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TheAppleBlog
TheAppleBlog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
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Predicting 2010: iLife, iWork & iTunes

With 2010 around the corner, Apple is poised to begin a new year that should yield lots of great advancements in its consumer software arena. Here's our predictions for what could be in store for the latest versions of iLife, iWork and iTunes. (These predictions are not substantiated by rumors or other "inside evidence" and are purely speculation based lots of experience with these applications and their histories.)

iLife X

Probability: Guaranteed
When the last version of iLife launched, it adopted the moniker "iLife '09." Recently however, Apple has modified most of its website to drop the date from the title. Now simply called "iLife," I wonder if Apple will be quick to release a new "yearly" iteration at the outset of 2010.

Based on previous versions, the next iteration of iLife will require Mac OS X 10.6. By requiring Snow Leopard, this does make iLife an Intel-only release. Though some users will be left behind, significant performance gains should be recognized by taking advantage of 64-bit technology included in Snow Leopard.

Within the apps themselves, I believe we'll continue to see significant updates. Here's the roundup.

iPhoto

Probability: Possible
The addition of Faces and Places to iPhoto '09 was just the beginning. The next version of iPhoto will support more accurate facial recognition and integration with Twitter. Those who enjoy the photo slideshow themes that were added to the last version will enjoy a larger selection of new themes that will be added in the new version. I also predict that the next version will bring support for bulk renaming of files (similar to how Aperture can do this upon import) and better performance when dealing with larger libraries. I also predict revised or better photo editing controls with additional effects.

iMovie

Probability: Possible
I believe the next version of iMovie will boast support for posting videos directly to more Internet services, such as Facebook and Flickr. An expanded set of new themes as well as more advanced title options will be present as well. The user experience of the application will be refined, for those who are still frustrated by the intense switch from iMovie HD to the last two versions.

iDVD

Probability: Guaranteed
iDVD will likely see one of the most significant updates that it has ever seen in quite a while. 2010 will mark the beginning of new ways of enjoying media. From the possibility of the first out-of-the-box Blu-ray drives on the Mac to iTunes Extras & LPs to the elusive Apple Tablet, the presentation of digital content remains a key focus for Apple.

The next version of iDVD will help push this agenda forward, allowing users to create Blu-ray discs or optimize their video content into formats like iTunes Extras. Such a dramatic update would likely warrant changing the name of the application, but that's also within the realm of possibility. iDVD has definitely been late to the party for the past two years, seeing only small maintenance updates. While many speculate that Apple plans to axe DVD creation altogether (foreseeing the death of the digital disc in favor of digital distribution), I believe Apple has been working on a successor application to take advantage of new forms of distribution (a la Blu-ray or iTunes Extras-styled media).

iWeb

Probability: Possible
iWeb is one of those apps that is difficult to pack full of compelling new features every year. I predict the next version of iWeb will support more themes and a few more widgets, including a widget that provides a live feed of your Twitter stream on your website.

GarageBand

Probability: Possible
GarageBand will likely see an expanded music lesson store with more artist lessons and lessons for drums and bass. I also predict Apple will make it easier to share GarageBand creations beyond iTunes and iWeb. Similar to the other apps, I believe we will see support for exporting to other web services such as Facebook or YouTube.

iWork X

Probability: Possible
I predict the biggest improvement to the iWork suite will be a tighter integration with the iPhone and iPod touch. On the short side, I see iWork.com coming to the iPhone as an app to allow quick browsing of documents. In an ideal world, Apple will eventually build lightweight mobile versions of its iWork apps to allow users to create and edit Pages, Keynote and Numbers files on the go.

I believe we'll see an update to the "beta" of iWork.com, including a paid plan if Apple deems the project a huge success, or inclusion with MobileMe if Apple feels the product isn't strong enough to stand on its own footing.

All three applications will see new templates and a refined Inspector palette. It seems very un-Apple like to mandate users bring up a palette for colors, a separate one for fonts, another for media and yet another master Inspector to control everything else. Additionally, I predict the Media Browser will be updated across all apps to support Faces and Places from iPhoto.

I also predict Pages will provide support for (or perhaps work directly with) third-party applications like bibliographic software such as Endnote or Refworks for academic publications.

iTunes

Probability: Guaranteed
iTunes is an interesting application as every version seems to bring about a large number of extra features that many people don't expect, or at first glance, really need.

I predict the next major version of iTunes, iTunes 10, will bring support for syncing with the mythical iTablet, as well as better syncing support (including over the air syncing of content if on a Wi-Fi network). Furthermore, iTunes 10 should feature better support for managing larger libraries of content and the need to split those libraries across multiple hard drives in a simple but effective manner.

Conclusion

Finally, I'd like to see iWork and iLife dropping in price back to the familiar $49 from years past. In light of economic conditions and Apple's vocal attempts of providing quality products to more and more users, a price drop seems wise as it would also help generate better market penetration.

Again, many of these predictions are pure speculation and hopes and dreams on my part. What do you think we'll see in these areas over the coming year?

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Predicting 2010: Apple and the Cloud

Going into 2010, the landscape of computing continues to be dominated by the slow, but inevitable, move towards the cloud. For a computing platform company like Apple, this move presents a particular challenge. Apple’s expertise is producing the best computing experience by controlling both the software and the hardware. This is antithetical to the whole concept of cloud computing, which is generally agnostic towards both the software and the hardware.

