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Derik DeLong, Macworld
Undock helps laptop users get going faster by automatically unmounting drives all at once. No longer will you have to manually eject every removable drive in order to pack up and go.
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Public Wi-Fi can leave your Mac's data exposed—unless you're careful.
Lesa Snider, Macworld
Long-time users may be understandably frustrated by the interface change, but once they get used to it they’ll likely experience increased efficiency from a smoother workflow. Those new to Painter will appreciate the new painting modes; fine artists will enjoy the new Watercolor and Wet Oil brushes; and users of all levels can finally stop squinting to see the icons.
J.d. Biersdorfer, New York Times
When I use the Mail program on my Mac, it automatically completes the e-mail address I enter — even if it’s an incorrect or outdated address. I am sorry to say I have far too many sent e-mails to wrong or outdated addresses as a result. How can I eliminate them from the computer’s memory?
Neil Hughes, AppleInsider
Availability of Apple's current $999 white MacBook, built with hardware that is now getting long in the tooth, has become constrained, potentially signaling a forthcoming update to the entry-level notebook.
CNN
June 30 is the deadline for app makers to get in compliance with Apple's strict new rules for in-app payment and subscription links. Everyone's still confused about how to interpret the rules -- and as written, the guidelines could get big-name apps like Amazon's Kindle booted from Apple's iTunes App Store.
James Bleifus
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica
We dug into the design of the cable to find out why Apple felt justified in charging $50 for some plastic-wrapped copper wire, and why Thunderbolt may have a hard time gaining traction outside of the higher-end storage and video device market—a fate similar to Apple's FireWire.
Skookum
So if you have got an application that does something and then clears the screen, how do you go about implementing this in your own app?
Warren Buckleitner, New York Times
Bob Tedeschi, New York Times
Even though publishers haven’t yet woven the interactive thrill of the Elements chemistry app or the AirCoaster roller coaster app into a children’s narrative, the book apps are usually much cheaper than traditional books. It’s hard to feel cheated with a purchase.
The PC Weenies
If you are frustrated by the inefficiencies of moving and copying files within the Finder, you owe it to yourself to try Forklift 2.0 out. And if that’s not enough to sell you, the built-in FTP / SFTP tools and file / folder synchronization features should.
Roman Loyola, Macworld
James Galbraith, Macworld
Our initial tests with the Thunderbolt-equipped 12TB R6 found that it is considerably faster than similar devices we’ve tested—devices that use FireWire, USB, or both.
Christopher Breen, Macworld
And yes, I mean you die-hard AppleWorks users. If you want to use a Mac running Lion, your time has run out. AppleWorks won’t work. So, what to do with those AppleWorks documents?
John Biggs, New York Times
OffMaps allows you to download an entire city’s map at once and store those maps right on your cellphone or tablet. Your phone can access map data offline, as opposed to using the iPhone’s built-in Maps app, which requires data roaming and can cost you an arm and a leg.
Arnold Kim, MacRumors
Regarding importing from Final Cut Pro 7, Apple says that due to the many changes there was no way to "translate" old projects without losing or changing data. So, Apple suggests that users continue to use Final Cut Pro 7 for existing projects.
As for Multicam editing, Apple again promises that "it will" support it. The "next major release" will provide "great multicam support".
Josh Ong, AppleInsider
Digital Composting
So if you’re really a professional you shouldn’t want to be reliant on software from a company like Apple. Because your heart will be broken. Because they’re not reliant on you. Use Apple’s tools to take you as far as they can – they’re an incredible bargain in terms of price-performance. But once you’re ready to move up to the next level, find yourself a software provider whose life-blood flows only as long as they keep their professional customers happy. It only makes sense.
Sam Grobart, New York Times
Penguin Classics, that more-than-1,500-titles collection of English-language literary classics, has a new free app for iOS devices available on Tuesday.
Kyle Neath, Warpspire
Clients claiming to be “simple” choose to redefine “simple” as fewer supported Git commands rather than simplifying the interaction with Git.
It blows my mind that no one tried to do anything special. Git (and its DVCS cousins like Mercurial & Bazaar) provide an amazing platform to build next generation clients — and it’s like the entire OS X ecosystem left their imagination at home.
Eric Slivka, MacRumors
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service
Eric Slivka, MacRumors
Joel Mathis, Macworld
Nathan Alderman, Macworld
Novices can easily assemble tasks like this, or workflows to fill out tedious online forms. For power users, Fake can do even more to test online applications, including executing user-specified JavaScript code, calling outside AppleScripts, and working through if/else/then statements.
Christopher Breen, Macworld
Despite the missing features, I found Audition CS5.5 to be a solid tool largely because of its wealth of useful, good-sounding effects and its cleaning and tweaking tools. It’s now my go-to podcast production editor. If I routinely worked with Premiere Pro, I’d like it even more, as trips between the two applications are nearly seamless.
Eric Slivka, MacRumors
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Mac Mcclelland, Good Media
It was my research editor who told me it was completely nuts to willingly get fucked at gunpoint. That's what she called me when I told her the story. We were drunk and in a karaoke bar, so at the time I came up with only a wounded face and a whiny, "I'm not completely nuuuuts!" Upon further consideration, a more explanative response probably would have been something like: Well. You had to be there.
Eric Bleeker, The Motley Fool
Eric Slivka, MacRumors
Alphons Brookson, IT.Enquirer
OfficeTime is a robust time tracker for small workgroups. It allows you to track time spent on projects for multiple clients. It supports multiple timers, clients, categories and has an amazing report feature. You can even consolidate multiple workers’ project times into one report. OfficeTime also integrates with iCal and Address Book.
J.d. Biersdorfer, New York Times
Christopher Breen, Macworld
At the risk of beating a dead chestnut, I’ve received several inquiries regarding applications and their likely (or assured) compatibility with Lion. Rather than chew up precious email bits and forum threads, let’s wrap up this “Will my applications run under Lion or not?” package with a colorful bow.
Ian Betteridge, Technovia
Write a letter.
Dan Frakes, Macworld
DTerm is a great utility for the sort of quick, in-and-out Terminal work many power users perform.
John C. Welch, Macworld
Mac OS X Lion has more than 250 new features; a few of them will really matter to businesses and IT. What will they mean? Here’s what I think.
AFP
Taiwan's consumer protection law stipulates that consumers are entitled to a seven-day trial period after purchasing any products via Internet, including cell phone software applications. The capital city's government found that Google and Apple had violated the law and on June 8 ordered them to alter their trading rules.
"Google refused to change its rules," Betty Chen, the head of a consumer protection at the city government, said. Apple changed its rules.
Oynk
There are def i nitely prac tical impli ca tions for peo ple who’ve built a busi ness around Final Cut. But there is also a feel ing of betrayal that is fuel ing some of the most heated crit i cism. I think some of that has to do with how Final Cut devel oped into some thing much larger than a soft ware prod uct. For many peo ple, Final Cut Pro is part of their cre ative and pro fes sional iden tity. And, for now, they are not sure who they are, or who they will be a year from now.
Arnold Kim, MacRumors
BestBuy.com has stopped shipping MacBook Airs to customers ahead of expected revisions to the MacBook Air.
Razorianfly
Sure, market competitors probably thought Apple had simply attached a gimmicky slogan to the device to sell it in volumes, but when we take a look at the iPad today, we see exactly what Apple meant by its claim of “Magic”. The iPad’s hardware itself wasn’t magic, nor was the software the iPad ran magic, so what gave Apple the right to call the device “Magical”? — User Interaction.
