Jun 28, 2009 Jun 30, 2009 Monday June 29, 2009
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Media Outlets Benefiting from Michael Jackson's Death
Yes, it's totally gruesome to think about how Michael Jackson's estate and others will benefit from the King of Pop's death, but it's inevitable. And in the days following Jackson's death, more and more news is coming out about just how many ventures may benefit. Yes, AEG has to grapple with refunding some $85 million of concert tickets, and insurer Lloyd's of London will have to deal with the claims. But perhaps most striking is the sad, ironic fact that the King of Pop's death is sure to bolster his assets to compensate for his debts in life.As expected, Jackson's songs bounced to the top of the charts on Thursday and have remained there. But now there may be much more content to sell. On the eve of his death, Jackson's last rehearsal for his upcoming AEG concert series was recorded on camera, and will reportedly be released as his last album and as a DVD. This could help AEG earn back some of its investment in the upcoming London concerts as well as help Jackson's estate, which is laden with some $400 million to $500 million in debt. AEG hasn't gotten back to me on this news, but it's safe to assume that they'll would like to try to turn anything recorded from the rehearsals into a product to sell.
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SciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best ever
One of our favorite intellectual property rips of recent months is without a doubt the SciPhone Dream G2 from China. Having completely missed the point of Google's open-source OS being, well, open-source and thus free for SciPhone's use, the company instead chose to hack the G2's "proprietory" OS to look like Android. The charger, however, built to look like the iconic Android mascot is pretty damn cute; enough so that the idea of paying $150 just to get our hands on the 100-240V USB charger has crossed our minds. See the Android's naughty bits after the break.[Thanks, Steven]Continue reading SciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best everFiled under: CellphonesSciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best ever originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Fluent Mobile releases the first news aggregator iPhone app
Fluent Mobile has released an innovative news oriented iPhone app that may be a game changer. The Fluent Mobile app aggregates mobile ready content from multiple content providers. According to M:Metrics in January of this year, mobile news sites were visited over 63 million times and the number is growing. This is a huge market. Currently 1.5% of all web content is Google optimized and nicely formatted for mobile devices and the number is increasing. Fluent Mobile takes advantage of this content and aggregates it, creating a news portal with content from Bloomberg for business, ESPN for sports, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News and USA Today, among others, for news. Upon launch, content will be provided by 32 separate sources and more will be added as relevant sites become mobile enhanced. For the first time an app provides one-stop shopping for news.The information is organized well, allowing you to choose from a number of categories including U.S. News, Entertainment, Sports, Business, and Travel.Continue reading Fluent Mobile releases the first news aggregator iPhone appTUAWFluent Mobile releases the first news aggregator iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Crazy Penguin Catapult 2 waddles onto the iPhone, iPod touch
Posted by Dennis SellersDigital Chocolate has released Crazy Penguin Catapult 2 for the iPhone and iPod touch. It's available for US$2.99 at the Apple App Store. There's also a free version available that will provide a limited number of levels.
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SMS texting and voicemail support come with latest Skype update
Filed under: iPhone, App StoreSkype (iTunes link) has been updated to 1.1, which brings it some new features making it more closely resemble its desktop sibling. So, what's new? Well, there's now support for Skype voicemail (subscription needed) and SMS text messaging.However, SMS texting is not bidirectional. Which means that you can send SMS texts, but not receive them. And while a dialog box states that sent SMS texts will show up as sent from the sender's Skype screen name, in my case it displayed the "999-99" caller ID that typically accompanies calls from a Skype-based client. Perhaps that's because I don't have a SkypeIn number?The 1.1 update also provides additional language support as well as more help when dialing phones.TUAWSMS texting and voicemail support come with latest Skype update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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iZotope brings audio effects to the iPhone, iPod touch
Posted by Dennis SellersiZotope has expanded their extensive licensing program with a suite of audio enhancement tools and effects available for integration into third party software applications for the iPhone and iPod touch handheld devices.
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Rexi Media releases Presenter Pro for the iPhone
Posted by Dennis SellersRexi Media has released Presenter Pro 1.0, a presentation skills training app for the iPhone. It's available at the Apple App Store at a special introductory price of US$4.99 until Friday, July 3.
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Business Tycoon for iPhone gets price cut
Posted by Dennis SellersSherylApps has reduced the price on A Business Tycoon, a new business strategy game for the iPhone and iPod touch. It's available for a limited time at US$0.99 at the Apple App Store (normally it's $2.99).
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The Tech Night Owl: ' satellites are slowly taking over'
Posted by Dennis SellersOn today's Tech Night Owl commentary, Gene “Mac Night Owl” Steinberg says that satellites are slowly taking over.
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The Daily Roundup: here's what you might've missed
Steve Jobs back to work at AppleOf course, we'd been hearing of Steve's continual involvement in "key aspects" of Apple's business for a while now, so this seems like more of a rubber stamp on the status quo than a major change, Acer poised to beat Dell, become number two PC makerThat's a big deal -- no non-US company has ever made it so high -- and it's interesting that the strategies Acer took to get there are the same things Dell's been trying to do lately. Windows Marketplace launching with 600 apps, or one bazillion times what the App Catalog hasDepending on your perspective, that's either ridiculously anemic -- the iPhone's App Store has a couple orders of magnitude more currently available, for example -- or a veritable cornucopia. Other news of import 13-year-old trades iPod for Walkman, reports on mysterious ancient artifact Comcast launches High-Speed 2go WiMax service tomorrow in Portland, other cities to follow by end of year Palm's Mojo SDK beta for webOS leaks into the wild Supreme Court declines to hear remote storage DVR appeal, cloud recording is on the wayOf course, there's benefits to having a locally stored copy of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, but just in case we forgot to queue up a recording, ... Nokia, Apple, RIM and others agree on micro-USB phone charger standard for EuropeWhile the free-market works pretty well when, uh, left alone to be free, sometimes it needs a push from a visible hand. Canal+ live & on-demand TV comes to French Xbox 360s ASUS unleashes USB 2.0 Blu-ray drive -- government denies knowledge Hack: use Google Voice to add visual voicemail to your G1, Dream, or Magic Palm Pre gets upgraded to 1.0.4: homebrew installs via email dead for now Sprint follows Boost, gets Motorola Clutch i465 this summer The Daily Roundup: here's what you might've missed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Second Gear updates Today for iCal users
Posted by Dennis Sellers Second Gear has released Today 1.8, an update of the US$15 Mac OS X application for managing iCal events and tasks. The new version is compatible with the late the latest beta builds for the upcoming Mac OS X Snow Leopard release. It also improves launch time performance and its...
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GraphicDesignerToolbox for Mac OS X adds Twirl block, more
Posted by Dennis SellersOpcoders has updated GraphicDesignerToolbox—a Mac OS X (10.4 and higher) graphics editor for generating textures, composing logos, photo manipulation, text effects and web graphics, targeted at professional web designers and artists—to version 1.1.3. The upgrade documents 20 blocks and writes Apple Shake to GDT guide.
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BoatMania floats onto the iPhone
Posted by Dennis SellersAtom Software has released Boat Mania 1.0, a new boating game for the iPhone and iPod touch. It's available for US$0.99 at the Apple App Store.
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iPhone making a splash in the arts
Filed under: Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, iPhoneNot too long ago we told you about an artist creating a cover for the New Yorker magazine using a paint program on the iPhone. Now an Australian photographer has won an award for a photo he took on his iPhone.Steve Turner created a rather striking collection of images he put together, and manipulated to create a print that caught the eye of the judges at the Photo Marketing Association show in Sydney.I tried to contact the photographer, and we had a brief email back and forth. He's traveling so I don't have too many details and the time difference between us has made communications spotty. His messages, of course, are all coming via iPhone. Steve says he has about $200,000 worth of camera equipment but loves shooting on the iPhone. He used CameraBag for the effects, and scaled the photos up on his Mac at his studio. If you go to Steve's web site you'll see the photo pop up. It's the photo with 9 small images and a larger image of a car. His non- iPhone work is pretty impressive as well. My guess is the image was taken with the older 2MP camera, allowing for time to submit his photo for consideration, but it is impressive. There's just no predicting how creative people can be even if the equipment is not top notch. As I remember learning some years ago from an instructor in a photography course when I was complaining about my little camera, 'If Ansel Adams uses my camera, he gets great pictures. If I get his camera, not so much.' Great lesson for us all, and congrats Steve.Thanks to photographer Gavin Blue for the tipTUAWiPhone making a splash in the arts originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Letter Opener for Apple Mail updated to version 2.2
Posted by Dennis SellersRestoroot has updated Letter Opener, their winmail.dat converter plug-in for Apple Mail, to version 2.2. The upgrade brings support for Microsoft Outlook reports like delivery receipts and read receipts. It also introduces support for encrypted and signed messages with a winmail.dat attachment.
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A Skeptic Sees Strong Sales of Palm's Pre
Palm can barely keep up with demand for its Pre, says one prominent skeptic who is now bullish on the company's prospects.
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KACE responds to Mac growth in the enterprise
Posted by Dennis SellersKACE “” KACE, a systems management appliance company, has announced new technology developments for its KBOX family of systems management and deployment appliances. KACE CEO Rob Meinhardt told Macsimum News that the new appliances allow organizations to enjoy as rich of a management experience for Mac as they have traditionally...
