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- Time Capsule torn asunder, no "server grade" hard drive inside
Hardmac took apart a 2 TB Time Capsule and found something interesting. The uninteresting bit: there's really nothing new in the new Time Capsule -- same antennas, etc. The interesting bit: Apple claims to have a "server grade" hard drive in the Time Capsule. However, Hardmac discovered the drive inside is actually a Western Digital Caviar Green disk, a fairly common consumer grade hard drive. As Engadget points out, what qualifies a drive to be enterprise grade is the mean time between failure (MTBF), which we don't know for the Caviar Green because Western Digital isn't telling. In fact, based on this review at TechArp, there's no average seek or latency time given. You'd think a drive manufacturer would report these things, no?
Given previous issues with Time Capsules, we're hoping this doesn't become an issue in the future. "Server grade" can be interpreted in many ways, after all (I happen to have a first-gen G4 Mac mini set up as a server, but I wouldn't deploy that as a real server!). It's a shame to see Apple calling what appears to be a pretty vanilla drive something that it likely isn't.
[via Slashgear]
Time Capsule torn asunder, no "server grade" hard drive inside originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - 5 apps for summer travel
Summer has officially begun here in the States. Schools are closing and families are planning vacations across our great land. It can be a hassle, but don't fret! Here are five apps to make your adventure more enjoyable.
SundayDrive (Free)
When my sisters and I were young, my dad routinely stuffed us into the "wayback" of our Matador station wagon where we sat, sweaty and gobbling Chicken McNuggets, en route to no where in particular. Ah, I can still smell the BBQ dipping sauce and leaded gas fumes. Few contemporary families enjoy a sunday drive, and that's what the aptly-named SundayDrive for iPhone aims to change.
The attractive, location-based app represents a growing database of user-supplied travel routes, attractions and single-day getaways. To get started, let the iPhone find your location via GPS. A map will load with the familiar blue dot as well as SundayDrive icons representing logged drives. Tap any one to see its title, distance from your location and length (9.1 miles, for example).
Tap again to review details like an overall description, standout points of interest, photos and the ideal starting point. Finally, you can mark certain trips as favorites (Facebook login required) and even submit your own. If your submission is featured on the SundayDrive website, you'll earn ten bucks!
If only we had this app back in the day. I mentioned the fumes, right?
Flight Update ($4.99 or $9.99 for pro; universal)
You'll be flying to visit grandma's retirement village in Florida? Grab the SPF 100, Dramamine and inevitable acknowledgment of your own mortality while you install Fight Update Pro. I've used this app for years and it consistently beats the airport itself at dispensing timely info and completely eliminates paper. Here's how it works.
First, enter a name ("Trip to Florida"), the start and end date plus any relevant notes. Next, tap Add a Flight. A new window appears. This is where it gets good. Scroll through an exhaustive list of airlines to find yours and then enter your flight number (via the conveniently-supplied number pad) and the date. Hit Save and the app does the rest.
A tidy window appears which lists the airline, flight number, type of plane and status (on time, late, departed, etc.). You'll also find the originating and destination airport, actual departure and arrival times (updated in real time), gate and terminal information as well as the airport's home country and local weather.
Lest I gush like a 13-year-old who's watching Justin Bieber sing "Baby" from the first row, I'll skim through the remaining awesomeness. There's a handy, at-a-glance overview of flight information, a seating chart for nearly every type of plane, a list of alternate flights should a cancellation befall you and even a super convenient, in-app way to alert family and friends of your status (boarding, en route, landed, etc.) via SMS or Email. The pro version offers integration with Tripit.
Flight Update is among my top 10 iOS apps ever. Now enjoy the Sunshine State. Just don't accept any fancy pens.
MotionX GPS Drive ($0.99 for the app, $2.99 - $19.99 in-app purchase for live turn-by-turn voiceover)
The App Store his home to many GPS-based driving apps, several from the industry's big names. My favorite is MotionX GPS Drive. I've used it for over a year and have never had a problem, plus the pay-as-you-go option appeals to me as a frugal New Englander. Here's why you should check it out.
To get started, tap the Search button to reveal the comprehensive search screen. Here you can manually enter an address or hit a button to find shopping, restaurants, gas, hospitals or more in your area. Once you've identified your destination, tap Nav Choices to opt for live voice navigation or visual navigation. The latter is always free, while you can buy 30 days of live voice (non-recurring) for $2.99 or a full year for $19.99. That's a huge selling point: don't pay for it if you aren't using it.
