Year in Review 2011 (Part 1): Massive Change, Inspiration & Heartache

Posted by Jeff in Opinion

Year in review 2011 (part 1): We saw incredible change sweep across the political landscape, Osama Bin Laden killed & Amy Winehouse pass away. What else happened in 2011, a momentous year?

 

Year in Review 2011: January

In sport we saw the transfer of Fernando Torres to Chelsea FC from Liverpool FC as Kenny Dalglish took over.

In tennis Novak Djokovic brushed aside all-comers in the Australian Open.

Apple announced it had passed 10 billion downloads from its app store and that Apple had made profits of $6 billion as Steve Jobs announced he would take medical leave.

In entertainment Ricky Gervais kicked up a storm at the Golden Globes (they have still invited him back for 2012 though!). Colin Firth & Natalie Portman started to win all the film awards available for ‘The Kings Speech’ & ‘Black Swan’. Meanwhile Oprah was launching her own TV channel.

Actor Pete Postlethwaite passed away as did singer Gerry Rafferty.

Arnold Schwarzenegger bowed out of politics and a tragic shooting occurred in Arizona that left 6 people dead and Gabrielle Giffords with brain damage.

Year in Review 2011: February

In Egypt the President, Hosni Mubarak, started to realise that he was in trouble and that the protesters were not going away. Mubarak finally left on Feb. 11th after defiantly stating he was going nowhere. We presume the army changed his mind.

The Arab uprisings also gathered pace in other countries, Bahrain & Libya in particular.

In sport the Green Bay Packers triumphed over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. The F1 driver Robert Kubica had to have 7 hours of surgery after a horrific crash in Italy. The Olympic schedule was also published for the 2012 games in London. We are not far away now.

In music Adele stunned everyone with her performance at the Brits and went on to become the artist of 2011. Radiohead released a new album and the Glastonbury headliners were announced including Beyonce and Coldplay.

A new Enid Blyton book was uncovered and tragedy struck in New Zealand as a 6.3 earthquake hit Christchurch at the busiest time of day.

Year in Review 2011: March

Steve Jobs made his last major product launch as he unveiled the iPad 2, Adele conquered the charts, Richard Branson started to recruit astronauts, Microsoft launch IE9 while Nintendo go all 3D on us, over 1 billion people watch a cricket match and Sabastian Vettel shows the form that will let him dominate the F1 season.

Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor passed away as did the not quite so well known Knut the polar bear.

The big story of the month however was the devastating 8.9 earthquake and subsequent Tsunami that struck Japan triggering a nuclear incident and destroying countless lives.

Also destroying lives was the Libyan leader Col. Gaddafi as he plunged his country into what was effectively a civil war. The UN enforced a no fly zone and entered into action against Col. Gaddafi forces.

Read more in Year in Review 2011 (Part 2) here.

Year in Review 2011 (Part 3): A New Country, A New Social Network & New Womens Rights

Posted by Jeff in Opinion

Year in Review 2011 (part 3): The third quarter of 2011 saw some surprises, more scandal and the continuing success of social networks.

Year in Review 2011: July

Petra Kvitova upset the Wimbledon odds to beat Maria Sharapova who is still trying to get back to her best after injury. Djokovic again signalled his dominance with a victory in the mens Wimbledon final.

The phone hacking scandal exploded in the UK and is still being investigated today. The incident caused the closure of the News of the World, one of the oldest & most successful newspapers.

Facebook teamed up with Skype to offer video chat while Google once again entered the social networking market with Google+.

The world got a new country as South Sudan split form the north in a peaceful separation and David & Victoria Beckham celebrated the birth of their baby girl, Harper Beckham.

Dallas returned to our TV screens and the Spotify streaming music service launched in the US while Harry Potter cast a spell over the box office.

Japan won the Womens World Cup final in Germany after beating the USA on penalties and there was another Royal wedding as Zara Phillips married the Rugby player Mike Tindall. On the other side of that particular coin we saw Jennifer Lopez calling time on her marriage to Marc Anthony.

The USA came close to defaulting on its own debt when politicians decided to play brinkmanship with the economy. Doing slightly better were both Apple and Google who both posted record profits. The US also suffered a oppressive heatwave and saw the last flight of the space shuttle Atlantis.

Norway hit the headlines for the worst reasons when a huge explosion rocked the capital, Oslo and a gunman went on the rampage.

The world lost one of the greatest singers of the last twenty years. Amy Winehouse joined other famous singers who died prematurely, the so called 27 club.

