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- Apple airs two new Get a Mac ads: "Surprise" and "Top of the Line"
Filed under: Apple
With all of the other Apple news surrounding Snow Leopard yesterday, Apple starting airing two new "Get a Mac" ads last night on TV and has also posted them on the company website.
The first ad, "Surprise," shows a woman talking to Mac; she wants to purchase a "great computer", but Mac seems to be recommending something unexpected.
The other ad, "Top of the Line," shows another another woman wanting a "great computer" -- and PC introduces her to a fine high-end PC played by Seinfeld alum Patrick Warburton.
Thanks Ethan for sending this in!TUAWApple airs two new Get a Mac ads: "Surprise" and "Top of the Line" originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - Snow Leopard - TUAW - Get a Mac - Macintosh
Переслать - Apple Store 5th Ave continues to defy gravity, macroeconomics
Filed under: Retail
While the entire retail sector is in the doldrums of recession and reduced consumer demand, there's a shiny spot in midtown NYC with a big glass cube sitting on top of it. Apple's 5th Avenue store should replace that glowing Apple with a big ol' dollar sign, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
The story says that while overall retail sales in New York have fallen between 8 and 10% since 2008, and US retail sales for the first half of 2009 are down 9.2% from the same six months of 2008, Apple's retail operations are still holding steady.
In particular, the 5th Avenue store stands out; while Apple did not release store-by-store numbers, Bloomberg quoted an estimate of about $350 million in annual sales; that's $35K per square foot of the 10,000-sf store. By comparison, high-end jeweler Tiffany & Co. does only about $18K per square foot. That $350M number is lower than the New York Post's $440M estimate, but still astonishingly good business.
TUAWApple Store 5th Ave continues to defy gravity, macroeconomics originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: AppleStore - New York - New York Post - Retail - Unofficial Apple WeblogПереслать - Real Networks submitting Rhapsody music service for iPhone. Duck!
Filed under: Audio, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Now this will be interesting to watch. RealNetworks, not always best of friends with Apple, is submitting an iPhone app so subscribers can access the Rhapsody music service.
The app is designed to be full-featured, and will let Rhapsody subscribers get easy control of the on-demand music service. Real Networks has described the app's operation on its Rhapsody blog:
The Rhapsody app is designed to stream music over 3G, EDGE or Wi-Fi networks. If approved, it will require a Rhapsody To Go account, which is US$15.00 per month. Spotify, a similar European music service, also has an app awaiting approval for the iPhone.You'll see a menu bar across the bottom of the screen, as is found in many apps. You'll have the option to check out the queue, your library, browse the Rhapsody library (ahem, all 8 million + songs of it), search, and settings. The app has all the functionality of the client, or Rhapsody.com, only super portable.
Apple already allows the Sirius/XM app, which is a different, but still a paid subscription service, and of course Pandora, Last.fm and other streaming music services.
All these apps are competition to iTunes, so the world will be watching to see if Apple draws the line with RealNetworks, or keeping a careful eye on the FCC, approves it.TUAWReal Networks submitting Rhapsody music service for iPhone. Duck! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - App Store - Apple - IPod Touch - PandoraПереслать - PicPosterous for the iPhone is nearly perfect
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Internet Tools, iPhone, App Store, App Review
I've spent the last few weeks with Posterous, a blogging platform from Sachin Agarwal and Garry Tan. The result is both a modest record of my travels and a powerful enthusiasm for the service.Posterous is going to be huge. Even Andy says so.
Over the years, I've used every blogging platform I've found, including (but not limited to) WordPress, Typepad, MovableType, Squarespace, Vox, Livejournal, Blogger and Textpattern. The easiest among those are the hosted solutions, like Typepad, Livejournal, Blogger, Squarespace and Vox (note that Typepad, Livejournal and Vox are all products of Six Apart). WordPress and MovableType are (usually) self-hosted and require the blogger* to create and link to a database.
After installation is complete, they all require some degree of fiddling. Customizing the layout, design, colors, graphics etc. takes time. Adding something like an image gallery is even more time consuming, and often requires a plug-in which you must find, upload, configure and test on your own.
By contrast, here's how you create a complete blog with Posterous:
Send an email message to post@posterous.com.That's it.
Here's how you create a full-featured, thumbnailed photo gallery with built-in navigation on Posterous: Email your photos to post@posterous.com.
Want to post a video? Same thing. It'll even encode it for you. Send nearly any codec you want.
It's brilliant because there's nothing to learn. Everyone knows how to send an email message and customers can use the email client they already know; the client that's always available via a laptop, phone or iPod. Additionally, Posterous can notify your other accounts, like Facebook and Twitter, each time an update is posted.
The only drawback I found was in updating a gallery throughout the day. Let's say I want to document a trip with multiple photos added to a single post as the day progressed. How can I do that? PicPosterous [App Store link] is the answer. I spent the last couple of weeks using a beta of PicPosterous and spoke with Sachin about it. Click below to read my reaction and conversation with Sachin.
*Some web hosting companies provide a one-click install for WordPress and MovableType. Wordpress.com also provides free and premium plans for WordPress users.
Continue reading PicPosterous for the iPhone is nearly perfect
TUAWPicPosterous for the iPhone is nearly perfect originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Six Apart - TypePad - Sachin Agarwal - Movable TypeПереслать - What Snow Leopard feature are you anticipating the most?
Filed under: Software, Snow Leopard
Now that we have the actual ship date for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (August 28th for those who haven't yet had a cup of coffee to wake them up), it's time to start thinking about what benefits you can gain from the newest member of Apple's cat family.
