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Sprint SmartView for Macs bricks broadband cards
Filed under: Peripherals, Software, Bugs/Recalls
TUAW reader John T. alerted us to an issue with Sprint's SmartView application, version 1.85.0007.0. SmartView for Mac is a recently released (August 28, 2008) application which is used with Sprint's Mobile Broadband cards and USB modems.

The issue, which occurs with the ExpressCard cards used with MacBook Pro notebooks running Leopard, causes the card to stop working. To get the card working again, it's necessary to reinstall an older version of the SprintView software or previous software such as Sierra Wireless Watcher.

This problem does not occur when using the Sprint Mobile Broadband USB connectors such as the Sierra Wireless 595U, Sierra Wireless Compass 597, or Ovation U727. John noted that Sprint's tech support team is aware of the issue, but that the faulty software is still available on the download page.

Thanks for the tip, John!
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Apple Stores welcome kids via Field Trip
Filed under: Retail, Education
Letting a bunch of kids loose in a candy store might be a sticky mess, but letting them loose in an Apple Store should be a delightful, brushed metal and glass wonderland of fun. Right? That's the idea behind Apple's new Field Trip program for elementary, middle and high school students and their teachers.

Apple is inviting groups of up to 25 students for the hour-long programs, which can feature a big-screen presentation of work that the students have already done in class (Keynote/PowerPoint, movies & more) or hands-on creation sessions that allow the kids to make new projects in the store. Parents and friends are welcome to come watch the fun.

Session reservations are available through November 21; the 'school champion' organizing the event gets email templates to send to attendees, the option of printed invitations, and a complimentary subscription to One-to-One training for a year. Not too shabby.

[via Apple Hot News]
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For us 80s kids: Get a cassette case for your iPod nano
Filed under: Accessories, iPod nano

Cult of Mac turned me on to an awesome iPod nano case manufactured by Contexture Design in Vancouver, BC: it's made from a recycled cassette tape. Radical.

But move fast -- there are only about a dozen left of these one-of-a-kind cases, which fit first- and second-generation iPod nano models. Each case is C$45 (≈US$38) with C$4 shipping. What better accessory for your feathered hair, fringed leather jacket and roller skates when you go all Xanadu for Halloween?

[Via Cult of Mac.]
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Video of 'aluminum MacBook' surfaces
Filed under: Rumors, MacBook

An often-blurry QuickTime spy video of what appears to be an aluminum MacBook enclosure is available now on apple.pro. (If the video link isn't working, try watching it on YouTube; there are stills available here.)

The video is a series of close-up shots, none showing the thickness of the enclosure, nor the keyboard. The only features visible in the video are the new location for the power button, and a larger trackpad. Its authenticity could not be independently verified.

Yesterday, apple.pro had photos of what appears to be the same enclosure. Is it the new MacBook? We'll see on October 14.

[Via Electronista.]

Thanks, Josh, for the YouTube link!
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Newer MBPs may contain faulty NVIDIA chips
Filed under: Troubleshooting, Macbook Pro
Not a surprise for those who have suffered from the issue, but a welcome admission nonetheless: Apple has now acknowledged that some recent MacBook Pro models contain faulty GeForce 8600M GT chips that cause video display problems. Dell and HP have already told customers similar stories.

In a support document posted yesterday, Apple testily admitted that while NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers were not affected, an internal investigation revealed three models of MacBook Pro indeed had problems.

Our own Cory Bohon wrote about his experience with (what he now believes to be) the same issue back in August.

The models affected were all manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008:
- MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz)
- MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz)
- MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
If your MacBook Pro is displaying distorted or scrambled video on the screen, or no video at all, you can take your computer to an Apple Authorized Service provider to have it repaired, free of charge. If you've already had your computer serviced for this issue, Apple may issue you a refund for the cost of the service. Free service is available to owners who bought their computer less than two years ago, even if the computer is out of warranty.

The problem is likely to cost NVIDIA up to $200 million to fix; this does not include the likely fallout from shareholder lawsuits alleging that the video-card manufacturer deliberately withheld information on the scope of the chip flaws.

[Via AppleInsider.]
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MacTribe goes to print magazine format
Filed under: Odds and ends
Making the leap from online-only to print format, MacTribe has announced that it will begin publishing a magazine version. The site, and now the dead-tree edition, will continue to feature a mix of reviews and news along with "cultural and aesthetic" items sure to appeal to the sophisticated taste of Apple fans everywhere.

