Nov 3, 2009 Nov 5, 2009 Wednesday November 4, 2009
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DeviceLock mitigates data leakage via iPhone and BlackBerry local syncs
Posted by Dennis SellersDeviceLock, which specializes in in endpoint data leak prevention software solutions, has announced two “milestone achievements” in protecting from data leakage and theft via mobile devices.
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Red Productions eliminates downtime with Small Treeâs OS X networking capabilities
Posted by Dennis SellersFrustrated by having projects continuously freeze up in the middle of editing sessions and having to rummage through multiple external drives to locate footage, Red Productions, a full service, script to screen video production and independent film development and production company, recently commissioned independent video engineer Bob Zelin to install a...
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Smartphone market in China increases 30% year-over-year
Posted by Dennis SellersChina's smartphone market saw strong growth throughout 2008 with shipments showing a 30% increase over the previous year, according to a new report from In-Stat. Smartphones accounted for 15.3% of total mobile phone shipments in China last year, up from 12% in 2007, says the research group.
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I Am T-Pain enjoys 10,000 downloads per day
Apple continued its dominance in the app market by announcing that its catalog now tops 100,000 titles. I Am T Pain downloaded 10,000 times per day.
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The daily roundup: here's what you might've missed
HTC's HD2 has landed at Engadget (hands-on) We're still blown away by the fact that this is a Windows Mobile 6.5 device -- the skinning job that HTC has done here is nothing short of a miracle. (See also: HTC HD2 officially coming to US, out in Europe and Asia today!) Verizon looking to bump early termination fee to $350 on 'advanced' devices You know what's worse than showing your Bitter Beer Face to the world after you passed on Apple's iPhone and let AT&T enjoy the spoils? This. Some more perspective on the DROID and multitouch If Google was so fearful of patent litigation, we doubt Android 2.0 would have multitouch support built-in. Other news of import NVIDIA confirms Intel chipsets won't support USB 3.0 until 2011 Apple's App Store breaks 100,000 apps Walmart's $300 HP G60 laptop gets real, detailed Forget HDTV and 3D, when is Ultra HDTV / Super Hi-vision coming home? Of course, if you must be first on the block with it, there's always JVC's $175k DLA-RS4000 available right now. Imagine that: Bell offers video calling on the cheap A feature standardized with UMTS and arbitrarily disabled both by T-Mobile and AT&T in the States Ask Engadget HD: Where can I find Blu-ray movies for cheap on Black Friday and beyond? RVU Alliance gets Motorola, Pace, Thomson and others to dream the multiroom dream Ears-on with Sony Ericsson MH907 Motion Activated Headphones Symbian Foundation dares to call characters in the dialer a 'brainstorm idea' HTC DROID Eris unboxed and examined: 'feels much better' than Sprint Hero The daily roundup: here's what you might've missed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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'MacVoices' looks at taking control of VMWare Fusion 3
Posted by Dennis SellersOn the new MacVoices, author Joe Kissel discusses his free Take Control of VMware Fusion 3.
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IneoQuest develops solution for measuring streaming video to the iPhone
Posted by Dennis SellersIneoQuest, a provider of quality and service assurance solutions for digital video, has announced solutions for real-time monitoring, analyzing and reporting of the quality of streaming content to the iPhone.
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There Are Now 100,000 Apps for That
And iPhone and iPod Touch owners have downloaded more than 2 billion applications since the App Store opened in July 2008.
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Alleged iPhone 4G Parts Appear in China
China Ontrade says that this is the iPhone 4G Midboard. Not all that interesting in itself, but the last time they said they had parts for a new iPhone (3GS), the iPhone 3GS appeared a month later with those exact parts. This means that China Ontrade might be telling the truth about this new midboard for the iPhone 4G. In May of 2009, China Ontrade said "This is great honor for China Ontrade (HK) chinaontrade.com to be the 1st started to supply iPhone 3gen 2009 parts directly from factory." This was treated as a rumor and nothing more. But then in June, the iPhone 3GS came out and China Ontrade's parts were confirmed to be in the iPhone. Somehow, the China wholesale comapny got the parts one month before the product hit street level.Now China Ontrade claims they have real pieces for the upcoming iPhone 4G, which in theory, is supposed to be released next summer, as all the iPhones have before it, but this leak is against Apple's production style. Apple, like many other companies, produce everything right before they need it. This is because they don't want to have millions of parts lying around, only to discover they need to change something, and have to start over.Some speculate that the iPhone 4G launch could be moved up to compete with Google Android 2.0, even though Apple COO Tim Cook said that Google phones, "are still just trying to catch up with the first iPhone two years ago." Not to mention that the iPhone 3GS only came out 5 months ago.Of course, we can't ASSUME that any of this means anything about the iPhone 4GS release. The only thing we know is that China Ontrade has a history of being right about their claims, so it would make sense to assume this is an actual iPhone 4G part. But when placed against Apple's release date history and style of manufacturing, it may all be a publicity stunt. What do you think? Are these parts the real deal?
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Developers report a moment of upside-down app rankings, now returning to normal
Filed under: App StoreIt seems to be back to status quo ante now, and we're not sure exactly what was going on, but something apparently slipped off the crazy shelf and whacked the App Store firmly in the noggin. Multiple users and developers emailed to let us know that the Top Paid rankings in the store were completely jumbled up, with unfamiliar apps taking over the rankings from long-standing champs. iGlowStickPro? 301+ Short Stories? That ain't right. The US store was definitely fritzy, but other tipsters report that the Australian store was affected as well. Now that things seem to be returning to normal, it's interesting to note how quickly everyone reacted to send a heads-up about the problem... when your monthly revenues depend on that Top Paid ranking slot, even a few minutes of confusion will get your attention in a hurry. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.TUAWDevelopers report a moment of upside-down app rankings, now returning to normal originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments AppStore - Apple - TUAW - IPhone - Unofficial Apple Weblog
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Ableton celebrates 10 years with special offers, new products
Posted by Dennis SellersAbleton has launched Able10, a season of special offers and giveaways to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary.
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Music Movies on iTunes
In a bid to increase movie sales, Apple is featuring more alternative content in the iTunes store. Today, they've introduced the "Music Movies" library and added a landing page to promote releases. Music movies are music themed movies, concerts, and documentaries showing a lot of behind-the-scenes footage. While at the moment the collection is limited, Apple does offer a few movies that are only available on the iTunes store, like the Kings of Leon concert DVD and U2's 'Rattle and Hum' and 'John Lennon Imagine'.Apple also plans to negotiate early release of some music-themed movies for the iTunes store so people can buy them there long before they come out in stores.
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Whither the Crunchpad?
Dan Frommer: The story we’ve heard goes that Arrington’s suppliers have come back with quotes significantly higher than they had initially predicted. That could explain why we haven’t heard a peep about the CrunchPad since the summer. Arrington told the New York Times in July that he would host an event “at the end of July or the beginning of August to make a big announcement about the CrunchPad,” and that the device would go on sale “as soon as possible.” It’s now November, with no event and no gadget. â
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TUAW Gift Guides: Gifts for tech-savvy women
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, HumorHoliday time is drawing near, with Black Friday just over the horizon. So have you started thinking about what to get your favorite gal? You might want to subscribe to a Monoprice e-mail alert to catch the latest restocks for your beloved's iPhone or iPod touch. Last night, they sold out of their 2200 mAh charge boosters within minutes. I snagged mine just in time. Because, gentlemen, you need to face it: cables, remotes, and batteries are made of holiday win. Why not consider a miniDisplay cable to give your lady that second Mac mini monitor she's been dreaming about? Those redesigned Apple remotes make the perfect accompaniment to the treadmill, when watching "The View." Or, for that matter, when watching the morning financial news. Whatever floats your boat. One of my female TUAW colleagues writes, "Last year I got earrings and returned them for a MacBook. My husband also knows that on Black Friday morning, in the dark, I will be at Radio Shack or MicroCenter -- elbows out to fend off other customers -- hissing at the sunlight and hoarding hard drives, enclosures, and spindles of DVDs." Face it: Chicks love technology. Trust me. I'm a woman. Results are not typical or representative of all real women's buying habits. Please check with a lawyer before deciding whether purchasing Mac peripherals are right for you. Side effects, including being kicked out of your home and/or marriage, may occur. Peripherals are not a substitute for fine jewelry. Do not attempt to offer technology when the spouse is pregnant or nursing. Consult a physician should a piece of technology make an accelerated impact with your head. In case of technology overdose, seek professional assistance, or contact a family counselor immediately. TUAWTUAW Gift Guides: Gifts for tech-savvy women originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - IpodTouch - Apple - TUAW - Black Friday
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Strategy Analytics: smartphone owners lead rise in mobile Internet usage
Posted by Dennis SellersA new study by Strategy Analytics says that almost one-in-five users in the US and Western Europe now accesses the internet from their cellphone at least once a week.
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T-Mobile says software error behind outage
In a statement on Wednesday, the cellular carrier says that a software problem generated "abnormal congestion" on its network.
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Latest Mac OS X 10.6.2 beta build brings back Atom support
Well, it looks like reports that Apple might be killing Atom support in the next Snow Leopard update may have been slightly overblown, as the latest developer build of OS X 10.6.2 (10C535) has apparently restored support for the processor and simultaneously brightened the spirits of hackintoshers the world over. What's more, there doesn't appear to be any explanation for the switch-a-roo from Apple which, as Electronista notes, could indicate that it was simply a bug or a temporary measure -- although it does of course also mean that Apple can just as easily flip the switch again if it sees fit (which seems like at least a 50 / 50 shot). [Via Electronista]Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, SoftwareLatest Mac OS X 10.6.2 beta build brings back Atom support originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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100,000 Apps in App Store!
Apple announced today that their iTunes App Store has surpassed the 100,000 apps mark, making it the largest application store in the world. iPhone and iPod touch customers in 77 different countries can go online and download from the amazing range of 100,000 apps within 20 different categories. App Store users have downloaded over 2 billion apps making it the most popular application store as well. âThe App Store has forever changed the mobile gaming industry and continues to improve,â said the Vice President of Worldwide Studios, EA mobile. âWith a global reach of over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch users, the App Store has allowed us to develop high quality EA games that have been a huge success with customers.â Apple recently updated the App Store with things like Genius for App Store Essentials selections, sub-category listings, and more valuable customer reviews. Plus, the new iTunes 9 is making it easier for users to organize and sync their apps and have them appear on your iPhone or iPod touch with the same layout. Additionally, the new in-app purchase feature allows people to buy the full version of an app, from within the free version.
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Snow Leopard quirk prevents opening groups of recently downloaded files
Filed under: Snow LeopardReports of an odd bug affecting downloaded files in Snow Leopard have been circulating Apple's discussion boards recently. As reported by TidBITS, the issue appears to be affecting all computers running Snow Leopard. While different users have reported varying symptoms and differing circumstances, it essentially boils down to this: if you download a group of files, and then attempt to open the entire group of files at once (rather than opening each file individually), chances are either some or all of the selected files will not open. My initial response to this was that it could possibly be one of those "it's not a bug, it's a feature" ordeals. We have already seen some indications that Apple is working on enhanced security and virus protection in Snow Leopard, so it stands to reason that the operating system may be simply trying to prevent what it thinks is malicious activity by imposing restrictions on what you can and can't do with a newly downloaded file. Of course, that's just my theory, but I'm apparently not the only one who has explored that possibility -- a reader on the Mac OS X Hints forum discovered some hard evidence supporting that theory. In OS X, newly downloaded files are flagged with a "quarantine" attribute, which remains until the file is opened. If this attribute is set when the file is launched, and the file is an application, you would receive the typical "This application was downloaded from the Internet" confirmation before the application is allowed to continue launching. This is nothing new in Snow Leopard, but it would seem that the additional protections and scanning that were added to Snow Leopard most likely prevent opening multiple files so that each file can be individually checked before it is launched. Whether or not this is a serious bug or a minor inconvenience depends entirely on your workflow. Personally, I find that I don't often open multiple files from Finder, as most of the applications I use have the ability to select multiple files from their Open dialog. I can easily see where this might pose significant problems, however. For example, if you do a lot of work with graphics, you might download a several photos from a client, highlight them and open them with a custom tool that automatically resizes and processes for you. With this bug in play, that task would become much more difficult if you had to open each file individually. So what about you? Is this bug bugging you, or is it a non-issue? If you are affected, feel free to chime in with your experiences on the discussion boards, and be sure to let us know in the comments!TUAWSnow Leopard quirk prevents opening groups of recently downloaded files originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Mac OS X - Snow Leopard - Operating system - Apple - Mac OS X v10.6
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TimeCache for Mac OS X upgrade improves reporting/invoicing features
Posted by Dennis SellersThe PandaWare Company has updated TimeCache, its Mac OS X time and expense billing application, to version 8.0.5. The new version improves report and invoice layout options, enhances Address Book importing and fixes some bugs.
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iPhone shaping up as Australia's top mobile phone brand
Posted by Dennis SellersApple's iPhone is tipped to become Australia's strongest mobile phone brand, according to a survey by Millward Brown, according to a report by Digital Media.
