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MINI Roadside Assistance can get you and your MINI out of trouble spots
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Our colleague, Sam Abuelsamid, at Autoblog has pointed out the release of a roadside assistance app from automaker MINI. The app, MINI Roadside Assistance [iTunes link], is a collaboration between the automaker and insurance company Allstate and allows one to access roadside assistance as well as the specify its cause

So, say you're driving your MINI to Las Vegas for your buddy's bachelor party. During the drive, your car overheats; it's 120 degrees and you ~~forgot~~ were too lazy to check the coolant before you left, what'd you expect to happen? Well, no need to worry -- roadside assistance is just a few taps away with MINI Roadside Assistance.

MINI Roadside Assistance is available as a free download. MINI Cooper not included. More info and a demo video are available at Sam's article.
TUAW MINI Roadside Assistance can get you and your MINI out of trouble spots originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple Store UK says Snow Leopard ships by August 28th
Filed under: OS, Software Update, Apple, Snow Leopard

There's been a lot of news circulating around about the upcoming release of Mac OS X 10.6. First, Snow Leopard hit Amazon's pre-order list (and soon topped it) and days later, there were reports that Snow Leopard had finally reached gold master.

Today, Apple's UK store has posted information about Snow Leopard and Apple's "Up-to-Date" program, with an interesting note: Ships by August 28th. If this is true, it would confirm rumors that the next major release of the Mac operating system would be released ahead of the September release date set by Apple.

While the page is public, there's no way to order it yet. This could be a simple error or an outdated page but has Mac fans in a buzz as the release gets closer.

[via MacRumors]

TUAW Apple Store UK says Snow Leopard ships by August 28th originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MindMeister for iPhone, mind map in the cloud!
Filed under: Productivity, iPhone, App Review
I've mentioned some options for iPhone-based mind mapping before, but I'm pretty excited to let everyone know about the release of MindMeister for iPhone (iTunes Link). MindMeister is a web-based mind mapping application with excellent import and export features for most major formats.

They've been focused on collaboration from the beginning, allowing realtime editing of mind maps by multiple participants, and including Skype integration. The iPhone version allows you to download your maps from your account (or start from scratch) and sync changes back to your maps, share maps, and export as MindManager, Freemind, Word, PDF or image files.

MindMeister for iPhone (and iPod touch) is an evolution of the MindMaker application, which was acquired by MindMeister. While the online version of MindMeister allows for a range of icons, images and metadata on each node, the iPhone version currently lacks a lot of this functionality. However, it provides a fast, simple way to edit the text of nodes, adding to existing maps or creating new ones on-the-go. The navigation is an intuitive pan-and-zoom, tap-to-edit interface which is pretty standard among iPhone mind-mapping apps. It also incorporates the GeistesBlitz feature of MindMeister, which allows you to instantly add ideas to a default map, or create a basic map from scratch, through email or a variety of other methods (there's a REST API available if you feel like adding your own points of access).

As an aside, I'd like to point out that the online version has some cool tricks. For example, you can import a tab-indented outline from a text file and turn it into a map automatically (just go to "Import Mindmap" and select a text file). Also, if you're editing a map, select a node and then click the image or note button ... not the dropdown menu, just click the button. It will do a quick search of Google Images or Wikipedia, respectively, and insert the results. Don't like the image it found for your text? Click again. Try it, it's fun.

While I'm not completely sold on iPhone mind-mapping (paper is pretty fast), the syncing, sharing, rapid-entry features of MindMeister make it my top pick. It's not just about device portability, it's about data portability; with MindMeister, my maps can end up in just about any format I want them to, and I can share them directly and get feedback instantly. MindMeister for iPhone is currently $6.99 in the App Store. If you're a MindMaker user, it's a free upgrade. The MindMeister.com online service has plans ranging from free to $6/month, with a $15/year academic option.
TUAW MindMeister for iPhone, mind map in the cloud! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wikimedia Foundation creates official iPhone app
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
The Wikimedia Foundation has just released a free app for accessing the web based encyclopedia right on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Wikipedia Mobile [iTunes link] brings the full boatload of Wikipedia knowledge to a nicely formatted iPhone screen. In my tests, it responded quickly, and without any glitches over Wi-Fi and the 3G network.

The only issues really are that there are already dozens of similar apps available for the iPhone. In fact, if you go to the Wikipedia site in Safari things are nicely optimized for the iPhone screen. Of course the app has a built in history button, but Safari does too.

Some of the other Wikipedia apps I've tried are Wikipanion [iTunes link], which has more features, including changing the font size, and Wikiamo [iTunes link] that allows landscape view, reading of saved material offline, and links to other languages.

I'd like to see the ability to email entries to myself or others, and the Wikipedia Mobile support page just goes to the home page of Wikipedia. That's not too helpful.

One other odd thing. When trying to install the software on a first generation iPod touch, users are reporting it fails with an error message saying a microphone is needed. Huh?

However you access it, Wikipedia is a great resource, and the Wikimedia Foundation says it will be updating the app frequently based on user requests. The current version is 0.1, so I think this app is just getting started.
TUAW Wikimedia Foundation creates official iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Want a 1st generation iPod? They're still available from the Apple Store
Filed under: Humor, iPod Family, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends
In 2001, the same year the Game Boy Advance was introduced, Apple brought the iPod to us (and not to universal enthusiasm, either). When I was doing some Google searching last night on Apple model numbers, I found something quite strange.

Who knew that there were first-generation iPods still for sale on store.apple.com! This is the very first iPod model, introduced in 2001. I don't know how they ended up there, or why they're selling them, but they're shipping "within 24 hours" and are available for $129.00. Remember, this is the model with the "scroll wheel," it's not touch sensitive, and you have to physically turn it with your thumb or finger. Note that the image Apple is using on the store is actually for a third-generation iPod, but the product description and model number are for the first-gen. Also, these iPods are refurbished, they're not brand new.