We wish the MacTribe team the best of luck with their launch and look forward to seeing the results of their efforts on newsstands this month.

[via MacTech]
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Billings 3 prices reduced until November 30th
Filed under: Software
Marketcircle, the company behind Billings (which I mentioned in some depth recently), knows that a freelancer (or small business) needs every advantage they can get to survive in this economy. Sympathetic to the plight of the individuals on "Main Street," they're offering Billings 3 for $20 off the usual price, and upgrades for $10 off until November 30th. If you'd benefit from time tracking and high-quality invoices but weren't ready to drop $59.95 to get there, see if $39.95USD sounds a little better.

If you've already purchased or upgraded to Billings 3, you're not excluded from the party. Emailing a proof of purchase to Marketcircle will get you a voucher for the difference, redeemable for anything else in their store. See AJ's blog post for directions. Prices have also been reduced in the U.K., Canada, Europe and Australia with slightly modified numbers based on exchange rates. Stop by the Marketcircle store for details.
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Apple releases Security Update 2008-007
Filed under: Software Update, Security

Apple released Security Update 2008-007 for Mac OS X Leopard and Tiger users today. The update addresses many specific areas of the Mac OS, including: Apache, ClamAV, CUPS, Finder, and more. A full list of the areas affected by the update can be found on the Apple support website. The update is available for the following systems:
You can get the update by downloading the installer package from the Apple support website, or by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update).

Continue reading for a change log for this update.

Continue reading Apple releases Security Update 2008-007
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Adobe demos Photoshop CS4's content-aware scaling
Filed under: Beta Beat, Graphic Design

In a QuickTime screencast, Adobe's Russell Brown demonstrates content-aware scaling, a feature of Photoshop CS4, due to be released this month.

A lower-resolution YouTube demo from Lynda.com is available here, if you don't want to download a huge QuickTime movie. The content is different, but you'll get the idea.

Adobe licensed an algorithm that senses "dead" areas in photos, and resizes the image to avoid squashing or stretching every object.

In the video, Brown demonstrates resizing an image of four golfers, interactively removing space between and around the golfers, but leaving the golfers' proportions correct. He also demonstrates resizing a Volkswagen bus, making it a more "economical" size, but automatically keeping the wheels round.

For those looking for a compelling reason to upgrade to Photoshop CS4, this might be it. If not, what is? Let us know by leaving a comment.

[Via Swissmiss and Michael Sippey.]
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JSCocoa 1.0, write Cocoa apps in Javascript
Filed under: Developer
Do you want to write Cocoa applications, but happen to be handier with Javascript than with Objective-C? JSCocoa to the rescue! Similar in concept to RubyCocoa, JSCocoa provides a bridge between Webkit's JavascriptCore and Cocoa, allowing you to call C and Objective-C code, as well as build Javascript classes which inherit from Objective-C classes.

Visit the Google Code page for a quickstart and some syntax explanations. JSCocoa is open source and available for subversion checkout or direct download.
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$800 for a new MacBook?
Filed under: Rumors, MacBook
Inquisitr.com is reporting that an Apple retailer sent them a copy of a new price sheet that includes a MacBook at the $800 price point.

The sheet, which is apparently sent to retailers about 10 days in advance of launch, lists 12 price points (including options for MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air) between $800 and $3,100. Older price lists only have eight trim levels. Specifications were not included on the sheet.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said yesterday that if Apple chose to exclude a sub-$1,000 notebook, their stock would suffer more than from any margin impact such a device would have.

If true, this would be Apple's first foray into the sub-$1,000 laptop market since the $999 iBook.
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Apple's iPhone Tech Talk World Tour
Filed under: Apple, Developer, iPhone
Earlier this month, Apple dropped the non-disclosure agreement that prevented iPhone software developers from publicly discussing the details of their work, saying "...the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone's success."

Developers and would-be developers were pleased, and several shared what they had learned right away.

Prior to this change, Apple announced a series of iPhone Tech Talks for several cities in the US. Now, that program has expanded into the iPhone Tech Talk World Tour. Developers in 24 cities across North America, Europe, India and Asia Pacific can attend workshops like "Introduction to Objective-C and Cocoa Touch" and "iPhone Game Development Technologies."

