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iPhone 3G S In Depth: Why the 'S' means more than 'Speed'
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple, iPhone
What makes up a rumor? The common recipe starts with some truth or factual information, adds a healthy dose of hearsay, and then gets topped off with a 'pinch of this and a dash of that.' Then someone else starts with that entire rumor as their 'factual information', and adds to it from there. Pretty soon, you've got 100 different flavors in the wild, and some of them don't even taste remotely like the original dish.

The recent storm of rumors surrounding the iPhone 3G S turned out exactly the same way. Several of them shared some common elements, such as a better camera, video editing, and a compass. But beyond that, the features were anyone's guess, especially when it came to the physical appearance of the device. When Apple broke the news that the appearance was identical to the existing 3G, I really had to wonder: how many times have we seen someone using the new iPhone, and not even noticed?

And then there was the name: iPhone Video, or iPhone 3GS? Just plain 'iPhone'? Whatever the case, it is a given that the name would reflect one of the most important aspects of the device. After all, the iPhone 3G takes its name from its 3G radio, and the 4th-generation iPod was oft referred to as the "iPod Video" due to its video capabilities. So it stood to reason that if the most obvious feature of the new phone would be video recording (and possibly editing) capabilities, it could easily be called the 'iPhone Video'.

What is interesting, though, is that Apple instead chose to name it 'iPhone 3G S', stating that the 'S' stands for faster speed. But even a quick perusal of the specs on Apple's website will tell you that speed is far from the only improvement over the original 3G. Of course, there are the obvious features that Apple pointed out: video recording & editing, an auto-focus camera, voice control and dialing, and a digital compass, just to name a few. But what about all the other features listed on the website. How do they compare to the iPhone 3G?

Read on for a head-to-head comparison of the new features...
Continue reading iPhone 3G S In Depth: Why the 'S' means more than 'Speed'
TUAW iPhone 3G S In Depth: Why the 'S' means more than 'Speed' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Devs at WWDC: Show us your apps!
Filed under: Software, WWDC
Are you attending WWDC? Do you have a Mac desktop or iPhone app you'd like to show the world? Well join TUAW on June 11 at the Metreon (the big silver building right next door to the Moscone, where Jillian's is housed), where we'll have a camera ready for your close-up. We'll have a small table near the movie theater, next to the sunglasses shop -- look for this guy (me). I'll be there from 10am to 2pm PST.

So far we've seen some really good stuff here at WWDC, although we can't talk about some of it just yet. But if you show us your app, we'll put it on TUAW over the coming weeks.

Don't forget to follow tuaw_wwdc on Twitter for the latest on where we'll be, just in case you miss us tomorrow.
TUAW Devs at WWDC: Show us your apps! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple invites iPhone devs to test AIM/push notification
Filed under: Software, iPhone
We're getting tips from multiple sources that Apple has invited a group of iPhone developers to test drive AOL's updated Instant Messenger app for the iPhone -- complete with push notification -- in an effort to see how Apple's servers will handle the traffic. The invitation included the following:

"As a developer actively working with iPhone OS, we would like your help in a private test of the Apple Push Notification service. For this test, we have selected AOL's AIM Developer Preview for iPhone OS 3.0 to create a high-volume test environment for our servers."

The test run of the new AIM app is only available on iPhone 3.0 Gold Master releases. Final release date is unknown at this point.

Edit (6:30 PT): Additional word from developers chosen for the test shows that this beta version of AIM will cease to function after seven days.

Thanks to all who submitted this!

TUAW Apple invites iPhone devs to test AIM/push notification originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WWDC Live: Dan Wood, Karelia Software
Filed under: Software, WWDC, Developer
One of the first developers I got a chance to sit down with at WWDC was Dan Wood of Karelia Software, makers of the website-building app, Sandvox. I got his thoughts on the Keynote and the state of Mac software development. He's recently been blogging about marketing for developers and working to start a conversation about self-promotion in the Indy software community. Check out the interview after the jump, and be sure to check out the developer marketing tips offered at his blog.
Continue reading WWDC Live: Dan Wood, Karelia Software
TUAW WWDC Live: Dan Wood, Karelia Software originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW First Look: Google Quick Search Box for Mac
Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, Freeware, Internet Tools, First Look

Google released a new tool for Mac users today. With Google Quick Search Box (QSB), you can perform searches of anything on your Mac or the Web with a few keystrokes. After downloading QSB, I installed it and gave it a test drive on my MacBook Air. After a short first look, I can say that QSB is going to be in constant use on my Macs.

The application takes up about 18 MB of space on your Mac hard disk, and once it is installed a small search box hovers on your screen (see above). You can toggle the presence of the box by pressing Control-Space Bar. The keyboard shortcut, as well as the appearance of the search box, can be customized in a very thorough preferences panel.
Continue reading TUAW First Look: Google Quick Search Box for Mac
TUAW TUAW First Look: Google Quick Search Box for Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPod touch: Always a bridesmaid ...
Filed under: Other Events, WWDC, iPod touch
With all the fanfare this week surrounding the iPhone, let's not forget the famed handset's red-headed stepchild: the iPod touch.

Hardware updates to the line weren't exactly expected just now. Apple tends to save their iPod updates for special music events held every year since 2003. After Apple's education promo is done and dusted, we can probably expect a special event in September where we see updates for our favorite media device. What's in store for the new iPod touch? Setting aside for the moment rumors about a tablet-sized device, there are sure to be plenty of updates for the handheld iPod touch we've come to know and love.

As far as the operating system update is concerned, we'll gain all the features compatible with the iPod touch's hardware, like copy and paste, upgrades to the iTunes store, and the landscape keyboard. These updates, like those in the past, will come at a price: In an effort to adhere to strict accounting regulations, Apple charges iPod touch users about $10 to upgrade to the new operating system. iPhone users aren't charged similarly, because revenue from the handsets is accounted on a subscription basis, which has different rules about giving updates away for free. Like the iPhone, the update for iPod touch will be available June 17.

Compared to the iPhone, planned updates to the iPod touch's hardware remain largely unknown. iPod touch models have been generally close in specification to the iPhone, but each model is slightly different. In theory, if applications require the greater horsepower the iPhone 3G S provides, some high-performance games may be incompatible with existing iPod touch models, in addition to apps that take advantage of the iPhone's built-in GPS and camera.

Cameras, however, might be on the way: Mike noted rumors last month about iPod nanos with cameras built-in. If those are true, it stands to reason that iPod touch models could get the same functionality. I've opined before about a whispernet service for the iPod touch, but I don't see that happening anytime soon, especially with AT&T's lackluster feature delivery schedule revealed during the iPhone keynote.

What do you think the next iPod touch will be? Will it become "just like the iPhone but without the phone part?" Let us know by leaving a comment.
TUAW iPod touch: Always a bridesmaid ... originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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De-clutter: How I used my iPhone and Evernote to travel light
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Recently I spent a few days in Paris, France. I travel light: One bag (pro tip: Roll your clothes), one jacket and one hat. I love getting my necessities down to a single carry-on bag. What I hate is all the paper. Airline confirmation receipts, bus schedules, relevant correspondence from family and friends, etc. Not to mention lists of restaurants to try, sights to see, etc.

