Can Apple thrive without its visionary CEO?

SLIGHT TUMBLE: Pedestrians walking past an Apple Store in San Francisco. Shares of Apple Inc fell modestly on Jan 18 following the company's disclosure that Jobs is taking another medical leave of absence. - AP

SAN FRANCISCO: If investors were as visionary as Steve Jobs has proved to be during his 35 years of tech wizardry, they might be able to figure out whether Apple can still thrive if its founder and CEO doesn't return from his indefinite medical leave.

But Jobs' prescience is a rarity, which is why doubt and anxiety will probably hang over the company until his fate is clearer.

The iPod-iPhone-iPad revolution that Jobs unleashed over the past decade should ensure that Apple's revenue and earnings keep growing for at least the next two to three years, according to analysts.

What's more, Jobs has assembled and trained a savvy, hard-driving management team that should be capable of following his road map for the company.

The question is whether Apple can remain a step ahead and develop products that reshape technology, media and pop culture if Jobs isn't around to divine the next big thing.

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BlackBerry aims to beat iPhone

BETTER THAN EXPECTED: Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, said its third-quarter earnings jumped 45%, beating analyst expectations. - AP

TORONTO: Research in Motion Ltd (RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry, said its third-quarter earnings jumped 45% as sales keep surging overseas despite tough competition in the smartphone market.

The results beat analyst expectations, and the company provided a forecast for the current quarter that also exceeded Wall Street expectations. Its shares rose in extended trading.

RIM said it shipped 14.2 million BlackBerrys in the quarter, narrowly beating Apple Inc's iPhone sales in its latest quarter, which ended in October.

Most of RIM's growth is now coming from markets outside the United States, Canada and Britain, where the BlackBerry is already the business phone of choice.

In August, RIM launched the BlackBerry Torch, with a touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard for an overall look that's similar to competing devices. It also refreshed the look of the operating system.

RIM has said it will launch its first Tablet computer, the PlayBook, early next year. On the call, Balsillie didn't give a more specific date. He said the initial versions will be WiFi only.

BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis said the results were "definitely solid" but said there's nothing that alleviates his concern that RIM will lose market share to Apple's iPhone and phones running Google Inc's Android software next year.

"Everyone knew there was a strong quarter coming out of the company and they delivered," Gillis said. "The concern over the future is still intact. There's definitely still demand for the phones in the international markets.

"Let's see what happens next quarter when they report and give guidance. It will be that May quarter where you'll see if they pulled through or you're going to see the cracks." - AP

Kaltura Updates Open Source Video Management App

Kaltura has updated its open source online video content management application. Version 3.0 of the Kaltura Video Platform Community Edition adds a new cloud-based deployment and offers transcoding options specifically for mobile devices.

The Community Edition of the software provides the ability for organizations to manage, publish, and syndicate their videos and run analytics and do audience measurement. Colleges and universities can integrate it into their learning management system or a campus video portal through community-built extensions. This version can be hosted by the customer or hosted in a cloud environment. An "On-Prem" edition that has a license fee associated with it provides Kaltura support and maintenance.


With the cloud-based deployment features, publishers can start an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance of the content management platform, according to the company, in less than 15 minutes. Kaltura said it expected to support additional cloud environments soon.

Version 3.0 includes H.264 and 3GP video transcoding flavors optimized for mobile devices, to let users view videos on Nokia, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry handsets.

The new release integrates the open source Sphinx search server to speed up searching and also lets publishers bolster their video metadata with customized fields. A code generator helps developers select specific API services and actions from within the Kaltura Test Console to generate the relevant code for them to copy and paste into their work.

The company claims 6,000 developers for its video application, which is used by Cornell University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Virginia, among others.

Apple expected to launch iPhone 4 64GB and 128GB in 2011 ?

This is a purely speculative story – so take it with as much salt as you like

So far, Apple’s iPhone models are available in 16 GB and 32 GB versions. It is normal to assume that Steve Jobs would want the next version of the iPhone – often called the iPhone 4G in the rumours – will go for a 64 GB storage. But will it happen?

Possibly. Very likely. The reason is, Toshiba, which supplies the 16 GB and 32 GB NAND flash memory module to Apple, has just announced a 64 GB NAND flash package. Mass production of the 64GB module will begin in Q3 2010 – it makes sense to believe that Apple would be one of the first customers for this one! Or would they decide to get two of the 64GB modules and offer us a 128 GB iPhone? Oh, the possibilities. The iPod Touch too should benefit from all the extra storage capacity.

Of course, the whole point of a 64 GB iPhone from Apple is a bit pathetic – Jobs has in his infinite wisdom decided not to give us a SD card expansion slot which would have enabled us to increase our storage as we wish.

Storing hours of high definition video or a humungous amount of music will be possible if Apple actually goes in for this. Anyway, it is time for a fourth generation iPhone and Apple fanboys are saving up money for a 2010 purchase.

