Today's MacUpdate Promo offers 47% off SplineEQ 1.0. "SplineEQ is a linear phase equalizer plugin (VST/AU), available in a free version and a commercial version. Designed to be simple and flexible, SplineEQ allows you to create filters using Bézier splines, the best known way to design curves."
Has the "cult" aspect of Apple fandom run its course, or still alive and well?
Cast your vote in "Today's Poll..." in the left column below or go straight to the results here.
Friday Highlights: Should some of Apple's cash reserves go toward investing in their supply chain, or perhaps a stock buyback, a dividend, or "buy Hollywood"; Tim Cook fires back at the NY Times article which cast a negative light on Apple's efforts to make working conditions better in their supplier factories, calling the Times story "patently false and offensive"—reports and opinion aplenty in our Apple/Macintosh, and Op/Ed sections; Q4 of 2011 saw Apple taking smartphone lead over Samsung; Ben Bajarin believes that Apple's key to the enterprise is winning over the consumer; Intel may be working with RealNetworks to challenge Apple's iTunes; Snapseed photo editor now on the Mac; Macworld|iWorld news and product info in our General Interest, and Press Releases sections including GigaOM's highlights for devs, a slideshow over at PC Magazine, and more; former Apple retail guru, Ron Johnson begins his remake of JC Penney; another former Appler, Jon Rubinstein officially leaves HP to take a "well-deserved" break; AT&T pays a hefty subsidy for iPhone, causes big dent in their finances; Apple posts anti-trust AppleCare decision in Italy; iPad turns two years old; Larry Greenberg reviews SGP's GLASt iPhone 4/S screen shield which is actually made of glass; Harry McCracken stirred emotions over his Apple Cult article yesterday.
FRIDAYBLOWOUT: Every NEW or RENEWING paid subscriber receives 2 YEARS FREE....
"Moving Apple's Moolah Mountain: Apple's wallet is stuffed with nearly $100 billion in cash. It's smart to have a rainy day fund, but too much idle money can be troubling to investors. What, then, should Apple spend it on? It is known to buy companies, though it doesn't have a history of gaudy purchases. Investment in its supply chain is one option on the table, as is a stock buyback." MacNewsWorld 8:00 AM
"Apple's Enterprise Invasion: Why Winning in Consumer Means Winning in Enterprise" Tech.pinions 8:58 AM
"Apple is the No. 1 smartphone vendor again, say research firms: Samsung had overtaken Apple in Q3, as customers waited for the iPhone 4S" IDG News Service 7:41 AM
"Apple Claimed Smartphone Lead in Fourth Quarter" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 7:49 AM
"Smartphone wars: Apple won the quarter, Samsung the year" Fortune 7:52 AM
"iPhone grabs 6% of world phone shipments" Register Hardware 7:36 AM
"Apple overtakes Samsung in Q4 smartphone sales" Reuters 7:52 AM
"Apple Overtakes Samsung As World's Largest Smartphone Vendor In Q4" TechCrunch 10:43 AM
"Apple-Foxconn tale goes well beyond Apple, and tech" CNET News 10:02 AM
"Tim Cook blasts the New York Times' Report on Apple's Chinese iPad factories" Fortune 11:25 AM
"Apple and Labor: Following a scathing Report, Apple CEO Tim Cook gets defensive." Technology Review 1:24 PM
"Apple's Cook Won't Turn 'Blind Eye' to Problems With Suppliers' Conditions" Bloomberg 10:12 AM
"Apple's Tim Cook Responds to Reports of Worker Abuse" PC Magazine 8:33 AM
"Apple CEO calls Times supplier Report 'patently false and offensive'" Ars Technica 9:47 AM
"Analysis: Asia may not be such easy pickings for Apple" Reuters 7:37 AM
"Samsung loses second German 3G patent lawsuit against Apple" Foss Patents 8:02 AM
"German court tosses second Samsung suit against Apple" CNET News 9:04 AM
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"Welcome to the New MacWorld: The venerable expo doesn't have Apple leading the charge anymore, but it's embracing the rise of the mobile lifestyle by adding iWorld to its name. PCMag.com swings by." PC Magazine 10:43 AM
