Some of the First Apple Computer Photos Ever::

 

 Paul Terrell opened the Byte Shop in Mountain View, California in December of 1975. It was one of the first computer stores in the world, and did a lot to help popularize a business which just barely existed at the time. And it earned an even more legendary spot in tech history in 1976, when a couple of local proto-computer geeks tried to convince Terrell to sell the rudimentary PC they'd cobbled together.

Those geeks were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They called their machine the Apple-1, and it was a do-it-yourself kit; any buyers would have to solder the necessary chips onto the circuit board themselves, then supply accoutrements such as a power supply, keyboard and display.

Terrell was intrigued, but told Jobs that what he really needed were fully-assembled computers. In fact, if Jobs could come back with an assembled version of the Apple-1, the Byte Shop would buy fifty of them. Jobs did, and the Byte Shop became the first Apple dealer (it eventually offered the Apple-1 in a wooden case with keyboard and power supply).

Terrell's deal helped turn Apple from a project into a company. Just as important, it steered Jobs and Woz in the direction of making gadgets which were unusually approachable. Apple kept that concept going with 1977's Apple II. It's still at it today.

I've written about Terrell before; here's an old post which is mostly him telling the Apple-1 story in greater detail. But he knocked my socks off recently when he used Facebook to share some photos of the first Apple-1 from his fifty-machine order, which he took in 1976, when there were very, very few Apple products in existence. They're Polaroids — which seems like the right sort of photos for them to be, somehow — and if you know of any earlier Apple photos which survive, I'm impressed. Here they are, with Paul Terrell's kind permission.

This is the naked-but-assembled Apple-1 with an uncased keyboard (the aesthetic kind of reminds me of the original iMac, with its see-through case):

Paul Terrell opened the Byte Shop in Mountain View, California in December of 1975. It was one of the first computer stores in the world, and did a lot to help popularize a business which just barely existed at the time. And it earned an even more legendary spot in tech history in 1976, when a couple of local proto-computer geeks tried to convince Terrell to sell the rudimentary PC they'd cobbled together.
Those geeks were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They called their machine the Apple-1, and it was a do-it-yourself kit; any buyers would have to solder the necessary chips onto the circuit board themselves, then supply accoutrements such as a power supply, keyboard and display.
Terrell was intrigued, but told Jobs that what he really needed were fully-assembled computers. In fact, if Jobs could come back with an assembled version of the Apple-1, the Byte Shop would buy fifty of them. Jobs did, and the Byte Shop became the first Apple dealer (it eventually offered the Apple-1 in a wooden case with keyboard and power supply).
Terrell's deal helped turn Apple from a project into a company. Just as important, it steered Jobs and Woz in the direction of making gadgets which were unusually approachable. Apple kept that concept going with 1977's Apple II. It's still at it today.
I've written about Terrell before; here's an old post which is mostly him telling the Apple-1 story in greater detail. But he knocked my socks off recently when he used Facebook to share some photos of the first Apple-1 from his fifty-machine order, which he took in 1976, when there were very, very few Apple products in existence. They're Polaroids — which seems like the right sort of photos for them to be, somehow — and if you know of any earlier Apple photos which survive, I'm impressed. Here they are, with Paul Terrell's kind permission.
This is the naked-but-assembled Apple-1 with an uncased keyboard (the aesthetic kind of reminds me of the original iMac, with its see-through case):


Read more: http://techland.time.com/2012/11/22/behold-some-of-the-first-apple-computer-photos-ever/#ixzz2DJyMund3

iPad mini Doesn’t Cannibalize Full-Size iPad Sales::

It’s better to take your money from one pocket and put it in another than it is to lose it completely. That would seem to be Apple’s motto, as the new iPad mini HAS to be cannibalizing sales of the full-size iPad right? Not as much as you’d think.

AllThingsD:

Prior to its launch, analysts and observers estimated the iPad mini’s cannibalization rate of iPad sales at between 10 percent and 20 percent, with some hazarding guesses of as high as 50 percent. And while those at the lower end of the spectrum might appear reasonable, consumer sentiment… …suggests they’re more than a bit high.

