Star Trek Into Darkness

So I just saw Star Trek Into Darkness… IT’S AMAZING Haha…. I really liked it as I did with the 2009 version… I just felt it was really well put together and had a nice twist (I’m not spoiling anything!!). I really can’t wait for the DVD/iTunes copy to come out to see it again… Or I might just have to spend another £8.99 to go see it!

I really cannot believe the prices though. £8.99 to see it and then another 80p for glasses? I think that is a rip off and they know it. I am fully against piracy but I can see where people are going with it. I think if they reduced prices, more people would go to see the movies and piracy would be less… Just saying… Thats the reason why I haven’t seen Iron Man 3… I don’t have the money and I feel it is waaay too much. 

Anyway I hope that if you havent seen it, you will because it is such a good movie and is a great compliment to the whole series every episode before…

In the mean time, rock out to this… 

 

Apple will now give you up to $345 for your old iPhone 4S

“If reports are true, Apple is days away from announcing its next-generation iPhone, the long-awaited follow-up to its fast-selling iPhone 4S,” Matt Brian reports for TNW. “If you’re already shuddering at the thought of paying out for the new device, Apple can help you offset the cost by offering you up to $345/£300 for your device, depending on its condition.”
“Using Apple’s Reuse and Recycle program, you are able to select the model, color and condition of your iPhone 4S (and other Apple devices) from the online wizard, which will then output a price that it believes your device is worth,” Brian reports. “If you agree and are able to send the power cable along with it, Apple will then send you a gift certificate, which can be redeemed against a new purchase on its online store.”

Brian reports, “As you’d expect, pricing differs depending on whether the iPhone has been subjected to scratches or is suffering from water damage.”

Facebook integration: New in Apple’s OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion

“Apple shipped their first OS X Mountain Lion update to world last Thursday and quickly followed that up with OS X 10.8.2 beta seeds to developers, asking them to focus their testing on Messages, Game Center, Safari (v6.0.1), Reminders and the newly minted Facebook integration,” FairerPlatform reports.
“iOS 6, which also includes Facebook integration, is likely due on or quickly following widely anticipated September 12 iPhone 5 intro,” FairerPlatform reports. “Apple’s counterpart desktop operating system update, OS X 10.8.2, is [going to] happen concurrently or within days of that event.”

FairerPlatform reports, “However, there is an oddity in Apple’s official vs. rumored messaging in that Mac Facebook integration is promised “this Fall” and the iPhone 5 + iOS 6 introduction is “scheduled” for September 12 with delivery coming September 21 — the day before fall.”

Apple gives employees 50 GB of iCloud storage

“Apple has introduced a new perk for Apple employees, giving them a free 50GB upgrade to their iCloud storage — a $100/year value,” Jordan Golson reports for MacRumors.
“This is similar to the free MobileMe subscription that employees received until last year when iCloud replaced that service,” Golson reports.

“The standard iCloud account includes 5GB of storage,” Golson reports.

Apple to unveil ‘AirPlay Direct’ in September; no Wi-Fi network necessary, say sources

“Sources familiar with the iPhone-maker’s plans said that Apple wants to improve the AirPlay wireless music streaming technology, which currently requires Airplay speakers and a WiFi network,” Matt Warman reports for The Telegraph.
“The new version will require just speakers or a hifi and an iDevice; the iPhone, iPod or iPad would form its own network to allow a direct connection and music playback,” Warman reports. “The move is expected to be announced at the launch of the new iPhone, which is widely rumoured to take place on September 12.”

Warman reports, “Sources said that Apple has not signed off any specific products yet and that the ‘Airplay Direct’ is a working title rather than a definite name. Apple is also expected to combine a change in size for the iPod connector, used widely on docks, with a new push for Airplay streaming. This means docks will no longer require the iPod to be physically connected… for music playback.”

