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- 3 ways to enjoy your vacation with your Mac
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple
It's time to toss the kids into the back of the family truckster and drive to the shore, acquire a debilitating sunburn on the first day and pay $19 for a hamburger and a soda (not to mention the $100 you spent on gas in the first 24 hours). Summer vacation ... I'm lovin' it!
We hope you brought your Apple goodies. Aside from providing a much-needed geek-out at the end of the day, your Mac can actually make your vacation more enjoyable. And nothing says "That week we spent at Clearwater Beach" like the sand you can't extract from your iPhone's headphone jack.
Read on for our Mac vacation tips!Continue reading 3 ways to enjoy your vacation with your Mac
Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Macally PowerLink: 3-in-1 battery pack
Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family, iPhone
Macally is promising a new product for your iPhone or iPod (coming soon!) that combines an emergency battery pack, data cable, and flash drive all in one.
Called PowerLink, the device will power your iPhone or iPod if the built-in battery dies, though Macally doesn't specify for how long. You can also connect one end to your iPhone/iPod, and the other to your computer, and the device will work like a short, rigid data cable. Thirdly, PowerLink contains a 2GB everyday flash drive.
While not the most attractive thing in the world, it is functional, and could get you out of a jam on a back-country road with a dead iPhone battery. Sure, there are plenty of other battery pack options for iPhone and iPod, but none with with all the extras.
Macally hasn't announced a release date yet, but the product will be available for $50.
[Via Productdose.]
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Apple: iTunes 7.7 available "in a few hours"
Filed under: iTunes, Software Update
During an Apple Sales Web webcast earlier today discussing MobileMe, Apple employee Maxime Veron mentioned that iTunes 7.7 would be available "in a few hours."
Keep checking iTunes and Software Update for more info.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Take command of iTunes with PowerTunes
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, iTunes
PowerTunes is iTunes management software from Fat Cat Software, the developers who produced the popular iPhoto Library Manager (we've written about iPhoto Library Manager before). Its purpose is to make somewhat pesky tasks easy.
You can use PowerTunes to create multiple libraries. Perhaps you and your spouse have very different tastes in music, as well as separate iPods. Hey, I can relate. My wife's Paul Simon and 10,000 Maniacs collections keep butting heads with my Marilyn Manson tracks. Can't we all just get along?
Perhaps you'd like to keep a library for different settings; one for home and one for work. PowerTunes makes it easy. That the main interface makes the iTunes quite a bit larger, so understand that it will consume a lot of screen space when running.
Other spiffy features include an option to merge libraries, move your library off your main hard drive and cleanup orphaned tracks.
It will cost you $19.95US for a single license. Sure, you can do all of these tasks manually (read: free), but the convenience of "click and it's done" is nice. Plus, many users (not the geeks like you and me) couldn't be bothered with the manual method. If that's you, check this out. It's a nice piece of software.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Hazel 2.2
Filed under: Software
Noodlesoft has recently released Hazel 2.2, a nice update to their rules based file organizer. Hazel 2.2 adds a number of interesting AppleScript improvements. You can now add scripts directly in rules, no need to create seperate files for your scripts. There are also some new Hazel specific AppleScript keys that allow you to pass values from a script to Hazel, which really lets you make some imaginative rules. You can check out the full release notes to marvel at all the updates Noodlesoft managed to cram into this point release.
Hazel is one of those applications that is tough to describe, but once you get it you'll be amazed you managed to keep your Mac organized without. Hazel costs $21.95 and version 2.2 is a free upgrade.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iPhone dev: Apple gave out my password
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Security, Developer
Marko Karppinen, an ADC Premier member, iPhone developer, and user like the rest of us, had his personal information released by Apple to an unknown third party, simply because of this one-line email:
am forget my password of mac,did you give me password on new email marko.[redacted]@yahoo.com
Apple -- apparently with no additional research -- reset Karppinen's password, and changed the email address on the account to the perp's. As a result of the login change, the perp had access to Karppinen's credit card details, developer software seed key, and the contents of his iDisk.
Karppinen, understandably, was livid, and sent ADC an email about what happened. A team lead from ADC's European support organization contacted Karppinen, apologizing for the mix-up. The rep promised to find out (from Apple's own logs) what information was compromised.
Apple has so far not commented on the incident, outside of what Karppinen says the ADC rep told him. It's unclear what Apple will do in the future to prevent this from happening again.
