Hiatus
See you soon.
iPhone 3GS
It’s faster, comes with an updated camera, 3MP with video, voice control, a digital compass, remote wipe.
The hardware remains looking the same so that old case of yours will still fit.
Details
There was also a lot of iPhone software demoed.
Find My Phone allows you to find where you put your phone down even if it’s in mute.
TomTom are releasing an app taking advantage of the built in compass and GPS turning the iPhone into a proper turn by turn satnav.
iPhone OS 3.0
I’d think of version 3 as the first proper version with features you’d have thought would’ve been included at the start, but also adds a few things to move it forward.
Cut/Copy/Paste is finally here as is landscape in all the main apps. You can now finally search using Spotlight.
Peer to Peer gaming so you’ll be able to play along with friends with iPhones.
MMS which shall make some happy (never cared about it myself).
Finally your notes are now synced, it’s been so annoying that wasn’t there at the start.
You can now shake to shuffle like other iPods.
It also adds tethering, making it easy to connect your computer to the net when you’re not near any wifi.
Details
Mac OS X 10.6
Snow Leopard is more an improvement of what underpins the OS, making it faster and actually giving you back space on your HD with a few UI improvements.
Details
Safari 4
I am a little hesitant to re-install it. I removed it after finding problems when reopening pages from the last session, but that was a beta version.
Download
MacBook Updates
Updates include:
New 15” MacBook Pro with the controversial built in battery but now has a built in SD card slot which is no doubt a lot more useful than the PC card slot was.
So does the new 13” which now also brings back FireWire! Which puts me out of date. It happens.
The MacBook Air and MacBook (White) both got a speed bump. The 17” also got an update but kept its card slot.
You can look at the full specs here
Five on your Mac
You can also watch with the ITV Player, but the site design is a disaster.
Still it’s nice to finally be getting some Mac recognition.
4oD on a Mac!
Quality isn’t too bad on new programmes, older programmes like Father Ted are a bit more iffy, but it’s nice no longer to have to open Windows.
Link
iPod Shuffle
Apple updated the iPod Shuffle, making it smaller, removing all the controls to the headphones.
It’s not going to win any design awards (well, it will of course), but it’s smaller, lighter and still has a little clip on it. It’ll all be in the headphones eventually.
I’d have to try the voice controls to see how well they work. I know at the moment it’s a pain to dig the iPhone out of my pocket to check what’s playing, so it might be a great feature (and perfect for anyone visually impaired). All the tapping does remind me of the MacTini.
At the moment you’re stuck with Apple’s headphones, but no doubt better ones will come and nobody is forcing anyone to run out and buy a new shuffle until they do.
Comes in Black or Silver - 4GB £59
Safari 4
I’ve only had a quick play around but so far I like the tabs at the top giving a little more screen space and top sites, but it may take some getting used to. I think they need an easier way of adding sites to it unless I’m missing something?
I’m unsure how useful Cover Flow is going to be in Safari, but maybe it has finally found a use? I can’t say I use Cover Flow in anything else, it’s always been something you wow at then never use.
Windows users should be please that it’s now more a native app.
MacWorld US has a good review and Ars.
You can download Safari 4 here.
MacBook
I had some early niggles which may’ve tainted my initial excitement, blame the problems I had with my previous Black MacBook which made me paranoid. Talking of which; it has the same static noise issue. After some research it seems the problem is the sound-card sleeping, the static blip is the sound it makes when waking. C’est la vie.
There was an initial problem with the trackpad not always responding when pressed, fixed in the Trackpad Firmware Update. Two other updates fixed some problems I’d not had: MacBook EFI Firmware Update and MacBook SMC Firmware Update.
The lack of Firewire hasn’t been a problem. The one drive I had which used Firewire also could be connected via USB. It’s a pity there’s no way to use Target Disk Mode, even if used infrequently it was a useful feature.
It’s a beautiful computer, feeling lighter and more solid than the Black MacBook, due to the new unibody design, with none of the problems with greasy finger marks. It’s fast, easily capable of virtualizing Windows when I need to (blame 4oD, which is still Windows only). I’m using the cheap as free VirtualBox.
The new glass multi-touch trackpad features are great, even if I don’t use them all. Swiping back and forth in a browser, or four fingers for Exposé just feels natural. I’ve even got used to just tapping instead of pressing the trackpad (which itself is one big clunky button). It makes for a much quieter computer experience. It’s also nice to know it being glass it hopefully won’t end up all shiny like most trackpads.
Overall, I’m enjoying it more now than when I first unboxed it.
One other thing, it also has a very satisfying thhhud when you close the lid, it feels engineered like car doors.
Christmas Ads
Two new animated
for Christmas Holiday ads from Apple. I
can do Anything and Tree Trimming.
Link
Apple Event 14th October
Here’s hoping it’ll be something I can buy.
Cuil
Another nail in Facebook's coffin?
Link
WWDC 2008
8GB model will cost £99 on the £30 & £35 tariff, and free on the £45 & £75 tariff. 16GB model, £159 on the £30 & £35, £59 on the £45 tariff and free on the £75 tariff. They will also be releasing a Pay-as-you-go version, pricing not yet available. Update: Previous owners will also be able to upgrade for free to the new model. Visit O2 for full details.
It’s also now available in white and black, the buttons are metal and the headphone socket is no longer recessed, making it easier to work with other headphones. Oh, and back is plactic now, which should help with reception I’ve read.
Not upgrading the camera seems a strange oversight. It still has the same 2 megapixel camera of the previous model, and no ability to record video, why? Many were also expecting a front facing camera, but that’s just an expectation, a good one mind. The problem is we still tend to go by the numbers and see 7mp as better than 2, just like the old days of the Mhz myth, we have the Megapixel myth:
“The megapixel myth was started by camera makers and swallowed hook, line and sinker by camera measurebators. Camera makers use the number of megapixels a camera has to hoodwink you into thinking it has something to do with camera quality.”
