New Apple Notebook Ad Goes Green

Apple released a new Ad this evening touting the green aspects of its new MacBooks. The ad showcases Apple's environmental friendliness with the "World's Greenest Family of Notebooks." Check out the new ad below. read more

Apple released a new Ad this evening touting the green aspects of its new MacBooks. The ad showcases Apple's environmental friendliness with the "World's Greenest Family of Notebooks." Check out the new ad below. read more

  • Dell whines about Apple's 'green' claims to Better Business Bureau

    Filed under: Macbook Pro, MacBookIn a display of environmental posturing on both sides, Dell lodged a complaint with the advertising industry's self-governing oversight board: The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD). The claim? When Apple says it has the "world's greenest family of notebooks," family could be taken to mean all models of MacBook past and present -- including models that weren't built with the environment in mind. "Common industry usage of 'family' refers to a particular model or group of models, and not the entire notebook line," argued Dell, according to a post on the New York Times' "Green Inc." blog. Dell also complained about Apple's use of gold EPEAT ratings -- an award that many of Apple's competitors have also earned. Standing behind their claim, Apple effectively said, "that's right, deal with it": Family, in the context of the ad "refers to its whole line of notebooks, taken in toto, [and] not a particular model or group." The NAD said there was no problem with Apple communicating its EPEAT ratings to consumers, and commended the company for its commitment to creating an entire line of notebooks that meet the highest EPEAT ratings, according to the Wall Street Journal. Even so, the NAD suggested that consumers could believe that "family" means a line of products (and not all the products) that a company makes. They recommended that Apple use direct comparisons between MacBooks and competitor notebooks to clarify their claims of environmental friendliness. They also recommended that Apple avoid the use of world's greenest "given the potential for overstatement." Apple? Overstatement? That's unpossible. Apple was happy with the conclusion, with PR spokesman Steve Dowling telling the New York Times that the NAD had confirmed that MacBooks are indeed the world's greenest notebooks when compared to other manufacturers' entire product lines. It appears that Apple has taken to using the word "lineup" instead of "family" on its website. Dell issued a statement, saying they "commend the NAD for their part in helping ensure companies represent their products' environmental attributes accurately." Dell has previously lodged advertising complaints against Lenovo, and last year the company had to stop using the slogan "the world's most secure notebooks."TUAWDell whines about Apple's 'green' claims to Better Business Bureau originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • 50 Killer Mac Apps For Under $50