"Welcome to the New MacWorld" [Slideshow] PC Magazine 10:42 AM
"Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg on Greatest Innovators List" Mashable 7:56 AM
"Apple Estimated to Retake Title of World's Largest Smartphone Vendor" MacRumors 7:56 AM
"iPads save parliament cash, says IT chief" ZDNet UK 8:42 AM
"Ex-VP Using Apple Experience To Remake Penney" ifoAppleStore 8:01 AM
"'Steve Jobs Would Have Called This Insanity.' Ron Johnson's Transformation Of JC Penney Begins" Cult of Mac 9:38 AM
"AT&T posts huge loss on charges, iPhone subsidy: AT&T lost $6.7 billion in the fourth quarter, its first lost in three years. AT&T remains heavily dependent on iPhone for subscribers." Associated Press 7:37 AM
Non-Apple News
"Former Palm Head Jon Rubinstein Leaves Hewlett-Packard" AllThingsD 11:09 AM
"The World's First Computer Password? It Was Useless Too" Wired Magazine 11:16 AM
"New Vizio HDTV breaks widescreen barrier for movies, apps" USA Today 11:07 AM
"Ubuntu creator warns businesses to be wary of cloud lock-in: Canonical and Citrix highlight the pitfalls of proprietary cloud computing" Techworld 10:57 AM
"First 'Super Wi-Fi' Network Goes Live in North Carolina" Network World 10:43 AM
"One-on-One With Sean Parker: Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker talks with Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster, former president of Facebook Inc. and investor in Spotify Ltd." [Video Report] Bloomberg Businessweek 10:12 AM
"LG Display's Fourth-Quarter Loss Narrows on 3-D Television, Mobile Demand" Bloomberg 10:11 AM
"Google+ opened up to teens to compete with Facebook" Bloomberg 10:54 AM
"Google Music Manager Update Lets You Download All Songs" PC Magazine 10:40 AM
"Schmidt: We Are Happy to Talk to the Government/Google CEO Eric Schmidt on the government's investigation into its privacy policies and push for legislation on intellectual property on the Internet." [Video Report] FOXBusiness 10:27 AM
"Google Tells Android Developers to Stop Using the Menu Button" eWeek 10:21 AM
"Google Earth 6.2 seamlessly stitches over mismatched patchwork" CNET News 9:58 AM
"RIM slashes BlackBerry PlayBook tablet prices: Up to 58 per cent off launch cost" Register Hardware 11:01 AM
"RIM CEO: We're Not Baking Cookies/Research In Motion's new CEO says his earlier comments regarding change at the BlackBerry maker were a bit misunderstood. Instead of taking the easy way out, RIM hopes the more difficult path leads to success." InformationWeek 10:29 AM
"Nintendo Chief Promises To Do Wii U Launch Right" Associated Press 9:54 AM
"Marvell Lowers Guidance on Hard-Drive Shortage" Minyanville 9:50 AM
"Cisco Fellow Bruce Davie Joins Stealth Start-Up Nicira" AllThingsD 9:45 AM
"Samsung eyes enormofridges for see-through screens" Register Hardware 11:04 AM
"Smartphones drive record Samsung profit" Reuters 10:01 AM
Publications/Podcasts
"Macworld|iWorld Interview with Johan-Till Broer of Garmin" Your Mac Life 2:37 PM
"Engadget Podcast 278 - 01.26.2012" Engadget 9:07 AM
"Spotlight on Game Your Video: Macworld Video #167" Macworld 8:59 AM
"Apple Makes Money, MW3, Macworld Expo, Evil Apple (Podcast)" Insanely Great Mac 8:51 AM
"Q&A: Lytro's Charles Chi talks light field, battery life, and licensing" PCWorld 7:58 AM
"Happy birthday, iPad! RIP, pretenders: Two years ago today, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad. And computing has never been the same, despite all the 'iPad killers'" [Slideshow] InfoWorld 10:31 AM
"Samsung Loses Patent Complaint; Apple Complies With Italian Court Ruling" The Mac Observer 11:07 AM
"Apple iPhone is top dog --and Samsung's Google problem" Computerworld 8:48 AM
"Apple's 7 most stubborn decisions: Apple's legendary strong will has led to some puzzling product designs and choices: some of which ultimately became trends, and others that decidedly didn't." CNNMoney 8:42 AM
