Despite a few incompatibility issues that were causing it to crash with developer versions of iOS 5, the Google+ iPhone app is a hit. It’s already the top free app in Apple’s app store (though it’s noticeably missing from both the “Featured” tab and the “What’s Hot” tab— what gives, Apple?), and it’s already amassed 1,664 ratings with …
TechnologizerComputers
MacBook Air Review: Thin, Light, and Utterly Mainstream
When Steve Jobs unveiled the first MacBook Air at Macworld Expo back in January of 2008, he induced lots of oohs and aahs over its astoundingly thin case. I don’t, however, remember many people declaring that it was Apple’s first pass at building the garden-variety Mac of the future. I sure didn’t–in part because I was too busy …
San Diego Comic-Con, Day Zero: Has the Nerd Bubble Burst?
When you’re a professional, when you’re going there for work, the sad truth is that you do not go to Comic-Con with a feeling of joy in your heart. You go with a weary sense of inevitability.
You’re not complaining, God knows! But Comic-Con is too big and sweaty and busy to really enjoy. And when you’re working — when you’re covering …
Apple Rolls Out OS X Lion, Faster MacBook Airs, Kills MacBook
With little more than a noiseless digital “rawr” and an abrupt homepage image swap, Apple’s Mac OS X 10.7, codenamed “Lion,” is now officially available via the Apple Store—make that the “Mac App Store” that lives on recently updated “Snow Leopard” Macs, not to be confused with Apple’s online web store, an actual Apple retail store, or …
Google Can Detect if Your Computer Is Infected and Help You Fix It
Malware! Huah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing—unless you’re trying to profit by infecting people’s computers with malware, in which case you’re acting jerk-ily. Good news/bad news, though: Google can now detect certain types on malware on your computer and help you fix it.
It’s good news for people who want to know when …
Why Google+ Shouldn’t Be Chasing Celebrities
Lady Gaga is not on Google+. Nor is Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber or many other mega-celebrities, but apparently, Google wants to change that.
CNN reports that Google is drawing up a “celebrity acquisition plan” for its new social network, including a way to verify famous people as the real deal. Google won’t confirm the plans, but CNN …
Mother of All Knockoffs: Fake Apple Store Spotted in China?
I’ve seen some pretty convincing knockoffs in my time. Lithuanian flea-market tables with immaculately duplicated illicit versions of Microsoft and Norton products. Metro kiosks off Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg with jewel-cased, color-labeled computer games still technically in beta. I’ve flipped through stacks of fake DVDs, cheap …
TechnologizerComputers
With OS X Lion, Apple’s Macs Enter the iPad Era
Apple may be the most consistently inventive company in tech, but in its own way, it’s a remarkably single-minded outfit. For all of their profound differences, a Macintosh computer from 1984 and a new iPad 2 are soul mates. Each is the coolest, most elegant expression of Steve Jobs’ vision of the ideal computing device that Apple could …
Google Purchases ‘g.co’ Short Links (and What That Means for the Web)
In a blog post this week, Google announced that they’d purchased the rights to g.co, the company’s official URL shortcut. The internet giant already owns its own public link shortener, goo.gl, which works just like bit.ly, but g.co will redirect to official Google products.
“The shorter a URL, the easier it is to share and remember,” …
FBI Arrests 14 Suspects from Hacker Group ‘Anonymous’
The FBI arrested 14 people earlier today suspected of being involved with the hacker group Anonymous. They are being charged on “various counts of conspiracy and intentional damage to a protected computer,” and participating in an attack against PayPal late last year.
Dubbed “Operation Payback,” Anonymous targeted PayPal after …
Apple Posts Record Q3 with $28.6 Billion in Revenue
Apple’s financial results for its fiscal 2011 third quarter saw a record $28.57 billion in revenue and $7.31 billion in net profit. The company generated $15.7 billion in revenue and $3.25 billion in net profit during the same quarter last year.
Quarterly iPhone sales were up 142% versus Q3 2010; iPad sales were up 183%. Apple sold 20.34 …
Reddit Co-Founder Aaron Swartz Indicted for Data Theft, Could Face 35 Years in Prison
Aaron Swartz, a 24-year old programmer who helped popularize nerd-news depository Reddit.com, was indicted on data theft charges (PDF) for illegally downloading over 4 million documents from JSTOR, a research database typically used in academia.
The New York Times‘ Bits blog has the scoop, reporting that if found guilty, Swartz could …