Really, unless you’re heavily cropping an image or planning on printing over A5, 2mp is probably fine. I’m not an Apple appologist, as it does seem rather dumb to have missed even adding 1 extra megapixel. Sure it’ll happen in the next revision, they probably were concentrating on 3G & GPS first. If you’re a serious photographer, you’re going to have a proper camera anyway.
David Pogue came to the same conclusions.
The only other missing feature it seems, is MMS (Multimedia Message Service), unless you’re waiting for that haptic feedback? They have improved Enterprise integration (which is interesting for those corporate chappies). My brother is planning on getting one, so I’ll see what he uses most, I’d suspect I’d be surfing mostly.
You can watch the new iPhone advert here.
Update: Apple have released a guided tour of the iPhone here.
Apple also launched MobileMe, a replacement for .Mac (itself a replacement of the free iTools, damn them!). MobileMe will push services like calendars, mail and contacts to the iPhone. As well as a suite of web based applications. It’s still going to cost you 20GB storage $49 - 40GB storage $99 annually. You can no doubt get these services for free elsewhere, perhaps less elegantly, but you pays your money... You can now watch a tour of the service here.
There was also some information on the next version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. The OS appears to be laying foundations for the future, rather than adding flashy new features. Expected 2009.
Sadly, and I didn’t really expect it, there were no new Macs, specifically a new MacBook or MacBook Pro which is what I’m waiting for.
The keynote is available to watch here (but it’s a pretty dull one).
Sex and the City
Link
Apparently she's still on Tiger.
Cambridge Apple Store - Grand Opening
I played it smart, I thought and went in via the new John Lewis end of the mall, which seemed to have less people waiting than the Lion Yard entrance (it turned out most had waited outside the main Grand Arcade entrance). There were balloons suspended from the ceiling ready for the opening, but to my disappointment they didn’t drop at 10:00.
At 10:05 I could hear a loud count down shouted at
the other end and they were let through (even then
the balloons didn’t drop). Some made a run for
the Apple Store (others walked past), leaving the
people at my end in some confusion, still being held
back, until a few made a break for it. This lead to
the normal human need to follow the crowd and
stampede. Many rushed down to the Apple Store, but
were made to form another queue against the wall
opposite the store before being let in. I still
managed to be in a line with about the first 15
people, had I been further back I’d
would’ve gone home.
Hey you, get to the
back of the queue.
There was some confusing as we were let in - other
shoppers were either trying to squeeze past the
store, or when trying to walk in were being ushered
away down the line, not realising it was anything
special. There was the usual noisy clapping, shouting
and hooting as we entered, this was mainly from the
Apple staff - not the people coming in. We were also
extensively filmed & photographed by
Apple’s staff, for no doubt more promotional
videos, (like I saw during my Apple
interview/seminar). I kept my hood up.
Once inside, I picked up my T-shirt from a guy I had
been to the seminar with. I called him Vicas for some
unknown reason. I couldn’t remember his name,
it might’ve been close? I apologise if he ever
reads this. I shook his hand, congratulating him. The
(not so) funny thing; I’m sure he admitted not
knowing that much about Macs at the seminar, but he
does have a friendly face. I also spied another guy
who had talked way too much during the seminar and is
now one of their greeters! I guess Mac knowledge
isn’t high on Apple’s wish list to work
in a store (I think I’ve a right to be have my
nose put out slightly - how could they not want
MisterMac! heh).
Many shops remain
empty
The shop seemed pretty generic, not very big but
nicely laid out as you’d expect. After a look
about and quick play with an iPhone (forgetting to
look at the MacBook Air). I remembered to enter the
competition, once I found
it. I also took some
photos, which you can see here.
After leaving, I found the queue stretched right down
to the old Lion yard. I’m actually unsure if
some of the people in the queue knew what they were
queuing for. I have a feeling some just thought it
was still for the grand opening of the mall, or maybe
I’m wrong and a lot of those old Grans really
are Mac users? You never know!
Whilst walking out via John Lewis - one of the staff
asked me "what is in those
boxes?". I explained it was a
T-shirt and he seemed slightly disappointed. They
are one of the other major stockists of Apple
products, so I cheered them up saying the Apple
Store still don’t give that free
extra two years
guarantee, unlike themselves.
They thanked me heh.
Chic Apple Store, right
next door to the classy
Clinton Cards. That’s gotta make you
grin.
I kinda felt sorry for
the other shops, most had more staff than customers
in comparison, the guy at the Sony store looked quite
miffed as I left with my Apple T-Shirt box.
Update: Just noticed my
story has been linked by MacDailyNews - just to add;
the Sony store isn’t in the
Grand Arcade, it’s around the corner
in Lion Yard , I just past it on
the way out - I think the guy was more bemused. My
old Sony Trinitron CRT TV has been going strong
for 18 years, so not a comment on their products,
but their stores do need modernisation.
Saturday I think will be the real test as to what
shops people are actually interested in.
Top Man, that’s where I
plan on going. Now I would’ve queued
if they
were
handing out free T-Shirts, well they might do
sizes other than large, or perhaps I should eat
more pies!
Update: On Sunday the
Apple Store was pretty full when I went
past.
There’s still many empty shops in the Arcade,
some of the new shops have just moved in from other
parts of the town centre, leaving closed stores
elsewhere. Hopefully we’ll get some real new
stores soon, and not just expensive brand stores (not
everyone in Cambridge is rich).