Christina Warren, Mashable
Marton Reece
There may be some advantages to going App Store-only — less initial setup for checkout and licensing, no confusion about which version to buy, or where to upgrade — but indie Mac developers should be doing everything they can to control their own destiny. Having your own store is just good business sense.
Andy Ihnatko, Macworld
What I find most remarkable about iCloud is that (unless there’s a lot more that Apple hasn’t shown us yet) it’s not a destination: it’s a highway system. Yes, technically my iCloud contains loads of information and files, but that fact chiefly articulates itself when I pick up my iPad, launch Pages, and resume work on an article right from the point I left it on my MacBook earlier in the day.
Josh Ong, AppleInsider
According to one teardown of Apple's Time Capsule released earlier this week, the hard disk drive inside the wireless base station is a consumer version, not a server-grade disk as advertised by Apple.
Jamie Ee Wen Wei, Straits Times
Apple is king in Singapore when it comes to data traffic to and from devices that are not computers. A new study has shown that the brand's devices such as the iPhone and iPad account for more than 80 per cent of data sent to and from non-computer devices.
The same study also ranked Singapore as the country with the highest percentage of readers accessing newspaper sites using tablet devices.
Brendan Wilhide, Macworld
While Window Commander replicates much of the functionality of OS X’s command-tab keyboard combination, it does so with a distinct visual style which enhances its usefulness.
Terry White
Robert Scoble, Scobleizer
Whoever designed the new 27-inch iMac and the new 27-inch Cinema display should be fired. Why? They don’t line up! Is it too much to ask that two monitors from the same company should line up perfectly when placed on a desk?
Gary Adcock, Macworld
For the time being, as someone that needs to work for a living, I am not giving up my hardware-based version of Final Cut Pro 7 just yet, especially since Apple makes it possible for users to have both FCP X and Final Cut Studio functional on the same computer.
I regret that the older suite of tools has been removed from the Apple Store, but I plan to start using this version of Final Cut Pro for my direct to web deliverables and keep testing while I wait for App Store updates and additional features.
Ted Landau, Macworld
Coinciding with this week’s release of Final Cut Pro X, Apple has posted well over a dozen new Knowledge Base articles detailing various quirks of the new software. I’ve summarized the key issues below. I follow that with a brief look at users’ largely negative assessment of the update.
Liane Cassavoy, PCWorld
I like iHound’s speed and its additional geolocation features, and I was impressed with GadgetTrak’s photo-snapping prowess. Keep in mind that you don’t have to choose just one: You could run all of these apps at once. But if I did have to choose, I’d go with Apple’s Find My iPhone. Not only did it perform the best, acing most of my tests, it’s free.
MG Siegler, TechCrunch
"Yes. Web access to iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Find My iPhone will be available at icloud.com this fall."
David Pogue, New York Times
The “missing features” generally fall into three categories: features that are actually there and have just been moved around, features that Apple intends to restore and features that require a third-party (non-Apple) add-on or plug-in.
Jeffery Harrell
This isn’t an omission. This isn’t a quirk we all have to get used to. This was a choice. Somebody at Apple — several somebodies, probably — had to sit down and think this through and decide it sounded like a great idea.
And all it would’ve taken was a five-minute conversation with anybody who’s ever worked in commercial post a day in their lives. “Hey, how about we show you every bin and every shot on your system all the time?” “No! That’d be a catastrophe!” That’s all it would’ve taken.
But either Apple didn’t have that conversation, or they didn’t listen when they did.
Dan Moren, Macworld
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld
But I think the majority of editors will embrace Final Cut, after Apple spends the time to fix what it needs to. (It always does, even if it takes awhile.) And once that happens, I can’t imagine Final Cut Pro X as anything other than the poster child for the next decade of the editing industry.
Kino-Eye.com
The day Final Cut Pro 7 stops working due to an OS X update or new hardware incompatibility will force a change, but for now, it’s still smooth sailing with a lot of underlying anxiety that comes with editing on a dead platform.
Winston Hearn
Here's what I predict we will see next week sometime.
Shawn King, The Loop
I firmly believe this is an example of a patent being applied for simply to have the patent, not because Apple believes the technology has any real world possibilities. Time will tell but if you’re a betting man, I’ll take bets that this technology will never see the light of day.
Catrina Stewart, The Independent
The decision by Apple to purge the app has been criticised by pro-Palestinian campaigners, who claim that the term "Intifada", used to refer to a mass uprising, is not necessarily a call to violence. Apple said the app "violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people".
Michael Muchmore, PC Magazine
The upgrade is a complete from-the-ground-up-rewrite that takes advantage of modern 64-bit multicore CPUs, and is a radical departure for the increasingly popular software suite.
Jordan Golson, MacRumors
The sessions include videos and matching slideshows for 109 different sessions, covering App Frameworks (32 sessions), Core OS (13 sessions), Developer Tools (20 sessions), Graphics, Media and Games (24 sessions), and Internet and Web (19 sessions.)
Josh Lowensohn, CNET
Michael E. Cohen, TidBITS
The update addresses some bugs, improves some networking features, provides additional security improvements, and paves the way for the release of Lion next month.
Christopher Breen, Macworld
Derik DeLong, Macworld
OpenMenu X is a full featured launcher program, specializing in menu driven action. Its support for selected data type filtering makes it stand out for scripting users.
Greg Miller, Macworld
If you are a longtime user of AutoCAD for Windows, you might want to wait for the next version (AutoCAD 2012 is due before the end of the year), which will no doubt fill in some of the missing features and provide a better value. If you are new to AutoCAD, unconcerned about the price, and crave the native DWG file format and peace of mind using AutoCAD provides, then this version will work fine—and you can look forward to an upgrade soon.
MacNN
Damon Poete, PC Magazine
Instead, Apple's patent details a very specific set of gestures used to navigate around Web pages on a mobile, touch screen device.
Philip Michaels, Macworld
Jeff Carlson, TidBITS
With Apple’s release of Final Cut Pro X this week, I think the company chose to soft-announce its high-end video editing application so it wouldn’t come as such a shock to many of its power users. This version is a complete rewrite, emphasizing speed and flexibility and a new platform on which to build future versions. It also lacks some important features and capabilities that current Final Cut Pro 7 owners rely on.
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
What's clear is that Apple's recent moves to aggressively defend its intellectual property has left everyone on edge—so much so that even the narrowest of patents are now receiving extra scrutiny from experts and non-experts alike.
Eugene Huo, Macgasm
Basically the instructions boil down to finding the password hash, cutting and pasting it into a password cracking app like John the Ripper, and waiting.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet
Lesson: Don’t be in such a rush to spend $300 on software before knowing if it does what you want it to do.
David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times
There's a certain poetic justice in the fact that "On the Road" is one of Apple's top-grossing book apps. Released on Saturday, the iPad app for Jack Kerouac's landmark novel — featuring a variety of enriched content, including commentary, maps, audio recordings and other ephemera — hit No. 4 on Apple's list on Tuesday, ahead of the Bible and T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land." That's a testament to the power of the digital project, but also to the novel, which has occupied a visionary place in the culture since it was first published in 1957.
Megan Lavey-Heaton, TUAW
Jonathan Seff, Macworld
In general, I found the EQ settings more useful on a regular basis than the volume improvements. But if you’re in a crowded or noisy environment and need to hear what’s coming out of your Mac, Boom might be quite helpful.
John Gruber, Daring Fireball
This ground-up rewrite may well have been the right thing to do. Apple seems convinced that this is a better fundamental concept for video editing — and, really, storytelling in general. But it may prove risky not to offer a transition period. Hell, even with iMovie, when they made the switch from old-style editing to the new one (and lost a bunch of features in the initial release of the new iMovie), Apple kept iMovie HD 6 available as a free download for two years. If iMovie users were worth appeasing with a transition period, surely professional Final Cut Pro users are too. If Final Cut Pro X can’t even open Final Cut Pro 7 projects, how quickly can editors be expected to switch?
