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Mac 101: Setting Up Your Mouse or Trackpad
There are a myriad of options when it comes to setting up your Mac’s mouse or trackpad. The Mouse and Trackpad sections in System Preferences have helpful videos showing you how to use different features, but here’s a guide to getting those settings just right.

One- or Two-button?

One of the most confusing things about a Mac mouse is that it doesn't have physical left and right buttons. Both the Magic Mouse and the Mighty Mouse which preceded it simply have only one click function, clicking anywhere on the mouse. But it is possible to set up a secondary or right-click, too.

To enable a right-click, open up Mouse in System Preferences (>System Preferences) and find the Secondary Click setting. On the Magic Mouse, you can set the secondary click to either be on the right, or the left, for left-handed users. To use the right-click function when it’s turned on, perform your click on the right-hand side (or left, if you set it to left) of the mouse.

You can enable two-finger tap secondary clicking in the System Preferences>Trackpad options. Trackpads also have the option of a one-finger secondary click, where you click in the corner of your choice on the trackpad to perform a secondary click instead of using a two-finger tap.

If you uncheck the option for Secondary Click, then to perform a right click, you will need to hold down Control on the keyboard and click with the mouse. Clicking on the left or right-hand side without holding the Control key will perform a left-click.

Scrolling with Inertia

Both the Magic Mouse and trackpads have the option to scroll with inertia. This is the effect which you see on the iPhone, where flicking makes the scroll carry on after you let go. The option can be found alongside the checkbox for Scroll, which for mice is under the One Finger heading in the relevant Systems Preferences pane, and for trackpads is under Two Fingers.

You can also turn off scrolling altogether, but that would become tiresome after a while, because it means either using the cursor keys to scroll, or dragging the scrollbar on the right of a window. I imagine you’d be turning scrolling back on fairly soon after turning it off.

Getting a Closer Look

System Preferences (under either Trackpad or Mouse) also offers the option to turn on Screen Zoom for your input device. By holding one of either Control, Option or Command, depending on your choice in the settings, you can then scroll upwards on your device to zoom in on your screen, and scroll down to zoom back out again. This is great for the visually impaired. There are some other options to do with Screen Zoom which let you change how the screen moves in relation to the cursor, and turn image smoothing while zoomed on or off.

Navigating Using a Mouse or Trackpad

If you use a Magic Mouse or use a trackpad you can turn on swipe to navigate, which lets you go back and forward in your web history, jump between pages in a Preview document, and much more depending on which application you’re using. On a mouse, you swipe either left or right with two fingers, and for a trackpad it’s three. There are no settings for swipe to navigate, it’s a simple on or off setting.

Trackpad Multitouch

If you own an iPhone or iPad and you like being able to pinch to zoom, and rotate with two fingers, you’ll be happy to hear that the new glass trackpads on MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs, as well as the Magic Trackpad, support both these multitouch gestures, and a few more. Each gesture can be turned on and off individually, and additional gestures to choose from include swiping up and down with four fingers to access Exposé and the Application Switcher (⌘⇥). These gestures are the best thing about Apple’s Magic Trackpad.

These are just the options which Apple has built-in to Macs by default. With an application like as MagicPrefs, you can add even more functionality to your mouse or trackpad such as custom gestures other than the Apple specified ones. If you have any other input device-related tips or tricks, feel free to share in the comments.

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OnLive iPad App Lets You Watch Games, Promises Much More
OnLive has a new iPad client as of yesterday, Dec. 7. It won’t let you play games, which is what the streaming gaming service was created for, but it will let you watch others doing just that. The press release introducing the app talks about the success of “gaming as a spectator sport,” but that’s the least interesting thing about this app. Instead, the many things it could do in the future go well beyond gaming and are appealing.

