Intel: Apple tablet comment simply untrue

Intel Corp. today is scurrying to clean up a mess made by Germany’s ZDNet on Wednesday when it reported that an Intel exec had confirmed the ongoing development of a iPhone-like tablet at Apple, a report which the chipmaker now claims is patently false.

Specifically, ZDNet reported that Intel Germany chief Hannes Schwaderer at a small gathering in Munich “confirmed” the existence of a larger iPhone at Apple that would employ one of Intel’s ultra-mobile Atom processors.

The report gained widespread traction given earlier predictions by AppleInsider and other media outlets that such a device does in fact exist, and has long been under development at Apple’s Cupertino-based headquarters. The problem, however, was that Schwaderer appears to have never made the comments suggested by the ZDNet report.

“No Intel exec has said anything about any future Apple product, Atom processor or otherwise,” an Intel spokesperson told AppleInsider. “I think that’s important to note as everyone speculates on future products from Apple.”

Since ZDNet’s original report hit the net, a couple of other publications on hand for Schwaderer’s presentation have offered their interpretation of the events, which also appear to suggest that ZDNet’s report was misleading.

An editor for Golem.de claims that he does not recall any mention of an iPhone tablet during the executives speech, while PCGamesHardware.de attests that a reference to an iPhone device was made, but only as an example of a product that could benefit from Atom.

Unfortunately, only 40 or so reporters were on hand for Schwaderer’s presentation, AppleInsider has been told, and thus further first-hand accounts are likely to be limited.

Nevertheless, and regardless of misinterpretations this week, AppleInsider maintains that Apple is working on a iPhone-like mini tablet reminiscent of the Newton MessagePad that should surface in due time.

Popularity: 17% [?]

The Apple tease

Apple is the master of the tease. Just when you are about to get bored with their unwillingness to reveal what they are doing, they come out with an announcement that entices but doesn’t quite satisfy.

Their latest missive about the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, in San Francisco next month has just confirmed that Steve Jobs will be giving the keynote address and that yes he will be talking about their operating system OS X Leopard and, more alluringly, the iPhone.

At this year’s WWDC it certainly seems that Apple is putting the iPhone centre stage. For the first time it will showcase sessions for mobile developers with in-depth sessions and hands-on labs to explore the capabilities of the iPhone 2.0 software.

But Apple media figures are stonewalling on whether or not Mr Jobs will actually be taking the wraps off a new 3G smartphone at the WWDC event.

Let’s have a look at some of the signs that suggest there is a high probability factor that he will.

First up you can’t get your hands on an iPhone for love nor money. Online in the UK and the States it seems supply has dried up. And last week O2, the iPhone provider in Britain, admitted it wasn’t currently available on shop shelves and that customers may well have to hold out for the 3G version. Even in Mac shops in the States the iPhone has disappeared.

Also there have been copious hints over the previous months from the likes of AT&T’s wireless chief Ralph de la Vega who said during a conference in April “Our integrated devices will be 3G devices in the not-too-distant future, and I mean months.”

And let’s also add into the mix the fact that the price of the 8GB iPhone was slashed by $169 (£85). Perhaps this was a way to get rid of old stock and persuade people to snag a bargain despite the fact the next generation phone is waiting in the wings.

The last thing Apple wants is everyone holding onto their money until the new shinier version of the iPhone is available. After all what company wants to be saddled with lagging sales as a result and a load of old stock nobody wants?

Apple is not alone in keeping information about updated products close to its chest.

But timing is everything.

Conversely you don’t want to be turning away customers with money to burn. They may well choose Apple’s chief smartphone rival in the market the BlackBerry which this week launched its new 3G, wi-fi and GPS enabled Blackberry Bold.

And in a move to hang onto its lead over the iPhone, BlackBerry has just announced its partnering with Microsoft Windows Live to give users services like consumer email and instant messaging. This shifts the phone away from the buttoned up image of a business device and makes it more social and per chance hip.

Plenty of analysts are talking up the BlackBerry Bold and applauding the company’s success at beating Apple to the punch with their new phone, but perhaps not unsurprisingly the guys over at MacDaily don’t think that much of it. Chris Neher told me “The BlackBerry 9000 is a pathetic and sad attempt to hide an antique beneath iPhone veneer.”

If Apple wants to make real inroads into mature 3G markets like Europe and Asia then it is going to need something with real bells and whistles to attract sales. And Steve Jobs will need these markets to succeed if he wants to achieve his stated aim of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of the year.

