October
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Nintendo Switch sales topped 735,000 in October
The Switch system’s November sales could be aided by a bundle Nintendo is releasing for Black Friday.
What’s coming to Netflix in October: The 'Breaking Bad' movie
As you'd expect, Netflix is planning plenty of seasonal thrillers for October. The theme this year is that the kids are not okay. You'll meet Eli, a child with a mysterious illness who has to be secluded from the world and is battling "nightmares." Raising Dion is sci-fi look at the horrors of parenting. In Fractured, a man is searching for his daughter who vanished from an ER. In Daybreak, a teenage outcast is navigating a post-apocalyptic world full of zombies. Rattlesnake stars a single mother who will do anything to save her daughter, and In The Tall Grass -- based on a novella by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill -- stars a pregnant woman who gets lost in a field of tall grass when she tries to answer a boy's cry for help.
Netflix's 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' trades kitsch for pentagrams
Kiernan Shipka might be best known for her work as Sally Draper on Mad Men, but since then she's had a number of roles that should change your perception of her. Now we have an idea of what her take on Sabrina the Teenage Witch looks like in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Check out the trailer below and you'll see all manner of witches, witchcraft and creatures of the night.
Elon Musk to show SolarCity rooftop panels October 28th
We knew that Elon Musk was working on a roof made of solar panels, and now we know when we'll see them: October 28th, according to a tweet from the real life Tony Stark. Assuming San Francisco's trademark fog doesn't make a surprise appearance too, that is. He says that the SolarCity demo will take place in the Bay area and that we'll also see how the tech integrates with his other projects, the Powerwall 2.0 in-home battery and a Tesla charging system. I'm sensing a theme here...
iPhone 6 launch broke app download records
The launch of a new iPhone always creates a bump in App Store downloads, but this year's iPhone 6/6 Plus debut was a special kind of crazy. According to a new report by analytics firm Fiksu, October saw a massive surge in iOS app downloads that shattered previous records and led to a daily download volume of over 7.8 million downloads for the top 200 apps on the marketplace. Fiksu's report emphasizes that user loyalty is a huge factor in device launches, suggesting the perceived devotion of Apple fans played a large role in the record breaking month. That trend is likely to continue into the holidays, as gift-giving leads to more upgrades and new iOS adopters who will undoubtedly be visiting the App Store to cash in their iTunes gift cards - everyone gets one or two of those every year, right?
Apple iPad Air 2 and Retina iMac event now available for on-demand viewing
Apple just wrapped up its October press event, which saw the unveiling several new products including the iPad Air 2 and the Retina iMac. If you missed the original broadcast, you can now watch a rebroadcast of the full event on Apple's dedicated Events page. The on demand stream also can be found in the Events channel on the Apple TV.
Apple's upcoming iPad event may take place on October 16th
It's no secret that Apple tends to reveal its new iPads in October -- at least, that's been the company's tradition for the past few years -- so the big question has been exactly when in October we can expect to see these upcoming tablets. According to Re/code, which has a history of predicting such event dates with a high degree of accuracy, we should mark October 16th on our calendars. The report indicates that the launch will take place at Apple's Town Hall auditorium, so it'll be a smaller affair than last month's spectacle. While we haven't seen as many rumors of the new devices as we did with, say, the iPhone 6, there's been a lot of buzz about a new 12-inch model making the rounds in addition to the usual 9.7-inch Air and 7.9-inch mini. There's also a chance we'll see new options on the iMac side; and with OS X Yosemite and Apple Pay due very soon, you can count on some fanfare about those as well. [Image credit: AP]
Microsoft's next Xbox One update makes it act more like the 360
We weren't lying in our review when we said that the Xbox One felt like a work in progress. From the sounds of it, though, the system's next update will add features and functionality that frankly should have been in the box last fall. For starters, once the patch rolls out to everyone in October, double-tapping the Guide button on the Xbox One controller will act an awful lot like pressing the Guide button on the Xbox 360 controller does: it'll give options to bring up your friends list, achievements and messages. Finally! The update is also supposed to make recording video without Kinect voice controls a lot easier by letting you save the last 30 seconds of game-video by double-tapping the Guide and then hitting the X button.
Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET: Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday!