Watching Others Game is Boring

According to OnLive’s marketing, the OnLive Viewer app, which is available now for download for free from the App Store, scratches an itch that many gamers have but isn’t addressed by most services: the desire to watch and interact with their peers without actually gaming. According to OnLive VP of Games and Media, John Spinale:

Spectating of other players is by far the most popular OnLive activity after gameplay itself, and the convenience and mobility of iPad and Android tablets adds an incredible dimension to it. Watching live games and interacting with the people playing them takes social gaming to an entirely new level. It's unlike any other experience. And people love it.

While it may be true that game spectating is OnLive’s second-most popular activity after game playing, I question the usefulness of that bit of information. How many activities does OnLive actually boast? Is updating your Profile settings the third-most popular “activity”? Maybe logging in or out is fourth?

Remote Gaming Has Limited Appeal

I don’t think gaming as a spectator sport is an idea with wide appeal (after watching people play various video games for longer than I think I ever have), or one by which OnLive can establish a workable business model in the mobile realm. OnLive plans to introduce actual gaming to its iPad and Android apps as soon as it can optimize controls and gameplay performance for touch-based handsets, which is the main course many gamers are looking forward to following the release of this somewhat limited appetizer.

But even that, despite being OnLive’s original central stated purpose, doesn’t strike me as the key to the application’s potential success on the iPad. The iPad and iPhone have changed the way people think about gaming. Whereas people may have once dreamed of being able to bring their favorite console game to their mobile device without making any sacrifices, consumers now realize that this generally results in a compromise: either in controls, visuals or gameplay. Better to encourage the development community to specifically target iOS devices, so that gameplay experiences are better suited to the features and limitations of the devices upon which they’re being played.

While gaming is the backbone of OnLive’s current reputation, it shouldn’t be the focus of its mobile efforts. Gaming was a central tent pole that made sense when the iPad launched a little less than a year ago, but now that Apple’s tablet has a robust native gaming ecosystem of its own, it’s not anywhere near as strong a selling point.

OnLive CEO Steve Perlman seems to agree, based on statements made in the OnLive Viewer press release where he emphasizes the non-gaming applications possible with the tech behind the new app:

The OnLive Viewer mobile App is the last piece of the puzzle to unify the worlds of TV, computing and mobile all under one real-time cloud-based platform, enabling previously inconceivable experiences, capabilities and live, video-rich social interaction. Today we showed the tip of the iceberg for what you'll be seeing from OnLive, delivering high-performance gaming, entertainment, enterprise and Web applications wherever and whenever people want them, on virtually any device.

Forget gaming. A real-time, cloud-based background whose only technical limitation is the strength of your internet connection is the real story here. My connection at the moment sucks, and though I wasn’t thrilled about watching others game, the OnLine app showed responsiveness and navigation ease that blew me away. It’s definitely much better than any remote desktop client I’ve ever used in terms of lag time between input action and result.

OnLive has a pretty strong association with gaming, since that’s where it got its start, and it continues to do much to expand its presence in that area on home computers and in living rooms. But if you want to see the true value of the company in terms of how it will affect iPhone and iPad usage, look beyond that to its possible enterprise applications. OnLive’s ability to bring robust computing to relatively underpowered platforms is its most impressive asset.

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Report: iPad 2 Backlight Supplier Another Piece in Puzzle
A report today in DigiTimes (which reported yesterday that the iPad 2 is on track for an April launch) says Coretronic has been chosen to supply backlight units for Apple’s next iPad. It’s the latest piece is a supplier puzzle that is beginning to form a fairly complete picture of what the iPad 2 will ultimately look like. The good news? Specific component supplier reports almost always precede an impending launch.

Here’s a breakdown of which company is reportedly supplying what for Apple’s next tablet so far:

Screen

As mentioned, today DigiTimes, a Taiwanese publication with access to Apple’s Asian suppliers, reported that Coretronic woud be providing backlighting units for the new iPad. Those backlights will be used with displays produced by Chimei Innolux and LG Display. Coretronic is a new addition this time around, and it will share duties with the previous iPad backlight manufacturer, Radiant Opto-Electronics. Coretronic will exclusively supply Chimei, while Radiant will exclusively work with LG, according to the report.