Oh and Mr Jobs if you think BlackBerry’s Research in Motion is your main competitor, a word to the wise to look over your shoulder.

Microsoft is reportedly talking about controlling 40% of the smart phone market through Windows Mobile by 2012. So far 11 million devices carry the operating systems and the Redmond company is aiming for 20 million by the end of this year.

And let’s not forget about Google’s offering via Android.

So Steve no pressure then!

Oh and one other reason to believe the rumours swirling around the Valley that the new iPhone will make an appearance next month is that it will be one year old. Happy birthday.

Popularity: 21% [?]

AppleScript: download YouTube videos

Keeping with the “self-built apps,” I’m going to show you how to build your own YouTube downloader. Sure you could use applications like TubeSock, but where’s the fun in that? This application will download the YouTube flash video from a pasted link, and all with a little AppleScript.

Continue reading to learn how to build the YouTube downloader.Building the script
Just copy the following script into the Script Editor.app (/Applications/AppleScript/Script Editor.app):

set pageURL to display dialog “Enter the URL of the YouTube video’s page:” default answer “”set AppleScript’s text item delimiters to “?v=”
set v_id to item 2 of text items of text returned of pageURL
set pageURL to “http://www.youtube.com/v/” & v_id

Saving the script
Let’s save this AppleScript as an AppleScript application. To do this, just click File > Save. Type in a name for your appliction and choose “Application Bundle” from the “Format” drop-down box.

Running the script
To run the YouTube downloader, double-click on the AppleScript application that you just created. When the script starts, it will display a dialog asking you for a YouTube URL (this is the URL that you copy from the address bar, not from the YouTube embed). Paste the URL and click “OK.” The application will then start running and run a couple background processes — in about 1-2 minutes (depending on internet connection / Mac speed) your default browser will begin downloading a file named “get_video.flv.”

Once the download has finished, you can convert the flash video into something that you can look at natively. I recommend a free application called iSquint — you can drop the flash video onto the iSquint app and convert it into numerous formats including iPod and Apple TV.

Additional notes

1. This script was designed to work on Mac OS X Tiger / Leopard.
2. While this script was designed and tested to work with Safari 3.0 and Firefox, it can be used with other browsers; however, if you are experiencing difficulties with your default browser, try Safari or Firefox

Popularity: 13% [?]

Online Apple Stores run dry of iPhones

Often seen as the last reliable sources for iPhones, Apple’s online stores in the US and UK have stopped taking orders for any model of the device.

Visitors to the phone’s section at either regional store are greeted with brief notices that both the 8GB and 16GB models are “Currently Unavailable,” without any expectations set for when the iPhone will return for direct purchases.

The change follows multiple weeks during which the American website had already cited delays of between five to seven days for new orders.

Apple’s shortfall for its direct channel is also the culmination of a slowly widening shortage that first became evident in late March, when stores in New York City began having trouble carrying the devices — a supply problem which eventually spread to all US retail and has only been partly resolved in the near term.

European carrier and reseller stores, once thought to have been overstocked due to lackluster demand, have themselves seen a rush of sales after significant price cuts brought out previously reluctant buyers in the UK and Germany. O2 has claimed intermittent availability of even the full-price 16GB version in recent days.

For its part, Apple has said when discussing its latest financial results that it expects continued shortages in the near future, but perceives its supply problem as evidence of strong demand.

Most analysts and observers now estimate that Apple will only truly recover from the shortages with the launch of its next-generation iPhone, which is widely predicted to surface in June.

Popularity: 8% [?]

MIT uses Macs to learn how children gain speech skills

Apple’s Science page has a profile up for the folks over at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — apparently two MITers, Deb Roy and Rupal Patel, are using Macs, including “five Apple Xserves and a 4.4TB Xserve RAID,” to record and track every single moment of their son’s early childhood.

Not only are they assured to get his first few steps on tape, but they’re also studying early development and how young children gain the skills to interact with other human beings. In order to do this, they’re dealing with huge amounts of audio and video data — about 250TB. And they’re also building an analysis application on the platform called TotalRecall to scan through all the audio and video and pick out interesting parts and patterns (creating the kind of image seen above — apparently that means something to them).

Of course, there is one thing they do that Apple can’t — when the time came to figure out how to transfer 200GB a day from the home environment to work, they eventually settled on a “sneakernet” approach, packing up the digital tapes in a case and carrying them to work. Here’s hoping Apple will announce their own proprietary version of iSneakernet at the next WWDC (with a stylish design and a reasonable pricetag, of course).

Popularity: 19% [?]