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Some more perspective on the DROID and multitouch
There's been a whirlwind of chatter about Apple's multitouch patents since the Motorola DROID was released to reviewers sans any built-in support for Android 2.0's multitouch APIs -- there's no pinch-to-zoom in the browser or maps app, and the soft keyboard is decidedly a single-touch affair. What's even more curious is that the DROID clearly supports multitouch, as several new apps have demonstrated, and the overseas UMTS variant of the handset, the MILESTONE, has been shown on video with pinch-to-zoom in the browser several times now. That's led to a ton of speculation that Apple's somehow blocking Google from using pinch-to-zoom in the US, so we thought we'd step in with a little refresher on the state of Apple's multitouch patents and some thoughts how they might be affecting the DROID. Read on!Continue reading Some more perspective on the DROID and multitouchFiled under: CellphonesSome more perspective on the DROID and multitouch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Orange UK confirms iPhone launch
Posted by Dennis SellersFrance Telecom's subsidiary Orange UK has revealed the iPhone launch date as the carrier will officially unveil the iconic handset in the UK on Nov. 10. What's more, the operator has also released pricing and tariff details for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, which will be sold through direct retail distribution...
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Bell, Telus provide new iPhone competition in Canada
Prince McLean, AppleInsider Rogers Wireless, Apple’s exclusive iPhone partner in Canada, is gaining new competition from its formerly CDMA-only rivals in a move that could foreshadow changes in the US market affecting AT&T and Verizon. Bell, Telus provide new iPhone competition in Canada . Apple originally launched the iPhone 3G in Canada exclusive to Rogers and its Fido subsidiary [...]
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50 Common Mac Problems Solved
We present the Ultimate Mac Troubleshooting Guide, so you can banish the peskiest problems once and for all. Mac problems? Isnât that an oxymoron? If you just switched to the Mac from Windows, you might be thinking that you accidentally picked up one of your old PC magazines--and, by the way, weâve got solutions to the seven most common problems switchers encounter, too. If youâre a longtime Mac user, you could even be wondering where we get off accusing the Mac platform of being problematic.Using a Mac is generally painless and trouble free, but things can go wrong. Usually theyâre not catastrophic (for solutions to true Mac disasters, click here). Sometimes the things that go wrong are those little annoying things that you just shrug off--over and over, until you finally have to deal with them.Weâre here to help you tackle the 50 most common problems in eight different categories, once and for all. If your problem isnât covered here, email us at ask@maclife.com, and weâll try to solve it in a future issue. General Mac Problems The Mac OS is, fundamentally, as trouble-free as operating systems get. But nothing's perfect. Here's what to do when you hit a snag.1. I want a tabbed finder.Download the incredibly versatile Path Finder ($40, www.cocoatech.com), which gives you all sorts of features that are missing from the Finder, such as tabs, stacks, bookmarks, and panes. Sounds like fun to us!Now THIS is the Finder we've always dreamed of. Thanks, Path Finder!2. I can't print anymore.This could be caused by a variety of different issues relating to your printer hardware or printer drivers, so you may need to contact the printer manufacturer for more help. But if your Mac is causing the problem, itâs always a good idea to reset your entire printing system by going into your Print & Fax System Preference, right-clicking in the printer list, and choosing Reset Printing System.3. I travel all over town with my MacBook, and Iâm sick of reconfiguring my settings every time I show up at a location Iâve been to before. Why canât my Mac remember various location settings for me--my default printer, mounted servers, iChat screen name, Bluetooth settings, everything? Try NetworkLocation ($29, www.networklocationapp.com), which can perform dozens of actions on your Mac whenever you switch to a new location. Best of all, its AutoLocate feature will determine where you are, using the same SkyHook Wireless Wi-Fi Positioning System that your iPhone uses, and it will automatically change all of your settings for you. If you frequently switch physical locations, NetworkLocation can save you both time and headaches changing your Mac's settings. 4. I forgot my OS X password.After retyping your password very carefully at least twice to make sure you just didnât mistype it, youâll need to haul out your OS X install disk, insert it into your Mac and restart holding down the C button. After selecting your language of choice, in the menubar, select Utilities > Reset Password. Follow the directions and there you go. Just try not to get a lobotomy after resetting it!5. My CD or DVD is stuck in the optical drive and wonât come out when I press Eject.After holding down the eject button for several seconds to no avail, restart your Mac and hold down the primary button on your mouse--the trackpad button will work as well if youâre on a MacBook--and during startup the disk should eject.6. My Mac is not recognizing devices plugged in to one of my USB ports.First, make sure your Macâs firmware is up to date--check Software Update and the Apple Support Downloads page (support.apple.com/downloads/) and install any firmware updates you find for your machine.If nothing happens, turn off your Mac, unplug the power cable, disconnect all peripherals, and let it sit for five minutes. Plug it back in, reconnect the keyboard and mouse, turn it back on, and try the USB ports again.Check the Support Downloads page for firmware updates for your Mac.If theyâre still unresponsive, you will need to reset the PRAM (parameter RAM) and NVRAM (nonvolatile RAM), which stores some system and device settings that your Mac accesses on startup. Shut your Mac down. Then position your fingers above the Command, Option, P, and R keys on your keyboard. Turn the Mac on, then immediately press and hold those four keys before you see the gray screen. Keep them pressed until the Mac restarts again and you hear the startup chime for the second time. Then let âem go. When your Mac is finished starting up, check those pesky USB ports.If theyâre still not behaving, thereâs one more thing you can try before making a Genius Bar appointment: resetting the SMC, or system management controller. Directions for resetting the SMC on your MacBook Pro are found at support.apple.com/kb/HT1411. Instructions for all other Macs are linked from support.apple.com/kb/HT1894. In Search Of...Search Solutions Leopard makes finding files and data on your Mac relatively trouble-free, but when it comes to search, there are improvements and tricks you can apply to make it even better. Here are two solutions to common search problems we hear about from a fair number of Mac users. 7. My Spotlight results have stopped working reliably.If itâs a single non-Apple program that isnât showing up properly in your Spotlight results, try turning off and on the Spotlight indexing in that particular app.If youâre still getting Spotlight results for an app that you got rid of a while ago, you may not have completely deleted all of the data or databases that are associated with that program.Spotless gives you a nice GUI for managing, deleting, and rebuilding your Spotlight indexes.If itâs an Apple program--or your entire Mac--that isnât working properly in Spotlight, try re-indexing your whole hard drive by going into the Spotlight System Preference, clicking on the Privacy tab, then dragging your hard drive into the list. Wait a moment, and then remove your hard drive from the list again.If youâre still having problems, you may need to bring out the big guns by using Spotless ($17, www.fixamac.net), a Spotlight index-management tool that can help fix most Spotlight problems.8. I need more power, flexibility, and customizability with my Spotlight searches and Spotlight results.Get HoudahSpot ($25, www.houdah.com), which lets you create extremely detailed search requests and customize the results to your liking.HoudahSpot handles Spotlight searches with much more flexability than Apple's built-in Spotlight search. 3 Essential Utilities Three more Mac problems solved--before they happen! 9. Disk Warrior($100, www.alsoft.com) This is a great preventative maintenance tool for rebuilding your Mac's directory and keeping your mac running quickly and smoothly. It's also a great emergency tool for repairing disks that have missing files or will no longer mount.10. Cocktail($15, www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.php). This general all-purpose utility will clean the caches on your machine, run the UNIX maintenance scripts, unlock hidden features of your Mac, and much more.11. SuperDuper($28, www.shirt-pocket.com). This disk cloning utility is great for backing up or transferring all the data on your entire computer to a fully bootable state. Next Page: Email and Web Problems... Email and Web Problems We know you spend most of your time in front of a Mac online or pounding out email. Here's how to answer when trouble comes knocking. 12. I use a webmail client to check email, but every time I click on an email link, it launches Apple Mail instead.You can set up Apple Mail to access your webmail account using IMAP or POP (check with your webmail provider for instructions on how to do this; some charge a fee for this service), or you can install the program Webmailer (free, www.belkadan.com/webmailer), which lets you set any webmail site as your default email program.We set up Webmailer to take us to Yahoo's webmail system whenever we click on an email link.If you use Gmail, you have a few additional choices: You can install Google Notifier (free, toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper) and set that to your default email client in Mailâs preferences. Or you can use the outstanding Mailplane ($25, www.mailplaneapp.com), which provides many more features than the Gmail website.13. I can receive but not send email messages.Outgoing email messages are typically sent over the Internet using TCP port numbers 25, 465, or 587. However, in an effort to reduce spam, some ISPs and firewalls are set up to severely restrict the use of those ports. For example, AT&T is notorious for blocking port 25 for its DSL customers, unless youâre sending email with the AT&T email address assigned to your DSL modem. If youâre using AT&T (or another service provider that has similar restrictions), call the technical support number and request that they unblock port 25 for you. If you donât control the Internet access where you are located, contact your email host to see if they have an alternate port that you can send email on. You can specify alternate port numbers in your email appâs account settings. If all else fails, you should be able to send email through your webmail system until you can physically get yourself to a different location that has no restrictions.Our Web-hosting company, hostbaby.com, allows us to send email messages over alternate port 2525, which typically bypasses any firewall restrictions that have been put in place.14. When I reply to or forward an email, the original message isn't entirely quoted in my reply--sometimes just the header and a few characters are quoted.If you used your mouse to highlight some text in the original email, and then you clicked on forward or reply, only the words that you selected will be quoted in your new email. To override this behavior in Mail (it canât be overridden in Entourage), go into Mailâs Preferences, click on the Composing button, and you can set it to include all of the original message. If the problem still happens after this, your Mail preferences might be corrupt. Quit Mail, and trash the file located at yourhomefolder/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist. Also try upgrading to Snow Leopard, which makes Mail more reliable in general.The Composing preference in Mail ensures that your replies and forwards will always quote the original email message in their entirety.15. I want to send an email later, not now.Each email client handles this slightly differently.In Entourage, choose Message > Send Message Later or click on the Send Later button. (In Entourage 2008, youâll need to add the Send Later button to your toolbar by choosing View > Customize Toolbar from any outgoing message.) Your messages will queue up in your outbox, and then you can send them all at once by creating an Entourage schedule (Tools > Schedules) or by clicking the Send & Receive button.In Thunderbird, choose File > Send Later. Your messages will queue up in the Unsent folder until you choose File > Send Unsent Messages.The Send Later Extension lets you schedule your outgoing messages in Thunderbird.The Send Later Extension for Thunderbird (free, www.unsignedbyte.com/?page_id=4) lets you schedule an exact date and time in the future to send your message.Surprisingly, Mail provides no ability to send messages later. You could take all your accounts offline (Mailbox > Take All Accounts Offline) before clicking on the Send button, in which case your messages disappear until you quit and relaunch Mail to find a temporary outbox with your messages sitting in them. Or, to schedule emails for a later delivery time that you specify, install the Schedule Delivery script which is a part of Mail Scripts (donations requested, homepage.mac.com/aamann/).Finally, LetterMeLater (free, www.lettermelater.com) offers another way to schedule emails to be sent at a later time.16. I have multiple folders entitled Drafts, Sent, Junk, or Trash for my IMAP email account.Setting up an IMAP account can be a little tricky. After typing your valid account settings into your email program, there are two additional steps:First, youâll need to set the proper IMAP path prefix (sometimes called the âroot folderâ or IMAP server directory) in your account settings. For example, Gmailâs IMAP Path Prefix is [Gmail].Defining your IMAP server's root folder is an often-forgotten step when setting up an IMAP email account.In Entourage, you set this on the Options tab of your IMAPâs account settings. In Thunderbird, click the Advanced button on the Server Settings tab. In Mail, this is on the Advanced tab of your IMAPâs account settings.Then youâll need to designate which folders on the server should be used for storing your drafts, sent messages, trash, and junk. In Entourage, you set this on the Advanced tab of your IMAPâs account settings. In Thunderbird, this is done in the Copies & Folders section of your account settings. In Mail, go out to your main viewer window and select a folder on the server (in the left-hand margin, underneath the IMAP account name), then choose Mailbox > Use This Mailbox For.17. Whenever I address an outgoing email, I get unwanted email addresses for people who aren't in my address book.Most email clients keep track of addresses that youâve emailed to in the past and will suggest those addresses to you in the future when you start to type the same characters. You can turn off this feature in Entourage and Thunderbird by going into their preferences. In Entourage, this is found on the Compose tab. In Thunderbird, this is on the Composition > Addressing tab. You canât turn off this feature in Mail, but you can clear the list from time-to-time by selecting Window > Previous Recipients, selecting the names and clicking Remove from List.In Mail, you have complete control over your Previous Recipients list.18. When I email long Web links to others, they sometimes get broken up onto multiple lines and don't work correctly.Try putting angle brackets () around long URLs to help them travel safely across the Internet without âbreaking.