talk

The authorized Steve Jobs bio arrives (Apple Talk Weekly)

This week brought the arrival of author Walter Isaacson's biography "Steve Jobs," notable for the fact that it's the first biography to have Jobs' cooperation, and the first to come after his death.

The book covers Jobs' life from beginning to end, as well as a history of the companies he was involved with, from the beginnings of Apple, to NeXT, Pixar, and his return to Apple, which he helped turn into a massive consumer and business success it is today.

CNET's got end to end coverage on that, including a rundown of some of… Read more

iPhone 4S delivers on talk time battery life

Immediately after I posted the iPhone 4S review last week, I sent the phone to CNET Labs for talk time battery tests.

Battery life is terribly important, as any smartphone owner knows, and we wanted to make sure Apple's promises weren't just that. And now, the results are in, courtesy of Senior Editor Eric Franklin.

When used with Sprint's 3G EV-DO Rev. A network, we beat Apple's promised talk time of 8 hours by an additional hour and 18 minutes. That's our strongest iPhone battery test to date, surpassing each of the previous three iPhones … Read more

The talking iPhone is here (Apple Talk Weekly)

This week was perhaps the busiest one of the year for Apple, with the release of a new iPhone, a new version of iOS, a handful of new iOS apps, iCloud, and updates to its Mac OS X and iLife software.

While we're still waiting for official numbers, from the looks of it the iPhone 4S is off to what's expected to be the strongest start for any iPhone yet. Buyers lined up overnight around the world to get their hands on Apple's latest phone, which went on sale yesterday. Carriers like AT&T and Sprint … Read more

What to expect from Apple's iPhone event

After a lengthier than usual wait, tomorrow we get the next iPhone.

The burning question, of course, is how much of an update it will be. The iPhone 4 was a big step up from its predecessor, the 3GS, which itself was basically the iPhone 3G with a better camera and speedier insides. The iPhone 4 did the camera and speed tricks again, while changing up the outside and adding a considerably sharper screen.

Will the iPhone 5 represent a tuning of an already tried-and-true device? Or will the longer wait result in something that's noticeably new? Those questions … Read more

Next week, next iPhone? (Apple Talk Weekly)

Next week the rumors, the speculation, and the curiosity come to an end. Or at least that's the hope.

Apple on Tuesday is holding an event at its campus with the tag line "Let's talk iPhone." It's been more than a year since the last iPhone came out, and the event is expected to bring a full unveiling of its successor.

Along with the iPhone, next week's event should give us full details, if not the formal release, of iOS 5 as well as iCloud, the latter being the company's backup and synchronization … Read more

Is the new iPhone wait nearly over? (Apple Talk Weekly)

People are downright salivating for a new iPhone, and it looks like the wait is very nearly over.

A buzzy report from All Things Digital this week pointed to October 4 --which is now less than a week and a half away--as the day Apple plans to take the wraps off the next version of the device, with a release to follow a few weeks later.

There's one hiccup with that plan, however, which is that both the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Moscone Center (which are Apple's usual places for product launches outside of … Read more

Tablet rivalry looms with Win 8 (Apple Talk Weekly)

Once again I'm going to kick off this week's edition of Apple Talk Weekly by talking about a company other than Apple, and that company is Microsoft.

The tech giant offered developers their first taste of Windows 8 at its Build conference in Anaheim, Calif. The software, which was given to developers this week as a preview, represents a very interesting approach from Microsoft in that the operating system has been designed to work on desktops, notebooks, and tablets.

Wait a minute, how is that supposed to work?

Microsoft's solution is to offer an OS with two … Read more

Adobe's good week (Apple Talk Weekly)

This is typically the time of year when Apple breaks out its latest crop of iPods and updates to its iTunes software. Now all signs point to Apple gearing up for the launch of its next iPhone instead. Given that, it's worth briefly turning our attention to Adobe, which had a particularly good week on Apple's platforms.

Let's start off with Adobe's Flash, which continues to not run on Apple's iOS hardware. Despite that hurdle, Flash-derived game Machinarium this week hit the No. 1 spot in Apple's paid apps category on the App Store. … Read more

The week of leaks (Apple Talk Weekly)

This week was marked with a trio of noteworthy Apple leaks, something unusual for the company which is well-known for being highly secretive.

The first is our story of an Apple employee once again being separated from a prototype phone at a bar. CNET was first to report the incident and details about the attempted recovery effort that took place in July.

Second, there was the MacBook 3G prototype which briefly went up for sale on eBay last month. CNET got in touch with the owner, who told us Apple approached him about getting the machine back, which confirmed that … Read more

Jobs steps down (Apple Talk Weekly)

This week marked a massive change at Apple, with co-founder Steve Jobs stepping down from his role as CEO. In his place will be Tim Cook, an Apple veteran who was previously the company's chief operating officer.

Jobs had been on medical leave from the company since January, though he had appeared at the unveiling of the iPad 2, as well as at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Jobs' new role at Apple will be as chairman of the company's board.

Jobs has been at the helm of Apple since 1997, following his return to … Read more