It includes a 5GB iPod (for Mac only, the Windows-compatible versions came later) w/rechargeable lithium battery, original scroll wheel, headphones, an Apple iPod Power Adapter, an Apple FireWire Cable (2 meters), a Manual (iPod Getting Started), CD-ROM Disc w/iTunes (version unknown, but let's take a guess and say "old"), and a One Year Limited Warranty that by rights should have expired eight years ago.

Are you going to take the plunge? Will it look good next to your G3 iMac? If you do or don't, feel free to leave a comment below!

UPDATE: I ordered a 5GB iPod but the receipt, added to the gallery below, indicates Apple will ship a 10GB model to me within 24 hours. We are getting reports of confusion as people try to order over the phone.

Plus, there's a 1GB iPod shuffle available.

Gallery: Refurb Apple gear at Apple

UPDATE #2: It must be random nostalgia day in Cupertino, because tipster Will V. sent us a list of more old iPods supposedly for sale. Check them out on the next page.

Continue reading Want a 1st generation iPod? They're still available from the Apple Store
TUAW Want a 1st generation iPod? They're still available from the Apple Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Your iPhone and iPhoto library are in sync with Simplify Photo
Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

Like its music app on the iPhone, which allows you to use your iPhone to tap into your desktop's music collection, Simplify Media provides similar functionality with photos through its Simplify Photo [iTunes link] iPhone app.

Many of us are forgetful in some form, and this trait is especially magnified when one proceeds to show others an "awesome photo" on your iPhone that, sadly, didn't get synced. Instead of telling your friends that you'll show or email them the photo later -- assuming you even remember to -- you can use Simplify Photo to view your entire iPhoto collection.

While increased megapixels in digital photography brings with it the promise of better picture quality, in most cases it comes at a file size premium. And because storage space on your iPhone is a finite resource, you can choose to set aside dedicated space for those really important photos and use Simplify Photo for those that are not as important but would nonetheless like to have access to just in case.

Simplify Photo is available for 99 cents on the iTunes App Store, while the required desktop client (available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux) is available as a free download at the Simplify Media site. The desktop app allows you to not only specify which iPhoto albums and events to sync, but the people as well -- via integration with the app's "Faces" facial detection feature. And if you're not exactly sure which album or event a photo is stored, you can use the app's search feature, which searches your photos' tags, titles and comments.

But the standout feature of Simplify Photo is its geolocation support. Like iPhoto '09's places feature, Simplify Photo displays a map with various dropped pins; and tapping on the pins will display the photos taken in the vicinity.

If a picture can say a thousand words, then Simplify Photo's desktop syncing capabilities have the potential to make your iPhone speechlessly filled with photos.
TUAW Your iPhone and iPhoto library are in sync with Simplify Photo originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Regator provides news aggregation for the more blog-minded
Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
Catching up on the happenings around the blogosphere is a difficult task. Luckily, I happened to stumble upon John Burke's Download Squad piece on the release of Regator [iTunes link].

So, if you'd like to get caught up on the latest news, insights and commentary on Rod Blagojevich around the blogosphere (now that's a tongue twister), Regator could be of assistance.

Regator's user-interface is similar to USA Today's iPhone app [iTunes link]. A horizontal menu displays a number of categories -- such as sports, lifestyle, and entertainment -- that are touch-scrollable. Tapping on a category displays its subcategories. For instance, NBA news would fall under the basketball branch of the sports tree. While a breadcrumb trail displays your viewing hierarchy, the browsing menu disappears as you scroll down; this was my only annoyance with the app, although it's a relatively minor one.

Regator's stand-out feature is what it calls "trends." Like a tag cloud on a blog, in which bigger clouds are usually associated with more hot topics or issues, trends provides a listing of the latest hot topics around the blogosphere.

For instance, a look at sports trends shows Tiger Woods at the top of the list -- which is no surprise given Y.E. Yang's surprising victory over him this past weekend. And Brett Favre's retiring-unretiring-retiring-unretiring-retiring-unretiring puts him near the top of the trends list as well.

Regator is available as a free download at the iTunes app store. Domo arigato, Regator!
TUAW Regator provides news aggregation for the more blog-minded originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Twitterrific updated to 2.1, adds many new features
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
The Iconfactory's Twitter for iPhone client app, Twitterrific [iTunes link] , has been updated to 2.1. The new version has added several new features that make it far more useful than before. A few highlights:
- New "Load More..." button at the bottom of the timeline to retrieve older tweets
- New "Following" and "Followers" lists in author view
- Support for recording, posting, and viewing videos (recording and posting require iPhone 3GS)
- Built-in browser now supports landscape orientation
- Image links are now displayed in a photo viewer
- Long uploads now show a percentage completed
- Added in-app email support
The update comes with bug fixes as well, including improved typing speed, plugged memory leaks, and many more.

Twitterrific is the only Twitter client app I've used for my iPhone so far. The free version may be ad-supported, but even before this update its smooth interface and impressive functionality were enough for Twitterrific to make it to my iPhone's first page of apps. So far the update seems to run far smoother, and the added features, particularly "Load More..." and the Following/Followers lists, ensure that this will most likely remain my Twitter app of choice.

I don't have a 3GS, so I wasn't able to test the video upload feature in Twitterrific 2.1. Our own Dave Caolo used it on his 3GS to upload a ten-second film, and he said it took less than thirty seconds to upload it over 3G.

Oddly enough, even though the app has a built-in internet browser, it's still only rated 4+. Other apps have run into approval hurdles from Apple's app store requiring them to be rated 17+ because the built-in browser "could be used to link to objectionable content." Perhaps we're seeing the end of this practice?
TUAW Twitterrific updated to 2.1, adds many new features originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple releases fixes for Bluetooth and MacBook Pro hard drives
Filed under: Bluetooth, Software Update, Macbook Pro
Apple has just released two firmware updates, one fixing issues with Bluetooth and the the other fixing the MacBook Pro hard drive noise issue.