This time I went nearly paper-free (I'm sticking with paper boarding passes for international flights, although iPhone scanning has been done and is now officially supported by some carriers), thanks to my iPhone and 2 applications. Here's how I did it.

Tracking flights

Of course, the first thing I've got to do is line up all of my flights. I typically go from Boston to Newark when I'm traveling internationally, which means there are several connecting flights to manage with Flight Update and Evernote.

Flight Update [App Store link] is among my top 5 iPhone apps. Here's how it works and why I love it. First, add a trip and then add your flights. You can designate a preferred airline if there's one you use often. Enter your flight number and date (or search by route if you prefer) and Flight Update fills in an incredible amount of data as if by magic.

You'll get airtime, departing and arriving airport, terminal, distance, scheduled meals and so much more. It even identifies the type of plane and offers a color-coded seating chart (the colors rate the seats by desirability). You can even search for alternate flights should a problem arise.

What I really love about Flight Update is that it consistently beats the airport at dispensing timely information. For example, the flight I took from Newark, New Jersey to Boston, MA this past Monday was listed as delayed on my iPhone before the announcement was made at the gate. When the delay was later lifted (thank goodness), my iPhone let me know before the airport did. That's awesome. At $4.99US, you simply can't beat Flight Update. Every iPhone-toting traveler ought to own it.

Eliminating paper

With Flight Tracker handling the airplanes, I turned to Evernote [App Store link] to handle the paper. This is straightforward: I made a notebook called "Paris" and filled it with:
- Confirmation codes for each flight, including the original emails as PDFs
- Hotel information
- Correspondence from family members I'd be traveling with
- Special instructions
With each one tagged "Paris," I simply created a saved search. Here's how. First, enter your search term. Next, click the little blue arrow, scroll down and select "Save Search." From then on, you can access all documents that meet your criteria (in my case, a single tag) by hitting the bookmark button. In fact, I just left it there for the duration of my trip.

When I checked in at the airport kiosk, I simply grabbed my confirmation number from Evernote. Same with the hotel. When I found the restaurants and other points of interest that I wanted to explore, I snapped a photo note and applied the "Paris" tag. Back at the hotel, everything was sent to the Evernote servers via the free WiFi.

This has been said before, but Evernote (free from the App Store, basic and premium plans available) is awesome. Human beings have short term memory, long term memory and now, Evernote.

Keep in mind

Going paperless isn't without risk. There's a good chance that your airport will have a lousy cell signal and no free WiFi. Having to pony up $5 or so just to get a code is a hassle if you forgot to sync before leaving the house. Additionally, not all ticket agents are tolerant of kids these days with their fancy smart phones, and may give you an odd look (or a hard time) when you say, "I don't have the printout, but I have my iPhone!" Hence my hesitation to abandon paper boarding passes.

Finally, Evernote displays PDFs as attachments, meaning you can't view them without an internet connection. If you think that might be an issue, copy and paste the text itself into a note.

In the end I had a very enjoyable travel experience with just a small bag, my wallet and my iPhone. Here's a huge thank you to the developers of Flight Tracker and Evernote. Your apps are awesome.

As noted by our commenters below, you may also get a travel boost out of the Tripit app, which Steve reviewed not long ago.
TUAW De-clutter: How I used my iPhone and Evernote to travel light originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We know the iPhone isn't cheap, but Billshrink shows the numbers
Filed under: iPhone
It's no secret that in addition to the initial price for the iPhone, that there's also months upon months of service plans to pay as well. BillShrink.com gave us some perspective yesterday, showing just how much of an Apple tax we really do pay for the iPhone.

In a very easy-to-read infographic, the site pits the entry level iPhone 3G S against the Palm Pre and Android G1 to see what you exactly get and how much you're paying for it when you sign up with the exclusive US carrier for each device (AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile respectively).

The winner, when it comes to storage space and features, is the iPhone 3G S. But, it's also showing that the Android G1 isn't that bad of a deal either. Its 3.2MP camera just squeaks by the iPhone and it has both a lower subsidized cost and price without contract.

But where Apple really loses is the overall cost of ownership. By far, the cheapest phone to own over a two-year period is the Palm Pre, which clocks in at $2,400. The cost calculated is based off of a service plan with two years of unlimited voice, data, and messaging services. The Android G1 follows with $3,240 and finally the iPhone 3G S at $3,600 -- not including tax for any of them.

Edit: There was some confusion on the back-end of TUAW about whether or not those numbers are for the service plans alone, or if they include the initial cost of the handset. As originally stated, the final totals in the graphic DO NOT include the cost of the headset. For example, the iPhone plan is $99.99+$30+$20 x 24 months = $3599.96 -- rounds to $3600, that matches what's in the graphic. The same holds true for the Android G1 and Palm Pre as well.
TUAW We know the iPhone isn't cheap, but Billshrink shows the numbers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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OS 10.6: PowerPC officially left behind
Filed under: Desktops, Software, Apple, Snow Leopard
It's not news. It was just less than a year ago that we initially announced that Snow Leopard would likely be Intel-only. Still, it was a report based off an initial developer's release of the software, and PowerPC users prayed that maybe it was a mistake. Maybe Apple would change its mind and toss a bone at these faithful users of Macs-gone-by.

But, the emerging reality showed that Apple has left its PowerPC days behind. In February, we reported on how GarageBand's new Learn to Play feature was Intel-only. In addition to that, not every feature in iPhoto was available to PowerPC users. During that same month, we reported that even more G4 systems were being added to Apple's vintage and obsolete lists.

Now the writing is fully on the wall for PowerPC users. The official release of tech specs for Snow Leopard indicates that it is an Intel-only release, meaning that if you do want to go past Leopard, you'll have to upgrade. There are still a lot of PowerPC users out there, and they're still very good machines... but are owners of older Macs going to be satisfied without the latest OS?

Answer our poll or let us know in the comments: what does Snow Leopard mean to PPC owners?

View Poll

TUAW OS 10.6: PowerPC officially left behind originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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That SD slot on the MacBook Pro? Not just for digital cameras
Filed under: Hardware, Cool tools, Macbook Pro
Hard Mac reports on a newly released Apple Knowledge Base article that reveals this nice little tidbit about the new MacBook Pro's SD slot. Not only can you use it to dump pictures off your digital camera, but you can use it as a boot disk if need be. The article also reveals:
- You can use the thinner MultiMediaCards with the SD slot. Cards that have a thickness or surfaces that exceed 2.1mm should not be used.
- You can use standard SD cards (4MB to 4GB) and SDHC (4-32GB) cards in the slot. MiniSD, MicroSD, MiniSDHC and MicroSDHC can also be used with adapters.
- The SD slot will work with cards that exceed 32GB
- SD cards with the exFAT file system will not be read, will need to be reformatted as a FAT32
- SD cards are read as USB storage devices
- To use the SD card as a startup volume, change the default partition table to GUID and format the card to use the Mac OS Extended file format
- SDIO (Secure Digital Input Output) cards will not be recognized
- The SD card slot will work with Boot Camp for both Windows XP and Windows Vista.
[Via Macworld]
TUAW That SD slot on the MacBook Pro? Not just for digital cameras originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sketch an iPhone app UI with a special stencil
Filed under: Accessories, Developer
This is really neat. The folks at Design Commission have produced a stencil to assist with the iPhone/iPod touch UI prototyping, brainstorming sessions, flows, interaction techniques, etc. that you'll do before you begin coding.