       Who doesn't need more for less? We present 50 Mac|Life-approved applications--many free, all under $50--that'll guarantee you get the most from your Mac without traumatizing your wallet. The Internet is full of noise--countless different applications for every occasion, with reviews everywhere that love and hate them at the same time. While that’s hardly news, it’s still a hassle that isn’t going away. Say you picked up a spiffy new MacBook Pro, and it’s time to kit it out with the leanest, meanest software. After all, Macs have that rich history of garage-roots development, of a few folks in a basement brewing up quality software that smokes the big-name stuff. So you’ve got a feeling there’s great, affordable software just waiting for you to find it--and you’re right. But how do you sift through the zillion calendar apps and jillion media players to find the gems worthy of your hard drive space? And more importantly, your time and money?We’re here to help with a compendium of essential software. It didn’t come easily--we debated, argued, haggled, and even pleaded to secure a prized position on this list for our favorite, most useful applications. But by limiting the software we’re highlighting to 50, we’ve guaranteed you the best of the best--no Internet spew here. And by capping the cost of the software we’ve selected at $50, we’ve made sure you can reasonably buy what you need. You may love your Mac already, but you’re not gonna believe how much it can do once you load up even a few of these choice applications.   Entertainment Sure, iPods and iTunes make music and movies easier to enjoy, but they're not without headaches of their own. That's where these awesome apps come in. They take the pain out of kicking back with your favorite flicks and tunes. Simplify Media Share & stream your iTunes library over the Internet.The iPod has made several portable music formats obsolete, and we sure don’t miss schlepping around fragile cassette tapes or heavy wallets full of CDs. But even the mighty iPod has its limits--namely capacity. That’s where Simplify Media (free, Simplify Media, simplifymedia.com) comes in handy. It guarantees that the size of your music library doesn’t matter by letting you stream music between computers via the Internet. Yup, this app will play your entire library on any computer (as long as the one that has your library is powered up and online).Stream your tunes from home or the next cube.Once installed, a simple login fires up your music. Simplify Media works with iTunes just like the built-in LAN sharing does, and the remote libraries appear under Shared, alongside any local shared libraries. Even better, you can add up to 30 friends’ shared libraries, and an iPhone app ($5.99) lets you pipe your music to your iPhone or iPod touch.  SuperSync SuperSync keeps multiple iTunes collections in sync. Speaking of iTunes libraries--streaming is great, but what if you want to sync libraries across multiple Macs? SuperSync ($22, SuperSync, supersync.com) makes it so. Sure, Apple introduced limited music-transfer capabilities with Home Sharing in iTunes 9, but that feature requires computers to be on the same local network. SuperSync one-ups iTunes by syncing iTunes libraries over the Internet. It’s perfect for anyone who uses multiple Macs, and SuperSync also has a bunch of other tricked-out features. In deference to the record companies, Apple makes transferring music from an iPod to a computer unnecessarily difficult. SuperSync handles the task with ease, making it a bacon-saver when the hard drive in your Mac kicks the bucket. SuperSync will even allow you to sync libraries cross-platform.SuperSync's color-coded interface helps you synchronize your iTunes tracks across multiple Macs.  VLC Media Player Never worry about video file types again. If most of your Mac video-watching happens in the form of DVDs or QuickTime movies, you probably don’t think too much about player software. But move beyond the most basic video types, and you’re asking for trouble. With the myriad formats, containers, and encoding parameters available, the simple act of playing back a cat video can become incredibly frustrating. VLC Media Player (free, VideoLAN, www.videolan.org) is like a Swiss Army knife for digital media. It’s open source and cross-platform, and the app will play back practically any audio or video file you throw at it. VLC also handles file conversions with ease, so you can use it to convert audio and video for use online or on portable devices.It plays, it converts, it makes toast (okay, maybe not that last one.)  RipIt Backup & convert DVDs with RipIt.There are plenty of legit reasons to rip a DVD. Backup copies of kids’ movies for the minivan, watching Glee on your iPod touch while you’re on the bus, or even just saving battery power on your laptop (playing back a file from a hard drive is much more efficient than spinning a DVD).RipIt's simple interface makes ripping DVDs seamless and easy.Once the domain of ĂĽbernerds, DVD ripping is a one-click affair thanks to RipIt ($19.95, The Little App Factory, ripitapp.com). And since it makes full rips, all of the menus, bonus features, and subtitles remain intact. You can play back the resulting files with DVD Player on your Mac or use a freeware tool like Handbrake to convert your rips into iPod-friendly formats.   Delicious Library We love the iTunes Store, but we still end up accumulating books, DVDs, console games, and, yes, even CDs. Delicious Library ($40, Delicious Monster Software, www.delicious-monster.com) helps catalog your collections by--get this--taking snaps of UPCs via your webcam and then automatically organizing your meatspace content onto virtual shelves for easy sorting and browsing. You can track loans to friends, post items for sale on Amazon, and publish Web catalogs formatted for your iPhone. That way, you can avoid buying another copy of John Hodgman’s More Information Than You Require.   Connect360 We’re Apple-faithful, but that doesn’t stop us from engaging in a little Modern Warfare 2 on our Xbox 360. And since the 360 is much more than a simple gaming machine, we also use it to stream iTunes tracks to our entertainment center and view pictures from our iPhoto library on our HDTV--with the help of Connect360 ($20, Nullriver Inc, www.nullriver.com), that is. It works over wired or wireless networks, and it even streams H.264 video straight from our MacBook. Sweet!   Peel Pack rats, beware: Peel ($14.95, Hjalti Jakobsson, www.getpeel.com) can get really overwhelming, really fast. But if you’re an avid follower of music blogs, Peel can automagically grab new tracks as they’re posted. So forget all that pesky right-clicking and manually adding to iTunes. Just feed Peel a list of your favorite music blogs, and then kick back as tons of new, free tunes get downloaded straight to your Mac. You may never have to buy (or pirate) music again.    CoverScout Cover Flow is one of those features that looks great in a demo but doesn’t quite translate at home. iTunes can attempt to find the album art that makes Cover Flow actually useful, but it’s limited in scope and can’t make fuzzy matches. CoverScout ($39.95, equinox USA, www.equinux.com) scours the Internet to find your missing album art and presents you with multiple options to let you choose the best images. Don’t Cover Flow without it.   TuneUp For all of those untitled and mistitled tracks in your music library, there’s TuneUp ($19.95/one year, $29.95/lifetime; TuneUp Media; www.tuneupmedia.com). Like CoverScout, TuneUp can find and download missing album art, but its best trick is cleaning up your ID3 tags--the artist, title, and album info displayed in iTunes. A quick search is all it takes to clear up all those Track 1s and Unknown Artists in your library. It sure beats cleaning up metadata by hand. Next Page: Productivity Apps >>  Productivity Takin' care of business, every day. Takin' care of business, every way. Workin' on a Mac, it's all right. This productivity software is workin' overtime. WriteRoom Blocks distractions so you can write in peace.Proving the tired adage that “less is more,” WriteRoom ($24.95, Hog Bay Software, www.hogbaysoftware.com) is a light text editor with a full-screen mode. Start a new document, and everything else fades away--your Dock, your menubar, and other windows on your Desktop. You’re left with a black screen and friendly green text for a clutter- and distraction-free experience. The Escape key toggles between full-screen mode and windowed mode, which resembles TextEdit with a live word count.WriteRoom can save your work as plain text, rich text, or Microsoft Word’s .doc format. The preferences offer tons of customization: auto-save, character counts, the appearance of text in full-screen mode, and more. But WriteRoom’s real magic is how it gets out of your way and lets you focus on what you’re doing.  BusyCal One calendar application to rule them all.BusyCal ($40, BusyMac, www.busymac.com) is iCal on steroids. It dances circles around iCal, chanting, “Everything you can do, I can do better.” And it’s right. Sharing is a snap: You can set up two-way syncing with your Google Calendar or with other BusyCal calendars on your local network or the wide-open Internet. But even aside from sharing, BusyCal offers tons of calendaring bells and whistles: customizable views, sticky notes, weather forecasts, moon phases, graphical icons, a to-do list, notes, tags, and much more. And since it uses the Sync Services built into Mac OS X, your BusyCal calendars can sync with MobileMe and your iPhone. You can even switch back to iCal anytime without losing any of the events or to-dos you entered in BusyCal.So what if iCal is free? BusyCal is better.  Things Flexible to-do list syncs with iCal and the iPhone. For busy people like us, a good to-do list is beyond essential. But some that we’ve tried are so complicated that just managing your tasks becomes a chore in itself. So the light, easy-to-understand Things ($49.95, Cultured Code, www.culturedcode.com) is a breath of fresh air. You can go the full Getting Things Done route, adding contexts, priority levels, a tickler file, and so on. Or you can keep it simple, with one-off and repeating tasks and multistep projects. iCal syncing can get your deadlines on your calendar, and Things on the Mac can sync wirelessly with Things on the iPhone ($9.99 in the App Store). We’ve tried multiple task-managment systems, from Web-based ToodleDo to iPhone apps like ToDo to Mail’s built-in To-Do list to good old paper and pencil. Things is the cream of the crop for its good looks, quick entry, and easy syncing.Things uses tags to organize your projects in a million ways--or you can ignore the tags altogether and just work.  Express Scribe Transcriptions made easy... well, easier.Transcribing an interview, lecture, or other recording is hard enough, just with the listening and typing. Toss in the extra arm movement as you frantically click from your text editor to your audio-playback application every time you want to pause the recording or rewind a few seconds, and your transcribing job just got tougher and more frustrating. Express Scribe (free, NCH Software, www.nch.com.au/scribe) lets you set system-wide hotkeys for audio playback so you can stay in your text editor, fully control the audio, and never need to reach for your mouse.Express Scribe can also slow down your audio without changing the pitch, supports video, works with lots of file types, loads recordings from analog or digital audio recorders, and more. Plus, it’s completely free. Wahoo!  NoteBook The Mac is silly with note-taking applications (Evernote, Yojimbo, ShoveBox, MacJournal…shall we go on?), but Circus Ponies’ NoteBook ($49.95, Circus Ponies, www.circusponies.com) is a standout. If you subscribe to “a place for everything, and everything in its place,” NoteBook can be the place for notes, Web clippings, bookmarks, documents, voice memos, photos, and more. It struts its flexibility with ready-made templates for planning a trip, writing a research paper, collecting recipes, keeping a journal, and so on, while its fun spiral-notebook interface is a nice touch.    TextExpander A thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters could produce Hamlet a lot faster if they knew how to use TextExpander ($29.95, SmileOnMyMac, www.smileonmymac.com). This wonder app installs as a System Preferences pane and lets you define shortcuts for your most commonly used words and phrases. Abbreviate long URLs, your email signoff, even your own photo or scanned signature file. Then as you type those shortcuts, they’re automagically expanded to what you really wanted to say. Brilliant.   iFinance 3 Sure, Quicken is popular and Mint.com is free, but iFinance 3 ($29, Synium Software GmbH, www.synium.de) was built from the ground up just for Macs, and it shows. The intuitive interface makes it a cinch--dare we say a pleasure?--to track your accounts, keep an eye on your cash flow, set up a budget, and graph your expenses. It can also import from CSV and QIF files for easier data entry. Plus, a companion iPhone app lets you enter transactions on the go.  FlexTime This charming timer app ($18.95, Red Sweater Software, www.red-sweater.com) lets you set up multistep routines that run once or repeat ad nauseam. Each step can be marked by a sound, spoken text, or even running a script. Once your routine is perfect, you can export the audio to iTunes--great for following a recipe’s carefully timed steps or taking your favorite yoga routines on the road.   DEVONthink Personal Another great catch-all for storing, sorting, organizing, and searching information, DEVONthink ($49.95, DEVONtechnologies, www.devon-technologies.com) can take almost anything you can throw at it. Documents, PDFs, photos, multimedia files, bookmarks, webpages, iChat logs--all of those can be imported, sorted, and read right in DEVONthink. Searching is easy, and you can cobble together a brand-new document from items in your DEVONthink database and export it to your favorite text editor for printing or as HTML for posting.  Next Page: Internet Apps >>  Internet It's a wild place, that Interweb, so there's nothing like a few primo apps to tame everything from blogging to FTPs to Twitter and Flash banners. Transmit Traveling the two-lane FTP highway.FTP has been around forever. Social networking and cloud computing may come and go, but FTP is in it for the long hall. Fortunately, there are a wealth of great FTP clients for the Mac, and the best of those is Transmit ($29.95, Panic, www.panic.com/transmit). The client utilizes a split directory window that shows the path on your computer and the path on the FTP site. With in-app search and the ability to sync folders on your Mac and on the FTP site, Transmit helps alleviate the search and drag-and-drop blues of other clients. The sync feature is especially helpful for Web developers and designers. You can even create desktop droplets for quick uploads to heavily used sites.Two-window FTP FTW.  Mac-Journal Web-based apps suck.Blogging about your life is a faux pas. Blogging about anything else that people actually care about is the proper way of utilizing of the blogging systems available out there. The ongoing problem is that most blogging platforms are bit of a pain to use because they’re Web-based. Plus, if you’re somewhere without Internet access, you can’t start laying out your blog posts for your site. MacJournal ($39.95, Mariner Software, www.marinersoftware.com) solves that problem with an easy-to-use multiplatform blogging client. Lay out your articles offline with images, video, and audio, then save them for later posting. The app includes the ability to both write in full-screen mode so you won’t be interrupted by your Twitter friends, and to record an audio podcast in the client.Create blog posts quickly and without browser issues.  Tweetie Multi-account Twitter action.After wowing the world with its iPhone Twitter app, atebits decided to release a desktop version of Tweetie ($19.95, atebits, www.atebits.com/tweetie-mac/). The app can handle multiple Twitter accounts, compose tweets in a separate window, allow you to change the account you’re sending a tweet from on the fly, and let you drag and drop pics and videos right into the Compose window. Don’t have the perfect media on your Mac for a tweet? Record a video or shoot a pic from your iSight camera directly in Tweetie. And since Twitter conversations can be difficult to follow, Tweetie displays the conversation you’re having in a timeline if you just double-click one of the pertinent tweets. The Tweetie bookmarklet in Safari also allows you to share links quickly from your browser.Have an actual conversation on Twitter with Tweetie.  Dropbox Stop, drop, and roll on home.Transferring large files can be a huge pain. Where the hell did you leave that thumb drive? External hard drives leave an unsightly bulge in your pocket, and all those cables are always getting tangled in your shoes. That’s a safety hazard, son. Dropbox (2GB storage for free, 50GB for $9.99/month; Dropbox; www.dropbox.com) is a cloud-based storage drive that you can access from any computer or iPhone. Just pop files into the Dropbox folder on your Mac, and it automatically syncs up with the online disk (which you can view on Dropbox’s website) and with any other machines you have the application installed on. You can even share folders and files with other Dropbox users. If the free 2GB box doesn’t cut it, you can upgrade to 50GB for $10 a month.Access your files from anywhere in the universe (with an Internet connection).  LogMeIn If you need to remotely access a Mac or (gasp) a PC with Windows on it, LogMeIn (free, LogMeIn, logmein.com) allows you to peer into your remote computer from anywhere. You can launch apps, move files, and adjust your preferences via a Web-based interface, as if you were sitting at that computer. For $29.99, you can get your iPhone in on the action too.   TweetDeck If you’re a Twitter power user, TweetDeck (free, TweetDeck, www.tweetdeck.com) should be in your arsenal of Twitter apps. The interface is a series of columns that displays info like your friends’ feeds, saved searches, mentions, direct mentions, and Facebook updates. You can also keep up with trending topics with just a quick glance. If there’s something you need to track on Twitter, TweetDeck can make a column for it.   Vuze Allegedly, BitTorrent steals medication from senior citizens, but isn’t it time to forget about all the evil things it supposedly does? Instead, focus on the greatness of Vuze (free, Vuze, www.vuze.com) and its ability to download legally available video files. After you’ve done the downloading, Vuze can convert your files for use on the iPhone, Apple TV, iPod, Xbox 360, TiVo, and PlayStation 3. It’ll even stream videos to your set-top boxes. Nice!   BannerZest Creating Flash banners is difficult, especially when you don’t know or own Flash. BannerZest ($49, Aquafadas, www.aquafadas.com) takes the pain out the process and gives you a simple way to create quick, beautiful Flash banners. From a standard gallery to an interactive experience, BannerZest comes with a collection of themes for different uses, and it uploads your banners to your FTP or MobileMe disk.    FileChute Sending large files over email can result in the dreaded bounced email. FileChute ($17.95, Yellow Mug Software, www.yellowmug.com) works with your MobileMe-, FTP-, or WebDAV-accessible Web server. Drop your file into the app, and it uploads it to your online server of choice and then creates a URL to add to your email. If you drop more than one file, you get an archive uploaded to your server. Adios, bounced emails!  Next Page: Content Creation Apps >> Content Creation Sure, Adobe's stuff is the gold standard, but you don't want to have to count on a good night at the poker table to pay for it, right? Cue these killer applications, which let you effectively draw, edit photos, render, animate, and even scratch for a very fair price. djay 3 Budgeted beats to grow on.You want to spin phat beats, but your slim bank keeps you from purchasing the high-end DJ equipment and software. That’s okay, young DJ-in-training, djay 3 ($49.95, algoriddim, www.djay-software.com) gives you everything you need to rock the house without losing your shirt. This surprisingly robust audio-mixing software integrates with your iTunes library and puts all the usual mixing and scratching right on your desktop. The application supports multitouch trackpad scratching and fading between tracks, so it’s especially perfect for the last few generations of MacBooks. And as you grow as a DJ, the application will grow with you thanks to its support for MIDI controllers. That means when you get the cash for those fancy digital mixers and turntables, djay will be right there with you.With your iTunes catalog at your fingertips, you'll find some pretty interesting mashups.  Audacity Free audio editor extraordinaire.Audio editing seems simple at first. Then suddenly, you’re knee-deep in samples, frequencies, and bitrates. Sound editing really is part science, part black magic, so we’re thankful that Audacity (free, SourceForge, audacity.sourceforge.net) removes one of the biggest obstacles: choosing a quality application and figuring out how you’re going to pay for it. Audacity is both terrific and free, which is kinda hard to beat. An audio-recording and -editing application, it captures up to 16 channels at once from multiple sources, features noise removal, includes a metadata editor, and supplies unlimited undos. It can handle most of the audio files out there, and it’ll work with multiple files types in the same project. Audacity is also is cross-platform, so if you’re a recent Mac arrival, you may already know about its awesome power.So many features, you'll second-guess the price: free.  