AppleFree.org :: Proud To Be Apple Free?

What Is After iPhone?

2010-02-28T05:40:58Z

Are you wondering what is after iPhone? Look at the screen below.

Turn Your iPhone Into An iPad

2010-02-04T05:47:05Z

iPad The Revolutionary Joke!

2010-02-01T01:52:48Z

iPad vs Kindle vs Rock

2010-01-28T12:50:49Z

Windows 7 Now More Popular Than All OS X Versions

2010-01-22T06:01:12Z

We learned back in November that Windows 7 was having a much (much!) better first few days in retail than Vista did when it launched, but now that the system has had a full quarter and change to make an impression, it looks as if that growth isn't slowing down. According to new figures from Net Application, Win7 is achieving a higher level of market penetration in a faster amount of time than Vista did; after a month, Vista was stuck at 0.93 percent, while Win7 nailed the 4 percent mark. After two months, Win7 jumped to 5.71 percent, while Vista was barely over 2 percent after the same amount of time. 'Course, the newest version of Windows had a holiday season to help it out right from the get-go, but there's still no denying that people are flocking to the system even now. What's most interesting, however, is that the overall market share of Windows 7 alone has now surpassed all OS X versions that are being tracked (10.4, 10.5 and 10.6), so put that in your pipe and smoke it. Smoke it long and hard.

Google Should Make Apple Beg For Maps Navigation

2009-10-29T01:11:28Z

When Google announced what is clearly the best car navigation application on any mobile today, it didn't just take a swipe at GPS navigation companies such as Garmin and TomTom. It took a swipe at Apple.

Beyond the advanced features of the Google Maps Navigation app (voice search, crowdsourced traffic data, Street View navigation), what makes the app noteworthy is that it launched on Google's own Android phones first rather than on the iPhone. By doing so, Google is putting Apple on notice that it is no longer reserving its best apps for the iPhone.

Navigation apps are a key category for mobile phones, and the iPhone is for once at a disadvantage here. Even the paid navigation apps in the iTunes store can't compete because Google's new navigation app is an extension (albeit a customized one) of its search engine. When a navigation app becomes an interface to Google's massive search engine, it begins to deliver things that GPS app developers like Garmin and TomTom will never be able to build (search along a route, natural language search). Oh yeah, and did I mention it is free?

This is but the latest sign of a growing rift between Apple and Google. A couple years ago, when the iPhone first launched, Google and Apple had a strong partnership. At the time, Google CEO Eric Schmidt described the relationship as so close that it was akin to merging "without merging. Each company should do the absolutely best thing they can do every time." Google supposedly didn't need to creat its own phone, because it could simply create software for the iPhone. And, in fact, some of the best apps on the iPhone--Mail, Maps, YouTube, Search--were developed by Google.

Only two years later, Apple and Google no longer have such a cozy relationship. A new Android phone is now launching every other week, it seems. Feeling the competitive threat, Apple started blocking Google apps such as Google Voice and Latitude from getting on the iPhone, and Schmidt stepped down from Apple's board (although there were also other reasons for that having to do with antitrust scrutiny).

The tensions really came to a boil around the whole Google Voice saga. As we wrote at the time:

Multiple sources at Google tell us that in informal discussions with Apple over the last few months Apple expressed dismay at the number of core iPhone apps that are powered by Google. Search, maps, YouTube, and other key popular apps are powered by Google. Other than the browser, Apple has little else to call its own other than the core phone, contacts and calendar features.

So Apple starts to back away from letting Google take over the iPhone with all the best apps by rejecting them. And now we have Google's response: a big middle finger. If Apple is going to make it hard to get on the iPhone, then Google will stop giving Apple its best apps first and use them to make its own Android platform more appealing.

Apple is in a terrible position here because the future of mobile apps are Web apps, and Google excels at making those. Apple needs Google, it's most dangerous competitor in the mobile Web market, to keep building apps for the iPhone. Google would be foolish not to since the iPhone still has the largest reach of any modern Web phone. But it will no longer be a priority.