Of course, it includes all the standard iconography and buttons. Doesn't it make you want to just break out a fresh sheet of paper and set to work? If you want one, act fast, as they've only produced 100. Each kit ($16.95US) comes with the stencil and a Zebra mechanical pencil. A matching letter-sized template can be downloaded from the website as a PDF.

Now go and make the next killer app!
TUAW Sketch an iPhone app UI with a special stencil originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Like a good neighbor, iPhone is there
Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store
Last month we talked about several company-specific iPhone apps, one of which was Nationwide Mobile [App Store]. This app, available for free for customers of Nationwide Insurance, has been touted on Nationwide's ads and is used to capture and report accident information.

Not to be outdone by their competition, State Farm Insurance has just announced the State Farm Pocket Agent [App Store]. This free app lets customers with an auto insurance policy registered on statefarm.com begin to make a claim after an accident, find repair facilities by current location or zip code, and contact an insurance agent.

State Farm makes a point about the ease of use of Pocket Agent in a humorous video featuring a customer whose car is being mauled by a rampaging rabbit.

The company recognizes that the 1.0 release is a little light on features, so they're asking State Farm customers to help them out in suggesting what they'd like to see in future versions of the app. Personally, I could see where this would be helpful in starting homeowner's insurance claims as well as auto claims.

Hello, Farmers Insurance Group? I'm still waiting for my app...
TUAW Like a good neighbor, iPhone is there originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW First Look: iPhoto2Twitter
Filed under: Software, First Look
If you use Twitter as much as I do, then you're going to love iPhoto2Twitter, an iPhoto plugin from Blue Crowbar Software. While sending iPhone pictures to Twitter is a piece of cake, it usually takes more steps to prepare a photo on a Mac to become a photo-tweet.

The idea of iPhoto2Twitter is simple; as you're going through your iPhoto library checking out your photographic art works, you can tweet them with a few clicks. The plugin, which sells for €4.95 (approx. US$7.00), weighs in at a tiny 356 KB and works very well.

Once the plugin has been installed, tweeting photos is as easy as selecting them, choosing File > Export, and then clicking on the new iPhoto2Twitter tab. Enter your 140 characters of sparkling witticisms, choose a size for the photo, and then click Export to send the photo and tweet. I only found one issue with the plugin; as you can see, the "r" has disappeared from the name:

Setup is extremely fast, since you only need to enter your Twitter ID and password once. If it's stored in your keychain, iPhoto2Twitter will enter the information for you. If you use Aperture instead of iPhoto, never fear -- Blue Crowbar also sells Aperture2Twitter for €5.95 (approx. US$8.40).

As a Twitter user (@stevensande) with a huge gallery of photos, I'm going to love using iPhoto2Twitter to share my images with the world, and I'm sure you will too.

Update: Within an hour of this post, Steven from Blue Crowbar had noted the missing "r" in the app (caused by a missing font on my Mac) and released version 1.1 which uses a picture instead of text for the name. That's great service from a software developer!
TUAW TUAW First Look: iPhoto2Twitter originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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T Mobile shares iPhone processor, RAM specs
Filed under: Hardware, Rumors, iPhone
As Jason Snell points out at Macworld, Apple doesn't want people thinking of the iPhone as a computer. At least, not the way geeks like you and I do. As iPhone product marketing manager Bob Borchers told Jason, "...it's just faster, better, quicker, snappier, and a great experience."

Apple doesn't want us worrying about the "how," but many of us do, which is why we're interested in a blurb at T Mobile's Netherlands site which lists the iPhone 3G S as having 256MB RAM and a 600 MHz processor. Of course, we can't verify these specs yet but some have suspected, including myself, that the new model would hold 256MB RAM.

I understand the logic behind Apple's move. John Q. Customer is uninterested in the iPhone's innards and cares only that it works. For many, terms like processor, RAM and MHz only make the thing sound complicated and foreign.

Geeks like us, however, can't resist.

[Via MacDailyNews]
TUAW T Mobile shares iPhone processor, RAM specs originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Expanding Apple's Pro line of 'Books
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Macbook Pro

Long ago, before Intel had stolen Apple's heart, there was a time when a certain company's line of "Pro" notebooks consisted of three model lines. These three PowerBooks were differentiated by screen size and, at the time, they were 12-inches, 15-inches, and 17-inches.

Fast forward a few years to Monday's WWDC '09 keynote, Apple surprised us all and moved the 13" aluminum MacBooks up a few notches in the product line. As we reported Monday, the 13" aluminum MacBook now has a little "Pro" attached to the end of it. Thus, the differentiating factor between the MacBook and MacBook Pro line is (again) based on building material (plastic or aluminum). With the disappearance of the ExpressCard slot from the majority of the Pro line (except the 17"), even the expandability story becomes similar across the model lines.

Some will try to tell you that Apple has muddied the waters and tarnished the "Pro" branding by re-badging the 13" aluminum MacBook as a professional model. I, however, disagree; I believe that up until yesterday, the MacBook waters were muddy and Apple has finally cleared things up. It makes perfect sense that Apple would include the 13" aluminum MacBook in the Pro line -- it fits right in with the Apple "rule of threes" -- given that there were previously three models of professional notebooks.

It has been said that one of the differentiating factors between the professional and consumer laptops was the presence of a dedicated graphics card. If you'll recall, however, the 12" PowerBook G4 actually featured an NVIDIA graphics processor with shared virtual memory from the main system. This is extremely similar to the 13" MacBook Pro and the entry-level 15" MacBook Pro. These two models also feature NVIDIA processors with shared virtual memory, although they do lack the dual graphics chip capabilities of the higher-end models.

My belief is that Apple was wrong for ever releasing the 13" aluminum 'Book as anything other than a professional model. Ever since the Intel switch heralded the death of the 12" notebook, I have longed for Apple to provide a replacement. When the unibody line of notebooks was first released, the 13" MacBook Pro of my dreams had been born. It may have been missing a few important letters at the time but Monday's WWDC keynote address rectified that problem.

As Christina so eloquently put it, "It used to make sense to differentiate between a consumer-focused laptop and a laptop aimed at professionals... Continuing to brand nearly-identical products differently doesn't make a lot of sense." I agree with her on this, which is why I believe the re-branding of the 13" MacBook is a good idea. In my opinion, the white, plastic MacBook and the aluminum MacBook falling under the same moniker was a little non-sensical. Moving the aluminum MacBook up to the Pro line was a logical step for that piece of hardware.

Further, I think the fact that there is only a single model in the MacBook family points to the possible release of a future product slotted below the current 13" MacBook. Whether that is the fabled Apple netbook or the iTablet is yet to be seen. It is simply my opinion that the single consumer product rationale in the MacBook line is not going to last.

