Sep 10, 2007 Sep 12, 2007 Tuesday September 11, 2007
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Parallels Desktop 3.0.5160 adds features to Coherence and fixes to Virtualization
Parallels Desktop is the software that lets Intel-based Mac user run Windows, Linux and other operating systems and vastly expands the number of software titles they can run on their Mac Pro, iMac,... ....Read more on MacMerc.com
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iUnlock released: the first free, open source iPhone SIM unlock software
Filed under: CellphonesIt looks like the battle's officially over between iPhoneSIMfree and the numerous unique groups of open source hackers trying to software SIM unlock the iPhone. As we've been following in our previous post on the topic, earlier this afternoon iUnlock, the first free, open source iPhone SIM unlock app, was released to the underground just 74 days after the iPhone's release. Developed by the iPhone Dev Team, it's not for the faint of heart and it takes a little longer than iPhoneSIMfree's method, but it works. Developing...Quick and dirty guide to getting iUnlock running First, you'll need iUnlock + nor + the .fls file, which is available in ZIPs all over. We've got the app here, but it doesn't have all the files necessary. Good list of links here, or try here, here, here, here, and here. This is still developing, but apparently you: Make sure you have firmware v1.0.2 Drop those three files on your iPhone (and possibly chmod 555 iUnlock) Stop the comm center (launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.CommCenter.plist) Run ./iUnlock ICE03.14.08_G.fls nor Watch your iPhone get unlocked?? (About 20 minutes, supposedly) Minicom into the tty.baseband minicom -s setup modem as /dev/tty.baseband type: AT S7=45 S0=0 L1 V1 X4 &c1 E1 Q0 AT+CLCK="PN",0,"00000000" AT+CLCK="PN",2 (If you cant write in the minicom, start commcenter again and stop it again) Run /bin/launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.CommCenter.plist AGAIN: we CANNOT confirm this is the correct method to use iUnlock! Just what we've gleaned from the internets, do not consider this a guide. Zero guarantees, people! Big ups to the iphone.unlock crew, Draken (who let us know our instructions should be workable at this point), and, of course, the iPhone Dev Team. Just don't whine to us if your iPhone gets bricked. Let us know in comments if it works for you! Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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Skitch Beta 4 released. Invites available.
Plasq announced today that the first major update to Skitch since June has been released to its private, invite-only, beta audience. The new version, Beta 4, includes a long list of updates and bug... ....Read more on MacMerc.com
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Parallels Desktop 3.0 Feature Update "really, really fast"
Parallels has now officially released the Feature Update for Desktop 3.0, with all the goodies you've heard about over the past few weeks. Coherence with Exposé, OS X home folders as "My Documents," and less RAM usage... oh my!Read More...
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MakeiPhoneRingtone makes your iPhone a true outlet for self-expresion
In an effort to simplify the process of creating iPhone ringtones posted yesterday, the geniuses at Rogue Amoeba have compiled the technique of getting your ringtone creation into your iPhone into a... ....Read more on MacMerc.com
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Early iPhone SIM unlock open source code released
Filed under: Cellphones We've got it fresh from the people who engineered this piece, people; hacker Zappaz and his crew have released an early, dirty, uncompiled version of their proof of concept iPhone SIM unlock source code. Hit the link and check it out -- we just suggest that unless you're a serious hacker you not use it yourself (yet) until the kinks are worked out.Update: iPhone Dev Wiki is reporting that another compiled unlock solution (possibly using the Zappaz code) has appeared, called iUnlock. We've yet to verify that either solution works, but the iUnlock software appears to be in a more complete state.Another set has cropped up: iunlock-Contains-Files.rar, same situation, unverified, and we do not know that it properly unlocks phones. We've got a mirror of the iUnlock + nor + fls zip here. Apparently you: Drop those three files on your iPhone (and possibly chmod 555 iUnlock) Stop the comm center (launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.CommCenter.plist) Run ./iUnlock ICE03.14.08_G.fls nor Watch your iPhone get unlocked?? Zero guarantees, people! Don't whine to us if your iPhone gets bricked. Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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Upcoming Adium 1.2 to benefit greatly from Google's Summer of Code
Adium 1.2 is on its way with some solid new enhancements, but we might have to wait a little bit.Read More...
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The last Beatles article I will ever write
After another Beatles-free Apple product event, Philip Michaels has had it with any and all Fab Four-related iTunes rumors.
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Free iPhone unlock supposedly pending (Updated)
The iPhone Dev team has been working hard on a free iPhone unlock, and has allegedly made a breakthrough this evening. It's not available to the public yet, though.Read More...
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iPhone by the numbers
Now that Apple has sold its millionth iPhone, analysts are weighing in on what that number means. Read More...
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Josh Pigford: ‘Image Editors Are the New FTP Application’
Josh Pigford, observing the recent run of new bitmap image editors for Mac OS X (Acorn, Pixelmator, Iris): I think what really turns me off about all of this is that all of these image editors do, more or less, the same thing. Sure, they each have a different UI and will each perform tasks a tad different than the other but for the most part they all just edit images. Substitute “text” for “images” and he’d be arguing that Allan Odgaard never should have written TextMate, or that the Coding Monkeys shouldn’t have written SubEthaEdit. As for why image editors are suddenly popping out of the woodwork, that’s easy: Core Image. That’s not to say Core Image makes it easy to write apps like Acorn, Pixelmator, or Iris — just that it makes it a lot less work than it would have been before Core Image existed. (A don’t miss Siracusa’s quip.) ★
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Cooltone mini fridge keeps tunes, beverages on tap
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets As far as gadget-enhanced fridges go, this Cooltone one leaves a bit to be desired, but it still packs enough unnecessary excess to attract some attention, although actual sales might be another matter. On the fridge side of things, it'll hold twenty 400ml cans and it boasts a so-called Quick Cool feature that'll get things "cooling within seconds." On the less practical part of the equation, the fridge boasts a top-loading CD player, an AM/FM radio, some built-in speakers and, of course, a line-in port to accommodate your iPod or other MP3 player (no iPod dock though). That can all be controlled with the included remote, and the fridge can also be hooked up to some external speakers in case you prefer music that doesn't sound like it's coming out of a fridge. From the looks of it, the fridge is shipping now, with it setting you back £130 (or $264).[Via Pocket-lint] Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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First Looks: Bose Sounddock Portable
A slightly larger evolution of the company's earlier, popular Sounddock, Bose's new Sounddock Portable ($399) is, as the name suggests, capable of being used outdoors or anyplace else without convenient access to a wall outlet. Now equipped with a detachable rechargeable battery pack and newly improved speaker drivers, Sounddock has a rotating front dock that slides into the unit's front panel for more convenient carrying, side-mounted volume controls,…
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iPhone Dev Team one step away from free unlock?
