Friday, May 13, 2011

GigaOMTheAppleBlog · Apple and iOS News, Tips and Reviews (7 сообщений)

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  • Cord Cutters: The Peel + Your iPhone = Universal Remote

    A remote control that comes with its own recommendation engine and that uses your iPhone to change the channels and control a whole bunch of other devices? It’s called the Peel Universal Remote Control, and we tested it to see how well it works for cord cutting. Check it out:

    Show notes for this episode:

    • The Peel Universal Remote Control retails for about $100.
    • You can check out the Peel app for iOS devices for free, or read more about it on the Peel website.
    • Adaptive Path President Peter Merholz gave a great talk about the need for better remote controls for connected devices at our last NewTeeVee Live conference. Check it out here.

    Have you tried the Peel iOS app, or do you even own the Peel remote? Let us know how you like it, and please also share your experiences with other remote controls for connected devices. Feel free to fire away in the comments, get in touch with us on Twitter (@cordcutters) or email us at cordcutters @ gigaom.com.

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  • New iMac Drives Not Meant to Be Replaced, And I Hate It

    Don’t replace the hard drive in your new 2011 iMac , or the fans will scream like a banshee as they spin up to full-speed and the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) will fail. The issue is that the factory-installed Apple hard drives have a built-in thermal sensor that is connected to the logic board by a proprietary SATA power cable that includes additional pins for the sensor. The Apple drives have custom firmware to send the temperature information to the logic board through this custom connector. Replacing the drive with one that does not run Apple’s custom firmware, or disconnecting the thermal sensor entirely, will unleash the whirling dervishes that are normally held in reserve for when you foolishly decide to run Flash video in Safari.

    The fans-gone-wild issue and the failed AHT warning is a result of the logic board losing communication with the sensor. Thermal sensors have been included in Macs for as long as I can remember to help the system adjust fan speed to maintain acceptable temperatures. If these sensors do not report any temperature information, the firmware will turn the fans up to full to prevent a core breach in the warp engines, and/or red-hot CPU’s flowing like molten slag all over your pretty blue logic board. It’s a precautionary measure to prevent an overheating problem. The AHT warning is there to tell you which sensor has failed so you can replace it.

    What makes this sensor different is that it is integrated into the custom hard drive. A lot of the earlier thermal sensors were stick-on affairs that attached to the hard drive or other locations with tape. I presume that Apple asked manufacturers to bake them into the drives to reduce both additional component costs and assembly steps.

    Wires from the thermal sensor are taped to this hard drive

    Unfortunately, this change means repairing a failed hard drive out of warranty (I think hard drives are designed to fail just after AppleCare expires) means paying Apple to do it instead of a cheaper DIY solution. This also means you can’t upgrade your drives because Apple will only replace drives with the exact same part. Under their current policies, you simply cannot get a bigger hard drive (or replace it with a SSD) even if you were willing to pay Apple’s prices. You better order your new iMac just the way you want it, because it’s going to stay that way for a long, long time.

    Even more concerning than the design change to force the use of genuine Apple replacement drives is the absolute travesty that Apple has allowed this design flaw of the iMac to continue for so long.

    The iMac is the hardest piece of Apple kit to work on yourself on by a long shot. The Mac Pro is designed to be easily opened. MacBooks and MacBook Pros provide easy access to the hard drives and RAM. The new Mac mini has a twist off access panel. Even the old Mac minis are not that bad as long as you have the right putty knife. It’s certainly not as bad as the old iBook (about 50 screws to get at the hard drive!), but it’s the worst of the current Macs. I don’t even think most people need access to the other components inside the machine, but access to the hard drive is important. The old iMacs were designed so that you could remove the back and get quick access to the drives. The aluminum iMacs were designed to open from the front so that you have to remove the glass panel (it pulls off with suction cups) and the LCD screen behind it to get to the drives.

