The Simpsons mocks (m)Apple

Few have been spared the satire of Matt Groening's long running animated sitcom. Last night, The Simpsons took on Apple, or uh, Mapple for a full 6 minutes of lampoonery -- a pretty harsh ride at a two-joke per minute pace. It all starts when the Springfield mall gets its very own Mapple store, "it's so sterile," gasps Lisa upon entering. Perhaps the best exchange comes from Bart's dubbing of a Steve Mobs' product announcement in front of a crowd of gaping nerds, "You think you're cool because you buy a $500 phone with a picture of a fruit on it. Well guess what? They cost 8 bucks to make and I pee on every one!" A Mapple store employee then angrily responds, "Who dares question the boss we fired 10 years ago and then brought back!" Yuk yuk. Videos after the break for as long as it takes for the copyrighters to wake up.

Apple Announces new Macbooks, Macbook Pros, and Macbook Airs

Macbooks

You heard the rumors, now get the details. Apple has just released a major update to the MacBook line, leaving the original white plastic model in the mix but lowering the price to $999; the two new models are priced at $1299 and $1599. You can see a video overview of the new beasties at Apple's site.

The new models feature the same unibody aluminum construction process as the MacBook Pro; video chores are handled by the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M display subsystem with 256 MB of shared video RAM, a dramatic performance boost from the older Intel integrated graphics -- Apple claims 2.5x-6x better 3D performance on gaming tests.

Both new models support up to 2560x1600 pixels on an external display (via the new Mini DisplayPort connector) and sport a native 1280x800 13.3" glossy LED screen. The design of these laptops is so radical, Apple has two full pages of sweet geeky detail posted on apple.com.

Both models include the new all-glass trackpad, built-in iSight, 8x Superdrive and 2 GB of RAM. They are under one inch high (2.41 cm), 12.78 inches (32.5 cm) wide, and they both weigh 4.5 lbs (2.04 kg). Neither MacBook model includes a FireWire port (unlike the big boys, which have a single FireWire 800 port) -- this is a definite drawback for anyone thinking of one as a mobile video workstation.

Lower-end model:

• Price: $1299


• Main Specs: 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo, 3MB L2 cache, 2GB of RAM expandable to 4 GB, 160GB HD


• Display & Other: 13.3" screen, 8x Superdrive, 2 USB


• BTO: Add RAM (up to 4 GB), up to 320 GB HD or 128 GB SSD

High-end model:

• Price: $1599


• Main Specs: 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, 3MB L2 cache, 2GB of RAM expandable to 4 GB, 250GB HD


• Display & Other: 13.3" screen, 8x Superdrive, 2 USB


• BTO: Add RAM (up to 4 GB), up to 320 GB HD or 128 GB SSD

More details on features, graphics, tech specs and environmental compliance are up at Apple's site.

Macbook Pro

Almost eight years ago, Apple introduced the Titanium PowerBook, and with it the company ushered in a wave of industrial laptop design that in many ways, is still unmatched. Although the 2003 and 2006 refreshes to the lineup changed the material (from titanium to aluminum) and processor (from PowerPC to Intel), the basic design has remained essentially the same.

It's time for a change. Last night we got a tip showing off the new design (a design that closely mirrors the leaked Deutsche Telekom images from last month), now we finally have the hardware details. Apple did mention that the rumored "Brick" manufacturing process is, in fact, what they are using for the new notebooks.

15" MacBook Pro

Price: $1999

Specs:

• 15.4" LED-backlit display


• 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo (with 3MBs of L2 cache)


• 2GBs of DDR3 RAM


• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB


• 250 GB hard drive


• Slot-loading Super Drive

15" MacBook Pro

Price: $2400

Specs:

• 15.4" LED-backlit display


• 2.53 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo (with 6MBs of L2 cache)


• 4GBs of DDR3 RAM


• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB


• 320 GB hard drive


• Slot-loading Super Drive

Macbook Air

Sweet! Even the MacBook Air got a boost, 9 months after the first release in January. As with the rest of the MacBook line, the new Air features the Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU and the Mini Display Port. The MacBook Air now supports DVI, dual-link DVI, and VGA video output. It will connect to the new Apple LED Cinema Display and can drive other displays up to 30 inches in size. Unlike many of the other MacBooks, it doesn't have the new glass trackpad.

