The year 2011 was one year that we will all never forget. Even though they were all in the beginning of the year, the floods in Queensland and Brazil, the earthquakes in Christchurch and the tsunami in the north of Japan are still present in all of our minds. We also saw the death of a tech luminary, Steve Jobs; and the powerful News Corporation losing its influence over politicians in the UK after the phone hacking scandal took a drastic turn from celebrities to victims of crime.

This year, we’ve decided to recap the top 11 tech stories of the year – from security problems to business failures, and even the growing popularity of Windows Phone 7.

You can explore the choices below.

• The Revolutions Heard Around The Globe
• The Catastrophic Disaster of the PSN
• Steve Jobs: 1955 – 2011
• The Phone Hacking that killed the News
• A Global War – Apple v Samsung
• A 50 Day Hacking Campaign, for the lulz
• The Rise of Windows Phone 7
• An annus horribilis for RIM and Netflix
• Palm is dead, WebOS lives on
• Social: Google enters, LinkedIn goes IPO and Timeline
• Gone Viral: Friday – an instant success amongst the haters
• Credits

Image Credits: Al Jazeera English (Left) and David Shankbone (Right). All are licensed under Creative Commons.

Apple has acknowledged Mr. Jobs’ death by a statement released on a tribute site (visit here) and lowering all flags on their campuses at half-mast:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

Apple have asked those who wish to share their condolences with Apple email rememberingsteve@apple.com with their tribute.

An email from Tim Cook (Apple’s CEO) to employees highlights Steve’s prowess in attitude towards life and others:

Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.

No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.

Tim

Steve Jobs was a truly inspirational human being; an Edison of our times. Though you may not of liked Apple, chances are a product you use was influenced by Steve’s thinking, ideals and passion.

His family also released a statement saying:

Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.

In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.

We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.

Finally, Bill Gates has also told AllThingsD his feelings on the passing of Steve Jobs.

I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.

Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.

The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.

For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.

On behalf of all the TECHgeek.com.au staff, I extend our deepest regrets at the passing of a single man, a visionary, a man who always “stayed foolish, stayed hungry”. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone who knew or worked with Steve and with anyone who was truly touched by his work.

The internal email is courtesy of Ars Technia, where the original can be found here.
The family statement is courtesy of BusinessWire, where the original can be found here.
The statement from Bill Gates is courtesy of AllThingsD, where the original can be found here. 

James Wilson takes a look at two of their applications, the iStoryTime Transformers Mix and Match, and iStoryTime The Smurfs Audio Book.

Editor’s Note: this review has been slightly edited from its original publication to meet within our style guide.

If there is one thing that Apple has proven its that iOS is a great platform for people of all ages. iStoryTime is a company that produces great, interactive story books for young-to-middle aged children. Recently, I was tasked to review two of their apps: iStoryTime Transformers (Mix & Match) and iStoryTime The Smurfs (Audio Book)., I’ve decided to break them down into two distinct sections.

Transformers: Mix and Match Book

Based on the movie “Tranformers: Dark Side of the Moon”, this application is an interactive way for children to mix up characters and create their own stories. I myself was amused as to the fact that Ratchet (the green Transformer) could easily brandish the Energon Sword and take on Sentinal Prime who is attacking some NEST soldiers.

Interface

When you first start up the app, the menu is simple enough: a giant play button is present, with Optimus Prime (mixed with Bumblebee’s body) standing next to it. The (I) button simple flips the app to show a “Read to Me” option that, when toggled on, means your mix-up is read to you. The (GET GAME) button flips the app to reveal the shoot-em-up arcade style Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon game available from the App Store.

The Normal Part
When you first hit that play button, the initial scene of movie appears. The screen is comprised of three sections: top, middle, bottom. You change each part by swiping left or right. Each section lists the location and a noun (top), the verb (middle) and conclusion (bottom). The pictures are detailed and very artistic in presentation. Each textbox has a colour around it to reference it to a particular character. As a four-year-old, that part doesn’t matter: its simply a mixing of colours!