Update: I saw on
the local news that they did let the
balloons down later, with dancing girls! They
don’t mention the Apple Store, odd
considering it had the most interest. Still, I
can’t believe I missed that, instead I was
inside a Mac shop. Here’s hoping I win
something.
T-Shirt; only comes in
large.
Phorm
Phorm will allow the 3 big ISPs to track everywhere you go on the internet and sell that information to an advertiser, oh and with some guff that they're making the net a better place.
See:
BadPhorm
BBC Reports: 1 & 2
Update: You can now also sign the petition here.
iPlayer downloads for Mac 2008
That nonsense over developing for every platform, ohh really there's only 3.
I wish they'd stop announcing and start delivering.
Get a Mac ads get gone?
The ads may not have been to everyone's tastes, usually rather anal people, but I found some quite funny.
That doesn't explain why they've vanished? No doubt it's something sensible to do with them not brining enough switchers and it's time for something new. As I mentioned below, perhaps an advert more on the lines of the iPhone would be better? Show off that OS and iLife etc.
Mitchell & Webb were a fun choice, although odd considering some of their sketches took the piss out of advertising, perhaps an unknown pair may've been better?
Update: The Japanese Get a Mac
page has
also been pulled.
MacBook Air - Macworld 2008
The big news from this
years Macworld Expo was the
MacBook Air, a super lightweight
super thin notebook. It weighs just 1.36 Kg or
just 3 pounds, for comparison the previous
smallest notebook, the PowerBook 12" weighed 2.1
Kg.
If you travel a lot,
or as my girlfriend says, find MacBooks too heavy for
her lady like arms, then this is the machine for you.
It may not be a super-sub-notebook, but I find it's
the weight more than the size of a notebook that puts
my back out and this way you still have that 13.3
inch widescreen.
It has a couple of unique features, other than the
weight & how thin it is. The trackpad now
supports gesturing, like you'd find on the iPhone,
pinching to zoom, three finger side swipe to go
back and forth on a web page. It also has an
option for a solid state hard drive, 64 GB or a
standard drive at 80 GB.
The Air comes as a 1.6 Ghz £1,199 or an optional 1.8
Ghz £2,028 with 2GB of memory, built in 802.11n wifi.
Behind a cool flap hides the Audio Out, USB 2.0 and
Micro-DVI for external monitor support and of course,
a built in camera. Full specs can be found
here.
What's missing is the optical drive. This reminds me
of when Apple removed the old floppy drive when
introducing the iMac, people got all hot and bothered
about it, but now who uses floppy drives? Apple will
sell you a USB optical drive (or buy a 3rd party
device), but what's clever is, they've introduced
some clever software, Remote Disc, which allows you
to use an optical drive of another PC or Mac, just
as if it were attached to your machine wirelessly.
The whole point of this machine is to go wireless.
Some have complained about the built-in-battery,
probably the same ones who complained about the iPod,
I don't see it as much of an issue when Apple won't
charge to replace it, plus it's bound to have some
third-party battery replacements for those who don't
mind using a screwdriver, just like the iPod. You
just need to think about what you want, and if the
Air ticks all your boxes, it's for you, if not
there's always the MacBook and Pro.
Apple have put together a handy video tour to explain
a lot of the features here.
Update: Reviews of the MacBook Air
The Ars Technica
Review
MacWorld US
MacWorld US - Fitting files
on
MacWorld US - Migrating
Lower iTunes Prices
Apple have said this is what they wanted to do at the start, but were prevented by the major labels.
The new prices should be available in 6 months.
Reports from the BBC & MacWorld UK
BBC iPlayer on the Mac
You still won't be able to download anything on the Mac yet, but streaming is working at least. Downloads are meant to be coming to the Mac (and Linux) sometime in 2008. I still don't like that they're using any form of DRM, we pay the license fee, we should be able to keep whatever we download for as long as we like. I'm not the only one to think that. The service is said to have had low take up so far.
Quality is pretty so-so and I've not found a great deal I want to watch, but there is the Sky at Night! I also wish it would stay full screen on one screen whilst I do other things on another (that's for those of us with a Mac & two monitors or a laptop Mac connected to another screen). It's still nice to have though!
The service comes out of beta on Christmas Day.
The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 also recently announced they'll be creating a combined on-demand service, we wait to see what computer support it will have, as at the moment 4oD is not Mac compatible.
Hello iPhone
I tried out the iPhone in the Carphonewarehouse in Cambridge today (and then saw it in the O2 shop opposite). I found it remarkably easy to use, surprisingly so, the keyboard works well and was very accurate, camera shots looked fine (I'd not believe the MP myth) and Safari was great, I even managed a smidge of self publicity.
I came out with my very own iPhone, it's very slim...
Trojan Hype
He says: "At the moment the fake codec is being spread via porn sites, but it will quickly spread to more mainstream sites", which shows a complete misunderstanding. Trojans are not viruses. Trojans can’t spread on their own and they can’t self-replicate (viruses can do both).
He's not the only one of course, and for a nice take on the whole thing, take a read of Daring Fireball on the same subject: "To get hit by it, you must (a) be the sort of moron who downloads “video codecs” from porno sites; (b) mount the disk image and launch the installer;"
It's not going to turn up on YouTube (since when did you download a code for YouTube? ummm never?), so don't worry about it, the people getting hot under the collar about this are just after headlines. Your Mac is as secure as ever it was.
Updated MacBooks
Apple have updated their MacBook line with intel's
Santa Rosa chip set, so if you have been waiting,
now's the time to buy.
Clock speeds haven't changed that much, frontside bus
has increased to 800mhz.