"Why Apple shouldn't be reining in its legal team" memeburn 8:03 AM
"More About the Apple Cult (Even Though I Said It Was Time to Stop Talking About It)" Technologizer 8:02 AM
"The Problem With The iOS Home Screen" MacStories 8:00 AM
"4 Tech Companies Apple Should Consider Buying Now" Seeking Alpha 7:52 AM
"Bill Gates: 'I wrote Steve Jobs a letter as he was dying. He kept it by his bed'" Telegraph 7:49 AM
"The 'punishing' iPhone factories: Will Apple customers care?" The Week 11:29 AM
"Why Apple is held accountable for supply chain mistreatment" ZDNet 11:29 AM
"Apple's supply chain flap: It's really about us" ZDNet 8:47 AM
"Will the World Ever See Fair Trade iPads?" Techland 8:47 AM
"Apple CEO Tim Cook Responds to Factory Condition Mistreatment, Promises to 'Dig Deeper'" Mashable 10:18 AM
"Apple's Tim Cook Fires Back on Worker Abuse Allegations" TheStreet 9:34 AM
"Apple: Yes there are horrendous accidents, but we CARE/Tim Cook sends letter after Chinese factory horror exposé" The Register 8:46 AM
"Tim Cook Responds to Allegations That Apple Has Known About Factory Labor Abuses" iClarified 8:01 AM
"Tim Cook Responds to NYT Article Over Apple Supplier Working Conditions" iPhoneinCanada 7:45 AM
"Report: Apple's Suppliers Continuously Violate Code of Conduct, Apple Does Nothing to Change It/According to Apple executives and Foxconn management, safety is the last thing on Apple's mind" DailyTech 7:42 AM
"Confessions of an iPhone Data Hog: AT&T Wags Finger at 'Unlimited' Data Users; A Letter Warns 'You May See Reduced Speeds'" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 7:37 AM
Non-Apple
"Will 2012 be the year of the cloud?" ZDNet UK 11:20 AM
"How Wi-Fi could squeeze wireless carriers" ZDNet 11:19 AM
"Privacy vs. digital age: Where's the balance?" ZDNet 11:18 AM
"Top 10 challenges facing RIM's new chief executive" V3 11:09 AM
"Two Minute Video: Getting Started with Facebook Timeline" Techland 11:05 AM
"Super Bowl TV sales aren't that super" TG Daily 10:58 AM
"Why 3D Printing Isn't Like Virtual Reality: Before you dismiss it as a fad, consider the evolution of 2D printing." Technology Review 10:56 AM
"10 ridiculous Super Bowl party gadgets" MSNBC 10:37 AM
"Why big data means a big year for Hadoop: Companies from IBM to Amazon are turning to Hadoop to manage the surge in data that needs storing. IDGE's Michael Friedenberg says the buzz around Hadoop is no joke" CIO 10:32 AM
"Gamification: The buzzword that can ruin your apps and business" InfoWorld 10:31 AM
"Former Palm Head Jon Rubinstein Leaves Hewlett-Packard" AllThingsD 11:29 AM
"Former Palm CEO Rubinstein out at HP, report says" CNET News 11:35 AM
"HP's Discontinued TouchPad Sells Out ... Again" AllThingsD 11:29 AM
"PC Sales Have 'Not Been the Best,' Microsoft Says: Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International, talks about computer sales and innovation." [Video Report] Bloomberg 9:53 AM
"Microsoft exec says Safe Harbor framework is 'alive and well'" The Register 11:01 AM
"Will Silverlight live or die? Microsoft won't say: The company has given little indication of what it plans to do with the plug-in technology, leaving developers in a lurch" InfoWorld 10:31 AM
"Is your phone faster than a Windows Phone? We've heard claims by Microsoft that Windows Phone is far more efficient at everyday tasks than other phones on the market. Well, the Windows Phone team issued a $100 challenge to anyone whose phone could beat the Windows Phone." [Video Report] ZDNet 11:18 AM
"10 things we love and hate about Windows Server 8: The high and low points after spending some time with the Windows Server 8 developer preview release" [Slideshow] Network World 10:31 AM
"Microsoft schtum on Dropbox snags with IE: Microsoft has so far declined to explain why Internet Explorer this week flagged Dropbox as a phishing threat, in an apparent clash with Amazon's S3 cloud storage." The Register 11:01 AM
"Dell launches pre-packaged private cloud for your datacenter" ZDNet 11:18 AM