The Mix-n-Match Part
To left is a mixed up story – and let me tell you kids LOVE IT! Die-hard (can kids even be that?) fans of Transformers will relish in this clash of roles and scenes from the movie. The colours are all now mixed up, indicating a change in characters and actions. In this instance, Ratchet now has Mirage’s body and Cybertron’s legs. The story is also mixed up, saying that Ratchet becomes a sports car and has killed the serpentine drill.

Character Info
Clicking the Autobot or Decepticon icon in the previous screen will reveal information on each Transformer. This information is also read out to you. It lists the function, vehicle mode and weapon.

Verdict

This application is fantastically and skilfully built. It teaches children the simplicities of mixing and matching to make a story that does make sense and provide young children with a very, very long time of entertainment. I recently was seeing younger cousins of that age range and let one of them test the Transformer’s Mix and Match app on my iPhone; needless to say I didn’t see that iPhone for a good twenty minutes and always heard the “whooahahahaii” sound of the transforming Tranformers. If you’re thinking twenty minutes is not long, for a four-to-six year old child, it is. This application also allows simple assimilation of words that helps build up the vocabulary by exploring the relationships between nouns and verbs as each strip is changed. The “Read to Me” setting (which is on by default) greatly enhances the learning of new words as the parent (or technically abled user) can turn this off and read to themselves.

I only have one con: no language (or accent) specification. Being Australian, the distinctly American accent may confuse young children learning new words (in terms of articulation). However, as an adult, it provides a simple way for the app to be read out and enjoyed.

The Smurfs

These little creatures never seem to stay out of trouble. Unlike the previous application, this application is a simple picture-to-text linear storytelling app that does its job well. Upon first launch, the screen to the left is given with three options: Read It Myself; Read To Me; Auto Play; and, Spot the Difference Game

Each option does exactly what it says. If you choose “Read it Myself”, there is no narration – simply text and picture. If you choose “Read to Me”, the application narrates for you but does not advance the pages, allowing you to continue at your own pace. “Auto Play” simply means the story is read to you and automatically turns the pages.

The Interface. Let’s walk…

The interface is easy enough: a picture and text. The text is situated on a blue ‘wavy’ background is very easy to read. Above, there is a scene from the movie in relation to the text. The picture stays over three-four different ‘pages’ of text.

This simple approach means that the child (or older person) can absorb the text more readily instead of being distracted by changing picture’s (although more pictures would be nice). To manually change the pages, you simple flick right-to-left to go forward or vice-versa for backwards: just like you would for any other iOS app.

Spot The Differences

Perhaps the best part of this app is the ‘Spot the Difference’ game. The user can pick from three photo’s and then tap on the screen to find the differences. When you get one right, a Smurf goes “Smurf-xactly!”, a cloud fills up and the difference is outlined in white. The photo on the left took this reviewer a very VERY long time (around 10 minutes) to find that last difference (without Googling the answer). So, I’ll leave you find the last one.

The Review Part

This application was very entertaining and well-narrated. It was a very simple and easy-to-use application. The pictures were of excellent quality – clear, crisp and vibrant – and the application is a worthy contender of any child’s time. Much like the previous application, The Smurf’s successfully teaches children new words and expands their vocabulary in an easy and intuitive way. The game was a welcome addition to the storybook, taking it the interactivity level just that bit-further. Needless to say, younger children who liked the Smurf Movie (or the Smurfs in general) will be entertained for a very long time and learn a few new words along the way. The Smurf’s were also voiced superbly and are a credit to iStoryTimes attention to detail.

I have two problems with this app: no language (or accent) specification, like the first one.The second is that addition of picture would have been nice to assist with the parts of the storyline where lots of pandemonium or action occurred.

Conclusions

These applications are simple, easy-to-use and fun. They bridge the gap between the centuries-old tradition of retelling stories with modern technology and allow the user to learn new words. iStoryTime have a wonderful collection of apps, of which these two interested me the most, that can positively entertain and contribute to any persons day.