SketchUp 3D for you and me.Maya, 3D Studio Max, and SketchUp--all of these will let you create magical 3D worlds. Only one will do it for free, and you probably nailed it in one--it’s Google’s SketchUp software (free, Google, sketchup.google.com) that brings the world of 3D to the average Joe. You can create your own items or utilize Google’s 3D warehouse to find models created by other SketchUp users. With all those models at your fingertips, you can create floor plans for your home, build a level for your favorite FPS, or export the files to animation software or Photoshop. The application includes tutorials that’ll get you up and rendering in no time at all… so now nothing stands between you and virtual-world domination!Build a virtual man-cave for you and your stuff.  Ringer Wham-bam ringtone, ma'am.We get tons of people asking us, “How do I make a ringtone for my iPhone?” Until recently, we told them to launch GarageBand, cut a ringtone, and export it to iTunes. Now we recommend Ringer ($15, Pixel Research Labs, pixelresearchlabs.com/ringer) as the quickest and easiest way to create ringtones from your favorite songs and audio files. Ringer has access to your entire iTunes library and works with MP3, AAC, MOV, MP4, M4V, and QuickTime files. Yeah, you can make a ringtone from a video file. A super-simple editor with waveform information makes it a snap to select the perfect section of audio, and you can fade in and out of the file and preview the ringtone before cropping it and sending it to iTunes for a sync with your iPhone.   Acorn Using an image editor doesn’t have to cost you hundreds of dollars. In fact, with Acorn ($49.95, Flying Meat, www.flyingmeat.com/acorn), you’ll get features like layers, AppleScript support, 64-bit support, drawing, and filters in a package that’s easy on the wallet. This easy-to-use software strips away most of the features most people don’t use and gives you a clean image-editing tool.   Inkscape While raster-based image editors like Photoshop are great at pushing pixels around, the vector-based drawing programs are where all the real action happens. The open-source application Inkscape (free, Inkscape, www.inkscape.org) is similar to powerhouses like Illustrator and CorelDraw, but with one important difference--it’s free. The app utilizes the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format and includes a nice 3D drawing tool that allows you to set your vanishing points.    Screenflick With Snow Leopard, Apple introduced screen-capture into QuickTime, and it’s a nice feature if you’re looking to make a quick full-screen screencast. But if you want something that has features like fixed location output at up to 60 fps, Screenflick ($25, Araelium Group, www.araelium.com/screenflick) is an application you can get behind. It’ll highlight mouse clicks and keyboard events, adding a nifty visual cue into your screencasts that highlights what you’re doing.   Bracketeer While your eye can take in an amazing range of light to dark, your camera cannot. In order to help create images that include a tonal range that the average camera can’t capture, HDR applications and plug-ins have appeared on the market. These applications take a series of images that have been bracketed from dark to light and combine them to include the darkest darks to the lightest lights in one HDR image. Bracketeer ($29.95, Pangea Software, pangeasoft.net/pano/bracketeer) is a standalone application that does just that. Adjust the saturation, the contrast, and exposure from within the application. The application will even auto-align your images in case you got the hiccups while taking your pics.   iStopMotion 2 Home Most animators’ first animation was probably a stop-motion piece with Star Wars action figures. And whether those childhood lightsaber battles have you hoping to become the next Brad Bird, or you just love the look of stop-motion, iStopMotion ($49, Boinx Software, www.boinx.com/istopmotion/overview) is a quick, easy way to create simple stop-motion animations. Use your iSight or connect a camera to your Mac and start making your own Wallace and Gromit short. You’ll feel the Force, Lu… sorry.  Next Page: Utility Apps >> Utilities Slick utilities can add crucial functionality to your Mac, so we've selected the best options for everything from secure password managers and system-troubleshooting tools to an app that will let you play Windows games on your Mac... without Windows! AppZapper Completely trash applications.Unlike using Windoze, installing and uninstalling apps on a Mac is painless. Drag an application’s icon into your Applications folder, and you’re pretty much good to go. Deleting them is just as simple--just grab them and toss them into the Trash. But if you’ve ever dug around Library or System folders on your Mac, you’ll see that even after you Trash an app, many of them leave crumbs in different parts of your machine. For cleaning up those last little bits, AppZapper ($12.95, Austin Sarner and Brian Ball, www.appzapper.com) is a must-have utility that’s also great for troubleshooting problems. Wiping out all of an application’s preferences and other random files can often turn a troublesome app into a perfectly behaved one after a clean reinstall. Completely remove unwanted applications with a simple drag and drop.  Hazel Clean and organize your Mac--automatically.Hazel ($21.95, NoodleSoft, www.noodlesoft.com) is kind of like Rosie the Robot for your Mac. Or it’s like OS X’s Folder Actions… if they were super-awesome, easy to use, and perfect for helping you keep your Mac’s folders and files organized. Hazel installs as a pane in System Preferences, monitoring locations that you choose, and performs actions on files based on your criteria. By creating simple rules, you can delegate repetitive and annoying file-management tasks to Hazel--for example, automatically add downloaded MP3s to iTunes or move DMGs to an archive on an external drive. Hazel can delve deep into metadata for complex actions like copying images into subfolders by ISO settings or reorganizing music files according to bitrate. You can even set up simple rules for auto-deleting items that have been in the Trash longer than a certain amount of time.  1Password Keep all your confidential info on lockdown.You’ve heard it before--secure, unique passwords are the way to go. Yet there you are, still using the same password for everything from your maclife.com login to your Gmail and your bank account. Do we even have to tell you again why that’s a colossally bad idea? 1Password ($39.95, Agile Web Solutions, agilewebsolutions.com) can help clean up your online act, creating and managing complex passwords for every online account and then logging you in with a keyboard shortcut. The app can also be used to securely store personal information like credit card numbers and addresses for use in Web forms. And since all of your passwords are unique, you won’t have to worry about your banking info being compromised because of a data breach at that sketchy Russian website you used to download MP3s for a penny.1Password securely stores Web passwords, logins, software licenses, and other important information.  iPhone Explorer Store & browse files on your iPhone.Breaking tradition with the iPods of yore, Apple doesn’t provide the ability to use your iPhone as a USB drive. iPhone Explorer (free, myPod Apps, www.mypodapps.com) is a simple app that will let you drag and drop files onto your phone for easy portability. The app itself is lightweight, and all it takes is a USB cable to view your iPhone’s folder structure. In addition to storing files, iPhone Explorer can be used to restore iTunes tracks from your iPod to a Mac or to rescue photographs from the depths of your iPhone’s memory. No jailbreaking is required, but more adventurous users with jailbroken phones can also recover contacts, messages, email, and other data. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s simple to use for the careful novice.  AppleJack AppleJack (free, The Apotek, applejack.sourceforge.net) is one of those things you’ll install once and never think about again—if everything goes right. But if, god forbid, your Mac starts acting weird one day--or stops acting, period--it’ll be AppleJack to the rescue. It’s a command-line utility for diagnosing and repairing problems with your computer. Use the menu-driven system to repair permissions, validate preferences files, and remove screwy cache files.  SuperDuper With Time Machine built into OS X, there’s really no good reason not to have an automatic backup. But Time Machine has its limits--a big one being the lack of bootable backups. SuperDuper ($27.95, Shirt Pocket, www.shirt-pocket.com) easily handles creating and updating bootable clones of your Mac’s hard drive so you’ll be ready to go when disaster strikes. Just plug in your clone, restart, and you’re up and running again.   CrossOver Games PC fanboys like to slag the Mac for having fewer games, but with CrossOver Games ($39.95, CodeWeavers, www.codeweavers.com), Mac users--and Linux fans too--can easily play games coded for Windows machines. The list of officially supported games is hundreds deep, and since CrossOver is based on Wine, you don’t even need a copy of Windows just to play Team Fortress 2.   Clean My Mac Hard drives are never big enough. Whether you have a MacBook Air or a Mac Pro, there always comes a point when there’s just not enough space on your internal disks. Clean My Mac ($29.95, MacPaw, macpaw.com) can help with that problem, scouring your Mac’s drive and tossing out all sorts of gunk you don’t need. Use it to toss unneeded language files, scrub extraneous code from universal binaries, and thoroughly clean up after deleted applications.   rooSwitch OS X’s Fast User Switching is handy for juggling multiple user accounts and their corresponding settings, but rooSwitch ($19, Rocket, rooswitch.com) allows you to maintain different settings on a per-application basis. Use it to manage Home and Work browser profiles, for example, or to have different profiles in your word processor for writing or editing documents. rooSwitch works with nearly any application, and it supports Automator and AppleScript for the ultimate in customizability.  Next Page: Wild Card Apps & Staff Picks >>  Wild Cards Not all Mac apps fall into your neat little categories. These five break the mold and completely deserve a place on your hard drive. Bricksmith Virtual bricks you can't lose or step on? Sold!Legos are the official plastic brick of Mac|Life--we’ve had many discussions about the empires we built in our childhood bedrooms and how much we miss “playing Legos” as the soulless adults we are today. Bricksmith (free, donations accepted; Allen Smith; bricksmith.sourceforge.net) lets you recapture the magic in a highly geeky way. It’s a 3D Lego-model creator, offering drag-and-drop construction using thousands of parts in every color of Lego’s rainbow. Tutorials and the one finished model that’s included show you the ropes, and once you’re done with your virtual creation, you can export step-by-step instructions to build it for real. There’s even a mini figure generator where you can design and outfit a matching Lego man and insert him into your model. This software couldn’t be cooler.We can't believe an application this sweet is donationware.  CameraBag Desktop Give your photos a new identity or some old-timey charm.We named the iPhone version of CameraBag one of our “101 Essential Apps for 2008,” and now the same fun can be had on your Mac, thanks to CameraBag Desktop ($19, Nevercenter, www.nevercenter.com). You drag in a digital image, and the app re-creates the look of a real film photograph--choose from Helga, Lolo, Mono, 1962, 1974, Instant, Magazine, Cinema, or Colorcross.For more variations, click the Reprocess button, and all the options will change their look and coloring just slightly. Or check the Multi-filter box and experiment with adding multiple filters to a single photo. Of course, you can export your altered images back to your hard drive without affecting the original file. The novelty of taking an everyday digital snapshot and making it look like a Polaroid image or washed-out 1974 photograph never gets old.Your digital photos, plus extra personality.  SousChef Recipe database + shopping list + cooking assistant = one kitchen lifesaver.SousChef ($30, Acacia Tree Software, acaciatreesoftware.com) edges out MacGourmet ($49.95, www.marinersoftware.com) in the cooking-assistant category for its cloud database of recipes. Every time a SousChef user enters a recipe (133,000-plus at press time), it’s synced to the cloud, and you can search those and import them into your own library. You can also opt out of sharing your own recipes so Aunt Erma’s secret matzo ball soup stays in the family.Once a recipe’s in your library, you can edit, print, email, or blog it--or even add its ingredients to your grocery list. Click the Cook button for a full-screen view of the instructions that you can read from across the room, keeping your Mac out of the splatter zone. The Mac’s built-in speech recognition lets you advance the recipe’s steps with your own voice, or you can use the Apple Remote or a Keyspan Front Row Remote.  Temporis Attractive, drag-and-drop timelines make it easy to "show, don't tell."Everyone loves a good infographic, or at least geeky types like us do. (And the geeks shall inherit the earth, don’cha know?) Temporis ($24.99, Bartas Technologies, www.bartastechnologies.com) makes it easy to create neat-looking timelines on your Mac, which you can then print or export as PDF or TIFF files that are ready for importing into your presentation software, word processor, or page-layout app.Adding new events is just a Command-click away, and it’s a snap to drag the start and end dates around on the timeline. The Arrange button will automatically stagger your timeline’s events into the most logical and easy-to-read order, and the Inspector lets you tweak fonts, colors, titles, labels, and your timeline’s span and intervals. You can even export the event data separately as an XML or CSV file.  Manga Studio Debut 4 Create your own comics and manga, and even manga-fy your photos.Manga Studio Debut 4 ($49.99, Smith Micro, my.smithmicro.com) is a must-have for fans of Japanese manga or anyone who wants to make their own comic books. Its ingenious Beginner’s Assistant groups together the tools by processes so you can intuitively wind your way through a typical manga workflow: sketch, panel, draw, tone, and add character dialogue.You can scan or draw your own art (graphics tablets supported, natch), play with the included samples, purchase manga content from www.contentparadise.com, or even import your own digital photos and watch Manga Studio make them all comicky-looking. Draw speed lines, add dialogue bubbles, move your pages around, and then print or export your finished comic book. Manga Studio Debut 4 is the younger brother to professional-level Manga Studio EX 4 ($299.99), but Debut has plenty of advanced features too, including layers, templates, customizable patterns, and more. Mac|Life Staff Picks  Bass Tuner I’m a beginning bass player--like, very beginning. So it’s a huge help that I don’t have to worry about staying in key. This terrific, simple, and streamlined little app ($9, www.rustykat.com) lets me quickly get in tune in front of my MacBook using the built-in mic. With that necessity sorted, I can fire up some tracks and tablature and focus on struggling to play along.   Multiwinia Multiwinia ($19, www.ambrosiasw.com) offers crazy replayability. You devise a strategy for your stick-figure army, then watch them take on up to four other teams in six game types on 40 vector-graphic maps. Online multiplayer against Mac and Windows players works flawlessly and keeps me coming back for more. No Napoleon complex necessary.    MetaX If you need to tag a large amount of MP4 files, you could use iTunes’ painfully slow process. Instead I found MetaX (free, www.kerstetter.net) for all my tagging needs. The app will search the IMDB catalog and plug the information into the appropriate fields, then share that info via tagChimp. You can even scan DVD barcodes via iSight!    Bean For a word dork like me, word processors are a big deal. Bean (free, www.bean-osx.com) is a lightweight, open-source word processor. It’s missing many of the blinky lights and thingamajigs of the big boys, and that’s exactly the point. Fewer distractions equals better writing, faster. And for anyone who needs to hit a certain length, the live word count rocks.    Fluid I often find that Firefox has the tendency to crash when I have too many Web applications running. But Fluid (free, fluidapp.com) lets me create a site-specific browser out of my most essential websites, like Google Docs and Flickr. Simply plug in the URL, and voilĂ ! You have a separate application running that won’t go down if something else does.   Next Page: More Gaming Bang for 50 Bucks >>  More Bang for 50 Bucks Some of the Mac's best games are also its cheapest? Sweet!Fifty bones won’t buy you even one new Xbox 360 or PS3 game, but on the Mac, you can snap up a stack of premier games for less than that. Or at least, that was our theory when we gave Florence, our new associate online editor, 50 whole American dollars and asked her to max out her Mac with the best gaming that short stack of money could buy.  Man, did she score--check out the results of her diligent “research.” Plants Vs. Zombies $16, amazon.comLine up perilous peashooters and sun-soaking sunflowers against an abominable horde of zombies in Plants vs. Zombies.This animated tower-defense favorite pits you against a horde of zombies with one thing on their (decaying) minds--invading your home for brains! Pit your arsenal of zombie-fighting plants, each with their own spectacular organic weaponry, against 26 zombies and 50 levels of adventure. Fair warning: Once you start playing this excellent game, it’s incredibly hard to stop.  World of Goo $10, amazon.comStack up adorable globs of goo to build structures and watch them band together as you help transport them across various levels.World of Goo is another addictive and totally adorable puzzle game. Created around the idea that circular goo balls make adequate building materials (naturally), the game has you solving puzzles by dragging and dropping goo to create all kinds of crazy structures that enable you to transport your goo across the level. The oh-so-cute googly-eyed blobs pack the game with charm, and you can also connect online and play against other Goo architects around the world. Braid $15, playgreenhouse.comBraid's aesthetically appealing backdrop and profound storyline will keep you engrossed until the very end.Some games defy description, and Braid might be easy to pass over because it appears to be just a mix of platforming and time control set against a gorgeous backdrop. But it subverts and transcends those two well-worn clichĂ©s with brilliant design and an absorbing story that packs a twist that you’ll never see coming. Watch the YouTube videos if you need help solving its puzzles, but just make sure you see this masterpiece through to the end. Balcassa $8, openplanetsoftware.comBalcassa has a mountain of exciting brainteasers for the puzzle fiend.Balcassa feeds off those nightmares you still have about attempting to master that archaic, rainbow-colored Rubik’s cube. And while most of you probably never cracked the damn thing (we didn’t!), Balcassa gives you a second chance. The objective of the game is to slide the cubes into a specific sequence, pattern, or orientation. It may sound like a simple task, but much like fiddling with a Rubik’s cube, figuring it all out is the real reward. Freeware Fun If you’re interested in first-person shooters and MMORPGs, Quake Live and Second Life can give you hours of entertainment at our favorite price: $0.00. Both games perform smoothly on Mac OS 10.4 or later. Quake Live doesn’t require beefy hardware because it runs through your Web browser. But that doesn’t stop it from delivering all the fast-paced action of the classic first-person shooter. Second Life, while not as packed with storyline as World of Warcraft, offers a similar massively multiplayer world where you can meet people, customize your character’s look, and participate in a virtual world that’s just like our own. You don’t even have to watch the clock to make sure you’re on time for a player-versus-player raid!You don't need fancy computer hardware to frag your way through this beloved shooter. Vital Statistics on Our 50 Killer Apps Total cost if you bought all 50 apps: $1219.83Number of apps that are free: 13Apps that have an iPhone counterpart: 15Whaddaya waiting for? (apps that have a free demo): 39Number of countries these apps were born in: 7Apps named "iSomething": shockingly... just 3!Apps that require Snow Leopard: 1Apps that require Leopard: 14Apps that promise "iLife integration!": 9 