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Found Footage: More new Stack features for jailbreak iPhones
Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, Jailbreak/pwnage Looks like Stack for Jailbreak has some new improvements. For those of you unfamiliar with the application, Stack adds a quick-launch menu directly to your iPhone dock, letting you expand your dock space to hold all your favorite apps. With it you can add 16 items (using grid view) or 5 items (in fan view) for easy access in each stack. And stacks are not just limited to the dock. You can add stacks anywhere in the home screen as well. As this video shows, you can now rename your stacks as well as use drag and drop editing. So you can create a 'Games' stack, an 'Internet' stack, and so forth. Removing items from a stack is just as easy as adding them. Just drag them out from the stack for an Apple-standard "puff of smoke" animation. Stack, which is developed by iPhone expert Steven Troughton-Smith is donor-ware. Although not ready for public release, he has regularly been seeding early alpha builds to people who have donated to the project. But as you can see, it's making great progress. Stack is a jailbreak-only product as Apple does not permit this kind of OS-based enhancement in App Store. That's a pity, because the relative difficulty and fear of jailbreaking keeps this kind of groundbreaking software away from the general public. It's an enhancement that Apple really should have built into the iPhone -- and hopefully someday will. TUAWFound Footage: More new Stack features for jailbreak iPhones originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Zengobi Curio Does Everything
The fear of freedom that Zengobi's Curio offers users has caused me to write and rewrite this post many times over the past few months. I just haven't known how best to embody its essence. So before I confuse (and frighten) myself more, I'm kicking this post off with my conclusion of Curio: It's the ideal place to marry disparate pieces of information. Or more accurately, disparate pieces of information, each of which are organized in their own way — think Visio style drawings, mind mappings, spreadsheets, outlines, etc. Curio is flexible enough to use for just about any data gathering or organizing task that you may be facing. What Curio is Not There are many applications on the market the fulfill fairly singular functions. XMind allows you to capture Mind Maps. Keynote helps you create great slides for presentations. Microsoft Office products like Word and Excel assist with creating somewhat formal collections of information. Quicktime can capture video. Well, Curio is not any one of these things. Just the opposite, it's all of these tools (and more) in a single package. At this point the phrase, “Jack of all trades, master of none” may be flitting through your mind. But while Curio doesn't master the features of all of the aforementioned specialized applications, it certainly does a great job of handling the important functions of each — and then melding them together for a seamless user experience. Features as Far as the Eye Can See Covering all of Curio's features and capabilities is better suited for a book, not a blog. But since I'm writing for TheAppleBlog, and not publishing my own book (or one for Zengobi — unless they're hiring), I'll just hit the most compelling points from this vast product. Knowledge Base – Thinking of a Curio file as a Legal Pad may be a good place to begin. This Legal Pad contains all kinds of information you may want to keep track of — drag anything you want into Curio, create diagrams, record audio or video to embed into your document, snap images with your iSight or take screen grabs and the list goes on. All of this information is flag-able, tag-able and searchable for later use. I've considered (though haven't had the chance to try yet) using Curio in professional training courses to capture notes in a contextual manner. Library – All of your content is kept in the Curio Library. So even if you've brought something into a Curio file and decided not to use it there, it can be stored in the Library for later use. This is a great way to keep important information available across all of your files. Project Management/Task Tracking – Who knew Curio could function as a Project Manager? It's no Microsoft Project, but you can certainly create tasks out of your Legal Pad notes. Those tasks can be assigned priorities and due dates. And then all of it can be tracked from within the Status view of Curio. Flashlight – The system-wide search capability built directly into Curio is Flashlight…like Spotlight in OS X. This gives users a super simple and quick way to find anything to drag into your Legal Pad and associate with something you're currently working on. Sleuth – System files aren't all you can grab either. Sleuth is the built-in browser that allows you to search all kinds of web media and sites for things you may need to incorporate into your Legal Pad. Once you find what you want, drag the content of the search results, or the URL, into Curio's workspace and do what you like with it. Presentations – Because the content of your Curio file may be so diverse, converting it into a Keynote file for presentation may turn into a minor migraine headache. So why bother? Curio has its own presentation mode that allows you to take full advantage of all the content you may have included in your notes (whether it be text, images, web links, or movies). Evernote – The go anywhere note-taking solution (it's great on the iPhone!) is integrated right into Curio. So anything you log in Evernote becomes immediately available for use directly inside your Legal Pad. Imagine the power of being able to capture ideas anywhere, and have them fully integrated into your note-capturing knowledge base built with Curio! Extensibility – You can go to the Community part of Zengobi's site and download different styles, themes, and plug-ins to take your Curio notes to the next level. Conclusion The free form methodology of Curio is truly powerful. No matter what kind of information you have, or how you want to mash it all together, this is the software that will put it together for you, and make it completely usable and beautiful. But the power comes in the right situation and with the right user. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to decide what that situation is for my own use, and it frustrates me. You can purchase Curio in Standard or Pro versions — $99 and $149, respectively — or if you're a student, you can get the Pro version for $69. Download a trial of Curio, and check out their Tutorinis (toward the bottom of the page) for more explanation and examples uses. You're bound to find a great use for this amazingly flexible tool. If you're a Curio power-user, please share your use of this tremendous tool with the rest of our readers.
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'The MUG Event Calendar': Apple delivers a triple threat
Posted by Dennis SellersThe U.S. July 4th holiday slows down The MUG Event Calendar this week, but there are still some interesting speakers and meetings scheduled.
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MonkeyBread Software releases IP in menubar 4.1
Posted by Dennis SellersMonkeybread Software has released IP in menubar 4.2, an update of the app for Mac OS X (10.3.9 or higher) that shows the current IP address in the menubar. The new version adds German localization and fixes some bugs.
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PandaWare time and expense billing applications for Mac users, workgroups updated
Posted by Dennis SellersThe PandaWare Company has released updates to TimeCache 8, its time and expense billing application for Mac users, and TimeCache Manager, its workgroup tool for managing TimeCache user data.
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Sandbox 133: Me and the Vatican
Posted by Dennis SellersEvery so many years, I like to take a trip abroad. Sometimes I like visit Scotland, sometimes France. But the best is Italy, hands down. The food, the women, the food. And when I visit Italy I try to stay in small villages. I like to mingle with the locals.
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Apple releases MacBook Air SMC Firmware Update
Posted by Dennis SellersApple has released MacBook Air SMC Firmware Update 1.2. The update adds compatibility for the latest service replacement batteries.
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Msgpush.com: Better push email for the iPhone?
Msgpush.com is a new web service that takes advantage of the iPhone 3.0 software to offer instant alerts on the iPhone when email arrives in your inbox. When the iPhone was first released, there was a lot of hype about it offering true push email on the go for users. Everyone hoped that this would be provided through the IMAP IDLE extension, which would have made the feature available to all IMAP email services that support IMAP IDLE. In fact, it turned out that this service was available first of all only to Yahoo.com mail users, and then later in the iPhone 2.0 software to Exchange users, and it doesn't use IMAP IDLE. The best my iPhone can do is poll my IMAP accounts through its “Fetch” feature every fifteen minutes. Hoping to overcome this limitation, msgpush.com offers iPhone users the option to receive faster notification of new email by providing each user with a “fake Exchange account”. Here's how it works: You sign up at msgpush.com. It monitors your IMAP account through IMAP IDLE, and then sends notification of new mail to your iPhone through the Exchange protocol. Sounds clever, but there are some caveats: You need to surrender your username and password for the IMAP account to msgpush.com, which not everyone will feel comfortable about. You need to set up a new Exchange account on the iPhone to receive these notifications. But Exchange only allows you to run one profile at a time. So, if you have one configured already (as I do for my Zimbra account at work), this service is a non-starter. It doesn't actually read or push the email itself, only a notification that the email is waiting in your account's inbox. So you still need to retrieve the email manually. It's still in beta and, according to some users, is proving a little erratic. Still, even with these quibbles, it may be the solution that some users who can't wait fifteen minutes are looking for. I haven't tested it (see 2. above), but you might like to. Sign up at the msgpush.com web site. [With thanks to the Fastmail blog and forum posters UPDATE: Tom Yager writes more on push email and the iPhone 3.0 software at InfoWorld.] Tags: Exchange, imap, imap idle, iphone, notifications, pushmail Related posts Thunderbird and MS Exchange Guide Gmail IMAP, Mail.app and iPhone Mail in harmony Apple Mail vs. Entourage with Exchange Server Zimbra's Mobile Phone interface on an iPhone Zimbra gets friendly with Safari 3.0, CalDAV, iPhone
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Report: Dell working on Android gadget
Dell is developing a pocket-size Internet device to take on Apple's iPod Touch, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
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The Mac Night Owl: ' Is AT&T the enemy to continued iPhone success?'
Posted by Dennis SellersOn today's commentary, Gene “Mac Night Owl” Steinberg asks, “Is AT&T the enemy to continued iPhone success?”
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New York City Starts Contest for Big Apple Apps
New York City will offer prizes, including dinner with the mayor, to developers who come up with creative applications that tap into city data such as property records and restaurant inspections.
