Here’s the liveblog archive of Apple’s latest music-themed event, conveniently copied and pasted just seconds ago!
Continue reading ‘“It’s Only Rock & Roll, But We Like It” TGR liveblog archive’
“It’s Only Rock & Roll, But We Like It” TGR liveblog archive
Published September 10, 2009 Announcements Leave a CommentTags: it's only rock and roll but we like it, liveblog, tgr
“It’s Only Rock & Roll, But We Like It” Liveblog Details
Published September 9, 2009 Announcements Leave a CommentTags: it's only rock and roll but we like it, liveblog, tgr, twitter
Apple’s latest music-themed event is just hours away, and once again, The Green Room will be providing a liveblog with details and Australian analysis of the announcements as they unfold.
1. Where can I find it? You can browse directly to our liveblog coverage by clicking here, or view the full list of liveblogs here. We’ve partnered with CoverItLive again for a better liveblog experience.
2. Date & Time: The event starts at 9AM on September 9th (Pacific Time) or 3AM on September 10th (Australian Eastern Standard Time). All times listed on the liveblog are in AEST. The liveblog begins at 2AM on September 10th (AEST). Click here for a full list of starting times.
3. Spoiler free stream: If you prefer to watch the WWDC keynote without spoilers once it becomes available for streaming on Apple.com, we will provide a link to the QuickTime movie on this page.
4. Archive: We’ll publish the liveblog archive shortly after the event, check back here for the link closer to the date.
We’ll also be providing liveblog Twitter updates @tgrblog, so be sure to follow us there! – r.
TGR News: August 2009
Published August 15, 2009 Announcements Leave a CommentTags: tgr news, the green room
Following on from my previous post, I’ve been looking into some alternate theme options and various other improvements that can be made around here. Here’s all the details, organized in convenient point-form.
- New writer! Though he unofficially joined us a little earlier on in the year, The Green Room welcomes Liam F. to the editorial team. His latest articles can be found at his author page.
- New look! As promised, here’s a quick preview of TGR’s “new look”. Please let me know if you love it or hate it, I’m open to any suggestions and still attempting (albeit rather slowly) to learn WordPress.org site development.
- New year! Five days from now, TGR will be one year old. We’ll take a trip down memory lane on the day with our finest moments.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for quicker, less-reading-required messages and fan us up on Facebook while you’re at it for brownie points. – r.
Confessions of a lazy blogger
Published July 26, 2009 Announcements 1 CommentTags: blog news, confessions of a lazy blogger, tgr, the green room
Isla Fisher's head really is full of Air.
Cue these three songs immediately.
Right, well it’s been quite a while since last posting here at The Green Room. This time, however, I promise we’re back (honest)!
This is just a heads up about a pretty major site upgrade that will hopefully be launched on our first birthday (August 20th). Until then, posts are going to be a little light around here (just like usual) but rest assured, we haven’t abandoned TGR.
To verify that I’m not lying, I’m adding a rather large “Under construction” banner to the site’s header in the meantime, so keep hitting that refresh button every now and then for updates and juicy details about TGR 2.0.
Now that you’ve read this, you can cue this song instead, knowing that the best really is yet to come… – r.
Errors in The Sydney Morning Herald’s technology articles
Published July 3, 2009 Communication , Media , Online Leave a CommentTags: app store, apple, asher moses, beautymeter, errors, iphone, sydney morning herald
BeautyMeter's App Store description
If you’ve ever seen ABC’s Media Watch, you’ll be well aware of the rapidly declining online journalism standards here in Australia. On more than a few occasions, I’ve noticed errors and omissions in The Sydney Morning Herald‘s technology news and I thought it was important to share them here. Obviously, the internet isn’t (nor should it be) error-free. It’s full of mistakes – I’ve made dozens here at The Green Room, and a fair few of them could have been avoided with a little more fact-checking and clarification. It’s the nature of blogs and it’ll remain that way for the foreseeable future. That said, it’s more important for online news sites to ensure that their pieces have been thoroughly checked before publication. They, above all other sources, are the most trusted for news on the internet. Essentially, I don’t want to bash the Australian media, but these mistakes are at the point of frustration for me.
Being a somewhat ‘Apple oriented’ blog, I’ve only looked at articles that cover Apple news and rumors, the latest of which regards the controversy over an application available on the App Store. BeautyMeter is a “Hot or Not” style app. It briefly showed child pornography that was uploaded by one of it’s users recently. There are several issues I have with the article.
iPhone app disabled after teen porn appears
Apple doesn’t “disable” third party applications. The app was removed.
Explicit photographs of girls purportedly as young as 15 were distributed to iPhone users in a controverisal new racy app that was approved by Apple.
