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Tim Cook will headline All Things D conference next month
The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD blog has announced the lineup for its 11th AllThingsD conference happening later this month, and the lead draw is Apple's CEO. Yes, an interview with Tim Cook will headline the show. He appeared at the conference last year to talk about Apple's present and future, and he's planning to do the same again this year. New products will definitely be a subject. Apple hasn't revealed anything new in quite a while, so the second half of 2013 could be a big one for Apple. And it'll be nice to just hear what Cook has to say -- these talks are generally pretty open, and Cook always reveals one or two good tidbits about life on the Apple campus. Sony's Kaz Hirai, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, and a number of other tech-related executives are also set to take the stage at the 11th All Things D show as well. It'll be held from May 28 to 30 later on this year.
Tim Cook's speech at Goldman Sachs Conference moved to open market slot
This is an interesting note that might not turn out to mean much, but who knows? Apple CEO Tim Cook is scheduled to speak at the upcoming Goldman Sachs Tech Conference this week, as he's done before. The talk was originally set to take place on Tuesday at 4:15pm ET, which would have placed it after regular trading ends in the stock market. But Cook's speech has instead been moved to 10:15 AM ET, which will put it right at the beginning of the stock-trading day. This has lead investors and analysts to wonder if Cook really has something to say. In the past, he's basically just waxed eloquent on Apple's philosophy and choices, but the rumor mills are ablaze with news of new products from Apple, so it's possible Cook could hint at a new announcement, or just plain make one. It does seem unlikely that Cook would use someone else's event to make a big announcement, as Apple usually likes to run its own events these days. But Apple will be streaming audio of Cook's presentation, as usual, so maybe he will have something new to tell us. No matter whether the change means a new bit of news or just a schedule conflict, we'll of course be listening in live to see what Cook has to say.
Cook: iCloud has 100 million users, 3 million Apple TVs sold last year
Tim Cook spoke at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, and he's shared a few up-to-date numbers about a few of Apple's platforms and services. iCloud is probably where he shared the most fascinating insight: The service now boasts over 100 million users, which is a very sizable user base. I don't know offhand how many Apple accounts are out there, but that seems like a significant amount of growth for a service that's not all that old (although MobileMe customers were obviously migrated). Apple TV is also growing -- we've already heard this year that it was big, but Cook says that Apple sold over 3 million set-top boxes last year, and a million last quarter already. He confirmed that the Apple TV was still just a "hobby" for the company, but noted Apple still wants to see more mainstream acceptance of the streaming media device before really dumping in. We'll leave it up to your imagination as to what the Apple TV would be like if Apple decided it was a real market instead of a hobby. Finally, Cook also pointed out that Apple is growing at a gigantic rate in the developing world, earning twenty times the income from previous years in developing tech nations like Asia, India, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It certainly sounds like Cook has confidently moved into a leadership role at Apple -- not only are things going great, but he definitely has a plan for the future.
Taylannas' Menus That Talk vocalize what's for dinner
Auditory menus might be an old trick, but it's likely to make Taylannas some serious coin if implemented in any number of eateries. The Florida-based startup has announced plans to dole out "slim electronic tablets about the size and shape of a DVD case" that sport touchscreen displays, speak numerous languages, and can even have its buttons imprinted with Braille to help the blind wade through the interface. As the title implies, the menus will vocalize what's on the docket, as customers can select different segments (drinks, dinner entrees, desserts) to be read aloud. The obvious benefactors are those who are visually impaired, but even customers who are hard of hearing were taken into account as the Menus That Talk devices also have a "detachable hand-held earphone" that reportedly syncs with most modern hearings aids. Still, we have to wonder if restaurants that rely on a quiet, low-key atmosphere won't disable the volume functions or demand a built-in whisper mode in order to maintain sanity during the evening rush.[Thanks, Joe B.]
Dude, can you get on Teamspeak?
I can't remember the first time I was invited on Teamspeak (some people use Ventrilo as well-- I've got both free programs installed on my PC, just in case) for an instance-- for some reason, I'm thinking it wasn't until I got invited to a raid at level 60, but considering the way that things are now, I'm really surprised it wasn't earlier. Maybe it's just because almost every instance I run is with guildies, but TS is basically a requirement for grouping-- a requirement that most of us are happy to comply with, but a requirement nonetheless.Yakov isn't so compliant-- he says Vent is a crutch, and the fact that every group he enters asks him to "jump on Vent" is rubbing him the wrong way. He says a simple 5 man run doesn't call for using Vent, and that he'd rather listen to his music then his guildies chatting it up on Teamspeak.I disagree-- not only is it more fun to chat with people on Vent (I tend to know the guildies I've talked to on TS better than the others), but it's just plain helpful, whether the instance is hard or not. If you're disappointed that your guild isn't asking you to come on more instance runs with them, and you haven't downloaded Vent or TS yet, that's probably why.Of course, like all things, Vent can go horribly wrong. You can be annoyed by your guildies' voices (I'll just say that some people's accents are a little offputting and leave it at that), or like Yakov, you can rather listen to music then random guild gossip. But especially if you're a player just getting to the endgame where there's a lot to learn, jumping on Vent is one of the best things you can do to make sure you know what's going on when. It's not a difficulty thing, although coordinating a pull on TS is much easier than typing strat in the chat channel. It's more of a communication thing-- the more and the faster comm there is, the better you'll all be.