Alexis Kayhill, Mac360
Kirk McElhearn, Macworld
Everybody is familiar with high-definition video these days, which packs more visual information (more pixels) into the shows you see on TV and on Blu-ray discs. But you may not know much about high-resolution audio, which offers music in formats with clarity and fidelity that can be superior to that of CDs. I took a look at the current offerings, and how you can play these high-resolution files on a Mac. Here’s what you need to know.
The Feldman File
Darrell Etherington, GigaOM
Apple is already a company that knows how to make a tool that everyone can use. Now that it’s increasingly becoming one that also knows how to make tools that everybody can afford, there are even fewer barriers to the potential heights it can reach.
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Mozilla on Tuesday delivered the final version of Firefox 5, the first edition under the new faster-release regime it kicked off earlier this year.
The company also patched 10 bugs in Firefox 5, including one in the browser’s handling of the WebGL 3-D rendering standard that rival Microsoft has called unsafe.
Ina Fried, All Things D
Verizon Wireless, which has said it plans to move away from unlimited data plans for new subscribers, confirms that new tiered options will be the norm starting next month.
Paul Kunert, The Register
Apple is bypassing the channel to sell the forthcoming Lion OS directly to biz customers in yet another blow to its beleaguered partner base, resellers have claimed.
Manton Reece
The writing is on the wall that a year from now most apps will be distributed through the Mac App Store, and the savings and independence of direct download sales won't be worth the maintenance of two separate forms of distribution for many developers. But if Apple holds all the cards in this relationship, then we must hold Apple to a very high standard.
Brendan Wilhide, Macworld
Grappler makes downloading content from YouTube easy and remains an all around useful utility.
Arnold Kim, MacRumors
Gary Adcock, Macworld
With this release, Apple shows us the future in which data streams from all the devices we work with communicate seamlessly, sharing media behind the scenes. Think of the advantages and possibilities when all the effort you put into setting up a shot or project continue downstream from your camera into post-production, or follow your content when it’s delivered on the web. That's the promise of Final Cut Pro X. Will that promise be fulfilled?
Jackie Dove, Macworld
It’s finally here. Apple has released Final Cut Pro X, a brand new version of its flagship professional non-linear video editing software. It should be available as a $300 download from the App Store at some point after 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, though Apple warns that it might take "some time" for it and companion apps Motion and Compressor to be visible.
Thomas Ricker, Engadget
The FCC just trumped Cupertino's plan to sneak out an updated AirPort Extreme wireless base station with the outing of an Apple 3x3 802.11n access point, model A1408.
MG Siegler, TechCrunch
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Apple store representatives today said that although its Genius Bar technicians won't install Lion for customers, Mac owners can use a store's Internet connection to download the 4GB upgrade.
Rodrigo Campos, Reuters
Apple Inc shares are deteriorating in a way not seen since the financial crisis.
J.d. Biersdorfer, New York Times
In the account sign-in box, enter your iTunes Store user name and password and click on the Account Info (or View Account) button. The top part of the Account Information screen lists the number of computer authorizations you have made. When you have five computers authorized, you should see a Deauthorize All button. Click the button to deauthorize all your computers at once.
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica
Despite Apple's long-standing war of attrition over Flash, Adobe is making it easier for Flash and Flex developers to target Apple's mobile platform. The company announced on Monday that the latest versions of Flash Builder and Flex both support building apps for the iPhone and iPad in addition to supporting Android and RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook.
Heather Kelly, Macworld
The free, open-source Calibre is an e-book manager, e-book creator, and desktop e-book reader. It’s also a must-have tool for any bibliophile with an e-reader and a growing library.
Peter Kafka, All Things D
Philip Michaels, Macworld
Mind Your Decisions
There are 4! = 24 possible ways a password can be formed from four distinct and known numbers. Will using just three numbers increase the number of possibilities?
Jeremy Laurenson
Ed Bott, ZDNet
I still believe the Mac Defender attack was a successful proof of concept for the bad guys. The social engineering was excellent, and I am certain it brought in enough ill-gotten gains to bankroll the next phase of development.
Remember, this was done via a malware toolkit—the first one ever released for the Mac platform. The next version of this toolkit is being written with full knowledge of how Security Update 2011-003 works. The bad guys are counting on Apple taking weeks to work up its response. That could make Mac Defender version 2.0 very nasty indeed.
Mike Rosenberg, San Jose Mercury News
The humongous Apple mother ship campus will one day call Cupertino home, but it'll sit so close to Sunnyvale and Santa Clara that residents there will be able to look out their windows and catch a glimpse of Steve Jobs heading to work -- along with 12,000 other employees.
But the tech giant's pure economic prowess, with its potential to raise nearby property values and bring good jobs to the region, is easing -- for now, at least -- the typical NIMBY-like disputes and border wars that have plagued these cities in the past.
Dave Winer, Scripting News
The thing is this -- the iPad has a perfectly functional web browser. It isn't a "mobile" web browser. It has a full-size screen. It doesn't need any accomodations to be readable, it is readable as-is.
Olga Kharif, Adam Satariano And Hugo Miller, Bloomberg
The move would put Apple in competition with Google for the 6,000 patents, which could be used in smartphone technology.
Brendan Wilhide, Macworld
Sure, you can get your weather forecast from other applications and Websites, but few have as much fun with the weather forecast as Swackett.
Jordan Golson, MacRumors
Stephen Shankland, CNET
Apple hasn't said whether it plans to ship WebGL, though nightly builds of the WebKit open-source browser on which Safari is based include support. But an Apple employee said this week it will be an option on iOS 5--for iAds only.
Daniel Eran Dilger, AppleInsider
For business customers, Apple's online Business Store will offer volume licenses at the same $29.99 price in a minimum quantity of 20 licenses. The company will also offer maintenance contracts for $49.99 per license at the same minimum quantity.
Apple also announced that Mac OS X Lion Server will be available as a separate $49.99 option for Lion buyers. Existing Snow Leopard Server users will be able to upgrade to Lion Server by buying Lion along with Lion Server, for a total of $80.
Steven Sande, TUAW
Jeffery Battersby, Macworld
Déjà Vu is a simple, easy-to-configure System Preference pane that helps you backup up your data to any directly attached or network attached drive, including optical media such.
Apple Gazette
Liz Castro, Pigs, Gourds, And Wikis
Last night my photography ebook, “Barcelona Beyond Gaudí” was accepted into the iBookstore. While I'm personally very excited, I'm also professionally excited (!), since this means that Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB files for iBooks.
TJ Luoma, TUAW
Since Apple's iCloud announcement, we have received a steady stream of messages from people with the same problem: multiple Apple IDs.
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Like any OS, Lion comes with a set of requirements, prerequisites and limitations that will lock out some users entirely and discourage others.
Theo Tait, The Guardian
Hollinghurst has a strong, perhaps unassailable claim to be the best English novelist working today. He offers surely the best available example of novelistic ambition squared with the highest aesthetic standards.
Alasdair Allan, O'Reilly Radar
The link between custom chips and the cloud may seem tenuous at first glance, but I think Apple's return to designing their own silicon is telling. Almost as telling as spending half a billion dollars on a custom data center to support their new iCloud service. Both moves show the company is now committed more than ever to controlling the verticals. From the chips inside the devices to the data centers their customers' data ultimately resides on, Apple is committed to controlling the user experience, and the web has no place in that.