"Jacques Maisonrouge, Who Steered IBM's Global Growth, Dies at 87" Bloomberg 11:32 AM
"Conversation about UCS with Todd Brannon of Cisco" ZDNet 11:19 AM
"Most EU states sign away internet rights, ratify ACTA treaty: European Parliament observer resigns in protest" The Register 11:04 AM
"European Parliament rapporteur quits in Acta protest: Negotiations over a controversial anti-piracy agreement have been described as a 'masquerade' by a key EU official." BBC 10:09 AM
"European Parliament website taken offline in retaliation of ACTA: The denial-of-service attacks follow new signatures to ACTA, an intellectual property treaty" Techworld 10:57 AM
"Aneesh Chopra leaving the White House: The nation's first chief technology officer plans to step down from his White House job, according to administration officials." Washington Post [Free Registration Required] 11:12 AM
"US Cybersecurity Efforts Trigger Privacy Concerns: The federal government's plan to expand computer security protections into critical parts of private industry is raising concerns that the move will threaten Americans' civil liberties." Associated Press 9:54 AM
"How consumer-electronics makers are faring: A look at how selected makers of phones and other consumer electronics are faring" Associated Press 11:32 AM
"Thai flooding impact on tech companies, suppliers: What tech manufacturers and suppliers say about the impact from heavy flooding in Thailand" Associated Press 11:31 AM
"How chips, PCs, services companies are faring: A look at how selected chip-makers, computer manufacturers and services providers are faring" Associated Press 11:31 AM
"A look at recent tech-industry earnings: What recent tech industry earnings reveal about the state of spending and the economy" Associated Press 11:30 AM
"Apple Should Dive Back Into Dividends: Poll" TheStreet 11:13 AM
"AuthenTec Now Fingers Apple" 24/7 Wall St. 11:13 AM
"Apple Shows No Signs of Slowing" RealMoney [Subscription Required for Full Article] 11:12 AM
Industry News
"Juniper Networks weighs down techs: But KLA-Tencor leads semicap sector rally" MarketWatch 9:47 AM
"U.S. stocks lower; weekly gains fading: Chevron pulls Dow lower; Ford weighs on S&P 500" MarketWatch 11:25 AM
"Stocks slump after unimpressive U.S. growth" CNNMoney 11:25 AM
"U.S. Stocks Fall as GDP Trails Forecast" Bloomberg 10:10 AM
"Disappointing GDP Data, Chevron Pressure Dow" FOXBusiness 10:27 AM
"Stocks Recoil on Disappointing GDP Report" TheStreet 11:27 AM
"Stocks slip after US economic growth disappoints" Associated Press 10:19 AM
"GDP Report Hurts Stocks" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 9:39 AM
"Stocks: Investors unimpressed by U.S. growth" CNNMoney 9:30 AM
"Canada stocks rise marginally on RIM, gold miners" MarketWatch 11:29 AM
"Asian Stocks Edge Up on Commodities; Yen's Rise Hits Exporters" Bloomberg 11:12 AM
"Asia Markets: Sydney, Hong Kong stocks rise; Tokyo retreats" MarketWatch 9:39 AM
"European Stocks Extend Losses: Jittery European stock markets extended losses on Friday afternoon after U.S. growth data fell short of expectations." WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 9:45 AM
"European Stocks Retreat as U.S. GDP Misses Estimates; BP Falls" Bloomberg 11:12 AM
"Europe Markets: Europe stocks end week in red after U.S. GDP/Resources, banks drive downward direction" MarketWatch 11:26 AM
"Early Glance: Computer companies/Computer companies shares mixed at 10 a.m." Associated Press 9:48 AM
"3 Tech Stocks To Buy And 2 To Take Note Of In 2012''s First Half" Seeking Alpha 11:33 AM
MacSurfer Headline News Staff
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D. Mahaffy
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Writers Emeritus: W. Lewis, R. Chandler, W. Morris, G. Simenon, C. Vallejo, F. Garcia Lorca,
P. White, R. Adams, P. Valery, C. Aiken, R. Bradbury, F. Pessoa, S. Bellow, F. O'Connor
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