Jun 28, 2008 Jun 30, 2008 Sunday June 29, 2008
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Reminder, talkcast tonight at 10 pm ET
Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts As Cory just noted, it's the iPhone's first birthday today, and we've got a present for you: the Sunday night talkcast, hosted this week by Christina and featuring our memories and good wishes for the 1-year-old gamechanger, along with our anticipations for the launch of the App Store in two weeks. Also on tap for tonight: our Apple-themed recommendations for celebrating the 4th of July (make your Mac Classic into a barbecue grill!). You can also catch up on the past few weeks' worth of shows (including our audience-free show last week, where Robert, Cory and I soldiered on while TalkShoe had a hiccup fit) from Talkshoe, play them from the Flash player in the continuation of this post, if you like, or pick them up on iTunes. Read on for details on how to join in for tonight's call.Continue reading Reminder, talkcast tonight at 10 pm ETRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Happy Birthday, iPhone
Filed under: Apple, iPhone, Apple HistoryYes, it is hard to believe, but our pal the iPhone will be 1 year old at 6 pm EST today. The iPhone has undergone many changes over the past year: from generating all the hype and buzz to being the best way to do everything on-the-go. The original iPhone sold at 6 p.m. (in each time zone across the US) at Apple and AT&T corporate stores for a retail price of $599 for the 8GB model and $499 for the now-discontinued 4GB model.With Apple set to release the next generation iPhone on July 11th, we can only stop and look back at all the accomplishments Apple has achieved over the past year. The iPhone has definitely changed the way we look at smartphones.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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ZDNet Mac Pro and Xserve overclocking tool
Filed under: Hacks, Xserve, Mac ProOne area that the Mac has long lagged behind its PC counterparts is in custom tuning, particularly overclocking. With the Intel Macs this has naturally started to change, though the toolset for overclocking in OS X has been rather barebones. So it's interesting to see that the German division of ZDNet has released the ZDNet Clock tool for OS X.Using the ZDNet Clock tool Mac Pro and Xserve owners (and those only) can boost the processor, front side bus, and memory frequency resulting in a not insignificant "free" performance gain. It should be noted that overclocking puts a strain on the hardware and should be used with caution as it's certainly possible to damage your Mac. Furthermore, there are several side effects in OS X including distorted system time and problems when waking from sleep (the overclocking is disabled on wake). Nonetheless, for those of you out there lucky enough to have a Mac Pro (or Xserve) and crazy enough to push your hardware to the edge may want to have a look.The ZDNet Clock tool is a free download from ZDNet (the link is in German, click the Jetzt herunterladen button to start the download) and requires a Mac Pro or Xserve running Leopard.[via AppleInsider]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Tevanian: Does Microsoft have the guts to slim down Windows?
Filed under: OS, Odds and endsFor your lazy Sunday afternoon, The New York Times investigates what it would take Microsoft to remove decades of cruft in its Windows operating system, like Apple did in 2000 with Mac OS X. Avie Tevanian, formerly senior VP of software development at Apple, oversaw the transition to Mac OS X. When asked if Microsoft could pull of a switch to a small microkernel-based implementation of Windows, Tevanian said "perhaps, but I don't know if it has the intestinal fortitude." Oh, snap. Actually, Avie was referring to an atmosphere of desperation, as the Times calls it, just before Apple started the Mac OS X project. Microsoft, possibly, hasn't hit "rock bottom" yet, and therefore doesn't feel a need to build something from scratch. Personally, I thought "Windows 7" was going to be a leaner, less-backward-compatible build, but I was wrong (as I frequently am): "Our approach with Windows 7 is to build off the same core architecture as Windows Vista," said Bill Veghte, a Microsoft VP. Hello, Windows Me 2.0. [Via John Siracusa.]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Avie Tevanian on Windows’s Architecture
Randall Stross, for a piece in today’s Times advocating that Microsoft take the time and effort to re-architect Windows from the ground-up, asks Avie Tevanian’s opinion: I asked Mr. Tevanian if he thought Microsoft could pull off a similar switch. “Perhaps, but I don’t know if it has the intestinal fortitude,â€? he said, “At Apple, we had to. It was a matter of survival.â€? That’s an astute point. For the all the problems with Vista, Microsoft’s profits and revenues are just fine. ★