Adrian Chen, Gizmodo
After the Wall Street Journal published an account of Apple's retail culture that was as sterile and cheery as Apple Stores themselves, we asked insiders to send us more colorful details about hawking Steve Jobs' pricey chunks of metal. And Apple Store employees had some tales to tell. Here's a selection.
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica
Topher Kessler, CNET
Eric Slivka, MacRumors
Apple today released MainStage 2.1.3, an update to the company's Logic Studio component for bringing virtual instruments and effects to live performances.
Derik DeLong, Macworld
Wraparound is a small software utility that allows your Mac’s cursor to wraparound the edges of your display. For example, if your cursor reaches the right edge of your display and you keep going, it will reappear on the left side. This isn’t limited to horizontal movement, as Wraparound can be configured to do the same in the vertical. You can even drag windows across these borders, and Wraparound works with multiple display setups as well.
Christopher Breen, Macworld
If your Mac is slow, if the spinning rainbow cursor appears more often than you'd like, or if you're forever being locked out of your accounts, here's what you need to do.
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld
As excited as you might be, you don’t have time to read up on every single one. Instead, let us do the work for you, and highlight some of the coolest new tricks your Mac will be able to turn in Lion.
Electronista
Michael Grothaus, TUAW
Apple's annual Back to School promotion begins June 16 and runs until September 20. There are a few things different with this year's promotion compared to years past. First, the promotion is starting about two weeks, on average, later than in earlier years. Secondly -- and most notably -- this year's promotion will not include a free iPod with any Mac purchased. Instead, buyers will receive a $100 gift card that is good in the Mac App Store, iTunes Store, App Store or the iBookstore.
Electronista
Adobe has again issued a security update for a critical issue affecting Adobe Flash Player 10.3 and earlier versions for Macintosh, Windows, Linux, Solaris and Android, just over a week since the previous update. A new memory corruption vulnerability (marked by the company as CVE-2011-2110) can cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system, with reports that the problem has been spotted in the wild.
Topher Kessler, CNET
Tom Yager, InfoWorld
Apple's blazing-fast, elegant, and economical everything-in-one goes where ordinary desktops can't.
Forkbombr
It is crazy light. I have to double-check that it’s in my bag some days.
Electronista
Google on Wednesday upgraded its Google Sync framework to give iOS users much more control over remote events. Apple's built-in mail app will now search the Gmail server for older messages much like it does for regular e-mail providers. Users can also now finally accept, turn down, or edit Google Calendar events from the app and have the changes honored on the web or other devices.
Jay J. Nelson, Macworld
With FontExplorer X Pro 3.0, Linotype significantly improved an already stellar font management utility. Its set migration capability makes it much easier to switch from competing programs, and there are an abundance of new features to justify an upgrade. Its feature set is still far beyond its competitors, yet it remains approachable even for casual users. I recommend it to anyone with more than a casual interest in managing their fonts.
Christopher Breen, Macworld
Adam C. Engst, TidBITS
Adam C. Engst, TidBITS
Shawn Blanc
Backblaze and CrashPlan both work well and are very affordable. If you have lots and lots of irreplaceable data (more than 100 GBs) then you may want to use these guys because the monthly costs will be lower and they’ll send you a drive with your stuff on it to recover.
However, if you care about having granular control, better data centers, higher encryption of your data, and/or you don’t have that much to back up, then Arq is a great solution.
Jonathan Seff, Macworld
Although there are free apps to convert video for iOS devices and more, VidConvert’s simple interface, rich codec support, advanced settings, and audio-only conversion option make it well worth the modest fee.
Eric Slivka, MacRumors
Microsoft yesterday released several updates for users of its Office for Mac productivity suites, bringing security and stability improvements to Office 2011, 2008, and 2004, as well as a pair of ancillary updates.
Dan Frakes, Macworld
Here’s a look at what you need to do, either using an existing audio system or by building a new one from scratch.
Matthew Lentini, Smarthouse
Tim Bray
It’s about tooling and culture. The Android and iOS frameworks are built by elite, energized teams working with a laser focus on making it real easy for developers to build snazzy native apps.
Yukari Iwatani Kane And Ian Sherr, Wall Street Journal
With their airy interiors and attractive lighting, Apple's stores project a carefree and casual atmosphere. Yet Apple keeps a tight lid on how they operate. Employees are ordered to not discuss rumors about products, technicians are forbidden from prematurely acknowledging widespread glitches and anyone caught writing about the Cupertino, Calif., company on the Internet is fired, according to current and former employees.
Journalism.co.uk
The BBC is developing an app that will allow its reporters in the field to file video, stills and audio directly into the BBC system from an iPhone or iPad.
Jackie Dove, Macworld
Philip Michaels, Lex Friedman, Macworld
For users who can’t stand the thought of being bound to one carrier for two years, $649 to $749 will seem like a small price to pay. Travelers who hop from one end of the globe to another—particularly on business—might also find the flexibility of an unlocked iPhone to be worth the price. Most other people will prefer the low initial cost of an iPhone to a month-to-month agreement with a carrier.
Ken Segall
The fact is, Apple has become one of the most amazing success stories in business history, and it’s done that in the most human way — by sticking to its morals.
Topher Kessler, CNET
Apple's ColorSync Utility is built in to OS X. ColorSync profiles are used in image-rendering devices so colors will match across different devices. For instance, if you have two monitors attached to your system that are of different makes or models, then it is likely their pixel response ranges are slightly different. As a result, reds may be more vivid on one monitor than on another one, or the blues may be deeper. These variations can be allowed for by creating a color profile for each device, so when image data is passed between them they will display it accurately.
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
Johnson originally came to Apple from Target back in the year 2000 when the company was just beginning to get its retail operations off the ground. The first retail store officially opened at Tysons Corner in Virginia in 2001, and Johnson is often cited as the brains behind Apple's Genius Bar operations.
John Gruber, Daring Fireball
As with MobileMe, there will be web app interfaces for iCloud for those times when all you have is a web browser on someone else’s machine, but Apple’s vision for “access anywhere” is “iPhone everywhere”.
Dan Moren, Macworld
Once upon a time, moving files from one computer to another via a network was an arduous task that often required delving into the word of the command line. But these days, any number of FTP clients for the Mac make it as easy as interacting with the documents on your own computer. Among them, the open-source Cyberduck 4.0.2 is an excellent option: It’s got a friendly interface, compatibility with a wide variety of protocols, and a number of useful and powerful features.
Mark Dalrymple, Borkware Miniblog
It does so much Right that it is a joy to use.
Lukas Mathis, Ignore The Code
It’s impossible to evaluate a notification system without actually using it. There are so many tiny nuances involved. On paper, what webOS and Android do sounds very similar. In reality, notifications on webOS work beautifully, while notifications on Android, well, mostly just work.
Manton Reece
As Dave used to say, zig where they zag.
Lex Friedman, Macworld
The iPad isn’t quite as light as a news magazine, but it’s still pretty portable—and it’s always more current. With Safari alone, the iPad could be a great news consumption tool. Coupled with apps, it satisfies my news addiction like nothing else can.
Christopher Breen, Macworld
Without a doubt, the issues that cause the greatest consternation to Mac users are those that keep the computer from starting up or, if the computer deigns to boot, that prevent the Mac from operating as it should once it eventually makes its way to the Finder. Here are common startup issues and their solutions.
Josh Ong, AppleInsider
Apple updated its online store on Tuesday to begin offering unlocked models of the iPhone 4, starting at $649.