The sad thing is that Apple has been here before--with Microsoft. In the late 1990s, Apple had to beg Microsoft to keep building Office for Macs. Now it may be in the same position with Google. There may be more than 85,000 apps in the App Store, but it is only a handful which actually drive purchases. If Google Maps Navigation becomes one of those types of killer apps, Apple might need to do some begging first before Google goes through effort to make it for the iPhone.

Source: TechCrunch

Hacker: Windows More Secure Than Mac OS X

2009-09-22T09:51:41Z

Hackers just like the PC more.

Regardless of which side you're on (though as a true computing enthusiast, you shouldn't be taking sides), you've heard the arguments back and forth on the which operating system is truly safer - Mac OS X or Windows.

It is of the opinion of Charlie Miller, a well known Mac security guru, that even Snow Leopard, the latest version of Mac OS X, isn't as safe as Windows.

One key point is that Snow Leopard still doesn't have ASLR, or address space layout randomization, which randomly arranges the position of key data making it harder for hackers to target for exploits.

Miller said to TechWorld that Apple didn't change the ASLR from 10.5 to 10.6: "Apple didn't change anything. It's the exact same ASLR as in Leopard, which means it's not very good."

Apple didn't completely missed the chance to tighten up security in Snow Leopard though, as the new QuickTime solves a lot of the issues that Mac OS X had before.

"Apple rewrote a bunch of QuickTime," said Miller, "which was really smart, since it's been the source of lots of bugs in the past."

One thing that Snow Leopard did adapt, which Windows has had since XP SP2, is DEP (data execution prevention). With DEP, buffer overflow attacks are much harder to execute.

Despite Miller's opinion that Windows is the more secure OS, the large install based of Microsoft-based systems make them a much more attractive target for hackers. Still, Miller would like to see security on all platforms.

"Snow Leopard's more secure than Leopard, but it's not as secure as Vista or Windows 7," he said. "When Apple has both [in place], that's when I'll stop complaining about Apple's security."

Dear Apple, WE HATE YOU!

2009-08-14T10:07:19Z

Watch this video. It's AMAZING!

I still wonder why Google doesn't do anything about this. Google is powering 2 most important native apps on the iPhone. After the rejection of Google Voice, Google could EASILY send a message by blocking those two apps on all iPhone devices.

"Dear Apple,

We are sick and tired of your dictatorship. We refuse to be suffocated by your iron fist. Google Voice was the last straw. From now on, I am a PC where I have my freedom!"

Jailbroken iPhones are a Threat to National Security!

2009-07-30T02:58:44Z

Is Apple losing the plot? I ask this because, having just read this bollocks (Apple wants to make jailbreaking illegal because it supposedly threatens our nation's cellphone tower infrastructure, and thereby threatens our national security), I've read nothing but well-reasoned, anti-Apple invective. Come, let's explore the phenomenon.

But first: what's going on? The Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to make iPhone jailbreaking 100 percent legal. It's your phone, so why can't you install whatever the hell you want on it? No one tells you what software you can and cannot install on your PC, right? Exactly. Now, Apple doesn't want jailbreaking to given any sort of legal blessing, because, well, Apple is Apple, and AT&T, its incompetent partner in crime, doesn't know if it's coming or going. Want to use Google Voice mobile? Oh, I bet you do, but The Man doesn't want you to.

The Computers From HELL

2008-12-01T07:39:29Z

I worked as a technical support manager for almost 2 years. Unfortunately half of our employees used Macs. The rest used PCs from Compaq and IBM running different versions of Windows.

We had at least 20-30 issues a day with the Macs and about 2-5 with the PCs. The problem was also that the issues we had with the Macs were often illogical and took huge amounts of time to solve. Another aspect was that the Mac-users never learned from their mistakes and what we told them.

I know it's prejudice to say but it sure felt like the PC-users were more self-going and interested in managing their computers themselves. I quit that job and now I work as the head of technical management at one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world.