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Jakob Nielsen Call for an End to Password Masking
Jakob Nielsen: Usability suffers when users type in passwords and the only feedback they get is a row of bullets. Typically, masking passwords doesn’t even increase security, but it does cost you business due to login failures. The iPhone strikes an interesting middle ground here — it shows you each letter you’ve typed in a password field for a second or so before turning it into a bullet. ★
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Dell working on iPod touch-esque Android MID, says WSJ
It's no surprise that Dell's been dipping its toes in Android-infested waters as of late, and now the Wall Street Journal's reasserting a previous claim from early April that the company's hard at work on a MID powered by Google's mobile OS platform. Multiple sources have reportedly likened it to a slightly larger iPod touch, while one went so far as to suggest a very tentative second half 2009 target release window, assuming the project doesn't get 187'd before then. Despite its history with Intel and the chipmaker's penchant for MIDs, the report pegs ARM as the processor of choice. As for how this jibes with rumors of Dell's smartphone plans, that's where things get interesting, as WSJ quotes a source who said Dell's thinking about selling it through cell carriers like it's currently doing with 3G-equipped netbooks. The article repeatedly calls it a MID -- meaning a phone might still be in the cards, but given past whispers, it kind of makes you wonder.Filed under: Handhelds, LaptopsDell working on iPod touch-esque Android MID, says WSJ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Twittering Rescues MythBuster from Outrageous Phone Bill
After coming back from a five-day trip from Montreal, MythBusters co-host Adam Savage found his mobile phone service was shut off and that he had received an $11,000 phone bill due to roaming charges on his broadband card, a thumb-size USB modem for Internet access. read more
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Birdfeed
Excellent new $5 iPhone Twitter client from Buzz Andersen (with design by Neven Mrgan). I’ve been beta-testing Birdfeed for a long time, and it is truly worth your attention. It looks good and feels smart, and it has some features which, once you get used to them, you can’t believe aren’t in every iPhone Twitter client. Among my favorites: Scroll to the bottom of a list of tweets and Birdfeed will start loading more, from further back chronologically, automatically. Update timestamps in tweet lists. Your last loaded tweets are stored locally in a database, so you can fire up Birdfeed on an airplane and read what was there when last you launched it with a network connection. Comparing Birdfeed to other good — but very different — Twitter apps like Tweetie and Twitterrific is exactly what I had in mind when I wrote “Twitter Clients Are a UI Design Playground”. ★
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Two years with the iPhone
Filed under: Cult of Mac, Apple, iPhone On June 29, 2007, Apple and AT&T released the iPhone for $600 to crowded stores throughout the United States. A whole lot has changed in the iPhone-world in just 2 short years. The 1.0 software is just a distant memory, and looking back I'm a little surprised how limited the original iPhone was at release. I thought for the 2-year anniversary, we could take a little walk down memory lane and see how far things have come. Apple announced the iPhone at Macworld in January 2007, explicitly stating they were doing it because otherwise the FCC would have outed them. Cingular/AT&T was named as the exclusive carrier. The phone would cost $600, which was a completely unsubsidized price.Continue reading Two years with the iPhoneTUAWTwo years with the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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EU Set to See Single Charging Interface for All Cell Phones, Apple On Board
In a surprising move, Apple has signed on with a handful of other major mobile device manufacturers to end the madness of proprietary charging interfaces and agree to one standard for all, according to Reuters. That's in Europe, anyway, although there's hope that the agreement could result in more cross-compatibility on this side of the Atlantic, too. Along with Apple, five other cell phone manufacturers have agreed to the deal put forward by the European Commission, which is not binding and instead depends on voluntary cooperation from the private sector. The other five companies are Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Research In Motion, Motorola, and Samsung, which means that Apple basically had to toe the line or risk looking like the villain in a field of heroes. Hopefully no one breaks rank, since that could result in the agreement becoming insubstantial. The agreed upon standard is micro-USB, which is already fairly ubiquitous, so it will be a huge bonus for consumers if this goes through as planned. I've got about four or five micro-USB cables lying around within eyeshot, in fact. Devices from companies who agree to the standard will have to ship with a charger that matches the specifications put forward by the Commission, though eventually the two will be allowed to be sold separately. The time frame for implementation of the new standard is said to be within three to four years, and the hope is that by adopting a single charger, people will have less cause to throw out their old ones when they purchase a new phone. For Apple, the agreement will lead to the inclusion of an adapter rather than the abandonment of the dock connector standard they've so consistently championed. An Apple spokesperson said in a statement following the deal's announcement that it'll ship future iPhones with a dock-connectable micro-USB adapter, which is completely in compliance with the specifics of the new agreement. View This Pollsurveys
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California Gold Rush comes to the iPhone, iPod touch
Posted by Dennis SellersDigital Chocolate has released Gold Rush for the iPhone and iPod touch. It's available for US$2.99 at the Apple App Store. There's also a free version available that will provide a limited number of levels.
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Toasted iPhone 3GS Rumors Spreading Like Wildfire
The iPhone 3GS may be selling like hotcakes, but some users are saying that's not where the comparison ends -- and it's just the latest in a string of complaints about Apple's newest gadget. Temperatures rose over AT&T's initial attitude toward iPhone users who wanted a subsidized 3GS upgrade before their contracts were up for renewal. Steam shot out of quite a few ears when users found there would be no tethering capability even though the iPhone 3GS could support it. What else could happen to disillusion the owner of a shiny new 3GS? Try having it catch fire.
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Barnes & Noble opens new chapter with iPhone app
The B&N Bookstore app lets you browse books from a photo, read about new releases, and watch videos of author interviews.
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Is Sony Planning a Phone/Portable Gaming Device?
Is Sony planning a gaming hybrid to rival to the iPhone? The Nikkei Business Daily says yes. Sony Ericsson calls it speculation.
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ASUS unleashes USB 2.0 Blu-ray drive -- government denies knowledge
ASUS has taken a pretty basic USB Blu-ray drive and given it a fine veneer of high-gloss looks. The SBC-04B1S-U isn't fancy stuff -- 4.8x maximum Blu-ray disc reading, 8x DVD burning, a USB 2.0 connection, and Windows (but not OS X) compatibility. The bright blue 'X' on the side also flashes and has a dedicated app just to control its brightness. None of this will help, of course, when the strobing 'X' attracts the attention of the entire underground world of paranormal conspiracy theorists to your bedroom as if you threw up the alien Bat-Signal -- but, you know, whatever. There's no word yet on pricing or availability for this attractive, skinny dude.[Via SlashGear] Filed under: Home EntertainmentASUS unleashes USB 2.0 Blu-ray drive -- government denies knowledge originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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News: Id Software releases Doom Resurrection for iPhone, iPod touch
Id Software has released Doom Resurrection, its first original game for the iPhone and iPod touch. Revealed in an interview earlier this month, the game's storyline takes place alongside the story of Doom 3, but in a different location. Features include an accelerometer-based aiming system, eight levels, a wide variety of enemies and weapons, and four difficulty levels. Doom Resurrection is available now from the App Store and sells for $10.…
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Freeverse releases Warpack: Grunts for the iPhone, iPod touch
Posted by Dennis SellersFreeverse has released a new game Warpack: Grunts from UK partner company Strange Flavour for the iPhone and iPod touch. It's available for US at the Apple App Store.
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Mac 101: iCal alarms
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Mac 101iCal is the calendar software that ships with every Mac. When combined with a MobileMe account, it's quite handy. In fact, iCal is the only calendar I use.New users are often unaware of how much iCal can do. In this post, I'll focus on the types of alarms you can create. With a few simple steps, you can go beyond a simple beeping message.First, create a new event. Simply double-click the proper time on the proper day and an hour-long event appears. Double-click the event, and the edit window appears. From here you can name your event, identify the location and duration (all day vs. timed), set repeat options and the target calendar if you maintain more than one (I don't). Now for the fun part. Below the calendar option you'll see "Alarm." Clicking it reveals several options: None (kind of self-explanatory) Message (presents a dialog box on your Mac and iPhone/iPod touch if synced via MobileMe) Message with sound (same as above with plus a system sound) Email (send an email message to a given address) Open file (Open a file on your Mac) Run Script (My favorite. See below) The first three are self-explanatory. When selecting a message and/or system sound, you have to option to display it minutes, hours or even days before or after the event. Likewise, you can chose any system sound you like.The email option is nice as well. For instance, once the mini at my day job has completed its daily task, I have it send me an email as a confirmation. As long as I see that message, I know that everything's A-OK. The option to open a file is handy, too. I'm using it to open a Keynote file right now, but you can have it launch a kiosk application, perhaps a broadcast app like Nicecast, etc. Finally is run script. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not Applescript pro, but even I see the powerful potential here: Have iCal run any script you can write up at any time. Awesome! Finally, you can set more than one alarm to an event. For example, display a message and send me an email, just to be sure I make that meeting.As you see, iCal can do much more than store your appointments. Now go be productive and have fun!TUAWMac 101: iCal alarms originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Speaking of the Two-Year Anniversary of the Original iPhone
Palm investor Roger McNamee, back in March: “You know the beautiful thing: June 29, 2009, is the two-year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone,” McNamee said today in an interview in San Francisco. “Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later.” ★
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Two Years Ago Today, This Was Still My Phone
Here’s a photo of the old Nokia freebie I was using before I got my first iPhone, two years ago today. ★
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CNN: Steve Jobs back at work
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple Financial, Steve JobsAs promised, Steve's medical leave ended with the month of June. Last January, Apple announced that CEO Steve Jobs would take a leave of absense to deal with medical issues for approximately six months. Since then, we've learned that Steve had a liver transplant and today Apple confirmed his return."Steve Jobs is back to work. He is at Apple a few days a week and working from home the other days," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said. "We're glad to have him back."That's great news for the company and, more importantly, for Steve himself. There has been much noise about Steve during the past six months, including Apple's future without him, who might take over and the company's obligation to keep investors informed about the health of their CEO. Here's hoping the din dies down and that Steve continues to enjoy a long and productive career at Apple.TUAWCNN: Steve Jobs back at work originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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iPod vs. Sony Walkman (The Old School One)
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'Macsimum Podcast' looks at universal phone chargers, iEmergency 1.0, more
Posted by Dennis SellersThe June 26 Macsimum Podcast, hosted by Macsimum News Associate Editor Frank Petrie, is up. Today's episode includes: “Apple, other companies working on universal mobile phone charger for Europe,” “Nvidia has announced the availability of GPU-accelerated plug-in,” “Canon PowerShot G10 a solid point-and-shooter,” “Kavapoint has announced iEmergency 1.0” and “Story...
