Apple Seeds OS X Snow Leopard Build to Developers

Yesterday, Apple seeded the next version of Snow Leopard. This new build (10A394) was distributed through a Software Update. It says that the update contains fixes for stability, compatibility, and security. Reports say that the Dock Expose feature that was presented at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is in this current build. The Dock Expose can be activated by clicking and holding on a running application's Dock icon.

New MacBook Air is slower than Older Model

The new MacBook Air obtained processor speed bumps as well as a price drop by $300-$700. Although there was a clock speed increase, Macworld found that the new MacBook Air happens to be slower than the original.

“What’s weird about the new high-end MacBook Air model is that although it cost dramatically less than its immediate predecessor, it was also slower than that model. The late-2008 1.86GHz MacBook Air was faster than the new top-of-the-line model in 11 of our 18 tests, and as a result, the old system’s final Speedmark score was slightly higher. The low-end 1.86GHz model did a better job versus its predecessor, besting it on most tests and improving on its Speedmark score.”

If while looking for a new laptop you want one that is light weight and a small size, then the MacBook Air is still the computer for you.

Porn on Apple App Store

Just after the first iPhone app was released containing nudity, it was quickly removed from the store. While the developer of this app does say that he voluntarily removed the app, it appears that Apple may have forced it to be removed. Apple PR said to CNN that Apple will not distribute “porn” or any other inappropriate content.

“Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography. The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.”

YouTube Mobile Uploads up 400% since iPhone 3GS

Today it was announced by Google that the amount of daily YouTube uploads from mobile devices have increased 400% since the launch of the iPhone 3GS. The 3GS has the ability to easily record and upload videos directly to YouTube. YouTube says that the increase in uploads since the release follows the trend of a 1700% increase in videos over the past six months.

“This growth represents three things coming together: new video-enabled phones on the market, improvements to the upload flow when you post a video to YouTube from your phone, and a new feature on YouTube that allows your videos to be quickly and effortlessly shared through your social networks. It takes just a minute to connect your YouTube account to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader accounts. Complete a simple, one-time connection on our upload page to allow all your friends and followers to get a real-time stream of your uploads to YouTube, which can be essential in this age of citizen reporting and ubiquitous sharing.”

Long Tail of iPhone Apps Is Extra Long — and Not In a Good Way

Only 19 percent of iPhone/iPod Touch applications in the AdMob network had more than 10,000 users in May, and a mere 5 percent had more than 100,000 users, according to the mobile ad network’s latest Mobile Metrics report. With more than 50,000 apps available on the iPhone, the long tail is in full effect — but even so, the steepness of the curve is impressive. More than half of the apps in the AdMob network had fewer than 1,000 users in May.
The data in question does not apply to the App Store as a whole, only to apps serving ads from AdMob, but given the lack of any other hard data, this is what we must work with. It’s clear that many apps just aren’t taking off with consumers, either because they’re are bad, brand new, very old or niche applications, or because they just haven’t gotten enough promotion. Or, perhaps, with 50,000 apps in the store, the paradox of choice plays a role — there may simply be too much to choose from, so Apps can’t pull away from the pack. But this was true last year as well, when the store had just opened.
By Jordan Golson

Actual cost of 16GB iPhone 3GS

Today iSuppli revealed the results from the breakdown of the new 16GB iPhone 3GS. They estimated that all together the pieces cost a total of $172.46. The manufacturing costs an additional $6.50. That makes the total cost of each device $178.96. The tear down of the phone shows that Apple is using the same BCM4325 combination Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chip from Broadcom that had been used in the second generation iPod touch. The price estimates does not include research, software, development, distribution, or royalty costs. If this was included, the price would be significantly higher.