The line has been phrased inaccurately – the photo was only ‘distributed’ to iPhone users who had downloaded and installed the BeautyMeter app. Furthermore, the app became available in mid-April. I’d hardly call that “new”. Finally, the app was approved by Apple, but the line’s once again phrased misleadingly – Apple approved the app before any explicit photos appeared on the application, and once an app is approved it is only subject to further scrutiny by Apple if the developer updates the app or Apple finds a clear terms of use violation, which in this case it did after the content was added.
The BeautyMeter app was available for download today despite the apparent child pornography, however, the app would not launch, with a message saying “the item you tried to buy is no longer available”.
If the article’s description is accurate, then he was unable to download the application. While the application’s description page and download link was probably still available after the article was published, the actual file was removed before then. The application didn’t launch because it wasn’t downloaded in the first place. As written, the item he tried to buy was no longer available, so it’s inaccurate to write that it was still available to download or that it wouldn’t launch.
Developer Funnymals or Apple should be able to trace the person who uploaded the offending images
Funnymals can trace the person uploading the images because sign-up is required to use the app and upload images, but Apple can’t. BeautyMeter wasn’t made by Apple – like all (except three) of more than fifty thousand apps on the App Store, Apple has very limited control over how the application operates once it’s been accepted onto the App Store, so it would be extremely difficult for Apple to trace whoever uploaded them.
The original article can be found here. – r.
WWDC: Ten things you should know
Published June 9, 2009 Lists , wwdc 2 CommentsTags: iphone, keynote, mac, macbook, phil schiller, snow leopard, steve jobs, ten things, wwdc, wwdc 2009
Now that Phil Schiller’s WWDC keynote is done with, here’s the ten things you should know in case you missed our liveblog coverage. – r.
1. There are now over 75 million Mac users worldwide
2. The unibody 13-inch MacBooks are now called MacBook Pros. They’ve got better batteries, better screens, Firewire, SD cards and they cost less, too.
3. The final copy of Safari 4 is out today, and you can download it here.
4. Snow Leopard is almost here. It gives you 6GB of storage BACK, it’s got OpenCL, 64-bit and Grand Central Dispatch. It’s also got Exchange support built-in at no extra cost.
5. QuickTime X has a new UI, it’s frameless and it’s beautiful. Built from scratch. It’s really fast and lets you do quick & easy editing.
6. Better yet, it’s only $29 (USD) to upgrade from Leopard when it arrives in September. Unfortunately, it’s an Intel only OS.
7. iPhone OS 3.0 arrives on June 17th. Previously unannounced features include: Buy movies, TV shows, music videos and audiobooks using iTunes on your device, multiple iTunes accounts, better Parental Controls and more language love. The really good news? Internet tethering via USB or Bluetooth. The bad news? AT&T won’t support it.
8. There’s a new iPhone arriving, also on June 17th (depending on your location), and it’s called iPhone 3GS. It’s got a 3 megapixel auto-focus, video recording camera (and you can edit, too). It also (finally) allows voice controls and commands and has a built-in compass. It looks and feels exactly the same as iPhone 3G does. You can browse the internet for up to nine hours on 3GS.
9. That iPhone is $199/$299 (AT&T prices) for 16/32GB capacities and sits along side the 8GB iPhone 3G (for just $99). There’s an ad here.
10. Overall (in my opinion), it was a better-than-average keynote from Phil Schiller and the team. The new iPhone is somewhat disappointing, but has some useful (and long needed) new features. Your average consumer is going to be a little disappointed with the backend-driven Snow Leopard OS, and everyone in the US now hates AT&T more than ever before for not supporting tethering or MMS at launch.
More WWDC coverage can be found here – r.
WWDC: Liveblog archive
Published June 9, 2009 Announcements , wwdc Leave a CommentTags: apple, archive, cover it live, keynote, liveblog, phil schiller, tgrblog, wwdc, wwdc 2009, wwdc liveblog
Here’s the archive for our liveblog coverage of Phil Schiller’s WWDC 2009 keynote. All of our previous liveblogs and their archives can be found here. – r.
WWDC: The ultimate pre-keynote playlist
Published June 8, 2009 Music , wwdc Leave a CommentTags: greg joswiak, itunes, keynote, Music, phil schiller, playlist, pre-keynote, steve jobs, wwdc, wwdc 2009
We’re approaching the ten hour countdown mark for WWDC 2009, so optimize your experience with TGR’s ultimate pre-keynote playlist. The full 17-track list is below…
1. Vida la Vida – Coldplay
Described by Gizmodo as “the official sountrack to the ‘running of the media’ event every single time”.