Not surprisingly, then, Apple’s moves towards cloud computing have been cautious. MobileMe, iWork.com and in some ways iTunes, can all be seen as cloud-based services, but none of them have offered ground-breaking solutions. It’s obvious that Apple’s cloud strategy is based mostly around complementing its computer based-solutions. It continues to feel strongly that the best place to create and/or edit files is on your computer, where you can take full advantage of today’s hardware and the power of OS X. Looking forward to 2010 I don’t expect this general philosophy to change, but I do expect Apple to move more aggressively towards tying its services even more closely to the cloud.

So, without further ado, here are my 2010 predictions for Apple and the Cloud.

iTunes will begin streaming music

Probability: Guaranteed
Not much of a risk here, Apple has thankfully tipped its hand with its acquisition of Lala.com, a music streaming service. This is the direction the industry is going, with services like Spotify, Pandora and Last.fm all growing rapidly. Adding a subscription streaming model to iTunes and/or allowing you to stream your iTunes library is a no-brainer for Apple. What will be interesting is seeing how such a potential service integrates with the iPhone and iPod lineup.

iTunes will offer streaming movies and/or television

Probability: Possible
This prediction follows logically from the one before. If Apple is going to offer streaming music, why not also offer to stream video content as well? Unfortunately, the likelihood of such a service is as constrained by the veracities of the rights-holders of Apple’s interest, as such I only deem this prediction a possibility.

MobileMe will see a significant price drop

Probability: Possible
MobileMe has always been dogged by sticker shock. Although the $8 or so a month the service costs isn’t that high, paying $100 all at once is a bit more difficult to swallow. What’s more, MobileMe offers very little that can’t be had for free in other places. I’m allowing my Mobile Me subscription to lapse this year as I’ve replaced all the services with free alternatives. Although I don’t expect Apple to make the service free, I do expect it to try and expand the universe of subscribers by offering a drop in price, and perhaps moving to a monthly subscription model instead of paying for an entire year up front.

MobileMe will add photo, music and file synchronization

Probability: Possible
MobileMe is still the best way to keep your PIM data synchronized across your Macs and your iPhone, but one glaring weakness is multimedia and file synchronization. Sure you can keep everything on your iDisk, but this lacks the elegance that is typical of Apple as it requires you to move everything that should be in your home folder to another place. It’s also extremely limited in terms of storage. It would be much more convenient if I could just tell Mobile Me to automatically synchronize my home folder across computers, just as I do with my calendars and contacts. With the speed of Internet connections only increasing, this is not only possible today, but it’s inevitable. Whether it happens next year is less certain, but it will happen eventually.

iWork.com will add document editing

Probability: Possible
As I mentioned above, Apple seems strongly opposed to moving document creation and editing to the cloud, but if it decides to start experimenting with some could-based document editing, this is likely the place where it will happen. Its competitors in this space, Google, Microsoft and Zoho, all are offering document editing to some extent. I wouldn’t expect the entire iWork suite to be ported to the cloud, but I do think the addition of basic editing is a possibility.

OS X is ported to the cloud

Probability: Absurd
It may seem like an absurdity, and I certainly don’t expect it to happen next year, but the idea of porting OS X to the cloud is one that Apple will certainly want to consider at some point in the future. The strength of Apple’s computing platform has always been the operating system and development tools that underly it. If you truly believe that in the long run computing will be a server-client model, than in order to retain its competitive advantage Apple will have to move these strengths to the cloud. Adapting OS X and Xcode to become the foundation of a cloud-based operating system and development environment is the obvious long-term strategy for Apple.

Steve Job’s consciousness will be uploaded to the cloud to ensure he rules Apple forever

Probability: Absurd
Steve Jobs’ health problems last year and his temporary absence from Apple proved once again that the tenure of Apple’s messiah is not assured to run forever. I think Apple needs to turn all of its prodigious talent towards ensuring that Jobs’ genius remains with us forever, and what better way than to upload his consciousness to the cloud? There he can ensure that we continue to pour the contents of our wallets into Apple’s coffers in perpetuity. You can bet Apple’s share-holders will be in support of this, despite that small probability that Jobs-in-the-cloud may someday turn into Skynet.

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Predicting 2010: iPod and iPhone

The dawn of a new year never fails to make me excited about all the potential for new devices we’ll inevitably see released. This year is no different, and for Apple’s iPod and iPhone, there are some storms that have been brewing for quite a while that should break in 2010. Hope you packed a raincoat.

I recently came across my still functional (including decent batter life) 30GB iPod Video while rooting through my drawers looking for a proprietary USB cable. After I charged it and booted it up, the palpable feeling of the HDD platter spinning up, and the faint sound that accompanies said action reminded me of just how far we’ve come, and of how far we’ve yet to go with Apple’s portable devices. Here’s where I think we’re headed next.

The iPod

It’s long been the linchpin in Apple’s lineup of product offerings, and it deserves eternal respect for the role it had in reversing the company’s fortunes, but the iPod no longer enjoys the place of highest favor among Apple products, mobile or otherwise. I predict, as a general trend, a continued downplaying of the iPod’s role at Apple, and significant changes to the products on offer as a result of that trend.

Video Comes to the Touch

Probability: Guaranteed
The evidence all but guarantees that video is meant to come to the iPod touch sooner or later, and I predict it will be sooner, rather than later. Tear-downs of the most recently released iteration of the touch revealed a space perfectly designed for the same camera guts found in the new iPod nano, so unless Apple is just very interested in toying maliciously with Apple rumor hounds, this one is basically in the bag. It doesn’t hurt that it’s the next logical step for the rising star of Apple’s iPod lineup.

iPod Classic Gets Retired

Probability: Possible
It’s served long, and it’s served well, but the HD-based iPod Classic is not long for this world, in my opinion. Apple’s already streamlined the Classic to a single available model, and as the price of flash memory begins to trend downwards again in 2010, I think they’ll do away with the beast altogether and focus on turning Classic customers into iPod touch devotees.