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News flash: Steve Jobs is aging
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhoneIn an interview with Financial Times [registration required], Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg shared his company's answer to the iPhone's popularity"...As handsets become banking tools and games controllers, he argues, mobile operators can up-end other companies' business models. 'It's very cool. And Steve Jobs will eventually get old ... I like our chances.'" Seidenberg, who is nine years Jobs' senior, has decided to wait for his rival to "age out" of his position. This reminds me of the skinny 7th grader who laments, "Someday my bully will notice girls and lose interest in stealing my lunch money."Or, perhaps by "old" he meant "out-of-favor" as Daring Fireball suggests. Like Jelly Shoes and Jarts, the appeal of Apple with Jobs at the wheel will eventually fade. All Verizon must do is ride out the trend, like a lobster boat in a Nor'easter. Forget innovation and hard work. The sit-and-wait method is a good one, too. It worked for Estragon and Vladimir.[Via Cameron I/O]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Canadian iPhone: Consumer Revolt against Rogers tariffs
Filed under: iPhoneWhen Rogers/Fido announced the iPhone voice/data plans a few days ago, the proposed rates were not received warmly. Over ten thousand people are letting their eDispleasure be heard on the "Rogers + iPhone3G == Ruined" protest website. Canadian petitioners are unhappy with the high plan rates and the lack of affordable data. The site offers a list of Rogers/Fido contacts and suggests consumers take action, sending an email or letter, or calling. The petition itself is full of impassioned feedback, suggesting that Rogers is killing a potential new market by exploiting demand with subpar overpriced service. Are you Canadian? Let us know what you think of the the data rates in the comments. Thanks, heath Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Blizzard announces Diablo III for Mac
Filed under: GamingBlizzard has always been a (the?) Mac-friendly game developer and they have now officially announced the forthcoming release of Diablo III. Nearly a decade after the last installment of the popular action-RPG, Blizzard plans a simultaneous release for Mac and PC (just like StarCraft II).As of yet the details, including release date and system requirements, are sketchy. However, the game will run a custom 3D graphics engine and return players to familiar territory and stories from Diablo II. I really think Blizzard deserves a hand for their commitment to bringing such A-list titles to the Mac day and date with the PC versions.[via MacNN]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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MobileMe and personal domains
Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools, MobileMeAccording to Apple Support documents, personal domains will be kept intact with MobileMe. Blogger Sean Sperte noticed a "personal domain" option while watching the MobileMe quick tour. That prompted some investigation which led to this support document. Sure enough, it confirms that .Mac personal domains will remain untouched by the change:"...If you have a personal domain setup for your iWeb site, it will continue to work without changing any settings at your registrar."Thanks, Apple![Via Geek&Mild]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple Notebook Shipments Skyrocket 61%
Filed under: Apple, Macbook Pro, MacBook, MacBook AirThis is a good news, bad news story. Let's start with the good news! DisplaySearch, a market research firm, is reporting that Apple's sales of notebook computers are up 61% from 1st Quarter, 2007 to 1st Quarter, 2008. In that fiscal quarter, Apple shipped over 1.4 million notebooks, compared to almost 900,000 the year before. That puts Apple just behind Asus in terms of growth year-to-year, as the Taiwanese board and component maker saw a 67% growth rate. Most other notebook manufacturers saw growth rates in the 20 - 40% range.The bad news? Apple's still in seventh place in overall notebook market share at 4.6%, trailing behind leaders HP (20.8%), Dell (15.1%), and Acer (14.7%) but still ahead of Asus (4.3%) and Sony (4.2%).My personal speculation is that Asus is seeing huge increases due to the Eee PC subnotebook, which has been extremely popular with geeks wanting tiny Linux or Windows computers. If trends continue, Apple's notebook market share numbers should continue to grow into 2008.[via DisplaySearch]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple lawsuit targets "iPod Mechanic"