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WWDC Demo: Videro, a digital signage tool for Macs
Filed under: Software, Video, WWDC Videro is one of those silent-but-cool application suites you've probably never heard of, but you may see it being used every day. I met some of the Videro team at WWDC, and they were happy to demo a little of what the tools do: electronic signage and interactive kiosks. If you happen to need an animated in-store (or museum) display, fed from a server, easy to set up and deploy, complete with iPhone access to check on the servers (so they say), then Videro is an impressive tool. To start, Videro has a composition tool that allows you to drag and drop your animations, complete with images, video and audio. In fact, Videro has extensive in-app tools for cropping, rotating and otherwise "fixing" your assets for display. But wait, there's more! This isn't just Keynote all gussied up. Videro is designed for business, and a server application makes sure mission-critical displays are functioning properly. There's solid asset management support both in the client and the server applications, making sure your displays never fire off with a dreaded "black box of nothing" where a product shot should be.Videro mentioned an iPhone app in the video but I have been unable to locate it in the store and a search on their website revealed nothing. Still, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to provide some baseline stats via password-protected web app. We weren't able to get Wi-Fi at our location, so some features weren't visible and this might have been one of them.Unfortunately Videro's site mentions nothing about price. In my experience that means we're talking about an expensive solution, and likely a custom one for the high-end customers. If you're looking for something simpler, don't miss Dave's excellent post about using Keynote and Dropbox to create an updating and easy presentation solution that would work in a pinch.TUAWWWDC Demo: Videro, a digital signage tool for Macs originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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EarthDesk ready for Snow Leopard
Posted by Dennis SellersXeric Design has released version 5.0 of EarthDesk, the real-time dynamic desktop map for Mac OS X. Version 5.0 has been entirely rewritten in Cocoa, adds many new features and is fully compatible with both Mac OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”) and the upcoming Snow Leopard.
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iPhone 3GS pool drop video: real or fake?
A video called iPhone 3GS dropped in the pool. Still works! has been making the rounds (350,000+ views) purporting to have been recorded from an iPhone 3GS that was dropped into a pool — and still works. The Zapruders out there have taken issue with a few details of the video that look suspicious, including a [...]
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'Macsimum Recommended Reading' for June 29
Posted by Dennis Sellers“Steve Jobs set to return to Apple/With the intense—some would say obsessive—scrutiny of Steve Jobs and his health, what is sometimes overlooked is the company he founded and built: Apple Inc.”—Los Angeles Times
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iPhone 3GS Overheating?
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Windows 7 pre-order a hit--on Amazon
Amazon has been taking quite a number of early orders for Windows 7. The $49 pre-order version of Windows 7 Home Premium is now the top seller not just among software products, but all electronics items at the online retailer.(Credit: CNET) Microsoft's program for pre-ordering Windows 7 at ...
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Steve Jobs back to work at Apple
And he's back, folks. Six months after Steve Jobs took a medical leave from Apple due to health reasons, the company has announced that he's back on the job, working a "few days a week" on the Apple campus and from home the remainder. Of course, we'd been hearing of Steve's continual involvement in "key aspects" of Apple's business for a while now, so this seems like more of a rubber stamp on the status quo than a major change, but now that it's official we're sure the questions from shareholders and other interested parties regarding Steve's health will only grow louder and more insistent -- especially given the news of his liver transplant earlier this year. We'll see how Apple decides to handle the situation when the time comes -- until then, we're just thankful that he's returned and is doing well.Filed under: Misc. GadgetsSteve Jobs back to work at Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Logitech’s G13 Advanced Gameboard
While many don't see the Mac as the ideal game platform, it still holds its own against Windows PCs and console systems. Many hardcore gamers love to trick out their systems with beefier graphics cards, extra controllers and special, high-performance input devices, and Mac users are no exception. Today, we’re looking at Logitech’s G13 advanced gameboard. Our verdict? It makes playing games a little bit cooler. The Basics Unboxing and setting up the device was a snap. Unfortunately, this is a wired device, so you will have to give up a USB port. Some might have preferred a wireless solution, but there's likely too much data going back and forth between the device and the LCD to really be super responsive over Bluetooth, and it would likely be very draining on batteries. Not exactly something that gamers would want to switch out in the middle of World of Warcraft. System Requirements 256MB RAM 20MB of available hard drive space (according to Logitech, but my install took 140MB) CD-ROM drive USB port GamePanel LCD requires software that supports Logitech's GamePanel technology. See the list here. This device is compatible with Windows (XP or Vista) and Mac OS X 10.4 or later (including Snow Leopard, which is the platform I tested it with). What Makes It Cool Unlike a gaming keyboard or gaming mouse that may have special features or extra buttons that can be reserved for gaming purposes, the gameboard is specific for gameplay and works in conjunction with your existing keyboard and mouse. For Mac users, that means you can keep your sleek and stylish Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse. Also unique to this gameboard is customizable backlighting (which is entertaining in and of itself, and great for low light situations) and a unique LCD that can provide you with specific game information (health, stats, etc. if it's a supported game). As it is marketed as a gameboard, it's intended to be used in games instead of your keyboard, and as such is setup for left-hand usage (assuming your right hand is using a mouse or other type of controller). Something Borrowed, Something Learned Avid gamers may remark that this is not the first type of gameboard on the market (though the first from Logitech). In fact, this gameboard is similar to other gaming pads such as the Nostromo SpeedPad. Taking the best of the Nostromo and refining it with extra features like the LCD and customizable backlighting, the G13 represents an improvement over the SpeedPad, and a more intuitive and contoured design for longer game-playing. Similar to the SpeedPad, the G13 features an analog stick controller that rests perfectly under your left thumb. This is more comfortable than the SpeedPad's “DPad” controller, in my opinion. The Bells & Whistles The 16043 pixel LCD really adds a degree of sophistication to the gameboard. Similar to the one built into Logitech's G15 keyboard, it provides users with important stats like health, ammo, and other game-specific information. I was a bit confused as to why a user would be paying attention to the gameboard for this information instead of viewing it directly on their screen, but perhaps there's additional value to this that I'm missing. The LCD also supports providing system information (CPU and memory usage) and other add-ons, like a built-in clock. As mentioned earlier, users can completely customize the color of the LCD and backlighting to any color they desire and program the keys to run commands, macros or keystrokes. The device also supports storing gaming profiles directly on the device. The beauty of loading the profiles onto the device itself is that if you take the gameboard to another computer, all of your functions still work just as you've programmed them. In Use Setup of the device was quite simple. After plugging it in, I downloaded the latest software from Logitech's web site (force of habit) and was instantly tricking out the gameboard in a chic turquoise backlight color. Since many hardcore gamers love using their keyboards during games, they may find it a bit of an adjustment to switch to the G13. The device itself is quite compact and very rigid and comfortable to the touch. The stick controller works well for movement in games, however other actions, like jumping or crouching, will require you to use one of the programmable keys to achieve this functionality, and it can be a bit awkward in usage. Also, old habits die hard, and while you can add functionality to the gamepad, it's sometimes difficult to adjust to the natural location of keys on your traditional keyboard. In several games, I would instinctively aim for the tab or escape key as if I was still using my keyboard. As such, there is a lot of functionality to the device, but users will need to take time to find the settings that work best for their needs. For More Than Just Gamers What really intrigued me about this device is that it can be configured for more than just casual gaming. Since the keys can be programmed for a variety of tasks, professionals in other markets may find use for it, repurposing it for quick shortcuts for a variety of other uses or applications. While this device is targeted primarily at gamers, the ability to use it outside of games gives me reason to keep this device on my desk even if I'm not battling Greece in Civilization IV. Retailing at $79.99, some may find this peripheral to be a bit expensive; but come on, that's less than a MobileMe membership and probably a lot more fun. My final thoughts are that it's not absolutely necessary for gamers to have this device, but if you're heavy on your keyboard when you're switching weapons or pulling up inventory, or any of a bunch of other gaming scenarios, you might find comfort with the G13. It's only slightly cheaper than the G15, Logitech's gaming keyboard. Depending on your needs, that might be a better solution for you. But if your old keyboard is just not cutting it for your gaming needs, look into supplementing it with the G13. Logitech's G13 is available through most electronic outlets or via Logitech's online store. If you've used the G13, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!
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Sync Blocker USB to Dock Connector Cable available for iPhones, iPods
Posted by Dennis SellersUSB Fever has launched a new cable for iPhone/iPod. The Sync Blocker USB to Dock Connector Cable costs US$12.99.
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13-inch MacBook Pro hot seller on Amazon
Posted by Dennis SellersIn a sign “that should bode well” for Apple's earnings in its third fiscal quarter—which ended Saturday—the MacBook “has clawed its way back” to the top of Amazon's bestseller lists, notes Fortune.
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O'Reilly Media releases 'Natural Language Processing with Python'
Posted by Dave MertenThe term natural language refers to language that is used for everyday communication by humans: languages such as English, Hindi, or Portuguese. In contrast to artificial languages such as programming languages and mathematical notations, natural languages have evolved as they pass from generation to generation, and are hard to pin...
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Can having a Quicky boost your Wi-Fi range?
Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Wireless, Odds and endsGet your mind out of the gutter! I'm talking about the Quicky Jr II USB wireless signal booster, which is a little USB dongle / antenna that plugs into a USB port on any Mac that is running Mac OS X 10.4 or newer. This little device, from QuickerTek, purports to let you wander up to three times the distance you normally can, and still receive a nice, strong, and encrypted wireless signal.The US$89.95 Quicky Jr II comes with an easily-installed USB driver that lets it work with your 802.11n/g/b networks, including those that are powered by an AirPort Extreme Base Station. While I'm usually dubious of any device that claims to increase wireless range unless it is pitched by the late, great Billy Mays, the Quicky Jr II appears to be just what it says it is; a powered USB Wi-Fi antenna. In theory the larger antenna size and a built-in USB-powered amplifier could help boost the signal, then route it to your AirPort circuitry.Rather than speculate on how well devices like this work, I'd like to ask our readers. Do you have any experience with this or similar products? Do they work as advertised? TUAW wants to know.TUAWCan having a Quicky boost your Wi-Fi range? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Cronette for Mac OS X update adds Run Once option, more
Posted by Dennis SellersTension Software has updated Cronette, a Cocoa task launcher for Macs and Mac servers, to version 1.2. The upgrade adds a Run Once option and more preference options.
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Heeee's back! Steve Jobs returns to work
Posted by Dennis SellersCEO Steve Jobs is back at work at Apple, after a medical leave that started in January. His six-month leave was to treat hormonal problems and to have a liver transplant. All of which is a bit vague, but that's all the official info that's being offered by Apple.
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Apple, others agree to universal cell phone charger standard in Europe
Starting next year, Apple and other cell phone manufacturers will begin selling data-enabled phones in Europe that have standard for cell phone chargers.
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Hack: use Google Voice to add visual voicemail to your G1, Dream, or Magic
With home screen widgets, an on-screen keyboard, great notification management, and hands-down the best Gmail experience of any platform, Android 1.5 finally makes it easy (or easier, anyway) to love Google's foray into the mobile world. Of course, if you're coming from an iPhone -- as some users inevitably will be -- there are a few features that'll be sorely missed as you make the transition. For us, a biggie was visual voicemail, and after a little trial and error, we found a cool way to add it into our device without even leaving the Google ecosystem -- and even better, it's totally free. Head on over to Engadget Mobile to find out how to do it.Filed under: Cellphones, HandheldsHack: use Google Voice to add visual voicemail to your G1, Dream, or Magic originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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MarketWatch First Take: Steve Jobs quietly returns to Apple
Now that Steve Jobs has returned to work, at least part time, at Apple, some think his real role will be to reinforce his vision, one that can span at least two decades. The iconic Walt Disney left a similar legacy behind at his Walt Disney Co., with many long-term plans on the drawing board. Let's hope that's the case for Apple's sake, Therese Poletti says.
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Syncro Soft announces new release of Oxygen XML Editor, Oxygen XML Author
Posted by Dennis SellersSyncro Soft, the producer of Oxygen XML Editor and Author, has announced the immediate availability of version 10.3 of its XML Editor and XML Author containing a set of tools supporting all the XML related technologies.
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From iPhone pitches to VC prospects
Off to a new gig as a venture capitalist, Bob Borchers reflects on his time as Apple's head of iPhone marketing and on the state of the mobile phone biz.
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iPhone Shortage: Hunger for Apple Spreads
Apple’s iPhone 3GS availability discourages those looking to buy one today. MacNN reported 13 out of 211 Apple retail stores are completely sold out as of Sunday. Half of the Apple stores have already sold out of the white 16GB version, followed by the black 32GB version, which 40 percent of the stores are out of stock of.read more
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Luxology unveils community-based asset sharing web site for modo
Posted by Dennis SellersLuxology, a developer of artist-focused 3D software, has created a new asset sharing web site that serves as a participatory content-sharing portal and learning resource. Users are now able to upload and download presets of all kinds as well as exchange associated usage tips and techniques with other artists.
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Steve's Back!
Apple spokesman, Steve Dowling, shared the good news with Bloomberg, "Steve is back at work, we are very glad to have him back." Dowling stated that Jobs will work from Apple a few days a week and work from home the rest of the time. read more
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Apple revs iPhone availability tracker
Apple’s iPhone availability tracker is back and better than ever. The Web app allows you to see which Apple retail stores have stock of the new iPhone 3GS, broken down by capacity and color. Unlike last year’s version which relied on the Apple store’s JSON data feeds, which were only updated daily, tracker 2.0 is linked [...]
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Apple supporting universal European handset chargers
Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, iPhoneLast week I ordered my iPhone 3GS from the AT&T Store (no Apple Stores out here in the boonies). Five days later it was ready to be picked up and I drove out to the mall to get it.While the AT&T employee activated it and performed the soul-stealing voodoo that accompanies a new sale, a woman at the next counter was exchanging her own AT&T phone (not an iPhone). I only heard a part of her conversation, but it went something like this:"Can I use my old adapter with this one?""No, m'am. You'll have to buy a new one.""What about my car charger?""No, that will need to be replaced, too.""Ugh. OK. I'll just throw them away."What a nuisance. She's got to spend extra money and those plastic and electronic doodads will occupy the the bottom of a landfill until The End Of Days. The problem is even worse in the Europen Union. Fortunately, a group of manufacturers, including Apple, is working to change that. Apple, Nokia and Research in Motion have agreed to support a European Union-backed initiative to standardize these devices across the EU. It's a good idea that would benefit consumers and the environment. The agreement is limited to smartphones for now, but if all goes well, will be expanded in 2012. Good luck to everyone involved.TUAWApple supporting universal European handset chargers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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'MacNotables' looks at Google Docs, new computer literacy concern, more
Posted by Dennis SellersThe latest edition of MacNotables, a podcast that serves as home to Mac personalities who will comment on the latest news and opinions in the Mac community, is available.
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Apple's Steve Jobs back at work
The company's chief executive has officially returned from a six-month medical leave of absence.
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Stock-looking MMS support hacked onto 2G iPhone
Way back in the heady days of 2007, there was an iPhone without 3G data (hard to believe, we know, but trust us -- we were there). This iPhone, though revolutionary in some ways, was marred by the love-hate relationship its users suffered for missing out on some very basic features that they'd grown used to on mobiles of yore. One of those missing features, of course, was MMS -- and now, some two years later, here we are with a truly integrated MMS experience courtesy of the all-powerful hacking community. Granted, there have been MMS apps available for ages, but there's a difference: this is the same action 3G and 3GS owners are getting in conjunction with OS 3.0, which Apple curiously decided to hold back from original iPhone owners. As you might imagine, getting this going on your own phone is marginally more complicated than downloading from the App Store, so here's the question, you non-upgraders: just how badly do you want it?[Thanks, Paul]Filed under: Cellphones, HandheldsStock-looking MMS support hacked onto 2G iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs back at work few days a week
Apple says CEO Steve Jobs is back at work a few days a week and working from home other days.
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Humor video highlights Bing's challenge
There's a funny video making the rounds that mocks Microsoft's huge Bing ad campaign. In the video, embedded below, CollegeHumor.com suggests that folks start "Googling with Bing." It's a funny parody of the Bing ads, but it also shows how big Microsoft's challenge is in ...
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RIM, Apple Slow Adobe's Flash
When Flash 10 comes to mobile phones in the fall, it will be available for Android (GOOG), the Palm (PALM) Pre, Symbian S60 and even Windows Mobile. This leaves out the BlackBerry (RIMM) and iPhone (AAPL) — roughly 30% of the world market (and the majority of the US market).Obviously this is not a technical issue — the ARM processors on the missing phones are no less capable than those that will have Flash. In the long-running iPhone saga, Steve Jobs has been explicit in rejecting the need for Flash.
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TUAW First Look: Cellar puts your wine collection in your pocket
Filed under: iPhoneBeverage choice should be simple: coffee or tea to rev up, wine or beer to spin down (App Store links). Of course, when it comes to drink choices, there's definitely an app for that: from the makers of espresso-instructions app Barista, we now have the $0.99 Cellar (under App Store review and appearing momentarily). Cellar's slick UI and quick data entry make keeping track of your wine library almost as fun as actually drinking the wine you collect.When you start up Cellar, you face an empty winerack; you can add bottles one by one, entering both vintage details and customizing the look/label of the bottles with photos of the bottle labels. You can adjust the number of bottles of each kind of vino you have stored away, and then as you polish them off the 'empties' are stored in the Garage area of the app for reference or repurchase.Cellars isn't an industrial-strength wine database or collection manager (My Wine or Velvet Vine Wine Pro might be better choices there, or a general-purpose database like Bento), but it is a handy way to remember what you've bought and liked. I'd like to see future versions support importing label images from the photo library (for iPod touch users) or download them from online wine libraries.Check out the gallery for more Cellar shots.Gallery: Cellar for iPhoneTUAWTUAW First Look: Cellar puts your wine collection in your pocket originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Mac Mini Least Profitable Apple Product?