Filed under: Cellphones Now that iPhoneSIMfree is in the wild, the iPhone Dev Team folks that started all this hackery have been looking to see how the iPhoneSIMfree hack works, and seem to have landed upon the solution. Apparently the thrust of what the iPhoneSIMfree folks figured out was that it's possible to write / flash to the baseband of the iPhone -- the chip that controls the main voice and system functions of the phone. Apparently Geohot resorted to his hardware hack because it was believed this couldn't be done. Now that the Dev Team people have observed this flashing in action, they've launched into writing their very own unlocker using the same method, which will naturally be released free of charge as soon as it's ready. All signs point to the free, standalone unlocker being ready soon. On a slightly shadier note, there seems to be a parallel effort to emulate the iPhoneSIMfree server that does the unlocking magic for those currently willing to pay for the privilege. If it's to be believed, the fake server (and free network unlocking) should be ready to go in a matter of hours. Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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Apple Gazette Daily 117 - Software updates, iPhone info and More
More iPhone news, software updates, and more… You can subscribe via iTunes, or by RSS feed, or… you can directly download the episode right here. In addition to that, you should be able to play every episode of the podcast directly in your browser by using the widget which is now located in the side column of the site. Just click on the headphones to play the podcast inside the widget with full audio controls.
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Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Updated
Parallels on Tuesday released Build 5160 of its Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac. The company said the new version improves performance and improves integration between Mac and Windows desktops.
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Easy iPhone Toolchain Installation
I just posted a quick how-to over at TUAW regarding installing the latest binary iPhone developer toolchain. You can download a copy and use the package to get started with iPhone programming. The hardest part of the entire exercise involves copying your iPhone file system to your Mac.
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iPhone hackers create open source unlock
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Hacks, Open Source, iPhone Well despite the fact that some hackers claimed they weren't working on an open source iPhone unlock, it appears it's happened anyway. iPhone hackers have released a free software unlock for the iPhone.Apparently there are two solutions-- the one above is part of a script based on ieraser, and the other is called iUnlock (Engadget says that one "appears to be in a more complete state"). We aren't yet sure what these do-- whether they're an actual unlock, or simply a reverse engineer of the iPhoneSIMfree unlock released the other day.Either way, it doesn't much matter (hope iPhoneSIMfree made their money while they could). Even if these solutions (both of which seem to be straight code at this point-- there's still no simple "userfriendly, automated tool" available) aren't exactly what people need to use any SIM in their iPhone, a free, open source solution is likely just around the corner. Until Apple changes the firmware, that is.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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iPhone SIM unlock giveaway: round 2
Filed under: Announcements, CellphonesiPhoneSIMfree's finally launched, and the crew that software unlocked the iPhone has hooked us up with five iPhone unlocks to give away to you, our faithful, iPhone obsessed readers. We'll be giving one away each day of the week this week. Here's how it works.Details about the unlock Bring your own iPhone. We're not supplying the device, just the unlock. You must send us your iPhone's IMEI; you can't resell the unlock. If we don't receive your IMEI in a timely manner, we may award the unlock to someone else. We will not be offering tech support on the unlock. Once you've got it, it's out of our hands, ok? We do not make any guarantees about the unlock. We're not guaranteeing that it will work when your phone gets the next Apple update later this month, that it will work with your SIM or your carrier, or even that it will work on your phone. We're not even going to guarantee you won't end up with a bricked phone. We're just handing it off to the winner, the end. The other regular rules (yeah, there are always rules): Leave a comment below. That's it! Who loves you, baby. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) In other words, be careful when commenting and if you submit more than once, only activate one comment, ok? If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Contest is open to anyone worldwide! Duh. Winner will be chosen randomly. Entries can be submitted for the next 24 hours. After that we'll move on to the next iPhone unlock. Good luck! Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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QuickTime 7.2 updated to play better with iLife
Apple has released an 18MB update to QuickTime 7.2 today, which touts increased compatibility with iLife. If you're a big iMovie user, we imagine this update might be for you. Read More...
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Rumor: Apple May Be Interested in 700 MHz Spectrum
An interesting post comes our way from Engadget, a rumor circulating around states that Apple may be interested in the 700 MHz spectrum bid which starts in January of next year. While this isn’t confirmed yet it is very interesting…
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Guitar Hero III coming to the Mac this year
Filed under: Gaming, Hardware, Multimedia, HolidaysIf you've never played Guitar Hero, you've been missing out. It's quite an experience - you play with a special guitar controller, and as notes fly towards you on the screen, you hit both fret buttons and a strum bar in time to real life rock music. I'm a huge fan of the series, having played the original on PS2, and Guitar Hero II on my Xbox 360. Now, Mac owners will can to take the stage: Aspyr Media has announced that they're bringing the series' third iteration to the Mac.Guitar Hero III is scheduled to be released in October on the consoles and PC. Aspyr will release a hybrid Windows/Mac box, complete with USB guitar. System requirements haven't been released yet, but I'd expect any PC version to have everything the console versions do. The complete setlist contains pretty much any kind of rock you're interested in, from Rage to Bloc Party to Kiss, and even the D and gamer favorite DragonForce.Sounds awesome. Considering the guitar is just a USB device, how cool would it be to integrate it with Garageband? Here's hoping Aspyr stays on beat, and makes the PC/Mac version available shortly after the console release. Until then, you may always rock it out with Frets on Fire. Throw the horns!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Quick comparison: N800 v. iPod touch
We take a look at the iPod touch, based on what we know as of right now, as compared to the Nokia N800 Internet tablet to see whether the touch might be able to measure up as an Internet tablet itself.Read More...