MacBook users will be pleased to know that any WiFi dropouts experienced after upgrading to Lion seem to have been resolved as well as freezes when playing videos in Safari.

Full details after the break.

Download Size: 17.4MB (non MB-Air and Mini users)
68.86MB (MB Air and Mini users)

Complete description of update:

The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:

• Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
• Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
• Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
• Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion
• Resolve an issue where MacBook Air may boot up when MagSafe Adapter is attached
• Resolve an issue causing intermittent display flickering on MacBook Air
• Resolve an issue that causes the SD card slot in Mac mini to run at reduced speed with SD and SDHC media

And here we are for another week. And Stewart is back after a few weeks of being away. In this episode we talk about the Nokia N9 not being released in the United States, Apple’s September media event and the death of Symbian.

This episode is only 40 minutes long as we all had other things to do and James discovered new Team Fortress sounds, so enjoy! Don’t forget to subscribe though.

Music: Caffeine by VCMG

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SHOW NOTES (PDF)

And although it’s a very celebratory episode – it’s no time to celebrate when LulzSec is on the prowl. But if you’re looking for a party, this episode was recorded earlier – so we hopefully sound a bit more sober than before.

This episode sees the return of Gabriel Huynh and sees the debut of both Adrian Cajili and Ashton Bernard on the podcast – and hopefully will be joining on the roundtable sometime later in the year.

Don’t forget to subscribe and download!

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Download the 50th Episode Montage

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Show Notes

The Weekly Overview

Suspected LulzSec member arrested in UK as census data stolen

Supposed LulzSec IRC chat logs released

Nokia announces the N9 smartphone – finally gets into the game

Nokia WP7 phone leaked out – codename “Sea Ray”

Mozilla Firefox 5 released

Microsoft celebrates the new version of….Firefox?

Telstra launches the world’s fastest 3G Wi-Fi hotspot

ICANN approves new changes to domain names

In The Loop

Final Cut Pro X: Apple’s biggest mistake in years?

Apple unveils new Time Capsules

Apple iPhone 5 to be major update after all; announcement and availability in August?

Source: Apple to Enter TV Display Business Late This Year

iOS 5: What’s new in Beta 2

Tom’s Stockings (1)

$99 USD Android Tablet – Arnova 7

Twitter plans bolder advertisements

Telstra introduces the World’s largest footprint of HD Voice

Pwnage Playtime

Lawsuit: Sony laid off security staff before data breach

PopCap Games snares a mystery buyer?

More Duke Nukem coming

Dead or Alive: Dimensions re-rated M Down Under

Team Fortress 2 Going Free-To-Play

The Other Stories

IT’S DONE: Telstra inks $11bn NBN dealt

NBN: Optus migrates HFC users for $800m

Voluntary ISP filter attracts global attention

FTC launching antitrust probe over Google search, ad businesses

Bitcoin: Virtual money gets hacked and heisted

Secret money: ABC virtual currency racket probe

Skype Fires Executives, Avoiding Payouts After Microsoft Buyout

Microsoft gets antitrust approval to buy Skype

Revenge of the Ugly: ‘Beautiful People’ Dating Site Hacked

Yahoo approaches Hulu about possible acquisition [Updated]

Winklevoss twins press Facebook case in Boston federal court after dropping Supreme Court appeal

Tom’s Stockings (2)

JK Rowling launches Pottermore website

Netregistry buys Distribute.IT

Skype confirms native iPad app coming with video chat

We also wish Terence a very very Happy Birthday. However, due to the Happy Birthday song being copyrighted we make different variations of the song. Remember, next week is our 50th episode. So be sure to subscribe via iTunes or RSS so you can get it the minute it’s released.

By the way, for your listening pleasure, this podcast is exactly 1:00:00 long.