    The front glass panel is removed with suction cups

    The worst part is that you often put it all back together only to find a piece of hair or lint or a stray thumbprint on the back of the glass. Takes me straight back to the days when I ran a frame shop and would turn a framed photo back over after papering the back only to find a small piece of dust emerge from the dark suede mats, staring at me from under museum glass like a blazing signal fire warning of imminent customer dissatisfaction or framer’s rage. That glass on the front of the iMac is likely responsible for more referrals to Apple’s generous mental health programs than any other item that has ever sat on a Genius Bar.

    It does make for a very pretty iMac though.

    Which is, I suppose, the reason why Apple has kept roughly the same iMac design for so long (since 2007). Maybe the drive could be relocated from where it is now, smack dab in the center of the machine, out to the edge where it could be accessed with a removable panel. But you can’t add an access panel for the drives to the top or bottom because that has to be kept open for the convection cooling airflow to pull air in at the bottom and vent out the top. So maybe, the side opposite the optical drive. But that would mess up the unibody look of the iMac with no visible seams in the aluminum (just the RAM slot at the bottom). Okay, so maybe adding easy hard drive access is too much of a design sacrifice, but now even if you manage to get at the hard drive, you can’t replace it.

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  • An Extreme Case: iPhone 4 Rugged Protection Roundup

    With my recent purchase of an iPhone 4, I began a search for the perfect protective case. Forget style and fashion; I want protection above all, considering how often I’ve dropped pocket devices in the past. Surprisingly few products offer a high level of protection, and even some previous brand leaders are opting for fashion over function. Which one can I trust my precious to?

    For an extreme case, generally you need at least three layers of protection. First is an integrated screen protector. No stick-on overlays, and therefore, no bubbles. The other layers include a skeletal hard case to provide structure and stability, along with a silicone overlay that provides initial shock and bump resistance.  Usually the silicone overlay includes either flaps or overlays for the dock and headphone ports to prevent any moisture from accidentally getting int, too. All three together take their design from biology (skin/skeleton/vital organs), and you can think of the overlays as eyelids or a mouth.

    Otterbox Defender ($49.99)

    For many, Otterbox is synonymous with extreme protection. Up until the iPhone 4, I was generally satisfied with the Defender line, and I still love my iPad Defender case. However, with the iPhone 4, Otterbox streamlined the design. I'll admit the iPhone 4 is beautiful naked, and I can respect how Otterbox wanted to get a slimmer case so the 4's design could shine through.problem, though,  is the silicone overlay. It's much thinner than previous models. I can't explain why, but after a few weeks the overlay simply wouldn't stay on its hard shell skeleton. The overlay slipped off in my pocket and despite valiant efforts and multiple replacements by Otterbox, the dock protector would never close properly. The case’s poor design combined with poor materials leaves my iPhone unsatisfactorily protected. I'll come back for an improved design, but in the meantime I need something better.

    Griffin Survivor ($49.99)

    Griffin has entered the market with its "k" case, and it's an outstanding design that seems to copy the old 3G/3GS style of the Otterbox Defender. Griffin claims it’s tested and certified to meet or exceed U.S. Department of Defense Standard 810F and U.K. Department of Defense Standard 00-3. Looking up that standard, it's pretty impressive, but I don't intend to go to war with it, just survive the (sub)urban jungle.

    The charm (and one critical flaw) of the Survivor involves the silicone overlay. On the corners it's reinforced with close to a ¼ inch of protection. Wow. Drop it on the corner and it literally bounces off the floor (yes I did try it with a live iPhone 4). It also not only covers the headphone jack, but has a plug to provide a seal making it unlikely water or other debris will get in that port. The dock cover also has a plug creating a seal, and the sides have a small series of holes to allow the sound to travel out. The home and volume buttons are completely covered, and the rotation/mute button uses a flap for protection. All of which is very good.

    The critical flaw is the camera protector. It forms a great seal and protects the camera from scratches and debris. The problem is remembering to remove the flap when pulling out the camera and having to hold it while taking pictures. The only way to take pictures is to manually hold the flap open while taking shots. I pondered more than once simply removing the flap entirely, but ripping it off was hard and I gave up. I then realized that if I really want to protect my iPhone, I can't leave this critical port uncovered. Griffin has a video showing all the extreme things they did with the case.