While Apple's Mac mini has never compared favorably to low-end PCs on price, its value being in size, weight, and quiet computing, a report from iSuppli shows the $599 retail cost in a more favorable light. According to the market research firm, an estimate of part costs in the Mac mini comes to $376.20, with another $10.94 for manufacturing, bringing the total build cost to $387.14. At a retail price of $599, that would mean the build cost of the Mac mini is roughly two-thirds of its retail price. In comparison, iSuppli has asserted the build cost of the iPhone 3GS is $179, while the retail, or “no-commitment” price, of an iPhone from AT&T is $599. Further, the iSuppli report on the Mac mini doesn't include ancillary costs like engineering, marketing, and shipping, so Apple is not earning anywhere near $211.86 per Mac mini sold. What this means is that the Mac mini is quite possibly the least profitable product in Apple's lineup. Source: iSuppli As to why the Mac mini costs so much to make, according to iSuppli the answer comes down to size. “Unlike most desktop computers from other brands, the Mac Mini and, indeed, Apple’s entire Mac line make extensive use of components designed for notebook computers,” said Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst for iSuppli. While it is no doubt true that a smaller computer costs more to make, let's not forget that Steve Jobs introduced the Mac mini in 2005 as the “most affordable Mac ever,” starting at $499. It wasn't until the switch to Intel that the price of the Mac mini jumped to $599, admittedly along with a significant performance boost, but does anyone really believe a PowerPC G4 in 2005 costs $100 less than an Intel Core Solo in 2006? It seems unlikely. More likely, Apple was cutting into its profit margins by an even greater amount with the original Mac mini, and that means that those of us still pining for a $500 Mac may be a long time waiting.
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Speaking of Walkmen
The BBC Magazine had 13-year-old Scott Campbell swap his iPod for a Walkman for one week: It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette. ★
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New NvidiaGPU-accelerated plug-ins boost performance for Adobe Creative Suite 4 users
Posted by Dennis SellersNvidia has announced the availability of GPU-accelerated plug-in solutions for Adobe Creative Suite 4 (CS4) users, optimized to run on a wide range of Nvidia Quadra graphics solutions.
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Apple, other companies working on universal mobile phone charger for Europe
Posted by Dennis Sellers Several mobile telephone suppliers and the European Commission in Brussels are working to create a “one size fits all” mobile phone charger, reports the BBC. Apple, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Research in Motion and Samsung, are committed to developing the charger, the article adds.
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Apple's new iPhone 3GS availability checker
Filed under: Retail, Odds and ends, Apple, iPhone You decided to skip the lines on June 19th and now you just have to purchase an iPhone 3GS for yourself. If you're like some of our readers, you've found out the hard way that availability of the latest iteration of iPhone is limited. Wouldn't it be nice to know which Apple Stores actually have the devices in stock before you hop in the Family Truckster, drive through traffic, and only then find out that they're out of iPhones? The best way to avoid bitter disappointment is to use the newly posted iPhone 3GS availability page on the Apple website. Just select your state (sorry, it's US-only at this time) and a list of all of the Apple stores will appear with little green (got 'em!) or red (sorry...) icons matched to the model of iPhone 3GS that is your current object of desire. In the example shown above, most Colorado Apple Stores seem to have a good selection with the exception of the Twenty Ninth Street store in the People's Republic of Boulder.Now that you can find out with a quick glance where the 3GS is available, what are you waiting for? Grab that credit card and go!TUAWApple's new iPhone 3GS availability checker originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple looking for sole European legal advisor
Posted by Dennis SellersApple Retail, the division of the iconic computer manufacturer's business that is responsible for all its stores, has launched a search for a sole external adviser for Europe, reports The Lawyer web site.
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Palm: Is this the Best You Can Do?
By John Biggs If you were reading a major paper this weekend, you'd notice a striking ad. There's the Palm Pre resting against an eaten Apple with the words:
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Five tips for conserving iPhone battery life
Most of this is common sense, but the following are a couple of good iPhone battery conservation tips that will help you get more run time out of a charge: Turn off push email if you don’t use it (Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar > Fetch New Data > Push > Off) Fetch email manually (Settings [...]
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How Bandwidth Caps Hurt Your Mac & What Apple Can Do About It
As a responsible Mac user, I usually feel immune from most Internet threats…except for one. Using my Mac exactly as Apple intends it to be used sometimes renders my Internet connection virtually unusable for up to a month, and costs money to fix. Could this happen to you? It depends on whether your Internet provider has a bandwidth “metering” policy (or “cap”). These caps are one of the most controversial topics for Internet users in 2009, and can put a significant crimp in your Internet use. Recently, Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY), who represents the Rochester area, introduced the “Broadband Internet Fairness Act” (H.R. 2902) (PDF). Massa got involved soon after Time Warner Cable unsuccessfully used Rochester as a test market for metering. Under this bill, the FTC would have veto power over such caps and thus allow them only under certain agreed-upon scenarios. In my hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, the standard level of cable Internet service has a limit of 3GB of bandwidth per month. Overage is charged $2 per GB. Downloading a single movie from the iTunes store will blow through an entire monthly limit, and even the cable company's most expensive “premium” service only allows 50GB of bandwidth. In 2009, that's not really much bandwidth at all. Once you've hit your limit, you have to severely restrict usage until the next month, or face a large bill. Your Apple TV remains stale without its new content, your iMac stops downloading podcasts, and your iPod weeps because it's sick of the same old music you had last month. Apple is the leader in multimedia content creation; new Mac users are always pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to buy from the iTunes store, or create their own content. A common question we get in our local user group is “I'm not sure what I did wrong, but all of a sudden I have a substantial overage bill from my cable company.” Of course, the user did nothing wrong, other than subscribe to a few podcasts, and perhaps download a new Apple software update and buy some shows with iTunes! The Mac is also blessed with great online backup services like MobileMe, yet when our user group did a presentation on backup strategy, I had to warn novice users to be careful lest their backups end up costing them an arm and a leg in bandwidth overage fees! While on the surface this appears to be an isolated issue with a few providers, it is not. Bandwidth metering is a growing threat to cable Internet users in many cities. The American Cable Association (ACA) has come out in support of bandwidth caps, and the former chair of the ACA, Patrick Knorr, who implemented bandwidth caps in Lawrence, stated in multiple interviews that flat-rate Internet pricing is an “unsustainable” business model. Unfortunately, using the Internet normally with bandwidth metering is also unsustainable. When Mac owners are worried about downloading movies, doing backups or performing system updates, that hurts the Apple brand. Apple is continually innovating new ways to make the Mac OS the best Internet operating system, creating a whole ecosystem with iTunes, MobileMe and iLife. All of these great products rely on the ubiquity of the Internet. When Internet providers start making normal Internet use an expensive proposition, Mac users lose. Apple should lead the way and come out against bandwidth caps. Given that many of the offerings on the iTunes store actually compete with cable TV, Apple should be vigilant that cable companies do not use bandwidth metering as a way to stifle alternative ways of viewing content. Additionally, Apple should add a bandwidth meter to the Airport routers; that way the bandwidth use of entire households can be tracked. If bandwidth caps are inevitable, Apple can arm the consumer with data to monitor their usage and dispute discrepancies with their ISP. Apple could be an ally for consumers (even the “PC guy” in the commercials would be helped!), while at the same time standing up for its own brand and vision of consumer Internet use. If you disagree with the idea of bandwidth metering, make sure your voice is heard by giving customer feedback to your own Internet provider and writing your member of Congress. I had better end this article now…bytes and bits equal dollars and cents for me, unfortunately!
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Apple's new online tool lets you check iPhone 3GS availability from the comfort of your own home
If you're one of the hapless folks out there still having trouble tracking down a new iPhone 3GS, Apple is making things a little bit easier on you with an online tool to check up on stock at Apple retail stores. There's a full breakdown of color and capacity, which might seem like overkill to some, but given the fact that stores with stock in all four current models are a bit of an exception (outside of NYC, anyways), we'd have to say that this is just the sort of overkill we need.[Via iLounge]Filed under: Cellphones, HandheldsApple's new online tool lets you check iPhone 3GS availability from the comfort of your own home originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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News: Apple agrees to Micro-USB for iPhone charging in EU
Apple is among a large group of cell phone manufacturers that have signed a new European Commission agreement aimed at standardizing all smartphone chargers starting next year. “People will not have to throw away their charger whenever they buy a new phone,” said EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen, suggesting that unwanted phone accessories account for thousands of tons of waste in Europe each year. The new chargers will use the…
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News: iPhone 3GS units overheating, causing discoloration?
A number of iPhone 3GS owners have complained that the handset becomes overly hot, with at least one user reporting a discoloration of the white plastic back. Photos posted to the French site Nowhere Else (Translated Link) show a 16GB white iPhone 3GS unit with reddish/pink discolorations running vertically down the back on either side of the Apple logo; the user claims these appeared after the phone got “very hot” while testing out…
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BitTorrent-powered iPhone App Store in beta
I don’t know too many iPhone users that would call themselves dissatisfied with the App Store, but many people cross over to the dark side and jailbreak their phones to get access to software we’ll never see in the App Store. There are numerous reasons why people jailbreak their iPhones, including unlocking, tethering, file management/editing, themes, [...]
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News apps! Get your News apps!
