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TheAppleBlog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
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Why I'll Wait on Snow Leopard, and Why Maybe You Should Too

A new cat is upon us, but that doesn’t mean I’ll pounce on the latest upgrade, pardon the pun. Dare I admit in public I’m not an early adopter? Hey, if you like living on the edge, go for it. Go ahead and cook your poultry below 165 degrees or eat raw eggs.

Me, I play it safe. Mac users like everything to work out to the box and a new OS simply doesn't. Do you really want to spend your weekend messing with a “better” operating system? Ask these guys about that.

I may be a lonely voice among the chorus of praise for Snow Leopard, but here are five reasons why I’m going to wait a bit before hearing this new cat purr.

1. It’s a Point 0 Release

Maybe it’s because I’m married to a Quality Assurance engineer, but I worry about unfixed bugs. I remember 10.5 having a critical data loss bug. Will 10.6 have it? I hope not. What other bugs will be discovered that first weekend? Several. Some could make your Mac virtually unusable, while others will be merely annoying.

Which ones will I face? None. I’ll wait for you all to find them while I sit back and read about your trials and tribulations. Online forums are already full of posts noting the prevalence of software-based kernel panics in Snow Leopard, and undoubtedly there are many bugs waiting to be discovered in the days ahead as the rough edges get sanded down.

2. My Programs May Not Work Properly

In theory, the code has been in hands of developers for a long time and they should have been able to update for full compatibility. However, Apple changes aspects of Snow Leopard after each build, and some builds can introduce bugs very late in the game. Do I have time to check each and every app and make sure it’s Snow Leopard compatible? Some incompatibilities might even prevent an install. 10.5 early adopters ran into big problems with “haxies.” What should we avoid with a 10.6 install? I’ll find out next month I’m sure.

Should I even mention Quicken 2007? If your business relies on Quickbooks, would you trust it in Snow Leopard, especially with older versions Intuit no longer supports? How about old versions of Creative Suite left over from your PowerPC days? Adobe says you’re on your own with that. Programs not designed for Intel-based Macs are the most likely candidates for problems.

If you don’t care about productivity, have fun this weekend. If you use your Mac to help put food on the table, your biggest risk is to lose your primary money maker for a few days. If you can afford the down time in this economy, go for it. I sure can’t.

3. Hardware Could Fail, and Fail Hard

A long, long time ago…I can still remember… How my Mac would start up with a smile. I can’t figure out how to change the words of American Pie to include the day AppleTalk died, but die it does in Snow Leopard, after outlasting System Enablers, floppy drives, and SCSI. That trusty laser printer you connect via AppleTalk becomes a big huge paperweight under Snow Leopard according to most reports. Someone might develop a workaround, but that isn’t going to help you with your deadlines.

Your printer isn’t the only casualty in Snow Leopard. An old Palm Pilot or Palm-based phone is no longer supported, and you’ll be required to buy third party software such as Missing Sync. As of this writing, Missing Sync isn’t fully compatible with Snow Leopard. What other hardware might have problems? Scanners are my next guess. Hopefully your manufacturer will develop a driver if your product is still supported. Speaking of support…

4. Lack of Support by Vendors

A vast majority of the support people you talk with will be completely flummoxed if you’re running Snow Leopard. They already treat you like a second-class citizen because you’re on a Mac. If they ask which version of the OS I’m running and I say 10.6, I suspect their brain will explode right then and there.

Snow Leopard will be blamed, not their product. Cable modem down: Snow Leopard. Printer making grinding noise: Snow Leopard. Health care claim denied: Snow Leopard. You’re probably laughing, but maybe not, if you’re one of many who’s run into something similar.

5. I’m Cheap

Sure, I’ll only pay $10 for the Up-To-Date program and others will only have to pay $29. However, my new iMac works great. Even $10 is an unneeded expense. Why mess with something that’s working well? My system works, I get things done. The last thing I need is to change everything. I’ll give it a few months until 10.6.1 comes out and the early adopters have done the hard work of finding problems.

Who else is going to skip curling up with a new cat this weekend and wait for someone else to find the sharp claws?