Finally, tap Navigate an off you go. The visuals are extremely clear and work in portrait or landscape. A number of voices are available (some free, some via in-app purchase) but I've found the default to be perfectly acceptable (I've named her "Roadsie"). You can zoom in and out with a tap and even play music as you drive via on-screen controls.
There are plenty of options available, like night mode, live traffic updates, favorite destinations and more. You'll find pricier GPS navigation solutions, but MotionX GPS Drive is my favorite.
Best Road Trip Ever ($3.99)
Best Road Trip Ever (BRTE) is another location-based day trip app, similar to SundayDrive. The main difference is the destinations. BRTE features the off-beat, unusual and atypical destinations that dot the US. Think folk art installations and UFO culture.
They've amassed more than 7,000 attractions for you to explore, including diners and eclectic greasy spoon-type places. Finding an interesting spot is easy. Just tap one of the spots that appear on the map next to your location, follow the directions and go. You'll find lots of photos and even a few videos to get you excited for what you're about to see. BRTE is certainly not for everyone, but those who appreciate the kitsch of a roadside stand in the shape of a doughnut will enjoy it.
The Chimani Guides (Free and $4.99 versions available)
If you intend to visit some US National Parks this summer, grab the Chimani Guides. These fantastic apps are your electronic guide to several National Parks, including Acadia, Cape Cod National Seashore, Yosemite, Cuyahoga Valley and the Grand Canyon.
Of course you'll find detailed maps and photos, that's expected. But the Chimani apps also feature audio driving tours and up-to-the-minute listings of scheduled activities. You can even have push notifications let you know what's going on. Finally, sunrise and sunset times will benefit those on a tight schedule as well as photographers anticipating the golden hour.
Honorable mention goes to SpotWorld. It takes the idea of social itineraries, similar to Best Road Trip Ever and SundayDrive, and sends them into the stratosphere. Users have contributed details on appealing trips all over world. In fact, SpotWorld features photos, audio recordings and articles for more than 500,000 spots all over the world. It's definitely one for the globe trotter.
So there you have it, five apps for summer travel. One for leisurely Sunday drives, one for tracking your flights, one for long road trips, another for discovering the unusual and finally a pocket guide to some of America's National Parks. Have fun and enjoy the summer.
5 apps for summer travel originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Video App Demo: Cloud Assass.in
If you ever played the game "assassin" in school, where you go around pretending to kill human targets, you're familiar with Cloud Assass.in, a new game for iOS coming soon. We got a quick look at the game at WWDC, so check out the demo below. Right now, the game is still in private beta.
Video App Demo: Cloud Assass.in originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - China Mobile hints at iPhones in September
Reuters is relaying a report from the Shanghai Daily newspaper that China Mobile will begin offering a 4G version of the iPhone come September. The paper quotes a microblog post by Liu Yang, China Mobile's marketing official, in which Yang wrote:
A new iPhone with China Mobile's network will debut and the cooperation will be announced in September.
It's not clear why the Shanghai Daily believes the iPhone will support 4G, though they could just be reporting on last month's rumors that Apple and China Mobile had reached a consensus on a 4G iPhone. Also lending credence to the report is the fact that Tim Cook was spotted at China Mobile's headquarters just two days ago. China Mobile is the largest mobile phone operator in the world, with over 600 million subscribers, so bringing any iPhone, whether its of the 3G variety or 4G, to the carrier is seen as an important step for Apple's growth in the Asian market
China Mobile hints at iPhones in September originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iOS 5 Beta 2 ready for download
iOS 5 beta 2 is now available for download from Apple's developer site. If you are a paid ($99/year) dev, you can sign in with your developer credentials to gain access to this beta.
The beta is, as always, released under the terms of Apple's NDA. For that reason, enhancements, APIs and features are not listed within this post.
TUAW's iOS 5 coverage -- researched and written by our non-NDA staffers -- is available here.
Happy developing everyone! Thanks, everyone who tipped us.
iOS 5 Beta 2 ready for download originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - DigiTimes unearths hints of a big surge in Mac laptop production
Adding to the latest in MacBook Air rumors, DigiTimes reports that MacBook Air production "will run in full gear" beginning in July. This could mean that a new MacBook Air could launch right after the release of OS X Lion, as Ars Technica guesses, or most likely alongside the Lion release.
DigiTimes says that the MacBook line had between 2.2 million to 2.4 million parts shipments this month, and that number is expected to increase to 2.7 million to 2.8 million in July. This matches previous production increases prior to product announcement. DigiTimes goes onto say that Apple will receive more than 8 million MacBook Airs in the third quarter -- a huge number, but Ars supposes that it actually refers to all Apple laptop shipments for the quarter, not just the Air. This is in line with a previous rumor from Taiwan's Economic Daily newspaper that Apple will ship 380,000 new MacBook Air units within the next month.