Filed under: iPhone, App ReviewMSNBC recently added an iPhone app to the store, so we thought it was a good time to take a look at a few news apps.The gold standard for news on the iPhone is the USA Today app. Love them or hate them, the USA Today punchy writing style feels right at home on the iPhone. News can be received from a wide range of mobile sources, and it's the design of this app that makes it stand out. I would love to have the authors pack my suitcase the next time I travel, since they have found a way to cram an incredible amount of information into a very small package. Using persistent buttons on the bottom of each screen, you can get to Headlines, Sports Scores, Weather, Photo Galleries, and Snapshots (which are a set of insta-polls), from anywhere. What makes it special is that, along with the local weather, at the top of most category screens, there is a sliding set of sub-categories allowing you to get to just what you want in no time. For example, if you wanted to get the score of the Yankees' game, just tap Scores, and the sub-categories of NFL, MBL, NBA, NCAAF and NCAAB appear at the top of the screen. Tap MLB and there it is. Two taps total. Similarly, tapping Headlines brings up sub-categories of: Top News, News, Money, Sports, Life Tech and Travel. When in any category, tap Top Stories and you can set a default for the type of story you would like to see first. For example, under the sub-category of Money, you can choose to set the default to: Top Stories, Markets, Economy, Cars, Personal Finance or Industry. Set it up once and you'll be able to drill down to specific results in a universe of information with just a few taps.Tap on Share Article and you can Email, Text, Twitter (your Twitter client can be chosen in the setup pane), or log into Facebook. in all the apps covered here, you can share, but this has the most robust feature set of the lot. The fit, finish and depth of the app is, okay I'll say it -- awesome. Weather is location enabled, the Picture Galleries are extensive and under Snapshots there are nine running polls in each of the four sub-categories of News, Sports, Money and Life. USA Today is not just for hotel rooms anymore.Continue reading News apps! Get your News apps!TUAWNews apps! Get your News apps! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink|Email this|Comments
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MacNotables #927: Tonya Engst On Online Resources During A Medical Emergency, Computer Literacy Issues and More
Tonya Engst of TidBITS and Take Control Books gets serious when talking about some of the challenges she recently faced when helping out a friend who suffered a stroke. Tonya's experiences have changed her view on the iPhone, enhanced her opinion of Google Docs, and demonstrated why having a blog is a good thing. Issues of identity, privacy and password security all factor into an important discussion about issues we will all face at some point. Tonya also reveals a new computer literacy concern, the surprising cause and the opportunities it presents. Links: Chuck Joiner on Twitter The MacVoices Group Tonya Engst on Twitter TidBITS Take Control books Caring Bridge “What is a Browser” on YouTube
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First Looks: Cyanics IPS46 Portable Swing Speaker with Case for iPod touch 1G/2G
Cheap, but also cheaply made, Cyanics' IPS46 ($27) combines a rechargeable battery-powered speaker system with an iPod touch case, interestingly using speakers that can spin to operate when the device is vertical or horizontal. In horizontal mode, they pop out to become a video stand -- all good ideas. Unfortunately, the unit feels cheaply made; a piece of plastic popped out within seconds of opening the case, and an odd set of stickers is included,…
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Walkman vs. iPod
A 13-year-old uses a vintage Sony Walkman and compares yesterday's portable music tech to the iPod.
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Sprint ad targets lapsing iPhone contracts
Sprint is aiming its sights squarely on AT&T, Apple and the iPhone with a new print ad that says “Your iPhone contract is up. Perfect timing.” The ad copy boasts that the Palm Pre “does things the iPhone can’t” (multitasking), that it’s cheaper ($1,200 less over two years) and that Sprint is the “first and only” [...]
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Backstage: Chicago, the iPhone 3GS, and iPods: Your Thoughts?
Every time we visit a city for fun or business, we take note of the sorts of iPods and iPhones we see—and don't see—on the streets and subways, as well as the performance of our iPhones as we're traveling around. We spent this weekend in downtown Chicago for the annual Taste of Chicago, and were frankly very surprised at what we found: a higher density of iPod classics/5Gs than anywhere we've seen before, with a considerable…
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Remember The Milk Becomes First To-Do App With Push Notifications
Slowly but surely, push notification apps are trickling into the App Store, as you can see from this handy little list by AppAdvice.com. Some of them are less than impressive, since they offer strange niche functions that I could never picture myself actually using. Beejive IM came out last week, though, which has become by far my most-used app since, and now Remember The Milk (Free with RTM Pro account, iTunes link) is available, as of today, with push features. A to-do app with push might just be the thing I need to get me to buckle down and actually use a to-do app with some kind of consistency. Sure, RTM for the iPhone requires that you have a Pro account with their service, which is a $25-a-year subscription, but I actually already have one from when the app was first released. Yes, I signed up many months ago and haven't exactly taken great advantage of that subscription since, but version 1.1.0 gives me reason to believe I may actually begin to get my money's worth. The problem, for me, with to-do apps (whether they be desktop, web-based, or iPhone apps), is that for them to actually work, you kind of have to check them consistently. Sure, most allow you to send email alerts when a task's due date is approaching, but my email comes in with such frequency that it's very easy for a task reminder or two to slip through the cracks as I tackle more urgent messages. Now, RTM for iPhone will send me push notifications in the form of text alerts whenever a task's due date is approaching, at a time determined by me that I set up via the web through my account settings. Audio alerts are oddly omitted from this version, but developers say that the addition is included in the next update. Is it worth the $25 price of admission, when there are probably one-time purchase apps with similar features on the way as we speak? That depends on your to-do tasking practices. If, like me, you like the added convenience of having your list accessible from any Internet-connected platform (and offline, too, via Google Gears), then RTM, with its attendant free iPhone app, might be what you're looking for. You could also hold out for Appigo ToDo's push features, which are included in an update that's already been submitted to Apple. Either way, if you're looking for some way to get things done more efficiently, this implementation of Apple's push could be the most practical yet.
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A possible solution for contextual menu crashes
Recently, I noticed that whenever I right-clicked in any program, the beach ball would show up, and Force Quit would be my only option to close the offending app. After some digging, I figured out that the problem was with the DropBox contextual menu plug-in. I never use it so I just deleted it, but a later test showed that a reinstall also fixed the problem.If you'd like to disable it on your system while troubleshooting contextual menu issues, you can find it here: ~/Library » Contextual Menu Items.[robg adds: I've heard other reports of issues with the DropBox plug-in, so thought this might be worth sharing.]
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Solve an apparent 'stuck Safari' crash without losing work
Yes, I know, if you use haxies you get what you deserve. But to this day, Spotlight, enhanced custom keystrokes and all, and in spite of my overall hatred for the mouse versus a good keystroke combo, there are just a ton of things I find easier to do with a right-click and Contextual Menu action when I am in certain work (or leisure) modes, especially Web research and just plain surfing. But the price is getting higher.Summary of this hint: I was having a spinning beacbhall hang issue in Safari. After some work, I figured out that it was caused by FruitMenu's contextual menu support. Temporarily disabling the contextual menu support -- without quitting or logging out -- instantly ended the Safari hang-up and I was able to start using it again without losing any work.Read on if you'd like more background on the Safari problems I was having, and how I diagnosed and solved them... Background: So since around 10.5.6, and the later versions of Safari 3, I started having f...
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One way to quickly connect to a Cisco VPN
In February, this hint explainted how to install vpnc as a replacement for the Cisco VPN client. I finally got it working with a little tweaking and divergence from the original instructions, based in part on follow-up comments.But what I really wanted was to have my VPN as easy (or easier) to activate than using the (otherwise awful) Cisco application: largely because I use my company's VPN in conjunction with 3G mobile broadband, which has a habit of dropping connection when my commuter train goes through a tunnel, requiring regular reconnection!I tried using Shimo and vpntool with no success, and finally got it working using the following solution... Install vpnc using Fink (as per earlshango's suggestion in the original comments). You need to add the 'unstable' repository when you configure Fink, since vpnc is...
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News: Tekkeon debuts myCase for iPhone 3G, 3GS
Tekkeon has introduced its new myCase line of cases for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Made from form-fitting, non-slip silicone, each myCase features a two-layer design, allowing the user to keep both layers on for a three-dimensional look, or remove the outer layer for a more traditional-looking case. Other features include access to all ports and controls, and an included myGuard screen protector. Tekkeon's myCase for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS…
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13-year-old trades iPod for Walkman, reports on mysterious ancient artifact
If you want to get an idea of just how fast technology moves, a brilliant piece from the BBC should help light the way. The setup is simple enough: 13-year-old Scott Campbell is given a Walkman and told by his dad that it was "the iPod of his day" -- and that's when the fun begins. Having never used or even seen the device, the young man proceeds to experience the kind of equilibrium-destroying confusion which we can only imagine the elderly first felt when attempting to set a VCR timer (you do remember what VCRs are, right?). We've collected a few of the choicest bits from the teen's observations, but we highly suggest you read the full article... you won't be sorry. Our favorite picks (direct quotes): When I wore it walking down the street or going into shops, I got strange looks, a mixture of surprise and curiosity, that made me a little embarrassed. It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette. I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly - effective, if a little laboured. When playing, it is clearly evident that the music sounds significantly different than when played on an MP3 player, mainly because of the hissy backtrack and odd warbly noises on the Walkman. [Via Richard Lai]Filed under: Portable Audio13-year-old trades iPod for Walkman, reports on mysterious ancient artifact originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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The $99 iPhone Is James Bond, The Others Are Joe Schmoe
By MG SieglerWhile it's not being talked about too much, the $99 iPhone 3G is a very interesting play by Apple (AAPL). It takes what was previously a just out-of-reach device for many, and puts it at a magical price-point. Sure, it still won't sell everyone, like the people who only care about getting the phone that their carrier is offering for free, or those looking for the cheapest possible monthly plans. But just look at the iPhone compared to the other $99 phones out there.