The first, Bluetooth Firmware Update 2.0.1, fixes bugs and improves compatibility with the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse and Apple Wireless Keyboard. It's available for all Macs with Broadcom Bluetooth chipsets, which include all unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and all other Macs introduced in 2009.

The other one, Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0, which has been promised by Apple for some time now, fixes the widely reported issue with hard drive noise. This issue only affects MacBook Pros with 7200 RPM hard drives introduced in June 2009 or later, so this update is only available for those Macs.

Both of these updates are available through Software Update, or they can also be downloaded on Apple's support downloads page.
TUAW Apple releases fixes for Bluetooth and MacBook Pro hard drives originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bug-bashing Bento 2.0v5 is now available for download
Filed under: Software, Odds and ends
FileMaker issued an update to their Mac database application Bento this morning. Bento 2.0v5 is a bug-fix release, with no new features added to the application.

According to the download notes, Bento 2.0v5:
- Resolves an issue related to duplication of Address Book and iCal information when synchronizing with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch. They've also posted details on removing duplicate entries.
- ~~Resolves an issue related to library icons when importing library templates.~~ This issue was originally reported as fixed, but Filemaker has updated the release notes and now indicates that it is NOT a fix in this build.
- Resolves an issue related to importing Bento databases to FileMaker Pro
The download weighs in at 76.1 MB, while the expanded disk image is a full 127.9 MB in size and replaces the existing Bento installation. FileMaker also notes that this release includes the changes that were delivered in Bento 2.0v4, which added compatibility with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch as well as improved performance of the application.
TUAW Bug-bashing Bento 2.0v5 is now available for download originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Can't upload pix to MobileMe? Apple has a fix for that
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Internet Tools, MobileMe
If you've been trying to upload a picture from your iPhone to a MobileMe gallery, and are getting the message "Unable to connect to MobileMe" message you're not alone.

The problem appears to be related to a bug in user name recognition. Apple has published a KB article dealing with the issue. The problem seems to be triggered if your member name is in mixed case, or if it is in all caps. MobileMe requires the user name be in all lower case letters, although the same rule does not apply to passwords.

Apple suggests you go to your iPhone settings, and under account info make sure your name is all lowercase. If not, a visit to the KB article would be advised. The fix is simple: just delete and re-enter your account details, getting your member name in a form Apple will like. When the bug is fixed, this workaround won't be needed.

Apple needs to continue to pay close attention to MobileMe. My perception is it has become generally more reliable since the ugly launch in 2008, but the support page still reports a few new glitches per week. Lately I've noticed a few mail outages/slowness and difficulty getting to my iDisk.
TUAW Can't upload pix to MobileMe? Apple has a fix for that originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ask TUAW: More migration, expanding Apple's Dictionary, syncing iPhone notes, and more
Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got more questions on migrating user data when upgrading to Snow Leopard, expanding Apple's built-in Dictionary application, accessing iPhone notes without Mail.app, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
Continue reading Ask TUAW: More migration, expanding Apple's Dictionary, syncing iPhone notes, and more
TUAW Ask TUAW: More migration, expanding Apple's Dictionary, syncing iPhone notes, and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Will the Beatles library finally arrive in iTunes September 9th?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Multimedia, Rumors, Other Events, iTunes, Apple, Music

As intrepid TUAW reporter Mike Schramm told you a few days ago, Apple has an event planned for September 9, 2009. Pundits are expecting the event to be the usual Apple fall event where the new line of iPods will be announced, but there's something else happening on September 9th that could herald the long-awaited arrival of The Beatles in the iTunes Store.

The Official Beatles Shop website is showing 9/9/09 as the release date for new, digitally remastered versions of the entire Beatles library. That's also the day that The Beatles: Rock Band is released. What better way for Apple to finally bring Apple Corps into the digital age than to give the Fab Four a home in iTunes?

Of course, the Beatles and Apple, Inc. have had a tumultuous legal history, and recently George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison was quoted in Blender as saying he didn't feel that the iTunes Store's per-song charge was a fair price for Beatles songs. He also mentioned that the remaining members of The Beatles were looking into creating their own website for digital downloads. Given the shaky history of most Beatles business ventures, I wouldn't give that comment a second thought.

Just last month, Sir Paul McCartney told the Guardian that in terms of the Beatles library appearing in iTunes, "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process... I really hope it will happen because I think it should."

Frankly, I think the music world and Apple both need a little magic right now, so I'm hoping to see Steve Jobs, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Dhani Harrison, and Julian Lennon on stage together on September 9th. That would be even better than an announcement of a Mac tablet.
TUAW Will the Beatles library finally arrive in iTunes September 9th? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW Review: Storyist 2.0, a professional's writing tool
Filed under: Software, Features, Reviews
Over the past several months, we've been publishing a series of reviews of writer's tools (last year we posted some great writing tools for students). While a few of the tools that have been covered in depth have been minimalist writing environments such as WriteRoom, there are more powerful and complete writer's tools that are available for Mac users.

One of those tools is the recently updated Storyist 2.0 (US$59 as a download, or US$29 upgrade from a previous version) from Storyist Software. This application is very complete, with capabilities for completely planning out a story before writing it, as well as managing the writing process while the story is under construction.

I started testing this application a while back, and actually had a lot of my review written before it became stale and disappeared from our queue of posts. The reason it took me so long to write the review is that Storyist works differently from my brain, and it took me a while to get used to it as a tool. Every writer has his or her own particular style of writing, and I find that pre-planning the writing process just doesn't work very well for me. I prefer to jump in and start writing, but want a way to capture important information about characters, settings, and plot points so I can refer to them later. Storyist can also be used for this method of writing, so I found it to be more useful to me after learning how to navigate its many features.

