To infinity and beyond for Pixar

As the late, great Dennis Hopper’s character said in Speed…Pop quiz, hotshot.
The question is – When was the last time anyone in entertainment had anything like the run Pixar are currently enjoying? The animation studio has just had its eleventh hit in a row with Toy Story 3. Buzz Lightyear and co haven’t yet grossed [...]

Why Gates won’t do a Steve Jobs to save Microsoft

Who do you think runs Microsoft? Unless you’ve been paying really careful attention to corporate technology news over the last couple of years you’ll probably reply: “Bill Gates.” And you’ll be wrong. But Microsoft would dearly love to have him back.
Most of the world still thinks Gates is the boss of Microsoft and the company [...]

Apple unveils the iPhone 4 – the world’s thinnest smartphone

For once Apple failed to keep the lid on a new product launch. The rumours were pretty accurate and the iPhone that was lost by an Apple employee in an a Silicon Valley bar, found and paid for by gadget blog Gizmondo seems to have been a genuine prototype.
As expected, the iPhone 4 launched at [...]

When will gravity take effect on Apple?

With the price of Apple’s shares making it more valuable than Microsoft and the phenomenal sales success of the iPad, now might seem a strange time to examine the vulnerability of what now seems world’s most popular technology company. But it is a business whose strengths could also be its weaknesses.
Take that rise in Apple’s [...]

Apple’s bid for world domination starts in Tesco

Tesco has cut the price of its iPhone subscriptions. Beyond a few British consumers this might not seem particularly exciting news, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg revealing enormous changes in technology which in the last few days can be seen stretching from British supermarket shelves to remote Indian villages.
As with all mobile [...]

Opinion: Apple’s slide into censorship

The philosophy of total control which has helped Apple develop some of the most stylish products of the last two decades has a sinister underside. From ensuring that customers buy compatible products to censoring what they do on them is a small, dangerous step. That’s what Apple is now doing, and where it goes others [...]

Penguin shows what you can do with your iPad

American followers of the Cult of Apple now know what they’ll on Friday night April 2. They’ll be lining up to buy one of the first iPads. They’ll have to wait a few more weeks for the 3G-connected models.
Consumers outside the US, including those in the UK, will have to wait until the end of [...]

The Cold War 2.0: Apple vs Google

Apple seems to have been taking lessons from the Cold War strategists. Just as the Soviet Union and the USA avoided direct confrontation choosing instead to use smaller nations in a battle by proxy, Apple has launched a wide-ranging legal attack on the little-known Taiwanese manufacturer HTC.
But it is clear who Apple’s real target is [...]

Ditched by Warner, what’s the future for Spotify?

It was when writing about Journey t’other day, that the thought of making a compilation of that sort of on shaggy-haired soft-rock, largely from the ‘80s, occurred.
Years ago, this would have involved a tortuous process figuring out how not to crash the song at the end of side one. Or a few years ago, [...]

Are book publishers trying to kill e-readers?

oday in the battle between old and new media there will be a few book publishers celebrating. One of their number, Macmillan, appears to have taken on Amazon and won. It’s a rare victory, if such it is.
Over the weekend a pricing row came to a head. Macmillan wanted to prevent Amazon selling electronic versions [...]

Meet the iPad’s daddy – the very British BBC B

Just about anybody who was at school in the 1980s had their academic introduction to computing through Acorn’s BBC B. Its production ended in 1994. To anybody outside the technology industry it seemed just another British technology business that burned brightly and disappeared along with Psion, Apricot and Sinclair.
But the heart of Steve Jobs’ “magical” [...]

Apple unveils the iPad amid insane, Twitter-busting hype

From Los Angeles
Steve Jobs today unveiled the insanely hyped iPad.
The amount of online chatter surrounding the event broke Twitter.
Apple’s new touchscreen tablet computer runs web programs and applications, includes Apple’s new graphics programs, and will compete with e-readers like the Kindle. It can play movies, music and podcasts and stream live TV. [...]

Omens not good for the why-Pad

So Apple has finally unveiled its supersized iPhone or, more accurately as it doesn’t do phone calls, the giant iPod Touch. To be fair, it is gorgeous, desirable and I want one. But I can’t see myself buying one. That I’m sure is going to be a very common reaction. Despite its incredibly impressive technology [...]