â Or you turn to TinyURL (free, www.tinyurl.com), which will turn those long URLs into, well, tiny URLs!19. I wish Safari's built-in search field worked with more websites than just Google.You may want to switch to Firefox, which has the built-in ability to customize its search field with any number of search engines that you specify. Otherwise, check out the Safari plug-ins Saft ($12, haoli.dnsalias.com) or Glims (free, machangout.com), both of which let you customize Safariâs Google search field. And one of our favorite utilities, iSeek ($15, www.ambrosiasw.com) lets you add a global customizable search field to your Macâs menubar that works with any Web browser.iSeek places a fully customizable search field in our menubar at all times.20. I want to filter inappropriate websites so my kids can't access them.Although Mac OS X has built-in parental controls that you can turn on for individual accounts, you can gain more control by purchasing software like ContentBarrier ($50, www.intego.com) or Net Nanny ($39.99 a year, www.netnanny.com). Even better, weâve discovered that one of the quickest, easiest, and most effective ways of filtering all the computers in your entire household is to switch your DNS servers to the free OpenDNS servers (free, www.opendns.com).ContentBarrier is one of many options you have for blocking websites on your Mac. 21. My Internet connection is slow.Thatâs a tricky one. A sluggish Net connection could be caused by any number of things, so here are a few troubleshooting tips to start with:Try resetting Safari (Safari > Reset Safari). Then, try a different Web browser to see if the problem happens there as well. You may also want to uninstall any Internet plug-ins that you have installed recently.Next, check your upload and download speeds at www.speakeasy.net/speedtest and see if youâre getting the speeds youâre paying for. If not, try power cycling both your modem and router, such as your Airport Extreme. Turn off or unplug the device, let it sit powered off for several minutes, then plug it in or switch it on again.Our latest speed test from Speakeasy.net shows us that we're not currently getting the full upload speeds for which we've been paying the big bucks!If these methods donât address the slowdown, try plugging your modem directly into your Mac using an Ethernet cable to see if the problem goes away. If so, your router may be the problem. If youâre using an Airport Extreme or Airport Express, launch Airport Utility to see if there is a firmware upgrade available. If so, install the firmware upgrade and see if that helps.If not, your Mac could be the problem--you may need to perform an Archive and Install of your operating system, which is one of your options on the Mac OS X Leopard Installation DVD.And itâs always possible that your modem or Internet line is the problem too, in which case you should call your ISPâs technical support number. Next Page: Photo and Office/iWork Problems... Photo Problems These solutions to common photo issues will make you want to say "cheese." 22. I need to quickly resize an image and make some color corrections to it, but I can't afford Photoshop and don't really want to learn how to use it.Preview has the built-in ability to resize images and adjust colors. Open up your image in Preview and select Tools > Adjust Size or Adjust Color.This image-size adjustment dialog box is from Preview, not Photoshop!23. I want to email photos from iPhoto through my webmail account by clicking on iPhoto's Email button.Even if youâve installed Webmailer, as mentioned in problem #12, the email button in iPhoto will only work with four email clients: AOL, Eudora, Entourage, and Mail.However, if you use Gmail, youâre in luck because Mailplane ($25, www.mailplaneapp.com) installs an iPhoto plug-in that lets you click on iPhotoâs Email button and send your messages through your Gmail account.In any dialog box, you can activate QuickLook when browsing your iPhoto Library by selecting a photo and pressing the spacebar.Otherwise, go into your webmail program, and attach photos using the standard method. Leopardâs dialog boxes give you the ability to browse through your iPhoto library, and they even let you use QuickLook by clicking on a photo and pressing the spacebar.24. I want to use iPhoto '09 to export photos to Facebook, but there are too many problems with it.Forget about using iPhoto â09âs poorly implemented Facebook âintegration.â Instead, use the outstanding Facebook Exporter for iPhoto (free, developers.facebook.com/iphoto).Use Facebook Exporter for iPhoto to tag, add captions to, and upload your Facebook photos right from within iPhoto.25. I created a PDF file with lots of embedded photos in it, but now the file is way too large to email.Open up the large PDF file in Preview and select File > Save As. Where it says Quartz Filter, choose Reduce File Size, then click Save. VoilĂ ! Youâve now saved a much smaller version of your PDF file, which will be easier to email.Choose this Quartz Filter in Preview to reduce the size (and quality) of large PDF files so you can email them without choking your email server.For even more control over the resulting quality of PDF size reduction--and to batch-process multiple PDF files at once--try PDFshrink ($35, www.apago.com).If you still canât get the file small enough for your needs, try a file-sending service such as YouSendIt (www.yousendit.com).26. Somebody emailed me a PDF file with lots of embedded photos in it, and I need to extract the photos from the file.File Juicer ($18, www.echoone.com) will extract images, sounds, and more from any filetype.File Juicer can extract all these types of files out of other files. Office/iWork Problems Work smarter not harder with these troubleshooting tips for common productivity apps. 27. I created an awesome slide show in Keynote, but I have to present it on a PC. I tried exporting it to Microsoft PowerPoint format, but I lost my transitions, effects, transparencies, gradients, and more--basically, all the cool stuff.Export your Keynote file to a QuickTime movie instead. As long as the PC has QuickTime installed on it (which it should, if it has iTunes installed), youâll be able to play back your presentation with all of its awesomeness intact. If the PC doesnât have QuickTime, download it for free from www.apple.com/quicktime.With the "Fixed Timing" option, we can set our QuickTime movie to automatically advance to the next slide on a regular interval.When you export your movie, you have several options for how it should advance from one slide to the next. For example, if you set it to manually advance, you simply have to press the spacebar on the PC to move to the next slide.28. Iâve included presenter notes (View > Show Presenter Notes) in a Keynote slide show, but when I play or rehearse the slide show, the notes donât show up onscreen.In Keynoteâs preferences, click on the Presenter Display button, and check the boxes for Notes and âUse alternate display to view presenter information.â Now your notes will show up when you play or rehearse your slide show.This checkbox lets you toggle between mirrored displays and dual displays.However, if you start seeing your notes on both your computer screen and the projectorâs screen, your computer is set to mirrored (instead of dual) displays. You can toggle these display modes while the projector is connected to your Mac by launching System Preferences, choosing Display > Arrangement, and deselecting the Mirror Displays checkbox.29. I use Office 2008 to create Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files, but my Mac-using colleagues canât open the files because theyâre using Office 2004.TextEdit can open and edit Word 2008 files. And if your colleagues have iWork â09 installed, they can work with all of your Office 2008 files in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote.Otherwise, youâll need to save the file in an earlier file format. Choose File > Save As and select the format that corresponds to Office 97â2004. You can also set this older format as the default in your preferences for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.Choose the .doc format to avoid compatibility issues with people using earlier versions of Microsoft Word.Alternatively, your colleagues can install Microsoftâs Open XML File Format Converter (free, www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads), which will convert your Office 2008 files into a format that Office 2004 can read. Next Page: Syncing Problems... Syncing Problems Data syncing can be particularly stressful since we need access to info anywhere these days. We've got solutions. 30. I want to sync some--but not all--of my iCal calendars across my Macs.Donât use MobileMe to sync, which always synchronizes all of your calendars. Instead, use BusySync ($25, www.busymac.com) or BusyCal ($40, www.busymac.com), which both give you an incredible amount of syncing options.BusyMac's products are true champions when it comes to publishing and subscribing selected calendars without any dedicated servers.31. I want to synchronize my iCal calendars and Address Book on my Mac to Outlook on a PC.Sign up for MobileMe ($99 a year, www.apple.com), which will keep all of your Macs and PCs (and iPhones!) in sync with each other.Spanning Sync effortlessly syncs your calendars and contacts to Google.Or, you can use Google Calendar and Google Contacts as a conduit. On the Mac side, youâll need Spanning Sync ($25/year or $65/one-time purchase, spanningsync.com). On the PC side, youâll need Google Apps Sync ($50/year, tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync).32. I keep getting duplicate entries on my iCal calendar.Sounds like youâre trying to sync your Entourage calendar with iCal. Thereâs a known bug with Entourage that causes repeating events to multiply out of control in iCal. We donât know of any long-term solution at this time except to ditch Entourageâs calendar and stick to iCal for your calendaring needs. To do this, uncheck the box for syncing events in Entourageâs Preferences (on the Sync Services pane). To erase iCal dupes, try iCal Cleaner (free, www.busymac.com).33. Iâm getting two of each calendar entry on my iPhone.You may be trying to sync your calendars through both iTunes and MobileMe. Youâll need to choose one method or the other, not both. If youâre syncing wirelessly through MobileMe, then go into your iPhone settings within iTunes and uncheck all of your calendars there.The exception to this rule is iCalâs Birthdays calendar (enabled in iCalâs preferences, this calendar pulls birthdays from your Address Book), which can only be synced through iTunes, so it must remain checked in iTunes.34. My U.S. Holidays and other Internet-subscribed iCal calendars are not syncing between my Mac and my iPhone.Any Internet-subscribed calendars must be resubscribed to directly from your iPhone. You can manually set up the server on your iPhone by going to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account > Other > Calendars.You must resubscribe to your iCal holiday calendars on your iPhone all over again.Or, you can automatically subscribe to a calendar by using Safari on your iPhone to choose from Appleâs extensive selection of calendars at www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/calendars.35. iTunes no longer launches automatically when I attach my iPod or iPhone to my computer.If your iPhone or iPod is very low on power or if the battery is fully depleted, it can take up to 10 minutes to appear under Devices in iTunes.Otherwise, you may have unchecked the box in iTunes for your device that says âAutomatically sync when this iPhone/iPod is connectedâ or âOpen iTunes when this iPod is attached.âYou may have also removed the iTunesHelper application from your Login Items in your Account System Preferences, which is required to automatically launch iTunes. You can get this back by reinstalling iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes) or by manually dragging iTunesHelper into the Login Items. iTunesHelper can be found by right-clicking on iTunes in the Finder and choosing Show Package Contents, then going to Contents > Resources.36. I want to synchronize files between two computers.There are many different programs available to help you with this task, but our favorite is ChronoSync ($40, www.econtechnologies.com). ChronoSync can automatically mount remote servers, wake your local Mac from sleep, schedule your synchronizations, archive backup copies of your files before syncing, and even give you a list of proposed changes before it makes any of them.Synchronizing files between two different computers is as simple as drag-and-drop with ChronoSync.While you can use ChronoSync to synchronize to any type of volume or folder, if you specifically want to sync to another computer, you may want to additionally purchase ChronoAgent for an extra $10. ChronoAgent lets you communicate directly with a remote Mac faster than using AFP or SMB, and you gain full root access, so you can copy anything without any restrictions.37. I turned on MobileMe syncing on my iPhone, but nothing is syncing to my Mac or Me.com.Itâs possible that the MobileMe servers arenât communicating properly with your iPhone. An Apple support rep recently admitted to us that this is an extremely common problem that MobileMe users may experience every few months until Apple increases the reliability of its MobileMe syncing servers. So you may want to keep these instructions handy for future reference.First, find out if MobileMe sees your iPhone at all. Activate Find My iPhone on your iPhone (Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > your me.com account > Find My iPhone). Then, from a computer (not your iPhone), go to your MobileMe account page at https://secure.me.com/yourusername. Click on Find My iPhone to see if the MobileMe website sees your phone. If not, try turning off your iPhone and turning it back on again. If the MobileMe site still doesnât see your phone, try deleting your MobileMe account on your iPhone and re-creating it again.We feel like Big Brother is watching us with Find My iPhone's crosshairs centered directly on our house!Once Me.com sees your iPhone, try adding an event or a contact to your phone and see if the change shows up on your MobileMe calendar (www.me.com/calendar) or address book (www.me.com/contacts) within a few minutes.If not, you will probably have to reset all of your sync data on Me.com with information from your Macâs iCal and Address Book. Make a mental note of any recent unsynced changes youâve made on your iPhone, because youâre going to lose them in this process. Also, sign out of Me.com. Go into the MobileMe System Preference on your Mac, select the Sync tab, click on Advanced, and then click Reset Sync Data. Click on the right arrow so that you are replacing all sync info on MobileMe with âinfo from this computer.âLog back into Me.com and verify that it now has your current information for contacts and calendars. If not, you will have to reset the SyncServices database on your Mac. Apple has instructions on this process at support.apple.com/kb/TS1627.But before following those instructions, be sure to do two things on your Mac: First, repair your permissions using Disk Utility (Applications/Utilities), and, second, repair your keychain using Keychain Access (in Disk Utility, pull down from the Keychain Access menu and select Keychain First Aid). After that, try syncing again from the MobileMe System Preference pane.This is how it should look when you're about to overwrite information on the MobileMe website with information from your Mac.Once Me.com has your current information, you are ready to go back to your iPhone. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data. Turn Push off, then completely turn off your phone for 30 seconds. Turn your phone back on and re-enable push. Then, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > your Me.com account and turn off and on each one of the sliders for the information that youâre trying to sync (Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, etc).Wait several minutes, and hopefully all your current information will reappear in your calendar and contacts on your iPhone.If not, you will probably need to have a live chat with a MobileMe support agent. Go to www.apple.com/support/mobileme. Choose any of the troubleshooting options underneath Syncing with MobileMe in the left-hand margin, and a Chat Now button will appear. Next Page: Video, Music, and Backup Problems... Video Problems These tips address problems you might encounter trying to play video files on your Mac. 38. Iâm trying to use my Apple Remote on my Mac to watch movies through Front Row, but the other computers in the room--along with my Apple TV--are inadvertently responding to my remoteâs button presses.You need to pair each one of your Apple Remotes to a particular device. Apple has instructions on how to do this at support.apple.com/kb/HT1619.39. Sometimes I can't play Web videos.Out of the box, your Mac can only play Flash and QuickTime videos. To play other video formats, youâll need to install one or more of the following free apps:>> Flip4Mac Windows Media Components for QuickTime (www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx)>> Perian (www.perian.org)>> Microsoft Silverlight (www.microsoft.com/silverlight/)>> RealPlayer (www.real.com)>> VLC (www.videolan.org)40. I want to convert video files to other formats, particularly those that will work on my iPod or iPhone.To convert your video files into many different formats--including iPhone and iPod compatible formats--try Video Monkey (free, videomonkey.org), VideoDrive (7.99 euros, www.aroona.net), or CosmoPod (8.90 euros, www.cocoamug.com). To convert DVDs, try HandBrake (free, www.handbrake.fr).41. I want to download a Flash video from the Web.Thereâs a little-known trick in Safari that lets you download Flash videos that are embedded in webpages. Bring up the Activity Viewer (Window > Activity) and look for a file that appears that it may be your video file, perhaps based on its large size or the fact that it is so large that it is still loading. When itâs finished loading, hold down the Option key and double-click on the video file. Safari will download the file into your Downloads folder for you, and you can monitor the progress through the Downloads window.Little-known Safari secret: You can download Flash vids, like Funny or Die's famous "The Landlord" starring Will Ferrell, to your Desktop to watch at your leisure.If youâd like an easier way to download Flash videos, try TubeTV (donations requested, www.chimoosoft.com), Videobox ($15, www.tastyapps.com), or TubeSock ($15, www.stinkbot.com).42. I want to download a QuickTime video from the Web to my Mac, so I can watch it later.If youâve purchased QuickTime Pro ($30, www.apple.com/quicktime), you can download many QuickTime videos right from the Web by clicking on the triangle in the lower right-hand corner of the video and choosing Save As QuickTime Movie.However, some QuickTime videos, including those on Appleâs website, donât let you download them directly. To download these devious videos--with or without QuickTime Pro--view the source of the webpage in Safari (View > View Source) or Firefox (View > Page Source). Do a search for .mov (the file extension for QuickTime videos) to find the full URL of the video file. When you find it, copy the entire URL of the video file. Then, launch QuickTime Player on your Mac and select File > Open URL and paste in the URL. Now you can save the video file onto your computer.43. I bought an external USB webcam, but my Mac laptop isnât recognizing it.If your Mac is running Mac OS 10.4.11 or later, it can recognize almost any USB webcam on the market, usually without installing any drivers.If youâre running the latest version of OS X but still having problems, the iUSBCam (www.ecamm.com/mac/iusbcam) and macam (webcam-osx.sourceforge.net) websites provide helpful tips and driver downloads.Note that Mac programs like iChat and Skype will first try to use your built-in internal camera before using any external webcams. To change this, youâll need to go into the preferences of those programs to change your video input source.If youâre unsuccessfully trying to use your external webcam in Photo Booth, you have to switch back to the internal camera in iChatâs preferences before launching Photo Booth. Music Problems How to keep rocking in the free world. 44. I want to make iPhone ringtones from a song that I didnât purchase (or isnât available for purchase) from the iTunes Store.If you have a track in iTunes that you own on CD and that youâve ripped to iTunes, you can make a ringtone from it for free in GarageBand â09. Click here for instructions and scroll down to âRoll Your Own iPhone Ringtones,â which also provides instructions for doing the same thing in QuickTime Pro).45. My iTunes library is full of duplicates.For smaller libraries, use iTunesâ Show Duplicates feature (File > Show Duplicates) and manually remove the extra files. iTunes only matches on Artist and Title information though, so be careful not to delete legit alternate versions of tracks--live versions, for example. For better duplicate control, try Dupin or some of the iTunes scripts available at www.dougscripts.com.46. One of the rubber tips from a pair of third-party earbuds got stuck in my ear--help!Believe it or not, this has happened to us too--more than once. We recommend keeping a pair of tweezers handy, just in case a tip come off in your ear canal, which can sometimes happen if you pull the âbud out too quickly. Itâs happened to two Mac|Life editors, both of whom agree that having something small and unreachable lodged in your ear can be pretty traumatic.47. My iTunes library is spread across multiple Macs. How can I keep two iTunes libraries synchronized?If all you want to do is listen to iTunes music housed on another local Mac (i.e. connected to the local network), just turn on iTunesâ sharing feature (Preferences > Sharing and check âLook for shared librariesâ). To share your own tracks, also check âShare my library on my local network.â You can also store libraries on a network drive that supports iTunes sharing, to share tunes without needing another Mac up and running all the time. To keep two libraries in step for syncing iPods, use a utility like TuneRanger ($29.99, my.smithmicro.com) or SuperSync ($29, www.supersync.com).You don't have to share all your iTunes content--and you can password-protect it if you want, too. Backup Problems Don't tell us you don't back up--especially since Time Machine makes it so easy! Here's what to do when you run into problems. 48. I want to restore a file from a Time Machine backup of a different Mac or an older backup of my main Mac that Time Machine no longer recognizes (due to a new backup drive, a new logic board, or a new internal hard drive).You can restore any Time Machine backup onto any Mac, if you know a few tricks involved with restoring.The first one is related to an odd decision by Apple: You can only browse other Time Machine volumes by adding the Time Machine icon to your dock, then right-clicking on the icon and selecting Browse Other Time Machine Disks.There's our hidden option to browse other Time Machine disks!But even if you do that, it wonât see your Time Capsule or other external Time Machine drives, even if theyâre mounted on your Desktop. In Finder, you actually have to manually choose the .sparsebundle file that represents the computer that was backed up, double-click on this file, let it mount on your Desktop, and then Time Machine will let you choose the resulting mounted disk image to restore from.49. Time Machine is giving me an error message thatâs too vague for me to interpret.The programs TM Error Logger (donations requested, www.carnationsoftware.com) and Time Machine Buddy (free, www.bluedog.com.au) can help you interpret what has gone wrong with your Time Machine backup.50. Iâd like Time Machine to back up to multiple external hard drives, so I can keep one backup drive offsite and one backup drive onsite.Time Machine can correctly keep track of backups on multiple external hard drives. Just give your hard drives different names, and whenever you connect the other drive, youâll need to manually make a trip to Time Machineâs System Preference and change the disk there.
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Apple Corps Releases A Beatles Apple
The Beatles' songs may have not come to the Apple iTunes store, but they will arrive in a small green apple USB device.The new Beatles apple is selling for $279.99, and will be released on December 8, almost 3 months after the September 9 (9/9/09 because of the song "Revolution 9") release of the remastered set of Beatles albums, along with the, oh so amazing, Beatles Rock Band video game. The apple shape is a reference to Apple Corps, which was the Beatles' music publisher, who also sued Apple Computers for because of a trademark dispute in the past.In addition to all the Beatles songs in MP3 and FLAC format, the 16 gigabyte USB drive will have "all of the remastered CDs' visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes."
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ST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powers
It's one thing for ARM to develop a potent GPU meant to add impressive 3D capabilities to devices that were previously forced to run the likes of "Snake," but it's another thing entirely to see a platform and semiconductor company come forward and take it one step closer to the mainstream. ST-Ericsson has done just that with its U8500 platform, which is the first to integrate ARM's Mali-400 graphics processing unit into a solution that can be easily fitted into future phones. Think your iPhone 3GS GPU is mighty enough? Hop on past the break and mash play -- it'll make those fancy water reflections you're currently drooling over look downright ugly. [Via B4Tech, thanks Chris]Continue reading ST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powersFiled under: Cellphones, Portable VideoST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Start-up releases litl webbook, an 'Internet computer for the home'
Posted by Dennis SellersHmmm. Could the litl webbook be a taste of what the rumored iPad/iTablet might be like? Only Steve Jobs & Company know, but the new litl webbook, “an Internet computer for the home,” looks intriguing (although I suspect the rumored Apple device will be even less laptop-like if/when it arrives).
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EOps i24R3Portable speaker is mad, bad, and waterproof
Think of a soundbar rolled into a circular, battery-powered body and you'll have a pretty good idea of what we're looking at here. The product's name -- EOps i24R3Portable Wireless Waterproof Digital Speaker Platform -- should tidy up any further queries you may have. Michael Young's latest design for EOps, whose appearance only hints at its i24R3 heritage, is a fully sealed noisemaker that can communicate via wireless USB or Bluetooth, depending on the model. You should pick your poison with care as there are no options for wired hook-ups. With a Li-Pol battery pack and an array of flat panel speakers and passive radiators inside, this could well be the ultimate in portable weatherproof speaker design, but even if it isn't, we'd still consider mounting it on a wall and worshipping it as our Sun God. [Via Design Spotter]Filed under: Home EntertainmentEOps i24R3Portable speaker is mad, bad, and waterproof originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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iPhone user survey gives excuses to dump gadget-undesirable romantic partners
Filed under: Cult of Mac, iPhoneMy beloved fiancé, It is with great sadness that I write you at home to your Gmail account to inform you that I am intending to sell your ring on Ebay and we will part ways. You see, ours was a mixed relationship to begin with. You have your Windows 7, your Linux, your original Android phone from T-Mobile in the UK. I have my iPhone, my iMac and everything good that's Apple (and even a few pieces that aren't.) That's why I know it'll never work out between us. According to a recent study from Retrevo, iPhone owners believe that a "cool gadget" makes a person far more attractive than the measly doctorate you've spent years studying for. Every time we are together, I can't help but shudder over the fact that your Android phone is not of the latest generation. So forget the four years of history between us, the months of separation due to our being in two different countries, and the fact that you are a wonderful, kind, sweet, and intelligent man with a bright future ahead of you. I have someone else I think the world of, and it is my iPhone. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go watch adult material and post up an ad at Match.com for someone with a 3GS. Much love, Your dear departed Megan P.S. This letter is satire, I'm not dumping my fiance over his gadget preferences. Love you, honey!TUAWiPhone user survey gives excuses to dump gadget-undesirable romantic partners originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Apple - Gmail - Linux - TUAW
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iPhone/iPod apps for Nov. 4
Posted by Dennis SellersHere are the latest iPhone/iPod touch/iPod apps announced. You can find e'm at the Apple App Store.
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Rod Begbie on Mockingbird and Cappuccino
Rod Begbie pushes back on Mockingbird: If you load the app, you can see custom scrollbars and navigation, a complete lack of accessibility, non-native controls, and all those other things that cause geeks to hate Flash. What, to the end user, is the benefit of this being done with JavaScript instead of Flash? You can get the patronage of the 0.000001% of web users who donât have Flash installed? (Sadly, I donât think Richard Stallman needs many wireframes drawn). Gruberâs definition of âtrue web appâ and mine greatly differ. Clue: If itâs completely unusable on the iPhone Safari browser, it doesnât matter if itâs built in JavaScript, Flash or Microsoft Visual Fortran 2012. Itâs not a âtrue web appâ. I think there’s merit to using an open web platform that isn’t in the control of a single company, like Flash. Practical merit, not just philosophical merit. No one can hold HTML5/CSS/JavaScript hostage. After loading Mockingbird in Safari 4 (with no other browser windows open), Safari’s CPU usage drops back to 0. With, say, Balsamiq — a Flash app along the same lines as Mockingbird — Safari’s CPU usage never drops below 4 percent, even when idle. But Begbie has a good point. As I wrote back in February about Cappuccino: I still think building web apps that look and act like fake desktop apps is the wrong way to go, but if anyone is going to prove me wrong on that, itâs probably going to be these guys. “Web apps” doesn’t feel like the right term to call apps like Mockingbird, but I’m not sure what would be. “Desktop web apps”? Whatever we should call them, I still haven’t seen one I actually use. â
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N64 emulator for jailbroken iPhones on the way?
