genius

Apple has reportedly already begun training its retail store employees on both iOS 5 and iCloud, sources have told 9to5Mac.

Such training usually kicks in a couple of weeks before a new product actually launches, which could mean that the latest iOS release and new cloud-based service may debut before the rumored timeframe of mid or late October.

These dates may also indicate the timing of the iPhone 5, according to 9to5Mac, which says that Apple usually unveils a new iOS version "in the days surrounding" a new iPhone. Last year, Apple released iOS 4 on June 21, … Read more

An Apple store customer was given internal company media and documents by accident after getting his computer serviced at one of the company's Genius Bars, a new report says.

Cult of Mac has posted photos from an unnamed individual who says he was given the hard drive alongside a computer that was being repaired, with that spare drive containing a backup of the store's internal file server as opposed to a backup of the machine that had gone in for repair. The repair was made at an Apple store in Stamford, Conn.

The person told Cult of Mac … Read more

Could Apple be at work on a TV set? That's a theory Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been trumpeting for years now. Joining him is UBS Investment Research analyst Maynard Um with a report today about how the gadget maker could expand its market cap by delving into new services in the coming years, notably the TV set business and an expanded version of its tech support offerings.

Um suggests that Apple's in a good position to boost its market cap by anywhere from $50 billion to $100 billion by getting into the business of making and … Read more

Over the years Apple has made the iPhone and its iTunes software do more in the way of syncing files, applications, and other settings. As a result, it's arguably become a more complicated process than it was just a few years ago, which is why iOS 5's iTunes-free and iCloud-powered features are a big deal.

According to a report by former Macworld writer David Chartier on his personal blog, a data point to back that up is that "about 50 percent" of people coming into Apple's retail store Genius Bars for a fix are coming in with iPhones that have never been synced with a computer. That's besides the computer used to set it up in the first place, a service Apple offers in its retail stores free of charge.… Read more

Today we're joined by Ilan Zechory and Tom Lehman from RapGenius.com, a site that offers historical context and trivia to lyrics from popular rappers like Odd Future, Jay-Z, and Kanye West. Right now they mostly analyze rap, but there are also a few pop-music deconstructions like Rebecca Black's "Friday" and "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga.

Drive Genius is a hard-working hard-drive utility from longtime Mac developers Prosoft Engineering, with the honorable distinction of being employed at the Apple Store Genius Bar as part of their ProCare Yearly Tune Up service.

The interface of Drive Genius shares some similarities with that of its data-recovery sister program Data Rescue: you navigate through a 3D "tool arena," a sort of virtual lazy Susan of hard-drive tasks that's fast and fluid enough to not be annoying (and it's actually kind of fun). You choose from six primary tasks, Information (with detailed readouts on S.M.… Read more

The big Apple news out this week was the event that launched the new MacBook Pros--and they are certainly drool-worthy. All three new models are twice as fast as their predecessors, featuring quad-core Intel i7 processors for the 15- and 17-inch models, and dual-core i5 and i7 processors for the 13-inch models. The AMD Radeon graphics processors have been improved along with newly added Thunderbolt technology that lets you use a new port (along side your USB ports) to transfer data at up to 10GB per second. Read our full coverage here.

I'm not sure whether I'll rush out and buy one of these new MacBook Pros with the iPad 2 coming out in April, but that's mostly because I don't have as much use for the high-powered graphics and processing power in my line of work. I also can't afford to buy both.

Are you in the market for a new laptop and thinking about getting a new MacBook Pro? Are you waiting to see what the iPad 2 will offer before pulling the trigger? Are you going to buy both? Let us know in the comments.

This week's apps include a handy image-scanning app for getting quick copies on the go and a 2D side-scrolling game where you can reverse gravity with a touch of your finger.… Read more

That secret meeting for Apple retail employees we've been hearing about? The agenda might not be nearly as exciting as some would hope.

Apple store employees have reportedly been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements in advance of a meeting this Sunday night. Boy Genius Report says it's heard that the big secret employees will learn at that meeting is a new small-business-oriented IT support service called Joint Venture.

BGR says it's "an extension of Apple's current Genius Bar services" but that's aimed at small-business owners and "prosumers." The service will cost … Read more

LAS VEGAS--While much of the focus on pointing devices went to Microsoft this year for its Touch Mouse, the less profiled accessory company Genius is also here at the show unveiling its own unique mousing solution: the Ring Mouse.

As the name implies, the ring mouse slips right onto your finger. It features a wireless 2.4GHz receiver inside. Using just your thumb, you can control slideshows, PowerPoint slides, and more using two small buttons that act as the left and right clickers on a traditional mouse. For the actual mousing, you simply use the small optical trackpad on top … Read more