-Ron Anderson

Why App Store Sucks

2008-11-10T22:16:45Z

A year ago, we said that no iPhone SDK meant no killer apps. It came, and the apps are here in staggering numbers. But many of the amazing apps and concepts we grew to love as unofficial apps aren't here, and only about 100 of the 500+ apps at launch in the official store are really useful or desirable--the rest are dupes or just bad. There are no less than five apps to turn my iPhone into a flashlight, yet I can't turn it into a 3G-powered Wi-Fi hotspot. Why? Because the SDK has more restrictions than Guantanamo--devs can't integrate with the OS and have to steer way, way clear of copyright and trademark issues--so the most innovative, game-changing apps might not ever make it to your squeaky clean iPhone. That's why we need more than Apple's official app store--we still need jailbreaking, Installer.app (now Cydia) and the best unauthorized third-party apps to make the iPhone an ultra-powerful open platform we really want. Here are the roadblocks:

Developers can't touch or enhance iTunes or iPod functionality in any way, shape or form--they can't even access your music directory, meaning you better like the way the iPod button works just the way it is. Don't expect any apps to use your wonderfully curated music library either.
Casualties: Instinctive Shuffle, a smart shuffle application that learns your skipping behavior to figure what you actually wanna hear next. Tap Tap Revolution became the watered-down Tap Tap Revenge.

No processes can run in the background--apps have to completely quit when exited, completely contained in their little sandbox.
Casualties: IM is a popular example, but Apple's upcoming push notifications will probably make them a moot rallying point. It also means that third-party copy-and-paste solutions won't work, since you can't move the text to another application. Also impossible is a fantasy app of ours, TrippWire, that would record phone conversations (all legal considerations aside).

Devs can't integrate apps or functions into the OS. Third-party apps will always be second-class citizens, and can't significantly alter iPhone functions, including accessing the calendar or SMS messaging or adding any content to the otherwise useless lock screen that appears when you wake up the phone.
Casualties: Intelliborn's Mario Ciabarra lamented to us that the SDK actually doesn't give you all the same APIs and tools as Apple, and is missing a whole bunch of critical ones that'd let you add content to the lock screen, access calendar events or mail, or change the way the iPhone responds to events, meaning there's no way for him to build his app Intelliscreen (above) using the SDK. Instinctive CEO Justin Smithline also told us that you simply "can't create a well-integrated app," like Instinctive Shuffle. This set of restrictions "flies in the face" of Apple's own philosophy of the creating beautiful software with the best possible user experience, says Smithline.

Pirated games, movies or whatever are a no-no in the App Store, obviously.
Casualties: NES.app, or any emulator, really, dooming us to bloated, over-priced renditions of Tetris by videogame mega-publishers. Also off limits, a dedicated video streaming app for something like the old Stage6 or QuickSilverScreen, which traffics in content that's, um, not legally spotless, to say the least.

A bit different than the piracy concern, apps using copyrights, trademarks or intellectual property of a major company are sticky, and the App Store will steer clear of them if they're not developed by the company itself.
Casualties: Apps like TiVoRemote would have to be developed by TiVo or else they'd have dicey prospects, at best. Basically anything involving a company's intellectual property or trademarks from anyone but the company themselves. An app that'll stream movies from your Netflix "Watch Instantly" account by anybody but Netflix would be another obvious foul.

Devs don't have deep access to the hardware. Jonathan Zdziarski, creator of NES.app and author of a few iPhone books, told us "much of the lower-level functionality has been hidden" in the SDK so "if your application is going to meet the necessarily political requirements, these more powerful features are off-limits."
Casualties: Stuff like Camera Pro, which gives you a ridiculous amount of control over the camera, would have a hard time complying with SDK rules. More than that, Zdziarski says, Apple has "privatized" the CoreSurface framework, which is "making it very difficult for developers to write their own movie players, 2D games, and similar kinds of renderings," especially with performance approaching passable.

