The proof there is that some SuperMeet sponsors, including Canon, were purportedly told by event organizers that Apple had chosen SuperMeet as its venue to make the announcement and blocked out all stage time for its introduction. In Canon's case, ProVideoCoalition says that resulted in the camera maker canceling its appearance. The report had also claimed that Avid had its sponsorship cancelled by the event's organizers.
That does not appear immediately appear to be the case though. An Avid representative told CNET that it had nothing to announce with its sponsorship of the event but noted that actor and filmmaker Kevin Smith was no longer slated to speak at the event and will instead be speaking at the company's NAB booth. Blackmagic, which is also slated as a sponsor of the event aimed at video editors on Final Cut Pro and other editing platforms, told CNET that it was still participating and had its "usual booth there and are very excited about the event, as always." The same went for Autodesk, which said that it did not plan to present on the main stage but would be participating in the SuperMeet Digital Showcase.
Canon, AJA, Apple, and the SuperMeet event organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple's Final Cut Pro made its debut at NAB in 1998 before being released as a product the following year. The software has a history of April releases, though its last major version came in July 2009. The software itself hasn't been a standalone product for quite a bit longer though, instead being wrapped up as part of Apple's Final Cut Studio suite, which bundles together Final Cut Pro with Motion, DVD Studio, and Soundtrack Pro, as well as the Color and Compressor applications. Apple also offers a standalone, though less feature-filled version of the software called Final Cut Express, which sits between Final Cut Pro and the iMovie software that's included as part of Apple's iLife suite.
Reports began circulating in late February that Apple was nearing completion on a complete overhaul of the software that would bring Final Cut Pro into the 64-bit era and more importantly a release this spring. That report from TechCrunch, which cited anonymous sources, said that the design was both under the hood and sporting a new user interface.
Final Cut Pro is of special interest given the direction Apple's iMovie application has taken over the past few iterations. When first offered, iMovie managed to get some trickle-down features from its more advanced siblings. But Apple has taken iMovie in new directions by offering an alternative to traditional, multi-track video timelines and the visual editing tools that surround them. While that's managed to play well to devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad where iMovie can now be had as a touchscreen application, questions remain about whether such an editing style would work its way up into a pro version of the software.
Updated at 6:30 p.m. PT with comment from Avid.
Update at 9:00 a.m. PT on 4/6: The previous agenda of the event has been scrapped. The page now reads:
The Final Cut Pro User Group Network is excited to have a very special guest presentation at the 10th Annual Las Vegas FCPUG SuperMeet. Come to see a surprise sneak peek at something very special - you really do not want to miss this one!
Loop Insight killed the rumors floating on the web regarding iPhone 5 release date, the last few hours many blogs claimed that iPhone 5 will arrive by next June, but now Loop Insight has received word from their sources that iPhone 5 will not launch on June.
Reports on Tuesday suggest Apple will unveil the iPhone 5 at the end of June. This is not true. My sources said today that rumors of an iPhone 5 release at the end of June were completely false.
Anyway, we are still in the rumors phase, so we expect to hear more and more, but till now it's highly expected to see WWDC 2011 free of new hardware. Let's wait and see.
MuscleNerd: The 4.3.1 issues (signal bars, etc) are fixed http://is.gd/OYktXf but need a few days to test all devices + FW (again: not a new unlock!)
Note: this is not a new unlock, it's only update to ultrasn0w to work on iOS 4.3.1 for the unlockable basebands. (Not supported basebands : 2.10.04 / 3.10.01 / 4.10.01)
According to Crunch Gear, iPod touch 5G Images have been leaked in the wild with non-physical home button button. The device is running firmware 4.2.1MC14, carries 128GB storage and is marked model MC550LL. The device also has aluminum back, which is rumored to exist on the unreleased iPhone 5.
Marked with the "DVT-1" badge found on the earlier examples of the iPod Touch discovered in 2010 that sported front and back cameras, this model has 128GB of memory, is running firmware 4.2.1MC14 and is marked model MC550LL which points to a Mac Pro model as well as a permutation of the 4th Gen iPod Touch.
Its thought the perhaps the device could be a prototype or tester that made it into the wild.
Not only did Zomorodi eventually smell an iPad, but she proceeded to lick the iDevice too. Once she realized it was a joke, she left the stage, obviously embarrassed. Check the Video out :
On a lazy Wednesday, perhaps you too could trick somebody with the Shock Top app, available for free in the App Store.
Consumer Reports put out a press release quoting their electronics editor Paul Reynolds:
So far, Apple is leading the tablet market in both quality and price, which is unusual for a company whose products are usually premium priced. However, it’s likely we’ll see more competitive pricing in tablets as other models begin to hit the market.
iPad 2 emerged on top despite Consumer Reports calling the Xoom “the iPad 2′s chief rival.”
What gave me a pause is the fact that a pricey iPad model topped the charts, not the entry-level $499 model. The $730 32GB WiFi+3G model scored Excellent in nearly every category, leaving the $800 Xoom in the dust.