When you're out there mulling over the question of whether Apple's professional products have any significance in their name or not consider this: it doesn't matter. That's right, at the end of the day it all boils down to choice. Whether you think Apple made the right call or not is pretty insignificant in the face of having several different options from which to choose.

Update: As noted by commenter Tom , the PowerBook G4 never used shared system memory in any model. It had a dedicated GPU and dedicated VRAM whereas the "entry-level" MacBook Pros feature only a dedicated GPU and shared RAM. It is worth pointing out, though, that the iBook G4 also featured a dedicated GPU/VRAM combo which made the iBook G4 and entry-level PowerBook G4 very similar in terms of graphics-processing power.
TUAW Expanding Apple's Pro line of 'Books originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple Design Award winners announced
Filed under: Apple, Developer
It's a point of pride for the developers and a highlight of WWDC week -- tonight, courtesy of Jim Dalrymple at The Loop, we congratulate the winners of the Apple Design Awards for 2009. The list includes several TUAW favorites (Things, BoinxTV, Tweetie, Billings and MLB.com) along with some fantastic efforts from students.

The full winner list thanks to The Loop and Apple's ADA listings:

iPhone Developer Showcase

Tweetie from atebits

Topple from ng:moco

MLB.com At Bat from MLB.com

Postage from Rogue Sheep

Mac OS Leopard Developer Showcase

Billings from Marketcircle

Versions by Sofa

Things from Cultured Code

BoinxTV from Boinx

Best Mac OS X Student Product

Fontcase by Pieter Omvlee

Best iPhone Student App

Wooden Labyrinth 3D by Elias Pietil

Best iPhone OS 3.0 Beta App

Accuterra by Intermap Technologies

Congratulations to all the winners!

TUAW Apple Design Award winners announced originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Simple fix for the USB monitor black screen of doom
Filed under: Accessories, Mac mini

If you use a USB display adapter to add a 2nd screen to your Mac, you may have noticed that ever since Mac OS X 10.5.7 came out, they have been mysteriously failing. This morning, after logging out and logging back in, the black-screen-of-doom scenario happened on my Mac mini's second monitor. By searching around, I came across a DisplayLink FAQ that seemed to provide answers.

Mind you, I don't own a "DisplayLink". I use an eVGA UV Plus on my mini. Like many other external monitor devices, however, my eVGA uses the DisplayLink chipset and drivers. So even if you think this solution doesn't apply to your USB monitor solution, it very well may.

I didn't just upgrade to 10.5.7 yesterday. It's been running on my system for ages. So why did everything fail after my log-out/log-in? I seriously have no idea. Following the suggestions on the DisplayLink site and on several Mac support boards, I re-installed the 1.1 drivers and rebooted. My monitor is now back to life.

So, bottom line, if you are using an external USB-powered display on your Mac and it stops working, try re-installing drivers. You'll find the latest Mac drivers here, plus the newest beta releases. You'll need to agree to the DisplayLink EULA before you're permitted to download the software. And you will need to reboot. However, on an annoyance scale between 0 (everything working) and 10 (losing access to your second monitor), a simple reinstall & reboot clocks in at about a 3.
TUAW Simple fix for the USB monitor black screen of doom originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Apple effect on design
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple

Robert Brunner over at Design Matters brings up an interesting question with his latest entry: Has Apple's definition of good design skewed consumer perception?

Brunner, who admits right off the bat that he is a loyal Apple fan, makes a very good observation about design in the Apple-inspired world:

Here's the gist: Apple has been so successful in design, that to many people if something does not resemble an iPhone, iPod, MacBook, etc., it is not "good design." If it is not an uber-simple, highly-rationalized, single-buttoned, machined-from-a-solid-block-of aluminum thing, it can't be good, right? It's become a pretty common undertone in articles, reviews, blogs, and user commentary. Sometimes subtle, sometimes overt. But the overall message is there: If you don't do it like Apple, you are not practicing "good design."
And Brunner does have a point. Thanks to the design standards at Apple, there are now a lot of companies that are trying to emulate it in their products and coming up short, as seen in the pair of Samsung home theater systems from early 2008 pictured above (note: these are no longer available), which Brunner originally posted on his blog. It's definitely not easy to create a design; the folks in Cupertino will be the first to admit to that. In April 2008, BusinessWeek did an article covering a presentation at SXSW where Apple engineers discussed the design process.

The risk of Apple innovation can also lead to oversaturation as well. After the iMac came out, suddenly things weren't cool if the product name didn't have a lower-case "i" in it, and the word "pod" after the iPod became popular. What started out as very clever now just makes me roll my eyes when other companies try to incorporate those terms into its products.

Has Apple's products changed your perception of good design? Do you think it's led to oversaturation?

Many thanks to @ohmgee on Twitter for the article link!
TUAW The Apple effect on design originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft releases Office 2008 12.1.9 to patch Word vulnerability
Filed under: Software, Security
There's a new patch in town. Microsoft Office 2008 was updated today to protect against two privately-reported vulnerabilities in the handling of Word files; these security risks could have allowed an attacker to execute arbitrary code on your machine. The update also patches Entourage 2008 to prepare for the Web Services edition of the mail and PIM app.

The 154 MB/268 MB (delta or combo) update is available through Microsoft's AutoUpdate tool or via direct download.
TUAW Microsoft releases Office 2008 12.1.9 to patch Word vulnerability originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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O2 announces iPhone 3G S pricing
Filed under: iPhone
OK, UK iPhone fans, O2 has released its iPhone 3G S pricing plans for monthly and Pay & Go customers. Depending on your plan, your 16GB or 32GB iPhone 3G S could be free (but you'll be paying a healthy monthly tab).

The full details for monthly and Pay & Go plans are on O2's site, but here's the rundown:

The 16GB iPhone 3G S will cost you anywhere from £184.23 (about $300US) to £0 on an 18-month contract. If you are willing to sign a 24-month contract, you'll pay either £87.11 (about $141US) for the 16GB iPhone 3G S or get it for free.

The 32GB iPhone 3G S will range between £274.23 (~$444US) and £96.89 (~$158US) for an 18-month contract and £175.19 (~$283) and £0 for a 24-month contract. Contract prices range between £29.38 (~$48US) and £73.41 (~$120US) for 18-month terms and £34.26 (~$55US) and £73.41 (~$120US) for 24-month terms. All plans include unlimited UK data and WiFi.

UK Pay & Go customers can get the 16GB iPhone 3G S for £440.40 (~$715) and the 32GB iPhone 3G S for £538.30 (~$874). If you purchase an iPhone 3G S with Pay & Go, you'll get a year of unlimited web and Wi-Fi for free.

As in the US, your upgrade options will depend on when your contract is up, though the O2 site says that you can usually upgrade during the last month of your term.

So UK readers, will you be getting an iPhone 3G S on June 19th? Let us know in the comments!