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Megan Lavey-Heaton, TUAW
Nokia issued a press release this morning stating that it has reached an agreement with Apple that includes the settlement of all patent litigation between the companies. This includes a one-time payment from Apple and ongoing royalties. The specific contract terms are confidential.
Don Reisinger, eWeek
Topher Kessler, CNET
Daniel Amitay
The implication? A thief (or just a prankster) could safely try 10 different passcodes on your iPhone without initiating the data wipe.
Leaves Of Code
Recently I took on the enormous task of learning Objective-C from the bottom up and I was struck by something I couldn’t shake: this is too hard.
Arnold Kim, MacRumors
Apple has already started mirroring at least some of the existing MobileMe functionality on iCloud.com as well.
Harry McCracken, Technologizer
I’m not making the case here that Apple’s apparent lack of interest in browser-based apps based entirely on Web technologies is smart, just that it’s a logical outcome of the approach that defines the company.
Josh Lowensohn, CNET
Cory Moll's only been with Apple since 2007, but in that time he's seen and heard enough to make him want to change the way the company runs its retail business.
Malcolm Barclay
I’m not out to demonise individuals, which is why I have blanked out the user names. However, I do want to highlight why leaving reviews like this is utterly misguided and what it means to install beta releases of iOS.
Mark Crump, GigaOM
I’m very excited about iOS 5, especially since it looks like it’s bringing me lots of great new functionality, while still giving me a place for my favorite apps.
One FPS
A little birdie says that about 50 percent of Apple Store customers who need to get their iPhones swapped have never plugged them into iTunes after the initial activation and sync. This is a big reason, according to this birdie, for why Apple Store Geniuses are excited about iCloud.
Joshua Topolsky, This Is My Next
Sure, syncing our devices is clearly an important and yet-to-be-solved problem, but Cupertino isn’t just improving sync across devices. It also seems to be concluding that it can’t — or won’t — compete on the web, and I think that’s a mistake.
Liz Robbins, New York Times
But most of these tech-savvy diners have another way of recording such ecstatic eating experiences beyond the familiar social networks: a new smartphone application called Recco that is, at its core, a recommendation service for foodies with short attention spans.
Horace Dediu, Asymco
Since we know something about the average price of songs and apps, and we know the split between developers and Apple (and roughly between music labels and Apple) we can get a rough estimate of the amount Apple retains to run its store.
Dan Moren, Macworld
iCloud takes that vision of a file-less future to the next step: No more worrying about where to save things, or where you put that file. By having apps take care of the nitty-gritty details of file management, we’re moving from the document-centric interface of the last 20 years or so to an application-centric model. It’s about actions instead of objects, verbs instead of nouns.
Dan Miller, Macworld
Graham K. Rogers, Amitaie
Many are so brainwashed into accepting that because someone (or something — the popup) has told them they are infected with a virus there is a knee-jerk reaction and “Click here” is exactly what they do.
Jeff Carlson, Macworld
Baseball season is here in the United States, and in addition to the professionals, little league teams and community leagues are also swinging for the fences. If you capture the action using a video camera, iMovie ’11 includes a little-known feature that lets you build a database of team members (of any sport) for creating highlight videos.
Jeffery Battersby, Macworld
Ross Rubin, Engadget
The company derives relatively little revenue from iTunes music sales, less from free iPhone apps, and no direct revenue for the iLife software when it bundles them with Macs. But they all contribute to a user experience monetized through its hardware products. Such is the near-term promise of iCloud. Apple users won't pay for it, but they will buy it anyhow.
MG Siegler, TechCrunch
I have a very serious problem with the red dots. When I see one, I have to click on it. I know in my head that the update is likely not important, but I just have to know for sure. Much of my day feels like a game of Whack-A-Mole as a result. Red dot appears, hit the app, clear it. Another one? Hit the app, clear it. Etc.
But it’s manageable because those red dots only appear when I actually unlock my phone. With Apple’s revamped Push Notification system, I see myself going back to the full-on pop-up notifications (which are less pop-ups and more drop-downs). And that means seeing them even when my phone is locked. I foresee it being a mixture of heaven and hell for me.
Douglas Haddow, The Guardian
Perhaps it's best to ignore all the possible social and political implications of the iCloud and just take Steve Jobs's advice: "You don't even need to think about, it all just works."
Poornima Gupta, Reuters
Cory Moll, a part-time employee at an Apple store in San Francisco, is working to form a union to fight for better wages and benefits and to address what he says are unfair practices in the company’s glass-and-steel retail showrooms.
“The core issues definitely involve compensation, pay, benefits,” Mr. Moll said, adding that he decided to go public with the union to encourage other employees to come forward.
Marco Arment
When speculating on what Apple will or won’t do, a change that gets them more iPhone customers is probably worth considering even if you think they’d “never” do it. iPhone customer acquisition is a higher priority than almost everything else.
Jean-Louis Gassée, Monday Note
The “free” iCloud reminds us of Apple’s real business model. They want to sell lots of devices, everything else supports this goal. It seems iCloud’s easy, executive-proof How will sell a lot nicely interconnected Apple hardware. For competitors, weaving together a Brand X laptop, a Brand Y smartphone and a Brand Z tablet won’t be as easy or inexpensive.
Julia Prodis Sulek, San Jose Mercury News
The vision for the modernist Apple headquarters that Jobs unveiled in Cupertino last week is remarkably similar to the one he had dreamed about for San Jose. And three men involved in Apple's Coyote Valley project -- McEnery; real estate consultant Bob Feld; and former Apple vice president Al Eisenstat -- are amazed that even after 28 years, Jobs never gave up.
Aman Milwani, Technorati
John Naughton, The Guardian
TS Eliot's famously difficult poem had been closed to me for decades. Now there's an app for it.
Tim Bray
NetNewsWire and its author Brent Simmons have been much in the news recently. NNW’s future is a moving target, and that matters because the app matters; it’s one of the better reasons to use a Mac.
Rixstep
The Mac Defender attack is a well thought out attack that may have taken months to get together. But staying clear of Mac Defender is really easy and doesn't require any AV software.
Ina Fried, All Things D
Apple confirmed to AllThingsD today that it has recalled a very small number of Verizon iPad 2 models after the products were inadvertently shipped with identical electronic serial numbers.
The numbers, officially known as mobile equipment identifiers (MEIDs), are important in the activation of devices that use Verizon's cellular network and are designed to be unique to the individual device.
Jonny Evans, Computerworld
Mark Milian, CNN
Some audio equipment companies say they're feeling the pressure to add this Apple-specific feature to more of their product lines.
That comes as Apple is mulling whether it will scale back or entirely do away with the iPod-dock speakers and alarm clocks it sells in its retail stores, according to a person familiar with Apple's discussions who was not authorized to discuss the plans.
John Jannarone, Wall Street Journal
The technology giant isn't branching into clothing or furniture. It is, however, expanding its presence in malls. That is a territory where department stores have long been treated better than other tenants because they attract shoppers. Often, such so-called anchor tenants pay little or no rent.
But Apple has arguably become an equally important attraction, thanks to a consistent string of blockbuster products.
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
"The Best Buys, the Staples, the PC Connections, they all still have a decent Mac software business," said Stephen Baker of retail research firm NPD Group. "This will have an impact on all those guys. [The release of an OS upgrade] is always a good opportunity for them to connect to customers, get them into the store and thinking about upgrading their devices."
And with Apple pushing Lion only through its download Mac App Store, those retailers will be out of luck this time around.
James Galbraith, Macworld
Ted Landau, Macworld
Dave Caolo, TUAW
While we wait for iOS 5 to deliver cool new features, here's a look at Voice Control, a feature introduced with the iPhone 3GS model. There are three types of Voice Control commands: phone, music and other. Here's how to use each.