13" White 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard
drive, GMA X3100 Graphics chip set, Combo drive £699
13" White 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 120GB hard
drive, GMA X3100 Graphics chip set, Superdrive £829
13" Black 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard
drive, GMA X3100 Graphics chip set, Superdrive £949
The MacBook Pro now has a 2.6Ghz option £160 and
5400rpm, 250GB hard drive £100 (7200rpm 200GB
£130).
Leopard, THE review.
BBC iPlayer
Really it was no different than the BBC saying, unless you own a Sony TV, you can't watch our content.
Talking of things Microsoft, John Pugh MP has pointed out that the Government has pretty much sold its soul to Microsoft. There's a surprise.
Update: Not that I've got it in for the BBC, but this interview with Mary Taylor, President of UK Open Source Consortium, by Sean Daly makes you want to shove their license fee where...well you know.
Cambridge Apple Store
It's set to open in the newly built Grand Arcade once it opens March 2008, John Lewis flag ship store will be opening there this November which is a pity as at the moment John Lewis is very nearby.
Mac OS X 10.5 arrives 26th October
Single user is £85 and Family Pack (5 license) £129 from Apple's store.
However; Amazom.co.uk prices £79.98 for single license and £119.98 for the Family Pack.
You can see all 300+ New Features here. It's best to check the minimum requirements before buying, as it might be the time to sell your old Mac, and buy a new(er) one.
The iPhone has arrived (almost).
It will cost you £269 plus a monthly tariff of either £35, £45 or £55 but all plans offer free unlimited traffic (with a fair usage caveat) as well as access to The Cloud WiFi hot spots.
You'll be able to buy the iPhone from Apple, O2 and Car Phone Warehouse. No news on whether the Starbucks deal is coming to the UK anytime soon.
I'd still say wait for the next version, but if you wants it, you can now get it.
iPods
New Shuffle colours, a squarer larger screened nano, higher capacity iPod Classic (as it's now known) and to top it off, the iPod Touch, which is like a cut down iPhone without the phone, so it's an i then, ahem. It has wifi and Safari. You can now also download music from Apples new iTunes WiFi store straight to the iPod Touch or iPhone.
Check them out.
iLife 08 going cheap
See Apple's site for more details.
Apple Special Event - August 2007
BBC iPlayer Petition
Go fill it in
Buying a Phone
Yahoo Messenger Poll
Yahoo are asking
Yahoo! Messenger users whether they'd prefer to wait
for the messenger to be updated to work with older
versions of OS X, or release updates sooner but will
only work with newer versions of the OS.
I
went with the later, it's not like the older OS won't
still be able to run the older version of the
messenger.
Take the poll here.
Just one more iPhone
iPhone iPhone iPhone
It does look impressive for a first generation product, iPhone II should be interesting.
iPhone Ad
s Alec Sutherland has made his own take on an iPhone Advert, it's unofficial of course, but clearly professional.
Get a Mac Ads cleared by ASA.
Smug link
WWDC 2007 - Keynote Video
Watch
WWDC 2007 - Mac OS X 10.5: Leopard
Apple announced the near
final version of Mac OS X 10.5, otherwise known as
Leopard, they also let
developers have a copy at the conference. Steve Jobs showed
off 10 features out of the 300 new features in the
up-coming version, due to ship in October.
First, the entire OS is now 64-bit! Great, you’re
thinking? It should mean faster applications in
the long run, now you’re more impressed.
There will only be one version of the OS, 32-bit
applications were shown to work without any
problems.
This window is just like the other ones, this
window is just the same
The whole OS has a more unified look, rather than the
mix of brushed metal and Aqua etc. I did notice the
scroll bars still looked like the old Aqua ones,
perhaps this may change? You can of course get a more
unified look at the moment using Uno. The translucent top
menu is bound to have its lovers and haters, I
suppose it depends on if you can change it or not.
The main feature you’ll notice at first is the
new more 3D Dock, I’m not sure if it’s
any bigger or not, or even if I like it. They seemed
to make quite a deal that the dock
reflects,
I’m not
exactly how this is a feature or just more visual
noise. I suspect they’ll be 3rd party ways of
changing it back to the the old dock if it’s
not an option. I was hoping for a new launcher, along
the lines of Over Flow.
The dock does have a much welcomed feature; Stacks:
When you download from Safari, instead of defaulting
to the desktop, it’ll save to a stack, which
should mean we all have a lot more tidy desktops.
Clicking on a Stack will reveal its contents either
in a grid, or they’ll be fanned out above. To
get an idea, you can watch a demo here. I don’t know
if they’re only for the dock, it seems to me
being able to have them on the desktop itself
would be useful.
Leopard showing off its stacks
Stacks aren’t really a new feature, Apple has
had a patent on the idea for many years and was once
known as Piles (Such a shame they didn't stick with
that name).
The Finder has also been updated
with a much improved sidebar, somewhat like iTunes
and now you can view files in Cover Flow, just
like iTunes. I’m not sure how much I’d
use this feature, as I don’t tend to in
iTunes (other than to show off).
Thinking about it; it may turn out to be more useful
in the Finder than in iTunes. The Finder is made up
of many different document types of documents, which
should be instantly more apparent with the large
preview of Cover Flow, this may give a quicker visual
clue as to the file you’re looking for, rather
than in iTunes where it's really just one type of
file (cover art).
Spotlight can now search other machines on the
network, and it’s now more easy to share
content over the network and internet via .Mac. There
was no other mention of .Mac, really as I’ve no
intention of paying for .Mac I may never see the
internet sharing feature. .Mac really ought to be
free to my mind.
Quick Look is really a great new
feature that allows you to preview your documents
without having to open any application right from
the Finder.
A Quick Look
Steve also showed off the power
of
Core Animation and what 3rd party
developers could do with it.