Gallery: Storyist 2.0
Continue reading TUAW Review: Storyist 2.0, a professional's writing tool
TUAW TUAW Review: Storyist 2.0, a professional's writing tool originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Incredible: Apple responsible for 25% of US music sales
Filed under: Apple Corporate, iTS, iTunes
The NPD Group has released amazing numbers this week: Apple is generating one quarter of all US music sales. Equally impressive, but less surprising, is that Apple is also responsible for 69% of all online music sales.

Wal-Mart is #2 for US music sales at 14% (that's a combination of both their online and CD sales) and Best Buy is third. Speaking of CDs, the aging format is still the overall top seller in the US and Wal-Mart is the top CD distributor. However, NPD expects that Apple's sales will equal that of CDs by 2010.

I know it's impossible to say what I'm about to without sounding like a grumpy old man, but here it comes anyway. For me, the tremendous thing isn't that Apple has commandeered the market so handily, it is the rate at which the distribution model has evolved. I'm only 38 years old, but as a kid I had a box of records. By the time I was in junior high school I was buying cassettes and in college I bought CDs.

Today, I can't remember the exact last time I bought music in a format I could physically hold in my hands. I'm glad the big wigs in the music industry are starting to get it. Now if only the TV execs would follow suit.
TUAW Incredible: Apple responsible for 25% of US music sales originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Build your iPhone a dock from its own box
Filed under: Accessories, Hacks, Mods, iPhone, iPod touch
As the product of frugal New England Yankees, I like items that multi-task. If said item is something that could typically get thrown away, even better. Check out this awesome iPhone 3GS dock made from its retail box.

Since the 3GS does not ship with a dock (bummer), enterprising owner Vince Tang used the included USB cable, the docking "plate," which is that tiny piece of plastic meant to seat the phone correctly, and the sturdy box to create a dock. Specifically, he cut a hole in the box's lid, crammed the plate and cable inside and glued the daylights out of it. We think it looks pretty good (from the top at least).

In fact, if I hadn't sent my old iPhone to NextWorth in my 3GS box, I'd be making one of these right now. Well done, Vince!
TUAW Build your iPhone a dock from its own box originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Found Footage: The iPhone sonic ruler
Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone, App Store, App Review
Have you ever had a device that you wanted to make just a little bit more sonic? Have you ever been up late, measuring rooms and thought: "Could I approach this task with an iPhone? Sonically?" Fortunately for you, the good people at Laan Consulting have already thought of this. They've anticipated this eventuality and are now shipping the iPhone Sonar Ruler [iTunes link] for just a buck on the iTunes Store.

Yes, these good folk have imbued the iPhone with sonic goodness. As the video on the next page shows, the application sends short pulses and measures their return delay. Sure, you could go out to Office Depot and spend twenty bucks getting a far more reliable, dedicated unit but isn't it more fun to help support iPhone devs while really pushing the device beyond its design intent?

And don't forget: Bananas are good. They are excellent sources of potassium.

Thanks to Neekers
Continue reading Found Footage: The iPhone sonic ruler
TUAW Found Footage: The iPhone sonic ruler originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Clarification on the iPhone Spotlight email issue
Filed under: Apple, iPhone, iPod touch
Earlier today, I posted about the ability to find previously deleted emails using the Spotlight search on the iPhone, adding to the already intense swarm of news surrounding this issue. My findings were that, by ensuring your trash folder was emptied and refreshed, the problem appeared to be solved.

However, many of you responded indicating that this did not work for you, and that you were still seeing cached messages. Then Cult of Mac posted an update to their original piece, suggesting that the problem was more specific to POP accounts. Although I had tested both POP and IMAP accounts with similar results, I decided to investigate further.

First, to clarify: The problem here is *not* with Spotlight caching the contents of your email, as many have suggested. Spotlight simply indexes the available content on your phone, and logs a pointer to it. When you tap a search result, it opens the associated application and tells that app to view the content. In this case, it sees an email message and asks Mail.app to open it, which it does, because Mail.app still has the message content stored locally. Secondly, this appears to be specific to POP accounts. On IMAP or Exchange accounts, deleted email messages do appear in Spotlight results until the trash folder is emptied, as described in my earlier post.

I created a fresh account and configured it for POP access, then downloaded the mail. Searching spotlight, I could see the message I was looking for. I then went back to the message and deleted it, and that's where the fun starts. I conducted this same test multiple times, and found that sometimes, the message would now show up in Spotlight twice, one result opened the message, intact, with the Inbox listed as the folder to return to; the other displaying a message in the trash folder, but with an error displaying the body of the message. Other times, I would only see one result, pointed directly to the trash.

Continue reading Clarification on the iPhone Spotlight email issue
TUAW Clarification on the iPhone Spotlight email issue originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CoPilot Live throws a hat in the navigation ring
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, App Review
Well, another day, another iPhone GPS app is released to the eager hordes. One of the latest entries is CoPilot Live [iTunes link]. Note: CoPilot Live is also available in a version for the U.K. at the App Store.

The North American version is a US$34.99 full featured nav for your car, bicycle, or just walking around. All the maps are built in, so it does not require any data, which is a plus.

There are things I like about this app, other than the low price. The screens look good, and are highly configurable. They give you the option of getting live weather at your current location, or your destination. I'd like to see that on every GPS app. Satellite acquisition was quick, with no glitches. Although some users have reported crashes, I found the app stable and reliable.

The voice instructions are very clear, and you have a choice of several languages with either a male or female speaker. In the U.S. the choices are 'John' or 'Lisa.'

You can zoom in or out of the 3D or 2D maps, and it appeared that as you approach a destination the map zooms in automatically. The app quickly switches to portrait or landscape mode, and you get a full screen, large type indication of the next turn. It pops up for a few moments, then returns to map view.

The app allows you to plan a trip in advance and preview the route. Happily, you can choose a destination from your address book.