The big deal from today's announcement? The top level MacBook Air now has a slightly faster CPU, faster memory, and a 128 GB solid state drive. The details are below, more to follow as we get a chance to play with one.

Entry level MacBook Air

Price: $1,799

Specs:13.3" LED-backlit display, Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU, 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 6 MB L2 Cache, 2 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 Memory, 120 GB SATA hard drive.

Form Factor: Same as existing model

Top level MacBook Air

Price: $2,499

Specs:13.3" LED-backlit display, Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU, 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 6 MB L2 Cache, 2 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 Memory, 128 GB solid state drive.

Form Factor: Same as existing model

New Cinema Displays finally arrive with iSight cameras, MagSafe connectors

In a move that surprised everybody and nobody simultaneously, Apple has released a brand-new 24-inch LED Cinema Display to spruce up the languishing product line.

In addition to a new form factor that brings their look in line with newer iMacs (and now the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models announced today), the displays have an iSight camera, speakers, and a MagSafe power connector to charge your laptop. They have a native resolution of 1920 by 1200 pixels.

Also, the displays are more environmentally friendly, moving away from the mercury-vapor backlights to newer LED backlights now available throughout Apple's line of laptops. The surface of the display is glass, with a glossy finish.

The display includes three USB ports, but no FireWire ports featured on older Cinema Displays.

The new 24-inch display will be available in November for $899.

Apple announces October 14 notebook event in Cupertino

Reports out on the web today say Apple has just sent out invites to a special media event on Apple's campus for October 14. The invite reads, "The spotlight turns to notebooks," and has a ray of light shining over the back of an unidentified Apple notebook.

he invite-only event will be taking place at Apple's Town Hall in Cupertino on October 14, 10am Pacific Time.

As you are likely aware, October 14 has been widely rumored for several weeks now as the official date for Apple's update to the MacBook and MacBook pro line. Some had doubts that such an update would end up being announced during an Apple event, but Apple has come through once again.

What can we expect from this event? No one knows for sure, but supposedly leaked photos have been spreading across the web as of late.

Obama launches iPhone app; US election good for Twitter

Obama Campaign launches iPhone app

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign launched an iPhone application on Thursday that turns the vaunted device into a political recruiting tool. You can learn more about this app at the Obama iPhone app Web site.

The most notable feature "organizes and prioritizes your contacts by key battleground states, making it easy to reach out and make an impact quickly," according to the software.

On my phone, the application ranked contacts in Colorado, Michigan, and New Mexico at the top; at the bottom was a friend whose cell phone has a Texas number, though she actually lives in California.

The application anonymously reports back the number of calls made this way: "Your privacy is important: no personal data or contacts will be uploaded or stored. Only the total number of calls you make is uploaded anonymously."

The software is the latest effort by politicians to capitalize on technology, joining other examples such as ads distributed through YouTube, Web-based fund-raising, Facebook pages and fan groups, and e-mail recruitment drives.

The Obama for America iPhone application is available for download through Apple's iTunes store, said Raven Zachary, an iPhone consultant who's directing the launch effort.

A "get involved" feature uses the phone's GPS-based location sensing to find the nearest Obama campaign headquarters, and "local events" likewise pulls up a list of activities sorted by proximity.

A "media" section provides links to video and photos, but beware: YouTube showed errors following some of the links. Perhaps the newer videos hadn't been prepared for iPhone display yet.

The application also shows Obama statements to the news media and a guide to Obama's positions on various issues.

Additionally, the application shows how many calls have been made nationwide and how many you made. Those statistics are the kind that can motivate people--they can feel like they're part of something bigger. That may sound a bit silly as a motivational tool, but consider that Smule's Sonic Lighter application for the iPhone is popular, despite the fact that it costs 99 cents more than its free competition, likely because people can see where else on the globe people are using it and because the longer you run the application, the bigger your own spot on the map becomes. It's a kind of competition.