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Don't worry, iPhone hackers: Apple doesn't hate you
Filed under: Cellphones It's really an ethical dilemma for the ages. On one hand, you love your shiny new Apple toy so much, you just have to hack in new functionality, on the other hand you can't bear to think that the mighty Steve Jobs thinks ill of you and your hacker ways. Well now you can finally put those fears to rest, because Apple's Greg Joswiak has officially confirmed a "neutral" stance on the iPhone hacking issue. That is to say, Apple doesn't plan to maliciously attempt to break native, third-party applications in forthcoming firmware updates, but at the same time Apple won't go out of its way to ensure those updates don't break third-party applications accidentally, and certainly isn't offering support to the hackers of any kind. We'd say it's a step above "frenemy," but not quite to the point where Steve'll be demoing Jailbreak at his next keynote. Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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QT Compatibility and Keyboard Software 1.2 updates released
Filed under: OS, Software UpdateYes, it's that time again folks. Our friends in Cupertino have released two small (and by small we mean 'single sentence release-note' small) updates to OS X 10.4.10, namely Compatibility Update for QuickTime 7.2 and a much-desired Keyboard Software Update 1.2. The updates are available to users via the trusty Software Update option in the Apple Menu, or via the Apple Support Website (Keyboard Update / QuickTime Update). Let's hope it brings enlightenment to those of us who experienced issues with the Aluminium Keyboards, and were unable to fix them.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Joswiak Says Apple Has No Position on Unofficial Apps for iPhone/iPod Touch
It’s kind of implicit that this has been Apple’s stance all along, given that there aren’t any technical barriers in place to prevent third-party apps from running on the iPhone. ★
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Cabel's Coda toolbar and the Three Pixel Conundrum
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Apple, DeveloperPanic's Cabel Sasser has updated his blog (finally! His Miis were cute and all, but I was tired of seeing them every day) with a really interesting post about how he designed the toolbar for the everything-web-development tool that apparently is the bee's knees, Coda.Instead of using the standard rounded bevel of OS X's unified toolbar, Sasser decided he wanted to do something a little different, and created a tab-ish vertical indent. Unfortunately, the way OS X's toolbars work didn't vibe with his idea (there were just three pixels at the bottom that couldn't be edited the way he wanted), so the Panic team ended up developing their own entire toolbar. That, he says, is why you can't rearrange the icons in Coda-- because the app isn't using the system toolbar.But the best part is saved for last. All the hard work paid off, because even though Sasser had to drive his team nuts just to figure out a way to get around those three pixels, Apple eventually agreed with him. And the new toolbar in Leopard looks strangely familiar. Great story, and a real shot in the arm to developers who might not otherwise be pushed to bother with all the coding required to get the look they want exactly right.[ via DF ]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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20-inch iMac Screens Disappoint, Apple Won't Quash iPhone Hacks, and More
Adobe plans to bring a free version of Photoshop online, Mac gamers can look forward to EVE Online, and moderators at a Mac site plan an (unsuccessful) online coup.
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MacVoices Interviews Tatiana Apandi on O'Reilly's "Women in Technology" Series
O’Reilly Editor Tatiana Apandi talks to Chuck Joiner of MacVoices about the Women in Technology series on the O’Reilly Network, how it came to be, and what she wants to accomplish by giving a voice to a wide variety of women in the technology industry. Tatiana shares some of her personal experiences from tech conferences and beyond, and how they led her to invite technology women from around the world to share their own stories and their unique perspectives on the topic.
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Dell and the wish for Apple’s cool
Dell wants Apple's mind-share. But when a $60B computer company says it wants to be "cool," perhaps it's time for the market to worry?
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Apple Adds Ringtone Support to iTunes
Apple has finally flipped the switch on the ringtone feature in the iTunes music store....A little When I connected my iPhone to the computer this morning, I got a message that was something like, “You are now able to…
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What's your recommendation on virus protection? Do I even need it for my Mac?
Prevent a re-enactment of a Dustin Hoffman-esque Outbreak on your Mac.
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Does market share matter to Apple?
We're witnessing an interesting transformation of Apple. For most of its life, Apple has been content to capture less than 5% of the market for its products. When I worked there, we used to compare ourselves to BMW or Volvo - great brands with little market share but fiercely loyal customers. But now Apple has huge success with the iPod and iTunes (two products - by the way - that we never envisaged to do for the company what they are currently doing) and suddenly they are the market share leader in MP3 players and digital music. That success leads everyone to expects Apple to be a huge hit in any market it puts its sights on - especially mobile phones and a market ten times bigger than music. But that's not in Apple's DNA. Those expectations put tremendous pressure on the company to innovate at a faster rate and to focus more on market share than it ever has before. That explains the rapid price drop on the iPhone. The strategy seems to be working for now, but is it sustainable? Funny thing is, most people identify with Apple as the underdog - and most (Apple and their loyal customers) like it that way. Would your perception of the company change if you woke up tomorrow and Apple was the undisputed leader in music, movies, mobile and computers? Stay tuned...
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Apple flips switch on iTunes ringtone support
Apple has flipped the switch on ringtones in iTunes, enabling a new library item in which to organize them. Ringtones are still on their way to iTunes Store shelves, however.Read More...
