Fresh Apple: GigaOM (4 сообщения)

rss2email.ru

Интересные факты обо всем на свете

Блог о дизайне

Вокруг ТВ. Светская хроника

Лучший дизайн мира. Строгий отбор!

GigaOM

http://gigaom.com
рекомендовать друзьям >>

Rumor Has It: iPad 2 to Get New Back, Better Speaker
A new report by Japanese Apple blog MacOtakara (via AppleInsider) published Thursday claims that the next iPad will have a flat back like the iPod touch, a better speaker with a wider range, and a smaller bezel around the screen, reducing the overall size of the device.

MacOtakara cites an “anonymous Chinese source,” as the origin of the new rumored information. According to the source, the new iPad’s back won’t have a curved back, and will taper into a flat surface, much like the iPod touch’s current back casing. It’s a minor change, but it could reduce overall device width, and make it a little bit easier to use the device when lying down on a flat surface.

The iPad will also take up less space on your desk, if the new information proves correct. The overall footprint of the iPad 2 will apparently shave a little more than 3mm off of its current height and width, resulting in a 239mm x 186mm total size. The screen will remain the same, with the size savings being shaved off of the bezel that surrounds it instead.

The new design would also see the ambient light sensor move to the back of the device, which might be done to allow for the smaller bezel. That Apple would change the position of the light sensor strikes me as odd, since you’d think the best place to test the light would be on the screen, since that’s the whole point.

Finally, according to this new source, the bottom of the device will feature a larger, “wide-range” speaker with a mesh grill cover. This also strikes me as odd, since the current iPad has a remarkably good speaker in my opinion, but it might help prevent it from being so easily covered.

As always, take these rumors with a grain of salt, but it is the season that we should start hearing tons of reports. And as is usually the case with each Apple product release, some will inevitably turn out to be correct.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать
Get Mac Anti-Theft App Hidden Free Until January

If you’re getting or giving a new MacBook during the next couple of days, then grab Mac app Hidden, which provides a number of theft prevention services. Now until January 2011, the app is free. All you need to do is register, download and install.

What does Hidden do? It’s a little bit like Find My iPhone for your Mac computer, in that it lets you track where your computer goes, so long as whoever stole or bought your stolen computer from the original thief turns it on and connects to a wireless network. The app then connects to the Skyhook network of Wi-Fi signal towers (the same one the iPhone and iPod touch originally used for geo-location services) and reports back with the approximate location of your Mac.

Hidden also offers more than just location tracking, though. It launches a three-pronged attack agains thieves, by also attempting to identify them and keeping track of what they do with your computer. It accomplishes the first by taking pictures periodically using your built-in iSight camera, and the second by taking screenshots of your computer when it’s in use, which should help you know whether or not a thief attempted to access and abuse your private data.

The Hidden app doesn’t display an icon in the Applications folder, or a menu bar item, or even a preference pane in the Settings app. That way, no one will know that your Mac is being tracked. Once you’ve registered, you can sign in to the Hidden website from any computer and track computers on which you’ve installed the Hidden app right from a web-based dashboard. All you need to do is change the status of the machine to “Stolen” and Hidden will start gathering data. You can also set it to “Test Mode” if you want to see what kind of info you’ll receive in case of theft.

You can uninstall the app by following instructions found on Hidden’s FAQ, but it requires an administrator password, so as long as you’ve set a strong one, thieves shouldn’t be able to do the same.

For the great price of free, this is a great way to give some piece of mind this holiday to Mac-using friends and family.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать
Quick Tip: Replacing the Apple TV Remote
The new Apple TV is designed to be simple, and it is, at least when it comes to what’s in the box. But while hooking up a new Apple TV is billed as easy, things slow down when you have to input data. And who needs another remote floating around, just waiting to get lost?

Below I’ll describe how to use Apple’s Remote app on iOS devices to make data entry easy, and I’ll tell you how to pair your Apple TV with an existing universal remote so that you can restore your single-device home theatre control setup.

Connect to the Local Network

In order to enable Apple’s official Remote app on your iOS device to control your Apple TV, both your iPhone or iPad and the Apple TV must be on the same network. If you can, connect your Apple TV via Ethernet. That should make for smoother streaming, especially if you have an older wireless router. Keep in mind that when an Ethernet cable is attached to your Apple TV, it will automatically join that network. In order switch to a Wi-Fi network, you must first ensure that the Ethernet cable is disconnected.