TUAW O2 announces iPhone 3G S pricing originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Does a $99 iPhone break the psychological barrier to buying?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Deals, iPhone
Sure, the reduced price on the iPhone 3G 8GB model is swell, but is there something magical about 99 dollars? The AP story on yesterday's product announcements gets a quote from analyst Michael Gartenberg where he seems to think there may be some retail psychology at work:

"Every $100 you move down in consumer electronics brings in a lot more customers," [Gartenberg] said. "Ninety-nine dollars is a psychological price point, so that's a real barrier to move through. It becomes something people can afford - it becomes an affordable luxury.

In my experience, a $99US item is right at the point where I can at least consider buying it on impulse without consulting my spouse; this was the case with Palm's Zire handheld when it debuted, and it includes the iPod shuffle now. Anything that could be a 'checkout line' purchase should hit at that price point or below, so it's all well and good to include the 8GB 3G in the mix for new or over-contract purchasers... but knowing that the real cost of the phone is in the two years of voice and data, will consumers bite in large numbers? The Wall Street Journal cites Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi's guess that the price cut could increase iPhone demand as much as 50%, even with the presence of the 3G S at the top of the food chain.

Is iPhone demand that price-elastic? I have my doubts... but it's worth noting that the numbers from the first quarter, where RIM had to give away a free Curve with every purchase to catch up with Apple in handset sales, indicate that the smartphone market can definitely get a big boost from price cuts.

[via MacDailyNews]
TUAW Does a $99 iPhone break the psychological barrier to buying? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Is it time to drop your iPhone plan and buy a MiFi?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iPhone
Here at TUAW central, we fell into a debate last night about the merits and tradeoffs of MiFi and the iPhone. If you haven't heard of MiFi, it's a portable EV-DO router from Verizon. For $149 for the equipment (there's a $50 rebate), and for $60/month, you get up to 5GB of WiFi based data that you can tether and share.
The MiFi has a fairly limited WiFi range (about 20-40 feet max) and supports only 802.11b and g. Battery life seems limited to about 4 hours of active use. So why the attraction, and why the debate? After yesterday's slightly disappointing iPhone updates, namely the hefty hardware prices for in-contract customers and lack of AT&T announcements on tethering, I felt that the MiFi might provide a cost effective tethering solution for iPhone, iPods, and laptops.

The reasoning works like this. If you can bear to stick another gadget in your pocket or backpack, both iPods and iPhones can use MiFi's data plan. You can Skype to your heart's content (or, realistically, up to the 5GB monthly limit). This helps especially if your EDGE or 3G coverage is already awful when compared to Verizon's EV-DO network. MiFi gives you the opportunity to dump your entire iPhone plan and replace it with possibly better data. And with no US tethering yet announced for the iPhone, MiFi offers laptop as well as iPhone data; its WiFi connection appears to be platform agnostic.

So are you ready to dump your iPhone data plan? If so, you'll want to consider a phone number for your iPhone. If you've already got an AT&T plan on another phone, just pop in the SIM. If not, consider Pay As You Go. For $100, you can buy a one year credit that charges at either $0.25 a minute or $0.10 a minute with a $1/day minimum. This gives you a phone number for incoming calls, allows you to use Skype for outgoing calls, and should you have problems with MiFi or just aren't carrying it along, you can use those minutes to place normal calls. Obviously normal AT&T plans have better per-minute and SMS rates.

There are drawbacks. Along with convenience (now carrying two gadgets around? Plus your laptop?), you give up Visual Voicemail. It's one of the iPhone's nicer features. Pay As You Go, for example, gives you regular voicemail but it's not quite the same. Plus, the $60/month price? It's okay for what they give you but it's no huge bargain. Here's a quick summary of some of the the pros and cons of this approach.

Pros
- Tethering. Above-board and sharable with a couple of nearby friends.
- Works with iPod touch.
- For that matter, works with iPhone in a laptop-free way that an Express Card does not
- Skype becomes a reasonable communication option
Cons
- Two gadgets to charge, two gadgets to carry
- No Visual Voicemail
- Skype is what it is, lagged audio and all
- For a data-only plan with tethering, pricing is not great but it's pretty much in-line with other plans out there
- Bulkier than express card
Thank you to the TUAW reader who sent us the MiFi tip!
TUAW Is it time to drop your iPhone plan and buy a MiFi? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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1Password 3 beta nears, TUAW readers get a chance to participate
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, TUAW Business, Beta Beat

Update: The Agile Web Solutions guys have been nice enough to extend beta invites to another 100 TUAW readers. Those that don't make it into the first round, don't worry, the guys said they will be putting you on a waiting list and accessing that over the next couple of months, so with any luck, everyone can get in on the fun! Check out http://switchersblog.com for details in the coming weeks. Once again, send an e-mail with the subject "I want my 1P3 beta!" to 1P3Promo [at] agile [dot] ws!

I am a huge fan of Agile Web Solutions's 1Password. It's always one of the first applications I install on a freshly formatted Mac, and I use it countless times a day to manage my logins to various web sites, forums, shopping sites and more. I used to be really, really bad about using the same few passwords for every login, but the strong password generator coupled with support across browsers (and on the iPhone and iPod touch) makes it easy for me to have distinct and secure logins all over the web.

Last night, the Agile Web Solutions team released the 2.9.19 beta (with support for Safari 4), and if you subscribe to the 1Password newsletter, you know that 1Password 3.0 is gearing up for testing before being released later this year.

We've got some juicy details about what to expect in 1Password 3.0 and a chance for current 1Password fans to get in on the private 1Password 3.0 beta! Read on...

Gallery: 1Password 3 beta
Continue reading 1Password 3 beta nears, TUAW readers get a chance to participate
TUAW 1Password 3 beta nears, TUAW readers get a chance to participate originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW at E3: Guitar Rock Tour 2 and DJ Mix Tour
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
While we really liked Gameloft's Castle of Magic at E3, these two music games in their lineup didn't impress nearly as much. Guitar Rock Tour 2 is a sequel to Guitar Rock Tour, and as you can tell from the picture at right, it's more or less a Guitar Hero knock-off: hit the notes as they pass the line at the bottom, and you'll hear whatever song you choose to play. At this point, gameplay on all of these games is more or less the same, so song selection makes the difference, and that's where Guitar Rock Tour 2 falls short: the game contains only four original tracks, and fifteen covers. While they do lay claim to tracks by Judas Priest, Panic at the Disco, Wolfmother, Placebo and Twisted Sister, Tapulous pretty much has the market covered in terms of getting great music playable on the iPhone, and we didn't see anything during our hands on that would attract us away from Tap Tap Revenge and its various forms.

DJ Mix Tour is the other music game they showed us -- this one had a club feel and had you pressing notes on a turntable rather than guitar frets. There were some interesting choices in that game -- we saw some covers of Britney Spears club mixes, as well as Lady Gaga and Darude's famous Sandstorm tune, so if you're a die-hard techno fan, there might be some new tunes in there for you among the sixteen total songs. But again, Tap Tap Revenge is so polished after all their updates, and already has such a great selection of tunes that it's hard to recommend Gameloft's versions.

Both will be available for $5.99 in the App Store sometime this month.
TUAW TUAW at E3: Guitar Rock Tour 2 and DJ Mix Tour originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The dying goodwill toward AT&T
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, WWDC, iPhone
Congratulations! When Apple releases iPhone OS 3.0 next week, we'll finally be gaining the following features ...