  • Apple's new "green" notebook ad

    Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple, Macbook Pro, MacBookApple aired a new television ad here in the US earlier tonight. It touts the MacBook's low power consumption, recyclable enclosure and lack of some of the toxins present in other computers.Activist group Greenpeace has been pressuring Apple to adopt more environmentally-friendly production methods and materials over the last couple of years, and last month responded favorably to Apple's efforts to go green. Additionally, Apple has posted a page to their website describing not only their efforts toward environmental responsibility with the MacBook, but their overall efforts as a company. At the risk of sounding like a tree-hugging hippie, let me say, well done Apple!TUAWApple's new "green" notebook ad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • MacBook Air: greenest Apple yet

    Filed under: Apple, MacBook Air Apple has received a lot of flack, especially from Greenpeace, for their supposedly less-than-stellar commitment to "green" design and manufacturing processes. However, the MacBook Air might be a sign of changes to come, as it is officially the most environmentally-friendly Apple product on the shelves. The latest, thinnest Apple notebook boasts the following: Fully recyclable aluminum case Apple's first mercury-free LCD display, with arsenic-free glass Circuit boards are BFR-free and PVC-free 50% less packaging than the previous MacBooks Meets ENERGY STAR requirements Receives a EPEAT Silver Rating Of course, the MacBook Air isn't quite perfect (it's far from the greenest computer out there), and there are more improvements that can be made. However, this is indeed a step in the right direction for Apple, and hopefully this indicates a new trend. I think it's about time that Apple gets on the sustainability train and starts implementing more earth-friendly materials into their products. Let's hope for more good things in the future. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  • Upgrade Guide - Build a Better Mac