[Via Daring Fireball and The Consumerist.]
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Flickr Find: iPaint myMac
Filed under: Odds and ends, Flickr Find
Satta van Daal is a talented stencil artist from Germany, now living in Australia. His canvas? A vast array of old Macs: from SEs to LCs to PowerBook 100s. He decorates them with everything from vignettes of Steve and Woz to carefully recreating the look of Susan Kare's original one-bit Mac icon set.
If you live in southeast Australia, and have an old Mac you're willing to let go of, he might turn it into his next work of art.
He plans on showing his art in an expo titled iPaint MyMac later this year in Melbourne, and hopefully Sydney soon after. You may like his t-shirts, too.
[Via Team Teabag.]
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - New, improved Drobo
Filed under: Accessories, Peripherals
For those of you who were waiting to buy a Data Robotics Drobo, wait no longer!
Data Robotics announced the release of the second iteration of their 4-bay expandable storage solution, Drobo. Many potential buyers were aghast at the original version's lack of FireWire, so the company added FireWire 800 (FireWire 400 compatible) ports to the original USB 2.0 connection. Transfer speeds with FireWire 800 are expected to be about double those of the USB connection.
The new Drobo also has improved software. The old model would see a drop in performance after the array reached about 50% of capacity. With the new software, performance remains steady regardless of how much data you've packed into your Drobo. Data Robotics says Mac users can expect a performance increase of 10 - 200%.
When new, higher-capacity drives become available, you'll be able to expand the capacity of your Drobo to up to 16 TB. That should be enough to handle all of my TUAW comment email! The second-generation Drobo becomes available in about three weeks, and the original $499 price tag is still in effect for an unpopulated box (no drives included).
Updated to note that no FireWire 400 ports are included. Thanks to Neg and See3Pio for the heads-up!Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - FoneLink 2.1.1: For those of us sans-iPhone
Filed under: Software
I know it's practically heresy to say so, but I don't have an iPhone, as much as I'd like one. Verizon service is just a better option for me right now. Synchronizing data between my Samsung SCH-u740 and my computer, though, is right up there with "getting a root canal" in terms of painlessness.
I was eager, thus, to try FoneLink from Nova Media, which promised a much more Mac-like user experience than the venerable (but ugly) BitPim.
FoneLink allows you to synchronize saved data between your phone and your Mac, including photos, video, music, contacts, and SMS messages. You can also create ringtones from unprotected audio files, and (with this new version) dial a number or send a text message from the Mac.
My hopes were dashed, sadly, as it doesn't support my phone. It does support many others, however, from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, and SonyEricsson.
FoneLink 2.1.1 is available in English, French and German, is universal binary, and works with Mac OS X 10.4.9 or higher. It's $33.57 for a single license, and multiple license discounts are available. Finally, you can download a free demo and give it a try.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - 1Password 2.7 gets a little sexier
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools
I know we just mentioned the upcoming iPhone version of 1Password yesterday, so I'll make this quick. Version 2.7 (of the desktop variety) was just released and it adds a brand new feature: a fully keyboard-accessible HUD window which allows you to instantly navigate to a website and log in.
According to the developers, this feature has been In the works for over a year. It integrates all of your "Go & Fill" 1Click bookmarks directly into your web browser. The HUD window (yes, I have a weak spot for those sexy, transparent black HUDs) has a search feature at the top of it which allows for speedy location of the bookmark you're looking for.
So, please excuse the extra mention; I think this new feature is useful enough to warrant a quick note. Current users just need to check the auto-updates within the application. Curious parties can visit the 1Password page.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - OSXBMC becomes Plex
Filed under: Multimedia, Open Source
A while back the team behind the Xbox Media Center on OS X (which we covered a while back) announced that they were forking the Mac version from the main trunk. Now they've decided that the Mac version will be getting a new name: Plex (as in 'cineplex' or 'googleplex'). For those of you haven't tried it yet, basically Plex is a Front Row replacement media center application that grew out of the long developed XBMC (originally developed for the first Xbox).
The lastest available version is 0.5.0b10 (which still hasn't been rebranded) and is a free download. In addition there is a great new skin for XBMC called Aeon, which works with Plex and frankly looks amazingly slick.