Filed under: Gaming, Software, iPhone, iPod touchThere's an exciting announcement at All Tech Related this week that has us saying, "We can't wait!" ZodTDD, the developer behind GpSPhone (a Nintendo Gameboy Advance emulator for the iPhone and iPod Touch), announced the development of an N64 emulator for the iPhone and iPod touch. Zodttd believes that the current generation iPhone and iPod touch have the graphic CPU horsepower necessary to run those games. "...I can't promise it will run games top notch just yet, as things are too early to say. There's hope though, with a 3D accelerated graphics plugin, as well as an ARM dynarec." As iPhone Savior points out, the toughest challenge could be fitting the controls onto the screen in an unobtrusive yet usable way. That was my main complaint about Resident Evil for iPhone [iTunes link] -- my hand is often in the way of what I'm trying to see. Note that this will require an jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch. [Via iPhone Savior]TUAWN64 emulator for jailbroken iPhones on the way? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - IpodTouch - Apple - iTunes - TUAW
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'Macsimum Recommended Reading' for Nov. 4
Posted by Dennis Sellers“What's killing Apple's Time Capsules after 18 months? It's meant to be a wireless storage device – but for hundreds of buyers it's turned into an expensive plastic brick about 18 months after purchase (updated)”—The Guardian
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News: iSkin rolls out solo FX SE for iPhone 3G, 3GS
iSkin has introduced its new solo FX Special Edition (SE) case for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Like the previously-released solo and solo FX for iPhone 3G, the SE is a form-fitting case, featuring integrated volume and power button protection, an embossed design pattern for added visual interest, and unobstructed access to all ports and controls. Unlike prior models, however, the solo FX SE features a more subdued matte finish with a textured surface,…
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French magazine shoots handhelds through boards, much to our amusement
As you know, there's one thing we love more than gadgets -- wanton destruction. Combine the two (on someone else's dime, o'course) and we're having a pretty good day. That said, we're glad that there are others out there with our bent, including Amusement, a "gaming lifestyle" mag based en France. Apparently, the theme of the current issue is "computer bugs," with a number of articles illustrated in a clever, artistic, Gallic manner. But that's not what caught our eye -- no, we were into the pictures of handheld game consoles (specifically, a Nintendo DS and a PSP Go) being shot through particle board. Feel free to peep some more action photography after the break -- and we'll just go back to working on our coilgun.[Via SlashGear]Continue reading French magazine shoots handhelds through boards, much to our amusementFiled under: GamingFrench magazine shoots handhelds through boards, much to our amusement originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Super Talent announces USB 3.0 RAID drive
Posted by Dennis SellersSuper Talent, a manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, has announced the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 RAIDDrive, which it says is the world's first USB 3.0 RAID drive.
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HSC Edit for Aperture updated to version 1.8
Posted by Dennis SellersHuman Software has updated HSC Edit for Aperture (Apple's software for pro photographers) to version 1.8. HSC Edit is an edit plug-in to Apple Aperture that offers more than 4,000 effects to apply on one or a set of images.
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Sony offers 1,000 ringtones for iPhone for 20 bucks. Pass.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, iPhoneLet's file this under 'really bad ideas done poorly.' Sony would like to sell you 1,000 ringtones, sound effects, and comedy voices on a data DVD that's just oh so ready to import into iTunes. Sony doesn't seem to offer a comparable product for other cellphones, like maybe the Sony Ericsson brand, so I can only conclude this is a plot by Sony to make iPhone owners look dumb when a call comes in. I listened to some of the samples on the Sony website, and the DVD seems to be a collection of bad and unmemorable production music, obnoxious sound effects, and jokey voices saying things like "Dude -- everybody keep your voice down, I think it's my Dad calling."Continue reading Sony offers 1,000 ringtones for iPhone for 20 bucks. Pass.TUAWSony offers 1,000 ringtones for iPhone for 20 bucks. Pass. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The Macsimum Podcast for November 4th
Posted by Frank PetrieToday on your Macsimum Podcast: “Global Smartphone Market Share” “I Want My UHD,” “Macsimum Poll,” “The Original Apple Shines,” and “Story 4.”
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ASUS retools Eee Keyboard, swaps in capacitive touchscreen
At this point, we're beginning to wonder if we'll ever see ASUS' Eee Keyboard on store shelves. Heck, we've even see it drop by the all-knowing FCC, yet the company has apparently delayed the official debut once more. The kids over at Register Hardware were able to sit down with a tweaked version of the device, which is now slated to ship in early 2010. What's different? ASUS threw out the old resistive touchscreen that we'd played with before and swapped in a capacitive panel like the one in SE's XPERIA X10, Apple's iPhone and Nokia's X6. Engineers assert that touch response was far better with capacitive, and at least in this application, it simply made more sense. We're also given a good look at the external WiFi / UWB antenna that we spotted in the aforesaid FCC filing, which is being used over a sleek internal option due to possible interference from the metallic enclosure. Other than that, most everything else has remained the same, though we are told that a non-metallic iteration is in the works for those who hate awesome things.Filed under: PeripheralsASUS retools Eee Keyboard, swaps in capacitive touchscreen originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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TUAW Video: a tour of Freeverse
Filed under: Video, TUAW Business, TUAW Interview Welcome to the first of what we hope will be many, many TUAW Videos to come. We've done lots of video on TUAW, from Macworld Expo coverage to WWDC interviews to fart apps and more. This time we're trying something a bit different. This time we're taking it slow and profiling Mac and iPhone users, developers, mavens and anyone with a story to tell. If you've ever seen MacHeads or Welcome to Macintosh (both of which are awesome), you know there are plenty of passionate Apple fans out there. If you're reading this blog you probably know this, right? Well, now's the time to tell these stories. We visited Freeverse in Brooklyn, NY and spent some time checking out the factory where Skee-ball, Moto Chaser, Big Brain Games, Burning Monkey Solitaire and the awesome Flick series of iPhone games come from. We found a passionate, creative team of coders and designers working hard to keep you entertained. We also got a peek at Warp Gate, which looks like a huge game to cram into an iPhone. Watch the video and tell us if you'd like to see more of these profiles. If you're a passionate Mac user with an interesting story to tell you can get in touch with us here. On an iPhone? Here's the link for the iPhone version of this video. ShareTUAWTUAW Video: a tour of Freeverse originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Apple - Macintosh - TUAW - Moto Chaser
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Kaspersky Labs introduces Anti-Virus for Mac
Posted by Dennis SellersKaspersky Lab has introduced Anti-Virus for Mac suite, virus and spyware protection software for Mac OS X 10.4.11 or higher.
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T-Mobile users still reeling from outage
Customers affected by a widespread outage Tuesday share their grievances over both the technical issues and the way that the carrier handled the matter.
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WebKit Web Inspector Updates
Joseph Pecoraro details the latest improvements to WebKit’s built-in web developer tools. â
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Prepare for digital music from the Beatles -- but not on iTunes
Filed under: iTunes, Music In a limited run of 30,000 units, Apple Corps Ltd. will be releasing the Beatles' remastered catalog for your consumption in a green apple USB device. Unfortunately, I didn't say anything about iTunes in that sentence... It looks like the Apples still can't play nice together, so we're left to dream that one day the Beatles collection will make it to the big download cloud in the sky. Our sister site, Engadget, reports that these drives are available for pre-order now but will not ship until December 7th in the UK and December 8th in the US for $279.99. The 16GB USB drive will include the Beatles' 14 stereo tracks in FLAC (for the audiophiles in the audience) as well as the rest of their collection in 320 Kbps MP3s. The drive will also include 13 documentaries about the studio albums, expanded liner notes, re-touched album art, and several rare photos. What does all of this mean? The Beatles' record company basically created a massive iTunes LP without iTunes. According to The Beatles' website, there's a special Flash interface for consumer interaction with the extra content. Some would say that this is just another stepping stone in the road to online distribution... while that may be true, I'm getting tired of all the back-and-forth. I own a good majority of the Beatles albums on CD and have already ripped them into iTunes. I expect that most anyone who really wants these in their iTunes library has already gone through the motions to accomplish that. I could pay the $280 for a USB drive, or buy all of the CDs from Amazon.com for half that price and spend several hours putting them on my computer. Sure, sure, I'm not getting the officially remastered files from the Beatles themselves... but I'm willing to make that sacrifice. Even still, this may be the perfect Holiday gift for the Beatles fanatic in your household. (Honey, I don't want one.)TUAWPrepare for digital music from the Beatles -- but not on iTunes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Apple - ITunes Store - Amazon.com - iTunes - Compact Disc
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Apple Stores' New Easy Pay iPod touch
According to ifoAppleStore and AppleInsider, in about two weeks, Apple stores will start retiring their current Windows CE portable computers and start using custom iPod touches to check out customers. Apple's new EasyPay system uses the the touchscreen interface of the iPod touch to help any customer with purchases and returns. Apple is wrapping the iPod touch in a hard plastic, two-piece shell with a magstripe reader in the back, and a barcode scanner installed on the top of the device. Inside the shell a rechargeable battery will help power the card reader and scanner, and there is a set of four lights on the back to help indicate the state of the battery's charge. Credit card transactions are very similar to the current method, customers will write their signature on the iPod touch using a Pogo Sketch stylus. The iPod touch scanner can read all four barcodes printed on the iPhone box, and automatically fills in the data fields on the order screen. "The software even displays the iPhone 'Terms and Conditions' for the customer to read, and then accepts the customers signature to verify their acceptance," says AppleInsider.
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Apple, RIM grab market share from Nokia
Facing competition from Apple and RIM, Nokia has gone from 50 percent share of the Wi-Fi handset market to 35 percent in the past year, says new In-Stat report.
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Command & Conquer: Red Alert Brings the Red Menace to Your iPhone
It's a game series that's gotten much love over the years, despite, or perhaps because of, the cheesy live action cut scenes featuring actors like Tim Curry. Now, Command & Conquer comes to the iPhone with Command & Conquer: Red Alert ($9.99, iTunes link), named after its PC and console counterpart released in 1996. How well does the beloved RTS translate to the iPhone platform? That depends on what you're looking to get out of the game. EA Mobile has clearly tried to faithfully translate the experience, but as with any translation, no perfect one-to-one relationship can exist. What does come through, however, is definitely worth looking at. Graphics & Audio Perhaps just to make me sad, EA chose not to go with live action mission briefings for this installment of the series, opting instead to brief you with static cartoon images and scrollable text. It's not nearly as pleasant as hammy acting, but it does get the job done and prepare you adequately for the in-game action. In-game graphics look great, and are probably a bit of an improvement over their original counterparts in the PC version. Units are clearly distinguishable from one another, animations are smooth, and the visual special effects look good. My sole complaint for the in-game look of things is that units can tend to stack, which renders some of them invisible. It's confusing and can hamper effective unit management. Sound is good, with music from Red Alert 3, which is the latest game in the series for the PC and consoles. In-game voices are well-recorded and clear, as are most sound effects. Again, the lack of audio in briefings and other between-action components is a little disappointing, but not terribly so. Gameplay As with any real-time strategy port for the iPhone, the key to enjoyable gameplay lies in making sure the controls are well-designed and intuitive. This can be particularly challenging even when porting RTS games to consoles from the PC, so EA has its work cut out for it with Command & Conquer on the iPhone. Selecting and commanding individual units on the iPhone is simple enough. You touch a unit to select it, and touch somewhere else to tell it where to go or what to attack. To select multiple units, you have to activate a selection tool by clicking an icon in the lower left-hand corner. At first it wasn't clear (I hadn't reached that part in the tutorial yet) and I tried tapping and dragging and two-finger pinch and zoom type gestures. Once you have selected a group of units, though, you can assign them to a command group using another icon at the lower left of the screen. This assigns them to one of three slots on the left, and allows you to re-select that group at any time with a simple tap. It's the saving grace of the game, control-wise, and I wish there were more than three spots available to assign unit groups to. The campaigns are fun, and not too challenging. There is both a Soviet and an Allied campaign, each of which contains five chapters, and there's a skirmish mode with customizable starting resources and different maps, which really adds to the replay value of the game. All told, EA Mobile does a great job skirting the limitations of the iPhone's controls, and provides ample gameplay while still retaining a fairly casual feel, so that you can pick it up and put it down as necessary between meetings or while commuting. Verdict For an iPhone game, Command & Conquer: Red Alert feels polished and professional, but it leaves me wanting something more. I can't help but yearn for the easier controls and richer storyline and gameplay of the PC version, which may in fact be what EA was intending. Perhaps the iPhone game is meant as a sort of teaser demo to attract new customers to the PC/console line. Either way, despite solid gameplay, Red Alert left me underwhelmed. I'd wait for the inevitable price drop to $6.99 or less before picking this one up.
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Waveboard on the iPhone, Google Wave access slightly better than Mobile Safari
Filed under: Productivity, iPhoneIf you're lucky enough to have a Google Wave account, you may be familiar with Waveboard. I started out using Wave via a Fluid SSB, running Wave Growl for Growl notifications and Dock badges. Then I found Waveboard, and it made things smooth enough that I haven't looked at Wave any other way since. So, obviously, I'd been anticipating the iPhone version of Waveboard. It's here, and it's, well, moderately interesting. The desktop app is essentially a Single Site Browser, like a Fluid app, but it adds handy, Mac-like keyboard shortcuts, Growl notifications, Dock and Menubar notifications, etc. The iPhone app is the same, a webkit browser showing what Google already provides, but there just wasn't as much potential integration to take advantage of on the iPhone. They took advantage of the shake gesture to reload or log out. Websites can be opened in the same browser or sent to Safari. Landscape mode is supported. And you can kind of get push notifications, by using Prowl (which Aron has mentioned before). Setup instructions are available on the Waveboard blog. That's about it, for now. Google hasn't offered an API, which seriously hampers a developer's ability to do cool things. More features are reportedly in the works, so we'll see if it turns into a truly useful counterpart to its desktop cousin over time. Waveboard for iPhone is available on the App Store iTunes link for $0.99US. Under a buck, and it might be worth a look for avid Wavers (which I would be, if enough of my clients and cohorts had accounts to make it truly useful). [via TechCrunch]TUAWWaveboard on the iPhone, Google Wave access slightly better than Mobile Safari originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Google Wave - Apple - Google - App Store
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iStopMotion ready for Snow Leopard
Posted by Dennis SellersBoinx Software has updated iStopMotion, the stop motion and time lapse tool for Mac OS X, to version 2.1. The new version has been revved for Mac OS X 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”) and has been localized for Japanese.