    Wondering if your Mac is as awesome as it could be? Want to make sure it is? We’ve got the answers to all your questions on upgrading RAM, hard drives, video cards, and more. Your Mac is a hefty investment, so it’s in your best interest to keep it running well for as long as you can. Upgrading its components instead of going for a new machine is a smart idea. (Bonus: Better components will also increase the resale value.)Still, like we said, your Mac is a hefty investment. So before you crack it open to drop in a larger and faster hard drive, add more system memory, or even slap on a fresh new battery, you’ll have questions. You’ll want to be confident in choosing components, finding the right tools, and knowing what to do before you find yourself digging into your Mac’s circuitry.Unfortunately, we can’t walk you through your upgrade step by step--each model of Mac is different, and they’re revised on a regular basis. But we can answer your questions about upgrading and give you the know-how you need to pick out the parts, locate the instructions, and get it done. Your upgraded Mac will work much better, plus you’ll be a happy camper knowing you did it all yourself. RAM The low-hanging fruit of any Mac upgrade, more RAM equals more get-up-and-go. Should I order my Mac with extra RAM installed by Apple, or just order the standard amount and upgrade later? It’s wise to compare prices before you check out at the Apple Store. Sometimes Apple’s RAM is cheaper than third-party prices, but often it’s much more expensive. And since Apple’s build-to-order options don’t always allow you to max out RAM when you buy, upgrading later may be the only way to load your Mac with as much memory as it supports.That said, if you’re squeamish about opening your computer, the convenience of getting extra RAM preinstalled may be worth the compromises. RAM not installed by Apple isn’t covered under your Mac’s warranty or AppleCare, and neither is damage caused by faulty RAM modules or their installation. But just between us, installing your own RAM is an easy and typically trouble-free procedure when done correctly. What are the different types of RAM? This laptop-sized SO-DIMM has 204 pins. The pins are what connect the module to the RAM slot.The RAM modules--or, more accurately, SDRAM modules--used by modern Macs come in a variety of speeds and two physical designs: desktop-sized DIMMs and compact, laptop-friendly SO-DIMMs. Many flavors of RAM have come and gone over the years, but the latest is DDR3, which moves data even faster than earlier DDR memory, while using less power. Although it may seem like there’s a galaxy of RAM to choose from, the memory you need depends on which Mac you want to upgrade, and your Mac’s needs are specific. So don’t worry about having to decide between cheaper DDR2 RAM and speedier, more expensive DDR3 RAM--you won’t have a choice. How do I find out which type I need and how much my Mac supports? Click the Apple Menu and select About This Mac to see how much RAM you have.Apple lists the type of RAM each currently selling Mac uses on the Tech Specs page for that Mac on Apple.com. For example, the current iMacs come with 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM in two 2GB SO-DIMMS. The iMac’s four SO-DIMM slots can support a total of 16GB, meaning four 4GB SO-DIMM modules.But that’s just the Macs for sale right now. To find out what kind of RAM is in your own Mac, click the Apple Menu and select About This Mac. The Memory section will tell you how much RAM you have installed and what kind it is--according to the screenshot, our MacBook Pro has 4GB (amount) of 667MHz (speed) DDR2 SDRAM (type). For more details on the individual RAM modules installed in your Mac’s memory slots, click More Info to launch System Profiler, then click Memory in the sidebar (under Hardware).However, this won’t tell you the maximum amount of RAM your Mac supports. If your Mac isn’t a current model, research sites like Everymac.com or simply go shopping. Many RAM vendors’ websites list a Mac’s capacity alongside its compatible memory. Do I always want to max out my RAM?  Crucial (crucial.com) is happy to tell us our MacBook Pro supports up to 4GB of RAM.Want to? Sure. More RAM lets your Mac handle memory-intensive tasks like gaming, video editing, and running multiple applications simultaneously. Adding as much RAM as possible helps ensure your Mac will be ready for a variety of tasks--and RAM-hungry software updates--for years to come.Need to? Not so much. While RAM is an easy, inexpensive way to boost your computer’s performance, an extra gigabyte or two over Apple’s stock configuration may be enough for everyday use. How and where can I comparison-shop for RAM? Other World Computing carries RAM from several manufacturers for one-stop comparison shopping.First, arm yourself with as much information about your computer and its supported RAM as possible. Many vendors use detailed technical specifications--even screen size--to differentiate one Mac model from another. Crucial (crucial.com) even has a System Scanner tool that can auto-detect your Mac model.Ramseeker.com lets you compare RAM prices based on specific Mac models. Sites like Pricewatch.com, PriceGrabber.com, and larger Mac-friendly retailers like Other World Computing (macsales.com) let you compare prices based on RAM type and manufacturer. Do the modules really have to be bought in matched pairs? This DDR3 DIMM can go in a current Mac Pro.Some Macs, like many Xserves and Mac Pros, require RAM to be installed in two modules of the same size and specifications--check your manual to be sure. Others, including all Intel Macs, don’t require matched pairs, but will see some speed benefits with matched memory. But even in these machines, more unmatched memory (say, one 2GB module and a 1GB module for a total of 3GB) generally provides greater benefit than a smaller amount of matched RAM (say, two 1GB modules for a total of 2GB). Where can I find instructions for my Mac? Find Other World Computing's how-to-install videos at eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/.Your Mac’s instruction manual or support documents on Apple’s website (support.apple.com) will show you how to install memory in your computer. Failing that, some Mac hardware vendors like iFixit.com, Crucial, and Other World Computing offer instructions on their websites--often as easy-to-follow videos--for a wide variety of Macs. How do I know if the installation "worked," and what should I do if it didn't? Choose About This Mac from the Apple Menu. You should see your new RAM total in the Memory section. If the number isn’t what you expect, shut down your computer, unplug all the cables, then access your Mac’s RAM slots again and make sure the new RAM modules are firmly seated. RAM Glossary So many acronyms, am I right?DIMM: Dual inline memory module. Also known as a RAM module or chip, installed into a slot in your desktop Mac.DDR2: Second-generation double-data-rate SDRAM; bandwidth up to 8.5GB/sec.DDR3: Third-generation double-data-rate SDRAM; bandwidth up to 12.8GB/sec.ECC: Error-correcting code. ECC RAM modules, which are used in Mac Pros, have extra chips that detect and fix errors in reading or writing to the memory.SDRAM: Synchronous dynamic random-access memory. Or just "RAM" for short.SO-DIMM: Small outline dual inline memory module. (See why we need acronyms?) Smaller than a DIMM, SO-DIMM modules are used in Mac laptops and iMacs.  Shop Different Here are our favorite Mac-centric dealers on the internet, compared on the basis of what you’ll pay for a 4GB RAM upgrade kit and an SSD for Susie’s trusty workhorse, a 2.4GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro (late 2007 Santa Rosa model). Prices change all the time; these are accurate as of press time.  Store Name URL RAM Price SSD Price Notes OWC macsales.com $97.50; OWC 4GB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz Upgrade Kit (two 2GB modules) $399.99; Crucial 128GB M225 2.5-inch SSD Site is somewhat cluttered, but we still manage to find what we need easily. Live chat with customer service. Crucial crucial.com $97.99; Crucial 4GB Kit PC5300 DDR2 667MHz $399.99; Crucial 128GB M225 2.5-inch SSD Memory Advisor tool and System Scanner help you find compatible parts for your Mac. Live chat with customer service. MacMall macmall.com $149.99; Kingston Upgrade to 4GB PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz $542.99; Axiom 128GB 2.5-inch SATA SSD Confusing navigation. No way to see all compatible parts for your Mac. iFixit.com ifixit.com $119.90; Two 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz (two 2GB modules) $299.95; Intel 80GB 2.5-inch SATA SSD (128GB capacity not available) Our favorite site for upgrade and repair instructions. Powerbook Medic powerbookmedic.com $97.90; Two 2GB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz modules ($48.95 each) $349.95; 128GB SSD MacBook and MacBook Pro Lots of parts and detailed instructions. Send in Mac if the repair is too tricky. Next Page: Hard Drives >> Hard Drives Your Mac's hard drive is like a closet that stores your whole digital life. Might as well make it a walk-in. Why upgrade my iMac or laptop's internal drive instead of just adding on external drives? Convenience and cost. A laptop with a large hard drive lets you carry more files with you without requiring extra gear. External drives are great for backup, but you don’t want to have to juggle them--and the power cords they may require--while you’re on the go. In desktop Macs, more built-in storage reduces the need for workspace-cluttering external drives and helps you avoid lengthy searches for files across multiple devices.A desktop-sized 3.5-inch SATA drive comes in larger capacities.Plus, internal drives tend to be much less expensive than their external counterparts, so your dollar will go further when you boost a Mac’s built-in storage. This can pay off down the road when you’re finally ready to replace your Mac with new model--a large internal drive will make your computer more desirable to buyers on the secondhand market. How do I find out which size and speed drive my machine supports? Your Mac’s manual can tell you what internal hard drive specifications your computer supports. If you’ve lost your manual, just find your Mac’s serial number in System Profiler--click the word Hardware at the top of the left-hand pane, then locate your Mac’s serial number and copy/paste it into the Search Manuals box at support.apple.com/manuals/. Or consult the website of your favorite Mac-centric retailer (see “Shop Different,” left) to see available drives for different Mac models.But we’ll get you started with some basics. All modern Macs use a hard drive connection called Serial ATA, or SATA. This simplifies your shopping a little, but Mac hard drives aren’t quite one size fits all. The SATA drive you need depends on what kind of Mac you have.MacBooks and MacBook Pros use 2.5-inch hard disk drives (or HDDs) that run between 5200 and 7200 RPM. These speeds determine how quickly data can be read from and written to the drive. The more revolutions per minute, the faster your drive. Currently, most 2.5-inch HDDs offer a maximum capacity of 750GB.Crucial's 2.5-inch 256GB SATA SSD will set you back $700 at crucial.com.Solid-state drives (or SSDs) are increasingly popular in laptops--they’ve been build-to-order options in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro for a few years. These drives use flash memory that has no moving parts, so data can be read from them even faster than from HDDs. This increased speed is an SSD’s main benefit. They’re currently more expensive and offer much smaller capacity than conventional drives. Anything larger than 256GB will currently cost you four figures, moneybags.Desktop Macs use 3.5-inch HDDs that run at 7200 RPM. These drives offer much greater maximum storage capacities than their laptop counterparts--up to 2TB. Which Mac laptops have user-replaceable hard drives? MacBook owners, you’re in luck. All MacBook models sport hard drives you can replace without voiding your warranty. Unfortunately, not all MacBook Pro owners are as fortunate. MacBook Pros with a unibody design (those sold after October 2008) have user-replaceable hard drives, but older models don’t. No model of MacBook Air offers a hard drive users can swap out for another.However, you don’t need Apple’s say-so to upgrade the drive in an unsupported machine. Unofficial drive-replacement instructions for any Mac laptop are available on the internet at Powerbookmedic.com, iFixit.com, and elsewhere. All that’s required is a Google search, steady hands, and a flagrant disregard for AppleCare coverage. But be warned--these renegade procedures aren’t for the faint of heart. Some involve significantly dismantling your computer, and any damage incurred definitely won’t be covered by Cupertino. Then again, if your warranty is up anyway, grab a screwdriver and get cracking. How and where can I comparison-shop for hard drives? First, gather as much information about your Mac and the type of drive it supports. Stores often differentiate internal hard drives only by a confusing alphabet soup of numbers, acronyms, and manufacturer names. A little research up front can make your shopping that much easier.When you’ve done your homework, it’s time to hit the internet. Sites like Pricewatch.com and PriceGrabber.com let you compare drives by size, manufacturer, capacity, and other features. But don’t forget to visit Mac-savvy retailers such as Other World Computing, Small Dog Electronics, or MacMall. These stores make it easy to find a specific Mac model and choose a compatible drive. If you know what you want, Newegg’s and Amazon’s prices are often tough to beat. How can I tell if my hard drive is dying? SMARTReporter pops up an error when the S.M.A.R.T. status of your hard drive is anything other than "Verified."If you hear a clicking sound, that’s bad. Really bad. But monitoring your drive’s S.M.A.R.T. status can clue you in before it gets to that point of no return. In Disk Utility, select your hard drive from the sidebar and look for “S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified,” which means the Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology built into your drive isn’t detecting any problems. To keep the S.M.A.R.T status front and center, SMARTReporter (free, www.corecode.at/smartreporter) can put it in your menubar. A green hard-drive icon in the menubar means everything’s okay. What are some best practices for installing a new HDD or SSD myself? First things first--back up all the data on any drive you’re replacing (see “How to Transfer Data to Your New Hard Drive,” below), then print out and read thoroughly the instructions for installing your new drive. Carefully organize any tools the installation requires. Setting aside a container to hold the tiny screws and other parts you may need to remove can save you time--and stress--when putting your Mac back together when the job is done. We like to stick the screws to our printed-out instructions with double-sided tape, so we know exactly which step in the process those screws go with.The insides of a 3.5-inch SATA drive, which hopefully you'll never see. Ooh, shiny.Next, turn off your computer and let it cool down for 10 minutes to make sure any heat lingering inside has a chance to dissipate. Unplug all cables (especially the power cord) from your Mac before you get started on the installation.Electricity runs your computer, but it has no place in a hard drive transplant. Work on a static-free surface--no wool sweaters or shag carpets for you--and touch a metal object to discharge any static electricity you’ve picked up before you handle your Mac’s internal components or the new drive. Many stores that sell internal hard drives also offer anti-static wrist straps that help ensure you don’t accidentally zap anything as you work. Get one if you want to stay as safe as possible with your Mac. Is one brand better than another? Western Digital's 2.5-inch drives fit in Mac laptops.Almost every computer user swears by a particular manufacturer, and one fan’s favorite will be another person’s “Worst. Drive. Ever.” So who’s right? The facts are that any computer equipment can fail unexpectedly, and any manufacturer can put out a batch of problematic hard drives from time to time. After all, a hard drive’s delicate moving parts are subject to wear and tear over repeated use just like anything else. Your best bet is to buy a known brand with a good warranty like Samsung, Western Digital, or Seagate. Buy from a reputable store, and make multiple backups often. How to Transfer Data to Your New Hard Drive When it’s time to upgrade your hard drive, you have to get your current data--including Mac OS X and your applications, naturally--moved over to the new device. Mac|Life recommends you clone your whole drive onto the new one. 1. Clean AppZapper finds and deletes an app's related files.First banish the clutter from your current hard drive. Take a spin through your Documents, Pictures, Music, Movies, and Applications folders and delete items you’re sure you don’t want. AppCleaner (free, freemacsoft.net/AppCleaner/), AppZapper ($12.95, appzapper.com), or Hazel ($21.95, noodlesoft.com, see here) can help you delete the application and its preference files along with the app itself. 2. Connect When you pick out your new hard drive, buy an enclosure for it too. They aren’t expensive--Other World Computing sells them for less than $20. Get an enclosure made for SATA drives that connects to your Mac via USB (same size as the drive you’re buying--2.5 inches for laptops and 3.5 inches for desktops). Install your brand-new hard drive in it, and connect it to your Mac with a USB cable. It should mount on your Desktop as a removable drive. 3. Format Reformat your drive with Disk Utility.Launch Disk Utility, select the drive you just attached, click the Erase tab, and format the new drive (not your old one!) as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This will also erase anything on the new drive; sometimes they ship with included utilities and software you don’t care about. We want it empty. 4. Clone Carbon Copy Cloner will copy everything on your current hard drive to your new one.Download Carbon Copy Cloner (donations accepted, bombich.com) or SuperDuper! ($27.95, shirt-pocket.com), and use it to make an exact, bootable clone of your current hard drive on the new hard drive you formatted in Step 3. 5. Install iFixit's illustrated instructions are specific to each Mac model.Eject the removable hard drive from your Mac in the normal fashion, then remove the drive from the enclosure. Find and follow the instructions to install the bare drive in your Mac--your Mac’s manual or the guides at iFixit.com, Powerbookmedic.com, or Other World Computing will walk you through it. 6. Boot When your new hard drive is installed, boot up your Mac and make sure everything looks right. Now you can install your old hard drive in the empty enclosure, and use it like an external drive. All done!Next Page: Video Cards and Optical Drives >> Video Cards and Optical Drives Mac Pro owners only: Your spacious case leads to easy upgrades and longer life. Why can only Mac Pro owners (and Power Mac G5 owners) upgrade their video cards and optical drives? Look at all that room inside a Mac Pro. Makes you want to roll up your sleeves and swap out some components...These high-powered machines are the multipurpose workhorses of the Mac world, and they’re designed to be easily upgradeable to perform a variety of jobs. Expandability also helps protect the steep financial investment these Macs represent--and require--against early obsolescence. Why should I upgrade my video card? Power and flexibility. Gamers and media pros know that replacing an older card with the latest pixel pusher from Nvidia or ATI extends a Mac Pro’s useful life. Not only can new cards handle images, video, and 3D fragfests at higher resolutions, they speed up some everyday tasks in OS X as well. But don’t kick your old card to the curb when you upgrade. Two video cards let you use up to four monitors with your Mac Pro, offering significantly more screen real estate for all your applications.Video cards can be bought from Apple or almost any vendors specializing in Mac hardware. Apple publishes a partial list of cards compatible with the Power Mac G5 and Mac Pro lines that can help you plan your shopping trip. Is it cheaper to get Apple's stock options and upgrade myself or just have Apple build-to-order? Video cards available for preinstallation by Apple can sometimes be found cheaper at other stores, but not always. As with RAM, it’s smart to compare Apple’s prices with those of third-party vendors before you buy. But upgrading yourself can offer more choices. Not every Mac-compatible card--such as the Nvidia Quadro FX 4800--is available as a build-to-order option from Apple.Don't pay $100 for a second SuperDrive in your Mac Pro. You can fill the empty optical-drive bay yourself later.Optical drives are a different story. Currently, the only way to customize a Mac Pro’s spare optical drive bay at checkout is by adding a second SuperDrive that’s identical to the first. Go ahead and leave that bay empty. You can install a comparable DVD drive yourself for less than half of Apple’s asking price. Should I put a Blu-ray drive in my Mac Pro? Adding Blu-ray to your Mac Pro makes sense only if you need to work with Blu-ray data discs or author your own movies in the format (you’ll also need a copy of Toast or Final Cut Studio to do either). Until Cupertino hops on the Blu bandwagon, OS X can’t natively read Blu-ray, much less play District 9 in glorious 1080p on your 30-inch Cinema Display.This lack of system-wide support--and hardware costs higher than those of standard DVD drives--make Blu-ray on the Mac a technological no-man’s-land for the average user. But if you’re still tempted, it’s easy to add a Blu-ray drive to your Mac Pro. Where should I shop for Blu-ray and what models will fit? Almost any store that sells computer components offers internal Blu-ray drives that will fit your Mac Pro. But for the simplest shopping experience, stick with stores that cater to Mac customers. Some, like Other World Computing, offer bundles that include necessary software and other extras along with the drive.You’ll want a 5.25-inch Blu-ray drive to fit your Mac Pro’s spare optical drive bay. These drives connect using a standard SATA interface, so they’ll install in Mac Pros sold since March 2009 with no fuss. For an older Mac Pro, you’ll need to buy inexpensive adapter cables to connect it to the PATA (also known as ATA/IDE) optical drive interface in these Macs. Installation instructions can be found in your Mac Pro’s manual, the support section of Apple’s website, or even from the store that sold you the drive. The Right Tools for the Job While you’re shopping for parts to upgrade your Mac, don’t forget to pick up any tools you might need. These are essential for your toolbox. Find them at your local hardware store, or at Other World Computing (macsales.com) or iFixit (iFixit.com).Phillips screwdriver set. Or at least the 00, 0, 1, and 2 sizes of Phillips screwdrivers. Newer technology's 11-piece toolset is only $17.95 and has everything you need.Torx screwdriver set. You'll most likely need the T6 or T8, but pick up a whole set if you can so you're never stuck without the right size. iFixit sells a 26-Piece Bit Driver Kit for $14.95 that includes every Torx and Phillips screwdriver they carry.Spudger sticks. These nylon pry tools help you seat RAM modules, remove other computer parts, and open up iPods.A putty knife. You'll need one if you're planning to open a Mac mini.Next Page: Batteries >> Batteries Your laptop's battery is nearly as essential as its screen--and it's easier to replace. How much of my battery's original capacity is left? How much juice your battery still holds on a full charge depends on your charging habits and which laptop you have. Apple claims the nonremovable batteries in MacBook Pros retain 80% of their original capacity for up to 1,000 charge cycles, and you can expect roughly the same performance from batteries in the latest MacBooks. A MacBook Air’s battery offers similar results for up to 750 cycles, and the most recent Apple laptops with removable batteries will keep delivering at 80% capacity for 300 cycles.System Profiler can fill you in on your battery's health.What’s a charge cycle? It’s a full discharge of your battery followed by a full recharge. To find out how many your battery has gone through, launch System Profiler from your Mac’s Utilities folder, then click Power in the sidebar. Your battery’s cycle count is in the Health Information section of the resulting window. If the number exceeds Apple’s benchmarks, and you find yourself scanning rooms for power outlets, it may be time for a new battery. Is the battery in my laptop considered user-replaceable? With the unibody's slim design comes a trade-off: a nonremovable battery.All MacBooks released before October 2009 and MacBook Pros released before October 2008 have user-replaceable batteries. You just buy a new one and slap it on; heck, you can even tote a spare for marathon computing sessions. The batteries in all MacBook Airs, unibody MacBooks, and unibody MacBook Pros aren’t considered user-replaceable. Where can I buy a replacement? Newer Technology's batteries are a little cheaper than Apple's.Replacing the batteries built into Apple’s latest laptops requires taking your Mac to an authorized service center. Replacement batteries for other Mac laptops are available from Apple or from many stores that specialize in Mac hardware. Some third-party manufacturers, such as NewerTechnology (newertech.com), sell their own Mac-compatible batteries for less money and at higher maximum capacities than Apple’s offerings. Are external laptop batteries worth the money? The HyperMac batteries sure don’t come cheap. Depending on which MacBook you own, you’re looking at $200 to roughly double your battery life or $400 to more than triple it. (HyperMac also offers $300 and $500 batteries; hit hypershop.com for the gory details.) It’s important to note that those performance stats really vary depending on what you’re doing--watching a DVD movie, for instance, drains batteries approximately twice as fast as just writing in Word or browsing the web. That can be invaluable, and we really appreciate how HyperMacs include a USB port for charging your iPod or whatever.  So, yes, they’re a great option if you need to extend your battery life and can afford the steep pricing, but if that’s not you, we’d recommend putting those greenbacks toward something  else... like that iPad you know you want. Do battery conditioners do anything worthwhile? Newer Technological sells battery conditioners ($149.95, newertech.com) for every Apple laptop.Battery conditioners automate the monthly full discharge and recharge cycle recommended by Apple if you don’t use your laptop often. This helps keep the battery’s electrons active and can improve the accuracy of its “fuel gauge” in OS X, giving you a more accurate picture of its remaining charge. How can I extend my battery's capacity? Keep your software up to date. System updates have the latest power-management features, and Apple occasionally releases updates that address battery issues. Protect your Mac from extreme temperatures, especially heat. “Exercise” your battery by charging it intermittently throughout the day, and avoid leaving it plugged in for long periods. If your laptop will be stored for more than six months, give it a 50 percent charge before shutting it down. How to Replace Your iPhone's Battery Difficulty Level: EasyWhat You Need: >> New iPhone battery ($19.95, ifixit.com)>> Phillips 00 screwdriver (iFixiit includes one with your battery)>> Two spudgers (we used one pointy black spudger and one flatter greenish spudger)>> A soft cloth to cover your work surface>> Small suction cup ($2.95, ifixit.com)Once your iPhone is a couple of years old, you might notice the battery lasting less time on each charge. Apple can replace it for $79 plus $6.95 shipping (apple.com/support/iphone/service/battery/), but you can buy a new battery for around $20 online and do it yourself.We have helpful, step-by-step videos for all iPhones at maclife.com/iphone_battery_videos. They point out every single screw, connector, and part you need to know.