Apple has told us from the start that Snow Leopard is predominantly about streamlining both the size and speed of the operating system. Installing Snow Leopard should take about half the time of performing a Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard install, and it's expected that you'll gain about 7 GB of space back on your hard disk.
Snow Leopard is also bringing some new features to the table, including 64-bit support, Grand Central Dispatch's multicore support, and OpenCL, all of which can provide better performance for applications. There are amazing improvements to the Mac OS X Universal Access features, particularly for the vision-impaired. For those who use their Macs in a predominantly Windows office environment, the full built-in support for Exchange should make life much simpler.
TUAW would like to know what Snow Leopard feature you're anticipating the most, so we've come up with a short list for you to choose from in a poll. We'll use these results to provide you with detailed coverage about those features. If your favorite improvement or feature isn't on the list, leave a comment and tell us what you're excited about.TUAWWhat Snow Leopard feature are you anticipating the most? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - Mac OS X - Operating system - Snow Leopard - Mac OS X v10.6Переслать - Hacking in a second hard drive in a MacBook Pro
Filed under: Hardware, Hacks, Odds and ends, Macbook Pro
Need more hard drive space in your MacBook Pro? Well, if you're not scared to get your hands dirty with a little hacking, and not too attached to your DVD drive, you can hack your way to twice the hard drives.
This particular user faced a dilemma when purchasing his new MacBook Pro: get the faster SSD hard drive or the larger capacity rotational drive. Instead of settling on either of those options, he removed his DVD drive, hacked together an adapter to interface with the proprietary Apple connector, and installed a second hard drive. The result is a "best of both worlds" scenario for him; a faster boot time and responsiveness, and plenty of space available for movies and music.
He posted several pictures and instructions if you're ready to take the plunge into a dual-hard-drive notebook. There is some harsh language in the post, so you may not want to open this at work.
Any hacks like this should be performed only by skilled users. This will void your warranty, folks, so proceed at your own risk.
[via Hack A Day]TUAWHacking in a second hard drive in a MacBook Pro originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - MacBook family - Hard disk drive - Solid-state drive - HardwareПереслать - Snow Leopard set for release on August 28th
Filed under: OS, Retail, Snow Leopard
Amid the leaks and speculation, the online Apple Store went down this morning, only to return with Snow Leopard release information -- August 28th. It also turns out that the box photo that was leaked last weekend was legit, showing the Snow Leopard on the front.
The pricing remains at $29US for a single user upgrade, or $49 for a Family Pack upgrade. You can only install the upgrade edition if you're using Leopard. If you're not, you'll need to buy the Mac Box Set, available for $169 for a single user or $229 for a Family Pack.
Before you install, check out our upgrade guide. Also, note that If you purchased a qualifying Mac on or after June 8, 2009, that does not include Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you can upgrade for $9.95.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!TUAWSnow Leopard set for release on August 28th originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Snow Leopard - Apple - Mac OS X - Operating system - TUAWПереслать - Apple Store is down, could Snow Leopard be coming?
Filed under: Retail, Apple, Snow Leopard
It looks like the online Apple Store is down right now with that ubiquitous "We'll be back soon" message. Could finally we be seeing the availability of Mac OS X Snow Leopard? We'll let you know when the store is back up and what might be new.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!TUAWApple Store is down, could Snow Leopard be coming? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Snow Leopard - Apple - Mac OS X - TUAW - Unofficial Apple WeblogПереслать - Talkcast reminder: FCC, Snow Leopard look-ahead & news of the week
Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts
Will Snow Leopard ship this coming Friday, or will it arrive in September? Do the responses to the FCC from Apple, Google and AT&T mean the Google Voice story is coming to a close? How will Batman escape from the Penguin's nefarious trap? We'll be diving into these stories and more on the weekly talkcast, 10 pm ET on Talkshoe. You can download last week's show, featuring Christina's farewell and the rest of the gang, from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes.
To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!Recording support for the talkcast is provided by Call Recorder from ecamm networks.
TUAWTalkcast reminder: FCC, Snow Leopard look-ahead & news of the week originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Google - Apple - Voice over Internet Protocol - Snow Leopard - TalkShoeПереслать - Where To? tells you 'where to'
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, App Review
Where To? [iTunes link] is a nice destination finder for the iPhone. The latest version is on sale on the App Store through today for US$0.99. Note: The iTunes store says it works on an iPod touch, but some people are reporting it won't install.
It cleverly integrates maps, a web browser, and a tracking mode to show new points of interest as you move. You can share destinations that you find with email, SMS and the clipboard.
You can also search any one of 600 categories or ask the app to surprise you with, for example, a restaurant recommendation.
The app supports English, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
How did it work? Pretty well. It's nice to have all the tools you need in one app, although one of my favorite apps, AroundMe [iTunes link] integrates maps, but has no browser. AroundMe is free.
It would be nice to get some integration into the new nav apps that are proliferating, because Where To? has a far larger POI database then say Navigon or TomTom. I did save a POI from Where To? in my contacts, then opened that contact in Navigon and that worked fine, but it's a little fiddly.
There are a few glitches in Where To? While searching for some nearby lakes, the app found some businesses with "lake" in the name. I think the app is focusing too much on the business name, and not whatever category meta-data it is using.
All in all, this app was worth the original $3.00 asking price, and today at $0.99 I'd give it a whirl for sure.
Here are some screen grabs:TUAWWhere To? tells you 'where to' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - AppStore - TomTom - apple - IPod TouchПереслать - iPhone 101: Don't forget to wipe... your iPhone's data
Filed under: iPhone, iPhone 101, iPod touch
Stepping up to a shiny new 3GS? Thinking about selling your old iPhone on eBay or craigslist? Don't forget to wipe!