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Ringtones Now Available in iTunes Store
I’ve been playing with this for about two hours; it’s buggy and frustrating. ★
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Image editors are the new FTPÂ application
For years, FTP applications have been a genre of software that has overrun itself with options. Generally I believe competition to be a good thing but there really just comes a point where another FTP application in the mix really doesn't help anybody. As of right now I've counted over 100 different FTP applications available to the Mac. Seriously…why? Today Gruber posted a quick link to a new image editor supposedly making it's way to the Mac in the coming months. Just yesterday Acorn was announced and just a few weeks ago the highly anticipated Pixelmator was released in to private beta. For the mathematically challenged, that is three new image editors that have come on to the scene in the past month or so and that doesn't even include all the other image editors that have been around for ages. I think what really turns me off about all of this is that all of these image editors do, more or less, the same thing. Sure, they each have a different UI and will each perform tasks a tad different than the other but for the most part they all just edit images. Do all of these developers really believe they are bringing something new and beneficial to the table? Or is it simply a case of jumping on the bandwagon? Again, like I said, I believe competition and choice are a good thing. But at what point does it actually start hurting the community by flooding the market with sub-par applications? applications, editing, image
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iPhone Tip - Take Advantage Of Bookmarks
One way to really take advantage of the iPhone is through Bookmarklets, tiny scripts that allow you to gain more functionality from your Web Browsing experience. LifeClever has a list of 17 bookmarklets that will greatly enhance Safari…
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Woz recreates "awesome" commercial for charity sale
Filed under: Humor, Odds and ends, The Woz Woz, always ready to entertain for charity's sake, has remade his old 280Z commercial ("It's awesome," if you didn't remember from the last time you watched it) to promote the charity sale of his Nissan 350Z. Unfortunately, rather than split-screening it, the old commercial fades up for the "awesome" line, so we don't actually get to see 2007 Woz talking about how awesome his car is. But he more than makes up for it with some nice lipsyncing, a short Segway ride, and the inclusion of a Weird Al song. Roll on, Woz!The sale itself is to benefit the IEEE lab at UC Berkeley, because Woz says that "on a global scale we are seeing America losing its competitiveness in engineering and technical skills. That is disappointing." And in addition to picking up Woz' own car (too bad it's not the Prius), you get lunch with the man himself, and the opportunity to "talk about anything that interests you."Surely that's worth the $100,000 he has listed for the sale, right? But it is for charity. If you've got an extra $100,000 sitting around, there are probably worse ways to spend it.[ via Macenstein, who has a very brown redesign going on ]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Double iPod dissection: 3G nano, 6G classic go under the knife
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video You've seen the announcement, you've peeped the hands-on, and you've read the reviews -- but how well do you really know the new iPod nano and classic? Well, thanks to the folks at iFixit, you can get familiar with the little guys inside and out. That's right, the first official tear-downs (or take-aparts, depending on who you ask) have happened to Apple's latest and greatest, and the results are somewhat... um, nerdy. Upon unfastening the eight locking tabs on the nano, iFixit made note of an increase in the use of adhesive, particularly on the click-wheel, making replacement "difficult," as they put it. Additionally, it appears battery replacement will be harder because of its attachment to the logic board with three "though-hole" solder points. Switching over to the classic, the tinkerers find that there is a metal plate on the backside of the screen (for protection against breakage, they suspect), and they discover that the battery is exactly the same as the one used in the 30GB iPod video. Don't take our word for it, however, hit the link and check out all the gory details. Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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Apple: You have our blessing to hack the iPhone to bits
Apple's Greg Joswiak spoke candidly about the iPhone and iPod touch, and revealed something surprising: Apple has no problem with third-party developers creating native apps for the iPhone, and the company will not maliciously write software that will disable the hacks. Read More...
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TUAW Interview: Gus Mueller on Acorn
Filed under: Features, TUAW Interview, DeveloperAs we mentioned yesterday, Gus Mueller and Flying Meat software just released Acorn, a new, relatively low-cost image editor for the Mac. We've interviewed Gus before with interesting results, so last evening we again (virtually) sat down with Gus to ask him a few questions about Acorn itself, the development process, his company, and a little of what the future holds.Continue reading TUAW Interview: Gus Mueller on AcornPermalink | Email this | Comments
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News: Apple: iPhone apps OK, no Bluetooth, Games in iPod touch
According to a report from PC Magazine's Gearlog blog, Apple has decided not to interfere with third-party iPhone application development—for now. Discussing the state of iPhone application development with Apple Vice President for iPod Product Marketing Greg Joswiak, the report claims that Apple is taking a “neutral stance” on applications for the device, whereby the company will not stop people from writing software or release…
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iTunes and Movies Don't Mix: How Apple Can Fix This Now
iTunes is a victim of its pedigree. It began its life as Soundjam, an excellent mp3 music player and manager that was acquired by Apple. What Apple has done with iTunes is nothing but miraculous. It can manage huge music libraries, sync with the dozens of iPods out there, register and…
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Update to give iTunes WiFi Music Store to Apple TV? Not so fast
One rumor site is reporting that "sources" say the Apple TV is about to get an update that would allow it to purchase video from the WiFi Music Store. We're not so sure, however.Read More...
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iPod and EyeTV: A Perfect Union
I have the best portable entertainment setup in the world: iPod plus EyeTV. I have an endless stream of video and movies, mostly automatically, and totally for free. I'll back up, to make an embarrassing admission for a tech writer specializing in Apple-platform products: I haven't been able to review the lion's share of iPod accessories because the last iPod I bought was in 2003. It's been great, all these years. It plays music, holds nearly all of my music library, and the battery usually lasts for as much time as I want to listen to music -- even on long plane flights.