Year in Review 2011: August

The financial markets never seemed to be out of the headlines and this month saw S&P push the US down its credit score scale thanks to its enormous deficit.

Prime Minister David Cameron threatened to take social media sites offline in a somewhat knee jerk reaction to rioting in London. This came from a man who had only a few months earlier been praising social media sites for their influence in the Arab uprisings. That’s politics for you.

The Arab uprising continued with Syria becoming a focal point as the international community called for Assad to leave office. Protesters in Syria are still facing the same challenges at the end of 2011. Meanwhile the pressure was mounting on Col. Gaddafi as the rebel army advanced on the capital Tripoli.

The Kings of Leon sparked rumors about their future by cancelling their tour and taking a break.

Steve Jobs officially announced that he would be stepping down as CEO of Apple as his health deteriorated and Beyonce announced that she was pregnant in a not so subtle dress.

Year in Review 2011: September

As Italian politics leaped from one crisis to another the little town of Filettino decided that it would go its own way and declare independence from Italy.

We saw the 10 year anniversary of the tragic 9/11 events as the redevelopment of the twin towers site nears completion.

There was growing rumor and gossip surrounding the imminent release of a new iPhone, many people were betting on it being an iPhone 5.

The financial markets once again hit the headlines as a UBS trader managed to lose $2 billion on the markets.

REM announced that they were to split after 31 years together and Google became a teenager.

A couple of stories emerged that we never thought that we would see, the speed of light had apparently been broken and women in Saudi Arabia were given the right to vote.

Read more in Year in Review 2011 (Part 4) here.

Year in Review 2011 (Part 4): Steve Jobs & Col. Gaddafi Depart

Posted by Jeff in Opinion

Year in Review 2011 (part 4): Trials and tribulations a plenty in the world of showbiz, politics and business.

Year in Review 2011: October

September saw the start of the trial of Dr Conrad Murray, charged with the death of Michael Jackson who died in 2009. In another court in another country, Amanda Knox was finally freed after having her conviction for the the murder of Meredith Kercher quashed in an appeal.

There was joy and sadness for Apple fans this month as the new iPhone 4S made an appearance with a new virtual assistant named Siri & features such as imessage. We also learned of the passing of Steve Jobs and people around the world reacted in the same way they would if a pop star had just passed away. Perhaps that is a fitting tribute to someone who did have a profound effect on the world. You can check out the Steve Jobs biography here.

It was also the end for Col. Gaddafi as his life finally caught up with him in his home town of Sirte, Libya.

Another month and another financial crisis, this time the whole of the Eurozone was in danger as the debt crisis in some of its member countries threatened to take down the whole structure. Bets are now on for how long it will last for in 2012.

Year in Review 2011: November

In November the world reached a milestone, the human population of the planet reached the 7 billion mark for the first time in history. Many countries decided that they would have the 7 billionth baby and subsequently nominated one of their own, I wonder who it really was?

We featured alot of video game stories this month as the entertainment industry geared up for Christmas. We looked at the top 5 games launched for Christmas and witnessed Angry Birds hit 500 million downloads.

This inspired us to look at the possibility of making oodles of cash with iPhone app development ourselves, we asked if anyone could do it.

Talking soccer, David Beckham also deserves a mention for finally achieving his dream of lifting the MLS Cup. In the last MLS game of his current contract, he did it. Where he will be in 2012 I am not sure even he knows, the smart money is that he will stay in LA for his families stability.

Year in Review 2011: December

So we come to the final month of 2011 where we saw sad death of Socrates, the Brazilian soccer player & doctor. We also saw the passing of that not so loved leader of the North Koreans, Kim Jong-il.

Surprisingly Time magazine didn’t name Kim Jong-il as person of the year 2011 but gave it to ‘The Protester’.

Spotify revealed that they had created an app marketplace for developers and the online Star Wars world came to life as SWTOR with a budget almost as big as one of the films.

Other entertainment news was that the X Factor USA winner turned out to be someone who was not even selected for the finals, Melanie Amaro. Russell Brand, Katy Perry filed for divorce and YouTube announced the most viewed videos of 2011.

Somewhere in between all of that there was Christmas of course.

So there we have it, we have come to the end of our Year in Review 2011 and all that is left for me todo is wish you all a ‘Happy New Year’ from all the team here at DT News. We hope you will join us next year for more interesting news.

Steve Jobs Passes Away

Posted by James in Apple, Celebrity

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and a visionary to many people has passed away at the age of 56.