All-new dial-in experience! See below -- do not call into Talkshoe, we won't be there. Be sure to set up Fuze Meeting before the show if you want to join in live. It's Sunday, and it's time for the TUAW talkcast! Looking ahead to this coming Tuesday, it's the all-speculation, all-anticipation edition of the Talkcast. Apple's autumnal "everything but the iPhone" event is right around the corner, so what will we see? (And what won't we see?) And what does Apple's recent hiring spree focused on fashion-industry executive veterans mean for it all? Bring your speculatin' shoes and your opinions to our free-for-all, come-as-you-are weekly live podcast. We'll be joined by some special guests and it should be a blast! Join us at 10pm ET, won't you? With some help from the fine folks at Fuze, we're using Fuze Meeting to record the show (rather than the legacy Talkshoe system). This should let everyone listen in live -- and, if you want, raise your hand as you would in the Talkshoe room to get unmuted and chime in. You can join the call in progress (meeting # is 20099010) at 10 pm ET from any computer via this link; if you download the Mac or Windows Fuze clients ahead of time, you'll get better audio and a slicker experience. Just click the phone icon to join the audio once you're in. Using an iPhone or iPad? Grab the native clients from the App Store and get busy. (Even Android users can join the party.) Still feel like using the conventional phone dial-in? Just call 775-996-3562 and enter the meeting number 20099010, then press #. While the Fuze web and native clients have a chat channel, we'd like to reserve that for host participants, requests to talk and other real-time alerts... so the full-on chat for the show will appear in this very post at 10 pm tonight. You'll need Twitter, Facebook or Chatroll credentials to participate in the chat. We'll remind everyone to check back in at that time. Your patience and forbearance with our new tech is appreciated in advance. For the time being, the podcast feed of the show will continue to originate from Talkshoe and should be there within 24-36 hours. See you tonight!
TUAW Year in Review: October 2012
Welcome to TUAW's Year in Review. Month by month, we're running down the top stories of 2012, all day long on New Year's Day. Apple announces the long-rumored iPad mini (updated) Just two weeks after Apple sold its 100 millionth iPad, the company has announced the iPad mini. As Phil Schiller said, it is not a shrunken-down iPad but a unique design with an aluminium... Apple announces fourth generation iPad Consumers and competitors alike apparently can't get too comfortable with the pace of iPad updates, because just six months after the "new iPad" came out, Apple has announced the fourth-generation... Apple introduces new line of iMacs Apple has introduced a new line of iMacs, its eighth generation of what it's now calling its "flagship desktop line." Although broadly similar in design to its predecessor, the big departure is... Apple announces a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display As expected, Apple announced a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display this morning. "We're taking our best product and introducing something so much better," Phil Schiller said. It's 0.75 inches... Mapping Scott Forstall's departure from Apple When Apple announced earlier today that -- along with several executive leadership changes -- Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall would be leaving the company in 2013, theories... Also: Consumer Reports: iPhone 5 is "best iPhone yet" Apple acknowledges anniversary of Jobs's death with video tribute Google Street View is back on the iPhone, but it's not pretty How to report problems with Apple Maps Here's a look at the whole universe of Angry Birds games (so far) Apple retail employees encouraged to report Maps issues The New York Times launches HTML5 web app for iPad Steve Jobs' former friends, colleagues share memories Samsung sues Apple over iPhone 5 Fare thee well, Ping: 2010-2012 Merging Apple IDs still not possible. Now what? Apple to open third Beijing Apple Store on iconic Wangfujing Street Using an iPhone to detect ear infections Apple agrees to licensing terms over Swiss clock design How Apple's mobile devices are re-defining medicine iPhone 5 selling out in Hong Kong iOS's Notification Center cares more about my contacts' birthdays than I do Brøderbund's Living Books return for iPad via Wanderful Hard drive recall emails going out to owners of 1TB iMacs J.K. Rowling says the MacBook Air 'changed my life' Newsweek goes all-digital, will cease print publishing at end of 2012 Tweetbot for Mac arrives on the OS X App Store ... at a hefty price Apple receives patent for original iPad design Uber cancels NYC taxi program, due to high demand How Apple's iPhone 5 website works The challenges of jailbreaking iOS 6 More car companies link iPhone nav apps to dashboard displays SNL skewers iPhone 5 complaints iPhone jailbreaking legal, iPad not White iPad mini sells out in 20 minutes Q4 Earnings call turns to iPad philosophy The iPad 3rd-gen's "miraculous transformation" from magical device to object of shame atebits releases Letterpress for iPhone The emerging reality of Apple's leaked products Java plugin users on Mountain Lion nudged firmly toward Oracle Apple publishes iPhone 5 launch day video Five apps that are wicked fun for Halloween Apple retail exec John Browett's departure not surprising
Apple October 2012 Event Metaliveblog
Join us on October 23rd at 10:00 AM Pacific (1:00 PM Eastern). TUAW will be metaliveblogging Apple's Media Event. We're looking forward to seeing you then! Got some predictions? Drop them in the comments!