2. Around the Bend – The Asteroid’s Galaxy Tour
Used in the iPod touch (2G) ad, often playing at your local Apple Store.
3. La la la – The Bird and the Bee
Soundtrack to the original iPod touch spot at the 2007 iPod special event. Strangely, this one never made it to television.
4. Bruises – Chairlift
Very Apple. Used in the particularly creative iPod nano (3G) commercial.
5. Electric Feel – MGMT
A Phil Schiller favorite at Macworld 2009.
6. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. – Aretha Franklin
Best when used as your ringtone during the event…
7. Shut Up and Let Me Go – The Ting Tings
One of the better iPod + iTunes ads.
8. Hey Mama – Black Eyed Peas
Another brilliant iTunes ad sountrack.
9. You’ve Got a Friend In Me – Randy Newman
This one’s dedicated to Steve and his executive-producing talents.
10. Stronger – Kanye West
Played at MWSF 2008. Ironically, the MacBook Air is the weakest notebook Apple’s ever shipped.
11. Hold on, I’m coming – Sam & Dave
Great track, also played often at the Apple Store. Particularly suitable for a pre-keynote playlist.
12. 15 Step – Radiohead
iPhone OS 3.0 special event. One of Greg’s (Joswiak) choices? We can only speculate.
13. Sleep Through the Static – Jack Johnson
Performed by the man himself at the 2008 “Let’s Rock” special event.
14. New Soul – Yael Naim
Manilla envelope. Enough said.
15. Waiting on the World to Change – John Mayer
Absolutely essential for any Apple playlist.
16. 1234 – Feist
Usually played right before the keynote.
And a bonus, post-keynote track:
17. I Left My Heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett
Quite possibly the most heartfelt keynote performance ever.
Enjoy! – r.
Review: The E.N.D.
Published June 5, 2009 Music , Reviews Leave a CommentTags: apl.de.ap, bep, energy never dies, fergie, review, taboo, the black eyed peas, the e.n.d., will.i.am
Australia
The Black Eyed Peas are arguably one of the most iconic hip-hop groups since Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five. Since Behind the Front, (their debut album) the Los Angeles based ‘supergroup’ have sold an estimated twenty seven million singles and albums worldwide. The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies), their fifth release, will sell a heap more. Their first single from the album, Boom Boom Pow, has spent just about a month at the top spot on iTunes’ influential charts, leading to more than two million sales and achieving the title of their highest selling song to date. The point is, it doesn’t matter what the Black Eyed Peas release: it will be popular. They could sing Happy Birthday and chances are it’ll make it into the top forty. The Black Eyed Peas are a force in music, and they always will be, whether you like it or not. The E.N.D. is best summarized by the producer and group member of BEP, will.i.am:
Dance stuff, real melodic, electronic, soulful. We call it, like, electric static funk, something like that.
Unlike previous BEP albums, The E.N.D. doesn’t have a solid structure or ‘story’. Instead, it opts for a mix of “electric static funk” songs that are only brought together by beat and rhythm. I can imagine a good majority of the songs playing in nightclubs and parties. Co-produced by house music legend David Guetta, The E.N.D. certainly makes use of the French DJ’s musical talents. The foundation of songs such as Missing You are reminiscent of Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away) and When Love Takes Over. Guetta’s involvement in the album’s music is notable and contributes to the ‘party’ feel of the album.
Antiglare 15″ MacBook Pro just around the corner?
Published June 2, 2009 Computing 3 CommentsTags: apple, displays, mac, macbook pro, matte, notebook, phil schiller, rumor, screens, wwdc
While visiting my local Apple Store yesterday, I noticed (amongst the dozens of notebooks on display) a 15″ MacBook Pro with an antiglare (or matte) screen. This seemed to be particularly odd, since Apple currently only includes the glossy display option on all of their notebooks, except of course the 17″ MacBook Pro, where it can be configured with an antiglare screen for an extra $50 (USD). Unlike the matte 17″ MBP, this notebook did not feature an aluminum “border” around the screen, but, as the photos show, instead sported a black plastic “border” like the rest of Apple’s late 2008 unibody notebooks. Could this be an error on Apple’s part? Is an antiglare 15″MacBook Pro imminent? Could it be one of Phil Schiller’s WWDC announcements? It’s arguable, since Apple’s been playing down the outside-friendly display (instead choosing to promote their super glossy LEDs), but that was definitely an antiglare screen on a 15″ MacBook Pro. – r.
Note: I tried my best to capture the MacBook Pro so that it was clear that it featured an antiglare screen, but the iPhone’s convenient camera can only do so much…
