[MyAppleMenu] Jun 8, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Apple Says App Store Has Made Developers Over $1 Billion <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/07/apple_says_app_store_has_made_developers_over_1_billion.html>
AppleInsider

Speaking at Apple's annual developers conference on Monday, chief executive Steve Jobs said his company's industry-leading App Store has generated developers more than $1 billion in revenues while serving up over 5 billion app downloads since its inception two years ago.

**** Apple Grabs 22 Percent Of E-book Market With iBooks <http://www.macworld.com/article/151813/2010/06/ibooks.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Marco Tabini, Macworld

According to Jobs, users have downloaded more than 5 million books—approximately 2.5 for each device sold—in the first 65 days of iBooks’ availability. In addition, five of the six largest publishers have reported the app's share of their electronic sale to be about 22 percent, which is rather impressive for an e-book reader that has been on the market for just over two months.

**** Netflix Previews iPhone App <http://www.macworld.com/article/151815/2010/06/netflix_announces_app_for_iphone.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Ramu Nagappan, Macworld

Netflix will add to its App Store offerings later this summer, when it releases a new app for the iPhone. Previewed during Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, the movie rental service’s app will provide the full Netflix experience: you can stream video (over Wi-Fi and 3G), view recommendations, browse genres, and access your queue.

**** iBooks To Gain PDF Reading And Note-taking This Month <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/06/ibooks-to-gain-pdf-reading-and-note-taking-this-month.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss>
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica

In an update promised for "later this month," Jobs said that iBooks would now support reading PDFs—"one of the biggest requests." PDFs get a separate virtual "shelf" within the app to keep them separate from e-books in ePub format.

**** WWDC: Apple Introduces iPhone 4 <http://www.macworld.com/article/151816/2010/06/iphone4.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Jonathan Seff, Macworld

Jobs described the phone as, “beyond a doubt, the most precise thing and one of the most beautiful things we’ve ever made” before highlighting a number of its new features.

A new screen technology called a retina display add much higher precision to the iPhone. In fact, at 326 pixels per inch, it’s double the 163 pixels per inch resolution of the iPhone 3GS.

**** Apple Introduces New iMovie App For Editing HD Video On iPhone 4 <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/07/apple_introduces_new_imovie_app_for_editing_hd_video_on_iphone_4.html>
AppleInsider

To take advantage of the new 720p-capable HD video camera in iPhone 4 will be an all-new, $4.99 mobile version of iMovie for editing videos, Apple announced Monday.

**** WWDC 2010: Farmville For iPhone Coming Soon <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/06/07/farmville-for-iphone-coming-soon/>
Mike Schramm, TUAW

Zynga showed up on the stage at the WWDC keynote this morning to show off one of the most-awaited (and most hated) apps coming to the iPhone: Farmville.

**** WWDC 2010: Second Generation iPod Touch Gets Free Update To IOS4 <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/06/07/wwdc-2010-second-generation-ipod-touch-gets-free-update-to-ios4/>
Michael Rose, TUAW

**** WWDC: iPhone OS Gets New Name, Video Calling <http://www.macworld.com/article/151812/2010/06/iphone_os_4_wwdc.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Chartier, Macworld

The OS, which runs on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, has been renamed iOS 4.0—a smart move given the number of mobile devices Apple now offers. The new OS offers over 1500 APIs for developers, and Jobs showed off a number of them on stage.

**** Bing Becomes Search Option For Apple <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20006971-56.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
Ina Fried, CNET News

Bing joins Yahoo as an option, but Google remains the default search engine.

**** WWDC 2010: iPhone 3GS Drops To $99 On June 24 <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/06/07/wwdc-2010-iphone-3gs-drops-to-99/>
Victor Agreda, Jr., TUAW

Starting June 24, the price of the iPhone 3GS, which began life at $199 (for 16GB) and $299 (for 32GB) will drop to $99 for the 16GB model.

**** Safari 5 Announced... Prematurely? And Now It's Official <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/06/07/safari-5-announced/>
Chris Rawson, TUAW

It got no attention in Steve's WWDC keynote, and it's not showing up in Software Update as of yet, but according to an Apple press release, Safari 5 is out for release today.