Join us on 10/23: TUAW metaliveblog of Apple's October Event
Join us here tomorrow at 10AM PT (1PM ET) as TUAW metaliveblogs Apple's October Event. As the invitation says, Apple has a little more to show us. Is it a new mini iPad? Updated Macs? We'll all find out together. Please accept TUAW's invitation for fun, live blogging and lots of product coverage. We can't wait to see you tomorrow!
ViewSonic's TD2220 two-point touch monitor gets priced at $330, will ship to coincide with Windows 8
While we had expected ViewSonic's TD2220 to arrive earlier this year, we'll forgive its lackadaisical timekeeping just this once. The two-point touch, 1,920 x 1,080 LED display arrives in North and Latin America in the third week of October -- around the same time as the similarly digit-friendly Windows 8. When it does, it'll reduce the contents of your bank balance by $330, but that's a small price to pay for the privilege of confusing onlookers unused to seeing such technology in action.
MacTech conference returning to LA in October
I've been to the MacTech Mac and IT consultants conference a few years in a row now, and I have to say: If you do any Apple consulting or development, it's a great show to see. The Sheraton Universal here in Los Angeles is a great setting, and MacTech publisher Neil Ticktin always puts an excellent event together, filling the three day schedule with great speakers, lots of opportunities to network and talk with other pros (over excellent food and drink), and even some nice offsite trips, like parties at Universal Studios and special events at places like the famous Griffith Observatory. MacTech has just announced details for this year's flagship conference in Los Angeles, and as you can see, there will be some very big names and faces showing up at the Sheraton from October 17-19 this year. The joint sessions will be run by two department heads from the Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Mac luminaries like Andy Ihnatko, Andy Lee, and Kyle Kinkade will host sessions along with lots of other good folks from the community around the world. Registration is open now -- early bird pricing is $999 ($300 off of regular pricing) and ends on August 31. MacTech is always a great time every year, and this year promises to be no different. If you have an interest in this show, be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible. TUAW is a media sponsor of this event, and has worked with MacTech on event coverage in the past.
Pre-event AAPL trading bucks trend
Andy Zaty of the Bullish Cross blog has done some interesting analysis on the AAPL stock price around Apple's keynote events, and he found that for next week's event, the pattern seems to have fallen apart. During the past four iPhone releases, Apple's stock price has risen in the rumor-filled run up to the unveiling, as investors are taken in by the excitement and interest surrounding the possibility of a new iPhone. Then, once the event happens, the stock usually falls off a bit (though obviously in general, it's risen over time). This time, however, the stock price has fallen, almost 17% from where it was at a few weeks ago. Why is that? Hard to say -- it could be that most Apple events are pretty mysterious, but on this one, rumors about the iPhone 4S or the iPhone 5 have been flying around for a while already. It's also true, according to the research, that Apple's events don't have as big an effect on the stock price as they used to. As big as AAPL has gotten, more and more investors are somewhat savvy about the whole process, knowing that Apple's fate doesn't really depend on what it announces at any big event. Still, it'll be interesting to see what happens with the stock price, both over the next week in the lead up and after the event. I don't actually give out financial advice (and this post shouldn't be considered as such, obviously), but I suspect we won't see too big a jump or fall over this keynote -- all indications are that besides a new iPhone announcement, this event will likely be business as usual.
Sharp's biggest LCD HDTVs get even bigger with a new 80-inch model
When is big not big enough? Apparently when it's Sharp's "spectacularge" 70-inch AQUOS LCD HDTVs that were introduced earlier this year, and have now been surpassed by a new 80-inch model the company showed off today. The LC-80LE632U isn't an Elite branded model, but it brings all the features of its smaller brethren including full LED backlighting, 120Hz motion processing, built-in WiFi and access to services like Netflix and Vudu. All that is nice, but it's standout feature is that extra viewing area, which can be yours for $5,499 (MSRP) when it starts shipping in early October. Preorders are already popping up for sub-$5k prices, if you need a big screen and can't go the projection route (front or rear) this might be a good value -- check out the details in the press release after the break.
