‘iPod Father’ Tony Fadell Comments on Discontinuation of iPod Classic [iOS Blog]
Tony Fadell, who formerly worked at Apple and is widely known as the “father” of the iPod, today commented on the recent discontinuation of the iPod Classic in an interview with Fast Company, saying that he’s “sad to see it go.”
“The iPod’s been a huge part of my life for the last decade. The team that worked on the iPod poured literally everything into making it what it was.” Eighteen months after launch, the iPod owned the portable media player category, and for the next decade, it continued to do so. “Products just don’t come around like that often,” laments Fadell. “The iPod was one-in-a-million.”
Though he’s sad to see the end of the iPod, Fadell notes that the product was “born to die,” with employees speculating in 2003 or 2004 what would kill the device. “Even back then, at Apple,” says Fadell, “we knew it was streaming. We called it the ‘celestial jukebox in the sky.’ And we have that now: music in the cloud.”
The final iPod classic was introduced in September of 2009, and rumors of a discontinuation of the product circulated for years before Apple retired the device in September of 2014. Following the announcements for the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and the Apple Watch on September 9, Apple removed the iPod classic from its online store.
Apple’s iPod sales have been dwindling for the last several years, and in January, Tim Cook noted that the iPod was a “declining business” for Apple. As of Q3 2014, the iPod made up just one percent of Apple’s total revenue, being dwarfed many times over by the iPhone and iPad, both of which have adopted the iPod’s music playing capabilities.
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iOS 8 Users Seeing Issues With Battery Drain, Slow Wi-Fi
Released last week, iOS 8 is Apple’s latest operating system update, bringing several new features like Continuity, third-party keyboards, Notification Center Widgets, and more. As with any new iOS update, users have been reporting several bugs in the operating system, with some of the more prevalent complaints pointing towards slow Wi-Fi speeds and problems with battery life.
As outlined by PCMag, iOS 8 users on the Apple support forums have been complaining about Wi-Fi problems in a thread that now spans multiple pages, an issue that was confirmed by the site’s own testing. It appears, based on complaints, that multiple devices may be affected by a Wi-Fi bug, including the iPhone 5s, the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus, the iPad Air, the Retina iPad mini, and more.
I also got an iPhone 6 on Friday, and noticed some sluggishness when connected to my home Wi-Fi network in New York. Twitter and Instagram photos took forever to appear, and opening a news story in Safari was hanging. I did a speed test using the Ookla app and got an abysmal 0.01 Mbps download and 1.05 Mbps upload. Minutes later, another test jumped up to 4.75 Mbps download and 0.24 upload, but a third test was again at 0.02 Mbps download and 0.76 upload.
Some users reportedly had luck fixing the problem by disabling Wi-Fi Networking under Privacy –> Location Services –> System Services.
Significant battery drain appears to be another complaint that’s popping up frequently on the Apple Support forums, with users complaining of their batteries draining much faster than usual. According to one user, his battery drained from 100 percent to zero in four hours with minimal usage, a complaint echoed by several other users.
While those seem to be some of the more prominent problems on the Apple forums, iOS 8 users are running into plenty of other bugs and issues with the software. On our own MacRumors forums, there’s an eleven page thread cataloguing complaints, which range from app crashes to the same battery issues Apple forum members are seeing, and a second thread where people are posting a list of bugs. There’s also a thread on people experiencing excessive battery drain and a thread on people seeing slow Wi-Fi speeds.
Apple already has plans for an iOS 8 update that’s coming in the near future, bringing support for Apple Pay and several features that are currently missing from the software, including SMS Relay. The update may also be used to fix some of the bugs that users are experiencing.