[via Gizmodo]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Precipitate: search Google Docs and Bookmarks from Spotlight
Filed under: Freeware, Internet Tools
Google's Mac group has released Precipitate, a plugin which allows you to search Google Docs and Google Bookmarks from the same interface that you search you Mac. It works with both Spotlight and Google Desktop for Mac. Basically the developer's idea is to have a one stop search interface for information on your Mac and information in the Google cloud so you don't have to remember where you saved something. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Google's Precipitate is a free download from Google Code.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iPhone 101: A user guide to take with you
Filed under: iPhone, iPhone 101
If you're going to be a new iPhone 3G owner this week, you might want to make a note of this site to help you get acquainted with your new mobile device.
Apple has a guide to the iPhone available at http://help.apple.com/iphone/guide that you can view directly in MobileSafari, so you'll always have it when you need it.
The guide has help for Phone, Mail, Safari, iPod, Applications, Settings, the Wi-Fi Music Store, and some Troubleshooting tips.
I even learned something new: you can scroll to the top of web pages by
double-tapping the title bar. Nice!Thanks, Rubinnz!
Update: Major poopie! Apple has taken down the site for some inexplicable reason. I'll try and find out where it's moved to (or a mirror) and get back to you.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iSpeak: Voice dialing for iPhone 3G
Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store
Sunday night on the TUAW Talkcast, we were discussing how much fun this week was going to be from the iPhone software perspective. This announcement from Fonix Speech is exactly what we were talking about.
Fonix iSpeak is a voice activation application for the iPhone 3G. There are a couple of operations that you'll be able to accomplish just by speaking a command. You can dial someone by saying a phone number or the name of a person in your Contacts list. You'll also be to whiz through your music library, play a song, or start up a playlist by saying the name of an artist, song, or playlist.
According to Fonix Speech, Fonix iSpeak "includes a run-time engine that sits on the phone allowing users to interact with the personal contents of their Apple iPhone[TM]. Unlike other voice applets that enable voice search of the Internet by sending commands over the airwaves, this client-side application gives users the power of voice interaction with their personal content and eliminates network latency."
There's no word on when the app will actually be available nor is there a price on the website, and the company didn't respond to a phone call. Fonix Speech says that they'll be selling it "directly" and through "traditional Apple distribution channels" -- the App Store, perhaps?Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Mossberg, Pogue, Baig review the iPhone 3G
Filed under: Reviews, iPhone, App Store
While most people are waiting in line for their soon-to-be new friend, pal and everyday communications device, the world's top tech reviewers have already been playing with the long awaited device. Below is a summary of their findings along with links to their full reviews of the iPhone 3G.
Walt Mossberg (Wall Street Journal)
- Pros: Faster cell network data speeds, GPS
- Cons: Weaker battery life due to 3G/GPS
- Bottom Line: If you don't already have an iPhone and can live with the weaker battery life, then you should go ahead and buy; otherwise wait out for the 2.0 firmware update (hmm... I think I've heard this advice somewhere else)
- Pros: You can talk and access 3G data network simultaneously, cheaper, improved audio quality
- Cons: 3G isn't wide-spread, AT&T pricing,
- Bottom Line: "iPhone 3G is a nice upgrade," 2.0 firmware update will make your original iPhone in most ways similar to the iPhone 3G
- Pros: Faster data network, cheaper, GPS, Visual Voicemail
- Cons: Slow EDGE speeds when not in 3G area, no video, no memory expansion
- Bottom Line: "The Sequel, is worth the wait," he also shows a side-by-side comparison between EDGE and 3G speeds
Переслать - Apple's retail chief on iPhone activations
Filed under: Retail, Apple, iPhone
Worried that you might be spending a lot of time waiting for that shiny new iPhone 3G to be activated? Well, never fear because the nice people at the Apple Store are there to help you. Bloomberg.com interviewed Apple's retail chief, Ron Johnson, about the iPhone retail activation process.
"Apple stores will handle about 30 customers at a time. While the company will make sure the activation process is quick," said Johnson about the activation time.
Johnson then went on to say that Apple will spend as much time as needed to make sure that the customer is happy with their purchase. You can read the full interview on the Bloomberg website.
[via MacRumors]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Hands-on with iPhone 3G, more unboxing photos
Filed under: iPhone
BoyGeniusReport (BGR) somehow managed to get their hands on the new iPhone 3G a little earlier than anyone else. They have uploaded several high-quality pictures to show the comparisons between the 1st generation iPhone and the iPhone 3G.
In addition, Paul Thurrott posted some iPhone 2.0 firmware upgrade screenshots to show the upgrade process and some of the new iTunes 7.7 and iPhone 2.0 features.
