One court decision accidentally spills some beans, Steve Jobs’s biography picks up a notable distinction, and a smaller carrier says pffft, it totally didn’t want the current iPhone anyway. The remainders for Tuesday, December 6, 2011 are totally secret and confidential, so don’t even think about it, buster.
Exclusive: Apple vs. Samsung ruling divulges secret details (Reuters)
The drama in the Apple vs. Samsung case just keeps coming. Judge Lucy Koh had intended to redact several portions of her ruling, but an error in the file made it easy to lift the blacked-out text via copy-and-paste. No critical technical information was among the redacted lines, but it did include Apple referring to studies saying that it was unlikely that iPhone customers would switch to Samsung devices. Though that may be because Apple coats its phone in pheromones.
Best Sellers in Books for 2011 (Amazon)
Amazon’s top-selling book of the year? No, it’s not yet another Twilight novel—it’s Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. Let’s just hope we’re not forced to sit through lackluster sequels. It’s like a trip down random access memory lane.
Steve Jobs (Computer History Museum)
Speaking of Jobs, the Computer History Museum has posted an online exhibit tracing Steve’s entire career. It features pictures of the infamous Blue Box that he and Woz built, pictures from the Homebrew Computer Club, vintage Steve Jobs footage, and more.
iOS version code-names (TiPb)
Mac OS X’s code names are well known—in fact, they’re not even code names any more, really. But did you know that iOS 3.1 was code named “Northstar”? And do you know what the code name for iOS 5.1 is? Hoodoo. You do! (If you read this list.)
U.S. Cellular: We’ll wait for an LTE iPhone (FierceWireless)
At a media and communications conference this week, the CEO of the parent company of mobile phone operator U.S. Cellular noted that the carrier decided to wait until an LTE-enabled iPhone rears its head before offering the device, saying “the iPhone for us would need to be at the cutting edge of where we’re going.” And yet a quick look at U.S. Cellular’s website shows that it sells Android, Windows, and even BlackBerry phones. So, uh, yeah, that “cutting edge” just poked holes in your argument.
Product News:
Google+ 1.0.7.2940 – Version 1.0.7.2940 of Google’s social networking app for iPhone adds the ability to upload full-resolution photos, give +1s to photos, and search. Free.
Cox TV Connect for iPad – The Cox TV cable service now allows its customers to use the iPad to watch TV shows from anywhere at home with this app. Customers with the Cox TV Essential service and Cox Preferred, Premier, or Ultimate Internet service can use the iPad app to watch one of 35 channels. Free.
Alfred 1.0 – The 1.0 version of Running with Crayons’s launcher application is now available in the Mac App Store. It brings improved performance, the ability to drop folders into the search scope list, support for more site searches, better URL recognition, bug fixes, and more. Free.
Memory Cleaner 2.0 – Version 2.0 of Alice Dev Team’s memory freeing utility adds full support for Lion, compatibility with 16GB of memory and up, bug fixes, and support for 12 languages. Free update; $6 new.
Growl 1.3.2 – The notification framework has been updated to version 1.3.2, which resolves problems with notifications becoming stuck and a problem where automator actions were unusable. The app’s History also now sorts from newest to oldest by default. Free update; $2 new.