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Hulu working on original series from Stephen King and J.J. Abrams
The extreme popularity of shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black means streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu are making an even bigger push for original content. Accordingly, Hulu today announced that it has given the green light to start production on 11/22/63, an original series based on the novel by renowned author Stephen King, who is also listed as a producer alongside J.J. Abrams. Hulu’s newly introduced show, which will be done in collaboration with Warner Bros., is a thriller/love story that focuses on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Basically, as expressed in the image above, a character tries to change the outcome of the events which took place on that day, November 22nd, 1963. Whether it’ll be worth watching is yet to be determined, but this shows Hulu isn’t ready to let Netflix have all the fun when it comes to creating new programming.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Hulu
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What’s on your HDTV: ‘Gotham’, ‘Scorpion’, ‘Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘The Blacklist’
Welcome to the fall premiere season. We’re welcoming back familiar shows like Key & Peele, Person of Interest, The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory, as well as some of last year’s holdovers like Sleepy Hollow, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Brooklyn Nine-nine and The Blacklist. So what about this year’s newcomers? First up tonight is Gotham, an interesting Batman prequel, along with CBS’ first attempt at a hacker drama/action show called Scorpion (CSI: Cyber starring Luke Perry and Bow-Wow aka Shad Moss will debut in midseason). ABC will tie the new comedy Black-ish to its long-running hit show Modern Family, and on Amazon we’ll get the next block of episodes for its new show Transparent. The How I Met Your Mother complete series boxed set arrives on Blu-ray, along with a 25th anniversary edition of Ghost in the Shell, and FIFA 15 on almost all videogame consoles. Oh – and on Saturday Night Live you can expect Star-Lord himself Chris Pratt. Hit the gallery or just look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Blu-ray, Streaming movies & Games
- Neighbours
- Halloween: The Complete Collection
- Saw: The Complete Movie collection
- Attack on Titan Part 2
- The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology
- The Signal
- The Rover
- Defiance (S2)
- Ghost in the Shell (25th Anniversary Edition)
- Macbeth (1971)
- Key & Peele (S3)
- The 100 (S1)
- Disney Infinity: 2.0 Edition – Marvel Super Heroes (PS4, Xbox One,PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360)
- FIFA 15 (PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360)
- Defense Grid 2 (Xbox One, PS4)
- Slender: The Arrival (Xbox 360, PS3)
Monday
- Revolution (S2), Netflix
- Monday Night Football: Bears vs. Jets, ESPN, 8:15PM
- The Big Bang Theory (season premiere), CBS, 8 & 8:30PM
- Gotham (series premiere), Fox, 8PM
- The Voice (season premiere), NBC, 8PM
- Dancing with the Stars, ABC, 8PM
- American Ninja Warrior, NBC, 8PM
- WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
- Scorpion (series premiere), CBS, 9PM
- Sleepy Hollow (season premiere), Fox, 9PM
- Dallas (season finale), TNT, 9PM
- The Blacklist (season premiere), NBC, 10PM
- Forever (series premiere), ABC, 10PM
- Under the Dome (season finale), CBS, 10PM
- Love Prison, A&E, 10PM
Tuesday
- NCIS (season premiere), CBS, 8PM
- Finding Your Roots (season premiere), PBS, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- The Voice, NBC, 8PM
- Dancing with the Stars, ABC, 8PM
- Utopia, Fox, 8PM
- Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (season premiere), ABC, 9PM
- NCIS: New Orleans (series premiere), CBS, 9PM
- New Girl, Fox, 9PM
- America’s Got Talent, NBC, 9PM
- Inside the NFL, Showtime, 9PM
- 4th and Loud, A&E, 9PM
- Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
- Matador, El Rey, 9PM
- The Mindy Project, Fox, 9:30PM
- Awkward (fall premiere), MTV, 10PM
- Person of Interest (season premiere), CBS, 10PM
- Chicago Fire (season premiere), NBC, 10PM
- Forever, ABC, 10PM
- Sons of Anarchy, FX, 10PM
- Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
- The Singles Project, Bravo, 10PM
- Faking It (season premiere, MTC, 10:30PM
- Brickleberry, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- The Listener, Ion, 11 & 11:59PM
Wednesday
- The Middle (season premiere), ABC, 8PM
- Survivor (season premiere), CBS, 8PM
- The Mysteries of Laura, NBC, 8PM
- Penn & Teller: Fool Us (season finale), CW, 8PM
- Unsung: Big Daddy Kane, TV One, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- The Goldbergs (season premiere), ABC, 8:30PM
- Law & Order: SVU (season premiere), NBC, 9PM
- Modern Family (season premiere), ABC, 9PM
- Red Band Society, Fox, 9PM
- Legends, TNT, 9PM
- Big Brother (season finale), CBS, 9:30PM
- Black-ish (series premiere), ABC, 9:30PM
- Chicago PD (season premiere), NBC, 10PM
- Nashville (season premiere), ABC, 10PM
- South Park (season premiere), Comedy Central, 10PM
- The League, FXX, 10PM
- Franklin & Bash, TNT, 10PM
- The Bridge, FX, 10PM
- Key & Peele (season premiere), Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- Ali G: Rezurection, FXX, 10:30PM
- Virgin Territory (season finale), MTV, 11PM
Thursday
- Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State college football, ESPN, 7:30PM
- Giants/Washington football, CBS, 8:25PM
- Bones (season premiere), Fox, 8PM