The New York session is already booked (sessions are free for ADC members), so register while you can. Have fun, good luck and drop us a line when your application is ready!

[Via AppleInsider]
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Apple schedules laptop event for Oct. 14; leaked photos abound
Filed under: Rumors, Other Events, Macbook Pro, MacBook

Our sister site Engadget received an invitation for a town-hall event in San Francisco about new Apple notebooks, featuring an image of what could be hinting at possible new aluminum enclosures for 13-inch MacBooks.

tw.apple.pro purports to have images of new aluminum cases for the MacBooks. Judging from the height of the ports (and if the photos are authentic) the new MacBooks could be significantly thinner than their predecessors.

In related news, AppleInsider claims to have confirmed that a widely-circulated spy-shot is indeed one from Apple's next generation of MacBook Pro, but is not fabricated from a single "brick" of aluminum, as 9-to-5Mac said.

The top case, however, appears now to include the ports, rather than having them integrated into the bottom case. (This could make case disassembly easier.) The port arrangement appears to include many more ports on the left side of the bottom case, much like the current MacBook.

Combined with earlier images of the back of the LCD and bottom case, the design retains much of the same look that MacBook Pros (and PowerBook G4s before them) have had since January 2001.

Apple's notebook event is scheduled for next Tuesday at 10 a.m. Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern).
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1Password 2.9 and the Agile Keychain
Filed under: Software
We may have mentioned it one or two (dozen) times, but 1Password is a great solution for securely managing passwords, credit cards and notes on a Mac (and recently the iPhone). If you're a 1Password fan, be sure to check out the 2.9 release from last weekend; it has a pretty huge new feature. For quite a while now there have been grumblings about the OS X Keychain being a bit of a beast, especially when handling large amounts of data. Rather than waiting out Apple for new improvements to the Keychain system, the stalwart coders at Agile Web Solutions decided to write their own.

If you dig into the Keychain section of the preferences in 1Password 2.9, you'll find an option to "Switch to Agile Keychain Format." What's the difference? First, it allows easy file-based synchronization, making possible non-MobileMe solutions for syncing up multiple Macs. Further, it maintains speedy access even when it contains gigs of data, as well as supporting much higher levels of encryption. Sounds good to me.

If you're ready to switch your keychain format, head over to the developer's blog for detailed instructions, and read up on the various options for automatic sync between Macs. 1Password 2.9 is a free upgrade for existing users, and new users can grab a free trial. A single license runs $39.95USD with a family pack available for $59.95USD. For the full changelog for this release, check the version history page.
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The little Leopard laptop
Filed under: Hardware, Portables, Hacks, How-tos, Odds and ends, Leopard

I can always tell when I'm bored, because that's when I think up some challenge for myself. The initial spark for this challenge came when I wrote a post a few months ago about how Paul O'Brien at Modaco had successfully installed Leopard on a Windows-based "netbook". TUAW's Mike Schramm further fueled the fire with this post about an Eee PC running OS X.

Netbooks are tiny laptops with a mini price tag to match. Many netbooks sell for less than $500, with 1 GB of RAM, either a 16 - 20 GB solid state disk drive or 160 GB hard disk drive, Wi-Fi, and a built-in webcam. When you consider that these little machines also weigh about the same or less than a MacBook Air, they're a bargain. However, they usually run Windows XP or Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and frankly I'd rather have good old Leopard.

Asus has been making netbooks for a while under the Eee PC moniker, while MSI (Wind), Acer (Aspire One), and even HP have jumped into this growing market recently. It wasn't until I received a direct mail catalog from Dell featuring the new Inspiron Mini 9 that I started thinking seriously about trying to load Leopard on it.

Despite the fact that I'm sure that Apple will announce a low-cost netbook soon, I ended up buying a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook to install Leopard onto. The rest of this post describes how I did it using instructions and files found at various Web sites.
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Ten fun and mostly-free iPhone apps
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store
Here are ten apps that won't annoy you (OK, Alarm Free might) and are either clever diversions or simply fun toys. All links take you to the App Store. Check out the gallery for a preview of everything I've mentioned. All of these were free when I first downloaded them, as I'm a terrible cheapskate, but several now cost between $.99 and $1.99, which isn't bad.