Touch-based Control Returns to Shuffle

Probability: Possible
One of Apple’s most questionable decisions made in the service of sexy design is the loss of any and all buttons on the iPod shuffle. I think it will respond to mixed reviews and consumer skepticism by returning some form of manual (ie. non-voice) control to the device itself. That doesn’t necessarily mean buttons will return, if they can figure out some way to make use of the multi-touch tech it’s so clearly in love with.

Nano Gets Incremental Video Upgrades

Probability: Guaranteed
Look for the iPod nano to get steady improvements in the quality of its video camera, and in what you can do with said video on and off the device. Apple’s made its big changes to the device, and will now move into what amounts to a holding pattern in which it upgrades the upgrades it’s already introduced. And consumers will continue shelling out with each bump up.

The iPhone

Predicting where the iPhone will go is a bit more challenging than making calls about the iPod lineup. The upgrades made with the 3GS were logical enough, since many of them amounted to putting things in that should probably have been there in the first place.

The Usual

Probability: Guaranteed
There are the standard upgrades to be expected with any new model. These things include storage bumps (64GB next time around), improvements to the camera and video recording (bump up to 5 megapixels possible, but by no means a sure thing), and improvements to the processing and graphics rendering capabilities of the iPhone. They’re boring and we know they’re coming, so let’s not waste time on this.

New Look

Probability: Possible
The iPhone is incredibly recognizable, and that probably had something to do with the reason the 3GS still has the same distinctive look as the 3G. Other probable reasons include a rushed roll-out, and more emphasis on internal changes. I think next time around, we’ll be treated to a new look, and I wouldn’t exclude the possibility that we may have already seen some early prototypes of this design change.

Better Peer-to-Peer

Probability: Guaranteed
The future of mobile tech is in peer-to-peer interaction between devices. Apple knows this, and that’s why it opened up Bluetooth interaction between devices when it released iPhone 3.0. I think Apple will make further efforts to make P2P experiences technically better and more seamless in the next update. That might come via improved Bluetooth, or using the recently revealed Wi-Fi Direct tech that Apple’s thrown its support behind.

Physical Keyboard

Probability: Absurd
No. Just kidding.

The Big Picture

Flash-bang upgrades will all go to the iPhone, while the iPod line will get natural but relatively small and less showy enhancements. The reason being, Apple is using the iPod touch and its brethren to herd consumers towards the iPhone, which is the real cash cow and the better bet for long-term investment.

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Predicting 2010: Mac Lineup

January 2010 will mark the four-year anniversary of Apple's first Intel-based Mac, the MacBook Pro. With Snow Leopard officially dropping support for PowerPC Macs and the next version of iLife and iWork likely to do the same, a perfect storm is brewing where Apple can begin to really push OS X to maximize the potential of the Intel hardware it supports. 2010 looks to be a big year in terms of hardware updates from Apple; here's our roundup of predictions on what's to come.

MacBook Pro

Just like where it started four years ago with the first Intel Mac, the biggest and most exciting updates will happen to the MacBook Pro. The good news? With the classic MacBook seeing updates recently that peg its specs a little too close for comfort with its older brother, the new MacBook Pro update should arrive sooner rather than later.

In terms of processors, I predict Apple will adopt the mobile variant of the Core i5 and Core i7 quad-core processors currently found in the latest iMacs. Though these mobile variants, also referred to by their codename Arrandale, only feature two cores, they also come laden with Intel's better-than-previously-integrated-but-not-quite-as-good-as-a-standalone graphics chipset. Rumor has it that Apple isn't a fan of this implementation (as right it shouldn’t be, desiring a dedicated professional graphics card for its high-end portable). How this will shake out is still a mystery.

For the past three years, Apple has followed a steady trend of doubling both the entry-level amount of RAM and the maximum RAM that its high end portables can support. It's a great tactic on Apple's part as it combats only incremental performance gains with every new processor release. 2010 should be no different, with standard models of MacBook Pros shipping with 8GB of RAM with a ceiling of 16GB.

The big news for the MacBook Pros will be the inclusion of the first Blu-ray drive. It's been a long time coming but Apple is ready to go for it and ready to do it right. Blu-ray Superdrives will be available as an option (if not standard) on the 15" and 17" MacBook Pros.

Taking advantage of the brilliant resolution of Blu-ray, the 15" MacBook Pro will also feature a gorgeous 1920 x 1080 resolution display, packing the same number of pixels as the new 21.5-inch iMac and the current 17" MacBook Pro. Of course, this also means the 17" will get a display bump as well. 2560 x 1440 seems like a bit of a stretch, but one can always hope, right?

In regards to storage, I predict we'll see MacBook Pros starting with 500GB hard drives on the low-end 13" model and maxing out at 1TB or 1.5TB hard drives on the high-end 17" model. Before the year is out, the high-end models might even have an option for a 2TB drive.

MacBook Air

The MacBook Air, due to it's ultra slim and lightweight profile, will only see modest updates in 2010. Processors will be bumped to 2.26GHz and 2.53GHz (up from 1.86GHz and 2.13GHz). Hard drives on the portable will see modest size increases to 250GB SATA and 256GB solid-state drives. The next iteration of the MacBook Air will also ship with 4GB of RAM standard. Though it will be difficult for Apple to upgrade the processors, hard drives and RAM while still maintaining a profit, the price point of the MacBook Air is in a sweet spot at the moment that Apple doesn't want to disrupt.