I buy iPhones from time to time to unlock and offer to our local customers. One such phone arrived today and I eagerly opened the box to get things prepared. After charging the dead iPhone for a while, I powered it on and was greeted with tons of personal information about the previous owner.
The phone was loaded up with three accounts full of literally thousands of emails, 107 contacts, 974 songs, a few dozen photos and a handful of apps -- all still happily filling the 8GB. There were faxed checks related to the previous owner's sales position, visual voicemails available to anyone's ears, and a huge log full of text messages.
The previous owner hadn't deleted anything before sending his iPhone off to a complete stranger! While I was taking care of that important step for him, I thought "This is a perfect opportunity to save some TUAW readers from this sort of embarrassment, not to mention potential ID theft, with a quick reminder."
Clearing all of the data from your iPhone was made simple with the 2.0 firmware update last year.
- Go to Settings
- Tap on General
- Scroll all the way down and tap Reset
- Choose Erase All Content and Settings
- Confirm (twice) that you REALLY want to lose everything
Once the process is complete, you'll be left with a "factory fresh" installation of the iPhone OS with no trace of you or your data, and you can safely sell it and upgrade to the latest and greatest model. Oh, and do me a favor -- if I'm the auction winner, include a working sync cable this time!TUAWiPhone 101: Don't forget to wipe... your iPhone's data originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - IpodTouch - Apple - TUAW - Operating systemПереслать - Quicker tweets with qTweeter
Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, Jailbreak/pwnage, App Review
There's no shortage of Twitter apps in the App Store. Even more surprising is the number of GOOD apps that connect to the popular microblogging platform. I like each for a different reason: Tweetie has a clean user interface, TweetDeck offers multiple columns that sync with its desktop counterpart, and TwitterFon has ReadItLater integration. There are countless others that have unique features, and many of us end up with at least a couple on our iDevices.
But I have a new favorite, qTweeter, developed by the folks at Efiko Software. You won't find it in the App Store, though, because this app requires a jailbroken device. Multitasking isn't officially allowed (yet?) on the iPhone OS, yet qTweeter relies on this capability to perform its best trick.
Say you're checking the weather and want to tell everyone of the approaching hurricane. Normally, you would close your weather application, swipe through pages of apps, tap on and wait for your favorite Twitter client to open and load all of the tweets that you really don't care about right now, and finally type your warning to get the heck out of town. By the time you do all of that, the highway is going to be grid-locked with fleeing residents and you'll be stuck boarding up windows and sweeping up the debris!
Instead, you could have just "pulled" qTweeter down from the status bar, typed your tweet, and went back to the app still running in the background.
In fact, per the recent trend, you could have also posted that same message to your Facebook status with just a tap of a checkbox. It's a much quicker way to get your message out of your head and onto the Net, a fact that you'll appreciate as you get older and those thoughts become more fleeting.
Continue reading Quicker tweets with qTweeter
TUAWQuicker tweets with qTweeter originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - AppStore - Twitter - Facebook - AppleПереслать - Notify keeps an eye on your Gmail inbox
Filed under: Software, Freeware, First Look
I, like many people, am constantly checking my email. No matter where I am, I'm either getting messages pushed to my iPhone or Mail is checking for new ones every minute. A new app is promising to make using Gmail and checking for messages much, much easier.
Notify, a new free application by Vibealicious Apps, puts a small button in your menubar of your Mac that keeps track of unread messages. The app, which was released less than 24 hours ago has already received over 3200 downloads and is quickly making a name for itself. Notify's developers consider it "like a menubar app, but better" explaining that the application boasts a much better user interface and much more functionality than traditionally found in menubar apps and buttons.
The application has a lot of cool features including:- Support for multiple accounts
- Tabbed interface
- Growl integration
- Sleek, simple UI
The app is also promised to be "freeware forever", according to the developer's twitter.
Some shots of Notify in action:
TUAWNotify keeps an eye on your Gmail inbox originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Gmail - E-mail client - Internet Message Access Protocol - Google AppsПереслать - C-Mac shuts down: You may now switch off your Macintosh safely
Filed under: TUAW Business
After nearly two years of blogging (see my first post), tweeting and talkcasting for TUAW and Download Squad, I'm moving on to other things. Writing for TUAW has been a true privilege and I will be forever grateful for the experience, the opportunities, and most importantly the people that have come my way as a result of this job.I was going to try to be funny with this post, drawing allusions to Brenda leaving Beverly Hills or Catherine leaving WNYX, but in the end, schmaltz and sappiness won out.
I want to thank every member of the TUAW team (past and present) for being such awesome colleagues and always offering up fantastic insights, suggestions, humor and love. Your commitment and dedication is what makes TUAW TUAW. Thank you for letting me join your world. To Michael Rose and Dave Caolo -- thank you for being such awesome lead bloggers for being so supportive. Victor Agreda -- thank you for being such a fantastic producer and for fighting to hire me in the first place.
To the TUAW readers (and Talkcast listeners), thank you for reading and chatting with me over the years. As Steve Sande has often commented, the TUAW readers and commenters are some of the best around. You guys are sharp, witty and knowledgeable about so much more than just the Apple-sphere. When we get something wrong or miss something cool, you let us know and I sincerely thank you for that.
Two years ago (today -- freaky), Scott Mcnulty posted a "we're hiring" notice for TUAW. As a longtime reader (even before I went Mac full-time), I applied, thinking that it might be something cool I could do while finishing school. This opportunity has been so much more than that.
