Talk about news that no one was expecting to see on a Wednesday…Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple, but would like to remain on as Chairman of the Board. In a letter sent to the press, Jobs makes it clear that he can no longer meet the duties and “expectations” that come with being Apple’s CEO and has asked that the board turn over those duties to Tim Cook who is currently the COO.
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Shocking. Whether you like Steve Jobs and Apple or not, this is massive news. He doesn’t specifically bring up the health issues that have plagued him over the last year, but one would assume that those are the driving force behind this decision. The dude has meant a lot to the world of tech, so while we bat for Team Android, we can admit that this is still a pretty sad day.
With that said, I can’t imagine that he won’t be leading the way in press conferences, product events, etc. for at least the time being. Thoughts?

Apple May Have Resized Photos Again in Samsung Case

It appears that Apple may have pulled some more photo doctoring shenanigans in their lawsuit against Samsung. Previously we reported that they were called out for using re-sized photos of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to compare against the iPad, giving a false impression that the two tabs were identical in size. A new report seems to show potential evidence that they are doing the same thing with the iPhone 3G and the Samsung Galaxy SII smartphone. The pic above shows Apple’s evidence picture on the left showing two identically sized devices. On the right you can see an added pic showing the actual size to scale of the SGS2, clearly indicating that the phone is noticeably larger than the iPhone.

This comes hot on the heels of the new announcement that Apple has filed a motion to bar Samsung from selling all of their smartphones and tablets throughout Europe, not just the Galaxy Tab 10.1. This kind of makes you wonder if we really are seeing some sort of minor “Apple-picture-gate.” So, I have added a poll to this thread asking if you think someone within Apple intentionally doctored these pics in order to improve their chances with the lawsuit, or not. Without starting a flame-war… sound off your perspective and make your voice heard by clicking on the poll. If someone voices their ideas, remember the forum rules of no personal attacks or flames. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

In a slight change of lineup, HTC has now sued Apple for patent infringement. Their claim is that Apple is infringing on several patents that are in use on Apple’s i*ods, i*ads, i*hones, and their wide range of computers (did HTC patent glass?!?). Is this not becoming more and more ridiculous? HTC has not released information on which specific patents Apple is infringing, but we are sure the legal docs shall be released eventually.
What’s even better is that HTC is seeking to ban the sale of these products in the entire US. Excuse me but, “zOMG!” Someone in Washington needs to give all these companies a good spanking for all this craziness. Rest assured, if HTC has a case, this will make national news. Even more news worthy is if they win and Apple has to stop selling their products. Could you imagine that?

This is what happens when Karma Hits you. Lets Hope HTC Wins, Showing Apple that they cant bully their way back to the top.

Wow, that was fast. Apple has just released an update to their newest Mac Operating System, Lion. In this update, Mac users can expect general bug-fixes that will be sure to bring happy customers- especially at the paltry 17.4MB file size.

From the Update-
The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:

- Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
– Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
– Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
– Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion

UPDATE: New Macbook Airs and Mac Minis get additional updates.

A new announcement from Sony at Gamescom reveals a $50 pricecut for the PS3.

_______________________________________________________

Reports from June that Sony would drop the price of the PlayStation 3 at Gamescom have turned out to be accurate. Sony announced moments ago that it’s dropping the price of its 160GB console to $249.99 effective immediately.

It’s been quite a while since the last PS3 price cut. Along with the unveiling of the PlayStation 3 Slim in 2009, the price of all older models were dropped to $299 to match the Slim’s new price — where the system has remained until today.

This now puts additional pressure on Microsoft, which has also gone without a price drop for some time and now has less of a barrier between 360 and PS3. There was a great deal of speculation that it would be slashing the 360’s price at E3, but with the system selling very well in the United States as of late, it may not have made sense to do so then. With the PS3 now available at a lower price, that could cut into 360 sales as we approach this holiday season. Nintendo, meanwhile, cut the price of the Wii just a few months ago.

With the 160GB system now $249.99, the 320GB system falls to $299.99. A new Infamous 2 bundle — which includes the 320GB system, Infamous 2, and 30 days of PlayStation Plus time — is also now available for $299.99, which is an excellent deal considering Infamous 2 is not even three months old.

____________

Source: 1UP.com

For the first time, we have been involved in something truly spectacular

We were the first in the world to test the downgrade from 3.70 to 3:55 on a PS3 Slim (With flash memory, ” NOR “) using the ProgSkeet and patched some files provided by dospiedra, a famous Spanish coder already discovered on the crest of the wave for the method of going back to 3:55 / 3:41 with the PS3 (FAT flash memory “NAND”).