**** With iOS, Apple Gets The OK To Borrow A Cisco Name <http://www.macworld.com/article/151855/2010/06/ios_cisco.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

Three years after being sued by Cisco Systems for giving its iPhone the same name as a Cisco product, Apple has taken another page from the Cisco playbook, renaming its iPhone operating system, iOS.

**** AT&T Details Early iPhone 4 Eligibility, Pricing <http://www.macworld.com/article/151853/2010/06/att_iphone4.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld

Amid the excitement of Apple Worldwide Developers Conference keynote and rumors regarding AT&T’s status as the iPhone’s sole U.S. carrier, the wireless company gave some current iPhone customers even more good news: earlier-than-expected upgrade pricing.

**** Why Apple's iBook Numbers Are Meaningless <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/why-apples-ibook-numbers-are-meaningless/?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Brad Stone, New York Times

Amazon.com can pretty much dismiss that number as overstated — but its execs still have good reason to worry about the threat Apple poses to the Kindle.

**** Even Steve Jobs Has Demo Hiccups <http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20007009-260.html?part=rss&amp;subj=news&amp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Erica Ogg, CNET News

About 20 minutes later, Jobs said he'd figured out that there were more than 570 Wi-Fi connections in the room that were disrupting his demo.

"So you guys have a choice: Either turn off your Wi-Fi (devices) or I give up. Would you like to see the demos?" he asked the crowd. "Then all you bloggers need to turn off your notebooks. Go ahead, just shut the lids. I'll wait," he said.

**** What Apple's FaceTime App Means For Skype <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20006984-233.html?part=rss&amp;subj=news&amp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Jessica Dolcourt, CNET News

Right now, it looks like nothing too bruising. Wi-Fi and hardware limitations on the iPhone 4 (like that front-facing camera) will keep FaceTime's audience modest until iPhone 4 sales take off, though not having to register for a new service is sure to attract new users. In the meantime, Skype has a chance to add video calls and other unique features to its iPhone lineup before FaceTime takes off.

**** Apple’s Matrix-Style App Wall Reloaded <http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/07/apple-app-wall/>
MG Siegler, TechCrunch

The new App Wall is perhaps even a little prettier than last year’s model. It shows the top 50,000 apps in the App Store across 30 24-inch LED Cinema Displays. As each app is downloaded it falls into a stack (still color-coordinated) across the displays. Once the display hits 10,800 apps, it resets and starts over with app downloads.

**** iPhone 4 Impressions And Observations <http://daringfireball.net/2010/06/iphone_4>
John Gruber, Daring Fireball

The effect is that the pixels appear to be painted on the surface of the phone; instead of looking at pixels under glass, it like looking at pixels on glass. Combined with the incredibly high pixel density, the overall effect is like “live print”.

**** Apple Could Jump-Start Mobile Advertising, Challenge Old Media <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703303904575293100660698896.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>
Nat Worden, Wall Street Journal

Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs said Monday that the company's iAd platform, its mobile advertising network, will go live on July 1, introducing yet another disruptive force in the media industry.

The rise of digital advertising already has weighed heavily on traditional media businesses--such as publishing, radio and television--and the nascent mobile market is expected to bring a new wave of upheaval as devices like Apple's iPhone and iPad proliferate.

**** Behind The Specs Of Apple's Retina Display <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20006976-233.html>
David Katzmaier, CNET

We suspect the iPhone 4's screen will bring a visible improvement over the current, outdated iteration, and rival the best phone screens currently available. But it probably doesn't deserve to be named after an eye part.

**** Cuomo Looks Into iPad Sales Over Discrimination Claim <http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0610/Cuomo_looks_into_iPad_sales_over_discrimination_claim.html?showall>
Ben Smith, Politico

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating claims that the computer giant Apple has refused to sell its new iPad to people of Asian descent, apparently over smuggling fears.

The Attorney General's's civil rights bureau was tipped off by an Assemblywoman from a Chinese-American section of Queens, who complained publicly last month that her constituents were being asked unusual questions when they sought to buy the devices. The iPad was not yet for sale in Asia at the time of the complaints in May.