Twitter benefiting from US presidential election debates:

Twitter usage and sign-ups received a healthy boost during last Friday’s first presidential debate for the 08 campaign. The official Twitter blog reports that, despite Friday traditionally being a slow traffic day:

• Friday updates jumped 18.5% from previous Friday.


• Updates during the debate increased 160% compared to same time last week.


• Signups on Friday were up 23%.


• Signups during the debate were up 135% compared to same time last week.

Although, as Wired notes, the shot in arm for Twitter also co-incided with the company’s launch of a dedicated politics tracker - Twitter’s new Election 2008 site - and the blog/mainstream media attention that followed. Of course the fact that this has translated into increased sign-ups and use suggests that chicken or egg, the strategy is paying off.

MobileMe gets new leadership, Jobs admits Apple made a big mistake

Apple's MobileMe service has proven to be a horror It's been a curious thing to watch: Apple makes mistakes all the time, but they are usually small mistakes, easily swept aside in the tide of their own user's enthusiasm. But MobileMe wasn't just a cool service with some flaws: it ripped itself out of Apple's usually fertile loins like some Belial-esque monstrosity and immediately went for the throat of those who had expected to love it most.

The good news is that Steve Jobs is pissed. In an internal email to Apple employees yesterday evening, Jobs admitted that MobileMe was "not up to Apple's standards" and should have been rolled out in small chunks rather than as a "monolithic service."

"It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store," Jobs said. "We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence." No kidding.

The bad news: Apple still doesn't think MobileMe is up to snuff. Jobs says that Apple will "press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year." Pessimistically, that means beleaguered MobileMe users could have four months of teeth gritting ahead of them.

It also looks like the MobileMe team has been reorganized. The group will now report to iTunes honcho Eddy Cue, who also heads up the Apple Store. Cue will report directly to Jobs. There's no word on what happened to MobileMe's previous department head: fired out of a cannon into an industrial shredder is my bet.

Steve Jobs: MobileMe "not up to Apple standards" [Ars Technica]

Rob Enderle does not know the meaning of surrender. Or disclosure.

It’s no secret that I'm not a big fan of “analyst” Rob Enderle, but to me, this takes the cake. In his latest “column” on TechNewsWorld, among discussions of Steve Jobs’s health, Enderle also talks up Dell’s plans to launch a digital music player and download service, which we discussed last week—and, as you might remember, a project that Enderle himself is a consultant on.

Here are a couple of excerpts from Enderle’s piece:

The Wall Street Journal got wind of a secret project at Dell to possibly take the music lead away from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), but not necessarily the device lead, making it kind of interesting.

[…]

What Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) believes, and I agree, is that folks don’t want to spend lots of time managing music — they just want to listen to it. The fact that few refresh the music on their iPods is a clear indicator that there is untapped potential here, even with iPod owners.

[…]

It has to provide more choices among better services — while containing complexity and creating a great user experience — to be successful. It can be done; we’ll know in a few months whether Dell can do it. I’m not sure I’d bet against Michael Dell.

Yet, nowhere in the article does Enderle mention that he has been hired by Dell to consult on the project. Classy. Or—to put it another way—of questionable ethics.

Is Enderle bound by journalistic ethics? Technically, he’s an analyst, not a journalist, but given that he’s writing a column on a site where it will be disseminated alongside news content, it seems at the very least awkward that he not mention his involvement in this project.

Just another tickmark in the questions column for: why the heck would anybody hire this guy?

Update: Loopt Responds To Privacy Concerns (Kinda)

Yesterday I made a post about how the new iPhone application, Loopt, was causing a lot of angst amongst some top bloggers, and people I admire, about their completely idiotic way in which they handle user invites. The main issue dealt with privacy concerns stemming people getting invites from people they didn't know - people who they hadn't given their phone number out to. The invites were sent, unsolicited, via SMS (a big no-no). Loopt has responded on their company blog, first making a small post that seemed to brush off the concerns without addressing the actual question. Later, when the uproar of complaints grew louder & more numerous, they attempted to quell the anger in more depth. iJustine's intitial post about the problem has now made Techmeme, which should accelerate awareness. This seems to be working already as InfoWeek has just written an article chronicaling the details of the problem.