We also saw the new built in backup solution
Time Machine again, you will be
able to back-up to a local drive, or a network
volume including one attached to an AirPort
Extreme. This has to be one of the best features
(even if you’ve seen it before). It amazes
me how many people still don’t back-up. Some
may think this dull, but if you’re one of
those people who has lost something critical,
you’ll love this.
It’s a Time Machine
Spaces was also shown again;
I’m still unsure if or how much I would use
it (I may turn around and love it), unlike
Dashboard, which I actually
have turned off for being just too
slow on a 12" PowerBook.
Dashboard did gain a new widget, and WebClip which
allows you to use any part of a website as a Widget.
I wonder how the websites feel about this? After-all,
you’re avoiding seeing any advertising.
Owners of Virtualization software must’ve
breathed a sigh of relief, as although
BootCamp will become standard
in the system, it’s not going to allow you
to run Windows software at the same time. Still a
need for Parallels or VMWare Fusion etc.. for some people
then.
iChat has gained some fun
theatre features, changing the background behind
you and PhotoBooth type effects. Pity with
firewalls, bandwidth etc. I’ve never really
managed to get video to work with iChat and yet
Yahoo! Messenger/Skype will just work. The Theatre
function looks to be the most useful, giving you
the ability to show documents, photos to people
you’re talking to.
The fun side of iChat. Help me Obi-Wan,
you’re my last hope.
I don’t know if the OS is resolution
independent for those of you with super high
resolution screens and there was no mention of the
system using Sun Microsystems ZFS files system, there
is a report saying they
won’t.
There was a little on the iPhone allowing developers to
create compatible Web 2 type applications via
Safari, but no standalone applications. I’d
imagine developers would be non-plussed by this
announcement.
No hardware of course, this really is a software
event. There will be those who will be underwhelmed,
and few more features we’d not seen in his 10
would’ve been nice, but; it’s still not
ready yet, who knows what else may come in the final
version in October?
People always expect a lot from Apple, they always
want that... one more thing... which I guess keeps
people coming back.
WWDC 2007 - Gaming on the Mac
From the PC version of Harry Pottery & the
Order of the Phoenix
Gaming on the Mac, one of the few places Windows
users still say why they wouldn't use a Mac was given
a boost during the keynote.
Both EA Games and ID (pronounced id not
i.d. it seems) announced they are developing and
will have simultaneous launches of games for PC
and Mac in the future.
Games include: Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix, Madden NFL 08, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Need
for Speed Carbon, Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium
Wars and Battlefield 2142 from EA.
ID showed for the first time their new game texture
engine. The company is known for the DOOM and Quake
series.
Steve Jobs must've overcome his dislike of violent
gaming, I'm sure I read that he doesn't like
them.
Apple's New Website
Updated MacBook Pro
The 15" model now comes with an LED (Mercury Free) backlit display & the 17" has an optional higher resolution display. Upgraded NVIDIA GeForce 86000 GT Video Cards and faster optical drives.
iPhone coming 29th June
Apple has confirmed through their latest
TV ads,that June 29 is the
US launch date.
They're a good set of ads, concentrating on
the iPhone ease of use, I've
never understood why Apple don't make similar
adverts for the Mac.
Still no word on when it'll be out in the UK, or who
the carrier will be (rumoured to be
T-Mobile). There's still no
page at http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone.
Google Map Street View
Check it out
p.s. Only a few US cities so far & considering they've not even done a High Res sat. map of Basingstoke yet, don't expect your local town to be done soon.
Steve & Bill at all things digital
Link
10 Reasons why it doesn't pay to be the computer guy
Link
A Greener Apple
The Gracious BBC
Mr Highfield said Apple's "proprietary and closed framework for digital rights management gives us headaches," but, "it is one of our top priorities to re-engineer our proposed BBC iPlayer service to work on Macs".
Headache? Microsoft is just as much a closed OS as Apple's. What he means is Microsoft doesn't fully support the Mac with it's DRM, which is no bad thing. Just at a time where DRM is finally being seen as the crap thing that it is, the BBC want to lumber us with it.
So, good news'ish, let's see how long it takes them.
Go sit on the naughty step!
The new ads include: Out of the Box, Accident, Network. Plus three original UK only ads; Naughty Step, Magic and Court.
Nice to see we're getting out own ads and not just US remakes.
The Best of Open Source
BBC iPlayer
Provisional Conclusions from the trust:
Platform-agnostic approach: As proposed, the TV catch-up service on the internet relies on Microsoft technology for the digital rights management (DRM) framework. The Trust will require the BBC Executive to adopt a platform-agnostic approach within a reasonable timeframe. "This requires the BBC to develop an alternative DRM framework to enable users of other technology, for example, Apple and Linux, to access the on-demand services."
To keep the pressure on, you can also sign a petition for the primeminister here.
Free online seminars
From things like Enhancing Video Podcasts with Final Cut Studio, New to the Mac Compatibility with Windows and Making Music on the Mac with GarageBand, plus many more. Subjects include: Audio, Business, Design, Photo, Science and Video. There is also some self-paced learning and Technical Training.
Steve Jobs - Thoughts on Music
You may not be aware, but it's not Apple who want DRM (their FairPlay system), it's the 'big four' music companies who will only let their music be sold online with some form of DRM. Apple would like to see them move to a DRM free system. Also, at the moment, if Apple's FairPlay DRM is cracked, they must fix it in a couple of weeks, otherwise the Music companies will remove their music from the iTunes Store.
I recommend giving it a read.
BBC to offer online TV downloads
The BBC Trust have set up a consultation on the subject, if you could take the time to complete the questionnaire it could help to ensure that once launched, we aren't discriminated against. After-all, we all pay a license fee regardless of which computer OS we run.