They evaluated the tablets on seventeen different criteria. Apple’s slate does have legendary battery life, the results show.
Consumer Reports measured 12.2 hours of non-stop video playback on iPad 2 versus its rated ten-hour battery life. The Archos 70 Internet Tablet has the poorest battery that lasts just 3.8 hours.
A couple weeks ago, after All Facebook spotted the ability to check-in to Facebook events, the social network confirmed that the feature would be launching shortly on the iPhone and their mobile-based touch site. Today, here it is.
Version 3.4 of Facebook’s iPhone app actually has a few other nice updates as well. These include the ability to view your friends on a map from the Places area (and it uses Google Maps, not Bing Maps), an “improved” News Feed, an “improved” notifications UI, and the ability to unfriend someone from your phone, finally.
But again, the big thing is the Facebook Event check-ins. Previously, you could only check-in via Facebook Places. That meant checking-in to various locations around cities just like you do on Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, and others. But now that you can check-in to events themselves, it opens a range of possibilities. You could run contests at events through this, for example.
To be able to check-in to an event you have to (obviously) be invited and RSVP’d “yes” to attending. Your location also has to match the location of the listed event venue, and it has to be the correct time of the event. All of this will help with gaming.
I just tested the feature out by creating a test event, and it works well. Assuming you’ve met all the above requirements, you’ll see a nice big “Check In” button on the event’s page. There’s also a new “Here Now” area on the event’s page to show you who is currently at the event. And the “Recent Activity” includes check-ins as well as pictures, comments, etc. You May Like;
The move was spurred by the Federal Government’s decision to make jailbreaking legal, allowing millions of iPhone and iPad owners to remove restrictions placed on their device but also giving companies a dedicated route by which they could start to engage with the jailbreak community.
Cydia’s creator Saurik estimates that around 9% of iOS users jailbreaking their devices, with 1.5 million unique users access Cydia daily. Topping 5 million users each week, it is thought that up to 15 million Apple devices have been jailbroken.
Acknowledging the growth of the community, Toyota has started to begin marketing on the app marketplace, designing a custom iPhone theme specifically for jailbroken devices, choosing to run a campaign with ModMyi.com, which sees them host the theme but also run ads on their website.
Toyota’s campaign sees it advertise its new Scion range, users simply need to search for Scion 2011 Theme in Cydia to download it. The company has also taken out ad spots within Cydia to promote its campaign.
Nissan, one of Toyota’s major rivals, became one of the first corporations to utilise Apple’s iAd platform, running a campaign for the Nissan Leaf. The company and its advert were even featured by Apple CEO Steve Jobs during one of his keynotes. Whilst Cydia might not have the visibility of Apple’s iAd platform, users are more educated on how to use their devices and marketing budgets are going to be somewhat lower than advertising directly with Apple.
The Cupertino-based company will not be happy with advertising dollars lining the pockets of third-party developers, particularly if it encourages other major brands to begin targeting the jailbreak community. It would be interesting to see if results proved favourable for Toyota, we have contacted them for comment and will update should we receive a reply.
SocialCam: This app offers you an easy way to share videos with your friends. With the app, you can record, tag and share your videos in addition to browsing, liking and commenting on those belonging to friends.
Kazaa: Instead of launching in the official app stores, Kazaa made its music subscription service available on mobile via www.kazaa.com. The decision was made primarily to thumb its nose at Apple, because of the company's "recent announcement that it will now keep 30% of revenue generated by new subscriptions and media purchases," says Zazaa.
Color: At launch, this location-based photo sharing app was widely denounced by reviewers who weren't pleased with the user experience (but who were likely just expecting more given the outrageous $41 million in funding its creators received). Curious what all the fuss was about? Color is free for iPhone and Android.
iPhone
QuickCam: A seriously fast iPhone camera app is perfect for taking photos quicker and allows for fast switching between photo and video mode. You can even hold the button for rapid-fire photos or take stills while shooting video. (Note to parents with small, wiggly children: it's a must!)
Qik Video Connect: Post-Skype acquisition, Qik launched a new iPhone app that offers video calling, video messaging and video sharing. A Plus version for $2.99 offers more features including real-time effects, video editing and HD support.
Vimeo: The popular video-sharing website now has its own iPhone app - and it doesn't just let you watch videos, it lets you edit and share them too. Take that, YouTube!
Last Night Never Happened: This awesome app lets you automatically delete the (drunken, embarrassing) social networking posts you made during your lapse in judgement. Supports Facebook and Twitter, and allows you to remove posts, photos, comments, tweets and direct messages. Genius.
Addieu: This app lets you connect with new friends on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare in addition to adding them to your Contacts app list. Maybe this should have been in the SXSW section below, but it's actually handy long after the SXSW party week ended.