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Show Notes

Available as a PDF: Click Here

Sony has blamed Anonymous for hacking their servers. They disagree. (Image: Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons)

Sony’s hacking woes continue with blames to Anonymous, delays in restoring service, Linux returning and reports of a third hack being planned. As well, we discuss if the (accidental) live tweeting of the death of the most wanted terrorist is the “CNN Moment” for Twitter, and a new Wikileaks competitor from News Corp?

Stewart and Tom aren’t here to record, forcing Terence to return to the hosting chair again one week extra, with James (who’s there for the entire podcast) and Chris to help him with the show. While the sound may change, the show still continues on – especially with the winners of our little giveaway.

You’ll have to listen to find out those, however. Don’t forget to subscribe!

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This Podcast is sponsored by AlfaHosts, giving you the freedom to expand. As well, it is also sponsored by Podreel, a great Enhanced Podcast authoring tool. Get a free trial today here.

Show Notes

The Top Stories

Sony attacked again: Online Games division attacked, could be serious

Sony delays restoration of PSN services for “further testing”

Sony says planted file in attack was named ‘Anonymous’

Anonymous denies involvement in PSN outage

Exclusive: Third attack against Sony planned

PSN ‘Welcome Back’ Program Gives You Free Content

OtherOS++ brings Linux back to the PS3, taunts Sony

First Credible Reports Of Bin Laden’s Death Spread Like Wildfire On Twitter

Here’s the guy who unwittingly live-tweeted the raid on Bin Laden

BlackBerry Bold 9900 / 9930 gets official, finally touch and type

BlackBerry PlayBook to get Video Chat and Facebook apps in May

RIM unveils shiny new BlackBerry 7 OS, only for shiny new BlackBerrys

Pwnage Playtime

Congrats on our winners for our giveaway!

1UP.com Joins Forces With IGN Entertainment

Don’t Expect Super Meat Boy 2

L.A. Noire to ship on 3 discs for Xbox 360

Upcoming Minecraft Update Adds Maps

Portal 2 DLC Coming This Summer

In Other News

The Wall Street Journal Launches a WikiLeaks Competitor, SafeHouse

WSJ’s SafeHouse WikiLeaks knockoff isn’t safe, say researchers

LastPass potentially hacked, master passwords possibly compromised

PC rental store accused of using webcams, keyloggers on customers

IDC says smartphones grew 79.7%, Apple takes #2 spot behind Nokia

AT&T Rep: Apple Has Told Us No New iPhone in June or July

Rumor: Apple plans to move laptops from Intel to ARM processors

Twitter To Buy TweetDeck For $40 Million – $50 Million

3DS Augmented Reality Tattoo: Forever on His Forearm

$25 USB sized computer

The new software will include:

• Rewritten from ground-up: 64bit and Grand Central Dispatch. This means up to 8 cores can be utilised.
• Full ColorSync usage and background rendering
• Able to edit up to 4K media files
• Automatic ‘clean-up’ and image stabilisation
• Non-destructive colour balance
• People detection and shot detection (such as mid, long or close up shots for example)
  
• Editing during import
• Scalable rendering
• ‘Resolution independent’ playback system
  
• Range-based keywording
• Smart collections (categorises media by type)
• Clip connections
• Magnetic timeline
  
• Compound Clips (allows multiple clips to be as one clip)
• Non-destructive auditioning feature (compare edits and effects)

Apple stated that it has also empowered the power user by adding many keyboard shortcuts and commands to make editing a lot easier for those who are more inclined to keyboard-based editing.

We also find why Armenia had its internet cut because of an old lady, and Minecraft has a release date!

James is back for another episode, while Stewart makes his long awaited return. So don’t forget to subscribe and download!

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Shownotes

Top Stories

Dell Australia affected by global data breach, customer details stolen

Hacking of data firm Epsilon exposes customers of 50 firms

Epsilon breach used four-month-old attack

“Anonymous” attacks Sony to protest PS3 hacker lawsuit

PlayStation websites, PSN suffer outage: Anonymous claims responsibility, Sony claims ‘sporadic maintenance’

Anonymous Splinter Group Targeting Sony Employees

Telstra to get Motorola Atrix, Xperia Play and Xoom Tablet?