Apple's app review process is a complete mystery to developers and takes forever, which can affect app quality and horribly delays app updates.
Casualties: Aurora Feint's developers revealed to us, "How the whole review process [for applications] goes is unknown to us," and that Apple doesn't even tell developers how many times their app is downloaded--they've gotta figure it out by the size of the check or have the app report back. NetNewsWire's Brent Simmons related the cloak-and-dagger headaches to Wired, telling them that developers are "not supposed to discuss actually programming on the iPhone with anybody--even though that would raise the quality of the apps." Between July 11 and July 17, Simmons pumped out five updates to its application and none of them had showed up by the 17th.

Apple limits app testing to five devices, so there is basically is no beta testing.
Casualties: Us. We're the beta testers. Aurora Feint's developers told us that for app testing, "Apple requires special signing to be done that binds each app to a specific device for debugging purposes," and it's limited to five, so they "definitely had some people camping out in our offices" to test. Twitterific creator Craig Hockenberry notes that the iPhone app's crash report come to a dev in a form barely more comprehensible than Swahili, on top of lacking info about what's going on in the phone outside their app. And then, if you do have a fix, there's no way to test it, other than to release it out into the wild through the App Store, "the developer equivalent of playing Russian roulette."

On the upside, Apple appears to be launching a beta testing program soon that'll let devs test apps on up to 100 devices, which jibes with what Tapulous CEO Bart Decrem alluded to in a conversation with us. Hopefully it does roll out in the next couple days, as expected. But even then, putting beta software on a device will require the iPhone or iPod serial number, and will still have to snagged through the App Store.

Apple's number one priority is Apple.
Casualties: Basically anything that threatens any of the iPhone's core functions or key profit centers. Opera told us they aren't developing for the iPhone because the SDK doesn't allow apps "that interpret code, which is essentially what the browser does." Mozilla CEO John Lilly is more acidic in this month's Wired saying, "Apple makes it too hard" but they're using "a business argument masquerading as a technological" one. Any formats not supported by Apple essentially don't exist. AT&T has implied to us that it's Apple that's not allowing laptop tethering, though there's obviously network considerations for the carrier, so we're reasonably, but not totally, sure. The NY Times makes it clear that distributors of free music or video will have it tough too, so don't expect a MyWaves or a Hulu app until the rules get clearer. Steve Jobs told the NYT that this does represent a competitive threat. "We will compete" with developers' apps, he said blatantly.

As anyone running the 2.0 software knows, there are definite stability issues, lending a lot of credence to Apple's sandbox for applications--could you imagine it being more unstable? On the other hand, the massive anticipation for the Pwnage 2.0 tool, the vast universe of applications we're missing out on--not just pirated goodies, but honest-to-God mission-critical wares--shows the SDK clearly doesn't provide everything we need it to. And it might never. But the black market app economy can and does fill the void. Apple might seek to shut it down, but the iPhone's two-class app economy may prove to be its greatest strength.

Gizmodo

Tired of the Apple smear Campaign

2008-10-04T23:15:37Z

I don't know about you but this smear campaign that Apple is continuing with, attaching Vista over and over again is getting on my nerves. Steve Jobs needs to accept the fact that PC has beaten the Mac over and over again. Windows is more versatile and accepted than Mac ever will be. You have to defense other than to smear Microsoft's new OS. Yes Vista was laden with bugs and problems when it was first released and it caused a lot of people grief. Microsoft has since release SP1 and a host of other fixes that have made this OS a great addition to the windows family.

At my multimedia company I am using Vista64bit vista on the main workstation and Vista Home Premium on 2 laptops, Vista ultimate is installed on the tablet. There are two other computers that are running Windows XP and to be honest I nor others in the company even work on them. Vista has become almost everything that is was promised to be. There are features that have made my life at the office easier and more efficient.

As far as the Mac goes I find it interesting that Apple cannot produce anything that is worthy of advertising so they have fallen back to trying to convince the world they are better than Microsoft. Seriously people get over yourselves you are beaten.

When people ask me what I do and I tell them I own a multimedia company, the most common question is "you must use a Mac?". While trying to refrain from falling on the floor laughing I explain to them that maybe in the past Mac was the platform of choice for media developers but our company is exclusively PC based. There are applications that I use that won't run on a Mac. I need heavy GPU power for 3D applications and gaming neither of which are an Apple strength. When it comes to the brute processing power required for some of my applications there is nothing better than my Quadcore Extreme 2.66ghz Cores, 8GB of RAM, 8800GTX w/768MB DDR RAM. A $3000 Machine capable of handling whatever I can through at it including playing the latest games.