**** Jobs To Developers: Stick With The Winning Team <http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20007010-260.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
Erica Ogg, CNET News

Jobs threw a lot of numbers out there, mostly to remind developers that even though other smartphone makers are catching up to and even surpassing the iPhone in some ways, that it's the App Store's reach and size make for a bandwagon that's worth riding for a long time.

**** Adobe Releases Lightroom 3 <http://www.macworld.com/article/151879/2010/06/lighroom3released.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Heather Kelly, Macworld

**** Apple Screenshot Confirms IWork Coming To iPhone <http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/apple-screenshot-confirms-iwork-coming-to-iphone/>
Nilay Patel, Engadget

**** A Lesson From Apple Writers On How To Write, And Not Write, Depending On The Audience <http://www.rexblog.com/2010/06/07/20889>
Rex Hammock

Bottomline: PR people can’t be bragging in one press release how Apple is charging advertisers tens of millions of dollars to help them get annoying ads and visual distractions in front of people who use Apple products, and then in the next press release, be bragging how they’re helping Apple product users “remove annoying ads and other visual distractions.”

**** How Does Apple Stay In The Spotlight? Secrecy, 'Steve Appeal' <http://www.pcworld.com/article/198209/how_does_apple_stay_in_the_spotlight_secrecy_steve_appeal.html>
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, ITworld

Take one part mystery, one part charisma, one part branding, and two parts excellent system design and engineering, bake at Apple HQ in 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA for six-months to a year and then release with grand fanfare. It works every time.

**** Are Apple's Sales Stats Dodgy? <http://www.itwire.com/it-industry-news/market/39648-are-apples-sales-stats-dodgy>
Anthony Caruana, ITWire

The stats they chose to show omitted one major player and didn’t tell the full story about another. Perhaps there’s a hint of worry in Cupertino.

**** Review: NinjaCam For iPhone <http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=349918&lsrc=rss_main>
Beau Colburn, Macworld

You may not have a lot of need to take photos secretly with your phone, but if you ever do, NinjaCam will get the job done.

**** Pulse iPad App Gets Steve Jobs’ Praise in Morning…Then Booted From App Store Hours Later After NYT Complains <http://kara.allthingsd.com/20100608/popular-pulse-news-reader-ipad-app-gets-steve-jobs-praise-in-morning-then-booted-from-app-store-hours-later-after-new-york-times-complaint/>
Kara Swisher, Wall Street Journal

**** Safari Reader: Apple’s Weapon Of Mass Destruction <http://jimlynch.com/index.php/2010/06/07/safari-reader-apples-weapon-of-mass-destruction/>
Jim Lynch

Apple had been looked on as some sort of savior for media companies with its iPad device. I doubt many companies will appreciate Apple destroying their ad-based web publishing businesses while simultaneously trying to get them to create apps and content for the iPad.

**** FaceTime Will Be Successful Because You Don't Need An Account <http://sachin.posterous.com/facetime-in-iphone-4>
Sachin’s Posterous

FaceTime will work because it doesn't change the device you use or your existing behavior.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Cheese Heads, Unite! <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/opinion/07feldman.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Michael Feldman, New York Times

June is National Dairy Month, but milk has been the coin of this realm ever since there was a Dairyland.

**** Numberplay: The Playful Mr. Gardner <http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/numberplay-the-playful-mr-gardner/?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Pradeep Mutalik, New York Times

Most of the wealth of tributes to Mr. Gardner have focused on his professional side. In today’s post, we explore his playful side through some of his puzzles.

**** The Quaintness Of The Past <http://www.slate.com/id/2256253/?from=rss>
Billy Collins, Slate Magazine

**** The Death And Life Of The Book Review <http://www.thenation.com/article/death-and-life-book-review>
John Palattella, The Nation

Despite the turmoil and doubts, I think there's no better time than the present to be covering books. The herd instinct is nearly extinct: newspapers inadvertently killed it when they scaled back on books coverage en masse; and the web, for all its crowds and their supposed wisdom, is a zone of unfederated cantons. The field is wide open. If you can't take chances now, if in such a climate you can't risk seeking an air legitimate and rare, when can you?