Filed under: iPod Family, Apple'Tis better to give than to receive, so Apple is giving some legal love by filing trademark and fraud suits against Portage, Michigan businessman Nicholas Woodhams.Woodhams operates an online iPod repair business called iPod Mechanic. Apple claims they asked Woodhams to stop using the iPod trademark back in 2006 and that the parties came to an agreement to have Woodhams stop using the iPod Mechanic name in January, 2007 and park the ipodmechanic.com domain name two months later. Apple says those conditions were never met. A quick browse to ipodmechanic.com shows that it now redirects to imechanic.com. The company name is still iPod Mechanic.But wait, there's more! Apple accuses Woodhams of defrauding them by convincing the company to send him free repair parts. Woodhams allegedly scammed Apple's iPod shuffle Advance Replacement Program in 2007, filling out online forms for customers using a credit card as insurance that the broken shuffle would be returned. Apple claims that Woodhams would immediately decline charges made by Apple when the broken shuffles didn't show, and then sold the iPods at a heavy discount. Apple claims this scheme cost them over $75,000.Woodhams is also accused of swapping back plates on out-of-warranty iPods for those still covered by a warranty in order to avoid paying for parts and repair charges. All of the offenses are viewed as deliberate, so Apple is seeking triple damages and the discontinuation of the iPod Mechanic name and website.[Via Apple Insider]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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TUAW Review: Dymo DiscPainter
Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, PeripheralsI have a mountain of CDs and DVDs in my office. Some of them are in sleeves, others are stacked on spindles. For the most part, my disc labeling consists of grabbing a Sharpie ultra-fine-point marker and scrawling something right on the top of the disc. I've tried sticky labels before, but stopped after I had a few CDs that wouldn't come out of my iMac's SuperDrive slot.Dymo, the labeling company, is now shipping the DiscPainter. It's a single-duty printer designed for one thing; printing directly onto inkjet-printable CD and DVD media.Size, Installation, and SetupThe first thing that hit me when I opened the DiscPainter box was how big it is. Given that it is a single-tasker, it takes up a lot of room on a desktop (roughly 5.75" x 10"). For those with limited space available, this may be a reason not to buy the DiscPainter.Following the included Quick Start Guide (yes, I RTFM), I removed the usual tape and plastic cruft encasing the DiscPainter, popped in the single ink cartridge, and connected the power cable. The initial user experience is excellent.Read on for the full review Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Solving the mystery of Snow Leopard's shrinking apps
In response to a report earlier this week pointing out that many of the applications in early builds of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard are dramatically smaller in size, a number of developers have weighed in to explain where all those missing megabytes went. One reader noted that the extra heft in Leopard's apps does indeed come from localization files, which are used to distill all of the text strings and other variables that differ between languages. Depending on the language preference set by the user, the operating system accesses the desired language files and uses them in conjunction with the common application code to simplify developers' work to deploy their apps to worldwide markets. Continues: Solving the mystery of Snow Leopard's shrinking apps
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Maccast 2008.06.28
A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 231. iTunes hits 5 billion mark. Canadian iPhones won't have unlimited data. Japanese iPhone pricing also announced. O2 offers pay as you go 3G iPhone plans. Orange will launch 3G July 17th. Apple also expands iPhone 3G channels in other countries. What about the iPod Touch?. Apple still making "bank" from At&T iPhone sales. Remote Desktop Trojan surfaces. Snow Leopard to bring ZFS, finally? Apple adds TV to iTunes Australia. iPhone 2.0 update, SDK beta8, and iTunes 7.7 pre-release sent to developers Application for batch MP3 tagging and renaming. Emailing attachments trick. Thoughts about how Apple defines new market segments. Clearing out Mail recent recipients. Review of mouse gesture app launcher Sapiens. Bluetooth keyboard knocking out Wi-fi. Creating your own Audiobooks. Share iPhoto Library amound multiple user accounts. EOL: Obamapod, What's on Obama's iPod Special thanks to our sponsors: Circus Ponies - Free 30-day Trial of Notebook Audible.com - Free audio book New music, A Little Sign by Derek Clegg [ Buy on iTunes ] But I'm not good at anything, mom. Face it, I'm just an egghead. -- The Sandlot (1993) Shownotes in: HTML or OPML Subscribe to the Podcast Feed or Get the MP3