The new MacBook Airs are expected to have Thunderbolt ports, either Core i5 or Core i7 chips or Intel's new ULV processor, and possibly even a black color option.
DigiTimes unearths hints of a big surge in Mac laptop production originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - Final Cut Pro X complaints fly between editors and developers (updated)
So hey guys, Final Cut Pro X, eh? Conan's editors aren't the only ones arguing about this update. The NYT's David Pogue, who admits that he is not a professional video editor, also jumped in on the discussion, and tried valiantly to convince the complainers that it's OK, all of the features you really need are in there, and the ones you want weren't needed anyway.
That, of course, is like throwing gasoline on a fire, and what he got was multiple corrections and updates, due to lots of multicolored, blockquoting rebuttals like this one from pro editor Richard Harrington. To make a long (and if, like me, you're also not a professional video editor, somewhat unexciting) story short, many pro editors dislike the new version of Final Cut Pro. Passionately.
Which complaints get the most airtime? One frequent issue seems to be that you can't open up projects created with the older version of FCP in the new one, and that because of this, a lot of editors are having issues with both applications installed on the same Mac. There's an official support article on just this issue, strongly recommending that users who want to maintain access to both FCP 7 and FCP X actually partition their hard drives, install a separate instance of Mac OS X, and reboot every time they want to switch from one to the other.
I said, reboot every time they want to switch from one to the other.
It's true -- Apple likes to burn its bridges in terms of upgrades, and in a professional environment, that kind of incompatibility is just not going to fly. Other issues revolve around a lack of support for various formats the pros use, though a lot of these are supposed to get filled in by third-party add-ons (some of which can be pricey even for big-time editors) or by Apple's own updates, including those coming with Lion. The inability to interoperate with edit-standard files like OMF and EDLs is a problem, along with limited control over the locations of scratch files and a complete absence of multicamera editing tools that were present in FCP 7. Pogue's conversation with Apple's FCP product managers hints that many of these will be addressed in future updates.
But there are definitely some legitimate concerns -- the previous version of Final Cut Pro was a well-traveled app, with plenty of updates and workflows that had lots of time to polish and settle in. This new version doesn't fit as well in those same cracks, and FCP 7 has been abruptly removed from Apple's product list, meaning that editors can't even buy new licenses of the product they use to earn a living. We'll have to see what Apple does to smooth things over with editors forced to re-learn one of their most important tools -- or depart the platform for the fairer shores of Avid or Premiere Pro.
Update: Pogue follows up with another article today admitting that he feels "Apple blew it." We'll see how Apple continues to refine Final Cut Pro for professionals and keep you posted.
Final Cut Pro X complaints fly between editors and developers (updated) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Переслать - iCade, the almost-ultimate gaming accessory for your iPad (updated)
I've been playtesting the iCade for a few weeks now to see how it holds up under "real world" use. The iCade began as a joke product on ThinkGeek's website but was then produced by ION Audio as a real, working arcade cabinet for the iPad. Using Bluetooth to connect to your iPad, the iCade provides a very realistic arcade feel. There are, unfortunately, some major drawbacks. Read on for a full rundown of the hardware and software used to simulate those days of yore, when buttons were meant to withstand hours of abuse and time playing was measured in quarters, not $0.99 increments.
Hardware assembly and qualityFirst, you'll have to assemble the iCade. While not complex, I found the little plastic grommets used to hold the back panel in place could split if overtightened, so watch out for that. The materials used in the iCade are all quite good, really. It's plywood and plastic, yes, but so were arcade cabinets in the 80s. The joystick and buttons feel like they came from a professional supply that you'd find on a decent MAME cabinet. One thing that bothered me was that in every review I'm seeing different art on the cabinet. Personally I'd like to choose a specific pattern, but it doesn't appear to be possible. The picture at ThinkGeek has the coolest artwork, but that's not on the demo unit we received. Go figure.
Power for the iCade is provided by a couple of AA batteries, but if you purchase a power supply, you'll be able to plug the thing in. I found the batteries lasted through several hours of gaming, so unless you use this daily, I doubt you'll need to plug yet another device into the wall.