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Bare Bones updates BBEdit
BBEdit, Bare Bones Software's leading HTML code and text editor was updated to Version 9.3 on Tuesday with new features and interface tweaks.
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News: Boomwave unveils Kruz cases for iPod touch 2G, 3G
Boomwave has unveiled its new Kruz cases for the second- and third-generation iPod touch. Like the company's prior Kruz cases for the iPhone 3G, the Kruz cases for iPod touch feature an inner ABS hard shell with a faux leather exterior, and come in white, pink, or black, each with a unique design on the rear shell. Each case offers full access to all ports and controls, and also includes a screen protector. Boomwave's Kruz cases for the…
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Announcing O'Reilly Answers - Clever Hacks. Creative Ideas. Innovative Solutions.
We're launching the beta of O'Reilly Answers, and I'm inviting you to be part of it. In brief, O'Reilly Answers is a community site for sharing knowledge, asking questions, and providing answers that brings together our customers, authors, editors, conference speakers, and Foo (Friends of O'Reilly). O'Reilly is at the center of an amazing exchange of knowledge sharing and idea generation, and we want you to join us in changing the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators.
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Public Radio App lets you resume 'This American Life' whenever you please
Now that you've got an NPR-lovin' stereo in your bedroom, the only thing missing in your otherwise completely fulfilled life is an NPR application that enables you to listen to your favorite programs whenever, wherever. If we just rung your bell, you can now drift away and die happy. Available this very moment in the 100,000-strong App Store is the Public Radio App, which essentially acts as a DVR for the iconic station. Once fired up, the app can "pause and rewind public radio streams from NPR, PRI, APM and local public radio stations," and there's even an alarm clock setting that wakes you up with your favorite public radio stream. Unfortunately, on-demand streaming is still a pipe dream, but there's nothing to stop these guys from adding that very feature in the next iteration. Go on -- try and lay off the trigger. It's not like that awfully low $2.99 price point is tempting or anything.Filed under: Cellphones, SoftwarePublic Radio App lets you resume 'This American Life' whenever you please originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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MacTuneUp tuned up for Snow Leopard
Posted by Dennis SellersMacWare has released version 3.6 of MacTuneUp, a utility that discovers and fixes problems, restores hard disk space, creates bootable disk backups, and maximizes Internet and network connections. The new version is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”).
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Apple launches Music Movies on iTunes
Filed under: iTunes, Music In an attempt to increase movie sales, Apple is pushing out more alternative content on the iTunes Store. Today, they've spruced up their "Music Movies" library and added a landing page to promote upcoming releases. Music Movies are music-themed movies, concerts and documentaries that generally feature exclusive content and behind-the-scenes footage. While the selection is currently limited, Apple does offer a few movies that are not available anywhere else, such as an exclusive Kings of Leon concert DVD among other selections such as U2's "Rattle and Hum" and "John Lennon Imagine". In addition to the added content, a prominent landing page has been created that is dedicated to this genre of film. Apple also plans to negotiate early access to music-themed movies and is trying to make the content available for download long before it is available in stores.TUAWApple launches Music Movies on iTunes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iTunes Store - John Lennon - Apple - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Imagine
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Blacksn0w Unlocks iPhone 3G and 3GS with OS 3.1.2
Make reports that an exploit was found by developer/hacker GeoHot that has lead to an unlock for the iPhone 3G and 3GS that use the 05.11.07 baseband. The baseband was cracked and the newest app used to unlock your iPhone is titled blacksn0w. Blacksn0w is available now for Mac and Windows users at blackr1n jailbreak. Lets just hope that GeoHot gets his $10,000 from Jody Sanders, the guy that sells freely available unlock tools and support to iPhone owners. As always, jailbreaking your iPhone could void your warrenty and brick the device. Use common sense.
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Microsoft cuts 800 more jobs
The latest workers to have their jobs eliminated are being notified Wednesday, in what Microsoft said completes personnel reductions announced earlier this year.
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AT&T Sues Verizon Over "Maps" Commercial
AT&T sues Verizon over a commercial designed to play on Apple's "There's an app for that" commercials. Verizon's "There's a map for that" commercial (above) might have stepped on some feet when they bashed AT&T's 3G service saying that other companies don't have the service Verizon has and that "There's a map for that, too."According to the suit, which was filed in an Atlanta, Georgia federal court on Tuesday, "The map attributed to AT&T shows large swaths of white or blank space, as if these are areas in which AT&T has no coverage whatsoever." The suit goes on to say, "By depicting AT&T's non-"3G" coverage as white or blank space in the map used in Verizon's print advertisement, consumers are being misled into believing that AT&T's customers have no coverage whatsoever and thus cannot use their wireless devices when they are outside of AT&T's depicted coverage area." Reuters got a reply from Verizon saying, "The ads in question clearly state that voice and data services are available outside 3G areas."AT&T has requested a temporary restraining order that could prevent the television commercial from airing until this dispute is resolved. Via AppleInsider
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Consumer Reports Readers Heart the Apple Store
In the December issue of Consumer Reports the results of a poll show that, on a scale of 0 to 100, readers rated their experience at the Apple Store a 90. Ratings were based on responses of more than 31,000 readers who purchased electronics during June 2008 and June 2009.Readers gave the Apple Store the highest marks for product quality, customer service, and ease of buying; readers also gave Apple failing grades for price and selections. Consumer Reports editors noted that the Apple Store "is, of course, limited to selling Apple Products."
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O'Reilly releases Missing Manual for Photoshop Elements 8
Posted by Dennis SellersO'Reilly has released Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac: The Missing Manual, a 584-page, US44.95 ($35.99 for the ebook version) “missing manual” for Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.
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Epson Artisan 810
All-in-one printers do everything, but usually at the expense of excelling at any single job. Not so with the Epson Artisan 810, which quickly spits out high-quality photographic prints and also ably takes care of your scanning, copying, and standard printing needs.The printer uses a tray that accommodates a variety of different paper sizes, including legal, 8.5x14 standard, and various user-definable sizes, which we didnât have any problems switching between. It also includes a dedicated slot for 4x6 or 5x7 media. You can also print on ink jetâready CDs and DVDs. The Artisan features print resolutions up to 5760x1440 dpi.The 810 is speedy--by the time we walked across the room to even wait for our prints, they were already done. The printer has an RPM (Resolution Performance Management) mode that will give you the highest-quality prints available, but it comes at the expense of speed. We noticed the greatest improvements using RPM mode when printing grayscale images with smooth gradients between light and dark. The regular photo mode was more than adequate for point-and-shoot images, but higher-res DSLR shots also showed marked improvement with RPM prints.Back in Black.For standard document printing, the Epson produced crisp fonts and pages nearly shot out of the printer. The 810 gave us between 37 to 40 PPM, depending on the amount of included text, and churned out 4x6 photo prints in 8 to 12 seconds. Double-sided prints took longer, but the printer features a built-in duplexer. The Artisan 810, like most printers, also serves as a card reader and gives you the ability to print directly from memory cards without a computer. We especially like the ability to print out a contact sheet with thumbnails and choose which images to print full size. You can also add frames and create greeting cards directly from the printer itself--a nice touch if you need a card pronto. All of this memory cardâbased printing is controlled from the 7.8-inch touchscreen. The screen is home to the easy-to-use UI that controls printer settings and its many features. Setting up the printer, including Wi-Fi printing, was quick and painless.
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Kodak Zi8
If you flipped over the Flip pocket-size video cameras, thereâs a new contender worth your attention. Kodakâs Zi8 replaces the Zi6, bringing full HD 1080p capabilities to a small, well-designed package that fits in your pocket but does more than its competition.Measuring 2.4 by 4.5 by 0.9 inches and weighing 4.8 ounces, the Zi8 features a great-looking 2.5-inch LCD with three brightness settings--we had no problems viewing it in bright sunlight. We put a few nasty scratches in the plastic body during testing, but the screen survived unscathed. The four buttons and four-way rocker switch make navigating the menus easy with just your thumb.The Lithium-Ion battery is removable, so you can pack extra batteries ($29.95 each) and keep shooting. A battery charger is included (or you can charge by USB), along with HDMI and composite cables for hooking the camera to your TV. The USB plug for connecting it to your Mac is built right in.The Zi8 comes in basic black, aqua, or raspberry.You do have to buy an SDHC card--the camera accepts cards up to 32GB, and we picked up an 8GB card at Best Buy for under $25. This is a great feature compared to the fixed-memory Flip. Fill up one card, swap it out for another, and you can film all day long.The Zi8 shoots video in 1080p, 720p, or widescreen VGA, all at 30 frames per second, and you can also shoot 60 frames per second at 720p, good for catching fast-moving action, or if you plan to slow the video down later.Video quality is impressive for a pocket-size camera, with accurate colors and skin tones. The face-detection feature adjusts exposure if youâre shooting someone in shadow, and low-light performance is comparable to the Flipâs. The Zi8 features image stabilization, but we still got the best results using a tripod. The built-in mono mic worked OK even outdoors, and thereâs a jack for plugging in your own stereo microphone. The 5-megapixel still photos didnât stun us, and itâs hard to keep the camera still while pressing the shutter button. But the macro switch (for photos and videos shot close-up) is a nice touch. The 4x zoom is digital, photo-speak for âunusable.âYour videos are encoded as H.264 MPEG-4 MOV files, but the included software isnât Mac compatible. The Zi8 appears on your Desktop like a removable drive, and you have to drag the movies to your hard drive manually, but they open in QuickTime and can be imported into iMovie for editing.
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Parallels 5 boasts huge speed improvement
Virtualization software that allows Intel-based Macs to run Windows and Linux adds 70 new features and is even faster than Apple's Boot Camp, Parallels CEO says.
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Ask TUAW: Arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows on a Mac, Airport networks and more
Filed under: Wireless, Features, Airport, iMac, iTunes, Ask TUAW, Snow LeopardWelcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we have questions about arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows via Boot Camp, AirPort networks, iMac rotation support, replacing the video card in an iMac, and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions. Leah asks: Is there a better way to arrange icons on my iPhone than by trying to drag them around on the phone itself. I can't seem to get it to work very well and usually mess it up. Apple provided a better way of organizing iPhone icons in iTunes 9. In the past, I always tried to arrange my icons on the iPhone the same way you do, by dragging them around on the device itself. This isn't as easy as it sounds, especially if you have larger hands. Now, with iTunes 9 or higher installed and your iPhone connected to your Mac or PC, launch iTunes, click on the Applications tab, and you will not only see the apps you have installed on your iPhone, but the iPhone screens and the placement of the icons as well. Simply drag the icons around in iTunes and put them in the desired order. The next time you sync, the icons are arranged identically on your iPhone as well. It's so much easier!Continue reading Ask TUAW: Arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows on a Mac, Airport networks and moreTUAWAsk TUAW: Arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows on a Mac, Airport networks and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Mac OS X - Apple - BootCamp - iMac
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Nokia's Apple Attack: All for One and One for All
The reason commonly given for the creation of technology standards is to enable a more open, seamless process for licensing and adoption. However, in its lawsuit filed recently against iPhone maker Apple, Nokia is attempting an interesting spin on this definition, which may very well reflect reality: It argues that standards are broadly licensed in order to increase the size of the market which those standards can address. As a result, when a transgression against the standard comes about, the rights holders throughout the market have a duty to come to its defense.
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Digieffects launches Falloff Lighting plug-in for After Effects
Posted by Dennis SellersDigieffects, a developer of visual effects software plug-ins, has released Falloff Lighting (US$49), which provides enhanced lighting for After Effects' built-in lights.
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Klipsch puts wireless spin on ProMedia 2.1 computer speakers
Posted by Dennis SellersKlipsch has added wireless technology to its ProMedia 2.1 computer speakers. The original ProMedia 2.1 system was introduced in 2000; the ProMedia 2.1 Wireless (US$199) looks and sounds like the THX-certified original, only the Klipsch logos are silver instead of copper.
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MacSpeech Dictate gets new Dictation Preferences Pane
Posted by Dennis Sellers MacSpeech has released MacSpeech Dictate 1.5.6, an upgrade to the speech recognition solution for the Mac. The upgrade introduces a new Dictation Preferences pane that lets users enable or disable the Auto Cache Document feature for TextEdit and Microsoft Word. It's also a maintenance release that fixes reported issues.