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Gearlog interview clears up iPhone and Touch details
Filed under: iPod Family, iPhoneGearlog scored an interview with Apple's Greg Joswiak that shines a light on some outstanding questions about the iPhone and iTouch. In a nutshell, the key points are: No Bluetooth on Touch. Internet pictures implying otherwise are errors. Touch will run iPhone software. Same hardware as the iPhone, same OS. Software should port without problem. Apple makes no accommodations for hacking. Software updates will continue to "reset" iPhones and Touches. Apple does not actively oppose 3rd party hacks but they will not support them either. No SDK. I'm reading between the lines here, but Joswiak's "not hate" and not "support" indicates that Apple has no plans for open 3rd party development.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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News: Rogue Amoeba offers free MakeiPhoneRingtone
Responding to Apple's decision to add a 99-cent ringtone creation tool to iTunes 7.4, third-party developer Rogue Amoeba has released MakeiPhoneRingtone, a Mac OS tool that automates the process of adding your own ringtones to the iPhone for free. “Simply drag and drop AAC ringtones,” explains the company, “and they'll show up in the iPhone Ringtones tab. Sync your iPhone and they'll ready for use.” Rogue…
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Fox isn’t leaving iTunes - They just want you to know that, we didn’t ask or anything
Fox wants us to know that even though they don't sell what would surely be there biggest sellers in iTunes (you know, The Simpsons, Family Guy…), and even though it's nose deep in the soon to fail Hulu.com, that they are not leaving iTunes anytime soon. President and chief operating officer of News Corp, Peter Chernin, told Reuters that “Right now we have a perfectly good relationship with Apple,” he said. “But let me say this, we're the ones who should determine what the fair price for our product is, not Apple.” You know, I'm beginning to think maybe Apple should let these morons set their own price. Let them try to charge $4.99 an episode, and they can watch their sales fall to the floor…and if their are enough consumers that like being rammed in the tail pipe like that, and are willing to pay it…then so be it. I have more faith in people than that, but I'd love to never hear another Hollywood Executive act like they were being mistreated again…and it seems like we need to go ahead and let them destroy themselves by attempting to over charge. All they're going to do is bring piracy even further into the mainstream. Which is something I'm beginning to think they deserve.
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Ringtones now available from iTunes
Apple just turned on the new ringtone feature in iTunes. If you click on the “Purchased” icon in iTunes’ left navigation, under Store (you do have purchased music, don’t you?), you’ll see a message that looks like this: Drat. None of my purchased music is ringtone-able. One thing to bear in mind is that you have to [...]
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MakeiPhoneRingtone 1.0
Freeware drag-and-drop tool from Rogue Amoeba to automate the bizarre “change the file extension, show it to iTunes, then change the file extension back” song and dance for creating your own iPhone ringtones. ★
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Cyberduck hits 2.8 with file transfer queueing
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Open SourceHenrik sends us word that Cyberduck, the other FTP app I use all the time, has been updated to version 2.8. New in this version, you can find the Ganymed SSH2 library, support for SCP transfers, file transfer queueing, the ability to limit bandwidth, and a number of other bugfixes and features. Henrik also reminds us that open sourced Cyberduck is way ahead of anything else in language localization, as it supports (deep breath) English, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Slovak, Spanish, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Russian, Swedish, Danish, Polish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Catalan, Welsh, Thai, Turkish and Hebrew. Whew! No Klingon localization? What will M'marhcS use for an FTP client?Cyberduck 2.8, as always, is open source, which means free as in speech and beer, and is available for download on their website.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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HandBrake - DVD conversion made simple
The macosxhints Rating:[Score: 9 out of 10] Product page Price: Free (open source)This week's Pick of the Week is likely to be a little bit contentious, as it can be used in ways that violate many copyright laws. However, this can be said of many worthwhile programs (ahem, iTunes) and products (iPod), but that doesn't mean those programs and products aren't worthy on their own merits. Such is the case with HandBrake. Although HandBrake has been mentioned in a number of hints, it's never been a Pick of the Week winner, until now.HandBrake is a DVD ripper -- a tool designed to help you copy you...
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Apple's deal with InterDigital all but guarantees 3G iPhone
Apple has signed a licensing agreement with InterDigital for mobile phone technologies that will be a part of the iPhone. The seven-year deal means that we can expect to see a fair number of revisions to the iPhone, including 3G.Read More...
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Take Fetch Back to School Contest
Big prizes from Fetch Softworks: Fetch Softworks is celebrating the new school year with the Take Fetch Back to School essay contest. Students, teachers, and other school employees in the U.S. can win an Apple MacBook or iPod Nano by sharing how they use Fetch in their academic work. ★
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Inside the iPod Classic and iPod Nano
If you like looking at iPod guts, you'll want to take a look at this article from Apple Insider. They have a complete gallery pictures for your viewing pleasure. First, they take the Nano apart piece by piece. Followed by the iPod Classic. Horriying…just horrifying. The tear down is via iFixit, a third party Apple repair company that every Apple owner should have bookmarked. Especially those of us that have had our devices for a while.
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News: Ringtone creation added to iTunes
As pre-announced at last week's The Beat Goes On event in San Francisco, Apple has today turned on custom ringtone functionality in iTunes. The feature enables users to convert certain iTunes Store tracks into ringtones at a cost of $0.99 per ringtone plus the initial cost of the iTunes Store download; other tracks, including ones you have imported from your own CDs, cannot be converted. To support the feature, a new “Ringtones”…
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Let the unlocking begin!
It’s official. iPhoneSIMFree is now selling their software-only iPhone unlocking solution to all comers. If you’re skeptical, Engadget has tested it (works fine) and has even posted a video of the process from start to finish. US$100 sounds a little spendy to me, but I guess if you’ve got US$600 US$400 to spend on a [...]
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Import a vCard into Thunderbird's address book
This is a small hint for Thunderbird users. You may have noticed that there is no direct way to import a vCard in Thunderbird's address book. This is a very strange thing, because Thunderbird allows you to use a vCard as a signature in your emails. Thinking of this, I came up with this trick:To import a vCard into Thunderbird's address book, send an email to yourself and attach the vCard to it. Then, in the email you have just received, you can click on the vCard and it will be directly imported in you address book.You can do the same with multiple vCards (in just one email).[robg adds: I'm not a Thunderbird user, so I can't easily confirm this one.]