Aayush Arya, Macworld
The release notes for iMac Graphic Firmware Update 2.0 say that problem addressed by the update is rare—some iMacs would hang during startup or waking from sleep. The update weighs in at just 699KB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.7 to be installed.
Brad Reed, Network World
But as with any new technology, there are big risks involved with iCloud since users could potentially upload sensitive corporate data onto the cloud and have it spread to devices that do not have corporate security protocols. And while this risk is present in just about any cloud solution, Wheeler notes that the iCloud’s ability to automatically push out data to multiple devices makes it an even riskier proposition for most business users.
Marshall Clow, TidBITS
Joe Moreno, Mea Vita (My Life)
When I first joined the Apple online store, I was paired up with an experienced software engineer so that I could get up to speed on the code repository, build process, and unit and component testing. Since the online store was already live, we would never roll out new code without first testing and gathering detail metrics.
Sue Halpern, New York Review Of Books
Josh Lowensohn, CNET
The iPhone maker yesterday filed a motion with the Eastern District of Texas to intervene as the defendant in a lawsuit from Lodsys that targets seven developers. Apple also used the filing to provide a counterclaim that both it and its developers have the license rights to use the technology.
MacNN
Apple is interrupting at least some shipments of Verizon iPad 2s and recalling them, say people who have ordered online.
SiliconFilter
While Instapaper lets you save articles in its easy to read text-only view, Reading Lists don’t make use of Reader, Apple’s new text-only mode for Safari at all. Reading Lists just take you to the original article and then you have to click the Reader button – Instapaper already formats the story for easy reading.
Another problem with Apple’s tool is that there doesn’t seem to be an offline mode.
Lance Whitney, CNET
Apple's devices are "very difficult to make," says the head of Apple device supplier Hon Hai, but improvements in efficiency should start to "pay off" later this year.
Megan Erickson, Big Think
Jonny Evans, Computerworld
Apple has confirmed that Verizon iPhone users will not be able to access the new beta trial of new iCloud and iTunes features, because the relevant software isn't yet available for the CDMA model of the smartphone.
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica
If you don't renew the yearly $25 subscription, your iCloud store goes away. iTunes purchases will still be available to all devices, and anything that you have downloaded from iCloud to you devices you keep. This includes iTunes Plus versions you have chosen to replace older, lower quality rips in your main iTunes library. Apple explained that replacing those lower-quality rips is optional.
Another question our readers asked was what happens if your library is filled with higher quality rips, such as tracks encoded in Apple Lossless (ALAC) format. Matched tracks will still be in 256Kbps iTunes Plus format, while uploaded tracks will retain their original format. Tracks aren't replaced in either your iTunes library or on your devices unless you request them to be, so the lossless files in your main iTunes library will be safe. Sticklers might balk that matched tracks won't be available via iCloud in a higher-quality format, but if you don't require lossless quality on your mobile device, having access to smaller 256kbps AAC files via iCloud may be a benefit.
Ben Brooks, The Brooks Review
What Apple has done here is to sit down and say: “what bugs me and ideally how should it work”, then they turned that into WWDC’s announcement. These changes don’t feel like bug fixes or feature upgrades, they feel like a rethinking of computing.
Lex Friedman, Macworld
What power users will appreciate most in Reeder is its exceedingly flexible level of customization. You can set custom key commands for just about everything; configure multitouch gestures; tweak levels for the display’s tint, texture, and contrast; and even customize the appearance of the Dock icon. Reeder’s geared not just towards news junkies, but to tinkerers as well.
Glenn Fleishman, TidBITS
It’s not so much that Lion borrows from iOS. It’s rather that Apple has figured out the quintessence of what makes iOS eminently approachable for people for whom the classic desktop interface will never work. Which is most people.
Jackie Dove, Macworld
Smith Micro has released a pair of animation program upgrades that cater to both novices and pros. Anime Studio Debut 8, a simple program targeted to novice users, hobbylists, and animation enthusiasts, offers a number of professional-level features in an easy-to-understand format. The Anime Studio Pro 8 upgrade, for professional artists and animators, expands that program by adding a slate of new tools and capabilities.
Erica Naone, Technology Review
In some cases, this means that labels and artists are getting paid for pirated tracks; in others, they'll get paid twice for a song a user bought once.
Chita Hunter, MacNews
On the Job is time tracking and invoice generating software that is very straight-forward and easy to use.
Dan Frakes, Macworld
With iOS 5, potential “victims” of these new features include one of the most popular reading services, a couple entire genres of apps, and a standout utility.
Chris Rawson, TUAW
Reeder, a popular Google Reader client on iOS, is now out of beta and available on the Mac App Store. While the beta version of Reeder for the Mac was free to test, the 1.0 release will set you back US$9.99, more than twice the price of the iPad version.
Christopher Breen, Macworld
Sam Oliver, AppleInsider
Apple's new rules, detailed in section 11.14 of the App Store Review Guidelines, make it clear that approved iOS software "can read or play approved content (specifically magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video) that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app," provided there is no link to purchase that content elsewhere at a lower price. "Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues for approved content that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app."
MacNN
The Incredible Machine, an venerable computer game that has been around since the early 90s and which has been named one of the best games of all time, has made the move to a touch-interface by debuting on the iPad in a remade version created by the original designers and now published by Disney.
Jason Perlow, ZDNet
The datacenter appears to run on… wait for it… wait for it… the suspense is killing me… HP Proliants. With HP external storage enclosures, NetApp NAS filers and TeraData storage appliances, at least from what can be observed in the title photo of this article and in various stills extracted from Apple’s WWDC keynote video.
Must everything Apple uses run OS X?
Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek
Freelance developers such as Stone tend to be an idealistic, egalitarian bunch, suspicious of big companies intent on telling them, or consumers, what to do. And yet Apple has expertly played on their pragmatism—programming tools are slick and simple to use, for example. The main reason there are so many more apps available for Apple products is that there are more ways for developers to make money on them.
MG Siegler, TechCrunch
Amid all the big announcements at this year’s WWDC keynote, there was an undercurrent that was subtle, but important.
“It just works.” Steve Jobs kept saying this over and over again on stage. When Jobs does this, it’s never an accident. It’s a message.
Rupert Jones, The Guardian
If you go out and buy an iPhone 4 or the latest iPod shuffle, iPod nano or iPod touch, you won't be able to use it unless you have the latest version of iTunes (iTunes 10) on your computer. No problem, you think – it's simply a case of downloading it from Apple's website. But I've just made a rather unpleasant discovery: "older" Mac computers are unable to run the latest version of iTunes. And I'm not alone; it's a problem that has sparked fury among Apple users across the world.
Topher Kessler, CNET
TechDirt
Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek
After prompting developers to agree to the newly updated iOS developer agreement, one that encompasses the legal issues related to the upcoming launch of the company's iCloud service, Apple is presenting developers who access iTunesConnect, its app management service, with a web submission form titled iCloud Legal Information. The question posted is, "Do you have any apps that may have a legal issue?"
While it's likely Apple's questions about the legal status of apps have been motivated by the situation with Lodsys, there are other patent litigants making claims against Apple developers--MacroSolve, for example--and other legal issues that Apple has to deal with. So this may be merely a new business process designed to keep Apple's lawyers informed about legal issues faced by developers.
Roy Furchgott, New York Times
The answer was a music server, a special computer built to store and play high-fidelity music. The problem is that they are costly — the better ones start at around $1,000 — and I am cheap.
But then I realized that a music server is just a hard drive and processor. Why not use an old computer to build a low-cost, high-fidelity music server?