Hm let me check can I get an Apple with those capabilities for $3000. Hell no that would cost tens of thousands to get that power in an apple Machine. Even with the processing power the Mac would still not be able to handle playing modern games and many of the applications I use would still not run on it. So to everyone who thinks that Mac is so great and nothing compares to a Mac for graphics, you are welcome to your opinion no matter how skewed it may be. At the end of the day all you Mac people can grab your I-Pods and shoe horn yourselves into your smart cars eating a tofu sandwich while the rest of us are going to have a LAN party laughing at your pretty little paper weights sitting on the desk that can't join in the fun.

OK so I was a little harsh with the last paragraph but I am seriously fed up with seeing these ads on TV. Apple should get out of the computer game and stick to I-Pods and I-Phones it seems that its the only thing they do well. Leave the computer industry to the people that really deliver what we want and not what you tell us we want. PC is the force that drives the computer industry, lead by Microsoft Windows face the fact that Apple can't compete.

That's my 2 cents...

P.S. Those who live is glass houses should not through stones. As far a great release blunders does anyone remember the Mac Mini ? I didn't see a huge smear campaign from Microsoft or the PC manufacturers when you morons thought that the Mini was a good idea. And what about the I-Lamp I mean I-Mac well what ever that stupid LCD on a desk lamp concept was. The PC companies just laughed and continued to build kick A$$ boxes.

Psyc3D

10 Lies About Windows Vista

2008-09-25T00:38:03Z

1. Plenty of Bugs and Glitches
This one is pure propaganda. In our experience, the only crash we've experienced happened when we installed the new version 8.0 of iTunes (how ironic!), and even that didn't result in the dreaded Blue Screen of Death -- just a hard lockup that required a cold boot. System Restore blew out the problem, bringing everything back to normal in minutes.
Lie Meter: 10 (Key: 10 = total lie, 0 = everything you've heard is true)

2. Upgrading Is a Hassle
Using Vista's original version, we encountered a weird anomaly with HP printer drivers where Microsoft Word would mysteriously re-launch after we closed it, but no crashes resulted. We've had another issue with M-Audio, where its USB preamp for our podcast microphone has no Vista-compatible driver, to this day. In its first days after initial launch, 29% of Vista's driver problems are allegedly the fault of NVIDIA. While we're using NVIDIA graphics cards on both the notebook and desktop, we've been lucky not to experience any video-driver troubles. And on the notebook with Vista pre-installed, the driver troubles have been nonexistent.
Lie Meter: 5

3. Nagging Security Prompts
The dreaded User Account Control, or UAC, does nag you incessantly, wanting to know if you're sure you want to do this or that. But it's easy to disable those prompts, so much so that if you can't do it, you're not even trying. The one's a favorite complaint from those who are completely clueless about Vista.
Lie Meter: 9

4. There Are Many Versions -- Expensive Versions
Microsoft is brand spamming us with all those multiple versions of the Vista operating system, and we wish there were just one. The pricing is high, too, retailing at $319.95 for a non-upgrade copy of Vista Ultimate (upgrade for $219.95), and $259.95 ($129.95 to upgrade) for the most popular version, Vista Home Premium. Cheaper versions don't even have that sweet, gorgeous Aero interface, so we're not even counting them. Keep in mind that these are retail prices, and all Microsoft's future service packs and updates are free, so you could get away with only buying Vista once and keeping it for years without paying any more. Taken in context, it's not a bad deal, and unless you're using Ubuntu (our fave OS) or other open-source software, a modern OS isn't going to be cheap no matter how you slice it.
Lie Meter: 8