Steve Jobs announced that had been suffering from cancer in 2004 and had to undergo a liver transplant in 2009.

In January 2011 Steve Jobs took medical leave and finally resigned as Apple CEO in August of this year. He handed the reigns over to Tim Cook who led the announcement of the new iPhone 4S this week.

In a statement on their website Apple said that

“Apple had lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.”

Many in the world would agree.

We have compiled a Steve Jobs biography that tracks the some major events in his life. Why not leave your thoughts about Steve Jobs in the comments below.

iPhone 5 News: What’s the Latest?

Posted by James in Apple, Technology

iPhone 5 news & rumor is busting out from the internet gossip channels. So lets join in & see whats what with the iPhone 5.

Well it seems like we have been here before in our round-up of the iPad 2 rumors. I don’t think that we did too badly there so lets take a shot at the iPhone 5 news and see what’s what on the rumor mill.

iPhone 5 News: Release Date

Well for a start it looks like the iPhone 5 is imminently erm.. imminent.

A specific date of September 7th 2011 for the iPhone 5 news event is being banded about on Mashable (amongst others).

We are now close to that date so perhaps that is a bit of a false lead. Although in truth, the news media would be there even if Apple only gave them 10 minutes notice for the iPhone 5 launch.

Other undisclosed sources have said that October will be the launch month. Whatever the iPhone 5 launch date, it appears that we won’t have long to wait.

This is very good news for iPhone 4 users who happen to have broken their screen i.e. me (it took off like a rocket from my jacket pocket when running too fast & stopping too quickly!). Check it out on the right.

 

iPhone 5 News: Design

My best guess is that the iPhone 5 will have a cleaner design. The trendsetters within Apple have stated for a while that they would like to have no buttons on the iPhone or iPad.

I see no reason why the big front button can’t go and the extra space will be perfect for another strong rumor doing the rounds. A bigger, edge to edge iPhone 5 screen.

Many people prefer the rounded design of the iPhone 3GS and the iPad 2 to the square edges of the iPhone 4.

I would have to agree, it’s much better to hold in your hand but all the rumors on the internet about the iPhone 5 suggest that the square iPhone 4 design is here to stay, perhaps just with a different back plate. I personally hope they are wrong, I want a curvy iPhone 5.

There is also a growing trend of being able to use your phone as a credit card to pay for goods. Expect one of those clever little chips to be housed somewhere inside an iPhone 5, the tech is already there so why wait to put it in the iPhone 6?.

iPhone 5 News: Features

Bigger and better is generally true when it comes to a new cell phone launch.

Expect to have a better camera with higher resolution and perhaps full 1080p HD recording. More internal memory is likely too although the iCloud could muddy that particular water in the iPhone 6 future.

We have already mentioned a bigger screen but it you are going to the trouble of designing and producing a larger screen, then it only makes sense to take advantage of the jump in manufacturing know how and bump up the resolution too.

Ever since Steve Jobs learnt about typesetting and fonts in his younger days, he has been passionate about giving Apple users screen clarity and it has been one of Apple’s trump cards since they started all those years ago.

A 3D display has been mentioned in some quarters but I will eat my hat if that one is appears on the iPhone 5. Seems pointless at this moment in time, not to mention expensive & difficult to give people that great all round user experience. One for the future.

iPhone 5 News: Software

It is interesting as to what Apple have planned for the iCloud project. In theory, you could use the iCloud for all your data storage meaning that onboard storage could be reduced.

I would expect Apple to take it slower though and just include integrated iCloud/iTunes software for your media.

An overhaul of the operating system is certain with IOS 5 to be launched at the same time with all it’s enhanced features and fixes.

iPhone 4GS?

Shock, horror… two iPhone launches at the same time!? Yes, that is one of the rumors doing the rounds. A cut back, cheaper version called the iPhone 4GS, launching at the same time as the iPhone 5.

Your guess is as good as mine on this one.

iPhone 5 News: Will Steve Jobs Make an Appearance?

Perhaps Steve Jobs, if he is well enough, will make an appearance at a iPhone 5 event although it seems unlikely that he would make the presentation.

Steve Jobs has now handed over the reigns of Apple to Tim Cook and to come back to steal his thunder at an iPhone 5 launch would not sit quite right, even if people would love it if he did.

He may even feel that his presence would overshadow any iPhone 5 product launch so could stay away completely and just issue a statement/photo of him looking happy with his new iPhone 5.

Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO

Posted by Jeff in Apple, Business

Steve Jobs has resigned his position as the Apple CEO with immediate affect leaving Tim Cook to take over his CEO duties.

The 56 year old Steve Jobs has been suffering serious health problems over the past year and has been on medical leave since January.

We have seen Steve Jobs return to the spotlight occasionally to help launch new Apple products and make company announcements.

Tim Cook will now officially take over the reigns at Apple just as the latest iphone 5 news suggests it is on it’s way soon. Although in practice this has been the case for some time as Steve Jobs has been away for health reasons. What those health problems are have, understandably, been kept private by his family and Apple themselves.

In a letter to the Apple board, and the world at large, Steve Jobs writes that he no longer feels that he can carry out his duties as Apple CEO in the way he would like. He is therefore handing in his resignation.

You can read Steve Jobs letter below.

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

It is hoped that Steve Jobs will take on an advisory role in the company but Apple shares still dived on the surprise, although not unexpected, announcement.

Such is the force of Steve Jobs that shares in other competing mobile companies rose higher on the news.

Steve Jobs & Apple’s Achievements (Post 1997)

It is not surprising when you consider how much of an influence Steve Jobs has been, not only on the Apple company, but on the technology and music industries themselves.

In recent years it has been the Steve Jobs vision that has guided Apple, and where Apple has led everyone else has had to follow.

When computers were just bland grey boxes, Jobs redefined what they looked like with the launch of the colorful, all-in-one iMac.

Steve Jobs then redefined the portable music world with the iPod. There were certainly other MP3 players before hand, but none that looked this… well… sexy. It has challenged the Sony Walkman as the most influential music device in history.

iTunes then redefined a whole music industry, offering legal, downloadable tracks made up of just computer bits and bytes. It’s now the largest music retailer in the world.

Not satisfied with shaking up the music industry, the cosy world of the mobile phone manufacturers was about to get a wake up call.

The launch of the iPhone instantly changed what a mobile phone could be and do. Not to mention being incredibly desirable, merely as an object of design.

The app store created a whole new industry that other companies have struggled to match. It is not just Apple that have made a large fortune from that particular idea. Successful app makers are now worth $100′s millions in their own right.

Steve Jobs was not finished yet though. Other people had tried and given up making tablet computers. No one had been able to make it work.

Steve Jobs and Apple have never been just another manufacturer though. The launch of the iPad created another new industry virtually overnight. Tablet computing was back in a big way.

Steve Jobs and Apple

Steve Jobs co-founded the Apple company in the 1970′s with Steve Wozniak and it became one of the most successful technology companies of the fledgling computer industry in the 1980′s.

After leaving Apple in 1985, Steve Jobs returned to a company on it’s last legs in 1997 (after starting that little animation company called Pixar by the way!) and turned it into arguably, the biggest brand in the world today.

Many people are saying that Apple will be the first $trillion company ($1,000,000,000,000). Without Steve Jobs they may not now be so certain but still, who would bet against it ?

Photo: Apple Inc.

Apple Reports Record Earnings

Posted by Clive in Apple, Business

Apple have announced record earnings of $28 billion and a net profit of over $15 billion for the last quarter.

The profits are on the back of surging demand for the Apple iPhone and iPad products, sales of which have more than doubled.

It is interesting that this massive demand has occurred when competitors to both the iPhone and the iPad has become alot stronger. HTC, for instance, have started to match the iPhone for functionality and design with their Google Android based phones.

The results do mask however, a real downturn in the fortunes of the iPod product range which has slipped by 20%. It seams more and more of us now store our music collections on our phones.

Analysts had been concerned that the devastation caused by the Tsunami in Japan would have an negative impact of Apple‘s supply chain, but it seems that there were no adverse supply problems.

Shares in the company rose by over 5% on the financial news and the Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that he expected revenue of about $25 billion in the 4th quarter of 2011. Predictions from Apple tend to be conservative so it will be interesting to see if they can improve on this performance.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO said,

“We’re thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent. Right now, we’re very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall.”

They also have a new version of their operating system out this week, a new thunderbolt 27″ monitor and a rumoured launch of the iPad 3 and the iPhone 5 to come.

As you can see in our iPad 2 reader poll below, over 60% of you are waiting for the next generation iPad 3. Rumour has it that it will feature a display resolution that will make the Apple fans drool.

Are you waiting for the Apple Ipad 3?

Are you someone who is planning on getting / has bought the iPad 2 or are you willing to wait for the iPad 3 ? Cast your vote below.