A backlight supplier for iPad 2 means that the device will retain an LCD screen, since an OLED display doesn’t use a backlight. That’s probably good news, though, since Apple’s current iPhone and iPod touch Retina Display, arguably the best on the market, uses LCD technology.

Printed Circuit Board

Printed circuit board (PCB) suppliers for the iPad 2 have also been reported by DigiTimes. Ibiden, Tripod Technology and TTM Technologies are reported to be supplying the initial stock of PCBs for the iPad 2, with more to be added in February 2011 when production ramps up.

CDMA Chip

Qualcomm is said to be supplying CDMA-GSM multimode chips according to Wedge Partner’s Brian Blair. This would make the iPad 2 usable on networks like Verizon’s without the need for an additional MiFi device. DigiTimes has Taiwan Semiconductor Company (TSMC) pegged as the chipmaker for these Qualcomm components in a new report.

Camera

Just last week on Dec. 1, Largan Precision was reported to have secured a contract as the exclusive supplier of the camera lens module to be used in the iPad 2. That’s according to DigiTimes, again, via documents the lens-maker filed claiming said exclusivity. TUAW noted that Largan doesn’t offer a 5-megapixel module currently, but does have an 8-megapixel one, sparking speculation that the iPad 2 could potentially boast a better still camera than the iPhone.

Most of this information admittedly comes from the same source, but when it comes to supplier predictions at least, DigiTimes has a fairly solid track record. Last February, it released a list of iPad component suppliers just prior to the device’s launch, which proved quite accurate.

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Google's Chrome OS Extends Battle With Apple
At its event today, Google pulled the curtain back further still on Chrome OS, which it originally announced in July 2009. Chrome OS takes many cues from Google’s success with its Android mobile operating system, so don’t be surprised if it leads to more competition for Apple’s platforms and products.

Chrome OS is all about web apps, and basically involves a modified version of the Chrome browser running on top of Linux. It’ll depend largely on apps from the Chrome web store, which launches today in the U.S. with a 500 app library. Demo apps look native, but are in fact built with HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.

The timing of the Chrome web store’s launch is very close to that of another app distribution platform: the Mac App Store, which could arrive as soon as next week if recent reports prove true. Looking at screens of Google’s web app marketplace compared to Apple’s iOS App Store in iTunes, you’d be forgiven for thinking they came out of the same design studio.

But the cosmetic similarity hides a fundamental difference: Google is going all-in on web apps with Chrome OS, while Apple is more or less committed to native apps on both iOS and OS X. Once upon a time, Apple recommended web apps (near the bottom) as the way to get third-party software on the iPhone, but those days have long since passed once Apple added support for native third-party iOS titles in 2008.

As with Android, which is hardware agnostic, Chrome OS isn’t tied to any particular manufacturer the way Apple’s operating systems are. Chrome web apps can even be used on OS X using Google’s browser, so in theory there’s no barrier preventing a Chrome OS user from accessing their data on any machine that can run the Chrome browsers. Apple’s emphasis on native apps means neither data nor applications aren’t as portable and hardware-independent.

Ironically, Chrome OS runs the risk of providing much more of an inconsistent experience because it isn’t picky about hardware. Android is already tremendously fragmented, with multiple versions in active service, and different device-specific flavors being used by different manufacturers, though that has improved somewhat recently. Chrome OS seems vulnerable to the same kind of fragmentation, though maybe not to such an extreme degree since lightweight browsers often run well across many hardware configurations.

If Apple has one major advantage in the expanding battle with Google, it’s that Cupertino has the underpinnings of a unified, cross-platform approach in place. The Mac App Store and the iOS App Store are both all about native apps. OS X Lion promises to draw the ties that bind between itself and iOS even closer still. Chrome OS, on the other hand, is focused on web apps and seems to share little of the narrative behind Android and its marketplace, beyond not being picky about hardware.

