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Steve Jobs probably losing weight thanks to digestive tract rewiring

Jackson West · 06/13/08 06:20PM

When Steve Jobs underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2004 (nine months after learning of the cancer and seeking "alternative treatments"), he received a "pylorus preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy," or mini-Whipple procedure, which removed the malignant tumor and gall bladder but preserved part of the pancreas which was then attached to his stomach and intestine. If you aren't already more than a little grossed out by the picture above from Johns Hopkins depicting the reconfiguration of organs, you can watch a video of the same procedure (on a different patient). Which goes a long way in explaining why he's lost weight.

Dan Lyons going to Newsweek makes encounter with Real Steve Jobs almost inevitable

Jackson West · 06/13/08 05:40PM

Newsweek, along with Time, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, is on the short list of publications that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will actually deign to meet and speak with. Dan Lyons, aka Fake Steve Jobs, is taking over as the lead tech reporter at Newsweek. That leads us to a tantalizing conclusion: It can't be long before Fake Steve Jobs and Real Steve Jobs meet in person. Like the attempt at discovering the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider, the unintended consequences could involve the earth folding in on itself. We wait with bated breath.

Mark Zuckerberg preps Steve Jobs impersonation for developers' conference

Nicholas Carlson · 06/13/08 02:40PM

Facebook will hold its second annual F8 developers' conference on Wednesday, July 23 in San Francisco. That means we'll watch Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg take another shot at his reported goal of impersonating Steve Jobs's keynote addresses. Funny thing is, Jobs isn't actually a very stylish public speaker. Check out the end of the 60-second versions of his last two keynotes below. His speeches are stuffed with frilly adjectives. Jobs only does so well because his keynotes are full of highly anticipated announcements. Zuckerberg doesn't — can't — do grand reveals.

Did Apple forget to clear Disney rights for music during WWDC keynote?

Jackson West · 06/12/08 06:40PM

When CEO Steve Jobs presented the list of countries where the iPhone will be available in the next few months near the close of Tuesday's keynote address at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, the presentation cued music of "It's a Small World After All" — a song long copyrighted by Disney, on which Jobs sits on the board. However, someone at Disney legal must have asked Apple to excise the music from the copy of the video that's archived online. With the original grabbed from Mahalo Daily's one minute version of the address, we've cut together the two versions for comparison. That saddest part? Now you can't hear the jolly chortle of Apple board member Al Gore!

Eric Schmidt admits he was kicked out of Apple boardroom over iPhone-Android rivalry

Owen Thomas · 06/12/08 03:20PM

Keep your friends close, and your enemies on your board of directors. That seems to be the rationale for Google CEO Eric Schmidt's continued presence in Apple's boardroom. Despite a promised rain of would-be iPhone killers powered by Google's Android operating system coming later this year, Schmidt said he's only had to excuse himself from board meetings "once or twice." (Photo by Steve Jurvetson)

The incredible shrinking Apple CEO

Nicholas Carlson · 06/10/08 08:00PM

Apple PR has finally come up with an unconvincing explanation for Apple CEO Steve Jobs's all-too-evident skinniness: Jobs was suffering from a "common bug" when he spoke at Apple's WWDC event, a spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal. Spin aside, there's no hiding the fact that Apple CEO Steve Jobs used to have more heft a decade ago. Some continue to worry about his brush with cancer, or an overly strict diet imposed by wife Laurene Powell-Jobs, or a case of manorexia. But it's not like Jobs slimmed down overnight. The ever-shrinking Jobs in pictures, from 1998 to 2008, below.

I'm leaving, Larry said there'd be girls here

Jackson West · 06/10/08 06:00PM

Google engineering VP Vic Gundotra, right, presumably sending reports back to the Android team from just before yesterday's announcement of the latest iPhone version by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Can you suggest a better caption? Do so in the comments. The best one will become the new headline. Yesterday's winner: "Tumblr? I just met her!" by fairoak. (Photo by Vasanth Sridharan)

iPhone 3G's true cost is $1,237

Owen Thomas · 06/10/08 04:00PM

Everywhere you look, a new iPhone price hike turns up. At $199, the phones themselves may be cheaper — but Apple and AT&T, the phone's exclusive carrier in the U.S., are charging users by other means. The iPhone data plan by itself is going up $10 to $30/mo. In a GigaOm interview, AT&T wireless chief Ralph de la Vega reveals that the 200 text messages previously included will cost iPhone users an extra $5/mo. ($20/mo. for unlimited messages, which seem practically obligatory.) And then there's Apple's MobileMe subscription, without which the iPhone's new synching features won't work, at $99 a year, or just over $8 a month. Add it up, and iPhone users will be paying about $43 a month, or $1,038 over the two-year course of the AT&T contract they signed up for — all to get an iPhone at $199.

Why does Firefox use Google for search? Follow the money

Owen Thomas · 06/10/08 12:00PM

A new version of Firefox, the popular alternative Web browser, is getting close to releasing a third version. That's prompting people to take a close look at the business practices of Mozilla Corp., the maker of Firefox. Danny Sullivan, the longtime search-engine observer, is calling on Mozilla to let Firefox users pick the search engine built into their browser; Firefox 3 defaults to Google in its new release, as it has in the past. Sullivan has a point: Google, which has called for openness, risks seeming hypocritical. But he gets the business side of things all wrong.

