Fresh Apple: The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (5 сообщений)

rss2email.ru

На что подписаться? | Управление подпиской

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
http://www.tuaw.com
рекомендовать друзьям >>

New iMacs and MacBooks coming soon?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Desktops, Rumors, iMac, MacBook
Maybe so, if you believe the predictions of some analysts at Wedge Partners. They proclaim in their neverending analyst-y wisdom that in the next few weeks, Apple will again refresh its lines of iMacs and MacBooks, including a slimmer iMac and an only slightly updated MacBook. Why would Apple announce such a thing, especially so soon after the recent June revamp? Windows 7 is apparently the answer -- Apple wants to distract from Microsoft's big release, according to the analysts

Personally, it all sounds kind of hokey to us -- Apple's already got their back-to-school lineup all set, and while there probably is room for one more update before the holiday season, it's hard to believe they're going to announce some extremely minor updates in a desperate grab against Windows 7.

And not even the analysts will guess at a netbook or tablet release -- they say neither one of those is coming up for an announcement anytime soon. You have to think that if Apple is doing one more update before the holidays, it really will come up in the next few weeks, so by the time Halloween candy starts dropping in pillowcases, we should know for sure.
TUAW New iMacs and MacBooks coming soon? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: Apple - Microsoft - MacBook - Unofficial Apple Weblog - IMac
Переслать
Free iPhone Keynote and PowerPoint templates help get you from thought to finish
Filed under: iWork, Developer, iPhone

Mockapp.com has created both Keynote and PowerPoint templates of iPhone UI elements, and has made them available as free downloads. Say you had a dream in the middle of the night about the most awesome iPhone app that, to your surprise, no one has thought of yet. Instead of waking up in a deep sweat and scribbling said ideas on paper, you could dream them up on Keynote.

After mapping out your concept on Keynote, you could then pitch it to others in a Keynote presentation. The Keynote and PowerPoint templates include alerts, the iPhone keyboard, arrow icons, buttons, as well as a host of other UI elements.
TUAW Free iPhone Keynote and PowerPoint templates help get you from thought to finish originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Keynote - Apple - TUAW - Microsoft PowerPoint
Переслать
Live Traffic comes to Mobile Navigator
Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store
It's coming! Navigon, maker of the iPhone Mobile Navigator app [iTunes link], will announce a live traffic feature tomorrow that will be rolled out next month. The update is only for the North American version of the software.

Our readers have absolutely lusted after this feature for iPhone navigation, and now, after already adding text to speech in an update earlier this month, Navigon has pulled ahead of the pack again.

According to the company:

The system 'uses real-time speed data from over one million drivers across North America including commercial fleets such as trucks and taxis but also regular drivers with a GPS system. So if for example several vehicles on a road report slow speed, the system recognizes congestion and provides an alternate and faster route.

The feature also uses an intelligent fusion of information from traffic cameras, speed sensors and conventional traffic messages coming through a radio network. In addition, the system includes historic traffic data to assist with the prediction of road conditions when calculating a route. This includes information about traffic conditions on certain holidays or yearly events, allowing the driver to avoid taking routes that traditionally are congested on a regular basis.

Navigon has announced that the traffic info, which they call Traffic Live, will be available as an in-app purchase for US$19.99 for the first 4 weeks it is offered, then it will cost $24.99 as a one time purchase with no other month to month service fees.

The software, which will run inside the $89.99 Mobile Navigator software, requires iPhone OS version 3.0 or greater.

Navigon has been very aggressive with this product, raising the bar every couple of weeks with some substantial free updates, and now some significant optional services. It will be interesting to see how Tom-Tom and some of the other navigation providers respond. The AT&T Navigator [iTunes link] app already includes real time traffic, but it is available only with a $9.99 a month subscription fee.

TUAW Live Traffic comes to Mobile Navigator originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: iPhone - App Store - Apple - TUAW - Navigon
Переслать
It just works. Usually.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Software Update, Bad Apple, Snow Leopard
The latest festival of issues with Snow Leopard alongside a round of people unhappy with the latest iPhone update both suggest that Apple might need to work a little harder on pre-release testing.

One thing Microsoft does rather well is gets a lot of people testing software releases in extended public betas. Of course that didn't go so well for Vista, which was a mess for many people, but it seems to have gone better for Windows 7.

Apple, secretive as always, doesn't get really wide testing of new software builds, and when those updates finally get released there seems to be an ever increasing, ever louder response from customers that things aren't going swimmingly.

Snow Leopard was supposed to be a cleanup of Leopard, but it appears that some people are having lots of issues. In my own case, some fonts were pretty messed up, and Keychain was jumbled pretty badly. The fixes in both cases weren't onerous, but they were nasty enough that it made me wonder how thoroughly the release had been tested. I still don't hear new mail sounds from MobileMe, a problem that has been going on at least since Leopard was released. I'm not alone in this, but not everyone has the problem.

Most of the people I know had flawless upgrades, and of course here at TUAW we are more likely to hear about problems, which is also true of the Apple forums where people are able to report the smallest or the largest bugs.

Therefore, from my perspective it's hard to say for certain if things are slipping away from Apple quality control, but it's starting to look that way. Apple was quick to release 10.6.1, which was a good effort, but it is not quieting down the roar of users who don't think that this latest release of Snow Leopard 'just works.' What's your perception? Does Apple have some work to do?
TUAW It just works. Usually. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: Snow Leopard - Apple - IPhone - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Microsoft
Переслать
What will they think of next? A real keyboard for the iPhone
Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Peripherals, Odds and ends, iPhone
If there's one gripe I hear about the iPhone, it's that it doesn't have a "real keyboard." Sure, you can tap with one or two fingers (or thumbs) pretty quickly on the virtual keyboard, but it just doesn't have that nice tactile feedback that you get with, say, a BlackBerry keyboard.

Mobile Mechatronics, the same people who are bringing you the Blur Tripod mentioned on TUAW earlier today, will be officially announcing their iTwinge snap-on keyboard for the iPhone tomorrow.

This is a cool little unit, at a price of US$29.99, that is likely to be very popular with the BlackBerry set. The iTwinge snaps onto the bottom of the iPhone, then allows you to use the keyboard for thumb or finger typing into any iPhone app that would normally use the virtual keyboard.

While you wouldn't want to keep the keyboard attached to your iPhone all the time -- it covers up almost half of the screen -- it would be perfect for those situations where you aren't near a laptop or desktop computer but still want to be productive. I'd love to have one of these to use with our blogging system so I could blog and edit from anywhere.

Mobile Mechatronics has begun taking pre-orders for the iTwinge, with shipping expected to begin on November 19th. I just wonder if the name has something to do with carpal tunnel syndrome or "BlackBerry Thumb" that you can get from overusing thumb keyboards...
TUAW What will they think of next? A real keyboard for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Apple - TUAW - Handhelds - Smartphones
Переслать