As a completely outlandish prediction, I predict that Apple will also release a standalone external USB Blu-ray drive for MacBook Air users and legacy users who wouldn't mind the accessory. Price point? I'm betting $299.

MacBook

Everyone's favorite little portable recently saw an overhaul just a few months ago. For 2010, the MacBook specs will tend towards the current MacBook Pro offerings. Standard RAM will increase to 4GB (though this may remain the max for this model) and the portable will ship with either a 320GB or 500GB hard drive as standard.

Mac mini

The Mac mini will likely see modest processor increases (2.53GHz on the entry-level and 2.6GHz on the high-end) as well as 4GB RAM and 320GB hard drives standard. Build to order options will include 1TB drives and the Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server will ship with two 1TB drives. I also predict that Blu-ray drives will be a build-to-order option as Apple is starting to recognize the importance of the Mac mini in the living room as a more robust alternative to the Apple TV.

iMac

The iMac saw a nice update in 2009 that shifted the aspect ratio of the displays from the Apple-familiar 16:10 to the more HD-familiar 16:9. As such, the entry-level iMac is capable of displaying 1080p video, if only there were a source to play it. Similar to the MacBook Pros, I also predict the iMacs will receive built-in Blu-ray drives on the high-end models, if not standard across the entire line. The iMacs will also see a shift towards the quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 chips reaching clockspeeds similar to the current Core 2 Duo iMacs (a little over 3GHz). A subsequent update later in the year could bring about even faster processors in the neighborhood of 3.2GHz to 3.5GHz. 8GB of RAM will become standard on these Macs with the ability to upgrade to 16GB if desired.

Mac Pro & Xserve

There is still life left in the Nehalem architecture as the Core i9 "Gulftown" processor will make its debut in these high-end Macs at some point next year. Manufactured on a highly efficient 32nm die, this six core processor will boost a clock speed of around 2.8GHz and outfit the Mac in both single and dual processor varieties. This essential "12-core" MacPro or Xserve will feature 8-10GB of RAM as standard and a maximum ceiling of 64GB of RAM. You don't have to take my word for it though, just start saving pennies now.

The Elusive iTablet

And saving the best for last, we arrive at the iTablet. While many constantly peg Apple's unreleased tablet as occupying the space between the iPod touch and the MacBook, I predict it is between the iPod touch and MacBook of 2010, not 2009. As such, I predict the iTablet to function like a Mac and run OS X. I predict the tablet to utilize an Intel Core 2 Duo processor around the 2GHz mark. Personally, I feel Apple will disappoint many if the device functions more like an iPhone (in terms of hardware specs, besting out the 3GS 600MHz processor with 256MB of RAM). While I wouldn't expect the tablet to function as a workstation for heavy video rendering, Apple has shown a history of utilizing hardware that can pack a punch and really maximize the OS. I predict the tablet will feature between a 7" and 10" screen (personally I'm leaning towards the latter, despite rumor sites). The iTablet will also feature support for 802.11n for fast streaming of content like iTunes Extras across your local network, support for Screen Sharing for remotely administering other Macs and the ability to connect to an external display through a micro-DisplayPort connector. I also feel the iTablet will ship in two versions, differentiated by storage size (like every other Apple product ever) and feature a solid state drive like the iPhone and iPod touch. Though the iTablet may not feature a screen with high enough resolution for HD, I do believe it will support playback of HD video through an appropriate video out connector.

What's Left?

Rumors of Intel and Apple co-developing LightPeak technology are becoming more commonplace and I predict we'll see some announcement related to this in 2010. This high-speed optical connection might be essential to products like the iTablet that would benefit from its singular connection for power, data transfer, and HD video output. Or perhaps the technology could become employed in MacBook Pros, allowing use of one LightPeak connection to an iMac that provides power to charge the laptop, video signal carried to the iMac's display and audio carried to the iMac's internal speakers.

The white elephant still remaining in the room is of course Apple's Display lineup. With a 24" LED display and a 30" display that barely beats the resolution of Apple's new 27" iMac, I predict Apple will definitely be refreshing its display lineup. In particular, I expect the price of the 24" LED Cinema Display to drop to $699 and a new 27" LED Cinema Display, matching the same resolution as the iMac (remember, it's 16:9, not 16:10) to arrive at $1299. I also predict Apple will introduce a new, high-end 32" LED display at $1799, the price point of the current 30" display.

All of these predictions are merely speculation, based on Apple's history, rumor sites and published roadmaps from companies that Apple sources components from. While this article solely represents my opinion of what could be around the corner in 2010, I'd love to hear what you think or would like to see. Share a comment or two with your thoughts!

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The Case for Partitioning Your Mac's Hard Drive
I’ve been partitioning my hard drives since my very first Mac — a used Mac Plus back in 1992. Yes, I divided the Plus’s commodious 20MB external SCSI HD into two partitions so I could boot either System 6 (for speed) or System 7 (for Internet support).

I’m not as big an aficionado of partitioning as I once was, although all of my Macs since the Plus have had partitioned hard drives, including the unibody MacBook I’m typing this on, which has two HD partitions. That’s down from the four or five I used to configure back in the days of PowerBooks and OS 9.