Speaking of power, while there is a place to "dock" the iPad, it is not a dock with pins. It's simply a plastic molded bracket that holds your iPad in place. While this works OK, I wound up adding a couple of pieces of sponge packing material to the sides of the iPad, effectively wedging the iPad securely into the iCade. As we wound up moving the iCade around among players, this was helpful in securing it. The iCade features rubber feet (self-adhesive, included in the box), keeping the unit pretty stable. But if your kids get aggressive with it, the iPad can move around a bit in the plastic dock.
There's a top panel that rotates out of the way, covering the iPad and finishing the look. The top panel also includes a handy reference for the button mapping (sort of -- more in a moment on this) and how to get started. The information is really just about getting started, so I guess the only use is if you sell this in a garage sale. The buttons are actually numbers (and the joystick can input numbers), used to pair your iPad with the iCade. Honestly, this is clunky at best, and most of those buttons aren't really used in the games for the iCade. But as I said, the buttons and joystick are excellent quality, and I'm not sure what else ION could have done here other than adding another costly component like a numeric keypad.
One nice touch: when the iCade is powered up and ready to go, the place where you would normally insert a quarter lights up. You can see this in the gallery.
Hardware playabilityIf you're worried about lag from Bluetooth, rest assured you'll never notice with the iCade. Given the only compatible games are from decades ago, you won't be too worried about any lag. In all of my testing it was never an issue.
The buttons and joystick are very high quality. The entire panel comes as one piece, professionally assembled elsewhere, and I feel like the unit will stand up to years of button mashing abuse. The joystick has a metal stick and red plastic ball, just like a real joystick. It's an 8-way stick, like a traditional arcade joystick, and it performs admirably.
The only problem with the buttons? There are too many. Given the fact that the games supported by the iCade thus far are limited to a bunch of Atari 2600 games and a few of the arcade games (much more on this in a moment), once you enter the Bluetooth pairing code, they wind up getting in the way. Sure, you can do a few things, like switch to black and white and whatnot, but that's not really helpful. There are no instructions on how each set of buttons matches up to games, either, so it often becomes a trial and error process to find out what works. Typically the rightmost, lower white button is your main action button. But even the joystick can have a slight learning curve, as I discovered with Asteroids.
Software compatibilityAs other reviews have pointed out, the faux-wood and black plastic elephant in the room would have to be that the iCade only supports one app. Atari's Greatest Hits is certainly a serviceable retro gaming app, complete with a number of 2600 and arcade games, but the iCade seems like overkill for such an outing.
Compounding the problem is that the iCade really only fully supports the 2600 games. Which begs the question, why not just make a real Bluetooth 2600 joystick? It'd be cheaper, more accurate and unquestionably perfect for the job. Some Atari arcade games are supported, whereas others are comically impossible to play -- mostly the ones that rely upon landscape view!
Don't get me wrong, my kids had a great time playing Centipede, Millipede, even Adventure, but we have Adventure on one of those cheapo "plug into your TV" controllers that is almost exactly like an old Atari controller (except for the weight, thanks to a 9-volt battery inside). That thing does a great job, whereas the iCade can be a little confusing with all the extra buttons.
If the iCade supports more games in the future, it'll be one of the best accessories out there and possibly the coolest accessory for gaming. For right now, you'd have to be a pretty huge Atari fan to justify the US$99.99 price at ThinkGeek, not to mention the constant cycle of backorders.
That said, the fact that this thing keeps going into backorder means some people are really digging it. I will agree that some games, like Centipede, Crystal Castles, Battle Zone, Tempest and a handful of others are really fun on the iCade. Since you can buy all the games for the Atari app for less than $20, once you break down the cost, you're looking at about $6 per "great" game you can play. The rest are just sorta OK. I mean, do you need an arcade interface to play Basic Math? Considering that price is still cheaper than trying to maintain a real Atari 2600 (I have known people who do this) and find thrift store cartridges, it's a question of how much you're into retro gaming.
Final thoughtsIf you are looking for a great gift for a retro gamer, or just nostalgic nerds in their 30s (like me), the iCade will wow someone. If you're looking for a MAME cabinet or something similar, you'll be disappointed. I can't say enough good things about the hardware on the iCade -- it is built well and it's clear it'll stand up to heavy use. Even at just a penny under a hundred bucks it's not a bad price for the quality. But you'll have to determine whether or not you can suffer the limited software catalog to justify owning one. In my case, there are probably other ways to burn my cash, be it on the App Store or on a more versatile accessory like the Fling.
Update: My one gripe with the iCade was the singular app available from Atari. Well, today ION announced on Twitter that an SDK is available for developers. Here's looking forward to more games for the iCade! By the holiday season this will be a must-have gift, I think.
iCade, the almost-ultimate gaming accessory for your iPad (updated) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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