    Ballistic HC Series ($29.99 at current sale price)

    The final case I tested was the Ballistic HC Series. Similar to the other extreme cases, this also offers three layers of protection, but is much slimmer than the Survivor. Its silicone overlay does not protect the camera, and offers slightly enhanced padding on the corners. The flaps protecting the headphone jack, dock and mute/rotate switch do not form a full seal like the Survivor, but close significantly better than the Otterbox. The main flaw is that it is nearly impossible to remove with a coin or other implement. Most users probably will just keep their iPhone in one case, but I have various docks and battery extenders and often have to take the iPhone out. Both the Otterbox and the Griffin, on the other hand, were easy to open.

    If you do get one of these extreme cases, I recommend Cable Jive's dockStubz to help your new iPhone case work with standard dock connectors, as many iPhone peripherals expect a flush connection with the 30-pin connector. CableJive also makes a dockXtender which works in situations in which the dockStubz doesn't. Of all the cases, the Ballistic had the hardest time connecting items to its dock connector.

    So which case was my favorite? Obviously I was unhappy with the fatally flowed Otterbox Defender, and went back and forth between the Ballistic and the Griffin. Ultimately the Griffin won out. That extra protection and tight seals far outweighed the annoyance of the camera flap.

    Disclosure: All manufacturers provided samples of the cases. Some manufacturers we contacted for this roundup were unable to provide cases as they were modifying designs to accommodate the Verizon iPhone.

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  • 27-inch iMac Review: Big Screen, and the Muscle to Master It

    As demonstrated in my video unboxing and hands-on last week, I’ve purchased the most recently updated 27-inch iMac. I’ve been using it as my primary machine, for work and for play, for about a week now, and I’ll never look back. The new iMac is a huge improvement over its predecessor, especially considering what you get for the money.

    First, let me clarify that the machine I’m coming from is a 2008 20-inch iMac, built before the last time Apple changed the external looks of the machine. It closely resembles current models, but has a black plastic back and the bezel around the screen doesn’t fully extend to the edges of the computer’s front surface. That iMac served me well, but this one serves me much better.

    Performance Improvements

    The new 27-inch iMac is a huge improvement over my old machine. With a quad-core 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 processor, it handily beats my old machine’s 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo on all measures. But it’s also a big step up even from the previous iMac, released in mid-2010, which boasted only a 2-core 3.2 GHz Core i3 processor on the entry-level model. In my usage, it’s even been better (generally faster and more responsive) than my father’s 2010 27-inch iMac, which he outfitted with all optional bells and whistles.

    If you haven’t yet had the chance to use one of the 27-inch iMacs for any length of time, you’ll probably initially be most impressed by the screen real estate available to you. Jumping from a 20-inch screen to a 27-inch one makes a world of difference, and I find that I can accomplish many tasks that used to occupy two screens on only one. This includes watching a video while working (I had opportunity to do this when covering the recent Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on mobile privacy), and even editing photos or videos while browsing the web or managing Steam downloads.

    Screens Upon Screens

    But if you are a glutton for extra screen space, the 27-inch iMac delivers much more than just its own monitor. Thanks to two Thunderbolt ports with DisplayPort support, you can plug in two extra monitors with no additional equipment or drivers needed (beyond Mini DisplayPort adapters). After years of odd quirks and frequent updates with DisplayLink USB drivers, this is a very welcome addition.

    And the iMac has the power to make multi-display workflows very smooth, even in cases where you might require a lot of muscle. For instance, just today I was running Civilization V, while also preparing this post, running about 20 tabs in Chrome, editing a few documents in Photoshop, and controlling my HTPC Mac Mini via Apple’s Screen Sharing app. Not to mention iTunes, Twitter, Mail and the Mac App Store were all open as well, and all of the above were spread across three monitors (the iMac’s own monitor and two Dells, a 20-inch and a 23-inch). Animation in the windowed Civ V remained smooth, and I experienced nary a stutter in my interaction with other open apps.