Ancient Wisdom
Basically just a database of quotes from three philosophers: Lao Tzu, Miyamoto Musashi and Sun Tzu. To make it a little more fun the developers make the quotes come from cute cartoon monkeys. Not exactly genius, but fun and the quotes are, of course, pure gold. Better than a Magic 8-Ball, I think.

Newtonica Player
This simple app has you spin a mesh ball to generate a "beat" that times the pace of the electronica music. There is a surprising amount of depth to the song, simple as it is. I was able to modify the tune a bit depending on my spinning, direction and how long I kept spinning. Terribly simple but fun because of those little tonal surprises.

Fireworks
Wherever you tap your finger a firework is launched to that spot and explodes. Nice little animations, plus it works in landscape mode and offers several backgrounds. The sounds could go further, and the fireworks aren't all that varied, but again, kids love it. Put it in "fireworks show" mode and keep it in your dock for a little fun. Note: at the time I originally wrote this Fireworks was free, but it is only $.99 now, which isn't too much to ask, I think.

xCube
This is just a Rubik's cube in iPhone/iPod touch form. But it is really easy to use, provides several customization options and has an undo feature. If you've ever wanted to learn how to solve the cube but didn't want a big cubic bulge in your back pocket, here's your answer. Note: again, here's an app that was free for a while, but is now $1.99 -- still cheaper than a new Rubik's cube, but more expensive than one at a garage sale. You make the call.

Gallery: Ten Fun and Free iPhone apps
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ExpanDrive 1.3 adds FTP support
Filed under: Software
It's been a while since we heard from the developers at Magnetk, but they've just released version 1.3 of Expandrive with some new functionality. They're calling it a beta to be safe, but it seems to just be cautious labeling; 1.3 has been very stable for me thus far. As a quick review, Expandrive allows remote SFTP volumes to be mounted in the local filesystem (similar to what's possible with MacFUSE, but with several stability and speed improvements). The biggest change in version 1.3 is probably the inclusion of FTP and FTPS as an addition to the SFTP capabilities. While it may seem strange to some, there are certainly still circumstances where this could prove very useful.

UPDATE: the developers have clarified for me that the 1.3 release is not in beta, only the FTP/FTPS capability.

Among the other features the developers are excited about is a new system for testing network state. One of the things I like about Expandrive is its ability to seamlessly maintain a connection on my laptop when I shut it, move it and change wireless networks. Well, that capability has been improved at the system level to better detect network availability, IP address and sleep state, and I'm seeing really stable performance with it.

A second appcast has been added to support beta releases (Magnetk says they have a lot of new stuff coming up), and users can switch to it in the Updates section of the preferences. Version 1.3 resets the 30 day trial period, so if you've previously tried it and passed, you'll be able to take the new version for a 30-day spin. The trial version is available for download ($29USD to register), and the upgrade is free for current users. Release notes are available here.
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Flickr Find: A polished weight tracking app
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Flickr Find, iPhone, App Store
Having been a connoisseur of fine design since the first Mac hit the streets in '84, I'm always attracted to apps that have that certain polish that is associated with Apple products. That's why I was impressed when I went out and looked at the Flickr pool for Weightbot, an upcoming iPhone app that does one simple thing elegantly -- it tracks your weight.

Designer Mark Jardine and developer Paul Haddad expect Weightbot to be released in the next couple of weeks, and it's an app I'd consider buying just for the looks! From the bathroom scale-like Weightbot mascot (at right) to the custom controls for entering your weight, it's apparent that Mark spent some time thinking about the look and user interface of the app, and that Paul was able to implement Mark's vision.

The custom date scroller is especially attractive and functional, making it easy to see at a glance when you entered your weight as you flick through the days. I look forward to seeing Weightbot and future iPhone apps from this team at Tapbots.
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app4mac releases Sequence 1.1
Filed under: Multimedia, Software

Sequence, a screen capture utility developed by App4Mac, has been revised to version 1.1. This is a free update for registered users.

For capturing screenshots or video of Mac screens, Sequence takes advantage of multithreaded code and 64-bit support for compression. Capturing DVD playback and audio is easy, and it's possible to record from your iSight and screen at the same time. With the voice recording function, you can narrate the screen capture for easy creation of screencasts.

Documentation for Sequence is now built into the application, which can be used to develop training videos, product demos, tutorials, and archiving streaming video. Mac OS X 10.5 or later is required.

Sequence is available from App4Mac for $29. Localized versions are available in French and simplified Chinese.
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