Of course, things aren't all rosy with CoPilot Live. Here are the issues I saw in a couple hours of driving around town.
Continue reading CoPilot Live throws a hat in the navigation ring
TUAW CoPilot Live throws a hat in the navigation ring originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple updates iPhoto to 8.1
Filed under: iLife, Software Update

Along with the many software updates released lately, Apple today released an update for iPhoto. The new version, 8.1, adds several new printing options for the iPhoto print service. According to the update notes, these include:
- Hardcover books can now be ordered in a new extra-large (13ʺx10ʺ) size
- Includes three new book themes with travel-oriented designs: Tropical, Asian, Old World
- A variety of new holiday greeting cards themes are now available
This update is available to all users of iPhoto '09 and it weighs in at 161 MB. As always, this update is available for download through Software Update, or it can be downloaded on Apple's Support Downloads page.
TUAW Apple updates iPhoto to 8.1 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Prevent Spotlight from resurrecting your deleted emails on iPhone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple, iPhone
Note: The problem discussed below behaves differently depending on the type of email account being used. Users of POP mail accounts are indeed noticing a problem with deleted email messages appearing in Spotlight search results. Please see this post for updated information.

Our friends over at Engadget have highlighted a Cult of Mac post that, at first glance, appears to have found a bug in Spotlight's caching of email search results on the iPhone. The idea is that after you delete an email from your inbox in the iPhone's Mail.app client, you can still locate and open the e-mail using Spotlight search, if you know the subject of the message.

What's really happening, though, is what Apple might otherwise call "user confusion." When you delete an e-mail message in most mail clients, the message isn't magically deleted, but instead moved to a "trash" or "deleted messages" folder. Being a folder, it is indexed by Mail to provide an unread count, as well as by Spotlight so that you can easily find messages in the folder. When you search for the email, it shows up in Spotlight and opens in Mail because the message still exists in your trash folder.

All right, so what can you do to avoid this? Well, you need to empty the trash folder from your email. With many providers, you can just go to the trash folder, and delete the message from there to permanently remove it. The problem there is that, if you use a service like Gmail, the message doesn't really get deleted when you do this because of the way Gmail translates its labels into folders. Gmail's Trash folder is also set to purge itself after 30 days by default.

Your options? You either have to use the Gmail web interface in Safari, or if you don't mind tweaking your Gmail settings, you can enable the Advanced IMAP Controls Lab and then change your Gmail settings to immediately delete messages instead of using the trash folder. (Note that if you have your "All Mail" label configured to show up in IMAP, you will need to either disable it, or delete the message from that folder on the iPhone as well. See this thread for more information.) Once you've deleted the message, go in to the Trash folder and hit the refresh button to ensure that the message is no longer listed, which will remove it from the local mail cache. This should also clear up Spotlight's index so that the message no longer appears.

By now, you're probably wondering if this is really something to worry about. In my opinion, it really depends on how you manage your email. If you rarely delete messages, or you just delete things that are not of interest to you, they will most likely disappear from your trash folder after a specified time period that is set by your email provider (usually somewhere between 7 and 30 days.) However, if you intentionally delete messages with the idea that the message is unretreivable, then you should probably consider testing this out for yourself to see if it affects you. Again, with many providers, just periodically deleting the contents of the trash folder will do the trick. If you use Gmail, or your company's email services are hosted by Google, then you may need to log in to the web interface periodically to empty the trash, or you can look into the available configuration options, if you feel comfortable doing so.

So in reality, this isn't really a bug as much as it is what I would call "intended, but unexpected behavior." Many people simply forget that the trash folder exists, particularly on the iPhone where you don't always see it sitting off to the left hand side of your inbox. Checking your trash folder for any unintentionally deleted items, and cleaning out the old messages periodically, isn't really a bad habit to get into. With that said, however, I do think that Apple could improve this behavior by implementing some simple changes like adding an "Empty Trash" button to the trash folder, showing the count of all messages in the trash instead of just unread messages (so that it's easier to notice there are messages in there), and having Spotlight either ignore deleted messages like Leopard's Spotlight does, or at least indicate that they were found in the trash.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you consider this to be a bug, or do you think it's just a place that Apple could improve the experience on? Let us know in the comments!

Update: Leander Kahney has posted an update to the original Cult of Mac post that clarifies this issue a bit more. It seems that accounts using POP are configured by default to remove messages after one day or one week, thus causing them to continue to appear in Spotlight search results. Unfortunately, there isn't an option to remove them immediately, however, only after a day, one week, one month, or never. Because of this, Spotlight still sees them in the index, and Mail still contains a cached copy of the message until the time limit configured in the settings is reached.

If you'd like to check out this setting for yourself, go to the Settings app, tap on Mail, Contacts & Calendars, and choose the POP mail account you want to modify. Scroll down and choose Advanced, and the retention settings will be at the top of that page under Deleted Messages. It appears the default for a new account is to retain messages up to one week. So this is still the OS doing what it's configured to do, but there really should be an option to remove messages immediately here. If Apple were to add an option there, and/or remove Spotlight's ability to index deleted messages, the problem would be solved.

Update 2: After further investigation, it appears that some messages deleted on POP accounts do disappear from Spotlight, while others show up long after the message is deleted. I have conducted several tests on this situation, including on different versions of the iPhone OS, and have posted an update with details.

TUAW Prevent Spotlight from resurrecting your deleted emails on iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Mac-cessability Network: resources for Apple accessibility
Filed under: Odds and ends, Internet Tools, Blogs
Touting another blog or website isn't an everyday occurrence here at TUAW, but a recent press release got our notice. A site called The Mac-cessibility Network is the work of six dedicated individiduals, all of whom are visually impaired, who provide the Apple community with a source of information on accessibility.

Through updated news, the Mac-cessibility Round Table Podcast, and a list of other sites and resources, The Mac-cessibility Network delivers a single source for information for blind and visually impaired Apple fans, as well as providing other useful facts for other disability groups.

