizon Distributor | TechCrunch.
Ed Parnell's Cunning Plan 