Is a white iPod touch in the offing? Well, seems more likely than T-Mobile getting the iPhone 5 this year. Elsewhere, robots test iPad apps, John Sculley talks Steve Jobs, and an upcoming blockbuster evokes a classic Mac icon. Prepare for your feature presentation: the remainders for Tuesday, September 20, 2011.
Apple to Release a White iPod Touch with Minor Changes in October (MacRumors)
The iPod touch may be the Jan Brady to the iPhone’s Marcia, but that doesn’t mean Apple’s other handheld iOS device won’t be getting any love this fall. MacRumors reports that the iPod touch will get minor revisions, and the addition of a white option. Which, if previous examples are any indication, ought to ship in about six months.
Did T-Mobile CMO Confirm No iPhone 5 For Magenta This Year? (TmoNews)
During a town hall meeting for employees last week, T-Mobile chief marketing officer Cole Brodman reportedly told the company’s staffers that the carrier would not be getting the iPhone 5 “this year.” See, this is the part where Steve Jobs would have whipped out a smartphone and said “We’re getting the iPhone 6.” But it’s T-Mobile, so instead, they all just sat there sadly.
LEGO robot helps stress-test iPad app (TUAW)
You’re building an iOS photo app and you need to see how it’s going to hold up after you take about 10,000 pictures. So what do you do? Well, you’re an engineer: Build a robot to do it. That’s what the developers at Pheremone Lab did, and they did it with a LEGO Mindstorms kit, élan, and aplomb. Me, I would have just hired some high school students; probably would have been cheaper.
Ex-Apple CEO John Sculley talks about Steve Jobs (Puget Sound Business Journal)
Good to know that former Apple CEO John Sculley can still get speaking gigs, even if he does fall back on that old “sugar water” Steve Jobs story. But at least he got to whip out this choice quote: “There is no question that nobody but Steve Jobs could have brought the company back to life.” And, hey, if anybody is in a position to know, it’s probably the guy who engineered his ousting.
Face to Face: Does Latest Dragon Tattoo Image Owe a Debt to Apple? (Movieline)
One writer thinks the latest poster for David Fincher’s forthcoming The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may be an homage—though perhaps an unwitting one—to an Apple icon. Granted, Lisbeth Salander does notably use Macs in the thriller series, so perhaps they should have called it The Girl with the Dogcow Tattoo.
Product News:
SugarSync 2.4 for iOS – Version 2.4 of the syncing client for iOS devices adds a simple text editor, a new menu bar to let you quickly sort and upload photos and videos, support for syncing multiple folders and files to your device for offline access, a simpler interface, and a number of bug fixes. Free.
Thunderbolt Display Firmware Update – Apple has released a firmware update for its Thunderbolt Display, improving stability. Free.
Thunderbolt Software Update (Snow Leopard) – A patch for Mac OS X Snow Leopard adds support for the Apple Thunderbolt Display and bug fixes for Thunderbolt devices. Free.
Acorn 3.1 – Flying Meat has updated its image-editing program to version 3.1, adding support for Lion’s full-screen mode, Auto Save, and Versions. Users can also change an image’s color profile and select a default color profile. There are also a number of improvements and bug fixes. $50. Upgrade from previous version, $20.
Bento 4.0.6 for Mac – FileMaker has updated its consumer-level database program to version 4.0.6, fixing bugs related to Lion and iCloud. $49 for single license; $9 to upgrade from Bento 1.x-3.x.