    Thunderbolt and FaceTime HD

    I haven’t yet tested out any actual Thunderbolt devices (they’re hard to get hold of currently), but eventually, it’ll be a great thing to have, especially for anyone who works with video and audio. And though the FaceTime HD camera has been nice to use with Skype, and on the one occasion I actually got to try it out with a FaceTime HD-enabled MacBook Pro, it alone isn’t worth an upgrade if you’re happy with your machine in other regards. It does come in handy if you’re recording video along with a screencast using a tool like ScreenFlow, however, so if that’s something you do regularly, it could sway your decision.

    Bottom Line

    This iMac may look the same as the last one, but the aesthetic similarities hide a major change under the hood. Even my stock entry-level 27-inch model at $1,699 seems to be able to handle whatever I can throw at it, and hasn’t yet choked up the way my old iMac had a tendency to do under the heavy crush of tabs and apps left open for days that makes up my usual workflow. If you’re looking for a machine that eliminates the technical hurdles of your daily grind, while delivering more than enough power to make your leisure-time activities much smoother, too, this is it.

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  • How One Reinvented Radio Firm Is Leading the Brit Pack

    Paul Bennun by Matt LockeYou could hardly call London-based Somethin' Else a startup … after all, it's been around for almost 20 years. But the British company, which started life in radio production, has spent the last few years reinventing itself as a "content design" outfit — and it's now gathering the sort of reputation for innovation and creativity that tends to mark out young, entrepreneurial businesses.

    What it does can be hard to pin down, not least because the business takes a very modern approach to making money. It works across a wide range of different, constantly-evolving projects rather than putting its eggs in one basket, which means the company's 70 or so staff do everything from making radio shows (it is one of the largest independent radio producers in the U.K.) to talent management to operating as a web design agency.

    But it's in the digital sphere — and particularly games — that the company is really getting noticed these days. In particular, there was last year's iOS hit Papa Sangre, an award-winning video game that (peculiarly) had no video. Based around a purpose-built 3-D sound engine, the game effectively blindfolds you and then guides you through only by sound. It's an astounding audio experience, and rightly gathered plenty of praise.

    (The trailer below gives you a flavor of the game, but it's one of those titles that you have to play to really understand)

    Entering the Palace of Bones from Papa Sangre on Vimeo.

    For most interactive agencies, that would be the end of the story. But Paul Bennun, the company's director of digital, explains that Papa Sangre's success has been a great example of what is propelling Somethin' Else forwards.

    "We go back a long way in games — we produced [the British version of] You Don't Know Jack back in 1998," he says. "But we have to start thinking of ourselves as a software company… we have to be flexible."

    By that, he means the company is rapidly developing the technology it's built into something bigger. It's just released The Nightjar, another audio-driven game starring actor Benedict Cumberbatch (recently seen in the BBC's Sherlock reboot) and says Papa Sangre 2 is also on the cards. It's also looking into the possibility of licensing the audio engine to other games studios as middleware.

    It's an approach that strikes at the core of one of the biggest problems British creative technology businesses face. One of the criticisms of London is that it's really an agency town: There's a huge amount of creative work that takes place, but while a lot of it is really pushing the boundaries, it's also conservative when it comes to taking business risks. Ultimately, the people who do the making are hired in by huge brands and big companies and very few of them are prepared to branch out on their own or make products.

    But Bennun, who admires the reinvention of Apple and the reputation of consulting firms like IDEO, has been canny. Papa Sangre was produced under the auspices of Channel 4's now-defunct 4iP innovation investment fund, which means Somethin’ Else owns the technology. Somethin' Else is now able to act as a partner rather than simply as a producer, which means it can determine its own future.

    So does Bennun think Britain can produce a new generation ambitious businesses that want to transform themselves from well-regarded agencies into something bigger and better? Is it possible?

    "Absolutely. Damn right," he says. "It's kind of our time at the moment."