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From Firefox to Safari (and back again)
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Cool tools, Internet ToolsI realize I may not be your average browser user. As a web developer, a browser to me is two parts daily use, two parts testing, and one part challenge. Since 2005, I've been using Firefox in some form or fashion as both my primary browser and as a testing vehicle. I had recently started a JavaScript-intensive project, and I appreciated Safari 4's lightning-fast JavaScript execution speeds. In Firefox, I rely mostly on add-ons like Web Developer and Firebug to help me analyze and test for mistakes in websites I build in Firefox. They work great, but enabling them slows the browser down. That's why I was excited for the updated Web Inspector that comes as part of Safari 4. (Yes, Safari 3 first came with Web Inspector, it couldn't hold a candle to Firebug's Swiss Army knife of an add-on for Firefox.) Testing was easy, and Safari 4's Web Inspector's many improvements made me think I could migrate to Safari full-time. Read on to see how it went. Continue reading From Firefox to Safari (and back again)TUAWFrom Firefox to Safari (and back again) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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First Looks: Incipio Performance Armband for iPod nano 4G & Nike+iPod Sport Kit
Incipio's latest iPod armband is this one -- the "Performance Armband for iPod nano 4G & Nike+iPod Sport Kit" ($25) -- which as the name suggests includes a compartment sized specifically for the fourth-generation iPod nano when equipped with the Nike+ Dock Connector, as well as a shoe pouch to hold the Nike+ Sensor. Incipio's shoe pouch is a little different from others we've seen, a fully rubber holder that keeps the Sensor inside and has the laces…
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First Looks: Incipio Lab Butterfly + Fire Engine for iPod touch 2G
First shown in January, Incipio is about to release its Lab series of cases for the iPod touch 2G ($25 each), including Butterfly -- a girl-friendly version -- and Fire Engine, both designed to make the small iPod touch easy for kids to hold. Butterfly comes in two color schemes, shown here, and Fire Engine comes in one; both includes play-through buttons on the top and side, plus Dock Connector and headphone port holes on the bottom, and oversized…
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Another day, another HackBook
Dan Frakes is the latest Macworld editor to try out a netbook running OS X. While his experience has been good, it's also made him even more convinced that Apple will never go the netbook route.
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News: Apple launches online iPhone 3GS availability checker
Apple has launched a new online tool to allow potential iPhone 3GS customers to check on the stock levels at any of the company's U.S.-based retail stores. Currently, iPhone 3GS availability varies wildly from store-to-store, with some stores sold completely out and some down to just one model available; most of the company's biggest stores, such as The Grove in LA, the downtown San Francisco store, and the company's glass cube 5th…
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Nokia, Apple, RIM and others agree on micro-USB phone charger standard for Europe
While the free-market works pretty well when, uh, left alone to be free, sometimes it needs a push from a visible hand. Case in point, phone chargers; at the moment some 30 different types of chargers are used with handsets throughout Europe. Today, the European Commission received industry backing of its phone charger standard that relies on a micro-USB socket. The standard is now backed by all the majors (representing 90% of the European mobile market) including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Apple, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung and Texas Instruments with compatible devices starting to appear in Europe next year. Or course, the micro-USB charger standard already has the blessings of CTIA, OMTP, and GSM Association which implies a broader adoption beyond Europe, someday. One charger for any mobile phone... where's the catch?Filed under: CellphonesNokia, Apple, RIM and others agree on micro-USB phone charger standard for Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Macsimum review: Canon PowerShot G10 a solid point-and-shooter
Posted by Dennis SellersBy Chris Main The 14.7-megapixel Canon PowerShot G10 (US$499.99) is a relatively compact point-and-shoot digital camera that offers professional features and excellent quality. It's not surprising to hear a lot of professional photographers say that the G10 is their point-and-shoot of choice.
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Quicky Jr. II released for Apple laptops
Posted by Dennis SellersQuickerTek has announced a new wireless Internet and networking USB device that purportedly triples the wireless range of any Apple laptop. This new, US$89.95 Quicky Jr. II is compatible with the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station as well as almost every other 2.4GHz wireless equipment users are likely to run...
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Apple Posts iPhone 3GS Availability Page
Apple is once again making an inventory tool available for prospective iPhone 3GS buyers. U.S. residents can check Apple Store stock by state, with availability updated hourly. Unlike last year, when the iPhone 3G was in chronic short supply for weeks, by end of business on Sunday most stores had at least some models of the iPhone 3GS. However, all stores in Alabama, Delaware, Kentucky, and Utah were out of stock. Only Hawaii and South Carolina had all models in stock. As to which models were sold out most often, the list for California appears indicative of a nationwide trend. iPhone 3GS inventory for California on Sunday evening Whether due to popularity or minimal production, the 16GB white iPhone 3GS appears to be out of stock most often, while the 16GB black model is most readily available. The 8GB iPhone 3G is available in all stores. Inventory checks are also available abroad, at least in the UK, although inventories are not updated until after closing. Like the first weekend of sales, in which one million iPhones were sold, it appears sales of the iPhone 3GS are continuing to exceed expectations.
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TheMacBundles offers new bundle with nine titles available for 21 days
Posted by Dennis Sellers TheMacBundles has announced its line-up fo apps in the latest TheMacBundles' bundle.
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Femtocell tech furnishing (so maybe I'll get an iPhone soon)
Posted by Dennis SellersHmmm. Maybe with femtocell technology, I can finally get an iPhone (sorry, AT&T, but the wireless coverage in my neck of the woods isn't good). And femtocells seem to be flourishing.
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Telestream Lets Windows Media Flow Into Mac Platform
It took Telestream six years after its founding in 1998 to cook up an Apple application, but some 15 million Mac owners are glad it did. That first product, Flip4Mac, which allowed Mac users to import, export and play Windows media video files on their Apple machines, not only made Nevada City, Calif.-based Telestream a shining star in Apple's constellation, but it also marked a new area of business for the company. Prior to the introduction of Fip4Mac, Telestream concentrated on moving media files over the Internet.
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For games, no big rush to speedy iPhone 3GS
The latest Apple phone is a hot ticket, but some game makers say it's still a niche product representing just a fraction of the market they're looking for.
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How to be a packager
For fifteen years, I was a book packager. It has nothing to do with packaging and a bit more to do with books, but it's a great gig and there are useful lessons, because there are dozens of industries just waiting for you to do something like this. Let me explain:A book packager is like a movie producer, but for books. You invent an idea, find the content and the authors, find the publisher and manage the process. Book packagers make almanacs, illustrated books, series books for kids and the goofy one-off books you find at the cash register. I did everything from a line of almanacs to a book on spot and stain removal. It was terrific fun, and in a good year, a fine business. Along the way, I worked with just about every major publisher and created more than a hundred books. I packaged (with various levels of success) video games, college professors, Julia Robert's astrologer, an award-winning children's novelist, the Weekly World News, Kinko's and (almost) Craftsmen Tools.I think there are real advantages to this model (and not just for books). Star Wars toys, for example, were created by a packager, and so are most big budget movies. Duncan Hines licensed his name to Roy Park, perhaps the most successful food packager of all time. Roy died of old age with more than half a billion dollars to his name thanks to all that cake mix.First, the world needs packagers. Packagers that can find isolated assets and connect them in a way that creates value, at the same time that they put in the effort to actually ship the product out of the door. Kaplan might never have gotten into the test prep book business if we hadn't done all the hard work of persuading them to enter the market (it took several years) and creating the books that launched their line. One series of books generated tens of thousands of new customers for them.Second, in many industries there are 'publishers' who need more products to sell. Any website with a lot of traffic and a shopping cart can benefit from someone who can assemble products that they can profitably sell. Apple uses the iPhone store to publish apps. It's not a perfect analogy, because they're not taking any financial risk, but the web is now creating a new sort of middleman who can cheaply sell a product to the end user. We also see this with Bed, Bath and Beyond commissioning products for their stores, or Trader Joe's doing it with food items.Any time you can successfully bring together people who have a reputation or skill with people who sell things, you're creating value. If you find an appropriate scale, it can become a sustainable, profitable business.The skills you bring to the table are vision, taste and a knack for seeing what's missing. You also have to be a project manager, a salesperson and the voice of reason, the person who brings the entire thing together and to market without it falling apart. Like so many of the businesses that are working now, it doesn't take much cash, it merely takes persistence and drive.Here are some basic rules of thumb that I learned the hard way: It's much easier to sell to an industry that's used to buying. Books were a great place for me to start because book publishers are organized to buy projects from outsiders. It's hard enough to make the sale, way too hard to persuade the person that they should even consider entering the market. (PS stay away from the toy business). Earning the trust of the industry is critical. The tenth sale is a thousand times easier than the second one (the first one doesn't count... beginner's luck). Developing expertise or assets that are not easily copied is essential, otherwise you're just a middleman. Patience in earning the confidence of your suppliers (writers, brands, factories, freelancers) pays off. Don't overlook obvious connections. It may be obvious to you that Eddie Bauer should license its name and look to a car company, but it might not be to them. Get it in writing. Before you package up an idea for sale to a company that can bring it to market, make sure that all the parties you're representing acknowledge your role on paper. As the agent of change, you deserve the lion's share of the revenue, because you're doing most of the work and taking all of the risk. Agenting is a good gig, but that's not what I'm talking about. Stick with it. There's a Dip and it's huge. Lots of people start doing things like this, and most of them give up fairly quickly. It might take three or five years before the industry starts to rely on you. Work your way up. Don't start by trying to license the Transformers or Fergie. They won't trust a newbie and you wouldn't either.
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Mac OS Ken: 06.29.2009
Apple Re-Launches Improved Availability Widget for iPhone 3GS / iPhone Dev Team Claims Ability to Jailbreak and Unlock iPhone 3GS / Apple Ups Stake in Mobile Graphics Firm Imation Technologies / Senior iPhone Exec Leaves Apple for VC Firm / Sprint Woos First-Gen iPhone Owners with New Pre Print Ad / Apple Insider: Price Cuts May Come for iMacs in the Fall / iSuppli: Laptop Parts Keep Mac mini Profit Thin / Macworld: Tests Show Surprising Slowdowns for New MacBook Air / The Register: Problems Arise with SATA 3Gb/s Drives and Firmware