If you want to keep up with what I'm doing, you can check out my personal site, follow me on Twitter or listen to me talk movies. I might be leaving TUAW, but the rest of the Internet won't get off that easily!Thank you.
TUAWC-Mac shuts down: You may now switch off your Macintosh safely originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Macintosh - Twitter - Apple - Download Squad - TUAWПереслать - Nav with turn by turn, text to speech and only $1.99
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, App Review
Yes, all true. I'm talking about Roadee [iTunes link], an iPhone nav app that depends on the open sourced openstreetmap.com. That eliminates the high fees paid to license map data, and allows a nav app for under 2 bucks.
So what do you get? Well, sadly, not too much. The maps are OK, and reasonably complete. Direction of travel is supported, but when driving any direction but North, the labels are the wrong way round. Driving South, all the street labels are upside down. Nice.
Most, but not all of the addresses I navigated to worked OK. In some cases, I was given weird, very out of the way directions, but I still got to my destination. Routing info comes from cloudmade.com. If their server is down, no routing.
The map shows your route, the speed you are going, and what should be the time to your destination, but in my tests it always read 0. The app is a bit sluggish, and a few times it told me to turn after I'd gone through the intersection, but in most cases it was fast enough.
Now, about those points of interest. Sitting next to 3 fast food joints, I asked Roadee if there was any fast food around. Nope. Zip. I tried hospitals. Nothing. Shopping? Nil. Gas stations? Negative. In fact, I could not get a single POI to appear in a city of more than a million people. You may have a different experience in your town. Your reports are encouraged. One time I got an error message that the service was down. Another server outage perhaps?
When traveling down the road sometimes the map would blank out every few seconds while more data was being ingested. Sometimes the map downloaded but there were large blank spots where the map should have been. The maps are streamed over your data connection, not sitting on your iPhone. Unfortunately, each time the screen refreshed, the computerized voice felt obliged to announce my next turn. With the turn about 3 miles away, the constant refreshing of the screen gave me the announcement 25 times. Not good. You can turn the voice off, but then you are forced to look at the map, which isn't so safe.
You can navigate to addresses in your contact list, but that sometimes fails and the little spinning gear goes on for ever. The only way out is exit the app.
Well, the app is only US$1.99, and it will generally give you directions to most addresses. Don't count on it for POI searches, direct routing, or navigating to your contact list. The computerized voice is OK, but not on a par with the higher priced nav apps. On the other hand, none of the other apps have text to speech, although that feature is coming.
I think this open source effort should be applauded and encouraged. If you just don't want to pony up 80 or a hundred dollars for some of the better nav solutions, this is for you, but keep in mind that despite having niceties like text to speech, it just doesn't work very well. This latest release of Roadee is said to be much better than the original release, so there is hope. Keep an eye on user comments and hopefully an update will improve things. Roadee maintains an FAQ and it is honest about the limitations the app has.
Here are some screen grabs to give you an idea what Roadee looks like.
TUAWNav with turn by turn, text to speech and only $1.99 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - AppStore - Apple - TUAW - Speech synthesisПереслать - (Re)locating your Mac mini's or iMac's headphone jack for easy access
Filed under: Accessories, Audio, Desktops, Mac mini
Are you wishing for an easier way to plug in and unplug headphones from your Mac mini or iMac? There are a few ways to make it easier. You should be able to reroute the jack, allowing you to speed up your plug-in process.
The first solution, which only works on Mac minis, is to use two right-angle audio adapters. This will relocate access to the headphone jack to the front or side of your mini, allowing for much easier access. You can buy these for less than $4 each (you'll need two) at Radio Shack (or whatever it's called these days). You'll need to plug one into the back of your mini, while you'll want to plug the other one in to the other right-angle adapter. Once you've done this, you should be able to have an easy way to access your headphone jack.
The next solution, which works with both minis and iMacs, is to use a headphone extension cable to provide easier access to plug in your headphones. This offers a more flexible solution to this issue, allowing you to route access where you want it. These cables can be purchased for about $10, and can be found in many places. You can choose a shorter cable or longer one, depending on how you want to manage your cords and where you want access to the headphone jack.
Please note if you use one of these solutions, it will override the internal speaker in your Mac, so you might want to unplug the extension if you're not frequently using headphones. These solutions will also work for microphones, so if you frequently use microphones with your iMac or Mac mini, you can also access the port more quickly.
Yet a third approach is to use a USB audio adapter, which will give you a separate set of headphone and/or mic jacks plugging into your keyboard or USB hub, or at the end of a USB extension cable. These adapters are available from lots of manufacturers and range in price from $8 on up; Plantronics also ships one with many of its audio headsets.
Check out the gallery below to see an example of an extension cable in use:
How do you handle this inconvenience? Leave a comment and let us know!TUAW(Re)locating your Mac mini's or iMac's headphone jack for easy access originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iMac - MacMini - Headphones - RadioShack - Universal Serial BusПереслать - Apple's Address Book app getting social in 10.6?
Filed under: Rumors, Software Update, Apple, Snow Leopard
We're all still waiting to see if the rumors of an earlier-than-expected release of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard are going to come true. There's been no shortage of news regarding Snow Leopard going to golden master, but 9to5Mac has received a tip that the build everyone has expected to be final (10A432) might actually not be. Some shots of built 10A435 have surfaced and while there's not much information to go by, the new build features an updated Address Book app.
A screenshot from the new build has been floating around featuring an updated version of the Address Book application with one big addition. A "social networking" menu is added showing both Twitter and Facebook icons. This could mean that Apple will allow you to keep (and possibly edit) your contacts pulled from social networks.