The survey, from Cowen And Co., shows that Apple’s “eating of their own” may turn out to be minor, if not downright miniscule.
Cown surveyed 1,225 adults in the United States, and 12% of respondents said they planned to purchase an iPad mini in the next 18 months. Of that group, 52% said they had never owned a tablet before. Going deeper, only 16.6% said they intended it as a replacement for another device, and of those, 29% said the device being replaced was an iPad. (13% intended to replace a Kindle Fire, and a whopping 42% intended to give the heave-ho to a Windows PC.)

“The iPad mini creates more demand than it cannibalizes,” Cowen analyst Matthew Hoffman explained. “Since 52 percent of the mini intenders in our sample did not own a tablet of any type, we see it successfully positioned as likely to penetrate new entry-tier segments. … Mini will no doubt take some iPad “4″ sales, but its low price also looks like an important tool to capture new consumers’ attention.”

These number show that few consumers are buying an iPad mini with the intention of using it as an iPad replacement. For many buyers, in fact, the mini wil be their first tablet. It looks like Apple isn’t drawing those who would have purchased a larger model iPad, but is indeed tapping into a fresh market of folks looking for a smaller version of the popular device.

 

Huge Skype Security Hole Allows Anyone to Hack Your Account With Only Your Email Address::

 A major security hole was discovered in Skype today, allowing accounts to easily be hijacked using the password recovery tool. The scariest part? Your email address is all that’s required to take full control over your account!

TheNextWeb has the details:

To exploit this flaw, all you need to know is your victim’s email address tied to their Skype account. To protect yourself, you would have to change your email address to one that nobody knows or could easily guess, but most likely Microsoft will get around to fixing the problem before that becomes necessary.
We reproduced the attack, step-by-step, and managed to access the Skype accounts of TNW writer (with permission) Josh Ong (as well as editor Matt Brian to verify again) with only their email addresses. Essentially, that email address is used to create a new account with your own email address tied to it. Then, minus a couple of key steps, you can use a password reset token to gain access to your target’s account.

Fortunately, Microsoft acted quickly be temporarily disabling password resets, and has now fixed the issue – but this should still be a wakeup call for users. Those who use Skype would be well advised to secure their accounts by changing their password.
Microsoft released an official statement clarifying that they have addressed the problem:

We have had reports of a new security vulnerability issue. As a precautionary step we have temporarily disabled password reset as we continue to investigate the issue further. We apologise for the inconvenience but user experience and safety is our first priority

Scary stuff!

Microsoft Reported to be Testing Its Own Smartphone Design::

A new report says that as well as building its own tablet to compete with the iPad, Microsoft may being preparing to design and sell its own smartphone.

AppleInsider:

Microsoft is said to be working with suppliers in Asia to test its own smartphone design, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. While the company is reportedly toying with the idea of building its own smartphone, officials aren’t sure whether the product will actually hit the market.

The device that Microsoft is reported to be testing has a screen between four and five inches, which is now considered by some to be required for smartphones in today’s market. The latest model of Apple’s iPhone, the iPhone 5, has a 4-inch display.

Sales of the Windows Phone platform have fared badly compared to Apple’s iPhone and Android handsets. Microsoft hopes the platform will get a boost this fall with the release of Windows Phone 8.

If Windows Phone 8 shows signs of struggling, the Redmond, WA software company could release it’s own hardware in hopes of spurring sales.

Japanese Hackers Steal 10 Million Pieces of Personal Info From Android Users::

Five mobile app developers have been arrested by Japanese police for creating and embedding a virus into smartphone applications. Initial reports said that around 90,000 smartphone users were infected with the virus from apps they had downloaded. However, later investigation found that the developers has stolen more than 10 million pieces of personal information from users.

The Hacker News, via The Loop:

These guys runs an IT-related company, they created a video applications for Android smartphones containing a virus that extracts personal information stored on the phone. The man released the apps on Google Inc.’s official store for free in late March and was downloaded 270,000 times.

The free apps were marketed by adding the phrase “The Movie” to existing popular game titles. After the apps were downloaded and activated, they then were able to automatically transmit personal data. The stolen information found on the hackers server had not been used by the developers of the malware, and police are investigating the motive of the crime.

Creating viruses for computers and smartphones was criminalized under a revised Penal Code that was enacted in July of last year. Under the law, violators face up to three years in prison or fines of up to 500,000 yen ($7,645).