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10.4: A detailed look at MacFUSE and the SSH file system
Have you ever been been at work or somewhere else and wished you could access the files on your home computer remotely and safely? (Or maybe the other way around?) I've just helped someone set up a remote connection through a router to their work machine so they can access the files from home. (Of course this only will work if it's your computer and you have authorization to modify the router settings and remotely access the computer.)Google provides MacFUSE (File System in User Space) that provides this ability via a secure (SSH) connection, and it's fairly easy to do. Basically, with MacFUSE installed, it's like having the remote computer's hard drive mounted on your desktop (remember it'll be a little slow via the internet), but you can do anything on the remote machine that you need to (pro...
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Import and export images to and from Photo Booth
If you have kids and a Photo Booth-equipped Mac, you've probably got hundreds of photos in Photo Booh, with no easy way to navigate them. You can move them all into iPhoto and manage them there, and then delete them from Photo Booth. You can also move photos into Photo Booth, though that's a bit trickier.Exporting and removing images from Photo BoothClick on one photo in Photo Booth and hit command-R to reveal the file in the Finder. In the Finder window, hit Command-A to select all, then hold down the command key while clicking with the mouse to deselect any pictures you don't want to move and delete. Open iPhoto and create a new album to hold the pictures you're moving over. Go back into the Finder and drag all the selected photos over into iPhoto. After the file transfer is done, click back over to the Finder (but don't click into the Finder window or your selection will disappear). Hit Command-Delete to move the selected files to the Trash.
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Counterfeit iPhones selling well in Asia
Filed under: Hardware, iPhoneWith iPhone Fever running high, and no official Asian sales scheduled for 2007, opportunistic electronics manufacturers in China are doing a brisk business in counterfeit iPhones. Bloomburg reports that the so-called "Chinese iPhone" sells for approximately $133US and is a fully-functioning phone. Anonymous manufacturer "Ben" said that creating the phone's internals was easy, but the external design was the hard part.Fakes will always exist, as well as eager customers. Apple has requested that shoppers report fake phones to counterfeit [at] Apple [dot] com. [Via MacDailyNews] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The iPhone Can Be Disconnected Without Ejecting, Why Can’t The iPod?
Normally in order to disconnect an iPod you have to manually disconnect it which before the arrival of Flash made sense, data being written to the Hard Drive takes some time and yanking it out unexpectedly could cause corruption. Now once the…
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iTunes: Free Tuesday
Filed under: iTS, Features, DealsWelcome to this week's edition of iTunes: Free Tuesday featuring a new collection of free singles from around the world. Each week we send out our dealgnomes to the furthest corners of the Earth to find and retrieve iTunes freebies from all the International stores. Here's what's new today: Nothing on the video scene but lots of lovely singles. Okay. I lie. Some lovely singles. No, that's still not hitting the mark. A very few lovely singles. Nothing this week in France, the UK, Australia or New Zealand. And the Canadian single is all messed up.Continue reading iTunes: Free TuesdayRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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YouTube Find: Avoid iPhone Roaming by removing the Sim Card
If you're planning to travel internationally, and want to keep using the iPod/Web/Wi-Fi features of your iPhone intact without incurring those thousands of dollars in roaming fees “by accident” that we keep hearing about, this quick video will show you exactly how to do it.
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News Corp. says it's sticking with iTunes
News Corp. won't be leaving iTunes anytime soon, president Peter Chernin said in an interview, just in case anyone was concerned. Everything is faboo, he says! Well, aside from that little dig about pricing...Read More...
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Another Apple User Rebellion: The 20" iMac Screens
When iPhone buyers who paid full price complained en masse on Apple's (AAPL) online discussion boards about the surprise price cut last week, the company moved swiftly to shut the boards down -- although Steve Jobs did eventually get the message (see The iPhone Rebellion and Jobs' $100 iPhone Credit). But this is not the first time Apple has tried to suppress dissent on its message boards, which are part of the company's online support system. Last month a similar rebellion broke out in the discussion boards dedicated to the new line of iMacs. The issue has to do with the quality of the screens on the first batch of 20" iMacs introduced Aug. 7 (see Apple's New Lineup). The top of the 20" screens tend to be dark and the bottom washed out. The colors also change when you move your head from left to right. Both effects are clearly visible in the YouTube video pasted below the fold. Early buyers complained vociferously on multiple boards -- viewed thousands of times -- whose tone combined outrage with a sense of urgency. "Apple is closing these threads left and right," wrote user Neil Birchler. "I'm sure they'll shut this one down soon too." As it happens, that thread, Bought new iMac 20" Faded Screen, is still intact, perhaps because the users posting there concluded correctly that the problem was the inexpensive TN (twisted nematic) LCD screens Apple chose to use in the new 20" aluminum iMacs, and because it ends on a relatively positive note, written by user Kevin Horn on Sept. 8: In my last visit to Fry's the 20" there did not have the gradation problem and didn't look too bad, certainly no worse than the TN screens you can find all over town. So this was clearly a manufacturing problem that has been cleared up, although it's still hard to believe Apple would have such lousy Quality Control in place as to allow those first iMacs to ship out. (link)Meanwhile, people who bought new iMacs for professional design or photographic work and found them unsatisfactory have been exploring workarounds. Some tried to adjust the screen's calibration, with mixed but mostly disappointing results. Many simply returned the 20" iMacs and traded up for the 24" model, which uses a higher-quality IPS (in-plane switching) LCD panel. Others bought refurbished 20" white iMacs, the predecessor model that also used higher-quality screens. Writing on a MacInTouch forum, W.P Wily reported that he turned his new iMac into a "tower"; his monitor is a ViewSonic flat panel screen hooked up to a 20" iMac whose screen he's turned to face the wall. It's not clear whether later batches of the 20" aluminum iMac are good enough to satisfy users who need accurate colors for professional work. Meanwhile, although Apple's retail outlets have, by most reports, handled the problem with good cheer, in some cases forgiving buyers the 10% restocking fee, Apple's manufacturing unit has managed to alienate another segment of their user base. "Apple employees need their heads checking," wrote user Mattnedgus on a discussion board since redacted by Apple. "Going DOWN in quality isn't what customers expect." Below the fold, as promised, that YouTube video demonstrating the problem. Thanks to reader Neil Birchler (who bought his iMac at B&H Photo & Video and can't take it back) for the tip.