- Grey’s Anatomy (season premiere), ABC, 8PM
- Glena (special presentation, Showtime, 8PM
- The Biggest Loser, NBC, 8PM
- Haven, Syfy, 8PM
- Scandal (season premiere), ABC, 9PM
- Dating Naked, VH1, 9PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 9PM
- Working the Engels, NBC, 9:30PM
- Parenthood (season premiere), NBC, 10PM
- How to Get Away With Murder (series premiere), ABC, 10PM
- Ridiculousness, MTV, 10PM
- Garfunkel & Oates (season finale), IFC, 10PM
- Black Jesus, Cartoon Network, 11PM
- Adam Devine’s House Party, Comedy Central, 12:30AM
Friday
- How I Met Your Mother (S9), Netflix
- Parks & Recreation (S6), Netflix
- Transparent (episodes 2 – 11), Amazon
- The Amazing Race (season premiere), CBS, 8PM
- Shark Tank (season premiere), ABC, 8PM
- Utopia, Fox, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- Masters of Illusion, CW, 8PM
- WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
- Hawaii Five-0 (season premiere), CBS, 9PM
- A Football Life: Sean Taylor, NFL Network, 9PM
- Blue Bloods (season premiere), CBS, 10PM
- Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO, 10PM
- Z Nation, Syfy, 10PM
- The Knick, Cinemax, 10PM
Saturday
- Arkansas vs. Texas A&M college football, CBS, 3:30PM
- Texas vs. Kansas college football, Fox Sports 1, 4PM
- Notre Dame vs. Syracuse college football, ABC, 8PM
- Cedar Cove, Hallmark, 8PM
- Midnight Masquerade, Hallmark, 9PM
- Doctor Who, BBC America, 9PM
- Hell on Wheels, AMC, 9PM
- Outlander (season finale), Starz, 9PM
- Intruders, BBC America, 10PM
- Oregon State vs. USC college football, ESPN, 10:30PM
- The Chair, Starz, 11PM
- Saturday Night Live: Chris Pratt / Ariana Grande (season premiere), NBC, 11:30PM
Sunday
- The Walking Dead (S4), Netflix
- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Dover, ESPN, 2PM
- 60 Minutes, CBS, 7:30PM
- Once upon A Time (season premiere), ABC, 8PM
- The Simpsons (season premiere), Fox, 8PM
- The Paradise (season premiere), PBS, 8PM
- Madam Secretary, CBS, 8PM
- Saints / Cowboys football, NBC, 8:20PM
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine (season premiere), Fox, 8:30PM
- Miss Marple season finale), PBS, 9PM
- Resurrection (season premiere), ABC, 9PM
- Boardwalk Empire, HBO, 9PM
- Ray Donovan (season finale), Showtime, 9PM
- The Good Wife, CBS, 9PM
- American Dad, Fox, 9:30PM
- CSI (season premiere), CBS, 10PM
- The Lottery (season finale), Lifetime, 10PM
- Revenge (season premiere), ABC, 10PM
- Manhattan, WGN, 10PM
- The Strain, FX, 10PM
- Masters of Sex (season finale), Showtime, 10PM
- The Mystery of Agatha Christie with David Suchet, PBS, 10:30PM
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
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TechCrunch: Apple plans to shutter Beats Music (update: service to continue, brand may change)
Whatever Apple has in the works for its future audio offerings, it may not include keeping Beats Music in app stores. TechCrunch reports that Apple plans to shut down the music streaming service, noting that CEO Ian Rogers has already been tasked with running iTunes Radio. The move wouldn’t be a huge shock as it makes sense for Tim Cook and Co. to bring new listening options under the iTunes umbrella rather than keeping Dr. Dre’s young moniker. It also goes to show that in addition to nabbing the hoards of faithful headphone wearers, Apple’s purchase was just as much about getting the talent behind the brand’s full line of products — including Dre and Jimmy Iovine — under its wing. I reached out to Beats for comment, and I’ll be sure to update if it offers any additional information. Of course, we’re interested to see how “the first subscription service that finally got it right,” according to Cook, will get molded into a new audio option.
Update: Well, Apple’s Tom Neumayr told Re/code that the TechCrunch report is simply not true. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be changes to Beats Music. The service may stay, but the Beats Music brand may disappear. And that makes perfect sense when the iTunes brand is already so strong.
Source: TechCrunch
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Spotify who? Most of Japan’s music sales are CDs
Japan may be on the cutting edge of everything from servant robots to tech-laden toilets, but music? Not so much, it seems. Old-fashioned CDs still make up 85 percent of the country’s music sales despite years of declining volume, and the Recording Industry Association of Japan notes that internet-based sales actually shrank from $1 billion in 2009 to about $400 million in 2013. In short, the physical-to-digital transition that took hold elsewhere has fallen flat in the Land of the Rising Sun, where people are simply buying less music overall.
Just what’s creating these problems isn’t clear, but it’s likely to be a mix of corporate and cultural factors. Music licensing is decidedly more complex in Japan than in many other countries, preventing online outfits from either launching or offering a large-enough catalog to sway buyers. Spotify, for example, has spent two years struggling to get the deals it needs for a local debut. Japan also puts a much heavier emphasis on CDs as collectibles and promotional tools — it’s hard to lure screaming J-pop fans to a store or concert if you don’t have something more memorable to offer than a download code. It’s doubtful that a shift in Japanese listening tastes will happen any time soon as a result, but it’s also clear that the disc-based status quo can’t last forever.
[Image credit: RW Sinclair, Flickr]
Filed under: Storage, Internet
Via: Forbes
Source: New York Times
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