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Adobe Bridge as a Better iPhoto

iPhoto is OK, especially if you like lots of automation when managing your image files, but it’s not as likely to appeal to pros or serious amateurs. Some will use Apple’s Aperture or Adobe’s Lightroom, but there’s another photo management solution you may already have on your hard drive.

I’m talking about Adobe’s Bridge utility, a photo file browser bundled with CS3 and CS4, and in a slightly feature-reduced version, with Photoshop Elements 6 (PSE). I prefer Bridge’s more manual control and configuration options to iPhoto’s automation of how you browse, organize, delete, search, view, edit, and apply metadata to your image files.

Photoshop is too expensive for most, but its consumer version, Photoshop Elements, retains much of the power and functionality of the full version at a relatively low price. The Bridge version Mac PSE users get lacks only a few esoteric bits, like the “meetings” feature that supports project collaboration and the ability to apply camera RAW settings to groups of photos or to access the RAW converter directly.

When you access the Bridge from PSE (File Menu — “Browse With Bridge”), the Elements interface hides and the Bridge interface appears, allowing you to display folder icons or content thumbnails. Six interface layouts are available, with several panels — called Workspaces — that help you find and preview photos, review associated metadata, and so on. You can use the predefined panels, or create your own custom Workspace.

Another Bridge feature, “Stacks,” organizes your photos into stacks of images. It lets you keep each series of photos in a single spot in Bridge, making it easier and faster to find the ones you want. Bridge also lets you apply keywords to help organize photos in growing photo libraries. In the Keywords panel you can create and assign terms to photos, allowing you to instantly filter your library.

There’s also Collections, which allows you to save groups of photos for quick access, or to gather shots you want to use in a project. For example, if you have several cameras, you can segregate your library based on the camera used by organizing the photos from each into different collections.

Note that, unlike in iPhoto, when you move or delete a file in Bridge, you’re editing or disposing of the original copy. Bridge doesn’t keep backups, as it is purely a browser for finding and organizing files — one of the reasons I, being manual control-oriented, prefer it. Bridge is not a busybody app that second-guesses you.

Recently, a reader with a photography business asked my advice on a good Mac-based photo management system. His requirements included the ability to add the files’ EXIF to his contact info, details on where and why the picture was taken, copyright info, and keywords searchable by various image galleries he uses. He also wanted a tool that would leave his directory structure intact. Sounded like a job for Bridge.

The reader said he’d owned almost every version of Photoshop, from 5 to CS3, and checked out Bridge when it was first introduced, finding it slow and clunky, but would give it another try. He reported back that the current version is much better, adding that my suggestion might have just saved him hours of tedious organizing.

If you already have Photoshop CS3 or Elements 6, it’s worth taking a look at Bridge. If you don’t have one of those apps, Photoshop Elements at $89.95 has to be one of the greatest-ever software bargains, and inclusion of Bridge in version 6 is the icing on the cake.

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App Developer Diary 5: Building on a Budget

Going behind-the-scenes of a real iPhone app’s development, in this installment I investigate several methods for cutting development costs and adding value to the game.

I have to admit that I’m still working on the Game Design Document. Something which I thought would take only a few days has grown to incorporate minute details alongside gargantuan fundamental gameplay concepts. This document is essentially Tetris in written form: piling on concept after concept, attempting to make it fit together before the whole thing becomes too unwieldy to manage.

While work on the GDD should finish this week – Matias has stated that this Friday is the absolute deadline – I’m finding the time to explore other related areas of app development. In my last entry I spoke to Mills, one of the founders of ustwo, a growing independent mobile content studio.

Mills provided me with some revealing data in terms of development costs and sales. Looking at ustwo’s costs for app development relative to the revenue that they generated led me to think about how I could lower our own development costs while increasing the app’s desirability.

I’ve managed to find three different solutions that add value to our app and cost either very little or absolutely nothing.

Recycle That Code

Recycling and reusing code is a tried and tested convention in software development, particularly in the game industry. When you write a piece of code once – for example a game engine for a first person shooter – why spend time and money writing it again for the sequel? It’s far simpler to copy, paste, modify and deploy.