Fritz Nelson, InformationWeek
Dan Frommer, BusinessInsider
Apple's new iOS 5 software for iPhones, shipping this fall, has many additions, but appears to have one notable subtraction: The music app is no longer called "iPod" -- it's just called "Music." There's a separate app for "Video," as on the iPad and iPod touch.
Anthony Ha, VentureBeat
Yes, the company unveiled a number of cool new features that consumers and developers will be able to tap into. On the other hand, Apple seemed pretty willing to build features that were inspired by and competitive with many of those developers.
Eric Zeman, InformationWeek
They can't ignore one another, at least not for long. Users will demand it, eventually.
Janko Roettgers, GigaOM
Apple’s practice of serving up DRMed downloads to paying customers more than two years after the company announced with big fanfares that it would abandon DRM serves as an important reminder: Once businesses and consumers buy into a copy protection scheme, they’re gonna have a hard time getting rid of it.
Nick Bilton, New York Times
Why did Apple decide to provide the files in better audio quality than most downloads? Some analysts say it may be a smart way to make money.
Param Aggarwal
A low price made it very lucrative to prospective buyers who didn’t have much idea how they were going to use this entirely new class of device. It was safe to try out this device solely on its ‘cool’ factor.
Rafe Needleman, CNET
Mike Morton, Google
A few sessions had hiccups: A missing slide, a demo application not working. Presenters rolled with the punches. One cheerfully moved on with "imagine you saw a demo, and it was great!". (He got a round of applause.)
Christopher Breen, Macworld
Dong Ngo, CNET
The new guidelines only apply to DUI checkpoints specifically; apps that pinpoint "speed traps," such as Trapster, are still available in the App Store. Note, however, that Apple only bans DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, and in California, the law requires that the general locations of these checkpoints be made public in advance.
Ryan Paul, Ars Technica
But what if you want similar service on different platforms? Can iCloud's features be hacked together from other existing offerings on the Web?
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
Simmons' new project is called Glassboard, a content-sharing app that can only be described as an extremely private and controlled version of Facebook groups.
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica
Kirk McElhearn, TidBITS
So iTunes 10.3 brings a few interesting new features for those who download content from the iTunes Store, which, let’s face it, is pretty much everyone these days. In particular, Automatic Downloads is nice for those who have multiple computers and iOS devices, and especially nice if you share an account with someone, and want to find out what they’ve downloaded so you can try out their new music, apps or books as well.
Joe Kissell, TidBITS
The reason I became a Nisus user way back when was the same as the reason I switched to, and stuck with, the Mac — it made my life easier, enabling me to get my work done with less grief and fewer distractions. With Nisus Writer Pro 2.0, the software has come almost full circle, and I once again feel that I can both use it and recommend it enthusiastically.
AppleInsider
The presentation of displays highlights the efforts of Apple's network engineers, who have also installed over a thousand wired Ethernet jacks in the building to enable developers in attendance to set up a very fast connection suitable for downloading the 4GB new build of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, as well as new developer builds of iOS 5 and Xcode, Apple's integrated development environment for its desktop and mobile platforms.
Ryan Faas, Computerworld
Apple, however, has characteristically taken a common concept, pared it back to the core functionality the company sees as important to its users, and taken pains to deliver those features in as effortless and seamless way as possible. The result is a service that offers a striking contrast to Google's approach to cloud computing and mobile devices.
Jonathan Seff, Macworld
Macworld
Because much of iCloud won’t be up and running until this fall when iOS 5 ships, there will still be lots of unanswerable questions, but here’s everything you need to know right now.
Lesa Snider, Macworld
In this article you’ll learn how to print multiple images per page using iPhoto, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Bridge, and Photoshop CS4 and CS5.
James Galbraith, Macworld
Joe White, AppAdvice
Joel Mathis, Macworld
On Tuesday, a day after Apple unveiled the latest version of its mobile operating system, developers were still sorting through the implications. Some saw threats to their businesses, while some saw opportunities. And some—seeing the introduction of iOS 5 as inextricable from Apple’s new iCloud offering—were simply ecstatic.
MacStories
MacNN
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld
Though iCloud proper won’t be out until the fall, users who want to try out a beta of Apple’s new iTunes in the Cloud feature can do so by downloading the new iTunes 10.3, available from Apple’s Website.
Michael Rose, TUAW
While iTunes 10.3 and MobileMe both include XP SP 2 in the support list, it looks like the next stop on the road to the cloud is a no-go for the older OS.
Michael Grothaus, TUAW
Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica
Apple's perennial difficulty with creating scalable online services is not a coincidence. Apple has a corporate culture that emphasizes centralized, designer-led product development. This process has produced user-friendly devices that are the envy of the tech world. But developing fast, reliable online services requires a more decentralized, engineering-driven corporate culture like that found at Google.
Steven Musil, CNET
Apple is bursting at the seams with employees, and CEO Steve Jobs wants to build a new corporate campus in Cupertino, Calif., that will be dominated by a single "spaceship"-like building.
Kirk McElhearn, Macworld
Most Mac users know the basics of using this OS X tool, but what you may not realize is that the Dock offers powerful and convenient ways to access the files and folders you work with most often.
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Ryan Faas, Computerworld
Could business data escape the workplace and get lost in the cloud?
Josh Lowensohn, CNET
One thing is clear: iCloud seems a whole lot more like a step into cloud infrastructure than MobileMe was. Even though Apple is effectively ditching its try to compete with some slick-looking Web apps, it's come back with something that plays to the company's strong suit, which is hardware and software integration.
Gary Morgenthaler, Forbes
Overall, I applaud Apple for their seamless vision of computing, one in which you and I can access our content, that’s automatically synced across multiple devices, from anywhere, anytime. They have laid the stepping stones for an entire “vertical” product line – from phones to tablets to computers to televisions – that shares the same underlying software platform. This makes it easier for developers to create mind-blowing applications to run up and down the line.
Bryan M. Wolfe, AppAdvice
Christopher Breen, Macworld
MacNN
Michael E. Cohen, TidBITS
But of that list, the one that represents the most radical change to the entire iOS platform: iOS 5 is going to cut the (USB) cord and allow iOS devices to operate entirely separately from a Mac or PC.
Samuel Gibbs, TUAW
WWDC has just kicked off for 2011, but you can get a little bit of the Apple iCloud newness right now in the form of automatic Application, Music and Book downloads.
Glenn Fleishman, TidBITS
Because OS updates will range from hundreds of megabytes to several gigabytes, and iCloud could potentially move many gigabytes to and from the Internet every month, crossing bandwidth limits could suddenly become a costly or difficult issue. If you’re already running close to bandwidth limits with your current usage (such as streaming movies from Netflix or playing bandwidth-intensive games), adding iCloud could put you over the top.
Richard Gaywood, TUAW
Sharon Vaknin, CNET
Jonathan Seff, Macworld
During the keynote address at Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled iCloud, Apple’s new wireless data sync service for iOS devices, Macs, and PCs.
The free iCloud takes the place of Apple’s $99-a-year MobileMe service, which Jobs admitted, “wasn’t our finest hour.” Like MobileMe, iCloud offers the ability to sync contacts, calendars, and mail across devices. Create a new contact on your iPhone, for example, and it gets automatically pushed to the cloud and synced to all of your devices and computers.
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Apple on Monday gave users their first glimpse at iOS 5, the next iteration of the company’s mobile operating system for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch models. During the keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple senior vice president Scott Forstall covered 10 of the over 200 new consumer-level features planned for iOS 5. With iOS 5, Apple introduces a couple brand new apps, revamps many others, rethinks notifications, and finally severs the cord between iOS and the Mac.