Reasons to Partition

Partitioning means formatting the hard drive with two or more virtual volumes, which appear on your Desktop and function as if they were separate drives. I have a number of reasons for using multiple partitions.
- I like to be at least potentially able to install two different bootable operating systems on the same Mac — for instance, I have both OS X 10.5.8 Leopard and OS X 10.4.11 Tiger installed on my old G4 PowerBook (plus OS 9.2 to support Classic Mode in Tiger). Installing multiple boot systems makes version upgrades less of a dice-roll or leap of faith. Retaining a known-reliable older system installed is good insurance against disrupted work flow if the upgrade doesn’t go as smoothly as hoped. Also you may have favorite apps that aren’t supported by the latest OS version, of do a lot of testing of beta and/or alpha software, which has the potential to bollix things up.
- Troubleshooting is easier if you have two bootable partitions. For instance, you can usually run diagnostic and repair utilities from one partition on another, which goes much faster than booting from a CD or DVD, and diagnostically if a problem goes away when booted from a different system install, it’s more likely a software issue.
- By dividing up critical data, there’s less likelihood of catastrophic data loss due to file corruption. For example, a partition used strictly for document storage is unlikely to be affected by a serious system crash. Also if you have files that you want sharable without hassle among multiple users or across a network, you can create a partition volume for them with “Group” and/or “Others” read or read and write access.
- Partitioned drives make it easier to find particular files if you always store certain types of files on particular volumes.
Boot Camp Requires Partitioning
- If you’re running Boot Camp or one of the third-party virtualization solutions for Windows support, having Windows installed on a separate drive partition is a tidier way to proceed. In fact, Apple’s Boot Camp obliges you to have two (but no more) partitions. Boot Camp Assistant (OS X 10.5 Leopard and newer) automatically creates a discrete FAT 32, NT, or NTFS formatted Windows partition, but an important caveat is that Boot Camp Assistant doesn’t work on already partitioned disks, so with Boot Camp you’re limited to two partitions.
- Since OS X supports both the Apple HFS+ file system and the standard Unix UFS file system, creating a UFS-based partition will allow the drive to be accessed by Unix systems over a network.
Downsides to Partitioning

Some folks tout using a partition for file backups, a practice I’m less enthusiastic about as it will be no help if the hard drive itself fails.

Other potential disadvantages of partitioning are that as smaller volumes fill up, fragmentation can increase, there will be less free space for swap files when running applications that depend a lot on virtual memory, and partitioned drives are more complex to restore after serious crashes.

As I mentioned above, while I still partition, I don’t go as ape with it as I used to, partly because there are fewer advantages to multiple partitions with OS X’s excellent support for multiple users and today’s drive formatting schemes than there were back in Classic Mac OS and HFS formatting days, and partly because hard drives are so much bigger and faster than they used to be (plus there’s the two-partition Boot Camp limitation, if that applies).

The most convenient time to partition your hard drive is when you first set up the Mac, although these days you can partition and change partition sizes without erasing and re-initializing the drive using OS X Disk Utility or third-party partitioning software like Prosoft Engineering's $99 Drive Genius 2 or Coriolis System's $44.95 iPartition.
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Apple Tops U.S. Retail Sales Rankings in October

NPD Group has released its latest numbers for U.S. computer sales in October, and Macs are occupying many spots at or near the top of the list in all categories. Sales of both Mac desktop and notebook computers were very impressive for the month, but a good amount of that success can be attributed to the introduction of new models.

Among the big winners for October were the new 21-inch iMac, which topped the desktop sales charts, and the more expensive and powerful 27-inch iMac, which took a surprisingly high third place overall.

The iMac wasn’t the only winner, as Apple also saw strong sales in the notebook department. The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro came in first overall in notebook sales, and Apple occupied four of the top 10 spots for the month, though its other offerings placed low, taking the eighth, ninth, and 10th locations.

NPD Group’s vice president of industry analysis attributed Apple’s success to low numbers on the PC side of the equation, too, in an interview conducted with CNET:

Apple gets a bounce whenever they come out with new computers. For the most part, October was a down month on the Windows side because [PC manufacturers] were working through inventory before the Windows 7 launch.

Baker goes onto speculate about what’s behind Apple’s success:

Over past few years, Apple has continued to gain share in the market, and there are a lot of ways to explain that. It could be the stores, the computers themselves, the iPod, or iPhone. I think it’s a combination of all those things.

There’s no doubt in my mind that customer experience is the key to Apple’s success of late. The iPod and iPhone might have been the gateway drug for many users, but these days I find just as many people for whom the opposite is true. The common denominator is user friendliness and great support. The November numbers will be a much better indicator of Apple’s true success, however, since it will see a lot of holiday sales, and also should show how Mac is faring against Windows 7 machines.

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Rumor Has It: Apple Says "No" to Mobile Intel Core i5 and i7 Chips

Apple uses the desktop version of Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 processors in its current iMac lineup, and despite some DOA machines and some odd display problems being reported, people seem generally pleased with the results. It makes sense then that Apple would be interested in using the mobile version of those processors, codenamed “Arrandale,” in upcoming versions of its notebooks.

But Apple apparently isn’t interested in using the mobile platform, at least not in its default configuration. The problem is that the yet to be released 32nm Core i5 and Core i7 processors include mandatory integrated graphics. Since switching to the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor, we haven’t seen hide nor tail of an Intel integrated chip, and thank goodness for that.

According to reports from Bright Side of News citing sources “close to the matter,” Apple is said to have demanded that Intel build it a custom version of the Arrandale platform that leaves off the integrated graphics. That would allow the Mac maker to then make use of its own graphics option, which at this point seems like it will continue to be NVIDIA despite rumblings about a serious rift between the two companies.

