Daily Bits

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Apple City to Be Designed by Norman Foster?

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News came out recently that Apple had bought HP’s old campus in Cupertino. For exactly what reason, we common people can only make informed guesses. It does seem logical, though, that this property will eventually be transformed into a new campus for Apple. While that in itself is not something one should spend more than one second of thought on, the rumors details surrounding the “mystery” campus just might pique your curiosity.

Architecture enthusiasts will certainly recognize British architect and designer Norman Foster. He is arguably the most known builder of landmark office buildings in Britain, and his company has worked on countless high profile projects all over the world. From the IBM pilot head office in the UK to the Carre d’Art Nimes in France to the Hearst Tower in New York to the Expo MRT Station in Singapore – this is only a handful of what this man has achieved.

In the next year, he just might have another groundbreaking project to take on: the building of Apple City (yes, that is the rumored name of the new campus). While nothing has been confirmed yet, rumor has it that Apple City (I don’t know about you, but there is something that doesn’t sound quite right here) will be based on the concept and design of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. This city holds the distinction of being the first city without cars and carbon emissions, and this is what Apple City is going to be, if the rumors come true.

I didn’t know about Masdar City before I read about this piece of news, but it does look awesome, doesn’t it? And, I am sure that if Steve Jobs gives Norman Foster the go signal (now that is another story altogether), Apple City just might be THE place to be/see.

Expert Gives Facebook Only 5 More Years

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Facebook is on a roll, isn’t it? In the past month or so, we have been hearing about all sorts of new features from THE social network platform. Some of the more recent ones include the Friendship Pages and Groups. And, just the other day, we heard about their “Gmail Killer.” So one would think that Facebook is here to stay – at least for a very very long time, right?

Not according to Dr. Jeffrey Cole, a digital consumer expert. If you’re doubting his prediction, bear in mind that this is the guy who said that MySpace would suffer the same fate (decline) four years ago. While MySpace is still around – I just logged in earlier to listen to some indie music – no one can deny that it is but a shadow of what it used to be. Oh, and check out Dr. Cole’s other credentials: Director of the Centre for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California and a director of the World Internet Project.

So Dr. Cole said that in five years, Facebook is going to be what MySpace is today. However, he states one major difference: there will not be a single social networking platform anymore. Instead, we are going to have many smaller communities.

His predictions are not limited to social networking platforms. He also mentioned that the iPad will be the last man standing in the realm of tablets – mainly thanks to the Apple brand – and that it will change the face of traditional print.

If his track record is anything to go by, we might just see his words becoming reality sooner than we think. Let me ask you though, do you think Facebook will be “gone” in 5 years?

Want the White iPhone? Don’t Hold Your Breath

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It used to be that the Apple brand was associated with the color white (even though an apple is not white – don’t ask me why), but with the iPhone, black became the norm rather than the exception. Most iPhones you’ll see around town are black, although there are white ones. With the recent release of the iPhone 4, fanboys (and girls) have been awaiting the white version. If you’re one of them – there is bad news: the release of the white iPhone 4 has been delayed yet again.

Upon the release of the iPhone 4 several months ago, Apple announced that the white version would follow a month or so later. Afterward, they said that it would be released at the end of this year. Now, another announcement has been made – it will not be released till spring of next year.

If your blood pressure is going up, do understand that Apple is not out to get your goat. (It’s not all about you!) Trudy Muller, the spokeswoman for Apple, says they are “sorry to disappoint” those who have been waiting for the white iPhone. (I am not counting on that to make you feel better, though.) As for the reason for all these delays, nothing conclusive has been said, except for the fact that they are finding it “more challenging to manufacture” the white iPhone – more than they expected.

How is the white iPhone 4 different from the black one aside from the color? Darned if I know. (This is coming from someone who has been called color blind on more than one occasion; although how can anyone ever confuse black and white?) In any case, nothing can be done about it but to wait. Sucks to be you, if you’re one of them.

iPad Users: Are You Spreading the Flu Virus?