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld
Apple engineers have been hard at work in the eight months since Apple CEO Steve Jobs first previewed Lion at last October’s Back to the Mac event, and the next version of Mac OS X got a thirty-minute spotlight—led by Apple executives Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi—at Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. That preview focused primarily on expanding on features previously showcased (during October’s event and on Apple’s Website), but Schiller also revealed three brand-new bits of information: the new OS’s ship July date, $30 price tag, and Mac App Store exclusivity.
Ed Bott, ZDNet
Apple, Google, and Microsoft should be working together to respond to this problem, but that doesn’t appear to be happening.
So how effective has Apple’s response been so far? Not very.
Ted Bade, Inside Mac Games
The puzzles are thought provoking and the interactions and story line are very entertaining. The cooperative aspect of Portal 2 lets you play with friends and has a story all its own. The graphics in this game are frankly stunning! I highly recommend spending your precious gaming cash on this game. It is well worth the price and will provide hours of entertaining game play.
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Electronista
David Morgenstern, ZDNet
MacTech Match will comprise a network of developers and consultants that can, respectively, program an iOS or Mac app, and to help clients figure out what will be needed to get an idea programmed.
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
Apple has apparently let slip that iOS devices will soon be able to automatically download app updates over the air. The company included a sentence discussing the feature on iTunes' app updates page—one that was verified by MacRumors on Friday evening, but has since been removed—which explained that users won't have to sync their apps with a computer if they have Automatic Download enabled.
Josh Ong, AppleInsider
The U.S. Department of Justice is concerned about potential bids from Apple for a cache of patents being sold by Canadian telecom company Nortel, given the iPhone maker's legal track record.
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
The name Brent Simmons has been joined with famed Mac (and now iOS) RSS app NetNewsWire for so long, it's hard to imagine them being put asunder. That's exactly what's happening, though: Simmons has announced that NetNewsWire has been sold to Black Pixel, and that he won't be going with it. Instead, Simmons will move onto other projects after nine years spent working on the RSS client.
Samuel Gibbs, TUAW
Breeze sits in your menu bar and lets you define "states" of windows by positioning them on your screen wherever you want and selecting "Save State As." You can save states for one application and apply them to any window from any program or just for that one specific program. States can be bound to keyboard shortcuts or selected from a drop-down list from the menu bar.
Mike Schramm, TUAW
Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke at the D9 conference this week, and said that while he considers the cloud to be a huge force in technology going forward, he's not sold enough to be included in the first round of Apple's almost-announced iCloud service.
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Scareware makers on Friday again changed their fake security software scam, while Apple issued the third signature update in as many days to combat the con.
Ted Landau, Macworld
Marcus Zarra, Cocoa Is My Girlfriend
There is no reason to hate other development efforts. It does not matter if that developer is better or worse than you. It does not matter what that developer wrote. There is plenty of room for all of us.
Be excited by his or her success. His or her spotlight does not put you in darkness.
John Gruber, Daring Fireball
So, what’s the deal in a nutshell?
Brent Simmons, Inessential
I never wanted to give it up, that first success and that good feeling of keeping it going. I slowly came to realize that one person couldn’t keep up with all of it, though, and that hanging on forever wouldn’t be fair to the software and the people who use it.
So I found it a great new home at Black Pixel. I can’t imagine a better home, and they’re going to make NetNewsWire great. I can’t wait to see it!
Lance Whitney, CNET
In a midweek meeting with Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope at Apple headquarters, chief operating officer Tim Cook said he "remained remarkably optimistic about the demand for the iPad and the long-term market opportunity for tablets."
Simin Wang, AFP
Apple's iPad and other tablet computers are replacing traditional note pads in some Asian schools and making the lives of thousands of students a whole lot easier.
The Next Web
Apple has introduced a new set of posters in staff areas in numerous Apple Stores, telling the story of the company’s ten years in retail, describing the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows.
Josh Ong, AppleInsider
Three Guys And A Podcast
Victor Agreda, Jr., TUAW
Brent Simmons, Inessential
“Remember every handshake.”
Marc E. Babej, Forbes
Pui-Wing Tam, Wall Street Journal
On Thursday, Narayen said of the episode with Apple: “Yes, the argument is over from our point of view. ” He added, “We are so excited about opportunities we have. We’re focused on that.”
Harry McCracken, Time
Jay J. Nelson, Macworld
Lex Friedman, Macworld
Dan Frakes, Macworld
For those of us who count on AppleScript to increase our productivity, FastScripts is worth purchasing for its keyboard-shortcuts feature alone. And while the benefits of its other features may sound subtle, taken together, they really do make scripts more efficient and easier to use.
I use FastScripts everyday to automate little things like playing different playlists on my iTunes and logging in and out of different IM accounts. It's great!
Aayush Arya, Macworld
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld
If you’re attending Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next week, you’ll want to pick up the official conference app, released Thursday for both the iPhone and iPad, and check out new updated information on the WWDC Website.
Elinor Mills, CNET
Apple is updating Mac OS X Snow Leopard systems with protection against the latest variant of MacDefender, after criminals wrote a new version of MacDefender to circumvent the OS X malware detection added earlier this week.
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica
If Apple can't take over for more traditional AV vendors and security researchers, though, iOS and the Mac App Store may provide clues to how Apple may deal with the malware problem in future versions of Mac OS X.
Rafe Colburn, rc3.org
Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune
Believe it or not, the author of Ed Bott's Microsoft Report is doing Apple a favor.
Mark Webster, New Zealand Herald
Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune
The two-page document that lists these guidelines -- and many more -- has been around at least since January, but it seems that Apple has begun reaching out to companies to enforce them only recently.
Nick Bilton, New York Times
But with the right tools — and the ability to control the urge to play one last game of Angry Birds — the iPad can also be a hefty workhorse. Inexpensive apps and third-party peripherals make the iPad an excellent device for photographers, artists, writers and bloggers to create original content.
Dean Takahashi, Venture Beat
James Kendrick, ZDNet
Mike Cane
If Steve Jobs ever has his Lightbulb Moment about social, he’ll gut Twitter.
John Fallon, Irish Times
Chris Rawson, TUAW
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
The gang responsible for a month-long plague of fake Mac security software has already updated their "scareware" to evade defenses Apple put in place late Tuesday, a security company confirmed today.
Aayush Arya, Macworld
Robert Strohmeyer, PCWorld
Dan Miller, Macworld
MindJet is releasing an upgrade to MindManager, its signature mind-mapping program for the Mac. More importantly, the company is also readying the first iOS versions of the app.
Mike Schramm, TUAW
The Next Web
Jason Kincaid, TechCrunch
Today during a keynote interview at AllThingsD’s D9, Google executive chairman (and former longtime CEO) made a key announcement: Google has recently renewed its partnership with Apple over mapping and search. In other words, don’t look for a new version of Maps on iOS at next month’s WWDC.
Dan Moren, Macworld
If you thought that the news that Apple was backing its iOS developers would scare off the patent-infringement allegations of intellectual property firm Lodsys, think again. On Tuesday, Lodsys filed suit against seven developers for patent infringement in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company also once again took to its Website to clarify its position and restate its earlier claims.
Nick Bilton, New York Times
Geoffrey Goetz, GigaOM
With only a subtle few exceptions of a missing ruler, or hidden button, each App appears to support all of the same features and functionality on both the iPhone as well as the iPad. The two implementations are practically indistinguishable from one another, and while the smaller screen of the iPhone means you’ll probably want to use iWork on the iPhone or iPod touch mostly for making small changes, it’s still a very welcome update.
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