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Installing the iPhone Developer Toolchain: A simple How-To
Filed under: How-tos, iPhoneYesterday, stepping into iPhone development got a lot easier. "Kroo", an iPhone developer, put together this Binary Toolchain Installer for Intel Macs. Instead of taking two days to download, debug and compile, installation takes a few minutes. Download a copy and install and you're set to start programming. You'll need to copy your iPhone files to your Macintosh for the toolchain (and the toolchain installation) to work. You can either use a tool like scp -r and connect to your hacked iPhone or you can copy the file system from one of the iTunes restore software dmgs--google for details. Rename the root of the iPhone file system "heavenly" and place it into /usr/local/arm-apple-darwin. Then run the installer. One more thing: All the makefiles I have posted here at TUAW use the old toolchain. To use my makefiles with this new toolchain, you'll need to update the Makefile header as such. Looking for a little hand-holding? Head over to irc.osx86.hu and connect to #iphone-uikit.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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News: Fox parent News Corp. to stay on iTunes
News Corp. president and COO Peter Chernin has stated that the company will not follow NBC Universal and remove its television shows from iTunes. Chernin said that while his company was not in a dispute with Apple, it would like a more say in the pricing of its programs. “Right now we have a perfectly good relationship with Apple,” Chernin said in an interview. “But let me say this, we're the ones who should determine what…
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Bluetooth and Prius Plays Big Role on Weeds
Well, in the past month I’ve written here about the pleasure of Bluetooth in my Prius, and looking forward to iPhones working in those cars, and I’ve also wondered when the iPhone would make its first appearance on a major (fictional) television show. Showtime took…
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iPhone 101: Uploading your Pictures to Flickr and printing sites
Filed under: How-tos, TUAW Tips, iPhone, iPhone 101Uploading pictures from your iPhone to Flickr couldn't be easier. Many photo hosting and printing sites now allow you to upload pictures by email. (Of coure check with your host or printing service to see if they offer this option.) For Flickr, visit flickr.com/account/uploadbyemail. They'll assign you a "secret" email address. Just mail photos from your iPhone to that address and it loads right into your Flickr account. For Costco, mail your images to save@mycostcophotos.com. You'll receive a confirmation letter at the address you used to send the message. The letter includes a link to the Costco Photo Center website where you can print your photo. Unfortunately, the iPhone automatically scales your images when you choose the Email Photo option. It does this to save the mailbox of the person you're sending your images to. That's great when you're sharing cute pictures of the family or dog. It's not so great when you want to print out your emailed photos. To address this problem, I've written SendPics, a utility that allows you to select a photo from your iPhone and email it at full resolution. You'll find a copy of this utility at iphone.natetrue.com and via Installer.app. Your iPhone must be modded to allow third-party applications in order to take advantage of this utilityRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Vodafone signs Omnifone's MusicStation service for UK
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable AudioSo Vodafone made another little announcement during the unveiling of their iPhone-less Christmas lineup: an exclusive Omnifone music service deal for our more cultured, special British friends. The all-you-can-eat, MusicStation subscription download service will cost punters a weekly tithe of £1.99 (about $4.03) -- an investment which turns to dust once you cancel the subscription. Seems Vodafone, an early favorite for a pan-European iPhone exclusive, is now preparing to compete against a rival European iPhone launch with iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store in addition to Nokia's imminent Music Store. Good luck Voda-Omni-fone, you'll need it. Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
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News: Vers real wood iPod sound system debuts
Developed by product creation company Sprout Creation, the Vers iPod sound system is the first in a line of iPod and iPhone sound systems that are hand crafted from real wood. The Vers features a class D amplifier, 2-3” custom designed speakers delivering 30 watts peak power, and a 14 function remote. The Vers is hand built and finished, so each system is unique. “Many musical instruments have been made of wood for centuries,â€? says Dave…
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Report: Price Cut Bumped iPhone Sales 300%
Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, whose 50-hour survey of Apple (AAPL) stores produced the most definitive estimate of iPhone sales to date, has combined his data with yesterday's report that Apple sold its 1 millionth iPhone on Sunday to calculate the effect of last week's 33% price cut. By Munster's reckoning, Apple and AT&T (T) were selling an average of 9,000 iPhones a day before the price reduction, which would have put their quarterly sales at 594,000 as of Sept. 5. The two companies had already sold 270,000 phones in the previous quarter. To reach 1 million by Sept. 9, they would have had to sell 136,000 more phones, or 27,000 a day -- a 300% increase. The new rate, Munster writes in a report to clients issued yesterday, "clearly represents an initial surge that is not sustainable." He estimates that sales will stabilize at a 50% increase. By the end of the quarter, he believes, Apple will have sold a total 1.28 million iPhones.
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News: Numark now shipping iDJ2
After a lengthy delay, Numark is now shipping its iDJ2 portable DJ mixing console with Universal Dock for iPod. The iDJ2 features the ability to scratch, control pitch, key-lock, and simultaneously play two songs from a single iPod with a full-color screen. In addition, it boasts a special iPod Direct Mode function that allows users to play all iPod-supported music, including songs purchased from the iTunes music store. The Numark iDJ2 is available…
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Fox: We'll keep our content in iTunes
Filed under: iTS, Multimedia, iTunesFollowing NBC's split with Apple, NewsCorp (Fox's parent) has announced their intention to keep top shows like 24 and Prison Break in the iTunes Store. According to president Peter Chernin, his company's relationship with Apple is just peachy:"Right now we have a perfectly good relationship with Apple."But don't get a warm fuzzy in your heart just yet. While things are good, they could be better. Cherin adds that NewsCorp wants more control over the cost of their content - an opinion other media outlets share, most notably NBC.Most of my friends offer the media giants the same response: "If I don't get it from iTunes, I'll get it somewhere else," with "somewhere else" meaning "torrent." [Via AppleInsider]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Are there TOO many iPod Choices?