In the past, Apple has received special treatment from Intel on numerous occasions. Perhaps most relevant to the matter at hand, the original MacBook Air featured a custom-designed Merom Core 2 Duo processor that featured very low power usage. Due to Apple’s continued success in the marketplace, and its high-profile public image, Intel must consider them a valuable customer and will probably try to accommodate if it isn’t financially irresponsible to do so.

If no special, non-GPU version of the processor is forthcoming, two outcomes are possible. Most likely, Apple will just continue to use existing processor tech until Intel finally does introduce a GPU-free version. The other, less probable outcome is for Apple to either seek CPUs from AMD, Intel’s biggest competitor, or to begin producing its own in-house, something it might be prepared to do thanks to acquisitions and hires made over the years. I still think going in-house is kind of a nuclear option for Apple, since outsourcing is probably much more cost-effective.

Either way, I’d love to see a major change in the MacBook and MacBook Pro line soon. They’ve been using Intel Core 2 Duo processors for quite a while now, and while incremental processor speed upgrades are all well and good, a serious boost would be much better. Still no quad-core mobile computing anywhere on the horizon, though, despite long-standing expectations.

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The App Store Opus and the Unasked Question

In a 3,000-word analysis of a paradigm shift in personal technology fit for a press release, the New York Times has declared the App Store worthy of buzzword status. Including comments from Apple executives Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue, “Apple's Game Changer, Downloading Now” is also something of a Rorschach test on the App Store review process.

There is no shortage of praise for the App Store, starting with Lynch Smith of gaming company Freeverse, who cites the App Store as the “future of digital distribution.” That’s followed by Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, not the most accurate of analysts when it comes to projecting Apple’s quarterly results, saying Apple is attempting “to become the Microsoft of the smartphone market.” I guess that’s supposed to be good, but is the App Store good, as in not evil?

With the App Store, Apple has replaced a carrier distribution model for applications that was expensive, time-consuming, and mercurial with one that is inexpensive, time-consuming, and mercurial. Not a week goes by that a bizarre rejection is reported on, occasionally to be approved on appeal, and it seems that not a month goes by that Schiller isn’t defending the review process:

"I think, by and large, we do a very good job there," Mr. Schiller said. "Sometimes we make a judgment call both ways, that people give us feedback on, either rejecting something that perhaps on second consideration shouldn't be, or accepting something that on second consideration shouldn't be."

What does that even mean? Anyway, senior VP Cue is a little more cogent on Apple’s App Store efforts, noting that with music “we really don't have to review each and every song.” According to Apple, more than 10,000 applications are submitted each week. Most “sail through with no difficulty,” with “greater scrutiny” being largely applied to apps with “bugs or glitches in the coding.” It’s a “necessary evil” to protect “customer trust.”

Which customers? That’s the real question. Who, exactly, is Apple trying to persuade that the App Store review process is not a mess? While personal technology enthusiasts and developers might care about the Byzantine nature of the App Store review process, the vast majority of iPhone and iPod touch users don’t, at least if one measures opinion by downloads. So what, or who, is Apple worried about?

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Apple Pondering Music Streaming?

CNET is reporting Apple is in an “advanced” stage of talks with music service Lala, according to a pair of sources, one of which asserts that terms have already been agreed upon. If so, such a deal could portend big changes in how the iTunes Store does business.

Lala launched in 2006 as a CD trading website, followed by more permanent changes to its business model. Lala now sells DRM-free MP3s for as little 89 cents, as well as “web songs” for 10 cents. According to Lala, a “web song is a song that lives on the Internet,” that dime getting you unlimited number of plays from a web browser, which isn’t a micro-subscription at all. Yeah, this sounds exactly like what Apple is interested in.

Since the inception of the iTunes Store, Apple has been unequivocal in its opinion of music subscriptions—by any name—and often that non-equivocation has come from Steve Jobs. In a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, the Apple CEO explained the intrinsic problem with “web songs,” that you don’t own your own music. He then added this Jobsian gem.

I think you could make available the Second Coming in a subscription model and it might not be successful.

So has Steve Jobs suddenly found his infinite plays of his own Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode for just ten cents? It seems unlikely. More likely, Apple may be interested in Lala because Google is interested. Lala recently partnered with Google for the search giant’s music service, and more recently Google acquired AdMob. Shortly before that acquisition, Apple was supposedly in talks with AdMob. However, while buying AdMob might have kept Google away from the App Store, Apple buying Lala won’t stop Google from seeding the Internet cloud with music.

There is another possibility, though. Lala also has a Music Mover service that lets users upload their collection and make it available “anywhere on the web.” Like an iPhone. At least, that would be the theory, though the reality of AT&T’s network might be a problem. Another problem to consider, at least for Apple, is what’s the point of buying a 32GB iPhone if 20GB of your music is in the cloud? It’s that latter issue that makes this a curious move for Apple, if a purchase of Lala is indeed Apple’s next move.

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Upon Further Review: Microsoft's Document Connection Tool

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I used to use my Mac at my day job. However, a combination of not-so-subtle hints from our Information Security folks as well as the general pain in the posterior of managing a SharePoint site on the Mac forced me back to a PC. Frankly, for what I do, my little Dell ultraportable is just fine.

A project recently hit my desk, though, where using the Mac became the best choice for me. We’re shuttering a data center and moving about 300 servers to new locations. It became my task to update all of our documentation to reflect the servers new homes.