[via MacRumors]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iPhone App News Roundup: July 8, 2008
Filed under: iPod Family, Software, iPhone, App Store
Damn. iPhone developers have been clamming up over the last few weeks, so we haven't had much to post in the App News Roundup. Now that it's getting closer to i-Day Friday, the tips are starting to pour in.
- Deepak Mantena of Tapeshow told us about Chores, his GTD app for iPhone (see screenshots above). It will be in the App Store, with a Mac companion app coming in August. He'll also have Wordy (for helping you improve your vocabulary), Gratuity (easy tip calculator), and Fright (a good way to scare your friends) in the App Store Friday.
- Another ebook reader app for iPhone has been announced; Lexcycle Stanza will be in the App Store on Friday for free. Stanza uses Project Gutenberg eTexts so you can have a library of classics at your fingertips.
- Developer Pascal Bourque let us know that he's submitted DutchTab to the App Store. You can use this app to split restaurant bills fairly between a group of co-workers or friends. His site isn't up yet, but will be soon at http://www.dutchtab.com.
- 3Monk3ys has three iPhone apps that available on Friday. DoubleDrop (a puzzle game) will be available for $2.99. Attitude is an simulation of an airplane's Attitude Indicator (ADI), and is priced at $2.99 as well. Finally, iSoroban is a Japanese abacus simulator priced at $1.99
- Noah WItherspoon mentioned that his game Tris will be available soon after the App Store launch. Details are on his dev blog at http://twofingerplay.blogspot.com/.
- Are you a pilot? Felix Khazin is releasing AirWX, an iPhone app for grabbing METARs, maps, and more. AirWX uses CoreLocation and pulls up nav charts from skyvector.com.
- Kayakers are going to need a waterproof case for their iPhones! Wayne David Daley has RiverGuide coming out soon. Can you say real-time river flow info?
- Thomas Aylesworth of Bayou Games let us know about Morocco, his Othello game for iPhone.
- Edovia will be selling Steps, pedometer software for iPhone, starting Friday for $1.99. Their Linguo translator software will retail for $2.99 and features 17 languages.
- If you need to lose a few pounds, All of Zero has iScale coming out soon. You can keep track of what you eat, find the nutrional value of various foods, and more.
Переслать - Apple To Ship 2.5 Million Macs Thanks to Vista?
Filed under: Apple Financial, .Mac, MobileMe
With all the current hype surrounding the imminent release of both the upgrade to Apple's .Mac service, now to be forever known as MobileMe, and Friday's launch of the new, improved iPhone version 2.0, let's not forget that Apple also makes other types of hardware that seems to be selling pretty well these days. In fact, according to a recent article up over at AppleInsider, Apple is apparently poised to ship 2.5 Million Macs in the Spring -- thanks, in some measure, to the poor reception of Microsoft's Windows Vista.
According to BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman, Apple's potentially strong quarter, which ends in June, can be attributed to several factors. Among them, user dissatisfaction with Vista. "Thus far, user satisfaction ratings for Vista have been weak, and startup times for Vista have been known to be much slower than the Mac OS X," Bachman said in the article. "Thus, more than 50% of recent customers buying Macs in Apple retail stores are first-time buyers."
In addition, the analyst added that this problem could help Apple's bottom line well into 2009 and could potentially improve the company's current world market share, raising it to 3.9% or higher. This is good news for those of us who remember the time, not so long ago, when most in the press and analysts like Bachman predicted Apple's certain demise. Still, even with this good news, we still need to hope Apple doesn't do something to hurt itself -- like bungle the .Mac to MobileMe transition or run out of shiny new iPhones at 8:30AM on Friday. That would not be a good thing.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - TUAW: iPhone AppStore Testing and Reviews
Filed under: iPod Family, TUAW Business, iPhone, App Store
Dear Developers,
Until Apple introduces ad-hoc distribution, should you want to have TUAW test your software, start by contacting us at our tips line with general information about your software.
One of us will write back to you with a test unit device identifier. You will need to provision that device for Development and then send us a copy of the mobile provision and a zipped Release version of your iPhone application (not a Distribution version).
Other welcome items include:
- Pricing information and system requirements
- Website URL for the software
- A basic press pack
- Corporate/PR contact information for TUAW
- General contact information for our readers
We love you all,
Auntie TUAW
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать
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