It is not just Toshiba but Samsung too who have 64 GB flash memory storage, but so far Apple has preferred to go with Samsung. On the other hand, there are a range of devices – like the Zune HD or any number of smartphones – which would be perfect candidates for a memory upgrade. But an iPhone 64Gb is what makes news, so there you have it. There is no point in mentioning prices or specifications for a 4G Apple iPhone with 64GB or 12GB memory for now, anyway.

RedSn0w release the Jailbreak iOS 4.1 for iPhone 3G

How to Jailbreak iOS 4.1 for iPhone 3G Using RedSn0w [Mac Users]. 

After a long wait, finally, the Dev Team released the latest version of their popular iPhone jailbreaking tool RedSn0w 0.9.6b1 to jailbreak iOS 4.1 on iPhone 3G. It means that you can get your 3G iPhone to run on the latest stable firmware that Apple released. This iPhone jailbreak guideis very simple and anyone can follow all the steps. You just have to check the important notes below;

Important Notes

Please try to check these important things to remember before you decide to go through all the steps in this iPhone Jailbreak guide;

• You need to backup your iPhone before you proceed.
  Jailbreak voids warranty.
• Make sure you are running iTunes 9.2 or higher.
• This guide is meant for Mac and iPhone 3G users only. This will not work on iPhone 3GS and 4.
• Once the jailbreak is done, make your iPhone secure.

Download Necessary Files

Just before anything else, you need to have the following files for a successful jailbreak;

1. Latest version of RedSn0w, Click Here to download RedSn0w 0.9.6b1. 2. Latest iOS or firmware, Click Here to download iPhone1,2_4.1_8B117_Restore.ipsw.

Make sure to save these files in a directory that you can easily find.

iPhone Jailbreak Process

Step 1: Extract RedSn0w

Extract the latest version of RedSn0w by double-clicking the file. To make it simple, extract it into the same directory that you downloaded it.

Step 2: Connect and Restore

You may now connect your iPhone to your computer then launch iTunes. Select your iPhone from the list of devices and click on the “Restore” button.

Step 3: Locate IPSW File

Navigate through the directory you’ve downloaded iPhone1,2_4.1_8B117_Restore.ipsw. Select the file and click “Choose” button to proceed.

It may take a little while for iTunes to finish updating your iPhone, so you have to be patient. Once iTunes is done, you are ready to perform the next step.

Step 4: Launch RedSn0w and Locate IPSW

Now, navigate through the directory where you’ve extracted RedSn0w, double-click it to launch; a window will pop up and you’ll have to click on “Browse” button, and then navigate back to the directory where you’ve downloaded the Apple firmware file (iPhone1,2_4.1_8B117_Restore.ipsw).

Step 5: Open the IPSW File

Select or highlight iPhone1,2_4.1_8B117_Restore.ipsw as shown in the screenshot below, and click the “Open” button.

Step 6: Firmware File Verification

RedSn0w is programmed to automatically detect and verify Apple firmware files or those with .ipsw file extension. Once verification is done, RedSn0w will prompt you “IPSW successfully identified” or you will see the screenshot below. Click “Next” to continue.

Step 7: Prepare Jailbreak Data

Just by clicking on the “Next” button in the previous step, RedSn0w will start preparing the data to be used in jailbreak process. You will see a live progress bar, so you can tell how long the process will take place. Once the preparation is done, you will be brought to the next window (please see Step 8).

Step 8: Jailbreak Options

You have to choose the options you want RedSn0w to perform when jailbreak is started. There are 7 choices you can choose from. Installing Cydia should be checked as it is one of the reasons why you are jailbreaking your iPhone.

Since we are jailbreaking iPhone 3G, I would recommend you uncheck or disable multitasking because it will slow the gadget down. But, if you need this feature and would not care much about the responsiveness of your device, then you can always enable this feature. If you’ve checked all the options you need, click “Next” to continue.

Step 9: iPhone Must Be Turned Off and Plugged In

Make sure that your iPhone is properly plugged in and turned off before you hit on the “Next” button because the next step is where problems enter most of the times—putting your iPhone to DFU mode.

Step 10: Enter DFU Mode

You have to execute the following steps carefully, (please see screenshots);

Step 11: iPhone Reboots

Once the device has entered the DFU mode, RedSn0w will automatically reboots it.

Step 12: RedSn0w Uploads RAM Disk and Kernel

After your iPhone has rebooted, RedSn0w will upload RAM Disk and new Kernel automatically. You will then see a progress bar to know when the process is done.

Step 13: iPhone iOS 4.1 Jailbreak Complete

The uploading of RAM disk and kernel will take a little of your time but you’ll have to wait for it. Once it is done, the “Finish” button will be enabled for you to click. Doing so will, once again, reboot your iPhone; it may take about 5 minutes or so. Don’t be surprised about it as this is normal. All you can do is wait until your device comes back to life.

The iPhone reboot is the sign that the jailbreak process is finished. To know whether your iPhone is successfully jailbroken, check the Springboard and look for Cydia; for sure, it’s there.