One item that I was totally unaware of until I visited The Mac-cessibility Network is that our favorite smartphone, the Apple iPhone 3GS, is also the most useful smartphone for visually impaired people. Why? Going to Settings > General > Accessibility allows you to turn on VoiceOver, which was previously limited to only running on Macs and the iPod shuffle. VoiceOver on the 3GS is amazing, reading your email, helping you to type replies by announcing the keys that are being touched, and otherwise telling you what you're currently touching on the phone.

Hints like this, as well as the other resources on this site, make The Mac-cessibility Network a "must-bookmark" site for the visually impaired and for Apple consultants and resellers. Consider making a donation to support the continued viability of The Mac-cessibility Network.
TUAW The Mac-cessability Network: resources for Apple accessibility originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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NPR debuts official iPhone app
Filed under: App Store, App Review
There are few public radio apps out there, but the official NPR News app [iTunes link] takes some of the best features of these offerings and goes one step beyond.

NPR News app was developed by Bottle Rocket Apps, the same folks who brought us Gas Buddy and a number of other well-executed iPhone apps. And, NPR News does not disappoint.

When you open the app, you're presented with a layout similar to other news apps. You have top stories, more offerings beyond that, and then a newscast where you can listen to a brief update of the top news of the hour. Along the bottom is a toolbar toggling among news, NPR's programs, a comprehensive listing of NPR stations nationwide with the ability to listen to your station of choice. For that, I tried out WUAL -- broadcast from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- my alma mater. The stream loaded quickly and I was listening to WUAL from my iPhone at a Barnes & Noble in Phoenix, Arizona. Pretty sweet. It's one of the things that I loved from Public Radio Player, and I'm glad to see this feature on the official app as well.

Under the Programs heading, you can add stories to a playlist or be taken to its podcast listing in the iTunes Music Store except for programs where you can select individual stories rather than the overall broadcast. If a program is currently airing in your local area while you're perusing the offerings, tap on the "Select Station" icon to pick a station to listen live. While in both program or station mode, the menu expands to expose a volume control if you tap on the arrow right above the time indicator.

Other than the lack of some programs, the only other big drawback to NPR News is the inability to scrub back and forth in a program. It's especially hindering if you have to stop the program for any reason because you'll have to go all the way back to the beginning.

NPR News is a free download and definitely worth checking out.

Edit (7:55 AM PDT): Some programs such as "Marketplace" aren't available because they are not produced by National Public Radio, according to Andy Carvin with NPR in our comments. These programs are available when you tune into a station live, but are not listed under the NPR programs section. He also added that scrubbing and sharing features will come in the 1.1 edition of the app. Thanks for the clarification, Andy!

TUAW NPR debuts official iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Using LaTeXiT to display math formulas
Filed under: Software, Education
TeX is a typesetting standard that, among other things, allows you to typeset complex math formulas. One flavor of Tex is LaTeX, for which LaTeXiT serves as a front-end for on Mac OS X. Using LaTeXiT, one can drag and drop complex math formulas to a number of apps -- Pages, Keynote and TextEdit, to name a few.

While the LaTeXiT workflow is fairly simple and straightforward, getting it setup and running may not prove to be the most clear-cut and easy process.
Continue reading Using LaTeXiT to display math formulas
TUAW Using LaTeXiT to display math formulas originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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3GS has 99% satisfaction rate, AT&T not so much
Filed under: Surveys and Polls, Apple, iPhone
A recent customer survey (of only 200 customers -- what are these surveys getting away with only 200 respondents?) claims that the iPhone 3GS has a 99% satisfaction rate. A full 99% of 200 polled iPhone customers claim that they are satisfied with their purchase, while 82% of them claimed they are "very satisfied." That's higher than previously, too: previous versions of the iPhone got a 73% satisfaction rating. You're probably not surprised by this, but guess what? People love their iPhones.

What don't they love about them? 8% said the phone wasn't compatible with their company's IT infrastructure. 41% still say the battery life isn't long enough for their tastes. And a little company called AT&T has drawn the most ire: 55% of respondents say the AT&T network was the worst feature of the iPhone 3GS. So there you go. This just in: ten of eleven Twitterers I just surveyed do like ice cream. That survey is probably just as shocking as the iPhone one, which is not much.

Still, quite a deal Apple has. Your product has almost unanimous satisfaction from customers, and the worst thing about it... is the fault of a completely separate company. Good deal indeed.
TUAW 3GS has 99% satisfaction rate, AT&T not so much originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Rumor: Apple event September 9th, tablet not included
Filed under: Hardware, Rumors, Apple, iPod nano, iPod touch
The rumor mill is churning yet again -- the latest Apple rumor is that an event is coming on September 9th. Multiple sources are saying that they've heard Apple will host an event in San Francisco to talk about music, including upgrades for the iPod and iTunes. This is hardly a surprise -- Apple usually holds an event this time of year to pump up back-to-school sales of expected iPod refreshes. So while of course it's a rumor until we hear it from Cupertino, it's pretty believable that sometime around September we'll be hearing about new iPods of some kind.

It's also pretty believable that this event won't be about the rumored iTablet. While mockups, leaks, and fake shots (oh my) seem to be appearing more and more often lately, the same folks that are saying September 9th are also saying that Apple isn't planning to tell us anything about a tablet quite yet. That doesn't mean that it's not coming, of course (eventually -- keep hope alive!), but definitely don't hold your breath for a September announcement or a holiday release. Looks like we'll find out whether those iPod camera rumors are true soon, but we'll probably have to keep waiting for the tablet.
TUAW Rumor: Apple event September 9th, tablet not included originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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London Sunday Times profiles Steve Jobs over Apple objections
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Cult of Mac, Steve Jobs, Apple, Apple History
The London Sunday Times has done an interesting profile of Steve Jobs that is a good read, even though it may infuriate some and please others.