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Bare Bones Software releases BBEdit 9.3
Posted by Dennis SellersBare Bones Software has released BBEdit 9.3, an upgrade to the HTML and text editor for the Macintosh.
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App Store smashes the 100,000 app barrier and keeps on growing
Filed under: Apple Financial, iPhone, iPod touch Apple announced early this morning that there are now over 100,000 apps available to iPhone and iPod touch users in the the App Store. Customers of the App Store have purchased over two billion apps, and it is the world's most popular applications store. In this morning's press release, Apple senior vice president for Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller noted that "The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world." Schiller's statement was echoed by top executives from EA Mobile and Smule. EA Mobile's Travis Boatman, VP of Worldwide Studios, praised the App Store as an innovative marketplace to over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch owners, while Smule's CEO Jeff Smith took the perspective of a small, new development house that has skyrocketed to success. "With 10,000 downloads a day, worldwide customer response to our I Am T-Pain App has exceeded our wildest expectations," said Smith. "The App Store has given us a unique opportunity to create and grow a very successful business, and we're looking forward to an exciting future. By comparison, the Google Android Market had just over 10,000 apps as of early September, almost 65% of which were free. An analysis of iPhone and Android app purchases shows that iPhone users are more likely to purchase apps, while users of Android-based smartphones appear to like getting their software for free. Developers for the most part will go where the money is, and at this time, that appears to be the App Store. [via Engadget]TUAWApp Store smashes the 100,000 app barrier and keeps on growing originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - App Store - IpodTouch - Apple - Jeff Smith
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The Beatles go digital—but not on iTunes
Posted by Dennis SellersThe Beatles' Apple Records (no relationship to Apple Inc.) and EMI will be offering digital conversions of the recent digitally re-mastered Beatles catalogue on CD on Dec. 7 in the UK and Dec. 8 in the U.S. via a limited edition stereo USB.
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Personal Droid Data Plan Will Cost $30 Per Month, Even With Exchange
Gearlog: If you have a personal account or family plan, your data will cost $30/month. It doesn’t matter if you’re using Microsoft Exchange, Facebook, Gmail, or whatever - it’s $30. This is the same for all Verizon Windows Mobile and Android phones. Data on business accounts — “corporate liable,” multiple lines, purchased through business sales, usually mediated by an IT department — costs $45/month. Once again, this is the same for every Windows Mobile and Android phone. The same deal as AT&T. And in other Verizon/Droid news, it looks like Droid users will have a $15/month tethering option in January. Still no word at all from AT&T about official tethering support for the iPhone. â
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Analysts: iPhone sales in China a disappointment
Posted by Dennis SellersAnalysts are calling the initial iPhone sales in China a disappointment with only about 5,000 sold in the past week, reports Bloomberg. Among the problems: no built-in Wi-Fi, a burgeoning gray market for illegal iPhones and a high price tag (6,999 yuan or about US$1,025).
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TUAW Review: Kanex HDMI + audio adapter works fine but costs extra
Filed under: Hardware, Video, Reviews, Mac mini When we first heard about the Kanex HDMI + digital audio converter a few weeks ago, I was eager to give it a trial run and see if it managed to deliver on the promise of integrated audio with HDMI video. I've been playing with the $70 unit for a few days now, and the answer is a qualified yes: it does the job, but depending on your home theater setup you may be able to get by with a less expensive option. The digital-audio Kanex unit ships without a manual and is largely self-explanatory (although the company has now posted a basic user guide and FAQ) -- a female HDMI port on one side of the roughly iPod-sized unit, and three male cables coming out the other side. The cables connect to the mini DisplayPort, optical audio out, and USB port of your Mac; while Kanex does sell a $60 unit that handles audio over USB, this version only uses that connection to power the adapter and does not provide a USB audio interface. If you're running short of open powered USB ports you might opt to plug it into a USB power adapter instead. In operation, there's not much to worry about: I plugged in all three ports to a unibody MacBook Pro and connected an HDMI display, then went to the normal Mac OS X Displays preference pane, where I found a full assortment of resolutions for my enjoyment. The top few 'television' options may vary with your connected gear; on my test set (a Vizio 42" 720p display) I was able to choose 720p and, oddly enough, 1080i and 1080p. Below that you have resolutions ranging from 640x480 up into the 1600x1000 range.Continue reading TUAW Review: Kanex HDMI + audio adapter works fine but costs extraTUAWTUAW Review: Kanex HDMI + audio adapter works fine but costs extra originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments MacBookPro - Mini DisplayPort - MacMini - HDMI - Mac OS X
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Equinux releases Season's Greetings Vol. 2 for Mac OS X Mail
Posted by Dennis SellersThis year Mac users can send out their Christmas greetings via Mac OS X's Mail. Following the success of their Stationery Pack Greeting Cards, equinux has released Season's Greetings Vol. 2, a collection of 22 festive greeting cards for Mail in Mac OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”) and 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”).
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Greater Atlanta Christian Schools getting MacBooks for over 1,200 students
Posted by Dennis SellersGreater Atlanta Christian Schools has launched a massive Apple technology initiative that will put new laptops in the hands of more than 1,200 students, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
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App Store Hits 100K in 481 Days
481 days. That's how long it took the App Store to go from opening its virtual doors with 500 applications on July 11, 2008 to a catalog of more than 100,000 applications downloaded more than 2 billion times. Not surprisingly, the folks at Apple are pleased. âThe App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world,â said Philip Schiller, Appleâs senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. âThe iPhone SDK created the first great platform for mobile applications and our customers are loving all of the amazing apps our developers are creating.â The amazing thing is that it's likely not even Apple knew just how successful the App Store and SDK would be or how it would spawn so many competitors (GigaOM Pro, subscription required). In June 2007, it was Apple CEO Steve Jobs talking up a different method application development for the iPhone: âOur innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.â Imagine for a moment if Apple had stuck to that ideal of a web-based platform. I believe it would be called the Palm Pre. Of course, it's possible that Apple knew all along that there would be a real SDK for the iPhone OS, almost assuredly so for major partners like game developers. Apple again pushed that gaming concept for iPhone OS with today's announcement, too. EA Mobile VP Travis Boatman chimed in on the press release, saying that the App Store has “forever changed the mobile gaming industry and continues to improve.” You can bet Nintendo and Sony believe at least the first part of that statement, much to their chagrin. What you didn't find in the press release was what, exactly, is being done to improve the flawed approval process. While Apple talks about addressing issues, there is no evidence of real, systemic change. As the App Store moves inevitably towards 500,000, and then its millionth application, you have to wonder if the App Store can withstand the stress of its own incredible success.
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Apple reaches 100,000 apps, 2 billion downloads
Company's App Store hits another milestone as it surpasses 100,000 applications available in less than 16 months since its launch.
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The iPhoneâs Other Killer App
Looking at the latest data on smartphone market share from research firm Canalys, it would appear that while Apple is doing well, RIM is doing better. According to Canalys, over 41 million smartphones shipped last quarter, and of those Apple sold 7.3 million, up from 6.9 million a year ago, a 6.7 percent increase. Thatâs the good news. The bad news is for HTC, the only major smartphone maker to lose market share, down 5.6 percent, but the best news is for RIM. RIM sold 8.5 million phones, up from 6 million last year, a super-sized 40 percent increase. Based upon these numbers, it would seem logical to conclude RIM is the big winner among smartphone makers, but these numbers only touch the surface of the situation, or rather they donât. While conventional wisdom says the killer application for the iPhone has been the App Store, a new survey from comScore suggests that touch is quickly becoming the must have feature for smartphones. For the U.S., sales of touchscreen phones were up 159 percent from a year ago, an even larger increase than touchscreen smartphone sales, which were up 63 percent. Of the latter, the iPhone is the undisputed leader. The iPhone accounts for a third of the touchscreen smartphone market in the U.S., with no other competitor in double digits. The Blackberry Storm is at 7 percent, the T-Mobile G1 and HTC Touch are at 3.6 and 3.1 percent, respectively. Mark Donovan of comScore believes the iPhone âset the trend in the industry for touchscreen devices, so itâs no surprise that it has the largest share of the market.â However, he also believes âcompetitors have entered the touchscreen market with compelling devices, competition is clearly heating up.â That latter comment sounds eerily familiar, not at all unlike predictions about iPod competitors in 2004. Back then, the iPodâs success was attributed to everything from the iTunes ecosystem to Apple marketing, but what really set the iPod apart was the interface, especially the patented click wheel. What we are seeing now is that in every review from the Palm Pre to the Motorola Droid there is a comparison to the multi-touch interface of the iPhone. Without exception, the iPhone wins every time. Even better, from Appleâs point of view, the smartphone with the worst touch interface — besides beleaguered Windows Mobile on HTC phones — has been RIMâs BlackBerry Storm and Storm2. Further, what is arguably the closest competitor, the Motorola Droid will lack multi-touch, at least in the U.S. Motorola obfuscated something about âdifferentiated consumer experiences on our mobile devicesâ based on âregion, carrier preferences and consumer needs,â but another theory is wariness concerning Appleâs patents on multi-touch. Let's hope so. A vigorous defense of that mutli-touch experience is one half of what could be a plan for world domination by Apple in the phone market. The other half is the end of carrier exclusivity and the launch of a carrier-subsidized “free” iPhone nano, a media player and phone with the best interface on the planet, Apple's golden touch.
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News: First iPod poll ends, iTunes TV subscription poll begins
With over 3,100 votes from iLounge readers, our most recent poll—“Do you still have your first iPod?” has ended. Readers could choose from two positive responses or five negative, with a separate option for those who have never owned an iPod. With exactly 50% of the vote, the majority of readers said they still have their first iPod, and it still works. Another 12% said they still have it, but it is no longer operational, while 11%…
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Install more than 180 apps on the iPhone/iPod touch
The latest version of the iPhone OS allows you to have 11 pages of 16 icons, plus the four permanent icons at the bottom of the screen, for a total of 180 apps. You can actually have more than 180, though only 180 icons will be visible. To get to the invisible apps, just do a search (press Home from the home screen), and type part of the non-visible app's name. I don't know how many of these invisible apps you can have, as I have not tried more than three so far. [robg adds: As far as I know, the limit is simply based on the available space on your device. Long before that point, though, you may run into a limit with your ability to remember the names of all the invisible apps.]
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10.6: A fix for failure to connect to new wireless networks
After upgrading from 10.5.8 to 10.6.1 on my MacBook Pro, I was unable to connect to wireless networks unless I had already connected to them running under 10.5.8. Snow Leopard would "see" the new networks, but could not connect to them. The Genius Bar at the Apple Store helped me solve the problem. We opened Library » Preferences » SystemConfiguration, and trashed the entire contents of that folder. We also deleted all locations in System Preferences » Network, and recreated the location Automatic. Finally, we rebooted. So far, I have been able to connect to all wireless networks that I want to using OS X 10.6.1.
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Delete email in Mail without showing next message
One of the "features" in Apple's Mail program that has always annoyed me is how it handles messages after doing a delete operation. If you press Delete to throw away the message you're currently looking at, Mail displays the next message (marking it read in the process). While I like the fact that Mail marks displayed messages as read, I have always found it annoying that it displays a message that I have not specifically selected (and then marks it as read). There's a way around this. Instead of pressing Delete, press Option-Delete. With this shortcut (which doesn't show up in the Edit menu), Mail deletes the currently-displayed message and then does nothing at all, and the next message is not displayed. This is exactly what I want -- I now must explicitly tell Mail when I want a message to be displayed. I expect I can make this the default using the Keyboard Shortcuts tab in the Keyboard System Preferences panel, but I have yet to play with that. [rob...
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10.6: View debug info about current desktop picture
Within the Desktop & Screen Saver System Preferences pane, pressing Command-Option-D (Show/Hide Dock shortcut) will add two new buttons to the panel: TEST and DEBUG WINDOW. Press Command-Option-D again to remove the buttons. TEST doesn't seem to do anything, but DEBUG WINDOW displays a window that gives you debug information about the current desktop picture. [robg adds: I'm not sure why this info might be useful; it's very low-level stuff, such as the value for configManager.operationQueue.operations. I'd guess that a bit of development code got left in the final release, and I expect it will be disappearing in a future point update.]
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Apple leads October sentiment for tech
Posted by Dennis Sellers Crowd Technologies, Inc., provider of the stock prediction site Piqqem, has announced the October sentiment results for Apple, Google, Intel, Cisco, Amazon, HP and Microsoft As expected, Apple continues to lead the pack with a stellar 3.11 sentiment rating while Microsoft bring ups the rear at 2.27.