Coming to Telstra starting mid-April: Samsung Galaxy Ace, Motorola XOOM, Motorola Atrix, Sony Ericsson Xperia Play & more

Pwnage Playtime

NGP launch unaffected by quake after all

Next Burnout Game leaked by Australian Classification Board

Minecraft Has An Official Release Date

Stewart’s Briefs (1)

Spot the fail!

Twitter tries turning #newtwitter off and back on again

Intel Unveils 10-Core Xeon Processors

In Other News

Motorola Xoom A Flop, Just 100,000 Sold So Far

Motorola Xoom (and Atrix) Not Zooming Off Shelves

Windows 8 to integrate Ribbon, Metro UI?

Google bids $900 million for Nortel patent portfolio, will use it as shield against patent trolls

SB Nation Wins Tech Publishing Fantasy Draft; Signs Engadget Team

IT’S OFFICIAL: AOL Fires Freelancers*

Pensioner in Georgia cuts Armenia off from internet

Vatican magazine says hackers do God’s work

The sizzling smell of bacon… now a perfume?

In The Loop

White iPhone Removed from Apple Inventory Database

Sony CEO tips Apple built-in camera plans, iPhone 5 delay possible?

Untethered iOS 4.3.1 jailbreak is out, supports all devices except iPad 2 and Verizon iPhone

Stewart’s Briefs (2)

HTC Desire solves dodecahedron Rubik’s Cube, will blow your mind

Software firm wants naked web coders

Google’s Gmail Motion Prank Turned Into Reality

Release notes include:

This update contains improvements and other bug fixes including:

- Fixes an occasional graphics glitch on iPod touch (4th generation)
- Resolves bugs related to activating and connecting to some cellular networks
- Fixes image flicker when using Apple Digital AV Adapter with some TVs
- Resolves an issue authenticating with some enterprise web services

You will need to reload Flickr to get the latest pictures as the iFrame will not reload itself. Simply click the button below every few minutes.

Mac OS X 10.6.7

Improve the reliability of Back to My Mac.
Resolve an issue when transferring files to certain SMB servers.
Address various minor Mac App Store issues.

AppleTV 4.2.1 (2nd Generation)

Displays: Addressed issues that may cause screens to flicker or display incorrect color on older TVs.
Wake from sleep: Addressed an issue where Apple TV may not wake up from sleep.
Audio: Addressed an issue where audio may not be heard on some TV models after switching from another input.
Stability and performance fixes for Apple TV.

And for those of you that have not already updated, you can download iTunes 10.2.1 as well.

Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.
Improved Home Sharing. Browse and play from your iTunes libraries with Home Sharing on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.
Resolves an issue whereby syncing photos to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod may take longer than expected.

A shorten edition today as Audition managed to crap out and lose the entire recording (luckily we only just started), and as well James Wilson decides to pop out.

Don’t forget to listen and subscribe!

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Shownotes

The Top Stories

This is the iPad 2: March 25
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/03/03/ipad2/

iOS 4.3 officially revealed
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/03/03/ios-4-3-officially-revealed/

iMovie, GarageBand for iPad announced — $4.99 on March 11th
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/imovie-for-ipad-announced/

iPad 2 gets a Smart Cover
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/ipad-2-gets-a-smart-cover/

Report: Microsoft plans to demo Windows 8 tablets by June
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20037734-75.html

Microsoft Said to Plan Windows Release for Tablets in 2012
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-04/microsoft-said-to-plan-windows-release-for-tablets-in-2012.html

GFail: Google ‘Very Sorry’ After the Cloud Eats Thousands of Gmail Accounts
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/02/gmail-fail/

3DS launches in Japan: handheld sells out, already hacked
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/02/3ds-launches-in-japan-handheld-sells-out-already-hacked.ars

Failure to Launch – Nintendo 3DS Dream Dead on Arrival?
http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/84453/failure-to-launch-nintendo-3ds-dream-dead-on-arrival/