The main question to look out for is:
Question 5
How important is it that the proposed seven-day catch-up service over the internet is available to consumers who are not using Microsoft software?
It shouldn't take too long to complete, but will take a little more thought than just saying yes/no.
My thoughts are that they'd better not charge for any of the content, it's already paid for by the license fee. I also disagree with any form of DRM or 'time limit' to watch programmes. It really would've been easier if they just gave it away on iTS for free (well, or other download services if you like).
A new years message from Apple.
Apple was founded in 1976, and the
Apple II was introduced in 1977. Of
course, people have already decided that there's
some hidden meaning behind the new years
greetings.
I'm sure some will become clear at the MacWorld Expo on the 8th January.
Front Row on a Mac Pro
Makes for a nice rhyme! I know none of us have a Mac
Pro, but you never know when someone may pop out and
get one, and when you do you'll be wondering why you
can't run
Front Row,
all because you don't have a remote?
Well, now you can. Just follow the hint over
at
macosxhints.com.
Of course, most of us can't run it full stop without
a lot more hacking. I did manage to get it running on
my PowerBook 12" and my older 15" TiBook, using my
phone, via
Salling Clicker
as a remote, but it only ever seemed a novelty,
having a laptop kinda negates placing your computer
far away just to use FrontRow with a
remote.
Aperture Give-Away!
It's available here.
You could also try out the competition, Adobe's Lightroom Beta
Get a Mac
They are funny, but, would they really sell a Mac to a PC user? Oddy the PC guy is more endearing anyway, maybe that's just my British sense, wanting the underdog to win (though in reality, the Mac is the underdog).
One More Thing
It's code-name is iTV, which they've said will change. I should hope so, calling it iTV would be very confusing in the UK. "What's on ITV? Coronation Street, no Mum, I mean iiiiiTV"
This box will sit under your TV and you'll be able to stream music, film, photos etc to it from your computer wirelessly.
It will be controlled with an updated version of FrontRow and the Apple remote.
This isn't a recording device, it's purely for streaming media from a computer. So if you want to record TV to your Mac, you'd still need something like eyeTV (yes, another itv to confuse you) from Elgato.
WWDC 2006
Incase you missed it, here's my round up of Apple's
Keynote at the
World Wide Developer
Conference
yesterday, Monday 8th August.
First off; Apple have finished the transition to
intel chips with the release of the
Mac Pro,
replacing the PowerMac G5.
No new design, on the outside, all looks generally
the same as the PowerMac G5, with the addition of two
USB ports, 1 FireWire 400 and a FireWire 800 port all
on the front. Plus there are now two optical drive
trays.
On the rear there are 3 USB ports, 1 FireWire 400 and
1 FireWire 800. Optical and analogue in/out and two
Gigabit ethernet ports.
But it's inside where all the new stuff is happening.
Gone is the G5 chip, replaced with two Dual core
intel 64 bit Xeon "Woodcrest" processors (so many
funny names). Which makes them Quad processor
machines and said to be up to twice as fast as the
PowerMac G5.
There are three processor speeds available: 2Ghz,
2.66Ghz and finally a 3Ghz model.
With the extra space given up by the huge G5, you can
fill the machine up with 4 hard drives pushing the
storage to 2 terabytes. You can also install up to 16
Gigabytes of memory!
Finishing off with 3 full length PCI express slots
and a double-wide, 16-lane PCI express graphics slot.
You can
configure
the machine in many, many ways: An example
configuration of the 2.66Ghz model, 1GB memory,
NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT Video, 250GB Serial ATA Hard
Drive, 16x double-layer SuperDrive is £1,699.00
(1,445.96 excluding VAT)
Along with the Mac Pro, Apple also released
the
intel Xeon based
Xserve,
servers.
That was it for hardware, those hoping for all manner
of iPhones, metal iPod Nanos etc may be disappointed,
but the World Wide Developer Conference really isn't
a consumer event, so it wasn't any great surprise.
People shouldn't listen to rumour.
Next -
Mac OS X 10.5
Leopard:
It will offer many new features, some Steve Jobs said
they couldn't yet talk about, so we shall have to
wait and wonder? Of course, it'll be 64 Bit.
Time Machine:
(The best feature) A new backup/restore feature,
but unlike any you've used. You have to see it in
action to understand, but it seems to be just a
matter of plugging in a large enough Hard Drive
and Time Machine takes care of the rest. This
should give us all no excuse not to do our backups
with the ability to just step back days in a very
user friendly manner and bring back data, finally.
Mail:
Brings a new notes feature, I know I'm forever
writing text documents with things to do and
memory joggers, now you can save those all in
Mail, which seems a great place to keep them. You
can also select text and automatically set that as
a To Do, this feature extends out of Mail. There
will also be templates allowing you to send more
media rich and just better looking emails out,
which should save on going to
iCards.
iChat:
Adds Photo Booth effects to your video iChats, as
well as photo or video backgrounds. These are more
just for fun features. It also has some features
you'd normally find in
Apple Remote
Desktop.
Allowing two users to use a single desktop, which
should make explaining things a lot easier. You
also have the ability to show Photos and Keynote
presentations.
One feature many will be happy to see who don't
already install
Chax,
is a fully Tabbed interface, no more multiple
windows all over the place.
Spaces:
This is another you may want to just go look at.
Spaces adds virtual desktops to your Mac, it's
like having multiple monitors where you can keep
certain activities together. Say you could have
one Space where you're working on your email and
browsing, another you're looking through iPhoto
and editing in PhotoShop. This should reduce
window clutter.