5. It's Not Simple or Intuitive
This is so subjective, one person might think all computers are near-impossible to use while the person next door thinks they're all simple. We've found Vista to be full of usability enhancements, and see no difficulty using it. We particularly like the way menus stay on the top of an application window, and not at the top of the desktop -- this is especially useful when multiple apps are open across our dual-monitor setup. We also like the two mouse buttons on our Vista laptop.
Lie Meter: 10

6. Windows Defender Slows Everything Down
It's true that Windows Defender is a memory hog, but that's the case with most antivirus software. It's unfair to single out Vista's software on this one. And if you're careful (like us), you don't need antivirus software, anyway. It's like closing the barn door after all the horses have already run out. Virus paranoia is a trumped-up piece of fear mongering planted for propaganda purposes. Are we just lucky? Windows Defender doesn't slow us down, because we shut it down without consequence. Maybe it's because we know better than to click on strange attachments (and use Gmail), we have a hardware firewall with a strong password, we always use Firefox, or we just don't wander around sleazy websites -- but virus trouble on Vista is rare.
Lie Meter: 5

7. It's Generally Slow
If you have an old PC, just about anything you do short of MS-DOS is going to seem slow. Yes, Vista and its Aero interface require more resources, and Vista needs a modern processor and multiple gigs of RAM. But hey, this is 2008. Also, Microsoft made a mistake in quoting the minimum system requirements way too low. But overall, in my tests of XP vs. Vista on the exact same machine, Vista was 15.28% faster.
Lie Meter: 10

8. Slow File Transfers
This was a problem with the original Vista, but it's been largely solved in Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). When we tested SP1 (a pre-release, not the shipping version) file-transfer speeds, they felt slower than Windows XP's, but a lot of that difference had to do with the way the transfer is displayed on the screen. When XP's file-transfer window closed, the transfer wasn't really complete, but Vista was more true to the actual transfer and the subsequent file checking that goes on. But yes, the file transfers aren't as fast in Vista, but in the shipping version of SP1, the difference is hardly noticeable.
Lie Meter: 6

9. Activation Issues
Windows Vista must communicate with the mother ship in Redmond if you want to keep on using it, or you must enter a special activation number after you contact Microsoft. But it's really no big deal. On the laptop we received with Vista already installed, activation wasn't even an issue at all -- it was already done. On the desktop machine where we installed Vista Ultimate, the activation was done online in about two seconds and if we weren't looking, we would have hardly known it happened. If we were constantly swapping out a lot of hardware, this would be annoying, but usually, complaints about activation come from only the most inept software pirates who aren't aware of numerous activation workarounds.
Lie Meter: 10

10. Start Menu Is Hard to Navigate
This is a really lame complaint. If the start menu is hard for you to navigate, it's probably pretty tough for you to operate a close-and-play record player, load a DVD, and start your car, too. We saw this complaint in a lot of places all over the web, and find it to be vacuous.
Lie Meter: 10

Conclusion
Most of the disinformation floating around about Windows Vista is simply not true. Yes, you've been fed a pack of lies, accompanied with a healthy dose of "truthiness." Sure, a lot of that static originated at Vista's clumsy release 18 months ago, but since SP1 was rolled out, Vista is a different animal now. We originally planned to dump Vista after we finished this half-year test, but now that we've experienced it first-hand, we're sticking with it. In fact, we like it. A lot.
Lie Meter: 0

Apple Is SO Creative!

2008-09-13T03:27:26Z

If any of you had watched the September 09 2008 keynote of Apple, you probably saw the iPod nano-chromatic thing. Well the way that Steve Jobs said it, it looked like that they spent WEEKS to figure out what colors that damn nano should have. Well that would not surprise me because they are dumb! So they would need more time!

Here is the exact line:
"They come in some amazing colors. The best colors we've ever done. Johnny and his team came up with some, just some fantastic colors and here is, here's what they are."
Yea your Johnny team did some fantastic job copying some other company. Gooz Job (You have to be Persian to get what is "Gooz")!

I think I've seen these exact colors somewhere else!

Now here is Creative Zen which was introduced a long time ago. :)

I guess they don't think different! They copy different! :)

The Soup iPhone 3G

2008-09-08T05:40:02Z

Here is another funny iPhone video.