Follows: Obsessed with your stats? Follows tracks data related to your social networking profiles on services like Twitter, Facebook, Feedburner, MySpace, Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn. With this app, you can easily see your follower count, reader count, friend count and more.
TechDygest: An intelligent aggregator providing relevant news, summarized for quick reading. There are four different apps to choose from Dygest.com. TechDygest for tech news, iDygest for Apple news, gameDygest for gaming news and celebDygest for Hollywood gossip.
Mozy: The new iOS app works with the online backup and storage service allowing you to locate files, photos and other media using your phone. You can then open those files, share them via email or post to Facebook.
Pimp Your Screen: A useful tool for iPhone customization without jailbreaking, this app provides backgrounds, icon skins, app shelves, neon combos and more. And it lets you preview your customizations before applying them.
Ditto: From Jaiku founder Jyri Engeström, this location-based app lets you post what you're doing and where, under categories like "at home," "eat out," "work," "see movie," and more.
Zapd: This app lets you create an attractive website from your iPhone in minutes using templates. And it's free! Isn't technology amazing?
MyStreamApp: Instead of sharing headphones, this app lets you share your music over a Wi-Fi connection.
Android
Flow: A Facebook app for Android that brings push notifications, comment liking, tagging friends in statuses and other missing features from Facebook's official app. (Actually, Facebook allows for push notifications, but not to the same extent as provided in Flow).
Thrutu: This app enhances phone calls by allowing you to share your location, photos, contacts and other files with callers without disrupting the conversation.
ReadItLater Pro: This 99 cents app lets you read your saved reading list items from the online service via your Android phone.
Feedly: This RSS app's popular online magazine-style reader comes to Android. It integrates with Google Reader, Twitter, Read it Later, bit.ly and Instapaper.
Dynamic Paint Live Wallpaper: From KittehFace Software (oh, the name), this fun live wallpaper lets you spray and splatter paint onto your home screen with a touch of your finger.
Wave Launcher: Not a full launcher, but more of a pop-up bar for launching favorite apps through a simple gesture.
Launcher 7: Lusting after Windows Phone 7? This app lets you modify your start screen with the Metro UI look and feel.
Firefox 4: The newest version of the Firefox for Android Web browser brings Firefox sync, tabbed browsing, HTML5 support, and speed to Android. But it's 14 MB in size, be warned.
Comcast Xfinity: The Xfinity app, now available on Android, brings remote DVR management, TV listings and OnDemand searches to Android. No remote TV viewing, though. Bummer.
Slate: Popular online mag Slate arrives in Android format.
imo instant messenger: This multi-protocol IM app launched into beta for Android in late March. Supports Facebook Chat, Google Talk, Skype, MSN, ICQ/AIM, Yahoo, Jabber, and Myspace.
Scannify: Discover, manage and connect to devices on your Wi-Fi network using this new app.
The Apps of SXSW
Beluga: Acquired by Facebook just prior to SXSW, Beluga was the app of choice for team RWW at SXSW. This group messaging app lets you create "pods" where you can chat with friends in private chat rooms, share photos and share your location. iPhone/Android supported.
GroupMe: Similar to Beluga, this group chat app also made waves at SXSW. In addition to text-based group chat, another feature gives each group a unique phone number for conference calls. GroupMe also just added support for brands, allowing users to engage in conversations about favorite TV shows, bands and events.
Yobongo: A location-based mobile chat app lets you communicate with those around you, a feature which the company calls "ambient real-time communication." The app is currently available in NY, SF and Austin only.
Fast Society: Launched last fall, this group texting app debuted new iPhone and Android versions for SXSW. Groups can chat, conference call, share location, photos and more. It also supports audio-based "shout outs" that are sent right into the group's stream.
Hurricane Party: This app helped SXSW'ers find the happening parties. We're not entirely convinced the app has shelf life beyond the Austin festival, though. But maybe that's just because we live somewhere really boring.
Ask Around: Yes, that Ask.com This iPhone app is a lot like Yobongo in that it connects you to nearby conversations, but it also lets you find out what people are saying across town, too.
Retrollect: Before there was Color, this mobile photos app let you mashup pics, tweets and status updates to give you a play-by-play of your night, outing or other experience or event you wanted to remember.
Kik: This older group messaging app introduced a "Concierge" service at SXSW, letting users ask questions and get answers in real-time.
Notable Updates
Posterous added private groups to its iPhone and Android apps, allowing users to create private sharing groups on the go, each with their own dedicated website.
Camera+: Everyone's favorite alternative camera app for iPhone was updated to version 2.2, introducing a new feature called Clarity that lets you tap once to automatically adjust a photo to perfection.
LauncherPro: The update to this popular Android launcher brings new animations and a Gmail widget.
Adobe Connect Mobile for Android: This is the second major version of the Web conferencing app. It now supports two-way video, tablets and more.
IMDb: The IMDb iOS app was updated this month to feature a watchlist and enhanced showtimes. It also lets you buy movie tickets within the app.