Dashboard:
Finally Dashboard ads a Widget that might get me
using Dashboard. I'm not a huge fan of Dashboard,
but, Webclip is a widget which allows you to take
a clip of any part of any website and have it
right in Dashboard. For example you could make a
webclip of a eBay auction you are watching so you
can see when people are bidding and click and bid
yourself. Webclip widgets are live. My only
thought on this is, you could webclip anything you
fancy, say a favourite cartoon which is great as
you no longer have to visit or see any of the
adverts placed on that site. Not so great for the
website you're clipping though. Expect to see some
sites finding a way to stop you clipping them.
They also add Dashcode, a way for you to create your
very own Widgets for Dashboard.
Spotlight:
Will be able to search other machines on your
network, and adds an application launching feature
which sounds a little like
Quicksilver.
I'm all for rolling things into Mac OS X, saves me
having to install and pay for extra 3rd party
software.
iCal:
Now adds what I think is an industry
standard
CalDav,
which should make sharing your calendars easier.
Accessibility:
They have finally improved the voice in Mac OS X
which hasn't changed from the Mac OS 9 days, you
probably heard Fred on Radiohead's OK Computer
album. The new voice is called Alex and really
sounds a lot better, and for those who really need
to hear things on their computer, it sounds good
at higher speeds.
Core Animation:
Which isn't really so much a feature for you and
me, but more part of Mac OS 10.5 which should make
for a richer experience when using your Mac. I
have a sneaking suspicion that it will be used in
iTunes in the future, if you've seen
CoverFlow,
you'll know what I mean.
One last thing, they'll also be bundling in Front Row
and Photo Booth into Leopard, so those machines who
haven't been able to have these features (without
hacks) will be able to. Plus improved parental
controls.
They'll also include
Boot Camp,
the software which allows you to run MS Windows,
but there was no mention of an new Boot Camp
features (e.g. Running windows using Spaces).
Apple have been
endorsing
Parallels
an alternative way of running Windows applications on
your Mac without a need for a reboot.
That's
it really, there was no
One Last Thing
and no mention of a new improved Finder. Sadly
though, it won't be 'till next Spring 'till we get
our hands on 10.5, so plenty of time for some other
features to appear.
You can watch Steve Jobs and friends giving the
Keynote address yourself
here.
It's fun just for the I'm a
PC guy's introduction
and Bertrand Serlet's comments on the remarkable
way
Window's Vista is starting to look
rather like Mac OS X,
we've never seen them do that before...
Total Recall
More information can be found at Apple's site here.
A good review; from the Beeb?
"Apple's entry-level line of consumer laptops should give PC giants like Dell and HP sleepless nights.
The new MacBooks are powerful, fast and sleek machines, at a price to rival similar offerings from the world of Windows.
In addition, they sport Intel chips, so they can run Microsoft's operating system as well as Apple's OS X."
read on.
His negatives are: heat, lack of PC card slot and no modem. "Laptop" really is a misnomer for, well, laptops. I'd not keep them on your lap for too long. As for a card slot, have you ever used one? Surely you'd be buying a Mac Book Pro if you were likely to? Modem, seriously? A modem? You've Ethernet, Bluetooth and WiFi and well, you want a modem? You'll be wanting a floppy disc drive next.
I'd still not run out and get one quite yet; tends to be best to avoid first generation products.
More Gat a Mac
That PC guy makes you want to say "bless".
Just kickin' it
Google Video
http://video.google.com/playerdownload_mac.html
Add it to your collection of video players.
Take the fifth!
To get the idea, just
have to watch this video, and the full story at
IFO.
I think had I been the first one in I'd have been
punching the air more!
Good news everyone!
Apple Records Corp (what a great site) aka, The Beatles; have lost their court case with Apple Computer. I let out a 'yessss' when I read it, not that I'm one to gloat.
I'm no doubt in the minority, or just the wrong age group. The Beatles to me was always that music my Mum liked (I'm not sure she actually liked them that much either, she says they were ok, but wasn't fanatical). I don't mind them, I just never was in awe of them.
It just seemed like common sense has won through, nobody was ever really going to confuse The Beatles record label and the computer company. This case seemed more about money (like most things).
The Beatles recently announced they might join the 21st century and allow their music to be sold online, but it's doubtful it'll be with iTMS.
Update: Apple Records are appealing
Flippin' Eck!
You can now download for free Flip4Mac, which adds components (codecs) to Quicktime that allow you to play windows media in the QuickTime player, and web browsers.
Update: I've removed Flip4Mac, after discovering it causes the Finder to quit when getting info. on AVI files. I'll let you know if they fix it.
Other news from MacWorld
Goggle Earth is now out for Mac.
"Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips."
Can you see Paul's car?
It's a great app!
If you liked the idea of sharing photos more easily,
like Photocasting recently announced as part of
iPhoto, why not try FilmLoop?
"FilmLoop
is free software that lets you broadcast, find, and
share photos. It's an instant way to share your
photos with your entire social network, and have
everyone get involved."
It's available for PC & Mac, I'll try setting up
some loops so you can take a look.
Update: Here's a loop I
made earlier.
One last thing, I think a certain someone might be
interested in Montage.
A new screenwriting application available in
March. You can read a short review
here.
Happy New Year!
Now, you're expecting a bit on how do backup your Mac aren't you? Well, I'm afraid, it'll have to wait. It's all Mac News this week!
It's MacWorld 2006 in San Francisco, and yesterday was the Keynote speech. Time to find out which rumours were true, and which were just a lot of hot air.
Steve Jobs announced some evolutionary, rather than revolutionary products.
First some updates. iLife has now been updated to iLife '06. iTunes, iMovie etc.