Pwnage Playtime

Mortal Kombat may be modified for Australia + Challenge Tower
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/03/03/mortal-kombat-may-be-modified-for-australia/

LG wins injunction against Sony: PS3 shipments to Europe seized
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/03/01/lg-wins-injunction-against-sony-ps3-shipments-to-europe-seized/

Aussie R18+ decision deferred again
http://au.gamespot.com/news/6299920.html

Stewart’s Briefs (1)

Upgrading from Windows 1 to 7 – with everything in between
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/03/03/upgrading-from-windows-1-to-7-with-everything-in-between/

TI-Nspire graphing calcs get full color displays, 3D, WiFi, and new OS
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/28/ti-nspire-graphing-calcs-get-full-color-displays-3d-wifi-and/

Charlie Sheen’s new Twitter account gaining about 2,000 followers per minute
http://www.tech-ex.net/2011/03/charlie-sheens-new-twitter-account.html

In Other News

Microsoft pushes users to (finally) stop using IE6
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/03/05/microsoft-pushes-users-to-finally-stop-using-ie6/
http://www.ie6countdown.com/

Apple fights for ‘App Store’ name, calls Microsoft clueless as usual
http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2011/03/apple-fights-for-app-store-trademark.html

Vodafone’s UK network taken down by a break-in (update: some services restored)
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/28/vodafones-uk-network-taken-down-by-a-break-in-at-its-basingstok/

WordPress.com Suffers Largest DDoS Attack In Its History
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/03/wordpress-com-suffers-major-ddos-attack/

WordPress hit with second big attack in two days
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20039385-245.html

Apple Said to Negotiate Unlimited Downloads of iTunes Music Purchases
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-04/apple-said-to-negotiate-unlimited-downloads-of-music-purchases.html

AMD compares upcoming Llano Fusion APU with Intel Core i7, puts the heat on Sandy Bridge (video)
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/01/amd-compares-upcoming-llano-fusion-apu-with-intel-core-i7-kil/

Encourage Your Crush To Break Up With Creepy Facebook App
http://mashable.com/2011/02/25/waitingroom/

In the Loop

Steve Jobs knighthood blocked by UK Government
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/03/01/steve-jobs-knighthood-blocked-by-uk-government/

Apple: you must be at least 17 years old to use Opera
http://www.techspot.com/news/42668-apple-you-must-be-at-least-17-years-old-to-use-opera.html

Apple testing Android-like gesture-based lock screen for iOS
http://www.9to5mac.com/54135/apple-testing-android-like-gesture-based-lock-screen-for-ios/

Mac OS X backdoor Trojan, now in beta?
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/02/26/mac-os-x-backdoor-trojan-now-in-beta/

Stewart’s Briefs (2)

Google goes off-road for latest Street View images
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9212278/Google_goes_off_road_for_latest_Street_View_images

WikiLeaks, Net nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20037751-281.html

Facebook Linked To One In Five Divorces In US
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/03/01/1617226/Facebook-Linked-To-One-In-Five-Divorces-In-US

Star Wars’ 3D coming to theaters in early 2012
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20039230-17.html

The little Wii gets a bit more intimate with a brand new game, Mortal Kombat banned in Australia and the MacBook Pro gets a little hardware revamp – and we make a big deal about it and the new Thunderbolt. Wait, what? That’s all this week on the TECHGEEK Weekly podcast with the return of James Wilson plus one guest – Matt Rossi.

Who? Matt Rossi, a friend of one of the hosts, was a podcaster. And now finds out the “organised disaster” of the podcast first hand. And Matt, we’re sorry.

And plagued with technical difficulties and obviously a sick Terence and Stewart (both are down with a cold), get ready for a mind-boggling edition of TECHGEEK Weekly.

Don’t forget to subscribe and listen!