There's nothing really groundbreaking in the piece, but it brings together a lot of material and a bit of pop psychology to try an illuminate the mysterious and mercurial Apple CEO.

Jobs is, in the words of the psychiatrist and scholar of leadership Michael Maccoby, "a productive narcissist". To Jobs, the world is an epiphenomenon, a side effect of the existence of Steve. Or rather, it is a pyramid with Jobs at the top, a few bright people just beneath him, and then the rest of us - the "bozos". The customer bozo is not, to him, always right...

"The very striking thing about productive narcissists, particularly men" [said Maccoby], is that they grow up in families where there is an absent or weak father figure. You can see this in narcissistic presidents like Obama, Clinton, Reagan and Nixon. They struggle with their identity and view of the world. So they tend to come up with a very original view of things and are then driven to find followers.

There is also plenty of positive insight:

I swim through Apple newsfeeds like a whale swims through krill," says Elmer-DeWitt. Yet the company continues to surprise and amaze. I don't want Jobs to die because my computers and iPhone are, indeed, "insanely great" compared with the dismal competition but, more importantly, because he is an extraordinary figure. I don't use the word "genius" about businesspeople, but in Steve Jobs's case I'm prepared to make an exception.

It's worth reading all of the profile. Steve Jobs doesn't like being written about, and Apple did all it could to kill the piece.

See what you think, and come back and share your thoughts.
TUAW London Sunday Times profiles Steve Jobs over Apple objections originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Holograms: potential and confusion for $1.99
Filed under: App Review

I have been a fan of 3D ever since I found a 3D horror comic book in an old flea market when I was a kid. The anaglyph red/blue glasses made the black and white comic images jump off the page. It really hooked me, and since then I've seen most all of the 3D movies made, ranging from The Creature From the Black Lagoon, to Kiss Me Kate, to Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder, in the early days, to the pretty darned amazing IMAX 3D Across the Sea of Time, the first one that really blew me away. With recent releases using the Real-D process, films are using 3D as a storytelling device instead of a gimmick - as evidenced in both Coraline and Up.

Now 3D is making a huge resurgence. It's hard to find a CGI animated film that's not in 3D. The market is getting ready to explode with live action 3D films from big name directors, like the upcoming Avatar, directed by James Cameron, and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Dreamworks states that all it's animated product will be in 3D from now on and Pixar is redoing the two Toy Story pictures for 3D before the release of Toy Story 3, also in 3D.

I spent many visits exploring the old Museum of Holography in lower New York City standing, amazed, in front of, and walking around seemingly impossible sights. I'm by nature a gimmick nut and holography is the most impressive visual manipulation I've ever come across. I was very excited to find the Holograms app by Mach Kobayashi. Even though the app's 3D effect is not actually holography, the demo video looked amazing and the results are impressive - but getting it to work is less easy.

Continue reading Holograms: potential and confusion for $1.99
TUAW Holograms: potential and confusion for $1.99 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Found Footage: iPhone Consumer Revolt (NSFW)
Filed under: Video, Bad Apple, iPhone
Forget about everything else. The cool consumer rage is currently directed at AT&T. Pat Lee, a Chicago iPhone user, is asking the iPhone community to petition Apple to drop AT&T exclusivity. In this biting 30-second video, Lee suggests that disgruntled users voice their displeasure about "less bars in more places." He points viewers to Apple's feedback page to get their AT&T hate on.

Created in Adobe After Effects, the video has great production values and a stinging message. Oh, and it's not especially safe for work. So you might want to bookmark this for later.
TUAW Found Footage: iPhone Consumer Revolt (NSFW) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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BargainBin keeps you on top of app sales
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
In a perfect world, every iPhone app would be free, fun, and washed in unicorn tears -- but alas, that's not the case (and just as well for the app developers trying to make money on the store). With more than 65,000 applications available, it's hard to tell what's worth the money and what isn't. In addition, developers are constantly updating their apps, changing prices, adding features and so on.

BargainBin [iTunes Link] is here to help (and it's free). The free application constantly watches over the App Store and lets you know when items go on sale. In the latest update of the app, you can now even receive push notifications whenever a price drop or sale occurs. In addition, you can view screenshots and descriptions of the apps right within BargainBin.

Users can set up a "watch list" that will inform them of changes to specific apps they're looking for or you can broaden your scope and have BargainBin keep you informed on changes to your favorite type of apps instead.

Sporting a nice custom interface, many customizable settings and filters as well as push notifications, BargainBin is a great addition for those looking to score great apps for low prices.

Here's a few shots of BargainBin in action:

Gallery: BargainBin

TUAW BargainBin keeps you on top of app sales originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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i.TV for iPhone: Cluttered but promising entertainment guide
Filed under: App Store, App Review
If you're into entertainment, the newly updated i.TV for iPhone (iTunes link) offers more content than ever before. Now in its sixth release, i.TV aims to keep you on top of listings, DVD rentals, and more.

If there's a single word that describes this iPhone application, it's "cluttered." i.TV offers more choices, more features, more everything than you'd ever expect. It's a lot like walking into Aunt Marge's trinket-strewn living room with her 27 cats-complete with the chaos you'd expect from a large-scale multi-cat household.

And yet, despite this clutter, there's a lot of usable content on-offer. If you're willing to put up with too-many-kitties syndrome, i.TV provides some information gems.

As a standout feature, i.TV offers a very nice TV listings browser. It automatically detects your location and shows you what's playing on the services in your area. The interface for the show browser is well designed and it's easy to pick a date and time to examine.

When you find a show you want to watch, you can request an e-mail alert or invite a friend to watch with you. You can also use the TiVo scheduling API to create a recording schedule direct from your iPhone. The application even offers a Wi-Fi based TiVo remote.

i.TV doesn't stop with TV. It offers movie listings and reviews as well. You can scan your local theaters, find show times, or if the movie is older, add a request to your Netflix queue. If a movie is available via iTunes, you can tap a link to connect you to the iTunes Store.