After poking around with some lack-luster search tools in SharePoint and a conference with our admins, I learned there wasn’t an automated way to feed a list of servers into SharePoint’s search engine and have it spit out a list of documents each server is in.

With SP2 for Office 2008, Microsoft introduced a new Document Connection tool, which allows Office 2008 to connect to SharePoint sites very easily. Figuring this tool might be beneficial to my chore, I fired it up.

Unfortunately, I quickly learned that I can’t actually search the contents of documents on the site; I can only search on the name of the document. No worries. Part of our “in case of emergency” recovery plan is the entire site is exported to a share on our file server.

This was a great task for Automator. I quickly created a little search tool that would copy the selected text (server name) to a Text Edit document, and then append to that document the names of all the documents that contained that server. A little find-and-replacing to clean up the document, I soon had a nice Excel sheet with the list of documents I needed to edit.

Finding the actual documents through SharePoint’s web portal would be a hassle, though. I could find them on the master list, or depending on how they are tagged, but it sure would be nice if I had a tool where I could quickly type in the document name and open it in Word. Oh, wait, I do: the newly-released Document Connection tool. It worked perfectly. Since I had the list of document titles, it was amazingly easy to find the document I needed and edit it.

While the tool made my life easier, there are a few things I’d like to see in future releases. All of our documents need to be approved before people can see them. There was no way to approve the changes via the tool; I still had to go to the web interface to do this. It wasn’t the end of the world, since the approval process actually works well on non-IE browsers.

The real hassle, though, was assigning the metatags we use. Each document needs to have two tags assigned to it that “file” the document in their correct bins — these are what the product is and what market it belongs to. These are assigned from a pre-defined list, and when you go to the SharePoint site, there are pulldowns you can choose the product and market groups. The pulldowns to assign a newly-uploaded document its proper tagging do not work on non-IE browsers, so it’d be nice to have a way I could assign those via the tool as well.

What has your experience been with Microsoft’s Document Connection tool?

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Last.fm: 12 Ways to Scrobble

“Audio Scrobbling,” as defined by Last.fm, is the act of submitting to a central database the details of what songs you’ve been listening to (what album, by who and when you listened). Scrobbling to Last.fm is the main reason I use the service these days, especially since it made the internet radio part of it a paid subscription only service for Australia. I think that being able to easily track and visualise my listening history and share that with friends is a great example of the social internet revolution.

There are a number of ways to have your music scrobbled to Last.fm from your Mac. Which one you chose depends on which fits into your music workflow the best.

First, a few words regarding iPod scrobbling. While many of the clients will scrobble what you’ve played on your iPod/iPhone (once you’ve synced your device), Last.fm does not accept scrobbles with a date-time in the past if more recent tracks have already been scrobbled. This means it’s generally not possible to listen to tracks on your device, listen to tracks on your computer and scrobble them, then sync your device and expect the songs previously listened to on the device to then scrobble too. ScrobblePod is the only tool I’ve tried that successfully handles this.

So, without further ado, here are 12 ways to scrobble your music listening habits to Last.fm.

The Official Client

Fully featured, the official client focuses on the Internet radio part of Last.fm, but does scrobble songs played through iTunes as well as picking up what you have listened to on your iPod. If you often use Last.fm for Internet radio, this make the most sense. It will attempt to scrobble iPod tracks played. This official client is free.

Standalone Players

The following apps are standalone players, they do not control iTunes and iTunes does not need to be running. They can, however, access your existing iTunes library.

SweetFM

SweetFM is a full Last.fm client which can stream radio as well as scrobble what iTunes is playing. However, you can’t control iTunes with it. iPod scrobbling is not supported. SweetFM is an open-sourced project.

Deck

The Deck is a standalone full album player that lets you queue up complete albums and play them in the order you want. The tracks it plays will then be scrobbled. iPod scrobbling is not supported. Deck costs $20, with a trial version available that will randomly pause playing.

Songbird

Songbird is a full, open-source iTunes replacement that contains a downloadable Last.fm module (this will be downloaded for you when you first start the application). This module will scrobble as well as enable the Internet radio functionality of Last.fm. For a complete review of Songbird see TheAppleBlog’s comprehensive review. Surprisingly, iPod scrobbling is not supported.

Spotify

Spotify is a cloud-based music service, where you make your music available to yourself anywhere you are. It requires an online account, which might not be available in your country (its not in Australia or the U.S.). iPod scrobbling is not supported.

iTunes Controllers

These applications serve primarily as remote controllers for iTunes, offering alternative ways to play your music, while offering scrobbling functionality as an added bonus.

Synergy

Synergy presents buttons in the menubar to let you always control iTunes and will scrobble them too. iPod scrobbling is not supported. Synergy costs 5 Euros, but a free trial is available.

CoverSutra

CoverSutra is an iTunes HUD based controller that can scrobble for you. iPod scrobbling is not supported. It costs $20 with a free trial available.

CoverStream

Another iTunes helper app, this gives you the ‘Cover Flow’ view as a popup HUD window while scrobbling to Last.fm. iPod scrobbling is not supported. CoverStream costs 15 Euros, and a free trial is available.

Bowtie

Bowtie is a slim remote that offers many visual themes and utilizes lots of keyboard shortcuts, while also scrobbling to Last.fm. iPod scrobbling is not supported. Bowtie is free.

iTunes Scrobblers

These applications do just one thing, they sit in the background, scrobble whats playing in iTunes and nothing else.

iScrobbler

A nice dedicated scrobbler thats small and fast. iPod scrobbling can be turned on and off, and you can specify a specific playlist to use too. It attempts to solve the iPod sync issue by giving an option (enabled by default) to queue submissions if an iPod is mounted, but this just doesn’t work for me. iScrobbler is free.