    Photo of Paul Bennun used with permission of Matt Locke, test.org.uk

    Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req'd):


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  • New Twitter for Mac: A Step Back to Move Forward (Review)

    Twitter for Mac got an update Thursday morning that brings some significant changes to the official client. Many of the changes actually represent changes back to an earlier time early in the life of the official Twitter app, when it was known as Tweetie.

    Most obviously, the 2.1 update for Twitter (available through the Mac App Store) brings back the toolbar, which had previously been removed altogether in version 1.0 and following of Twitter for Mac. It may not be as pretty, but it does allow for breadcrumb navigation, which allows you to quickly and easily click back to various stages along your navigation history, and makes following conversations much easier.

    Gone also is the semi-translucent sidebar, and while I generally think the new Twitter is much less pretty than its predecessor, the new functionality makes it quite a bit more powerful than its predecessor. A new feature that lets you pop-out any content into a new, separate window is especially welcome, and makes Twitter resemble more flexible clients like Tweetdeck.

    For instance, you could have a separate, actively updating column for a favorite follow or list, or for a search term you’re particularly interested in. You can also pop out feeds from separate accounts for continuous, side-by-side viewing. It may be too much information for some, but for people who spend a lot of their day using Twitter, either for work or for play, it’s a killer feature.

    Other improvements include username and hashtag autocompletion, which makes it much easier to correctly use @ mentions and participate in topical conversations. URLs that use t.co shortening now also display the top-level domain.

    Even if you find yourself missing Twitter’s unique user interface in spite of all these improvements, you can get it back by activating Twitter’s secret preference pane using Terminal by following these steps.

    In case you missed it, Twitter started rolling out a new version of its mobile site to select Android and iOS devices Wednesday, and it’s a considerable improvement over the old version, too. Looks like the company’s on a roll when it comes to delivering solid product updates.

    Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req'd):


    The cloud-optimized networks of tomorrow run on Brocade Ethernet fabrics today. Assess Your Cloud Readiness. Download Forrester Study »


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  • Half of iPad Subscribers Agree to Share Data With Publishers

    How many people might you expect to click “Allow” when face with Apple’s forbidding dialog asking you to “Share Your Information?” with publishers? I (and likely many publishers, too) expected very few, but according to a couple of very reliable sources (via Fortune), about 50 percent of iOS subscribers are agreeing to pass their info along.

    Apple’s in-app subscriptions, which are starting to gain widespread acceptance among publishers, including major players like Hearst and Condé Nast, require that applications ask a user whether or not they want to share personal information such as a subscriber’s name, email and zip code with the app’s developer. This step means publishers don’t necessarily gain the valuable customer data they can then use for targeted marketing efforts, which is a big part of a subscriber’s value to magazine companies. It’s a big reason why publishers weren’t exactly thrilled with Apple’s in-app subscription terms.

    As it turns out, publishers need not have been so concerned. About 50 percent of iOS subscribers opt-in to information sharing, according to Forbes, which confirmed the figure with Apple VP of Internet Services Eddy Cue. Cue was on hand at the launch of The Daily , the first app to feature in-app subscriptions, and seems to be the man in the know when it comes to Apple subs.

    Forbes cites this statistic as being a driving force behind the willingness of publishers to sign on with Apple’s in-app subscription plans. If publishers can maintain a good percentage of its lucrative customer information, while also building their subscriber base by appealing to the growing iPad reader crowd, it’s no wonder they’re willing to play by Apple’s rules.

    Of course, there are still some holdouts. Time, Inc. hasn’t announced any plans to offer in-app subscriptions yet (though it has made iPad editions free for existing print subscribers), and you can bet that Apple’s 30 percent cut of all revenue made through subscriptions has something to do with any reluctance that remains. But as with music before it, Apple is counting on its value to publishers to become evident, and these opt-in information sharing numbers are a good start.

    Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req'd):


    The cloud-optimized networks of tomorrow run on Brocade Ethernet fabrics today. Assess Your Cloud Readiness. Download Forrester Study »


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