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Show Notes

The Top Stories

Apple refreshes the MacBook Pro
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/25/apple-refreshes-the-macbook-pro/

Thunderbolt smokes USB, FireWire with 10Gbps throughput
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/02/thunderbolt-smokes-usb-firewire-with-10gbps-throughput.ars

Apple releases dev preview of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with AirDrop, FileVault
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/02/24/apple_releases_preview_of_mac_os_x_10_7_lion_with_airdrop_filevault.html

Apple brings multi-touch, full-disk crypto to latest OS X
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/24/mac_os_x_lion_release/

iiNet wins appeal against priacy lawsuit
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/24/iinet-wins-appeal-against-priacy-lawsuit

Australia confirms ISPs are not copyright cops
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/australia-confirms-isps-are-not-copyright-cops.ars

Mortal Kombat 9 Banned in Australia? &#%@!
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/26/mortal-kombat-9-banned-in-australia/

Mortal Kombat banned in Australia
http://au.gamespot.com/news/6300910.html

In The Loop

FaceTime for Mac exits beta, will cost you $1.19
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/25/facetime-for-mac-exits-beta-will-cost-you-1-19/

Apple iPad 2 event invites go out
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/24/apple-ipad-2-event-invites-go-out/

Apple reportedly lowers iPad 2 production forecasts following supply shortages
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/02/23/apple-reportedly-lowers-ipad-2-production-forecasts-following-supply-shortages/

Apple Discontinuing MobileMe Retail Boxes, Preparing for Free Overhauled Version? [Updated]
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/02/24/apple-discontinuing-mobileme-retail-boxes-preparing-for-free-overhauled-version/

Stewart’s Briefs (1)

And this is our baby daughter … Facebook
http://www.news.com.au/technology/and-this-is-our-baby-daughter-facebook/story-e6frfro0-1226009859688

British court orders WikiLeaks’ Assange extradited to Sweden
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/british-court-orders-wikileaks-assange-extradited-to-sweden.ars

Google Runs Into New Privacy Objections In Europe Over Street View
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-swiss-court-set-to-rule-on-privacy-objections-to-google-street-view/

The Other Stories

Telco complaints reach ‘record high’ on the back of Vodafone woes
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/telco-complaints-reach-record-high-on-the-back-of-vodafone-woes-20110225-1b7je.html

Telstra hangs up on call centres
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/computers/blogs/gadgets-on-the-go/telstra-hangs-up-on-call-centres/20110221-1b1to.html

Microsoft temporarily disables Windows Phone 7 update for Samsung devices
http://www.winrumors.com/microsoft-temporarily-disables-windows-phone-7-update-for-samsung-devices/

Everything that can go wrong with Windows Phone 7 update does
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2011/02/everything-that-can-go-wrong-with-windows-phone-7-update-does.ars

Crush-Stalking App Breakup Notifier Amasses Over 3.6M Users, Is Shut Down By Facebook
http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/23/breakup-notifier/

Wikileaks opens online store in attempt to raise funds
http://thenextweb.com/2011/02/24/wikileaks-opens-online-store-in-attempt-to-raise-funds/

Google is thinking about killing the URL bar
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/02/google-is-think.php

Your Neighbors Are About To Invite You To Wii Sex Parties
http://kotaku.com/#!5769528/your-neighbors-are-about-to-invite-you-to-wii-sex-parties

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxd96qRa6wY

Pwnage Playtime

Minecraft officially coming to iOS devices in 2011
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/22/minecraft-officially-coming-to-ios-devices-in-2011/

Fable III PC date and more
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/25/fable-iii-pc-date-and-more/

Microsoft to release Kinect for Windows SDK
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/22/microsoft-to-release-kinect-for-windows-sdk/

Stewart’s Briefs (2)

IE9′s ‘Do Not Track’ features could become Web standards
http://www.betanews.com/article/IE9s-Do-Not-Track-features-could-become-Web-standards/1298569808

Anonymous targets Westboro Baptist Church, Church says “Bring It”
http://techgeek.com.au/2011/02/21/anonymous-targets-westboro-baptist-church-church-says-bring-it/

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office available to all
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/02/google-cloud-connect-for-microsoft.html

Facebook seeking encryption for apps, mobile
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20036172-245.html

In other news, Twitter for Mac (formely Tweetie) is believed to make Version 2.0 available exclusively via the Mac App Store, according to Razorianfly. The major key points in this update are a “redesigned UI, real-time update, native RT and drag ‘n’ drop tweets”.