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)! ... unless you're on AT&T.

Tethering! ... unless you're on AT&T

A brand new 16GB iPhone 3G S for only $199 with a two-year contract! ... unless you're on AT&T and already own an iPhone 3G.

AT&T has long been the subject of grumbling from the community of US iPhone users who want to use their phones legitimately. Ever since the original release back in 2007, it feels like AT&T has been trying to play catch-up when it comes to service and tower availability. But, the release of the iPhone 3G S might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I can walk down to my local AT&T store and pick up a cheap handset for less than $100 that will have MMS. AT&T knew this day was coming. The company may wail and gnash its teeth, complaining that it aren't ready for this, but it should be, especially since Boy Genius Report tells us that all AT&T needs to do is manually remove the opt-out code!

It was even apparent during the keynote yesterday that Apple sounds pretty disgusted with how far behind AT&T is dragging them. Notice the absence of any AT&T personnel on stage. Had AT&T been on the ball to begin with, it most likely would have taken center stage -- boasting about all the improvements that would garner shiny new services for iPhone users and more money for the corporate coffers. But it didn't, and the tension coming from Apple during the moments when MMS and Tethering were announced was pretty tangible. Apple had all of these features that people have been begging for ready to go, and now Cupertino is forced to wait for AT&T to finish twiddling its thumbs and do what it should have done two years ago. I wouldn't even be surprised if AT&T somehow found a way to block copy/paste!

A small footnote on Apple's iPhone page indicates that MMS support from AT&T will be coming later this summer. Another note on the 3.0 software pages says that tethering isn't available in the U.S. and some other countries, although Engadget cites AT&T sources who say it's coming -- there just isn't anything to announce yet.

Then there comes iPhone pricing. Those expecting a repeat of last summer's offer to replace their current iPhones with the latest model on the cheap are being sorely disappointed. You can read full details on that kerfuffle thanks to one of the recent additions to our team, Michael Jones. However, our commenters do have a point with that one -- those who bought the first generation iPhone paid the full price right off the bat, but later buyers were able to get the iPhone 3G at a subsidized price. Like with any other subsidized phone with any other carrier, you'll have to pay a pretty hefty price for the privilege to upgrade before you're eligible. For me, that'll be in October 2010. By then, the iPhone 3G s4π will most likely be out. Still, people aren't happy with this one either.

The ramifications for AT&T will come when it sits down at the negotiation table with Apple to extend its current gig as exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the United States. Apple won't forget that AT&T didn't have key features in place when they needed to be there. If Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, or any other carrier can convince Apple that they would be ahead of the game while AT&T lags (and, believe me, it wouldn't be that hard of an argument to make), Apple will take its toys and go elsewhere. And loyal iPhone users would follow. I know I would.
TUAW The dying goodwill toward AT&T originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple updates MacBook Air
Filed under: WWDC, MacBook Air

It's one of the most overlooked product refreshes of the day, but the MacBook Air still deserves some credit. Not only did the Air get a drastic price drop (specifically with the SSD model), but it also gained a few specs. The base MacBook Air now starts at $1499US with a 1.86 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, 120GB SATA drive (runs at 4200 rpm), and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card. The second model, which adds a 2.13 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor and 128GB SSD drive will only run you $1799US. That's a huge difference considering the last SSD model cost $2499 -- a difference of $700!

It is also worth noting that the MBAir now comes with a USB Ethernet Adapter in the box. You can also choose a keyboard format in either: English, Western Spanish, French, or Japanese. If you have been wanting a MacBook Air, but let the price hold you back, then there's no reason for you to complain any longer.

You can see all of the specs on the new MacBook Air models by visiting either the product page or the Apple online store.
TUAW Apple updates MacBook Air originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WWDC '09 keynote stream now available via QuickTime
Filed under: Apple Corporate

With all the news floating around today about the new iPhone 3G S, and the updates on the release dates of iPhone 3.0 or Snow Leopard, you might feel deprived if you didn't get to make it out to this year's WWDC. Don't fret. You can now watch the keynote stream on the Apple website and see all of the announcements from the event. Click here to go to the stream page.

You can view all of our coverage from this week on the TUAW WWDC page.

Update: You should soon be able to download the keynote as a podcast from iTunes via the Apple Keynotes feed, which can be found here [click opens iTunes].
TUAW WWDC '09 keynote stream now available via QuickTime originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple unveils Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server, cuts price in half
Filed under: Enterprise, Software, Education, WWDC, Mac OS X Server, Snow Leopard
If you have Mac servers in your business, you weren't left out of the Snow Leopard fun during the keynote earlier today. Apple also announced that Mac OS X Server 10.6, A.K.A. Snow Leopard Server, will be shipping in September. Like Snow Leopard, the server version of the OS provides 64-bit support, and many of the Apple applications have been updated to take advantage of that. For example, SMB file server performance is 2.3x faster than Leopard Server, and AFP file server performance is now 1.3x faster.

New features include:

iCal Server 2 -- This upgrade to Leopard's iCal Server now provides push notification, wireless accessibility to your calendar from any iPhone, a new web-based calendaring interface, and updates to CalDAV that now allow you to invite colleagues to meetings via email.

Podcast Producer 2 -- Podcast Producer, which was added to the server mix in Leopard, is now improved with Podcast Composer. This new feature lets you create your own workflows for automating completion and publishing of podcasts. There's also a new Setup Assistant in Server Admin that can set up Podcast Producer 2 in a manner of minutes, even if you're setting up a cluster of servers.

Wiki Server 2 -- Workgroups wishing to collaborate now have a little bit more to love from Wiki Server. The only real new feature is iPhone support; users can securely log into confidential wikis and content, and even review content and comments from the iPhone.

Mobile Access Server -- The piece that I'm probably the most excited about as an Xserve admin is Mobile Access Server. This new feature is like a custom VPN for Mac and iPhone users. As long as they're set up in the server's directory service, users can get secure, encrypted access to the server and network with very little hassle.

Mail Server -- The engine running Mail Server has been totally redesigned for much faster service, and now provides push email, vacation messages and server-side rules, and improvements to mail server clustering.

Web Server -- The biggest change to Web Server is that it can now do HTTP live video streaming. Performance is about 1.3x faster than Leopard Server's web services as well.

Client Management -- Organizations that are deploying many iPhones will love the new client management piece of Snow Leopard Server. It has an iPhone configuration utility for creating profiles that can be emailed to corporate users, thus setting up secure services in a few seconds. Administrators can now also use NetRestore to rebuild Macs over networks, based on either a custom build disk image or a standard OS X install disk.

Best of all, Snow Leopard Server will cost $499 for unlimited users (a sharp reduction from Leopard Server's price of $999 unlimited, $499 for 10 users) and should be shipping at the same time OS X 10.6 is available to the rest of us. I'd just be happy if Apple has finally fixed a lot of the issues with backing up network users to Mac OS X Server using Time Machine.