Most notable were iPhoto, which now allows editing in a new full screen mode, and support for 250,000 photos. A new feature PhotoCasting, allows sharing of albums over the web, which you can subscribe to from within iPhoto or any RSS reader. Sadly publishing is hampered by having to be a .Mac subscriber. I suspect they'll be some workarounds for this from third parties. You can also now order calendars and cards as well as books.
Garageband now allows for simple creation of Podcasts. This was demonstrated by Steve, with his 'Super Secret Apple Rumours' podcast, which made me laugh, he has a wry sense of humour. It can also record your voice conversations from iChat, if you want to use interviews in your Podcast. It links with iWeb.
iWeb is a new addition to iLife. It allows for quick and easy creation of web sites (blogs, photo albums etc), similar to Rapidweaver, which I use to create this site. I'll be interested in trying iWeb out. I believe it's also though will only upload to .Mac
iDVD now has widescreen support, easier drag and drop menu creation. iMovie gets improved themes. iLife sells for £55 and £69 for a family pack.
iWork '06 is also now shipping with the ability to do some simple spreadsheet calculations and charts within both Pages the word processor, and Keynote, the PowerPoint competitor. There was also mail merge support within pages, using the Address Book, and new Keynote transitions.
There was no sign of the widely expected spreadsheet addition to iWork, know as "Numbers". This is probably due to a Microsoft spokeswoman appearing on stage with Steve Jobs to announce their further commitment to make MS Office for the Mac for at least another five years. Apple no doubt to appease MS dropped their spreadsheet in favour of Excel, for now. Costs £55 and £69 for family pack.
There were some other minor updates. QuickTime was updated to 7.0.4 and Mac OS X to 10.4.4. The Mac OS fixes multiple bugs and adds some new widgets to Dashboard. Available from Software Update.
Update: Apple intially removed links to QuickTime 7.0.4. No reason were given and an uninstaller issued. Since then Apple has re-released the update.
I had some problems starting up after the 10.4.4 update, it sat at the Apple logo with the spinning wheel, I had to force it to quit and start again in single-user mode and run a few repairs. Let me know if you have any problems, but I'd advice a backup before hand (You're asking me how to do that now aren't you?) Just remember, repair your permissions!
The iPod and nano gained a wired remote control with a twist, it has a built in FM tuner. You do the tuning using the iPod. Costs £35
Next, the one people were waiting for. Which Mac gets the Intel chips first? ......... It's the...... Well, before I tell you.
The CEO of Intel
Paul
Otellini came on stage in a 'bunny suit'. Now,
that doesn't mean he was dressed like a bunny girl
I'm afraid. A bunny suit is a 'clean room'
suit. Intel used people dressed in various
coloured 'bunny' suits in their ads for Pentium
chips.
Apple famously burnt one in an advert showing the
speed of the PowerPC processor over the Pentium.
Thus the appearance of the Intel CEO in
the bunny suit was a little in joke, if a cringey
one.
So, the first to get the new chip is, the......
iMac. Surprised? I was.
Yes, though the iMac was only recently updated with
an iSight camera built in, and remote control.
It's the first to have the new Intel Core Duo (previously known as
Yonah). It's at least twice as fast as the old
iMac (that'll please Paul) has faster RAM and a
mini-DVI to connect an external monitor. It
costs the same, 17" £929, and 20" £1229.
Now, I know some people
might be funny about Intel chips in Macs, after-all
they've been the enemy right? You've nothing to worry
about, having an Intel chip in your Mac doesn't make
it a PC, it doesn't make it vulnerable to PC viruses,
that's a software issue. It runs all the old Mac
software using Rosetta, so you don't need to run
out and buy replacements and new software will be
Intel native. All you need to care about is that
the new Macs run faster, who makes the chip inside
isn't that important.
They've created a new advert for the intel in mac, it
looks remarkably like the Such Great Heights video by The Postal
Service. In this writers opinion, it's cute.
Spot the
difference?
Portables. Yes, there's a new Intel based laptop Mac,
and it has a new name.
Say goodbye to PowerBook and hello to MacBook Pro. I'm sure
we'll get used to the new name, and I expect the
iBook to become the MacBook when they're
updated. The reason for the name
change, Steve said, is they've done with Power,
being they no longer use PowerPC chips. It
makes sense, although the first PowerBooks also didn't use a
PowerPC chip, so the Power in PowerBook was never
an indication of the chip used inside.
Enough of the history.
The MacBook Pro is a 1" thin, 15.4"
aluminium clad laptop. Has a built in iSight
camera and comes with a remote like the iMac for
FrontRow. It's four times faster
than the old PowerBooks. It also has a
thoughtful feature. The power connector is called
Magsafe. The power cord no longer fully plugs into
the Mac, it magnetically attaches, so if snagged
it just pulls off, rather than dragging your Mac
to its doom on the ground. I've often caught
the cable on my leg, so this is a welcome feature.
It also has a larger trackpad, brighter screen and
improved graphics. The 1.67Ghz model costs £1429, the
1.83Ghz £1779 and available in February.
The design hasn't changed that much, and I'd expect
the 17" PowerBook to gain the MacBook Pro treatment
in time. As for the 12", there's been rumours
of its demise, who can say? It would seem a bit
daft not to have a smaller lighter laptop. Perhaps
this will be passed onto updated iBooks/MacBooks when
they arrive. Steve said all Macs would transition to
Intel by the end of the year.
Click here to watch the keynote for
yourself.
What wasn't there?
There was no new Intel based Mac Mini. Many were
expecting it with built in TV recording capability,
tying into FrontRow. Of course there' s nothing to
stop you adding these features using products from
Miglia or Elgato running EyeTV, for example.
No widescreen 13.3" iBook. There was no talk of Mac
OS X 10.5-Leopard, and the iPod shuffle wasn't axed.
I will get around to those back-up tips!