Naval gazing at crime scenes: NCIS game coming in October
Only Europeans are interested in seeing the US Navy solve crimes in 3D. At least, that seems to be the assumption Ubisoft is working under, announcing an EMEA-exclusive 3DS game based on NCIS, the long-running police procedural starring Mr. Shoop from Summer School. Don't worry, American fans of the show (of which there must be many, considering that it's been on for nine seasons) -- you'll still be able to "investigate crime scenes as agents Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo, conduct forensics analyses as Abby Sciuto, perform victim autopsies as Ducky Mallard, interrogate and break suspects as special agent Gibbs, and use satellite tracking to apprehend bad guys on the run as special agent McGee." Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC versions are planned for worldwide release on October 27 (according to the press release; October 28 in the trailer). Why is the 3DS version limited to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa? That sounds like a mystery -- to the NCIS-mobile! Split up, gang, we can find the answer in this spooky old press release! ... We haven't watched much NCIS. It's like Scooby-Doo, right? Maybe it's more like the trailer, which has The Sims investigating crime scenes.%Gallery-134553%
NYT: iPhone 5 announcement 'just weeks away'
According to Nick Bilton at the New York Times, an unnamed Apple employee has confirmed to him that the next-gen iPhone announcement is "just weeks away." The next-gen phone will be "fairly different from the iPhone 4." Bilton's source seems to confirm multiple rumors claiming the iPhone 5 will have a redesigned case in addition to an 8-megapixel camera and an A5 processor. It's not clear whether it will be this generation of iPhone or the following one that adds integrated support for NFC, but Bilton suggests that the wireless payment technology is a high priority for Apple's mobile strategy. In the wake of a dramatic surge of Apple rumors over the past several months, The New York Times has maintained an excellent track record of anticipating product announcements with well-sourced reports, as has The Wall Street Journal. Of note, the info from the Times coincides with tips we've received from our own sources within Apple regarding possible retail vacation blackout dates in early- to mid-October. Bilton also took note of the appearance and then disappearance of several purported iPhone 5 case designs, which showed a different device size and possible tapered edges; he pointed out that such 'leaks' are often mostly about publicity for the case manufacturer, and are rarely accidental. That's why we opted not to write about the cases when they showed up earlier in the week: we didn't think the manufacturer's behavior with the case leak merited any additional publicity. Here at TUAW, we do our best to sort out the wheat from the chaff when it comes to speculation and rumor; we aim to stay clear of third- or fourth-hand "in person" iPhone 5 sightings, and we don't get all CSI on a blurrycam spyshot photo of a supposed iPhone 5 -- unless it's an obvious fake, in which case we'll joyfully poke fun at it. We're a bit burnt out on rumors at this point, and we suspect many of our readers are, too. We'll consider passing them along when they match up with what we know; when they don't, we'll let them be. And when we do corroborate rumors or publish a speculative tidbit (even one that contradicts the WSJ and NYT), that's based on our independent sourcing or the reporting of a very short list of savvy & connected Apple watchers. We consider The New York Times to be pretty reliable, so if Bilton says the next iPhone announcement may be just weeks away, that's the next best thing to hearing it from Apple.
Allods Online announces October update
This October, Allods Online will introduce new content to its already extensive free-to-play MMO. This update will include "a brand new zone for high level players, the ability to customize Astral ships, and enhanced leveling to improve the new player experience." To help alleviate the usual gap that happens between European and North American content launches, gPotato will launch the update in both regions simultaneously. The exact date for this launch hasn't been announced yet, but in the meantime, you can check out the update's new screenshots below and watch for more news to come. [Source: gPotato press release]%Gallery-91331%
WSJ: Sprint will sell the iPhone 5 in mid-October
At TUAW we typically look the other way when it comes to iPhone rumors, but once something hits the Wall Street Journal, we pretty much consider it a done deal. The WSJ now reports that Sprint will offer the iPhone 5 in mid-October, bringing the handset to the third-largest US carrier. The iPhone 5 will hit AT&T and Verizon at the same mid-October date. This is according to the Journal's sources, "people familiar with the matter," who have usually turned out reliable information in the past. The Journal notes that the mid-October launch points to a later-than-expected launch for the iPhone 5, which was expected to debut in September. If the WSJ's sources are correct, and if Apple follows its prior pattern, it's likely the iPhone 5 will be announced sometime in September with the hardware hitting the market around 30 days later. Sprint is the second-largest CDMA carrier in the US, and rumors about the iPhone coming to that network have abounded since even before the CDMA-model iPhone 4 hit Verizon. If the iPhone 5 does indeed make it to Sprint, T-Mobile will be the last major wireless carrier to not offer Apple's handsets.