There's no word yet if the screenshot is credible or not, but it does look pretty convincing and would make sense given recent news that Apple is likely to incorporate social media into other applications such as iTunes.TUAWApple's Address Book app getting social in 10.6? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - Snow Leopard - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Address Book - Mac OS X v10.6Переслать - Distinctions without differences: Apple's inconsistent app store rejection policies
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, App Store
I admit, I was one of those to pile on ol' Ma Bell as the culprit for keeping the Google Voice app (don't I wish that was a real iTunes link) off the App Store. Restrictions on Skype and the SlingPlayer app on the iPhone had conditioned me to believe that the "game changing" iPhone had, well, a completely different set of rules applied to it by AT&T. While many in the tech community continued to jump atop the dog pile, in which AT&T was at the very bottom, Apple ran the ball back the other way without anybody noticing.Apple's response to the FCC's questions covers several areas -- including the fact that it acted alone without AT&T's consultation -- in rejecting not yet allowing the Google Voice app. Almost as striking as Apple's admitted culpability, however, is its rationale for it, which smacks of odd logic and damages the spirit of the App Store.
In short, Apple states that it rejected "continues to study" Google Voice because, in its current form, the app "replaces the iPhone's core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface for telephone calls, text messages and voicemail."
While the iPhone is more than the sum of its parts, the phone portion of it is arguably the least compelling when compared to other features. Out of the box, the iPhone comes with several apps pre-installed. And, based on their placement at the foot of the home screen (as well as Steve Jobs' Macworld proclamation), Apple views the iPhone as "an iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator (Safari and Mail)." But the advent of the App Store and the third party apps that arrived with it further reinvented a device that had already reinvented the entire tech market. If the iPhone wasn't already viewed as a computer-first, phone-a-distant-second device, it certainly took this form after the App Store.
Taken at face value, Apple's rationale for rejecting Google Voice also means that YouMail [iTunes link], TextFree [iTunes link], and Skype [iTunes link] should be rejected as well. As Mike noted yesterday, YouMail could serve as a replacement for Visual Voicemail, TextFree could supplant the iPhone's SMS client, and Skype could do both, albeit in a different and slightly limited capacity.
Continue reading Distinctions without differences: Apple's inconsistent app store rejection policies
TUAWDistinctions without differences: Apple's inconsistent app store rejection policies originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - App Store - Apple - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Steve JobsПереслать - Qik for iPhone updated, now uploads video over 3G
Filed under: iPhone, App Store
Hmmmm. Seems that FCC pressure might be doing wonders for those App Store approvals. Qik, which we reviewed earlier this month, had been pretty well kneecapped by either AT&T or Apple; choose your villain.
But lo and behold, today Qik [iTunes link] was updated so now it can upload video over the 3G network, not just WiFi as was the case in the first release of the app. I just tried it and it worked fine, happily uploading a video with no WiFi in sight. That realy improves Qik, but on every other smartphone Qik allows live streaming. Only the best and most powerful smartphone in the world has the no live restriction.
Coincidence or conspiracy? I downloaded the update, and yes, it works over 3G now. It's clear that something is causing Apple/AT&T to loosen up a bit. May that continue. Kinda hard to argue that Sling Mobile can't work over 3G now, isn't it? As most know, Sling Mobile was crippled for the iPhone even though it is allowed on every other capable phone on AT&T.
Let us know your results with Qik, and if you get a moment, send the FCC some flowers.TUAWQik for iPhone updated, now uploads video over 3G originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - AppStore - Apple - Smartphone - AT&TПереслать - FCC Responses: Google's turn to answer to the FCC
Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPhone, App Store
Along with Apple's and AT&T's response, Google has also responded to the FCC's inquiry on the Google Voice rejection. Unfortunately, the contact between Apple and Google on the rejection has been removed from the letter, which will not clear up everything just yet. There's no apparent reason why these details have been kept confidential. Anyway, Google's letter states first the features of their Google Voice app, mainly the standard features of Google Voice on other smartphones.
Next, in the question below, the FCC asks what Apple's explanation was for rejecting and for any communication Google has had with Apple.
What explanation was given (if any) for Apple's rejection of the Google Voice application (and for any other Google applications for iPhone that have been rejected, such as Google Latitude)? Please describe any communications between Google and AT&T or Apple on this topic and a summary of any meetings or discussion.
Google's answer to this question simply states "[BEGIN CONFIDENTIAL]" and "[END CONFIDENTIAL]"
Next, they go on to asking if Google has any other applications that have been approved on the App Store. They answer that they have Google Earth and Google Mobile (search) already approved and currently on the App Store. They also note Google provides the map data for the "Maps" application on the iPhone.
In the next question, they state that they don't have any other proposed applications pending to be submitted to the App Store.
When asked about other methods to access Google Voice on the iPhone, they answer that a user can can call in to their Google Voice number or visit Google Voice on Safari to access some Google Voice features on their iPhone.
Finally, they ask about the practices of Google's Android Market, Google's competitor to the App Store for devices that run Google's Android OS.
You can read the entire letter over at our sister site, Engadget.TUAWFCC Responses: Google's turn to answer to the FCC originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: GoogleLatitude - GoogleVoice - AppStore - Google - IPhoneПереслать - FCC Responses: Apple's take on the GV apps mess
Filed under: Apple Corporate, App Store
The hits just keep on coming, folks: Apple has posted a full response to the FCC inquiries on its web site. It's a long document -- and oddly similar to a fake open letter written two weeks ago by Ian Hamilton -- but some of the highlights (and lowlights) include a short list of sample rejected apps (Twittelator was rejected for crashing! What a burn) and plenty more:
Well, that's all well and good, but cold comfort to the other GV apps pulled from the store unceremoniously.Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it.