Working for a game developer a few years back, there were times when I noted that code recycling wasn’t necessarily in the customer’s best interests. In particular, I remember a top-down shooter – in the style of Grand Theft Auto – recycled as two different titles. The artwork was redrawn, the in-game dialogue was chopped and changed, but it was quite clearly the same game.

We plan to be a little smarter in choosing how and where we redeploy certain pieces of code. The PearComp coders, Matias, Markus and Ben, are currently working on Facebook and Twitter integration for the game. The plan is that, from within the game, players will be able to post their high scores to the two social networking services.

Facebook and Twitter posting is the value-adding feature du jour. Being able to link an app to these services provides a seamless connection between a user’s social life and the app in question. For games in particular, it’s a great way of enabling players to shout about their achievements while generating publicity for the title among their social connections.

In effect, the code that the PearComp team have created for the game can be re-used for future iPhone app developments. It’ll benefit some of PearComp’s clients, plus it’ll cut costs, and save time and resources.

Find Your Voice

John J. Dick is a voice actor and DJ who happens to be pretty badly in debt. His biggest gig was working on Serious Sam, an explosive shooter for hardcore gamers. John’s husky vocals helped flesh out Sam, the game’s main man: an alien destroying, gun toting, time traveling mercenary.

Back in the real world though, John’s debt has become such a problem that he’s come up with a cunning way to bail himself out. John has decided to offer his voice acting talent at an incredibly competitive rate: $1 per word.

Commissioning John to record a few words for the game was an easy decision – it cuts costs for sound recording and should save us some time later in the project. Having John’s name, and by extension Serious Sam, attached to the project could also make for some fun PR when we launch.

Collaborate & Communicate

In the previous installment of the App Developer Diary, I found out a little more about ustwo’s MouthOff app for iPhone. After speaking to Mills. I realized that there was potential for a really exciting collaboration.

I called Mills back the next day and pitched my idea: ustwo would create a special version of MouthOff featuring one of the characters from our game. We’d take the MouthOff code from ustwo and put it into our app, essentially this exclusive MouthOff would be accessed from within our game.

Featuring an exclusive MouthOff mode within our app adds some serious fun and replay value to the game. It would also garner some added exposure for ustwo’s app. Of course, we’ll ensure that there’s a link to the App Store for players to purchase the full version of MouthOff.

By recycling code, finding a great deal on audio assets and collaborating with an awesome dev studio, we’ve made our game even better without breaking the bank.

Next time: I finally submit the Game Design Document to the coders at PearComp.

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First Augmented Reality App for the iPhone Is Live

Several sources reported yesterday that the latest updates to the app Metro Paris Subway had (99 cents, iTunes link) appeared on the iTunes App Store, bringing it up to version 3.0. Amongst many nice new and updated features, this version also brings augmented reality to the iPhone, officially, for the first time.

So, it's finally here. Augmented Reality (AR) has hit the iPhone, and nothing will ever be the same again. Prepare for the Future.

Except…don't bother. Why, you ask?

Because it's just not that exciting. It's definitely cool, sure. But after the initial novelty wears off, you'll be back to boasting to friends about how well Copy & Paste works on your $300 cell phone and, only if you remember (and only if you're in the right geographical location), you might you fire up your AR app of choice.

To be clear, Metro Paris Subway isn't designed to be an AR app first and foremost. It has been available for some time, and augmented reality functionality is just one of many new features added in the 3.0 update. Other features include support for push notifications, in-app purchases and quick-view disruption reporting via the application icon's badges. It just so happens that the AR feature is the first of its kind to get official approval and distribution from Apple.

AR is the new way of seeing the world. Put ever so simply, it's made possible by the iPhone's GPS, magnetometer and camera gathering their data together and comparing it with a database of geo-coordinates optionally tied to images of what's at those coordinates. Yeah, that's the simple overview. It can get far more complicated and nuanced than that, but the underlying premise remains the same irrespective of which platform or software you use.

The upshot is that you point your camera at, say, Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square and, in real time, overlaid on the image on your screen, a box appears telling you that you're looking at Nelson's Column. Another box tells you you're standing in Trafalgar Square. Optional other boxes might tell you who tweeted there recently.

It sounds terribly exciting, but I suspect once you've used it once, the thrill will subside rather quickly.