The malware can infect such devices if the user has enabled the ‘Use Unknown Sources’ setting, as it proliferates by ‘grafting’ onto legitimate apps and modifies the code with the malware then posting itself on a 3rd-party Chinese Marketplace.

Lookout reports no apps on the Official Marketplace have been detected with the malware binaries installed but have advised users to remain weary and vigilant when confirming the installation [and uninstallation] of software on their Android device.

Source: Security Alert: Geinimi, Sophisticated New Android Trojan Found in Wild

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later and it finally has occurred – call it a last-minute Christmas present from Skype. If you hop on over to iTunes or the App Store, there you will see that Skype has been updated to version 3.0 – a very large milestone, and has some important updates.

The major new feature for this update is the ability to have Skype Video Calls, allowing for one or two-way conversations over Wifi and 3G. This is a big step as Apple have allowed another app to use 3G technology for video conferences, similar to other apps already available but unlike their own FaceTime technology.

Release Notes:

- Make Skype to Skype video calls on WiFi and 3G*
- Call Skype desktop users (Mac OS X or Windows) and other iPhone users.
- Two-way video calls supported on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4th gen.
- Receive only video supported on iPad and iPod touch 3rd gen, with no camera.
- Make video calls in portrait and landscape.
- Skype video calling requires iOS 4.0 or above.

Device Requirements:
- iOS 4.0
- Two-way calls need iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4th gen.

The 39-year-old elusive whistleblower was arrested at 9:30am London time, in relation to an European Arrest warrant issued by Sweden in relation to a sexual assault charge.

Assange has denied the claims.

Wikileaks is currently leaking the 250,000+ US diplomatic cables over the coming months to its various 500 (give or take) mirror sites after US companies have refused to deal with them, with banking information apparently being prepared for release sometime after the government cables. The current release-count stands at 913.

The fallout, however, has been enormous, mainly in the United States. US and Canadian pundits have called for his execution or assassination, while freedom-of-speech advocates are calling it a failure of the voice of democracy. There is also been calls for prosecution for Assange’s decision to leak the information by the United States, despite the fact Assange is an Australian citizen.

Terence Huynh contributed to this report.

Go to http://www.apple.com/ios/ to find out how to create the free Find My iPhone MobileMe account.

Unlike other events, Apple has posted times for California, New York, London and Tokyo and will not be having a media event – which is unusual in their approach to big releases or announcements. The time to watch is 1AM AEDT (12AM AEST) for the special announcement.

If you’re looking for the Australian 27″ Display link, here it is: 27″ LED Cinema Display. It is priced at $1,299 AUD (as expected) and ships within 3-4 weeks.

RUMOUR MILL:

The site also says that the entire iLife range will become native 64-bit (possibly iTunes as well).

While this may be as a shock to some, it is expected as Apple moves forward in blurring the line between pro and family-able applications. 64-bit would mean your iMovies and alike will become a lot faster by utilising Grand Central Dispatch as well as 64-bit only speed and stability.

Mac4Ever also makes the bold prediction that Apple is preparing a new application for Windows that will allow for FaceTime on a Windows PC and adding support for FaceTime in iChat. While adding support in iChat is expected, it will be interesting to see how Apple play the PC-card in this field of social networking.

And for those of you who have forgotten, FaceTime is an open-source technology, headed by Apple, that will be “on tens of millions of devices” by the end of the year, according to Mr. Jobs.

Oh, and one more thing… check back soon for Stewart’s iPad review too. Let me just say on the matter of iPad, it’s definitely worth the money.

Source: AppleInsider Article