As you can tell, there's an awful lot to love about i.TV. Yet, at the same time, there's an awful lot that needs work. In many ways, i.TV feels rushed. Its user interface design needs some serious re-thinking, especially given how many features and options are packed into this hand-held application.

As an example, when you sign up for an i.TV account, you must confirm that you're over 13 years old. The control that's offered for that option is a standard "On/Off" switch. With just a little more thought and programming, the i.TV developers could have created a standard button (rather than a switch) that toggles from No to Yes and back.

In the same sign up sheet, you must use the iPhone keyboard to laboriously enter your e-mail address. Twice. A simple register-by-email form could have let you use your current iPhone's mail settings with a pre-filled note to do the same work with far less typing burden.

Sometimes the application misses obvious usability elements. For example, if you want to record a show to your TiVo, you must work through the "Link to your TiVo account page," but there's no "Back" button offered on that page or any other hint as to how to return to where you were. You can move forward (enter your account data and tap Link My Account) but not back. Yes, you only encounter this page until you set up your account but it's just a basic development principle that you should provide a way to cancel out of an action.

Missteps like these are surprising on an app that does offer some very nice user interface features like the pop-down menu that appears when you tap on the Watch button. I'm enamored with that particularly clever UI element presentation. Unfortunately other UI choices fall short. I haven't played with earlier i.TV releases, so it's hard to tell which elements have been added on for the new update and which are original. But i.TV really needs to hire a usability engineer and work on the overall application flow and feature choices to integrate these million-odd possibilities into a better whole.

So even with these interface issues, do I recommend trying out i.TV? Why yes, I do. Its TV and Movie information retrieval is both useful and on-point. Despite the clutter of its million other features, i.TV puts you right on top of now-playing information. And if you can sort your way through to a few of the features you'll use in addition to that core functionality, you'll find it a handy tool to keep on your iPhone.

i.TV is a free download and well worth giving a spin.
TUAW i.TV for iPhone: Cluttered but promising entertainment guide originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iTunes 101: From a jug of coins to an iTunes Gift Certificate
Filed under: iTunes
Last time we dropped off a jug of change at our local charitable organization, the people there mentioned that they now preferred receiving bills. Apparently, they're getting charged for counting coin donations.

With that in mind, we brought our family's donation box over to Coinstar today. We used their locator service to find a nearby machine, which turns out to be at our local Albertson's.

Since Coinstar charges a fairly hefty 8.9% counting fee, we opted to cash out in an iTunes gift card and donate the equivalent amount in bills. With iTunes, you get a 100% transfer of funds; no fees. We brought over our pennies, nickles, and dimes in a cup. (No quarters, mind you. They're too handy. I personally bought out all the quarters from the jar in advance.)

This was the first time I ever used Coinstar, and I was surprised to learn that you can load bills directly into the machine as well as coins in order to build up a gift certificate. Given that you can buy pretty iTunes gift cards at the grocery's cash register no more than 10 feet away, I'm not entirely sure why people do this.

It took far longer to process our gift certificate than I expected. After pouring in the coins (the fun part!), we were there waiting for about 5-10 minutes. Finally, an iTunes gift certificate printed out and we were on our way.

The code was a bit longer than the normal redemption codes I'm used to. I entered it into iTunes and it worked fine. My account was credited immediately after.

Although the whole stand-and-wait portion was a bit annoying (my helper child got quite antsy), it's something I can easily see doing a few times a year. In the end, we are happy with our iTunes credit and the organization will be happy with the bills instead of the coins.
TUAW iTunes 101: From a jug of coins to an iTunes Gift Certificate originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mac 201: Preparing your Mac for Snow Leopard
Filed under: OS, Software, How-tos, Universal Binary, Snow Leopard
With Snow Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X, ~~expected~~ rumored to ship out any ~~week~~ day now, it's worth looking at one thing that can make upgrading to 10.6 a lot easier (at least on an Intel Mac-as most PowerPC Mac users should know by now, Leopard 10.5 is the end of the road for you: Snow Leopard is Intel-only).

Snow Leopard is mostly about optimizing Leopard's performance rather than introducing new features. Part of that optimization is that OS X 10.6 is expected to save users several gigabytes of space on their hard drives versus a 10.5 installation. And part of the reason that Snow Leopard is able to pare down that much space is that Rosetta is now an optional installation.

(Update: as many commenters have noted, the Rosetta program itself doesn't take up much space - only a couple of megabytes. Most of the space savings in Snow Leopard is from Apple stripping out PowerPC binaries from the apps and OS libraries. It's still worth going through your apps and updating the PowerPC-only apps to universal binaries, however, because you will still see a significant boost in performance by doing so.)

Introduced in 2005, not long after Apple announced its transition to Intel processors, Rosetta is a dynamic translator that allows legacy PowerPC applications to run on Intel processors. It was intended as a stopgap measure to allow PowerPC applications to continue to run on Intel-powered Macs until developers were able to update their applications to support either universal binaries or Intel-only code.

Applications which run under Rosetta provide slower performance than their universal binary counterparts because the CPU has to translate Intel instructions into PowerPC, so developers definitely had an incentive to switch to universal binaries. With four years having passed since the Intel transition, almost all applications for the Mac now run under a universal binary, which makes Rosetta largely unnecessary-hence its inclusion in OS X Snow Leopard as an optional installation.

So, why not save some space on your hard drive and leave Rosetta out? Well, if you do that, any applications you have that still have PowerPC only code won't run at all. (Update: Apparently Rosetta will download on demand if you try to run a PowerPC-only application.) Rosetta is absolutely necessary to run those applications. But, before Snow Leopard drops to consumers, you can take one simple step that will save you a lot of trouble.
Continue reading Mac 201: Preparing your Mac for Snow Leopard
TUAW Mac 201: Preparing your Mac for Snow Leopard originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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