Google’s not making it easy to connect the dots between Chrome OS and Android, and it doesn’t look intent on doing so in the foreseeable future. Even without a clear link between the two, Chrome OS is a new front for Apple to keep an eye on in the ongoing war between open and integrated.

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Someone's in the Kitchen With iPad
My iPad has been spending a huge amount of time in the kitchen in preparation for holiday festivities. In that time, I’ve worked out what the best apps and gear are to support my cooking and baking inclinations. The iPad is a home chef’s best friend, but it can be an even better one with a little extra help.

Stands or Other Support

The first thing you’ll want to do is get your iPad set up so you can keep handling it to a minimum. Cooking and baking is a messy affair, so you’ll want to keep your fingers off of your precious Apple device as much as possible. I use a stand for this purpose. If you also set your iPad display to never go to sleep, you can keep your recipe open in your browser or in the app where you found it (see more below) without worrying about having to unlock the screen every 5-10 minutes.

For the actual stand, I’ll either use the Griffin Standle (which I reviewed earlier), or if I’d rather dispense with the bulky case, just the simple foldable iPad stand that came with my SwitchEasy Nude iPad shell. You can get exactly the same thing without the case for pretty cheap ($7.20) from DealExtreme. If you’re willing to spend quite a bit more ($39.99), the Twelve South Compass is a well-built, versatile alternative.

Finally, you could opt for some sort of wall-mounting system. There are a few commercial options, including the highly rated Wallee iPad wall mount and case system. But since I’m thrifty, I instead use my own method consisting of an inexpensive iPad shell (make sure it also wraps around the bezel surrounding the screen for a secure fit) combined with 3M adhesive velcro strips strategically placed around the house. When not in use, I put pictures up in place of the iPad to keep things cosmetically pleasing, rather than having rectangles of velcro dotting the walls.

Apps

You can find tons of great recipes using the iPad’s built-in Safari browser, but that doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to only that method. There are tons of great recipe apps out there, and most offer features above and beyond what recipe websites can provide.

President’s Choice (PC), a popular in-house brand at the Canadian Loblaws family of grocery stores, has an awesome app called Recipe Box that only just came out recently and is already my favorite. Upon opening Recipe Box, you get a grid display of pictures, each of which leads to a recipe. You can just swipe through the eye candy, search using keywords, or browse by category, including type of cuisine, main ingredient, occasion, prep time and more. You can stack those categories to filter even further.

The app is free and without advertisements, but since it’s a PC product, ingredients listed are PC-branded where possible. It’s easy enough to substitute generic alternatives, though. Recipe Box also has some nice extra features like a step-by-step view and nutritional information for every recipe, plus the ability to email recipes from within the app, which mails the full recipe as plaintext in the body of the message, not just a link to a website.

Other solid free options include the Allrecipes and Epicurious iPad apps, both of which are based on the popular cooking websites of the same names. Epicurious has the advantage of being a universal app, so it’ll work on your iPhone or iPod touch, too, and it can generate a shopping list automatically that you can take with you to the grocery store on your smaller device.

Extras

All you really need to get working in the kitchen with the iPad is a good recipe resource and a good stand or mounting solution, but there are a few things that could add still more to your experience.

A stylus is a great idea if you want to control your device without touching it with sticky or otherwise dirtied fingers. I’ve got a couple Pogo Sketches around the house, but really, any stylus compatible with a capacitive touchscreen will do. You can even make your own if you’re a DIY kind of person and feeling a little ambitious.

Finally, an app like How To Videos from Howcast.com for the iPad can extend your cooking knowledge, without requiring you to even leave the kitchen. If a recipe contains a cooking method or technique you’re not familiar with, just open up the Howcast app and search for an instructional video.

Get Cooking!

If you have an iPad, you’re already most of the way to becoming a better chef. With the right apps and the right accessories, you can turn your Apple tablet into a full-time chef’s assistant, just in time for the holiday cooking and baking onslaught. Bon appetit!

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