Since we haven't seen the official Google Voice app, there's no way to independently support Apple's claims regarding its potentially disruptive functionality. On one point in this section, however, I can call a yellow card.The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone's distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone's core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail.... The Google Voice application replaces Apple's Visual Voicemail by routing calls through a separate Google Voice telephone number that stores any voicemail, preventing voicemail from being stored on the iPhone, i.e., disabling Apple's Visual Voicemail. Similarly, SMS text messages are managed through the Google hub-replacing the iPhone's text messaging feature. In addition, the iPhone user's entire Contacts database is transferred to Google's servers, and we have yet to obtain any assurances from Google that this data will only be used in appropriate ways. These factors present several new issues and questions to us that we are still pondering at this time.
The functionality allowing an app to replace Visual Voicemail with a separate service is neither novel nor categorically banned from the App Store, as this is already available in the YouMail app. The iPhone supports standard GSM codes for conditional forwarding of calls to third-party answering services, and YouMail's app works just fine for collecting and receiving voicemail on the iPhone. There are also third-party services that sync contacts for the iPhone. The SMS component may be a new wrinkle, and the 'takes over the iPhone' approach is certainly of concern... but none of that explains clearly what changed between the time the other GV apps were approved and the 'non-rejection' hold of the official app.
Apple goes on to agree with AT&T that the carrier did not engage on any level regarding the GV apps.
As we noted in some of our original coverage of the GV controversy, Google Voice is not a VoIP service in the same way that Skype or Gizmo are, since it continues to use the cell network for voice connectivity to the device. Apple's response to the FCC inquiry shows that they are on the same page.Question 4. Please explain any differences between the Google Voice iPhone application and any Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications that Apple has approved for the iPhone. Are any of the approved VoIP applications allowed to operate on AT&T's 3G network?
Apple does not know if there is a VoIP element in the way the Google Voice application routes calls and messages, and whether VoIP technology is used over the 3G network by the application. Apple has approved numerous standard VoIP applications (such as Skype, Nimbuzz and iCall) for use over WiFi, but not over AT&T's 3G network.
If nothing else, this is a bit more transparency into the approval process than what we've seen before.Apple developed a comprehensive review process that looks at every iPhone application that is submitted to Apple. Applications and marketing text are submitted through a web interface. Submitted applications undergo a rigorous review process that tests for vulnerabilities such as software bugs, instability on the iPhone platform, and the use of unauthorized protocols. Applications are also reviewed to try to prevent privacy issues, safeguard children from exposure to inappropriate content, and avoid applications that degrade the core experience of the iPhone. There are more than 40 full-time trained reviewers, and at least two different reviewers study each application so that the review process is applied uniformly. Apple also established an App Store executive review board that determines procedures and sets policy for the review process, as well as reviews applications that are escalated to the board because they raise new or complex issues. The review board meets weekly and is comprised of senior management with responsibilities for the App Store. 95% of applications are approved within 14 days of being submitted.TUAWFCC Responses: Apple's take on the GV apps mess originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: AppStore - IPhone - GoogleVoice - Unofficial Apple Weblog - AppleПереслать - FCC responses are in: AT&T disavows any knowledge of App Store internal shenanigans
Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPhone
Engadget got a copy of AT&T's response to the FCC inquiries, and to sum it up: the Death Star finds the FCC's lack of faith disturbing. The telecom giant says that it neither supported not opposed the Google Voice apps for iPhone -- in fact, Apple didn't mention the GV apps to AT&T, nor does Apple typically consult AT&T on App Store approvals. The Apple & Google responses are just coming in now.
In a section of the letter that Engadget has posted, AT&T does acknowledge rare occasions where the company has consulted on app approvals with Apple -- but only where an app might be responsible for 'significant network congestion,' like SlingPlayer. Are we to assume from this that any telephony-related geldings or rejections (ahem, no Skype over 3G) are due to Apple acting completely on its own? That's a mite far-fetched, but with any luck we'll be seeing a similar letter from Apple shortly.TUAWFCC responses are in: AT&T disavows any knowledge of App Store internal shenanigans originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - AppStore - Apple - Unofficial Apple Weblog - TUAWПереслать - TUAW Guide: Setting up the Ultimate Mac mini Home Theater
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, How-tos, Mac mini, Apple TV
The Mac mini has always been the perfect form factor for a media center appliance (often called a Home Theater PC/HTPC). It's extremely small, almost completely silent and it can easily blend into an existing electronics shelf - or be hidden away completely.
The lack of a refresh (and rumors that the line was going to be discontinued), coupled with technical specs that didn't justify the price-point, have led many would-be HTPCers to write off the Mac mini as an option because they assume it is just too expensive.
However, as more and more content moves online and people become accustomed to getting their media from a computer, the idea of a HTPC is starting to make sense to more and more families. Taking off where netbooks left off, nettops are starting to enter the marketplace. These low-priced machines are diminutive, low-powered and connect easily to a television set. There's just one problem. Although nettops are pretty good at playing back regular video content, they absolutely choke when it comes to Flash, Silverlight or any other streaming content.
Still, when you look at the numbers, nettops aren't much more inexpensive than a Mac mini. You get what you pay for, too: the mini is much more powerful and can actually be used as a workhorse computer.Thanks to updated hardware and a much-improved graphics chipset, the current revision really hits the sweet-spot for the ultimate HTPC.Although many of us have longed for Apple to release an official media center product that brings the Mac mini and the Apple TV together, the current Mac mini is more than capable of serving as that product right now.
Now that Apple has allowed the purchase/rental of some high-definition films via iTunes, the media content options for the Mac mini match that of the Apple TV and then some.
Last month, Robert wrote about his experience transforming his "Switcher-Dad's" mini into a nice Mac media center.
In mid-June, my fiance and I bought a 2009 Mac mini (the 1GB 2.0GHz model). For the last few months, I've been testing hardware, accessories and lots and lots of software to make it into the best HTPC around. My goal was simple: my Mac mini needed to work with my existing surround sound setup and it needed to seamlessly connect to the FreeNAS media server where several terabytes of audio and video files reside. It needed to connect and work with our other Macs -- as well as our Windows 7 machines -- and it needed to be silent and simple, with an interface that a visitor or guest could easily suss out.
Read on for tips and tricks to get the most out of your machine's hardware and software, as we transform a 2009 Mac mini into the ultimate HTPC!
Part I: the hardware side
Part II: the software sideTUAWTUAW Guide: Setting up the Ultimate Mac mini Home Theater originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - macmini - Unofficial Apple Weblog - TUAW - ITunesПереслать - FCC investigation of Apple, AT&T and Google revs up today
Filed under: Apple Corporate
Today is the day for Apple, AT&T and Google to submit their answers to questions the FCC posed about the banning of Google Voice on the iPhone.
Google may be in for some tough questions too. USA Today is reporting Google will have to answer questions about why Skype is crippled on the Android Phone. While Apple and AT&T allow Skype to work over a Wi-Fi network, the version running on Android phones doesn't allow Wi-Fi access at all, but routes the calls over the regular voice network, burning up cellular minutes.
AT&T has famously stated it does not have any say about what is in the App Store, but will have to explain why the company changed the iPhone Terms of Service before the Slingbox Mobile app was released, then admitted to requesting that it be blocked from the App Store as long as it allowed TV streaming over 3G.
It isn't clear whether or not the responses to the FCC will become public for our reading enjoyment. The FCC allows the responses to be private for 'competitive' reasons, and it's a good guess that we won't know exactly what was said, although if the FCC takes action against any of the companies then the reasons will be public.TUAWFCC investigation of Apple, AT&T and Google revs up today originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - AppStore - Google - Apple - GoogleVoiceПереслать - Soundboard is a simple but useful sound board
Filed under: Audio, Software, Cool tools
In the video below I quickly run through the basics of Soundboard, from Ambrosia Software (makers of WireTap Studio and Snapz Pro, but they've made Mac apps and games for years). It's just what you'd think: a series of buttons tied to sounds, just like you'd see at a radio station for live broadcasting.
But Soundboard brings the drag-and-drop ease of desktop computing to the table, and adds several small features that add up. Namely: quick editing and loop controls. Plus, you can route your audio using Soundflower, or just play what you want through speakers. Given the number of crank calls I made as a kid, I'm glad this wasn't around.
Soundboard normally sells for $29, but there's a free trial and you get 25% off if you're a WireTap owner. Also, Ambrosia is encouraging Sound Byte users to switch over with a $19 deal for registered owners of that application. If you've ever wanted a live radio show like Dingo and the Baby, then Soundboard may be just what you need.
Incidentally, the screencast above was made using the excellent site, Screenr.com. If the video won't play on an iPhone, just click here for the Screenr page.
TUAWSoundboard is a simple but useful sound board originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Apple - TUAW - Ambrosia Software - HandheldsПереслать - Friday Favorite: Dropzone
Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Productivity
One of my favorite new tools is Dropzone from Aptonic Software. Cory mentioned it back in early beta, but it's come a long way since then. Dropzone lets you set up "destinations," and when you click its icon in the dock it pops up a HUD-style window with icons for each destination. You can drop files and text onto each icon, or have them launch apps and run scripts with a click. It comes with ready-made destinations for everything from Flickr uploading of dropped images to zipping and emailing a collection of dropped files. The beauty of Dropzone is that the average user can set up all of the destinations they would normally launch other apps for, but users in more advanced stages of geekery can construct their own destinations using the Ruby-based Dropzone API.
My personal Dropzone setup includes destinations for creating projects or opening files in TextMate, opening a folder in GitX, sending files to my Amazon S3 account (puts a publicly-accessible url in my clipboard), filing based on OpenMeta tags, mounting and unmounting FireWire drives, making quick Backpack reminders, and the list goes on. I've even got one that scans dropped text for "http://" links and creates a linkbun.ch for me. Some of these scripts I've written, some were just a matter of customizing the existing destinations. Either way, I've got all of these capabilities no more than a click or drag away.
Creating your own destinations just requires a little Ruby-fu. "But I'm the farthest thing from a level 12 Ruby Mage," you say. Don't sweat it, let the community do it for you. Several scripts from my personal setup, along with a great selection of others, are available in the user-contributed actions section of the Aptonic Software website. Additionally, included actions like the application launcher allow full customization just by selecting the application to trigger.Dropzone is available for a free trial, and can be had for $10US. Give it a try and see if it doesn't speed up your workflow. If you create any scripts you'd like to share, be sure to let the author know!
TUAWFriday Favorite: Dropzone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: AmazonS3 - Flickr - Ruby - Application programming interface - BackpackПереслать - Apple Remote Desktop 3.3 now available
Filed under: Enterprise, Software Update, Apple
Apple has released version 3.3 of its remote administration tool, Apple Remote Desktop (ARD). The update is available both via Software Update, and from the Apple website.
According to the release notes, the update comes with a number of improvements, including the long-desired ability to send function keys and system shortcuts (Force Quit, cmd-Tab for application switching, cmd-shift-Q to log out) to the remote Mac; previously those commands would execute on the administrator's machine, which could cause undesired behavior. Also included are support for wide-area Bonjour connections and improved performance when using a shared screen.