Apple by far the largest computer maker on the planet when tablets and smartphones are counted

“It’s time to do the update for the 2011 final numbers of computer sales, when all types of computing devices are included,” Tomi Ahonen writes for Communities Dominate Brands. “We count traditional mainframes and servers, the PCs [and Macs] we know and love from desktops to laptops and netbooks, [and] tablet PCs like the iPad, and the smartphones, as well as that lingering PDA market which is still typified by the iPod touch.”
“By this definition – and please readers do remember, all major PC makers have already accepted that smartphones are indeed computers, so don’t bother to argue about that oldfashioned view that a smartphone would not be a proper computer, we do reach dizzying heights – the total computer market hit 950 million units sold last year,” Ahonen writes. “The computer market as thus defined, grew a massive 47% in just one year from 646 million units in 2010, and this growth was all driven by huge growth in smartphones and tablets, the legacy PC market was stagnant. And also just so you know, the 60 million unit tablet-market is projected by many analysts to pass 100 million in size this year, so yes, tablets are roughly one seventh the size of smartphones – yes, the smartphone market alone is 7 times bigger than the tablet market.”

How Apple killed the Linux desktop and why that doesn’t matter

“It’s hard to say exactly what percentage of desktop and laptop computers run Apple OS X, but it’s clear that the operating system has made slow but steady gains at chipping away at that the sizable lead Microsoft established in the ’90s with its Windows operating system,” Klint Finley reports for Wired. “Some figures put the number at about 6 to 7 percent of the desktop market.”

“But one thing’s for sure: OS X has been more successful than Linux, the open source operating system that has found a home on data-center servers but is still a rarity on desktops and laptops,” Finley reports. “Why is that? Miguel de Icaza — one of the original creators of GNOME, a Linux desktop interface that has struggled to take hold — believes that a large portion of the software developers that could have taken Linux to greater heights defected to other platforms, including not only Apple OS X but — more importantly — the web.”

Apple lists which Samsung products it will seek to ban from U.S. sale

“With the trial stage just completed last Friday, Apple wasted no time filing a notice with the court identifying which Samsung products it will now seek to have banned in the U.S.,” Matt Macari reports for The Verge.
“Despite having received a finding of infringement from the jury on most of the 28 products in play in the case, it looks like Apple is only going after an injunction on eight of them — all smartphones,” Macari reports. “That’s not terribly surprising given the fact that many of the products in the case are no longer available in the US.”

Macari reports, “The eight Samsung devices are: Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 (AT&T), Galaxy S2 (Skyrocket), Galaxy S2 (T-Mobile), Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge, [and] Galaxy Prevail.”

7.85-inch iPad mini supply volume to hit 4 million units per month starting in September, sources say

“Supply volume of Apple’s 7.85-inch iPad is estimated to reach four million units per month starting in September in order to prepare for demand from year-end holidays, according to sources from the upstream supply chain,” Max Wang and Joseph Tsai report for DigiTimes.
“The sources pointed out that the supply chain already started supplying a small volume of 7.85-inch iPad in June with a monthly volume at around several hundreds of thousand,” Wang and Tsai report.

Why Apple is prepping new Apple TV, but not an Apple-branded TV set

“Apple is not going to release an Apple-branded TV set,” Will Greenwald writes for PC Magazine. “It will, however, announce a new Apple TV.”
“Apple has been making inroads with networks to add their content to Apple TV. Apple already has its own large library of content from studios and cable companies as piecemeal downloads, and already offers streaming services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, which raises the question: what does Apple want? Services like the Prime Time Anytime DVR feature on the Dish Network Hopper is the key to that,” Greenwald writes. “Apple doesn’t want to simply sell shows as they come out as downloads. It wants to offer a sort of cloud-based DVR system, streaming shows live or with very short delay like most set-top boxes. It’s the one approach to content delivery Apple hasn’t tried with the Apple TV yet.”

Greenwald writes, “Apple is one of the few companies that can do it. It’s in a unique position where it has a lot of clout with content providers and is as active on the entertainment distribution side as it is on the technology side… That’s my prediction. We’ll see in September, but I’m certain that when Apple lifts the curtain during its presentation, it won’t unveil a 40-inch screen.”