  • Gear of the Year 2009

    Apple and its partners released hundreds upon hundreds of compelling products this year. We scoured the hardware universe, tested the heck out of the most intriguing gear we found, and now share our exclusive list of the 15 very best.Apple doesn’t make product design easy for its third-party partners and the rest of the hardware-manufacturing universe. Jonathan Ive and his design team craft the most emotionally inspiring gear in all of computing and gadgetdom, which only sets the bar higher for those companies aspiring to make products that work with Apple gear. Add in the fact that Steve Jobs keeps many of Apple’s development plans private, and you have third-party vendors essentially “designing blind,” as they anticipate products that complement the Apple oeuvre.But, oh well, such is the price we pay for gear that moves the soul. Apple’s design process creates the coolest family of products on the market, and the best third-party manufacturers always find a way to create gear and accessories that match Apple’s hallmarks of slick design, simple operation, and clever, cutting-edge features. On the following pages, we present the very best of the hardware we tested this year, as well as the iPhone and iPod touch apps that made profound impacts on the screens of our handhelds. Notebook: 13" MacBook Pro Pretend it’s January 1, 2009, and you’re in the market for a 13-inch Mac laptop. Your choices are few: Either a plastic MacBook starting at $999 (for which you’d get 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and a 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo “Penryn” chip), or the svelte aluminum MacBook Air starting at $1,799 (2GB of non-upgradeable RAM, the same 120GB hard drive, and a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo “Penryn” chip).The gulf between their prices: significant. The difference in their specs: yawn-inducing.The 13-inch MacBook Pro does a happy dance every time we sing its deserved praises.Thankfully, Apple introduced the 13-inch MacBook Pro in June, giving mobilistas the same features as the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros in a smaller, more portable package. Compared to the Air, it’s got more ports, a faster chip, upgradeable RAM, and a bigger and faster hard drive--and starting at $1,199, the 13-inch MBP is a few ducats cheaper too (the Air now starts at $1,499). From its all-day battery life to its oh-so-convenient SD card slot, the 13-inch Pro quickly became the favorite new Mac in our offices and a hands-down shoo-in for Gear of the Year honors.COMPANY: AppleCONTACT: www.apple.comPRICE: $1,199 and up  Display: LED Cinema Display Apple’s LED Cinema Display isn’t necessarily perfect. It’s kinda expensive and only works with Mini DisplayPort–equipped Mac models (unibody MacBook Pros, the now-defunct unibody MacBook, the MacBook Air, and the latest Mac Pro and iMac). If your machine sports a DVI or mini-DVI port instead of a Mini DisplayPort, you can’t use this display, even with Apple’s adapters. Yes, at press time, Atlona was releasing an adapter that purports to connect any DVI Mac to this display, but we haven’t yet been able to test it yet.Behold: 24 inches of wow.So, yes, it may present problems for the budget- and DisplayPort-challenged, but none are serious enough to rob this incredible display of GOTY recognition. The 24-inch LED-backlit screen is sublime, even without a matte option, and the $899 price tag doesn’t seem so steep considering that the monitor can also power your laptop with its built-in MagSafe power cord. It’s like having a second power adapter, which typically would cost you $129. The LED Cinema Display also reflects the environmental strides Apple made in 2009: The glass is arsenic free, the cables are PVC free, it meets Energy Star requirements, it’s free of BFR and mercury, and the glass and aluminum enclosure are highly recyclable. OK, OK, and it’s great looking too. We’re just shallow like that.COMPANY: AppleCONTACT: www.apple.comPRICE: $899   Camcorder: Zi8 Pocket Video Camera Kodak’s pocket-size Zi8 edges out the Flip MinoHD (4 out of 5 stars, Mar/09), thanks to its uncanny versatility. Nearly the same size as the Flip, the Zi8 can shoot in full 1080p at 30 frames per second, 720p at both 30 and 60 frames per second, widescreen VGA (848x480), and also take 5-megapixel stills. Removable SDHC cards let you swap in new memory, and the rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery is also removable, so you can pack extra cards and batteries and keep shooting all day, weekend, vacation, or bender long. A tripod mount, macro mode, 2.5-inch display, and stereo microphone input round out the package.Removable memory and batteries keep you shooting all day.Oh, and it’s $20 cheaper than the Flip MinoHD too (though you will need to shell out for an SDHC card; an 8GB one goes for about $25). Even the PC-only software doesn’t rain on the Zi8’s parade too much--the MOV files play in QuickTime and can be imported into iMovie for further editing. We hear ArcSoft Media Impressions, the included software, is no picnic anyhow, although we really wouldn’t know, as we’re all Mac Lifers. (Mac Lifers who are now videotaping each others’ every move.)COMPANY: KodakCONTACT: www.kodak.comPRICE: $179.95  Printer: Epson Stylus Photo R2880 With multifunction printers like the Epson Artisan 810 running about $300 for quite impressive photo reproduction, some might think us decadent for choosing a photo-only printer that costs twice as much. Well, price isn’t a major consideration in Gear of the Year voting, and when we consider the Stylus Photo R2880’s special talents for black-and-white printing and fine-art reproduction in general, we can’t help but turn to Epson’s most prosumer-oriented wide-format printer.An eight-cartridge ink system includes special magenta pigments for breathtaking tonal range in color prints. But where the R2880 really excels is in the grayscale reproduction of black-and-white prints. Three levels of black pigments and a special Black-and-White Photo Mode eliminate all of the unfortunate colorcasting that occurs in black-and-white prints from lesser photo printers.Only the fancy blue lighting in our photo studio casts impure color on the R2880's neutral B&W reproduction.The R2880 also supports a huge array of paper sizes and types. Formats range from 4x6 inches to 13x19 inches and 13-inch panoramic rolls. Supported paper types include Epson’s own velvet, watercolor, and canvas mattes, each of which feature its own unique fine-art texture. You can even feed in 1.3mm-thick art boards! The R2880 is the artist’s choice. We love it.COMPANY: EpsonCONTACT: www.epson.comPRICE: $599.99  Camera: EOS 5D Mark II Pro photographers would likely give the stink eye to anyone who even suggested using one of those toy digi-cams that shoots both still images and video. But the Canon 5DMII isn’t a toy--it’s a game-changing digital SLR that adds the ability to shoot 1080p video to an already unbelievable package. That’s right, kids: This thing shoots HD video out of the box.The 5DMII takes insanely detailed still images with its 21.1 megapixel, 35mm CMOS sensor, which is 60 percent larger than the sensor in most other DSLRs. This translates into crisper images all around and low-light photos with zero to little grain or noise. And thanks to an enormous 3-inch LCD screen, you’ll be able to preview your shots with amazing detail, all in real time.Doesn't look like a video camera--but it is.When you get tired of still photos, you can shoot up to 12 minutes of HD 1080p video per each 4GB of flash memory. Video quality is good, and if you eschew the stock lens for a manually operated Canon lens, you can achieve superb video quality that rivals that of pro-level HD video cameras. Will the 5DMII replace those expensive HD video cameras? No. But it does take one step closer to leveling the playing field.COMPANY: CanonCONTACT: www.usa.canon.comPRICE: $2,699 (Body Only)  Desktop: 24-inch 3.06GHz iMac There was a time not so long ago that when a pro content-creator needed a new Mac, we would emphatically point him or her to the fastest Mac Pro. You need to edit video? Get a Mac Pro. You got some huge photo files that need retouching? Get a Mac Pro. Mixing your latest album? Well, you get the point.The granddaddy of all iMacs is a winning mix of everything we care about in Apple computers.But now we’re not so sure, considering the sheer raw power and screen size of the 24-inch, 3.06GHz iMac. The biggest iMac in the Apple corral, this machine screams, thanks to its Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Nvidia GeForce GT 130 videocard, and cutting-edge DDR3 RAM. Throw in a 1TB of drive space and that huge beautiful display, and you have a desktop rig that’s gloriously well appointed for consumer enthusiasts and pretty damn zippy for professionals. The 24-inch iMac doesn’t beat the Mac Pro in terms of sheer processor power and expandability, but it’s perfection in terms of its price-to-performance-to-convenience ratios.COMPANY: AppleCONTACT: www.apple.comPRICE: $2,199  iPhone Case: Feather The Feather case is less than a millimeter thick. That’s thin, y’all. Made of a light but strong polymer, it snaps around your iPhone with a satisfying click, providing a layer of scratch-n-bump protection and a splash of color without adding any bulk whatsoever. The Feather comes in more than a dozen colors, including eye-catching, limited-edition fluorescents. Incipio even includes two surface protectors (removable film for your iPhone’s touchscreen) and a soft cleaning cloth.The NBC peacock would be so proud.The bottom is open so you can dock your device in nearly any accessory without having to pull the case off first. Not every case can do that, which is why the Feather quickly became the iPhone case of choice in the Mac|Life offices. Our iPhones are nearly as busy as we are, in and out of docks, speakers, and other accessories all day long. Stylish, rugged, and thin. That’s the hat trick for an iPhone case, and the Feather scores big on all three points.COMPANY: IncipioCONTACT: www.myincipio.comPRICE: $19.99  Networking Device: Verizon MiFi 2200 At first glance, the MiFi doesn’t look impressive--it’s just a shard of shiny black plastic and a few LEDs. But once you charge it up and slip it in your pocket, it becomes a tool of furious networking utility.The MiFi achieves the seemingly impossible: making networking hardware sexy.MiFi uses Wi-Fi to form a bridge between your computer and Verizon’s 3G data network, allowing you to access the Internet from anywhere Verizon has 3G coverage. That means you can take your MacBook to the beach and iChat with your pals with your toes in the sand--or grab online copies of the dreaded quarterly TPS report. You can also work from your favorite cafĂ©, park bench, or even a moving vehicle (as a passenger), all without having to worry about finding an open Wi-Fi network. Better still, unlike USB or ExpressCard devices that only work with a single computer, you can share your MiFi connection with up to four additional computers.Oh, sure, there are probably a bunch of Wi-Fi home network routers that did a bang-up job in 2009. Yay for them. Give them all cake and ice cream. We’ll still take the MiFi, a networking product that actually does something new.COMPANY: VerizonCONTACT: www.verizonwireless.comPRICE: $149.99 with two-year service contract  Set-Top Media Player: Western Digital WD TV Sorry Apple TV, but the WD TV gets the nod for being the best device to deliver content from your Mac’s multimedia collection directly to your TV. In April, we gave the WD TV a tepid 3-star rating for some awkward interface issues, but since then WD has issued firmware updates addressing some of the nits and adding support for more video formats. Yes, we’re still waiting for network connectivity directly from Western Digital, but an active hacking community has been expanding the WD TV’s feature set, including getting it to play nice on Wi-Fi networks.Firmware updates and community hacks elevated the WD TV to greatness. Nine months and several different set-top boxes later, we still find ourselves skipping more complicated competitors and using the WD TV to play media files on our HDTVs. This box seems to support every file format one can throw at it. And unlike Apple and other set-top box competitors, Western Digital takes a very hacker-friendly stance with the WD TV, which we applaud, as great developments often flow from a passionate hacker community. It may not be the highest-tech device in our entertainment center, but for ease-of-use and rock-steady reliability, it’s the media box we love most.COMPANY: Western DigitalCONTACT: www.wdc.comPRICE: $99.99  Gadget: Pulse Smartpen This ĂĽberhandy pen records audio, all while a teeny infrared camera in the tip links the sound to whatever you’re writing at the time. This lets you sit back and really listen to a lecture, meeting, or presentation without frantically scribbling notes. Instead, you can just jot the quickest of notes (even a single number or letter--whatever you like) on Livescribe’s special dot paper and then easily find the associated audio clip later. To do this, just tap a note with your pen as you’re playing back the audio, and the recording instantly jumps to the portion that was recorded when you wrote that note. Docking the pen uploads your recordings and a digitized version of your notes to the Livescribe Desktop app, which lets you archive, search, organize, and share your notes and audio.The notebook in this photo isn't a random prop. It's a volume of Livescribe's special dot paper.It’s difficult to explain how useful the Pulse and Livescribe Desktop are (and they do more than we’ve outlined here), but the genius behind the idea, the pen’s classy design, and the “it just works” simplicity dropped the jaws of every single Mac|Life staffer when we got our paws on it earlier this year. It’s our Gadget of the Year--take a note.COMPANY: LivescribeCONTACT: www.livescribe.comPRICE: $169.99 and up  iPods: Fifth-Gen iPod nano The fifth-gen iPod nano is the first iteration of the nano since the original to not receive a perfect 5-star score from Mac|Life, but it’s still undoubtedly the iPod of the Year. Its 2.2-inch screen is the biggest for a nano ever, it plays FM radio--something we’ve requested for years--and, oh yeah, did you notice that it shoots video? (Apple might have mentioned something about that in the commercials, but we just wanted to make sure.)The video camera interface includes a generous collection of 15 special visual effects, including ones that mimic thermal heat maps, creepy X-rays, old-timey sepia tones, and trippy motion blurs--just like when the vampires speed up in True Blood! This latest nano also includes a pedometer function that shows you how many steps you’ve taken on your latest hike. All in all, the fifth-gen nano has a cunning array of talents and is our iPod of choice, especially if price is a consideration.An honorable mention should go to the third-gen iPod touch, now at a lower price to bring App Store goodness to more people (cue the zombies: “One of us! One of us!”) without subjecting them to the slings and arrows of an AT&T contract.COMPANY: AppleCONTACT: www.apple.comPRICE: $149 (8GB), $179 (16GB)  Earbuds: Future Sonics Atrio Two bills for a set of earbuds isn’t exactly an impulse buy, but certain things in life warrant dropping a bit of extra coin. World-class computers, fine bourbon, and audiophile-caliber earbuds all make our short list of entirely justifiable splurges. Future Sonics manufactures “in-ear monitors” for professional musicians, and the Atrio earbuds reflect that professional pedigree. They’ve outlasted several other pairs of comparably priced ’buds, which is no small feat, considering the daily abuse we put them through. But it’s really their impressive bass response--even at low volumes--that kept us coming back to them during Gear of the Year deliberations.Comfort and excellent bass response are worth $200.True to their roots in performance gear, the Atrios are comfortable for extended wear, and their treble is crisp and clean, without becoming fatiguing after listening for long periods. We’ve used the Atrios in a wide range of playback scenarios, from listening to the latest Kid Cudi record on the train, to the new Beatles box set at home, all with stellar results. In fact, we like them so much, we’ve been tempted to spring for optional custom-fit sleeves--but that would require a trip to an audiologist to take molds of our ear canals. Oh well, the included tips still sound mighty sweet.COMPANY: Future SonicsCONTACT: www.futuresonics.comPRICE: $199  Speaker Dock: SYD 5 After testing a lab full of iPod speaker docks this year, we’ve determined an incontestable truth: Either go big or go home. Indeed, after being bombarded with flimsy, tiny, tinny docks festooned with clocks, radios, cute graphics, and other distracting “features,” we found audio excellence in the Kanto SYD 5. It’s large, it bumps deep, deep base, and its only “feature” is the color you choose for its smooth, shiny shell. At 22 lbs, the SYD 5 feels like speakers of days gone by--and when a speaker has heft, it usually also has the audio to back up the extra weight.The SYD 5 system comes in black, green, and blue--and a curious note on the Kanto website reads, "other Pantone colors possible." Someone out there please order Flame Orange, 15-1157 TPX!The SYD 5 accomplishes its feats of strength with four speakers hidden behind a removable front cover. Two 5.25-inch drivers and a bunch of reflex ports push deep, rich bass for your hip-hop mixes, while two 3-inch drivers deliver the high end for all the wailing guitars you can handle. Weeeee!The SYD 5 includes an audio auxiliary input and AC power outlet for Hessian-caliber iTunes rocking with an AirPort Extreme. RCA and S Video outputs allow you to watch videos from your iPod on your TV. The weight lifter’s belt for your lower back? That one’s on you.COMPANY: KantoCONTACT: www.kantospeakers.comPRICE: $359  iPhone Headset: Griffin TuneBuds Mobile Apple has a headset problem. The one it bundles with the iPhone is, well…the dictionary definition is “craptacular.” And we’re pretty sure that cramming hard plastic into one’s ears doesn’t meet anyone’s definition of comfortable. And don’t even get us started on the sound quality. Bottom line: We’re now on the third iteration of the iPhone, and Apple still hasn’t managed to include a set of ’buds that is comfy, stays in place, sounds good, and includes a good mic.Griffin Technology’s TuneBuds Mobile succeeds on all four points, and we dig its reasonable price. We don’t have anything against expensive, audiophile-level gear, but we absolutely love affordable accessories that do a really good job, and that describes the TuneBuds quite succinctly.No more tangles! Thank you, Griffin.The TuneBuds will work with your iPhone or any recent iPod that sports VoiceOver or Voice Control. The cable is covered in braided nylon and feels sturdier than most headset or earbud cables. And when you wind up the TuneBuds and stuff them in your pocket, the cables don’t tangle quite as much as other headsets. A small detail for sure, but that’s the kind of quality that helps a product transcend from great to awesome.COMPANY: GriffinCONTACT: www.griffintechnology.comPRICE: $39.99  Smartphone: iPhone 3GS Internet fanboys will hurl slander that we’re secretly on Apple’s payroll. Mac computer enthusiasts will say we’ve drunk the Kool-Aid for a silly little pocket toy. And iPod touch owners will cry that we just don’t get it--that the iPhone is considerably more expensive than the similarly featured touch and isn’t even a very good device for voice calls, which is a bit of a problem for any gadget with the word “phone” in its name.To our critics, we say bah! We’ll see your cynicism and raise you 100 chips of we don’t care. Ever since June 2007 when we all bought our first-gen models, we have been using, loving, and hourly depending on some version of the iPhone, and the improvements in this year’s 3GS only reaffirm what most of our readers already know: Apple’s smartphone is the coolest, most useful piece of technology to hit the market since the personal computer itself.Let us reiterate the key improvements introduced in the 3GS:» Significantly faster app load times and better graphics performance in games.» Higher-res, better-looking photos thanks to a new 3-megapixel camera, now with automatic focus, exposure, and white-balance control.» Video support care of the fancy new camera.» Voice Control, which lets you find contacts, call phone numbers, and play music simply by talking into the iPhone's microphone.» A compass function that orients maps correctly, among other sweet benefits.Six Mac|Life editors, but only five new iPhones. Who's the 3GS holdout!?Did you really think any other mobile phone could knock the iPhone from our top spot? Of course not. But because the iPhone 3GS is so incredibly handy and has become so thoroughly integrated into the flow of our daily lifestyles, we are also compelled to name it Mac|Life Product of the Year. The apps we use entertain us, inform us, and have disruptively replaced a slew of other products and tools that we used by rote only a few years ago. And the new wave of augmented reality apps bring a certain Minority Report fantasy function to a device that is already firmly sci-fi.So don’t come crying to us with protests of “AT&T sucks!” and “there’s no physical keyboard!” We acknowledge those shortcomings, but remain resolute in our conviction that the iPhone 3GS is quite simply the finest, most innovative piece of personal technology by a wide, wide margin.COMPANY: AppleCONTACT: www.apple.comPRICE: $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB) (Pricing for both capacities is for new AT&T customers and eligible current customers)  