If you're just starting out with ARD, be sure to check out some of the great tutorials Apple has posted online. From getting set up, to providing remote assistance to users, to automating routine tasks; as Apple might say, "there's a tutorial for that."
Thanks to TUAW reader Jim for giving us the heads up!
TUAWApple Remote Desktop 3.3 now available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - Apple Remote Desktop - TUAW - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Apple Software UpdateПереслать - Friday fakes: The best of the bogus
Filed under: Hardware, Humor, Rumors, Odds and ends
TUAW presents to you the best of the obviously fake device shots we've seen in the last couple of weeks. On occasion they're beautiful renderings that are worth a second glance, other times they're out of focus shots that tipsters swear were taken quickly at a meeting on the Apple campus. In any case, they're a lot of fun.
Let's begin with this gem from the French blog Le Journal du Geek. In a post titled "Encore un peu de MacBook Touch?" ("Again a little MacBook Touch?"), we see what looks like a page from an Apple website:
This fake is fabulous! It shows the device being about the size of what everyone would like to see, with about a 10" diagonal display. They give it a plausible name instead of the lame "iPad" moniker, the power button is located away from the middle of the device, and the faux photos show it being used with a dock, as a music keyboard in GarageBand, and flipping from landscape to portrait. Very cool, and they even endow the MacBook touch with drool-worthy specs on the website.Continue reading Friday fakes: The best of the bogus
TUAWFriday fakes: The best of the bogus originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - TUAW - Unofficial Apple Weblog - MacBook - MacintoshПереслать - First Look: Watermark your iPhoto pictures with Impression
Filed under: iLife, Software, Graphic Design, First Look
Blue Crowbar Software is a small Belgian Mac development firm that is quickly making a name for itself for its innovative iPhoto and Aperture plugins. We've previously covered iPhoto2Twitter here on TUAW, and now Blue Crowbar has announced a new iPhoto plugin for adding watermarks to pictures in your iPhoto library.
Watermarks are those faint, transparent designs that websites often use to mark exclusive photos when breaking a big story. For example, many of the great fake iTablet "photos" that we've received during the past few weeks have been emblazoned with a watermark for one Mac site or another. Impression (€9.90 -- about US$14.10) works in iPhoto to put watermarks onto your iPhoto pictures. If you're worried that a watermark might ruin a perfectly good picture, don't be. Impression makes a copy of the picture, then creates a watermarked version which is also saved into your iPhoto library.Continue reading First Look: Watermark your iPhoto pictures with Impression
TUAWFirst Look: Watermark your iPhoto pictures with Impression originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - IPhoto - TUAW - ILife - Graphic DesignПереслать - Pre ad is to iPhone ad as dude is to lady in Aerosmith song of the same name
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone
What can I say? White background, disembodied finger and digi-creepy stillness of the device... the Bell [Canada] version of an ad for the Palm Pre looks hilariously like an iPhone ad. View the videos and judge for yourself. Then get a Pre if you are compelled to do so. It has maps and Twitter and you can touch and rotate and slide it.
Bell version
and an iPhone ad
Spooky, isn't it? Of course, there are only so many ways to illustrate the feature set of a multi-touch smartphone, aren't there? It's like when Newhart was sued by the guy who also wrote a handyman book. There are, in fact, only so many ways to explain how to nail a nail, Dick explains. Lucky us, all smartphone ads will now follow this format, making it much easier to determine which phone is best for us. Thanks, Bell!
[thanks to Philip Lam for the tip!]Update: And here's an iPhone ad's audio on top of the Bell/Pre ad. Note the flow and that "how cool is that?" pops up at a cosmically opportune moment.
Continue reading Pre ad is to iPhone ad as dude is to lady in Aerosmith song of the same name
TUAWPre ad is to iPhone ad as dude is to lady in Aerosmith song of the same name originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: IPhone - Smartphone - palmpre - Apple - TwitterПереслать - 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 youforgotwere 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.
TUAWMINI 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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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - App Store - Apple - IpodTouch - TUAWПереслать - 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]
TUAWApple 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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Sponsored Topics: Snow Leopard - Apple - Mac OS X - Operating system - Unofficial Apple WeblogПереслать - 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.
TUAWMindMeister 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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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - App Store - Apple - ITunes - IPod TouchПереслать - 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.TUAWWikimedia 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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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - App Store - Safari - Apple - IpodTouchПереслать - 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: Before this post was written, I did order the 5GB iPod linked on this page, but it looks like they will now send me a 10GB 2nd generation iPod instead for some reason.
We are also getting reports of confusion as people try to order over the phone.
Plus, there's a brand new 1GB iPod shuffle available.
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.
Update 3: I just got an email from Apple stating that this iPod is no longer available.Continue reading Want a 1st generation iPod? They're still available from the Apple Store
TUAWWant 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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Sponsored Topics: Apple - Cult of Mac - IPod - Google - Unofficial Apple WeblogПереслать - 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.
TUAWYour 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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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Simplify Media - App Store - Apple - ITunesПереслать - 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!
TUAWRegator 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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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Apple - IpodTouch - Download Squad - TUAWПереслать - 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?TUAWTwitterrific 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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Sponsored Topics: AppStore - IPhone - Apple - IPod Touch - ITunesПереслать - 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.TUAWApple 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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Sponsored Topics: Apple - Bluetooth - MacbookPro - Unofficial Apple Weblog - MacBookПереслать - 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
TUAWBug-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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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - IpodTouch - FileMaker - Bento - AppleПереслать
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