TUAW Apple unveils Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server, cuts price in half originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Turn by turn navigation coming with TomTom for iPhone
Filed under: Accessories, WWDC, iPhone
It's been a gap in the functionality of the GPS-enabled iPhone 3G for months, and one that was promised for the 3.0 software update (even though third parties have been trying to get it working for a while now): turn-by-turn navigation. Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel has been conclusively demonstrated not to be an oncoming train; it's the faint guiding glow from TomTom for iPhone, the first announced TBT navigation package for the 3.0 software (X-Road is already in the store for 2.1 devices).

There's no cost information yet (Engadget speculates 'pricey' so as not to cannibalize TomTom's hardware business), and the launch date is only noted as after the June 17th 3.0 software availability, but it certainly looks cool: a software app combined with a custom bracket & charging cable, hands-free calling and 'enhanced GPS performance' included. For iPhone owners who don't yet have in-car GPS, this could be a fantastic offering, if the price is right.

Video of the TomTom solution in the second half of the post. I already own a TomTom ONE, and just ponied up the $79 for a year of map updates... probably should have waited.
Continue reading Turn by turn navigation coming with TomTom for iPhone
TUAW Turn by turn navigation coming with TomTom for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WWDC Live: First reactions from attendees post-keynote
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Video, WWDC

It's the first of what should be many videos coming to you straight from San Francisco: Two Apple developers, three opinions! At least that's the way it seemed coming out of the keynote this afternoon at WWDC. We caught up with several attendees and asked them for their thoughts. One of our favorites: "All I wanted was voice dialing, I've wanted it for the last two years... and then they do it, and it's just so much better than you expect it to be."

iPhone-friendly m4v file is here.
TUAW WWDC Live: First reactions from attendees post-keynote originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone 3G owners and AT&T upgrade woes
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple, iPhone
With the introduction of the new iPhone 3G S at WWDC, existing AT&T customers who wish to upgrade to the new model are quickly finding out that they are not eligible for the pricing announced today.

If you were among the first 10 million customers to pick up the original iPhone, and you have not upgraded to the 3G, chances are your AT&T account lists your iPhone as eligible for an upgrade. But for many users, this is sadly not the case. Several readers have written in, letting us know that AT&T is not offering upgrade pricing for existing iPhone 3G owners, and is asking $599 for the new 16GB 3G S, or $699 for the 32GB model. Others have things a little easier, with AT&T offering $399 or $499 upgrade pricing. Now that's definitely not the rosy picture that was painted on the slide at WWDC this morning, is it?

So what can you do if you want to upgrade? Well, you might have a few options. For starters, the typical contract cancellation fee is $175. So, depending on your plan, you may be able to save some money by just canceling the contract, then purchasing the iPhone as a new contract. Keep in mind, by doing this, you'll probably need to wait 90 days or so to sign-up with AT&T (in your name anyway) and you'll lose your existing phone number.

You might also want to consider adding a new iPhone as an additional line to your account. If you don't have a spouse or family member to share your existing iPhone 3G with, the additional monthly fees for the new iPhone 3G S probably won't end up saving you any money (in fact, you can pretty much guarantee it won't), but if you want a new iPhone and have a person you can share your existing iPhone 3G with, this might be an option.

Upgrade screen for an AT&T customer just a couple of months shy of the 18-month threshold.

Finally, you can always resort to the old standby method: subsidize the cost by selling your existing phone. Since the hardware changes are fairly minimal with the new model, it's a safe bet that the 3G will still be in good demand, at least for a little while. Chances are pretty good that you can recoup some, if not all, of the cost of the new phone by selling your old 3G after you have upgraded. This is particularly true for 3G phones that have been jailbroken or unlocked. Even though the 8GB iPhone 3G will be selling for $99, users who want to use a phone without a contract or potentially with another carrier are foaming at the mouth for the iPhone.

Keep in mind that these are just suggestions, and may or may not work for everyone in all cases. If all else fails, talk to someone at AT&T. You might just get lucky and find someone who is able to help you out. If you want to wait out your existing contract, it appears that AT&T will approve you for upgrade pricing 18 months into your contract. So if you got an iPhone 3G last June, you can look at upgrading to the iPhone 3G S at the end of December.

Will you be upgrading your iPhone 3G to a 3G S, despite the steep price, or will you wait until you are eligible to upgrade? Let us know in the comments!

Update: As many of you have pointed out in the comments, much of the reasoning behind this is due to the fact that the 3G iPhone's cost was subsidized, meaning that AT&T could sell you the phone for a lower price, while locking you into a two year contract and recouping the remainder of the phone's cost over the length of that contract. In contrast, the original iPhone's cost was not subsidized, which allowed more flexibliity to those wanting to upgrade their phones early.

In all fairness to AT&T, this is the same practice that is followed by most other carriers around the world. However, much of the confusion comes with the fact that many customers were allowed to upgrade to the 3G last year if they owned the original iPhone.
TUAW iPhone 3G owners and AT&T upgrade woes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MobileMe: Even it gets some updates
Filed under: WWDC, Internet Tools, iPhone, MobileMe
Coming about six weeks too late for Steve Sande, the new Find my iPhone feature demoed at WWDC will enable you to locate your iPhone on a map by logging into me.com. Sadly, I doubt that feature will help those of us who accidentally knock their phones behind the bed or get stuck between the couch cushions, but at least you'll know if it's in the house. Edit: I forgot, you can hear it beep, even if it's set to silent. However, how loud it beeps remains to be seen ...

You can also use the Find My iPhone feature to do two things: First, you can send a message to your phone that will display on the screen, even when it's locked, alerting to the Good Samaritan who has found it that you'll be on the way to get it. However, if someone with more nefarious intentions in mind gets ahold of it, you can do a remote wipe of the phone, thus returning it to factory settings.

Not mentioned during the keynote are these little gems:
- The ability to access your iDisk from the iPhone: A feature that should have been on the iPhone for version 2.0, you can upload a file to your iDisk and immediately access it on your phone. The iDisk app will be free through the App Store.
- File sharing via iPhone: Likewise, that nifty little iDisk app will enable you to share a file with someone else by tapping on the "Share" button in the application, and it'll shoot an e-mail link to your recipients. You can also tweak the settings to set passwords and the number of days a file is available. You can also use it to access other MobileMe's Public folders.
- Mail search: If you've got a message on MobileMe but not on the iPhone itself, the improved search capabilities of iPhone OS 3.0 will allow you to search MobileMe for messages in addition to the e-mails that are on your iPhone as well.
TUAW MobileMe: Even it gets some updates originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple releases Safari 4
Filed under: WWDC, Internet Tools, Software Update, Apple

One of the early announcements in this morning's keynote was that Safari 4 is now out of beta! You can download Safari 4 for yourself (Mac or Windows) from Apple's site. Apple is touting Safari 4 as the fastest web browser around, besting IE 8, Firefox and Chrome in speed tests.

As with the Safari 4 betas, Safari 4 passes Acid 3 tests with a 100/100 -- the first (and only cross-platform) browser to achieve this level of standards compliance.

The big news for users of the Safari 4 betas is that the tab orientation has been changed. In the beta, tabs were on the top of the application window, now they are below the URL field, just like in previous versions of Safari. I'm a fan! I also like the snazzy updates to the "loading" notification and the RSS indicator.