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Parallels Desktop 5 ships with a host of new and improved features
Filed under: Enterprise, SoftwareThere are two kinds of people in the Mac world: those who sometimes need Windows, and those who don't. If you're one of the latter group, feel free to skip the rest of this post. Parallels 5 for Mac has been released, with Snow Leopard compatibility, Windows 7 support, full support for Aero, including Flip 3D in Windows Vista and 7 & OpenGL 2.1 and a host of other new or improved features. You aren't limited to Windows either; Parallels also adds support for OpenGL 2.1 support for Linux guest operating systems. (Although we're a Mac site, I'm glad to see other OSes getting some development attention too.) It is a free upgrade for those who purchased version 4 on October 1st, 2009 or later. Others will have to pay $49.99USD to upgrade, or $79.99 for a new license. Parallels is also offering crossgrade licensing to VMware Fusion 2 users. If you have a license key for Fusion 2, you can get Paralells 5 for the same $49.99 upgrade fee as existing Parallels customers. If you're new to Parallels, check out their introductory video for an overview of how it works. If you need Windows to go with your Intel Mac, there are a lot of options: Parallels, VMware Fusion (which also recently released a new version), Boot Camp (although Apple isn't yet supporting Windows 7 in Boot Camp), CrossOver, and if you're willing to do a little more "nerd work" to set it up, you can even set up Windows virtualization for free with Sun's VirtualBox tool (well, "free" plus the cost of Windows). Parallels and VMware Fusion seem destined to be the dueling "favorite flavors" of Windows virtualization on the Mac like Coke vs. Pepsi or vanilla vs. chocolate. Which is the right one for you? Download a demo and take a look. I own both Parallels and VMware Fusion, and look forward to putting them both through their paces with Windows 7. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.TUAWParallels Desktop 5 ships with a host of new and improved features originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Windows 7 - VMware Fusion - Windows Vista - BootCamp - Apple
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Apple's App Store breaks 100,000 apps
Look, App Store, we just wanted to take this opportunity to say we're sorry about all the fart app jokes. We know it's not easy being a new App Store, making your way in the world, and when juxtaposed against the struggles your competition has had with putting together a compelling app gathering, we know now that our words in those early days were hurtful and lacking in understanding. With 100,000 apps in your store and over two billion downloads, we hope you can be the bigger man here and forgive us. Also, if you have any tips for improving our Canabalt score that would be much appreciated. Thanks.Filed under: Cellphones, SoftwareApple's App Store breaks 100,000 apps originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple has 17.3% of worldwide smartphone market
Posted by Dennis SellersGlobal smart phone shipments in the third quarter (Q3) 2009 rose 4% year on year, slower than the 13% annual growth seen last quarter, and held back primarily by a 6% fall in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), according to the Canalys research group. Nokia, RIM, Apple and HTC...
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News: Apple planning Music Movies push on iTunes
Apple has launched a new Music landing page in the iTunes Store's Movies section, ahead of a broader push that will see the company attempting to negotiate exclusive access to new music-themed movies to make them available on iTunes prior to the physical DVD release. Billboard reports that the first such exclusive will be for It Might Get Loud, a documentary about guitarists Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge; iTunes will offer it from December…
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Over 100,000 apps now available on the Apple App Store
Posted by Dennis SellersApple says developers have created over 100,000 apps for the Apple App Store. iPhone and iPod touch customers in 77 countries can choose from a range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel.
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Survey: Less than half of touchscreen users prefer touchscreen
Filed under: Gaming, Hardware, Apple, iPhone, iPod touch Here's a few interesting stats from a survey recently conducted in Europe. These aren't specifically about the iPhone, but given that smartphones relied on buttons almost exclusively before Apple's handheld came along (and nowadays, everyone's bragging about their touchscreen technology), a temperature-taking on what people think of touchscreen controls is more or less a referendum on what people think of Apple's influence. At least in France, Germany and the UK, reactions are mixed. While 38% of those surveyed say they were planning to get a touchscreen on their next mobile phone, only 47% of people who already owned a touchscreen said they would get another one. In other words, less than half of touchscreen owners thought they'd stick with the technology on their next purchase. Apple remains an anomaly -- both HTC and Apple have a higher amount of current customers planning to stick with their touchscreen interface (with the full numbers being released at a conference later this month), but the fact remains: current touchscreen users aren't anywhere near 100% on living button-free forever. Especially as a gamer, that makes a lot of sense. Touchscreens are great for a lot of things -- they allow for limitless flexibility in the kinds of interfaces on offer, and especially with multi-touch, a lot of the controls on the iPhone are extremely intuitive (you automatically know now that pinching equals zooming, and so on). But as nice as touchscreen is, there are a lot of functions on mobile phones, from adjusting volume or changing music tracks on a phone out of sight in your pocket, to hitting exact button controls while twitch gaming, that work much better with tactile feedback. Steve, as he always does, made a big deal about the iPhone being a one-button interface, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see future iterations of the iPhone include either a few more buttons, or, even better, a few more haptic interface technologies.TUAWSurvey: Less than half of touchscreen users prefer touchscreen originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Apple - IpodTouch - Smartphone - Unofficial Apple Weblog
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LaCie's Network Space 2 will assimilate your data, resistance is futile
It's not as compellingly styled as the Starck Mobile Hard Drive, nor as ostentatious as the Golden Disk; in fact the Network Space 2 is visually identical to the earlier Network Space, featuring improvements where it counts: on the inside. The Network Space 2 can act as either an external drive over USB or as a NAS, with UPnP, DLNA, and iTunes compliance for media streaming -- but that's old hat. New is integrated torrent support for all of your non-copyrighted download needs and some enhanced eco-friendly tweaks, like the ability to power itself down at certain times of the day then wake-on-LAN when needed. Storage is still capped at 1TB and there's no RAID in here to protect your infos, but we're not expecting this one to stray too far from its predecessor's $160 mark when released before the end of the year. Gallery: LaCie Network Space 2Continue reading LaCie's Network Space 2 will assimilate your data, resistance is futileFiled under: SoftwareLaCie's Network Space 2 will assimilate your data, resistance is futile originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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News: Sony releases 1,000 Ringtones for iPhone
Sony Creative Software has released 1,000 Ringtones, a new DVD containing a collection of ringtones grouped into music, sound effects, and spoken word categories. Developed with iPhone users in mind, all 1,000 ringtones included on the DVD are in .m4r and .mp3 formats, and are ready for use without any additional fees, downloads, or editing. Users can simply browse the 'tones directly from the DVD and drag any selected tones into iTunes for…
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News: Apple: Over 100,000 apps now available on the App Store
Apple has officially announced that there are now more than 100,000 applications available on the App Store. iPhone and iPod touch users in 77 countries have access to the store, which includes 20 categories of applications. Application monitoring sites had claimed the company had passed the 100,000 app mark earlier, but this is the first official confirmation from Apple. “The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly…
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Verizon looking to bump early termination fee to $350 on 'advanced' devices
You know what's worse than showing your Bitter Beer Face to the world after you passed on Apple's iPhone and let AT&T enjoy the spoils? Raising your early termination fee to stratospheric heights. Just over a year ago, we honestly though this whole ETF thing was headed in the right direction, as most of the major carriers (VZW included) sought to prorate contracts in order to lessen the charge as one's contract drew closer to an end. Now, however, Big Red is evidently gearing up to pull a 180, with the slide above showing a $350 ETF for "advanced" devices (read: probably anything deemed a smartphone). The newly hiked rate will go into effect on November 15th, and while that $350 will decrease by $10 per month over the life of the agreement, this pretty much guarantees that you won't be adding a line, disconnecting and then flipping that phone on eBay.Filed under: CellphonesVerizon looking to bump early termination fee to $350 on 'advanced' devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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iTunes 9.0.2 adds extra home screens to app management
Filed under: iTunes, Software Update, iPhone, iPod touchIt's funny -- when the iPhone App Store first opened up, the first thing I asked for next was a way to manage apps from directly within iTunes. But when that finally did show up, I was still left unsatisfied for some reason. I'm not sure why -- app management offers drag-and-drop functionality with your app icons, and that's about the easiest way to organize things across the home screens. But for me, it still seems unwieldy somehow -- dragging icons onto full pages stlll creates empty pages, and dragging icons between screens is awkward to me. I'm not an interface designer, but having more than one home screen open at a time seems like it would be nice, and being able to assign my own tags and categories to apps (combined with an auto-sort function) seems nicer. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that we can manage apps from iTunes, but it just seems harder than it should be. Fortunately, iTunes 9.0.2 snuck a few updates to the system under our radar last week -- you can now put more than 176 apps in the organizer, and those will move on to grayed-out homescreens. You can still access them on the iPhone by using Spotlight, but those grayed-out homescreens only serve as a buffer to hold your overflow apps while you're organizing them. Doesn't really help the actual experience of sorting apps, but it should give you some breathing space when dealing with lots and lots of apps. Speaking of buffers, it would also be nice to have a "shelf" to store app icons on while you're moving them around (you can use the bottom 4 apps as a minishelf, but that's not really enough). Maybe you could pile them into different areas on a screen and then drag them in the way you want onto your homescreens. Like I said, it's great that we do finally have an app management system in iTunes. But my feeling is that it's a little too much like the awkward iPhone-based system, especially with large numbers of apps, to be much help.TUAWiTunes 9.0.2 adds extra home screens to app management originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments iPhone - Apple - IpodTouch - AppStore - iTunes
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Nemetschek releases Spanish language version of Vectorworks 2010
Posted by Dennis SellersNemetschek North America has released a Spanish language version of their Vectorworks line including: Designer, Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Machine Design, Fundamentals, and Renderworks.
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Get your thinking caps on, MacHeist 4 is about to begin
Filed under: Software, DealsSoftware bundles seem to be all the rage nowadays, but in my humble opinion, MacHeist is still the best. It doesn't just lump a bunch of apps together for special price, but instead, it turns getting a discount into a game. As a recent Mac switcher, I was utterly confused by MacHeist 3, the first edition in which I participated. Someone told me to check out the MacHeist bundle, so I went to the web site to see what applications it contained. But the site didn't tell me. It soon became clear that I was going to have to work for my software! The whole idea, if you're not familiar with MacHeist, is that you need to complete a series of challenges, labeled "heists," in order to get free software. Yes, free. As in what lunches aren't. And the software isn't anything to sneeze at (neither are lunches, by the way), as there are always some real gems to be found.Continue reading Get your thinking caps on, MacHeist 4 is about to beginTUAWGet your thinking caps on, MacHeist 4 is about to begin originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments TUAW - Macintosh - Apple - Website - IPhone
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Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac offers faster performance, over 70 new features
Posted by Dennis SellersParallels has released Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac, the latest version of the software for running Windows on a Mac. The new version is purportedly up to 300% faster in virtual machine operations than the previous version.
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The iPhone's China Syndrome
The iPhone went on sale last week in China, and it landed more or less with a thud. Cupertino's carrier partner in that country, China Unicom, announced on Tuesday that only 5,000 customers had purchased the phone thus far
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Mac OS Ken: 11.04.2009
Analysts React to Seemingly Slow iPhone Sales in China / Orange UK Gets Early Taste of Issues Around iPhone Sales and Data / Apple and Orange Move to Officially End iPhone Exclusivity Deal in France / Dutch Hacker Hacks Hacked iPhones for 5 Euros and Instructions for Securing iPhones / comScore Says One Third of Touchscreen Phones in US are iPhones / Latest Build of Snow Leopard Update Said to Break Intel Atom Compatibility / Psystar Asks FL Judge to Deem it Legit / Net Applications Tracks Gains for OS X and iPhone and and Safari in October / Microsoft Opens Second Apple Store Clone in Mission Viejo / Apple Retail Ties for First in Consumer Reports Electronics Store Survey / Plans Emerge for Apple Store in Downtown Philly
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Forget hi-def TV—the next big thing is ultra-high def
Posted by Dennis SellersWhile the market for high-definition TV (HDTV) has hit the mainstream, the industry has already started speculating about the commercialization of ultra-high definition (UHD).
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SST unveils low-voltage, high-speed quad I/O serial Flash memory
Posted by Dennis SellersSilicon Storage Technology (SST) has announced what it says is the industry's first 1.8V, high-speed quad-bit serial flash memory.
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September sets record in online video viewing
Posted by Dennis SellerscomScore,, a research company that measures the digital world, has released September 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, showing that more than 168 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month.
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Palm: webOS speed fix in the 'immediate future'
Palm device owners have little to complain about when it comes to webOS; not after enduring Garnet and empty Access promises for so long. Still, that OS which relies so heavily upon web technologies like HTML 5, JavaScript, and CSS can be surprisingly sluggish when compared to other smartphone OSes. Now we have a hint as to why thanks to Palm's Ben Galbraith and Dion Almae who made an interesting admission Tuesday related to the Pre's UI latency compared to the iPhone 3GS -- a phone based on the same ARM architecutre. According to the duo, "the path to the GPU didn't exist" in webOS, something that will be solved in the "immediate future" using CSS transforms to modify visual elements thus freeing-up CPU cycles for other tasks. Hmm, immediate future sure sounds like a webOS update to accompany the Palm Pixi release on November 15th. [Via Everything Pre]Filed under: Cellphones, SoftwarePalm: webOS speed fix in the 'immediate future' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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NEC releases new 17-inch monitor
Posted by Dennis SellersNEC Solutions of America has announced a standard-aspect desktop display, intended for use in business environments such as IT, corporate and education.