I've been thinking about since the Special Event last week, and I can't seem to shake the feeling that there are just too many iPods out there to choose from. When the line was just iPods, Nanos, and Shuffles it was easier. There was still a lot of choice, but those choices were very clear. If you wanted video on your iPod, you only had two choices…either the 30 gb or 80 gb iPod. The only real decision you had to make was based on the width of the iPod and the storage capacity. If you just wanted music, you only had to decide if you wanted a display or not. if you did, you could pick between the two Nanos depending on price and storage. If you didn't want a display, you bought a Shuffle. Boom - Done. Now, however, things are a bit different. Before the iPhone and last week's announcement, you had a total of 5 choices maximum, and that was divided among 3 different models. Now, however, you have 9 different choices over 5 different models of iPods (if you count the iPhone as an iPod - which Apple does), and several of them overlap in a variety of ways…and that doesn't even count the different color options. For a company that won't allow mutli-tiered pricing in their video store because the store needs to be “simple” that philosophy doesn't seem to apply to product lines anymore…at least not the iPod product line. Now you have to decide, do you want the touch features and wider screen, or do you want a ton of storage? Do you want a 3 inch screen, or is 2.5 enough? Do you want the phone features so you only have to carry around one device, or not? If I had to choose between an iPod Classic with 80 gigs of storage or an iPod Touch with only 8 (at $50 more, no less), I'm not sure which way I would go…and God help those poor parents and grandparents who really don't understand this stuff and “ruin” the holidays by accidentally buying the wrong one… But maybe I'm wrong. What do you think? Are their too many iPods? I think their are…but having said that, I don't think it's going to hurt Apple…I think it might just be over kill.
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News: Six Apart announces TypePad for iPhone, iPod touch
Six Apart has announced the release of a mobile version of its TypePad blogging application customized for the iPhone. The application was designed from the ground up to be optimized for the iPhone's touchscreen interface, letting users create and edit posts, manage comments left on thier blogs, and configure settings for sending photos directly from their iPhone. In addition, the TypePad iPhone application is also compatible with the iPod touch.…
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Mobile Colloquy IRC client released for iPhone
There's no shortage of IRC clients for the iPhone, but Mobile Colloquy offers some familiar polish and handy features.Read More...
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Re-authorizing your computer for Ringtones
Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, iTunes, iPhoneYou authorized your computer to your iTunes account long, long ago. So why don't your iTunes Ringtones sync to your iPhone? Turns out that you're going to have to reauthorize your computer to allow it to use ringtones. Yes, not only do you have to sign a new terms of service to buy that ringtone but you also have to add a separate authorization.Ah, there's nothing quite like the smell of RIAA in the morning.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Rogue Amoeba releases free Ringtone Maker
Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, Software, iTunes, iPhoneToday brings a lovely treat from Rogue Amoeba, the makers of Audio Hijack Pro and Fission. They've posted MakeiPhoneRingtone, a free utility that converts any AAC file into an iTunes 7.4.2-compatible Ringtone. Drop the file onto its window and a second or two later, it appears in iTunes as a new ringtone. No file renaming, no special tricks. It just worked. I synced it over to my iPhone without any snags. Of course, Rogue Amoeba hopes that you'll use its Fission editor to make those ringtones. If you're like me and prefer non-music-ringtones, its Audio Hijack Pro may be a better choice for recording sounds like a knock on the door or the most annoying ringtone ever made.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Euro .Mac Users - Is your .Mac Service running slow?
MacNN is reporting that European .Mac users are noticing a crippling of downloads from iWeb websites as well as images from the .Mac Web Galleries. Being in the US, I can't test it for myself, but I can say that I'm not seeing that kind of problem here. I know we have a large Euro Readeship, so I thought I would ask for your feedback. Is there a problem with .Mac across the pod?
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Jim Cramer's Mad Money Lightning Round Picks, 9/10/07
Miriam Metzinger submits: Stocks discussed in the lightning round session of Jim Cramer’s Mad Money TV program, Monday September 10. Click on a stock ticker for more analysis:
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Six Reasons Why Apple May Never Open the iPhone
Daniel Eran DilgerThe history of the Office Wars provides interesting context for Apple’s software strategy with the iPhone today. While third party software development offers all kinds of tantalizing potential for the new mobile, there are a half dozen reasons why Apple may not ever deliver the iPhone fully open to third party development, following the model of gaming consoles.Office Wars 1 - Claris and the Origins of Apple’s iWork Office Wars 2 - Microsoft’s Outrageous Office ProfitsOffice Wars 3 - How Microsoft Got Its Office MonopolySoftware Lessons For the iPhone: 1997 - 2007.When Steve Jobs gained the opportunity to retake control of Apple in 1997, he immediately set out to build and assemble a software business for the Mac platform. Apple restarted serious development of QuickTime, much to the chagrin of Microsoft, which had targeted its sights on quickly destroying it to make way for monopolistic expansion of its Windows Media. [Microsoft's Plot to Kill QuickTime][How Microsoft Pushed QuickTime's Final Cut][Why Apple Failed][How CPR Saved Apple][Why Apple Bounced Back]In addition to repurposing NEXTSTEP as Mac OS X and buying and building a series of professional and consumer software suites, the new Apple also developed the iPod platform. The iPod used intuitive software to differentiate Apple’s hardware, launching the computer maker into a new market for sophisticated, data-driven consumer devices. Microsoft’s own efforts in consumer electronics have flopped miserably with the failures of its Handheld PC, Pocket PC, UMPC, Windows Mobile, Media2Go, Mira, SPOT, and Personal Media Center initiatives, among many others.[Apple’s NeXT Server Offensive on Microsoft][The Spectacular Failure of WinCE and Windows Mobile][Windows XP Media Center Edition vs Apple TV]Microsoft Outgunned in Software by a Hardware Maker.Microso