Audioscrobbler

Audioscrobbler is a fork of the official Last.fm client, released by an ex Last.fm employee. This contains just the iTunes scrobbling parts of the official client. It does not yet handle iPods at all. Audioscrobbler is free.

ScrobblePod

ScrobblePod is my scrobbler of choice. It has a tiny memory and CPU footprint and stays out of the way. Most importantly it only ever scrobbles after my iPhone has finished syncing with iTunes. This means it cleanly handles all combinations of listening on the device or computer in any order. ScrobblePod is free.

Which scrobbler is your favorite?

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Music in the Cloud: Heavenly or Pipe Dream?

Source: Flickr user erin MC hammer

Let’s face it, remembering to sync just stinks. With MobileMe, Apple introduced “over-the-air” syncing, allowing your contacts and emails to appear on your phone and computer automatically without intervention. Small amounts of data make it easy. However, if you want music, that’s a whole different story.

Currently, you need to manually hook up your iPhone or iPod to your Mac in order to sync, and most music collections exceed the size of the average music player. Kevin Tofel over at GigaOm Pro proposes the idea (subscription required) of moving all your music to the “cloud” and then streaming your music to your player. This way, your entire music collection is available over an Internet connection. Kevin mentions that ZumoDrive already offers the ability to play music synced to the cloud, so why not extend that to other services? If you can purchase music via your iPhone, why not stream it? Great idea, but not the way Kevin suggests it.

For one, we’ve already been down this road of keeping your collection in the cloud. Before clouds meant anything but rain, MP3.com came up with a similar idea. In January 2000, it introduced a service that let you stream your entire music collection via its website. You simply proved you owned a particular CD and then it unlocked the album from its digital locker and allowed you to listen to it. Unfortunately, the record industry didn’t like this service since they thought it represented unauthorized duplication and distribution. It’s been a decade and the music industry has accepted that digital music is a fact of life. The case might have gone differently today. MP3.com minimized the need to actually move the data around and was ahead of its time.

A big problem with using the cloud to sync your music is the sheer size of data. A few songs are great, but whether you use DropBox or ZumoDrive, a large MP3 collection would be prohibitively expensive to keep in the cloud, and take forever to upload over a consumer-grade broadband connection. Additionally, while the cloud can be convenient, it can also go up in smoke at the drop of a hat. Just ask anyone with a T-Mobile Sidekick. A song collection represents hundreds of hours of ripping or thousands of dollars in online purchases. It would be risky to keep solely in the cloud. While you would still have the music on your computer, keep in mind that “syncing” is not “backing up,” because when syncing goes haywire, it has the ability to erase data from your computer. SugarSync recently did that to me, and man it stung!

An Alternative

Personally, I prefer to use Pandora and Last.fm to bring my music with me. With their ability to customize stations, I’m able to hear songs I already own as well as discover new artists. While it’s not identical to my music collection, it provides a majority of the same songs and same artists. If you want your exact music collection accessible anywhere, software already exists to do that. Simplify Media allows you to stream your iTunes collection to another computer or to your iPhone and it even works on slower Internet connections. This keeps the data on your computer and hopefully safely backed up.

Backups are really the key, though. As so many of us move to online backup services such as Mozy, Carbonite, and Backblaze, why couldn’t they extend their services like Kevin suggests and allow streaming of your backed up music collection? A good online backup should be an exact duplicate of your music collection. Carbonite already provides instant remote access to your online files and I’m sure Mozy and Backblaze will be sure to follow. Bandwidth, of course, is an issue, but I’d gladly pay a few extra bucks a month to have my MP3 collection backed up and accessible to me anytime anywhere via a web browser or my iPhone. That should be a good value add for these companies and earn them a bit of extra revenue.

Good idea Kevin, though I disagree with the implementation. Too bad that MP3.com was a decade ahead of its time. It should take the Newton team out for a beer and talk about what that’s like!

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Apple Delivers Minor Updates Mac Pro and Xserve

Apple sometimes provides updates to its products stealthily, in the dead of night, if said updates don’t merit a dedicated press event. That happened yesterday to both the Mac Pro desktop computer and the Xserve rack-mountable server. Both are minor updates, but will be of great interest to those looking to buy either type of machine.

The Mac Pro got a new option in the processor customization department, a 3.33GHz quad-core Intel Xeon processor for an additional $1,200. As of yet, there’s no option to double up the 3.33GHz version of the quad-core to create a more powerful 8-core machine on the more expensive configuration of the Mac Pro.

You can also now outfit your Mac Pro with 2TB hard drives, instead of the 1TB option at which capacity previously maxed out. That means the official total capacity of the Mac Pro, as configured in the Apple Store, is now 8TB, which is nothing to sneeze at. Each 2TB drive will set you back $550.

The only reason to hesitate if you’re thinking about picking up a Mac Pro is that the last time they were updated was back in March 2009. Chances are another major upgrade isn’t too far around the corner, possibly involving Intel’s forthcoming i9 processor, so if you can wait, you probably should.

The configuration options for the Xserve were also updated, allowing for use of the same 2TB drives that are now available to the Mac Pros. That means max capacity for the Xserve is now 6TB. RAM options also got upgraded, with 4GB modules now available, so that the max configurable memory is now 24GB on the quad-core Xserve, and 48GB on the 8-core.

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