What's Wrong With This Logo?

Hamilton Nolan · 06/10/08 11:25AM

One of Apple's greatest strengths has always been the clean design and memorable branding of its products. Which makes this logo for its new MobileMe internet service all the more surprising. Why? Because it looks like a Windows knockoff, and it sucks, frankly. Rod Townsend, who wonders if this is "the worst logo in the history of Mac," has a few thoughts: It "Looks like a poor cousin of the Intel logo." It "Needs to cut down on the carbs." It "Looks like something Cindy McCain would hang in a child's nursery." Hey, we can play too! Apple's new MobileMe logo:

Good Luck Getting Your New iPhones, Losers!

Pareene · 06/09/08 05:39PM

Steve Jobs announced something today, about his fancy Apple phones that turn you into an incorrigible asshole. He has new ones, and they're cheaper, and faster. All good news, right? Too bad you won't be able to get one, if you have a job. Because only the people willing to give up their lives and camp out before the release will get the first batch! The Apple Stores will not be as quiet as they were when Choire and Neel stopped by today. Why? Because Steve Jobs hates you (and because it's HOT).

AT&T, Apple scrap iPhone revenue-sharing deal

Owen Thomas · 06/09/08 05:00PM

Apple is known for innovating in gadgetry. But in business models? AT&T has announced that it and Apple have tossed aside last year's agreement to share revenues on the iPhone. Apple now gets paid upfront, with AT&T selling iPhones at a loss to attract subscribers. The 3G data plan, at $30 a month, is $10 more than the previouse rate — and because AT&T's not sharing that revenue with Apple, AT&T will be making $18 more a month from subscribers, according to estimates of Apple's previous take. AT&T described the deal as "consistent with traditional equipment manufacturer-carrier arrangements." So much for remaking the telecom world. Steve Jobs may have wowed the crowd at the Worldwide Developers Conference with the iPhone's new features. But as far as AT&T is concerned, Apple's nothing special.

Prepare To Never Again Have A Private Moment At A Bar

Nick Douglas · 06/09/08 02:56PM

The new iPhone will let you broadcast your location to people through a program called Loopt. And because this phone is now just 200 bucks, it'll finally become an industry standard instead of a fringe geek toy. So get ready for the biggest annoying shift in your social life since Facebook, because Loopt is about to do for the world what a little site called Dodgeball did for the Gawker crowd in 2004.

3G iPhones will choke wireless networks, as any EVDO user will tell you

Jackson West · 06/09/08 02:40PM

One of the reasons that 3G data networks are so fast, especially here in the United States, is that relatively few people use them. However, go to a technology conference where the density of EVDO users reaches a critical mass and suddenly those zippy downloads begin to slow. A room full of iPhone owners frustrated by slowdowns over AT&T's network isn't the customer experience I think Steve Jobs was imagining. [GigaOm]

Apple replaces .Mac with MobileMe

Owen Thomas · 06/09/08 02:20PM


At Steve Jobs's WWDC Keynote, Gizmodo is reporting that Apple has replaced .Mac, its computer-centric set of Web services, with MobileMe, an online suite of email, photos, and file storage. It's designed to keep iPhones, PCs, and Macs in sync — hence the need for a new name. Other than that, little has changed: The service still costs $99 a year — some rumors had it going free — and Apple is still designing the Web software itself, without help from a partner like Google. (Google Maps is now built into Apple's address book, however.) (Photo by Gizmodo)

New iPhone out July 11

Owen Thomas · 06/09/08 02:00PM

Apple's new 3G iPhone, soon to be available in 70 countries, will cost $199 or $299, depending on the amount of memory, and be available in black and white on July 11. A feature not yet demonstrated: the ability to find Steve Jobs a meal. [Gizmodo]

Apple CEO Steve Jobs looks dangerously thin

Nicholas Carlson · 06/09/08 01:40PM

Doctors diagnosed Apple CEO Steve Jobs with pancreatic cancer in October 2003. Jobs hid the news from Apple shareholders until July 2004 — after he'd explored all other alternatives to surgery, and had to schedule time away from the office to go under the knife. People watching the imperiously slim presenter at the WWDC today are finding it hard to look at Job's frailer-than-ever frame and not wonder if he's still suffering. "Time to get that man a medical marijuana prescription," says our own Jackson West. Or a decent meal. Gossip has it that wife Laurene Powell-Jobs has put Jobs on a radical, restrictive vegan diet.

The Second Coming Of The Jesusphone

Nick Denton · 06/09/08 01:39PM

Here it is, the new iPhone. And, yes, in these photos Apple's smartphone looks much like its previous incarnation. But Steve Jobs' latest gizmo can browse the web at about three times the speed-and the much-awaited device comes in white, too! And that was enough to excite the Apple acolytes at the San Francisco geek conference where the second iPhone was unveiled. From the liveblog at Gizmodo: "Brian just said it smells like a San Francisco bus in here. I agree. It's a mixture of sweat, urine, desperation, more urine, just a little feces, saliva, Apple fever, bald dudes, a cupful more of urine, and urine."