SingaporeSurf
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**** Singapore: A Utopia No More? <http://utopia8787.blogspot.com/2010/06/singapore-utopia-no-more.html>
Alex Tan, Utopia8787

**** Arrest Warrant Out For Second MRT Vandal Suspect <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1061655/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia

A warrant of arrest has been issued for Briton Lloyd Dane Alexander, the man suspected to be an accomplice of the Swiss national charged with vandalising an MRT train in Singapore.

**** Group Walked Through Casino Without Paying <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100608-0000119/Group-walked-through-casino-without-paying>
Teo Xuanwei, Today

The tricky aspects of having an entry levy system are only now beginning to surface.

**** Singapore To Get Latest iPhone, iPhone 4 In July <http://www.imerlion.com/2010/06/singapore-to-get-latest-iphone-iphone-4.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheSingaporeIphoneGuide+%28The+Singapore+iPhone+Guide%29>
Jimmy Yap, iMerlion

Picture on Mobile Crunch live blog definitely shows Singapore and July in the same slide.

**** ST No Slouch In Covering Social Issues <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_536923.html>
Anand A. Vathiyar, Straits Times

**** Turn KTM Land Into Waterway <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_536760.html>
Kenneth Mak, Straits Times

**** Online Politics At Election Time: More Space, Clearer Boundaries <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/online-politics-at-election-time-more-space-clearer-boundaries/>
Yawning Bread

If you look at the totality of the changes, the effect is one of setting clearer boundaries. The vague language that existed before has been cleaned up considerably, and through that cleaning up, it is much clearer now what is allowed and what is not. The forbidden areas are slightly fewer, but at the same time, if you cross those, the police can seize you.

**** Perspectives On Littering <http://kayatoast.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/perspectives-on-littering/>
Kaya Toast

Why do we have to be so clean?

**** Are We Really Living In An Authoritative City-State? <http://attitudedjon.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/are-we-really-living-in-an-authoritative-city-state/>

>From My Perspective


Come on, as long as I am living in a first world country, with GDP per capita one of the highest in the world, great infrastructure, good transport system and one of the best education systems in the world, do I freaking care if I have no freedom of speech?

**** Seriously? <http://hardhitting-nobs.blogspot.com/2010/06/seriously.html>
Musings From the Lion City

Is vandalism more serious than corruption? In Singapore, that seems to be the case.

**** Dining Out: Top 5 Restaurants In Singapore <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6500E120100601>
Reuters

**** SMRT Says Staff Mistook Graffiti On Train For Advert <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1061853/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia

SMRT has explained why there was a lapse of two days before a police report was made about the train that was vandalised with graffiti. The company said its staff noticed the graffiti on the train on 17 May but did not sound the alarm as it was done artistically and they mistook it for an advertisement.

**** India, Temasek Seek Road Fund <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575294120593747804.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines>
Gaurav Raghuvanshj, Wall Street Journal

India is negotiating a $2 billion fund with Singapore's state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. for infrastructure projects in the world's second-fastest growing major economy, India's minister for road transport and highways said Tuesday.

**** æ–°åŠ å¡ç§»æ°‘æ”¿ç­–æ”¶ç´§ 停止向留学生发放PR邀请函 <http://news.gxnews.com.cn/staticpages/20100608/newgx4c0daaed-3010637.shtml>
朱英华, 南国早报

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**** é«˜èµ„äº§è€…è§†æ–°åŠ å¡ä¸ºé¿é£Žæ¸¯ 百万置产为移民铺路 <http://news.cbbn.net/cj/969838.shtml>
黄瑶 , 齐鲁热线

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**** Marina Bay Sands Project To Be Completed 1st Quarter 2011 - Executive <http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100607-714894.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines>
Kate O'Keeffe, Dow Jones

All phases of Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s (LVS) Marina Bay Sands project in Singapore will be completed by the first quarter of 2011, a company executive said Tuesday.

**** Limits On Exclusiveness <http://desmondfu.blogspot.com/2010/06/limits-on-exclusiveness.html>
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