After several attempts, in collaboration with dospiedra, we got to go back from 3.70 to 3:55, enter the factory mode with a simple key to jailbreak, rifleshare a modified version of 3:55 to prevent the SYSCON (the registry in between downgrades) was consulted during the downgrade and now we are happily at 3:55 KMEAW!

With this version of moddata 3:55, you can perform a memory dump today and you can switch on the fly from 3:55 to 3.70 without having to make all this long procedure times: progskeet using it you can go straight to 3.70 changed to 3:55!

Dospiedra said it will release details on the patches applied to the NOR and the update file as soon as possible.

New life for those who arrived too late to enjoy the benefits of the 3:55?

Source

Firefox 6 final version is now available for download ahead of its scheduled released date, actually Firefox 6 final scheduled to be released on August 16,2011. But the final build is already available on Mozilla FTP servers .

Firefox 6 final offers minor improvements and bug fixes which enhance browsing experience and this version brings a lot of speed improvement, Mozilla claims users can experience about 20% faster browsing compared to earlier version Firefox 5

What’s new in Firefox 6 ?

The latest version of Firefox has the following changes:

The address bar now highlights the domain of the website you’re visiting
Streamlined the look of the site identity block
Added support for the latest draft version of WebSockets with a prefixed API
Added support for EventSource / server-sent events
Added support for window.matchMedia
Added Scratchpad, an interactive JavaScript prototyping environment
Added a new Web Developer menu item and moved development-related items into it
Improved usability of the Web Console
Improved the discoverability of Firefox Sync
Reduced browser startup time when using Panorama

You can also wait for them to officially release it which will probably be someday by the end of the week.

Thanks to Ice-Cube for posting about this

Yep, you are reading that title correctly. Google is acquiring Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in a move that was clearly made because of Moto’s massive patent portfolio. Both boards unanimously approved the decision – Google now looks to “supercharge” the Android operating system and enhance competition in the mobile space.
Notes from conference all:
Update 1: Most of the questions from media and investors on the call clearly has to do with patents and licensing – something Google or Motorola won’t give many details about, but you can tell that they are very pleased with this partnership. Moto’s some 17,000 patents greatly strengthens and helps protect Andr0id.

Update 2: And just so you know, both Larry Page and Andy Rubin have already said multiple times that Android remains open. Rubin spoke with the top 5 manufacturers yesterday and made it very clear to all of them that nothing has changed. Motorola will operate as its own company and Android will remain open to use as it has been. The idea here is that it gives Google a chance to “supercharge” the OS.

Update 3: You can view Larry Page’s comments on the acquisition here.

Update 4: Andy Rubin still expects the Nexus series to be a competition between manufacturers. Just because they own Motorola now, doesn’t mean that every new Nexus device will be from Moto. They will have to compete along with HTC, Samsung, LG, etc. to put together a phone that Google would be proud to brand as a Nexus.

Update 5: Call is over, Larry seems more-than-thrilled. As are we, Larry.

Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

Combination will Supercharge Android, Enhance Competition, and Offer Wonderful User Experiences

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Aug. 15, 2011 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.
Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”
Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”
Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, said, “We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem. However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop

Motorola may be looking for a spicy new global brand name for their next wave of phones, but we’re pretty sure now that it won’t be KORE. The name first caught our eye when it was used in a variety of domains that Moto had purchased, leading many to believe that it could be their next tablet (quad-core + kal-el = kore). We then speculated after listening to CEO Sanjay Jha that it could be the brand name that we’d see attached to their non-U.S. phones around the world – something to help recognize their line of phones, similarly to the way Samsung does with Galaxy.
Well, so much for that. The folks over at Fusible noticed a trademark filing this week that suggests it will be attached to a fitness line of products. As you can see below, there is no mention of a phone anywhere:

“ELECTRONIC NON MEDICAL PORTABLE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MONITOR AND FITNESS DEVICE FOR MEASURING MOVEMENTS, INDIVIDUAL’S ENERGY EXPENDITURE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL AND ACCESSORIES THEREFORE, NAMELY, HEADPHONES; SOFTWARE FOR DEVELOPING AND MONITORING PERSONAL ACTIVITY AND EXERCISE PLANS, TRAINING PLANS, TRAINING GOALS AND GIVING FEEDBACK ON THE ACHIEVED RESULTS”

We’re thinking if anything, KORE will be the name of the new Moto watch we have seen a couple of times. A “fitness device for measuring movements” matches the device that is pictured above. Oh, well.