  • Don’t Forget the Little Guys: Updated Processors, Hard Drives, and Keyboards

    Alongside some of the more publicized changes Apple made to their lineup today, including the long-awaited new Mac mini, the iMac and Mac Pro updates, and the changes to the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule devices, there were also a few, more quiet modifications made. Maybe most interesting among these changes are the processor speed improvements made to the MacBook Pro line of Apple notebooks. Whereas MacBook Pros used to cap out at 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, the limit has now been increased to 2.93GHz. The standard processor included in the more expensive 15-inch model also gets an improvement, up to 2.66GHz from 2.53GHz. Processors weren't the only thing to receive attention today in Apple's notebook lineup. The 256 SSD drive upgrade option that first appeared with the 17-inch MacBook Pro is now available for all unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros. I still think it's prohibitively expensive, but I suppose if you have $825 lying around, there are worse ways to spend it. Maybe. Apple peripherals also received a minor alteration this morning. Specifically, their keyboard now comes in three possible configurations. There's the existing wired keyboard with numpad, and the wireless Bluetooth keyboard without, and now, there's also a wired version without. The new smaller wired keyboard apparently ships by default with the new iMac, though the Mac Pro still comes with the numpad-inclusive version. Price point for the new wired keyboard? $49, same as with the numpad. Does this strike anyone else as the opposite move Apple should've made? I don't know about you, but I want my wireless keyboard with a little numpad spice, not the other way around. Talk about a missed opportunity. We'll see how the Apple community reacts to the keyboard switch, but I really hope it isn't just the first step towards phasing out the numpad version altogether, and then introducing a new peripheral, or worse yet, suggesting the iPhone is their numpad. Green your IT. Save Money. Save the Planet » Register at $295 / $495 regular » Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM's Green:Net.

  • Goodbye, 20″ Cinema Display. No Hello, 20″ LED Cinema Display?

    Another one bites the dust. Another in Apple's line of Cinema Displays, that is. Apple pulled the 20″ entry-level model of their popular professional caliber display line Thursday, leaving behind only the legacy 30″ model and the 24″ newly updated LED Cinema Display with DisplayPort that was introduced alongside the new unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros at the notebook event late last year. Last time a model was pulled, its replacement was already available, since it was the mid-range 23″ display and the 24″ had already been announced and was available via the Apple Store. The discontinuation of the 20″ leaves a signifcant hole in the existing line-up, since the mid-range 24″ display is a full $200 more expensive than its smaller sibling. Curiously, AppleInsider is also reporting that all backlogs are to be cancelled and that no replacement is to be offered to fill those orders already existing. It seems an odd move for Apple to leave such a gap in their offerings, and most retailers suspect that a refreshed model will be made available soon. If we look at the 24″ for cues, it's reasonably safe to say that the new model would use MiniDisplay Port for video connectivity, and might offer power supply and USB hub functions as well. Suddenly those $400-range used 20″ Cinema Displays I found on craigslist the other day are looking mighty appealing, since all of my existing Apple computers still use the mini-DVI standard. Yes, I'm living in the past. As of yet, there is no way for Apple users with Mini-DVI connected hardware to hook up with the new 24″ display, and presumably with any other forthcoming devices that will use DisplayPort tech. I think I'm gonna go inquire to that craigslist poster after all, before he realizes what he's got his hands on and the price gouging starts. Green your IT. Save Money. Save the Planet » Register at $295 / $495 regular » Hear Microsoft, IBM, Dell and Cisco execs at GigaOM's Green:Net.

