Mar 31
BackBerry maker Research in Motion reported strong sales for its fiscal Q3 2010 but saw its shares slip some 7% as both revenues and shipments fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

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Mar 31

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For any of you who were hoping to get through the rest of the day without hearing the word iPad again, it ain't gonna happen. Today's TUAW TV Live, starting in just a few minutes, is going to be all iPad, all the time.

I've got a lot of iPad videos queued up and ready to roll, so if you want to see some of what's going to be available for your newest Apple toy on Saturday morning, join us for this live event.

During the livestream, you'll have an opportunity to vote on topics of discussion using a new tool we're testing (Voices Heard) -- just log in with your Facebook account or create a Voices Heard account, and you'll be voting in seconds. I may also ask you do to a Voices Heard "thumbs-up or thumbs-down" for the iPad apps that we'll see today so I can give some of the developers feedback.

And of course, we also have the regular chat open for discussion and would love to hear from you. Click that Read More link below to get to the video, my friends.

TUAWTUAW TV Live, the pre-iPad edition: live at 5pm ET originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 31

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On Saturday, when you plug in your shiny new iPad and peruse the App Store for apps, you'll see 'HD' or 'XL' designations for iPad-specific apps. You may wonder what that's all about.

It's about a lack of solid information, driven by a top-down policy of secrecy. When a company like Apple fosters a culture of anxiety amongst third-party associates and low-level employees, you're going to wind up with some bad decisions being made in the absence of clear policies.

True, the iPad offers more pixels than the iPhone, but it is hardly "HD" (whatever that means to begin with). Clearly, these suffixes are designed to let you know that they are "jumbo" versions of apps with more features than their iPhone companions, right? That may not be the case. While they might be bigger, they may not be badder. In fact, they may be more stripped down than their developers intended.

Why would these apps be less feature-filled than devs would want? It comes down to this: Apple's rush to innovation has caused a vacuum of information for developers. Around this vacuum lies fear. It is a fear generated by Apple as a byproduct of the company's own paranoia, favoritism, and lack of empowerment for middle managers unable to "think different" and use common sense. Apple is a powerhouse of innovation because it can control things completely, but the other edge on that sword is its own fear of losing control. The machine lurches forward, but is it sustainable?

TUAWApple's growing pains, culture of secrecy and the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 31
With its recent acquisition of streaming music service Lala, Apple is working toward launching its own streaming iTunes solution to debut as soon as the third quarter of 2010.

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Mar 31

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Although it's been relatively quiet in the mailbox over the past 48 hours with regard to Mac OS X 10.6.3 issues and outcomes (probably because everyone is too busy refreshing their delivery status), every OS update comes with a few problems. In this case, the reports we've gotten include the usual mix of stalls, slow reboots, and even one very unhappy graphics card.

Fortunately, the team at cnet's MacFixit site has a solid list of seven recommendations for managing a hung update process, including using the Combo updater and going to safe boot if necessary. If you have been having issues with the update and need a quick fix, run through their list and see if you can't get it working. Oh, and we'll add one more tip, just in case: be sure before you start that your backups are current. Good luck!

TUAW10.6.3 update hiccups and workarounds originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 31

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There's a fun post at Silicon Alley Insider today that traces an iPad's journey from China to the customer's home. By monitoring Twitter and tracking reports, Nick Saint has assembled an iPad's typical journey to the US.

It starts at the infamous Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China. That's the "iPad nursery," if you will. From there, iPads destined for the USA fly to Anchorage, Alaska, a journey that Google Maps struggled with (38 days by car? Oh, it'd be much shorter by car).

From there, the iPad that Nick was tracking went to Louisville, Kentucky, where it will remain (UPS shipping calls it "UPS Internal Activity") until it's set free on Saturday.

Many TUAW readers wrote in to say they've received shipment notifications, so we can assume that your precious is somewhere along this route. In the meantime, why not install a package tracking app on your iPhone (you remember your iPhone, right)?

TUAWTrack an iPad from Shenzhen to you originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 31
As both consumers and developers await the release of Apple's iPad on Saturday, Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers announced Wednesday that it is doubling its investment pool for software on Apple's App Store to $200 million.

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