Apple iCloud Details Revealed by Steve Jobs at WWDC 2011

Posted by Clive in Apple, Technology

The details of the Apple iCloud service have been revealed by Steve Jobs at the annual Apple worldwide developers conference (wwdc 2011) today.

The iCloud service marks a significant shift in the personal computing era as trendsetter Steve Jobs signals a move aware from the PC and local data storage towards the data cloud.

He said,

“Today it is a real hassle and very frustrating to keep all your information and content up-to-date across all your devices, iCloud keeps your important information and content up to date across all your devices. All of this happens automatically and wirelessly, and because it’s integrated into our apps you don’t even need to think about it, it all just works.”

The iCloud services will be free and means additional features mainly focused around sharing data across devices, these include:

• The former MobileMe® services, Contacts, Calendar and Mail rewritten for iCloud. Users can share calendars with friends and family, the ad-free push Mail account is hosted at me.com. Mailboxes are kept up-to-date across all Apple devices and computers.

• The App Store™ and iBookstore℠ now download purchased iOS apps and books to all Apple devices, not just the device they were purchased on. In addition, the App Store and iBookstore now let you see your purchase history, and tapping the iCloud icon will download any apps and books to any iOS device (up to 10 devices) at no additional cost.

• iCloud Backup automatically and securely backs up any Apple devices to iCloud daily over Wi-Fi when charging the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Backed up content includes purchased music, apps and books, camera roll (photos and videos), device settings and app data. If you replace your iOS device, the iCloud will restore to the new device.

• iCloud Storage stores all documents created using iCloud storage APIs (the API allows 3rd parties to access it’s abilities) and automatically pushes them to all your devices. If you change a document on any device, iCloud automatically pushes the changes to all devices. Apple’s Pages®, Numbers® and Keynote® apps already take advantage of iCloud Storage.

• Users get up to 5GB of free storage for their mail, documents and backup (excludes the storage used for music, apps, photo stream and books purchased from Apple. Users will be able to buy more storage if needed.

• iCloud’s Photo Stream service automatically uploads the photos you take or import on any of your devices and wirelessly pushes them to all devices and computers. To save space, the last 1,000 photos are stored on each device so they can be viewed or moved to an album to save forever. iCloud will store each photo in the cloud for 30 days, giving time to connect devices to iCloud and automatically download the latest photos from Photo Stream via Wi-Fi.

• iTunes® in the Cloud lets you download previously purchased iTunes music to all your iOS devices at no additional cost, and new music purchases can be downloaded automatically to all your devices. In addition, music not purchased from iTunes can gain the same benefits by using iTunes Match, a service that replaces music with a 256 kbps AAC DRM-free version if Apple can match it to the over 18 million songs in the iTunes Store®, it makes the matched music available in minutes (instead of having to upload all your tunes), and uploads only the small percentage of unmatched music. iTunes Match will be available for a $24.99 annual fee.

Apple has three data centers that will be used for the iCloud service, lets hope they are ready for the demand considering the huge numbers of people now owning Apple products.

iCloud will be available in the fall and people can sign up for the iCloud service for free on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 5 or a Mac running Mac OS® X Lion with a valid Apple ID.

iTunes in the Cloud is available today in the US and requires iTunes 10.3 and iOS 4.3.3. Automatic download of apps and books is available today. Using iCloud with a PC requires Windows Vista or Windows 7; Outlook 2010 or 2007 is recommended for accessing contacts and calendars.

Although services will début in the US, other territories will be available but it will be the launch of the iPhone 5 that will kick off the iCloud era late in 2011.

Apple To Unveil The iCloud Service

Posted by James in Apple, Press Releases, Technology

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is due to unveil a new cloud computing service labelled iCloud at it’s annual developers conference on the 6th June.

In a press release that you can read below, Apple have announced that they will launch a new service called the iCloud.

Although details are sketchy it is believed that this will be, at least at first, a music based service allowing the streaming of tunes over the web ala Spotify.

A cloud service would have many other uses however, and it is likely that features such as that provided by dropbox would be a simple addition. We feel that the service will really take off when the latest iphone 5 news is confirmed.

Other items noted in the release is the new version of the Mac OS nicknamed Lion and an update to the mobile OS to v5.

Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.WWDC will feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers. Mac® developers will see and learn how to develop world-class Mac OS X Lion applications using its latest technologies and capabilities. Mobile developers will be able to explore the latest innovations and capabilities of iOS and learn how to greatly enhance the functionality, performance and design of their apps. All developers can bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers.