Rumor Has It, Ep. 3- The real lame-os of Silicon Valley (podcast)

Rumor Has It, Ep. 3: The real lame-os of Silicon Valley (podcast)
On last week's show, Karyne bet that the Galaxy Nexus (it used to be called the Galaxy Prime) would be unveiled today at CTIA, whereas Emily voted that it won't be released. Guess what? We both were right: Samsung was going to announce the phone at CTIA, but then decided to delay the announcement, citing Steve Jobs' death as the reason for the delay. We're not sure if we believe that's truly the reason.Also this week, and speaking of Steve Jobs, there are rumors of a Steve Jobs biopic and we wonder who will play him in the movie; for some awful reason, Motorola thought using the Razr name was still a good idea 100 years later; Microsoft is planning on releasing a next-generation console someday; the Internet is abuzz with rumors of a 10-inch Kindle Fire before the holidays; and the dumbest TV show of all time has got to be "Real Housewives of Silicon Valley"...or whatever they end up calling it.EPISODE 3DragCloseThis content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.Subscribe: RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS (640x360) | iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (640x360)PodcastYour browser does not support the audio element. Show notes:Amazon 10.1-inch tablet to ship before the holidays?Microsoft to announce new Xbox at E3 2012?Motorola, Verizon to debut Droid Razr Oct. 18?That Daft Punk songSony Pictures getting rights to Steve Jobs movie?Spielberg, Dreamworks working on 'Halo' movie for 2012?Is Bravo producing a Silicon Valley version of the Real Housewives?Follow us on Twitter! @EmilyDreyfuss, @karynelevy, @RumorShow. Heard a tech rumor you think we should cover? E-mail karyne.levy [at] cnet.com.

How to export iPhoto slideshow as QuickTime movie

How to export iPhoto slideshow as QuickTime movie
If you are regularly snapping photos, you are likely sharing them online via Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, and the like. If you want to punch up a photo presentation, however, you can create a slideshow in iPhoto and then export it as a QuickTime movie. This creates a package that contains your photos along with a template, transitions, and music. You can then upload this QuickTime movie to share online or sync with your iPod, iPhone, or iPad. Allow me to demonstrate after the break.Exporting a slideshow can be as easy as selecting a size and hitting Export.Matt Elliott/CNETAfter you have created a slideshow and have it just the way you want it, click the Export button at the bottom of iPhoto. From the pop-up window, you'll able to select the size of your QuickTime movie. iPhoto shows a handy chart, letting you know the resolution of the Mobile, Medium, Large, and Display sizes and which devices are compatible with each size. Select the size or sizes you'd like (iPhoto will create a different file for each size you select), click Export, and then choose where on your hard drive you'd like to store the file.Custom Export options give you fine control of your QuickTime file, including additional file formats.Matt Elliott/CNETFor more options, click the Custom Export button. From here, you can select other QuickTime file formats and name the file. Click the Options button for video compression and filter settings and sound compression settings.Lastly, if you check the Automatically send slideshow to iTunes box, you can have your slideshows ready to sync with your iOS devices. This feature didn't work for me at first, but after updating iTunes and enabling Sync Movies (highlight your iOS device in iTunes, click on Movies from the top row, check off Sync Movies, and select how many you'd like to sync), subsequent iPhoto slideshow exports showed up in iTunes.You can send slideshow exports from iPhoto to iTunes to sync with iOS devices.Matt Elliott/CNETFrom an iPhone, exported iPhoto slideshows are accessible from the iPod app, under Videos. From an iPad, they are located in the Videos app.That's it; once you export a slideshow, it's easy to share online or sync with an iOS device.

Sprint iPhone 5 owners, welcome to Ting

Sprint iPhone 5 owners, welcome to Ting
Sprint subscribers who own an iPhone 5 can now bring their phones to Ting. OK, but what exactly is Ting, you may ask?Launched in 2012, Ting is a mobile service that attemps to avoid the limitations and frustrations of the typical wireless plan. Ting offers various rates based on how many minutes, messages, and megabytes you use. But you don't actually pick a specific wireless plan. Instead, you just fall into a certain rate bucket depending on how much you consume each month.As an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) partner of Sprint, Ting allows you to bring certain phones to its network from Sprint. Until now, eligible devices included several Android phones and the iPhone 4 and 4S. But now you can add the iPhone 5 to the mix. Ting offers a full tutorial on how you can bring your iPhone to its service.What about the newer iPhone 5S and 5C? Sprint keeps the newest devices for itself, at least for a while, so Ting is forced to wait until it can support them. But they're coming."The iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C hit the Sprint lineup in late September of 2013." Ting said in a blog post Tuesday. "So, we expect they'll be able to make the move to Ting at about the same time this year."

Spotify updates mobile app to support iOS 6

Spotify updates mobile app to support iOS 6
Apple's iOS 6 likely won't be out until next month, but Spotify's app is already supporting it.Out today, version 0.5.4 touts its iOS 6 support. Developers running the latest beta of iOS 6 can test Spotify to see if the claim holds true. The rest of us will have to wait until Apple actually launches its latest mobile OS.iPad users who download the update can see more stations. Otherwise, the new version is focused on bug fixes, taking care of login issues for Facebook users and offering the usual "improved stability."Related storiesSpotify continues me-too Pandora strategySpotify for iPadSpotify brings Pandora-like free streaming to AndroidHow to add an equalizer to SpotifySpotify's free service lets you listen to songs on your device by choosing from an array of stations based on genre. If you like a particular song, you can save it to a playlist.The premium service, which costs $9.99 per month, lets you sync your playlists with your device to listen offline. You can also stream any piece of music from Spotify's online content. New users get a 48-hour trial of Spotify Premium to take the paid service for a test drive.The Spotify app is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch and requires iOS 5.0 or higher. Spotify is also available for Android devices and PCs.

Apple OKs Cinemax app, despite anti-porn policy

Apple OKs Cinemax app, despite anti-porn policy
A new app has arrived at the iTunes store that may violate Apple's own policy of keeping pornographic material off its app store.The company has given its blessing to the Cinemax Max Go app, which provides on-demand access to movies and programming on mobile devices to the cable channel's subscribers. The app also includes a Max After Dark tab, which allows streaming of some of the channel's softcore programming, which helped earned Cinemax the nickname "Skinemax."The app includes a disclosure that states users must be at least 17 years old to download the app because, among other things, it includes "frequent/intense sexual content or nudity." It also contains parental controls designed to prevent children from viewing racy material. However, as first pointed out by GigaOm, the programming being made available on iPads appears to violate Apple's own anti-porn policy.Movies with titles such as "The Hills Have Thighs," "Bikini Jones," and "The Temple of Eros" are available under the tab. But Apple's App Store guidelines state that "apps containing pornographic material, defined by Webster's Dictionary as 'explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings,' will be rejected."Apple is notoriously strict about what type of content it allows on the App Store. The company has in the past banned apps that contained certain sexual material and at one point even rejected an app from Project Gutenberg because it provided access to the Kama Sutra.Apple CEO Steve Jobs even reportedly told a customer asking about the company's porn policy that "we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy and (sic) Android phone."Apple representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple offers tips for unexpected Smart Playlist sync results

Apple offers tips for unexpected Smart Playlist sync results
Last month, Apple released iTunes 9.0.1, which addressed a number of iPhone syncing issues as well as making some performance and stability improvements. We covered some of these improvements and offered a tip on relieving some of the problems people encountered with Smart Playlist syncing. Today, Apple started offering their own tips on what to do when Smart Playlists are not syncing as expected. If you are syncing a Smart Playlist and you notice that the order and contents displayed in iTunes don't match what appears in your iPhone or iPod after syncing then Apple offers the following suggestions:Smart Playlist on the device is not in the same order in Tunes:1. Click the Smart Playlist.2. Setup the sort order and arrange as desired.3. Right-click the Smart Playlist and choose Copy to Play Order.4. Sync the device with iTunes.If this does not resolve the issue, continue with the following steps.Smart Playlist on the device does not have the same content as shown in iTunes:Check the Smart Playlist if its content is all the same kind of media (i.e. all music), try these steps:1. Right-click the Smart Playlist and choose Edit Smart Playlist.2. Click the "+" button to create a new rule.3. Add a new rule with the following selections: Media Kind > Is > Music (or the specific media type for that playlist).4. Click OK.5. Sync the device with iTunes.Finally, if none of the above resolves the issue, continue with the steps listed below.1. Right-click the smart playlist and choose Edit Smart Playlist.2. Deselect the option for "Live updating."3. Click OK.4. Sync the device with iTunes.5. Check to see if the issue is resolved. If not, proceed to step 6.6. Click the Smart Playlist.7. Choose Edit > Select All.8. Choose File > New Playlist from Selection.9. Enter a name for the playlist.10. Click the device on the left-hand side of iTunes.11. Click the Music tab and then click the new playlist you just named; there should be a checkmark next to the playlist.12. Sync the device with iTunes.Are you experiencing this problem on your iPhone or iPod Touch? Let us know in the comments.

Apple fails to win permanent ban of Samsung products

Apple fails to win permanent ban of Samsung products
Apple has lost the latest round in the ongoing patent war with archrival Samsung.In the long-running feud between the two companies, Apple had filed a renewed request to permanently ban 23 Samsung devices found to have infringed on its patents. But early Thursday, Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple's request, ruling that the iPhone maker "has not established that it is entitled to the permanent injunction it seeks," according to a court document.Still, all is not rosy for Samsung. Koh also upheld the $290 million in additional damages awarded to Apple by a jury last November. At the time, Samsung had argued that it owed Apple only $52 million more in damages on top of the $640 million upheld by Koh from the original $1.05 billion judgment in 2012.Related storiesDialed in 110: Lessons for Android (podcast)Samsung's diva act But add $290 million and $640 million, and Samsung will have to shell out $930 million to Apple -- not too far off from that original $1.05 billion total. That's assuming the current damage amount stands.Apple can appeal the decision, but Samsung can also appeal the "underlying liability issues," according to Foss Patents' Florian Mueller. After denying Apple's request, Koh said that either company could appeal any parts of the final judgment, Mueller added.While they mull over the decision to appeal, the two combatants are headed back to the courtroom this month to argue over a different set of allegedly infringing devices. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung mobile chief Shin Jong-Kyun met last month to try to hammer out their differences. But the two failed to find a peaceful settlement, setting the stage for the next round in the seemingly never-ending patent war.

Apple fail should be a lesson for Microsoft

Apple fail should be a lesson for Microsoft
Apple is good at addressing design oversights. Will Microsoft be as adept? The Retina iPad, for example, violated Apple's design creed: products should get thinner and lighter -- aka, cooler.Not thicker and heavier. But Apple fixed this quickly (six month later) with the iPad Mini trifecta: thinner, lighter, cheaper.And the iPad, reinvented as the Mini, has been a runaway success.Now that Microsoft is in the business of making tablets, can it act fast when it commits product-design sins?Surface is not a success -- yet.The Surface Pro is too big and heavy (and expensive), according to IDC and plenty of other observers. (It is a tablet, after all, despite Microsoft's valiant attempt to categorize it as a PC). And the RT model is hampered by performance and an unpopular operating system, and it's out of sync -- like the Pro -- with the market shift to smaller tablets. Related storiesA measure of Apple's success: Oppenheimer cites JapanNPD DisplaySearch told CNET this week that Microsoft will bring out a 7.5-inch tablet that sources say may be $400, or possibly cheaper.But that tablet will happen later, not sooner, according to DisplaySearch. That's a problem, because both the RT and Pro, I think, are going to languish in the coming months. And I have a feeling that products like Acer's leaked $380 Iconia 8-inch tablet will not fill the void. Then there's Android.I'm guessing that vendors like Asus and Hewlett-Packard are going to look increasingly to Android for cool, inexpensive designs. Microsoft appears to be serious about doing the Apple thing -- where it designs both the software and hardware -- and wants to make Windows 8 tablets a success.But will it be able to emulate Apple's successful hardware formula?A quick (very quick) refresh would be in order.The clock is ticking.

Apple faces far-reaching foe in Android

Apple faces far-reaching foe in Android
This mini epiphany happened when I was boasting about a great app (BirdsEye Lite) I had just downloaded to my iPhone.One of the people I was talking to, however, was thoroughly unimpressed.The reason: he had just snapped up a Nextel Motorola i1 phone for his business and, for him, this was the answer to all his smartphone prayers. Nextel Motorola i1NextelLet me back up for a minute. This person has a small business that employs about 20 people andNextel's DirectConnect Walkie Talkie Service is the deciding factor for a smartphone purchase.The iPhone, for him--and his employees--just isn't relevant.He explained how he had been waiting for a new Nextel phone with this feature for a long time and how the new phone exceeded his expectations.In fact, he sounded as enthusiastic about the i1 as any new iPhone user.And, oh, by the way, he could also download a similar birding app to his phone, he added. What got my attention was that the i1 runs Android 1.5, an older version of Android.But he was blissfully ignorant about this fact--and didn't even seem to know or care that the OS was Android.Nonetheless, he was in love with the phone and the interface. So, Gartner forecasts aside, my not-particularly-bold prediction is that Android will be the OS for a lot of workaday phones--i.e., not headline-grabbing Motorola Droids--with more pedestrian yet practical applications.Yes, Apple will continue to ship tens of millions more iPhones every year but that won't be enough to offset the viral popularity of Android.

Apple eyes wireless charging via the iPad's Smart Cover

Apple eyes wireless charging via the iPad's Smart Cover
iPad owners may one day be able to wirelessly charge their tablets without the need for a separate charging station.Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple's patent application called "Integrated Inductive Charging In Protective Cover" describes a method of using the iPad's Smart Cover itself as the wireless charger.The cover would be built with inductive power coils and possibly a battery, both of which could provide juice to the iPad. Charging the tablet this way would be a simple matter of closing the cover, which would then power the iPad directly or recharge its own battery. As the patent application describes it:The protective cover can include an inductive power transmitter that can take many forms such as inductive coils. The inductive coils can, in turn, receive power from an external power supply. In some cases, however, the protective cover can include an internal source of power such as a battery that can be used to store power that can subsequently be passed to the tablet device by way of the inductive power transfer circuit.The process would rely on the magnets already built into to the Smart Cover to ensure that the cover lines up directly with the iPad.The iPad's Smart Cover could charge the iPad itself.Apple via USPTOOf course, you'd still need to plug the iPad into an electrical outlet periodically to power or charge the cover itself.But the patent application, which was originally filed in September 2011, also dangles the idea of solar power. The flap of the cover could contain solar cells that would collect and store energy from sunlight and then pass that along to the tablet.(Via AppleInsider)

Apple eyes way to automatically copy files between devices

Apple eyes way to automatically copy files between devices
You may eventually be able to transfer files between a computer and mobile device just by placing the two near each other.Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an Apple patent application known as "Apparatus and method for interacting with handheld carrier hosting media content," describes a file transfer technology that automatically kicks in when two devices are positioned next to each other. One device would sense when the other is nearby and then send or receive a certain document, picture, song, or other item.As one example, you may be creating an e-mail message or document on your computer into which you want to insert an image stored on your mobile phone. You would position your cursor in the spot where you want the image to appear. You'd then open the image on your phone. Moving your phone next to your computer would then transfer the image to your e-mail or document.Apple/USPTOThe system would rely on wireless technologies such as Bluetooth or near-field communications (NFC) to kick off the file transfer. Using NFC, you could also physically touch one device to the other to copy the file you need. The iPhone and iPad come equipped with Bluetooth but don't yet support NFC.Like all patent filings, this one may not necessarily translate into an actual technology, even if approved. But such a system would certainly please mobile phone users who want a quick, simple way to transfer photos and videos to their computers.The patent application was filed on January 12, 2010, and lists Douglas Weber, a product design manger for the iPod and iPhone, as the inventor.(Via AppleInsider)