Scoble recently said of the upcoming technology;

"Augmented Reality apps are about to become the HUGE rage on the iPhone. Why? They demo well."

He's quite correct. Take a look at this YouTube video of an augmented reality concept from The Astonishing Tribe:

Impressive, no?

Even More Impressive If You're NOT American

I don't know why, but AR is gaining more traction outside the States. In a TechCrunch article from the 17th of this month, it was noted how science fiction writer (and WIRED contributor) Bruce Sterling had:

"…pointed out that the biggest language bases for AR are actually Korean and Dutch with English coming in third. Similarly, the greatest interest is not in San Francisco but places like Singapore, Lisbon and Amsterdam. Could this be a new tech industry which does not revolve around Silicon Valley?"

Sterling reportedly referred to AR as a "technovisionary's dream come true" but warned that, as with any big technology destined for the big time, it would be susceptible to:

"…the AR equivalents of spam and online criminality, the Gartner hype cycle, the environmental impact. [Sterling] imagined a ‘Crack dealers layer’ or ‘Neo-nazi's occupation guide to Amsterdam’."

I can already hear the plaintive wails of so-called "Privacy Advocates" who didn't give a damn when AR apps appeared on Google's Android platform. But the iPhone is so much more popular and for most publications (even those not usually interested in technology), it's fashionable to write about Apple and its products.

Of course, it's only a matter of time before we see the App Store crowded with AR-enabled apps. Some of them will be great, and a small fraction of those will be revolutionary. But most, I expect, will be time and battery-draining garbage.

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Rumor Has It: Apple to Refresh MacBook

AppleInsider's Kasper Jade today reports that Apple has new plans for its workhorse laptop, the MacBook. This will be the first time since the product's launch in 2006 that the company's entry-level Mac has received a complete design update.

The MacBook is the best selling computer in the history of the company. It introduced many of the features we take for granted in today's high-end MacBook Pro machines. The MagSafe connector and latchless lids might be expected of Apple's laptops these days, but they originally debuted in the diminutive MacBooks more than three years ago.

The report claims that the MacBooks were slated to be discontinued, but that at a redesign will "…solidify them at the base of the Mac maker’s notebook offerings for the foreseeable future."

There is no news as to what the redesigned MacBook might look like, but if Apple is to position the machine as a low-cost entry-level device while keeping it distinct enough from its 13-inch MacBook Pro cousin, it seems unlikely it will be made using the same unibody extrusion process.

A carbon fibre composite would make sense, given this 2006 patent application filed by Apple. It describes a method for producing a carbon fiber composite used as an exterior shell for electronic devices. Of particular note is mention of a "scrim" layer designed to improve the cosmetic finish of the material.

Furthermore, there was talk last year of Apple planning to replace at least part of the MacBook Air's aircarft-grade aluminum body – specifically, the bottom cover – with the tough-but-light carbon fiber material. While the latest updates to the Air continue to use an all-aluminum body, it is conceivable the carbon fiber plans will see the light of day in the new MacBook.

As for the refreshed internals, there's only speculation, guided by the assumption Apple will want to position the new MacBook as an affordable (read "cheap") machine;

"Apple is expected to achieve these markdowns through largely existing tactics, such as using lower-end components and previous-generation Core 2 Duo chips and architectures from Intel Corp. Battery life should receive a boost from cutting-edge technology that recently found its way into the company’s other notebook offerings, while high-end legacy features like FireWire connectivity are likely to be sacrificed in the tradeoff.

[Apple] toyed with the prospect of throwing an Intel Atom processor into the existing white MacBook enclosure as interim solution aimed at delivering a low-cost Mac portable for those consumers eying a Mac but hit hard by the recession."

Interestingly, Jade explains that this idea was dropped earlier in the year right around the time when Apple "…solidified the forthcoming Newton web tablet for a first quarter 2010 roll-out".

If Apple prices the new MacBook around the same $999 mark as the current machine – which it most probably will – what will that mean for the price of the tablet? Whatever the outcome, it sounds as though Apple has a clearly defined product/feature differentiation in mind for these devices, despite their similar price points.

It's all just speculation of course. But it's nice to see that Apple is potentially breathing new life into an old and trusted friend.

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