Safari 4 has way too many features for me to list, so I'll just point you to Apple's page that details everything. The HTML 5 media and offline support, CSS 3 web fonts and CSS animations are some of my favorites.

Safari 4 is fast, thanks to the new JavaScript engine. It also integrates with both your Mac or with Windows, and the new Cover Flow History View for viewing your web history, or Top Sites for seeing what sites you visit most are totally, totally slick.

Download Safari 4 here and then come back and tell us what you think! Remember, any third-party InputManagers like Saft will need to be updated if you want to use them with Safari 4.

TUAW Apple releases Safari 4 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Snow Leopard is out of the bag
Filed under: OS, Software Update, Apple, Snow Leopard

For the ultra low price of $29 (for existing Leopard users), Apple gave a deeper look into the upcoming Snow Leopard release -- slated for some time in September.

"We've built on the success of Leopard and created an even better experience for our users from installation to shutdown," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "Apple engineers have made hundreds of improvements so with Snow Leopard your system is going to feel faster, more responsive and even more reliable than before."

Here's more highlights of the Snow Leopard release...
Continue reading Snow Leopard is out of the bag
TUAW Snow Leopard is out of the bag originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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QuickTime X leaps forward in Snow Leopard
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video, Software Update, Snow Leopard
Seems like only yesterday that QuickTime was at version 7. Oh wait, that was yesterday. Among the many announcements surrounding Snow Leopard we saw a little more of QuickTime X, Apple's next-generation version of the venerable media player/technology/doohickey. While the interface has been totally overhauled, the changes are more than skin deep.

QuickTime X is a significant update. For consumers, there won't be a Pro version. Any version will allow simple editing, video/audio capture, and allow you to "publish your media to MobileMe or YouTube -- without worrying about codec formats or resolutions." We're not sure if you'll be able to save as a QuickTime movie or source file as before, but the removal of some previous limits will make QuickTime the snappy iMovie substitute it could be. Plus, QuickTime X will allow you to use any web server to stream live video over HTTP. Can't wait to see what people do with that.

In addition to the visible changes, QuickTime X looks like a fundamental rewrite of the application and its underpinnings. Support for Core Audio, Core Video and Core Animation could mean some really interesting things for the future of media playback (not that we weren't promised as much a few years ago, of course). All of this comes wrapped up in Snow Leopard, and takes full advantage of the speed-tuning tech therein.
Continue reading QuickTime X leaps forward in Snow Leopard
TUAW QuickTime X leaps forward in Snow Leopard originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple posts iPhone 3G S videos
Filed under: WWDC, iPhone

Apple has posted two new videos on its main page. An iPhone Guided Tour introduces the iPhone 3G S model with all its new features. You'll see how to shoot a video and edit it on your iPhone, make calls and play songs using voice commands, get a preview of the 3.0 Spotlight feature in action, and of course check out that cool new compass.

You can also view the iPhone advertisement that was shown to the keynote participants today. Point your browser to the Ads Gallery page. The spy-influenced ad is presented on the front page of the gallery.
TUAW Apple posts iPhone 3G S videos originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone 3G S: Built for speed
Filed under: Hardware, WWDC, iPhone

It's no big surprise, and John Gruber even got the name right.

Apple announced the new iPhone 3G S today, featuring faster processor speed, built-in video capture and editing, voice dialing and voice command, built-in compass, and of course it will be running iPhone 3.0. There's a much better camera in the iPhone 3G S as well. Here are the details:

Price (new): 16GB -- US$199, 32GB -- US$299
Capacity: 16GB or 32GB
Case color: Black or White
Dimensions: 4.5 inches x 2.4 inches x 0.48 inches (115.5 mm x 62.1 mm x 12.3 mm), 4.8 oz. (135 gms)
Camera / Video:
- 3 megapixels
- Autofocus
- Tap to focus
- Video recording, VGA up to 30 fps with audio
- Photo and video geotagging
- iPhone and third-party application integration
Cellular and Wireless:
- UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
- Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Location:
- Assisted GPS
- Digital compass
- Wi-Fi
- Cellular
Power and Battery
- Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter
- Talk Time: 3G - Up to 5 hours, 2G - Up to 12 hours
- Standby time: Up to 300 hours
- Internet use: Up to 5 hours on 3G, Up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi
- Video playback: Up to 10 hours
- Audio playback: Up to 30 hours
More pricing information and details will be posted shortly here on TUAW.
TUAW iPhone 3G S: Built for speed originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Re-defining "Pro": The 13" MacBook Pro
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Macbook Pro, MacBook
Once again, Gruber called it (aside, I wish I had his sources); the naming distinctions between the unibody 13" MacBook and the 15" MacBook Pro are now gone: say hello to the 13" MacBook Pro. Complete with a lower price (starts at $1199 and goes to $1499 in stock configurations), and more features (SD card slot, FireWire 800, 7-hour battery), the 13" MacBook Pro will likely continue to be Apple's best selling laptop.

This is an interesting reversal of branding. When the unibody MacBooks were released last fall, they appeared nearly identical to the larger, "Pro" labeled companion. The two big differences (aside from screen size) were the video card configurations (integrated for the MacBook, as opposed to integrated and discrete in the MBP) and the lack of a FireWire on the "amateur" edition. Many of us speculated that the removal of FireWire was done primarily to distinguish between the two lines and try to move consumers up to a pricier model.

There was a lively debate in the posts about FireWire's exodus from the unibody MacBook about what constitutes a "pro" machine from something that shares the same design but is smaller in size. Without rehashing the whole debate, it pretty much mirrored those "my dad is richer than your dad" fights that always seemed to break out at high school parties in my district. In my experience, when arguments essentially become "you're only a pro if the label says so," the real-world distinction is gone.
Continue reading Re-defining "Pro": The 13" MacBook Pro
TUAW Re-defining "Pro": The 13" MacBook Pro originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Numbers game: 75M Mac OS X users, 1M SDK downloads, 50,000 apps
Filed under: WWDC
As with most keynote presentations, Apple released a lot of numbers about just how many people are adopting the Mac and iPhone platforms.

First, over the last three years, the active Mac OS X installed base has grown from 25 million users to 75 million users. This is great news for the platform and for the entire Mac ecosystem.

Also, over 5,200 developers from 54 countries around the world are attending WWDC. Over a million people have downloaded the free iPhone SDK, and created 50,000 applications for Apple iPhones and iPod touch devices.

Speaking of which, over 40 million iPhones and iPod touches have been sold to date. In April, Apple announced that those users had downloaded a cumulative total of one billion applications.
TUAW Numbers game: 75M Mac OS X users, 1M SDK downloads, 50,000 apps originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WWDC 2009 Keynote meta-liveblog
Filed under: WWDC, Developer
The keynote is now complete and the full liveblog is at the link below.

http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/08/wwdc-2009-keynote-meta-liveblog/
Continue reading WWDC 2009 Keynote meta-liveblog
TUAW WWDC 2009 Keynote meta-liveblog originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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