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Touch-screen technology is something to marvel at, and indeed, judging by the more than warm welcome given by consumers to the iPad and other touch-screen devices.  What you may not be aware of, however, is that the iPad – and other similar gadgets – may be one of the worst things you can handle during flu season.

You don’t need half a brain to see the connection – touch-screen equal fingers (which are likely rife with germs).  Add to that the idea that people let other individuals use their touch-screen devices, and it is very easy to see how all sorts of bacteria and viruses can be spread.  It’s much like touching a door handle at a public place.

The Journal of Applied Microbiology recently released the findings of a study which took a look at glass surfaces – such as the screen of the iPad – and how they transmit pathogens to the human skin (read: your fingers).  Unsurprisingly, the risks are quite high.  What I found a bit surprising is the fact that the risk of transmitting pathogens, including the flu virus, is much higher in touch-screen devices than other everyday things we touch (this includes elevator buttons and the toilet handle in the men’s room!).

With the flu virus spreading around like crazy, it’s but sensible to make sure that your iPad, iPhone, and whatever other touch-screen device you have is sterilized, don’t you think? Here’s one way by which you can do this.

If anything, your friends and family members will thank you for making sure your device is clean. Personally, if I owned an iPad, I just would sterilize it every time someone else touched it. Better yet, I’d avoid having someone else touch it!

Apple Goes After “Sexting”

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I think I first heard of the term “sexting” from the kids at Glee (yeah, cat’s out of the bag, I used to watch the show).  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what sexting means (sexually explicit text messaging, in case you aren’t sure), and the guys at Apple are going out of their way to make sure that users who shouldn’t be sexting will not be able to do so – in the future.  (Something to think about: who is to determine who shouldn’t be engaging in a certain activity?)

The news is that Apple has just been granted a patent that can block sexually explicit messages – both at the sending and receiving stages.  The patent was originally filed back in 2008 but was only granted now.  This move is not really surprising as Apple has always taken a stand against sexually explicit material.  Remember that the Apple Store already has a ban on sexually explicit applications.  Steve Jobs himself has spoken out about this stand, and says that it is unlikely to change in the future:

You know, there’s a porn store for Android. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go — so we’re not going to go there.

Here’s an abstract of the patent:

Systems, devices, and methods are provided for enabling a user to control the content of text-based messages sent to or received from an administered device. In some embodiments, a message will be blocked (incoming or outgoing) if the message includes forbidden content. In other embodiments, the objectionable content is removed from the message prior to transmission or as part of the receiving process. The content of such a message is controlled by filtering the message based on defined criteria. The criteria may be defined according to a parental control application. These techniques also may be used, in accordance with instructional embodiments, to require the administered devices to include certain text in messages. These embodiments might, for example, require that a certain number of Spanish words per day be included in e-mails for a child learning Spanish.

I find the clause about other applications particularly interesting, don’t you?  If ever this technology finds its way to the market, there will certainly be a lot of takers, I think.

Turn Your iPod Touch into a Phone with Line2

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An iPod Touch is an iPhone without the phone. Yeah, I know – that explanation is crystal clear, isn’t it? But, you have to admit that it is what the iPod Touch is! It can do practically what the iPhone can do, except for the “real” phone line part. The best thing about the Touch is that it burns a much smaller hole in your pocket than its mobile phone counterpart!

For people who justify their iPhone purchase with the line “I need a real phone,” they might just have reason to regret burning so much cash on it. (I highly doubt that this will stop hardcore Apple fans, though.) So anyway, there’s this new app for iPod Touch which will turn the mp3 player into a full blown mobile phone.

For as little as $1, you can get the application called Line 2 and pretend that your iPod Touch is an iPhone use your iPod Touch as an iPhone. The app is developed by Toktumi and is actually an iPhone app but of course will work on the iPod Touch. Line2 is practically a duplicate of the calling interface of the iPhone, making the whole experience more realistic.

The original idea behind it is to provide a second line (hence the name, duh) for the iPhone, making some serious savings for the user. It works both via 3G and Wi-Fi – you can see the huge potential for this. As you are probably thinking now, Apple is not going to be very happy with Toktumi anytime soon. I bet users will be ecstatic though.