  • Maccast 2008.03.01

    A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 217. Apple number 2 music seller in US. Apple updates Macbooks and Macbook Pros. Apple getting greener. iPhone firmware 1.1.4 released. iPhone SDK event scheduled for March 6th. Other random news. Shortcut for quoting in Mail.app. Extending Wi-fi using WDS reduces performance. Technical explanation for the 20" iMac LCD issue. Removing archived photos from iPhoto. Office 2008 installation and support issues. What's that grey spiny wheel at startup? Auto-mount shared volumes. A remote control your iPhone. One tool to clone Mac and Windows partitions. Clearing up the Time Machine Air Disk confusion. New music, Yellow Buddha by The Puffins Special thanks to our sponsors: Circus Ponies - Free 30-day Trial of Notebook Certified Training Alliance - Get your Apple certification today. I watched you very carefully. Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast. "Starman" (1984) Subscribe to the Podcast Feed or Get the MP3

  • It’s Coming: Preparing for iPhone OS 4.0

    If you’re excited about the forthcoming iPhone OS 4.0 update, you’re not alone. Here’s how you can have a smooth upgrade by getting ready for the latest and greatest ahead of time.iPhone updates are always a big deal, particularly major ones such as the forthcoming iPhone OS 4.0 announced in early April. Third-party developers have been working feverishly behind the scenes to make sure their hard work is compatible with Apple’s latest, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also do a little preparation in anticipation of its release, expected sometime this month.As always, your pals at MacLife.com are here to help guide the way -- so read on and let’s get ready to rumble, iPhone OS 4.0 style!Clean Up Your iTunes AppsIf you’ve used your iDevice for a while now, you’ve probably accumulated a lot of apps -- for example, our personal copy of iTunes is home to nearly 700 of them, including universal apps which run on both the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad. Now would be a good time to take inventory and maybe even do a little housekeeping.With each new iPhone OS, there are some unfortunate apps that become orphaned and may even cease to work at all with the latest version. One such example is Veiosoft’s DataCase, one of the earliest and best apps for transferring files to your iDevice, which has been seemingly abandoned by the developer after the most recent 1.1.1 update back in September, 2008. That means it’s never quite worked right on OS 3.x, and users who paid out their $6.99 are left to search for competing utilities that are updated more frequently. (DataCase is still for sale as of this writing, but based on a wave of negative reviews since the last update almost two years ago, it’s clearly not recommended for newer firmware.)Granted, DataCase is less than 1MB in size so it’s not a big hardship to just leave it on your hard drive, but removing it and other unused, unloved or simply outdated apps from your iTunes can only help keep the software running lean and mean. After all, who wants to wade through hundreds of unused apps in search of the one you really want anyway? Click on the Apps icon in your iTunes sidebar, select the app you wish to remove while holding down the Control key and select “Delete” from the submenu.Of course, deleting an app from iTunes doesn’t mean you’ll have to buy it all over again should the developer come calling later with an updated version. iTunes remembers all of your purchases -- regardless of whether they reside in iTunes at the moment or not -- so you will always be able to download them again for free, unless the developer specifically releases a separate new version for a fee, as was the case with the popular Tweetie 2 app (which has since become the official, and free, Twitter app).We’d advise that you back up your unwanted apps before emptying your trash -- you never know when you might change your mind and decide to reinstall something, especially if it’s an app that vanishes from the App Store due to some change in Apple’s policy, similar to what happened with the Google Voice apps in the past. (Although keep in mind, Apple can always remotely “kill” apps they don’t want you to use, but no harm in having them backed up just the same.) Get UpdatedOn the same train of thought as getting rid of unwanted apps, it also pays to make sure you’re updated to the latest and greatest version of your apps. In the next few weeks, you’ll likely see a flood of new updates as developers release versions that will be fully compatible with all of the goodness inherent in iPhone OS 4.0, so it pays to check for such updates on a regular basis and stay ahead of the curve.You can check for updates on your device by opening the App Store app; usually after a moment, you’ll see a badge on the Updates tab notifying you of anything new, but sometimes you have to expressly press Updates to refresh them. Note that this will only look for updates for apps you have installed on that particular device -- if you want to check for all app updates, you’ll need to use iTunes. Select the Apps icon in the sidebar and then click the little arrow next to “Check for Updates” in the lower right-hand corner.Some of us here at MacLife.com are quite diligent about app updates, checking several times a day to see what’s new -- it’s kind of like a mini-Christmas every day, especially when your most-used apps are empowered with cool new features or get annoying bugs squashed. Most app updates are posted in the afternoon and evening, so no sense going around clicking half-cocked in the morning.One of the better ways to stay abreast of the situation is through a website such as AppShopper.com. The brainchild of the folks behind MacRumors.com, AppShopper lets you create a free account to track your own apps or even create a wish list of ones you might want to buy in the future, as well as providing a wide variety of RSS feeds for both iPhone and iPad to track updates, new apps, price changes and more.Twitter is another great way to track app updates, since many developers big and small will give a heads-up when new apps or updates have been approved by Apple so you can start exhausting your finger by looking for them on iTunes.Jailbreakers: Proceed with CautionMajor OS updates are a big deal on any platform, but as anyone who has jailbroken their iDevice knows, even the little updates can create a tsunami of problems for those living on the cutting edge. Thankfully, the hackers are ahead of the curve yet again, and beta builds of iPhone OS 4.0 have already been successfully jailbroken -- but that doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind and forge ahead blindly.If you rely on an unsanctioned, unlocked iPhone for cellular and data access, do yourself a favor and don’t upgrade to OS 4.0 until you get an “all clear” from the hacker community. Just because the beta builds have been jailbroken does not mean that your phone will remain unlocked (in fact, it’s almost a certainty that it won’t), and with new hardware imminent, we don’t know yet if any of the unlocking patches will even work. We repeat: If you’ve unlocked your iPhone, avoid iPhone OS 4.0 until you hear that it’s safe to upgrade!Whether or not you care about unlocking your iPhone, if you have it jailbroken now or plan to in the future, you should make sure your SHSH blobs are backed up in case you ever want to return to iPhone OS 3.x. Say what?!Apple has attempted to thwart the hackers by adding extra layers of security in newer devices, in particular the iPhone 3GS, iPad and third-generation iPod touch. If you have one of these devices, you should do yourself a favor and extract the “SHSH” records from your device (they’re different for every single unit), which can be used to restore to older firmware, should things not work out so great with iPhone OS 4.0.It’s easy to backup your “SHSH blobs” using a free utility called Umbrella and a detailed guide already posted at Cult of Mac -- the whole process takes only a few minutes, so we encourage everyone to do it, even if you don’t plan to jailbreak your device anytime soon.Save Your Old Firmware Along the same lines as backing up your SHSH blobs, you’d do well to take a visit to your Home > Library > iTunes > iPhone Software Updates folder and back up whatever .ipsw files you find there. With older versions of iTunes, any iPhone firmware updates were downloaded to this folder and stayed there forevermore, but more recent versions of iTunes will move them to the Trash as soon as you download a new one. There’s a good chance your folder may even be empty already! The reason you’ll want to save these .ipsw restore files is that shortly after iPhone OS 4.0 is released, Apple will likely wipe all traces of OS 3.1.3 (the latest version) off the map and prevent it from being downloaded again; if you saved your SHSH blobs and ever need to restore to an older version, you’ll need at least one of those old firmware files to do so. Thankfully, a Google search ought to dig up a number of non-Apple sources for downloading old firmware in the event that yours is already MIA. Keep in mind that you’ll need the appropriate restore file -- the original iPhone will start with “iPhone1,1”, the iPhone 3G will start with “iPhone1,2” and the iPhone 3GS will start with “iPhone2,1”, for instance.NEXT: Backing up your stuff and organizing your screens. >> Back That Stuff Up!Perhaps the most crucial pre-update task of all is having a proper backup of your iDevice. The problem for many is that those backups have begun to take longer and longer as we’ve filled up apps with files that aren’t part of the iTunes ecosystem -- the more impatient among us might decide to click on the “X” to stop the iTunes backup in order to get a new sync going, only to later find that they need to restore from said backup and find themselves unable to do so.If you don’t use a lot of in-app files, this may not be such a big deal for you. Casual users can likely start from scratch without too much grief, but if you’ve used your iDevice for any length of time like many of us, chances are you’d rather have intensive, painful oral surgery than have to start over from scratch. However, if you port a lot of files onto your device for work or even casual uses such as reading comic books or large PDF files, having a good backup should not be optional.To avoid long backup times, we recommend letting iTunes complete its backup each time you sync. Since the software is only backing up what’s changed since the previous sync, the incremental backup time should get shorter each time you do so. Also, once you have plugged into iTunes and completed a backup and sync, you won’t have to go through the backup process again unless you unplug the sync cable -- iTunes knows you’ve just backed up, so it simply does a quick sync until you plug the cable in again, in case you just want to just add new apps.That said, you can backup your device at any time by selecting your iDevice in the iTunes sidebar with the Control key pressed down and then select “Back Up” from the submenu.Organize Your ScreensOne of the new features of iPhone OS 4.0 that’s most anticipated is Folders, Apple’s new way of organizing apps on your iDevice. With the current firmware, you’re only capable of seeing 180 apps on any one device across 11 screens (though you can always load more and find them via Spotlight). Thanks to the drag and drop simplicity of the Folders feature, you’ll soon be able to have up to a whopping 2,160 apps on your device and find them grouped by category -- assuming you have that many to begin with and use every available space in a Folder.To prepare for Folders, now might be a great time to spend a few minutes organizing your apps so they’re in close proximity to each other based on how you plan to group them. That way, as soon as you update to iPhone OS 4.0, you can drag them together into Folders and you’ll be good to go. If you have a lot of apps spread over many screens, this task is made easier from within iTunes, where you can easily drag app icons from screen to screen or even rearrange whole screens at once.It’s Safe to Buy Some iBooks NowIf you already have an iPad with iBooks installed on it, you can feel safe in purchasing all the e-books you want from the iBookstore, knowing that they’ll work just fine on your iPhone or iPod touch once you’ve upgraded to iPhone OS 4.0.Buy as many iBooks as you’d like and then sync your iPad to iTunes, which will copy those new purchases across to your computer. After your upgrade to iPhone OS 4.0, you’ll be able to select the same e-books and copy them straight over to your iPhone or iPod touch, just like magic.Let’s Not Forget iTunes ItselfWhile we hope to know for sure when iPhone OS 4.0 will be available to download during Steve Jobs’ WWDC 2010 keynote on Monday, June 7, keep in mind that the new firmware will most likely also require a new update to iTunes itself, if history is any indication. We’re guessing at the very least, a new iTunes will let us arrange apps by Folders, for instance.The current version of iTunes at this writing is 9.1.1; if you haven’t updated lately, now would be a dandy time to do so. And really, there’s no reason not to -- while some previous iTunes updates have tripped up jailbroken devices, iTunes 9.1.1 isn’t one of them, and the hackers have already given a green light to use it.Take Stock of Your MediaFinally, a new OS install is always a good time to take stock of that non-app iTunes media taking up space on your iDevice. If you’re like most of us, you’ve got old podcasts played long ago that you neglected to delete, music you wish had stayed in the seventies and probably even some space-guzzling videos you’ve already watched and have since bored of.Why carry this stuff over to iPhone OS 4.0? Especially if you plan to buy a new iPhone, the less you have to restore and sync to a fresh device, the better. Purge that media now by deselecting it from within iTunes, and then click Apply to sync your changes and remove the great unwanted from your device. There, now don’t you feel better having done some summer cleaning?Oh, and don’t forget about all the photos and movies you’ve shot with your iPhone! While those cherished memories are always backed up during an iTunes sync (so you can safely move them to a new device), you should make a habit of clearing them off your device on a regular basis, both for safety as well as speeding up that iTunes backup. Once those photos and videos are safely stored in your iPhoto library, you can always sync them back to your iPhone (where photos will take up less space by being optimized for the device’s screen) -- they won’t be backed up by iTunes since they can be restored simply by syncing from your photo library.There’s one other very good reason to purge old media, too: If space on your iDevice is at a premium, you’ll want to free up some storage for OS 4.0 to make sure the upgrade goes smoothly.Is Your Device Compatible?iPhone OS 4.0 is expected sometime this month for the iPhone and (at additional cost) iPod touch. Sadly, Apple has already stated that the iPad won’t get any OS 4.0 love until the fall, so if that’s your only iDevice, enjoy your summer and don’t bother looking for a major update until then.It’s important to note that not every iPhone and iPod touch is welcome to the OS 4.0 party -- specifically, the first-generation iPhone and iPod touch devices released in 2007 have been put on notice and OS 3.1.3 appears to be the end of the line for them. Recent reports claim that there’s no real technical reason to exclude them, and early beta builds of OS 4.0 have even been shown running on the original iPhone -- just don’t expect Apple to officially support that configuration, and you’ll still be limited as to what new features you’ll have access to.Likewise, even if your device can install iPhone OS 4.0, you may not be able to use every new feature -- for instance, the iPhone 3G will not support multitasking. iPhone 3GS and third-generation (32GB or 64GB) iPod touch owners are good to go, as well as those of you holding your credit cards in your sweaty little hands waiting to buy the newest iPhone, expected to be announced at WWDC on Monday, June 7.*****Now that all of that hard work is over, only one thing remains: Waiting for iPhone OS 4.0 to actually be released. Hey Steve Jobs, maybe you can help us with that…? 

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