Pairing the Remote App With an Apple TV

Next, you need to configure both the Remote app on your iOS device and the Apple TV using the same iTunes account. The account doesn’t have to be associated with any Mac running iTunes on the local network, nor does not have to have a credit card associated with it. It only needs to be a valid iTunes account. It doesn’t even have to be the same iTunes account you registered your iOS device with. So despite what Apple says, you do not need any version of iTunes running anywhere in order to take advantage of many cross-platform features between iOS 4.2 and Apple TV.

On the Apple TV, select Settings from the main menu and navigate to General>Remotes>Remote App. Enable Home Sharing and enter your iTunes account ID and password. Then launch Apple’s Remote app on the iOS device, turn on Home Sharing and enter the same ID and password. Once the account is verified on both devices, you can control the Apple TV from the Remote app. This includes using the virtual keyboard on the iOS device to enter your Netflix, Flickr, YouTube and MobileMe account information, and to search for content.

Pairing with a Universal Remote

While the Apple remote is very stylish, it is still another remote you need to deal with. Most home theaters come with more remotes than can fit on an end table. There are several really nice learning and programmable remotes out there, but only a few can be programmed with the Apple remote codes.

Luckily, the Apple TV has turned the tables on universal remotes as it can learn the remote you already have. It’s a good idea to program the device you’ll use with your Apple TV on your universal remote as an off-brand VCR so it doesn’t interfere with your other components. Then on the Apple TV, select Settings from the main menu and navigate to General>Remotes>Learn Remote. From here, the Apple TV will the walk you through the learning process.

Smart and Simple

With all the buzz lately about security, it’s a really good idea to use the Apple Remote app with your Apple TV, since it’ll make it much easier to use long, very strong password s. If you’re using an account management app on your iOS device like 1Password or SplashID, you can even cut-and-paste text directly to your Apple TV. And if you also set up your universal remote, that’ll make for one less device you have to keep track of, which is always useful considering how crowded the living room of today can get.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать
BusyToDo Review: MobileMe Syncing at Last

BusyToDo, a new to-do app for iPhone, aims to bring the most obvious omission from MobileMe to subscribers of the cloud services package from Apple. It does this without much flair, and it has a fairly high asking price. So is it worth it?

Much could be improved with MobileMe, starting with a free version, but Apple’s cloud service does wirelessly sync personal info like bookmarks, contacts, and appointments, but frustratingly not tasks. To fill that gap, there are apps like OmniGroup’s OmniFocus, but it’s both more powerful and more expensive ($19.99) than most people need. Appigo’s ToDo app is also feature-rich, and at $0.99, it’s a bargain, and even syncs wirelessly over a local network.

The downside of apps like Appigo’s ToDo is that they usually require companion server apps running on your Mac, as well some user intervention when syncing wirelessly. Also, the recent upgrade to online calendars for MobileMe users caused havoc with ToDo for me. All my tasks were stripped from their respective calendars, and while there’s a workaround, it’s still frustrating.

BusyToDo from BusyMac, the makers of the iCal-on-steroids app BusyCal, provides the syncing that Apple should have included natively. It’s a spartan to-do list with few of the advanced features of task apps like those from OmniGroup or Appigo, but BusyToDo is still missing a few basic features, too, like a badge on the icon indicating due tasks. There isn’t a native version yet for the iPad, either. What you see in the screenshot is what you get, though if you use BusyCal in combination with BusyToDo, you can get a little more, like repeat to-dos and tags.

Task can be shown or hidden by associated calendar, and the list can be sorted by due date, priority, calendar, or alphabetically. I prefer to sort by calendar, but since calendars are shown alphabetically, I used “00″ as a calendar for today or priority tasks. As can be seen in the screenshot, you can’t hide tasks that fall outside a timeframe like you can in iCal.

Again, as the settings illustrate (not shown is a slider switch to display alarms as local notifications), BusyToDo is a basic task list. At $4.99, such a simple to-do app would be way overpriced, except for its singular “killer” feature.

BusyToDo syncs iCal or BusyCal tasks through MobileMe, which is also the only way to sync with BusyToDo, but then that’s the point. Having logged in once to MobileMe, I created tasks and calendars on my MacBook, iPad, and iPhone, and they were instantly pushed to the other devices. There were no problems, no additional software or services were required, and BusyToDo worked over Wi-Fi and 3G.

It’s not fancy, and it’s not exactly cheap, but it works, and until Apple introduces its own solution, BusyToDo is your best bet for syncing MobileMe to-do tasks quickly and easily over-the-air.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать