MyAppleMenu by Heng-Cheong Leong

Sat, Mar 31, 2012

UI Responsiveness: OSX Vs. Windows, iOS Vs. Android
Kent Nguyen

Australian Government Approves iOS For Managing Classified Data
Steven Sande, TUAW

Apple Clarifies iPad 4G In Australia

Kelly Hodgkins, TUAW:
Apple will add a statement to its marketing materials that'll clarify that the iPad is not compatible with Australia's LTE and WiMAX networks.
Outside of U.S. and Canada, maybe Apple should just call it 3G instead of 4G or LTE.

Configuring An Old iPad For Your Child

Christopher Breen, Macworld:
With three-generations of iPads under Apple’s belt, it’s becoming more usual to find multiple iPads in a home. And some of them are being passed along to kids. What can you do to make such an iPad useful (and safe) for your child? Read on to find out.

What, Me Worry? MAD Magazine To Hit The iPad On April 1St

Steven Sande, TUAW:
The magazine will appear on your iPad as a free app, with current issues of the magazine available through in-app purchase for $4.99 and past issues for $1.99. You can also subscribe for a rate of $1.99 per issue or $9.99 per year.
Includes animated fold-ins.

Fri, Mar 30, 2012

The Digital-Phyiscal: On Building Flipboard For iPhone And Finding Edges For Our Digital Narratives

This is an essay about recognizing and reorganizing our journeys that live largely in digital space. How do we ground and bind those experiences? What is the value in giving them edges so we may hold them in our hands and hope to understand, perhaps, the weight of the work we produce?

Apple Supplier Foxconn Cuts Working Hours, Workers Ask Why

Foxconn's concessions, including cutting overtime for its 1.2 million mainland Chinese workers while promising compensation that protects them against losing income, were backed by Apple, which has faced criticism and media scrutiny for worker safety lapses and for using relatively low-paid employees to make high-cost phones, computers and other gadgets.
But at the Foxconn factory gates, many workers seemed unconvinced that their pay wouldn't be cut along with their hours. For some Chinese factory workers - who make much of their income from long hours of overtime - the idea of less work for the same pay could take getting used to.

SOPA Is All Fun And Games Until NBC Rips Off Apple’s Artwork

Matthew Panzarino, The Next Web:
The thing is, there is likely nothing malicious about NBC using the Xcode icon. It’s probably a casual thing that isn’t representative of its overall web design policies. But it is being used in a context where it is aiding NBC in making money for itself by starting up a new property.

Apple Clarifies Its UDID Position: No Rejections Yet For Use, Only For Lack Of User Opt-in

Jon Jordan, Pocket Gamer:
Speaking off-the-record, an industry insider told us they had been in contact with Apple and had been categorically told the news it was rejecting apps over UDIDs was a rumour.
Instead, apps and games had been rejected for the subtly different reason that aren't securely transferred data (for example using SSL) or they didn't give users the option to opt in (or out) from use of UDIDs.

New iPad's Battery Life Matches Apple's Claims, But iPad 2 Lasts Longer

James Galbraith, Macworld:
Setting both devices to a lower screen brightness (as Apple does in its testing), we ran our test again. This time, the gap between the battery life test results narrowed, with the iPad 2 lasting 13 hours and 20 minutes and the new iPad lasting 10 hours and 10 minutes. That’s right in line with Apple’s battery life claims for the new iPad. What’s strange is that the iPad 2’s specifications state the same up-to-10 hour battery life, but our tests blew past that mark.

Tackling A Newly Installed Application Not Opening In OS X
Topher Kessler, CNET

Apple's War On Android

Paul M.Barrett, BusinessWeek:
Still, the larger contest between Apple and Google is nowhere near resolution. And it’s not just about smartphones and tablets. While they struggle for dominance in mobile devices, Apple and Google are protecting their flanks from Microsoft and girding for a coming clash over the market for digital hubs that integrate the Internet with television.

In Defense Of (Apple’s) Incremental Improvements

Glenn Fleishman, TidBITS:
I want to defend Apple’s incremental improvements as the basis of its success in the market, something its competitors seem baffled by, because they apparently don’t understand the difference between revenue and profit, and between delighting customers with products that can be used for several years and those that are obsolete before they’re even sold.
Apple also has a keen eye on realizing what makes a product great, and what should be removed to make the product even better.

Apple Supplier In Violation Of Labor And Safety Rules, Outside Audit Says

Megan Geuss, Ars Technica:
The Fair Labor Association conducted what it says is one of the most in-depth, independent surveys of Apple manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry (otherwise known as Foxconn), and found a number of health and safety violations in the work environment.

First Look: Paper Has Big Potential, Several Flaws

Serenity Caldwell, Macworld:
While testing the new sketching app Paper, I couldn’t decide whether I loved or hated it. Paper has the potential to be brilliant, but in its present form has too many flaws for it to earn a place in my iPad’s dock.

iPhoto 9.2.3 Out Now

Mike Schramm, TUAW:
Not too much in this one -- the latest update to iPhoto is mainly just stability fixes.

Apple Supplier In China Pledges Big Labor Changes

Charles Duhigg and Steven Greenhouse, New York Times:
Responding to a critical report about its factories, Foxconn, a leading Asian company that makes electronic products for Apple, Dell, Amazon and others, has pledged to sharply curtail the number of working hours in its Chinese factories and significantly increase wages, a move that could improve working conditions across China.

For Reading, The New iPad's Screen Is Underrated

Dan Frakes, Macworld:
The new iPad has even made me forego my Kindle e-reader. I’ve long been a Kindle fan, because I’ve felt that when it comes to ebook reading, text just looked better and more paper-like with the Kindle’s e-ink technology than on the backlit screen of an iPhone or iPad. But text is so clear on the new iPad that over the past two weeks, every time I would have previously put the iPad down and reached for my Kindle, I’ve kept the iPad in hand. That may change a bit down the road, as I still appreciate the Kindle’s simplicity and light weight, but it will no longer be because I prefer the Kindle’s screen for reading text.
Now, Apple just need to figure out how to make the screen readable in bright sunlight.

iPhone 4 Users With Bad Reception Invited To Apply For $15 Settlement Claims

Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica:
iPhone 4 owners who meet certain criteria and didn't accept a free bumper from Apple after experiencing antenna problems are now being invited to apply for a $15 settlement. The claim website went up early Thursday morning following February's settlement of several class-action lawsuits, which offers instructions for those who want that extra $15 in their pockets. The deadline for filing a claim is August 28, 2012.

Malware Infects Macs Through Microsoft Office Vulnerability

Lucian Constantin, IDG News Service:
Security researchers have encountered new email-based targeted attacks that exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft Office to install a remote access Trojan horse program on Mac OS systems.
“The attack will be very effective on those who have not updated their copies of Microsoft Office, or aren’t running antivirus software,” the Intego researchers said.

Apple’s Siri Balancing Act

Can a company present a feature as a product’s main attraction, and then claim “it’s just a beta” when it gets sued?
Keep in mind that Apple hasn’t officially taken that position yet. Who knows what their defense will ultimately be. The case is young, and the lawyers may still be busy devising a legal strategy.

Thu, Mar 29, 2012

Chinese Leader Asks Apple's Tim Cook To Care For Workers

Michael Kan, IDG News Service:
Cook met with vice premier Li Keqiang, a day after he visited Beijing’s mayor. Experts have said the meetings are meant to bolster ties with the Chinese government as the nation has become critical to Apple’s manufacturing and product sales.
During his meeting with Cook, Li said he hoped Apple and foreign firms would increase cooperation with China, and push for industrial development in the country’s central and western regions, according to a Wednesday report by the Xinhua News Agency.
Li, however, also hoped multinational companies would pay more concern to their Chinese workers.

Here's How Law Enforcement Cracks Your iPhone's Security Code

Andy Greenberg, Forbes:
Set your iPhone to require a four-digit passcode, and it may keep your private information safe from the prying eyes of the taxi driver whose cab you forget it in. But if law enforcement is determined to see the data you’ve stored on your smartphone, those four digits will slow down the process of accessing it by less than two minutes.
Consider switching to a longer passcode.

How To Find Keyboard Shortcuts In OS X
Topher Kessler, CNET

iTunes 10.6.1 Squashes Several Bugs

Jonathan Seff, Macworld:
Apple has released iTunes 10.6.1, an update that addresses several problems introduced in iTunes 10.6.

Sweden May Investigate Apple iPad Marketing

Sven Grundberg, Wall Street Journal:
The Swedish Consumer Agency is considering launching an investigation into whether Apple’s marketing of its new iPad is misleading. While Sweden is one of the few countries in Europe with broad 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage, the new iPad will not function on Swedish 4G networks.

Wed, Mar 28, 2012

The iPad App That Will Remind You Of Microsoft's Old Courier Project

Jay Greene, CNET:
Tapose, the iPad app that aims to mimic much of the content creation capability of Microsoft's ill-fated Courier tablet, just won approval from Apple to be sold in iTunes.

Apple Offers iPad Refunds

Sarah Farnsworth, ABC News:
Apple has agreed to publish a clarification that states the product supports ultra-fast mobile networks but is not compatible with the Telstra network.
The company says it will email purchasers offering a refund if they believe they have been misled. Clarifications will also be made at point of sale.

The Mac App Store Needs Paid Upgrades
Wil Shipley, Call Me Fishmeal

Apple: iPad Battery Nothing To Get Charged Up About

Ina Fried, AllThingsD:
So here’s how things work: Apple does, in fact, display the iPad (and iPhone and iPod Touch) as 100 percent charged just before a device reaches a completely charged state. At that point, it will continue charging to 100 percent, then discharge a bit and charge back up to 100 percent, repeating that process until the device is unplugged.
Doing so allows devices to maintain an optimum charge, Apple VP Michael Tchao told AllThingsD today.

Retrospect 9.0: Powerful Backup For Professionals, Organizations

Stuart Gripman, Macworld:
Retrospect 9.0 is powerful, reliable backup for professionals and organizations that require more than simple desktop-grade solutions. It takes a system administrator to see the beauty beneath its flawed exterior, but even the boss can appreciate Retrospect’s value. No other product offers Retrospect’s capabilities in a multi-platform setting for anywhere near the price.

Tue, Mar 27, 2012

Apple's CEO Meets With Beijing's Mayor, Calls For Cooperation

Michael Kan, IDG News Service:
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook met with Beijing’s mayor on Monday, and called for increased cooperation with China’s capital city along with market expansion, according to a report from Chinese state-run press.

Convert Songs At Higher Bit-rates In iTunes 10.6
Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

Australian Consumer Watchdog Alleges Apple Of Misleading 4G Claims

Graham Spencer, MacStories:
The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), Australia’s competition watchdog has just announced it will tomorrow seek orders against Apple for allegedly making misleading iPad “4G” claims in its marketing of the new iPad in Australia. It alleges that Apple’s promotion of the new “iPad with WiFi + 4G” is misleading “because it represents to Australian consumers that the product “iPad with WiFi + 4G” can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case.”

Apple Releases Safari 5.1.5

Jordan Golson, MacRumors:
"Safari 5.1.5 contains a fix for an issue that could affect website usability when running Safari in 32-bit mode."

Analysis: iPad Battery Allegations Unwarranted

Lex Friedman, Macworld:
Carl Howe, the vice president for data sciences research for mobile-focused market research company The Yankee Group, told Macworld that “There is no damage caused [to the iPad’s battery] by leaving it plugged in. … There’s a charging circuit that makes sure that doesn’t happen.
Trickle charge mode explains Soneira’s other concern regarding how full the battery is when the new iPad first reads 100 percent. Howe agrees that, at that point, the battery can indeed get fuller, but says that’s not a problem. “The capacity that [Apple is] advertising is based on when the iPad first says 100 percent—everything you get over and beyond that at the trickle charge stage is just kind of gravy.”

Mon, Mar 26, 2012

Condé Nast Takes A Couple Of Its iPad Magazines Retina
Joshua Schnell, Macgasm

Tame Lion's Resume Features
Sharon Zardetto, Macworld

Apple CEO Tim Cook Showed Up In Beijing Apple Store
Ben Chiang, TechNode

How To Make Basic Edits In iPhoto For iOS

Alexandra Chang, Macworld:
iPhoto is one of the most packed and powerful iOS photo apps we’ve seen, so there’s a slight learning curve when using it to spruce up your photos. Here’s how to use some of the app’s tools to make basic edits. Instructions are based on the iPad version of iPhoto for iOS, but it's easy to extrapolate the same techniques for the iPhone 4 or 4S.

My Short Trip To Foxconn
The Verge

Wacom Inkling Lets Designers Sketch On Paper

Steve McCabe, TidBITS:
It is a useful way of transferring freehand artwork or graphical notes to a Mac, and will likely be attractive to many people who need to record aspects of the world around them graphically.

Hey, iBooks, Where Did All My Books Go?

Matt Neuburg, TidBITS:
It seems clear that Apple thinks that ebooks are like songs. They think there’s an analogy between books and songs (and movies, along with some similar types of data, such as TV shows and podcasts), and we can see that analogy in operation if we consider the global nature of these kinds of file.
The upshot is that I lost my books, and if you’re managing books manually, you might lose yours too, unless you’re careful.
Oh, and backup everything.

Sun, Mar 25, 2012

Apple Has Made Itself A Retailing Star

Michael B. Farrell, The Boston Globe:
Apple Store employees don’t always start out as computer experts. The company would rather hire someone who is personable than particularly techie, said Gallo. “They would prefer to hire a former teacher than someone who knows everything about every program,’’ he said, because much of the experience is about walking first-time customers through products.
At the Boylston Store, they’ve hired not only teachers, but also artists, musicians, photographers, and even lawyers.

At Salt Lake Seminar, Visually Impaired Learn How High Tech Can Unleash Creativity

Brett Prettyman, The Salt Lake Tribune:
Perez’s presentation focused on accessibility features on computers and iPhone, iTouch and iPad devices from Apple. Perez does not work for Apple, but his efforts to share his knowledge of the accessibility features and associated applications earned him the title of Apple Distinguished Educator.

Apple Has Started Rejecting Apps That Access UDIDs Amid Privacy Concerns

Kim-Mai Cutler, TechCrunch:
Amid extra scrutiny from Congress around privacy issues, Apple has started rejecting apps that access UDIDs, or identification numbers that are unique to every iPhone and iPad, this week.

Sat, Mar 24, 2012

Lines Of Resellers Returning New iPads At Fifth Avenue Apple Store

Jordan Golson, MacRumors:
"Went to the Fifth Ave store near midnight today, and saw that Apple was setting up a separate line just to handle the volume of iPad returns from Chinese resellers."

Fri, Mar 23, 2012

The iPad's Charging Challenge Explained

Dan Frakes, Macworld:
Though every iPad model charges more slowly if you’re using it while charging, this slowdown is much more noticeable on the third-generation iPad because the new iPad’s electronics—its screen, processor, and the like—require more overall power than the previous models’ components.
Some users report that even when using Apple's 10-Watt power adapter, if you’re doing processor- and graphics-intensive tasks such as playing a demanding video game, and you’ve got the iPad’s brightness set to maximum and Wi-Fi or cellular data enabled, it may seem as though the battery isn’t charging at all. During other tasks, the tablet might instead charge very slowly.

Ask The iTunes Guy: Album Art And Tagging
Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

Get Digital Copies Of Your Mac Manuals

Roman Loyola, Macworld:
In Lion, you can easily get a digital copy of your Mac’s manual—all you need is an Internet connection. Here’s how.

An Example Of Photography On The Retina Display

For the first time, I’m looking at a photograph on a screen that has the same sort of visceral appeal as a print. Or maybe a transparency laying on a lightbox. Ok, maybe not quite that good, but it’s pretty incredible. In fact, I really shouldn’t be comparing it to a print or a transparency at all. Really, it’s its own very unique experience.

Why Apple's Not Going To Create A New Bell Labs

Matthew Yglesias, Slate:
Naturally the people who run the company are going to believe they're successful precisely because they're so focused and a wild open-ended research facility is the exact opposite of focused.

U.S. Congress Grills 34 iOS Developers On Compliance With Apple’s App Privacy Policies In Official Letter
Matthew Panzaring, The Next Web

New iPad Smart Cover Incompatibility Issue Caused By Magnet Polarity

Sam Byford, The Verge:
It appears that the new iPad now uses a polarity-sensitive sensor to wake the device from sleep upon opening the cover, meaning that the magnet must be correctly aligned — apparently early Smart Covers were initially made with the magnet in question facing either way.
Visit your nearest Apple Store for an exchange if your Smart Cover doesn't work.

iPads Keep Charging For "Up To" An Hour After Display Shows 100%

Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica:
iPad users who want to ensure they're getting a full charge every time they plug in should wait up to an hour after the device shows 100 percent. That's according to Dr. Raymond M. Soneira, creator of DisplayMate and author of a new report about the third-generation iPad, who says the device continues to charge well after the OS shows that it's reached full capacity.

iPhoto Vs. Photoshop Touch On The New iPad: Consume Or Create?
Michelle Mastin, PCWorld

Webkit Limit On Retina JPG Image Display

While doing some homework this evening on how to best display Retina-resolution photographs on the new iPad for future updates to both this and the Luma Labs sites, I ran into a frustrating problem. Relatively small high-resolution images—such as John Gruber’s Daring Fireball logo—work great. But 2000-pixel wide photographs failed miserably and ended up looking worse than the 1000-pixel wide images they were replacing in my test pages. Much worse, in fact.
Turns out that above a certain size, WebKit is deciding to scale down the resolution of images.

Thu, Mar 22, 2012

On Text On The iPad

Let the device handle text layout and you'll end up with nasty line breaks, widows, orphans, the works. And if you want to wrap it elegantly around image runarounds, or tweak the tracking on headlines so that they're exactly right, you can forget about it (obviously, giving the user text size control makes this even worse).
And this matters. If you've ever been distracted by a nasty break in a poorly set book, you'll know why. Well set text is invisible, badly set text is not.

Apple’s Safari Browser Vulnerable To Address Bar Spoofing Exploit In iOS 5.1

Matt Brian, The Next Web:
Today, a new vulnerability has been brought to our attention that focuses on how the Safari browser on iOS 5.1 renders website addresses, which can be used to display a different URL to that of the actual website you are visiting.

Ask Ars: How Safe Is My Data Stored In iCloud?

Chris Foresman, Ars Technica:
The simple answer is that your data is at least as safe as it is when stored on any remote server, if not more so.

Merlin 2.8 Is A Top-tier Project Management Application

Jeffery Battersby, Macworld:
Merlin 2 is a best-of-breed project management application that is capable, versatile, and powerful. It offers a compelling set of project management tools that give project managers who want to use a Mac an excellent reason to forgo Windows virtualization, drop MS Project, and manage everything they do using a Mac.

Angry Birds Space Now Available

Federico Viticci, MacStories:
Officially announced back in February, Angry Birds Space takes a radically new approach to the series by setting the war against the pigs in outer space, thus bringing completely re-imagined dynamics and physics to the franchise.

Warehouse Boss Throws Down Gauntlet To Apple

On Wednesday, The Warehouse sold 100 units of the new iPad, throwing a spanner in Apple's carefully staged-managed plans for Friday's official release.

It’s Not File Size That’s Killing iPad Magazines

It’s taken time, but blogs have become what magazines should have been evolving into.

Why AirPlay Just Wrecked Your Responsive Media Strategy

Craig Villamor, Cvil.ly:
We can no longer presume that the content accessed through mobile devices will also be viewed on them. With AirPlay, mobile device experiences can just as easily become 10 foot lean-back experiences, negating all your assumptions about display size and bandwidth. Responsive meda strategies will need to get more sophisticated to take this into account.

Addressing OS X Lion Recovery Partition Problems

Topher Kessler, CNET:
This recovery partition is convenient, especially because it is faster than conventional optical media; however, some people may have problems with their systems either missing this partition, or having multiple ones after a reinstallation.

Apple: We're Making Progress To Reduce Excessive Working Hours

Angela Moscaritolo, PC Magazine:
In a recent update to its Supplier Responsibility website, Apple said that in January, supplier-collected data about 500,000 employees showed that 84 percent complied with its maximum 60-hour work week rule. Last month, that compliance rate increased to 89 percent, and the average employee worked 48 hours per week, Apple said.

Secrets Of The iPad Camera Connection Kit

Sharon Vaknin, CNET:
The $29 kit comes with two components: a USB adapter and an SD card adapter. Like its name implies, the intended use of these adapters is to transfer media from your camera to your iPad. But after a little tinkering, it's clear that these dongles can be used for much more.

The Real Leadership Lessons Of Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson, Harvard Business Review:
So I think the real lessons from Steve Jobs have to be drawn from looking at what he actually accomplished. I once asked him what he thought was his most important creation, thinking he would answer the iPad or the Macintosh. Instead he said it was Apple the company. Making an enduring company, he said, was both far harder and more important than making a great product. How did he do it? Business schools will be studying that question a century from now. Here are what I consider the keys to his success.

FreedomPop’s New iPhone Case Promises Users Free Wireless Data
Chris Velazco, TechCrunch

App Smart Extra: Book Apps For Young Adults

Bob Tedeschi, New York Times:
The app tells the story of a boy, Asaf, who collects random “treasures” that clutter his room and his family’s home. When his family moves after Asaf’s 13th birthday, his parents leave his stuff behind and bar him from collecting again. The balance of the story shows Asaf’s response to his new reality, which is in turns bleak, imaginative and hopeful.

iPhoto For iPad, iPhone Hits 1 Million Users In Less Than 10 Days
Jim Dalrymple, The Loop

The New iPad Uses Retina Assets For Non-Universal Games

Eli Hodapp, Touch Arcade:
If you're playing an iPhone game (or using an iPhone app) that has Retina Display assets for the iPhone, it will use the higher resolution set of assets.

Where To Speak On Your iPhone 4

Mat Neuburg, TidBITS:
When you take the iPhone away from your face during a call and put it into speakerphone mode (tap the Speaker button), the top microphone is the one that is now active. Did you know this?
You are probably speaking to the wrong microphone when you are in speaker mode.

Working With A 5D And iPhoto On The New iPad

One of the limitations mentioned is that [iPhoto for the iPad and iPhoto] can handle up to 19 megapixel photos. This spec covers most consumers and even prosumer cameras. But I wondered how it would handle the 22MP photos from the new Canon 5D Mark iii. Now that I finally have all three components in the same place, I thought I’d share my findings.

Wed, Mar 21, 2012

How I Use Evernote For Work

David Sparks, Macworld:
You may not have considered how useful and versatile Evernote can be for business use. Here are some of the ways I’ve incorporated it into my workflow.

Now Can We Start Talking About The Real Foxconn?

Tim Culpan, Bloomberg:
To the public, a story about a 19-year-old shrugging her shoulders and claiming work is not so bad just can’t stand up against a 12-year-old working the iPad factory lines. The naïve and youthful smile of a kid having found his first girlfriend at a Foxconn work party pales in comparison to a crippled old man holding an iPad for the first time. Compared to the lies, the truth just doesn’t make good theater.

First Look: MyTunes Pro HD
Christopher Breen, Macworld

Tests Confirm New iPad’s Display Is Close To Studio Reference Quality

Devindra Hardawar, VentureBeat:
While most of the tech press has focused on the new iPad’s increased screen resolution, Soneira says the improved color saturation is “equally responsible for its wow factor.” Compared to the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, which display 60 to 64 percent of the standard color gamut, the new iPad hits a “virtually perfect” 99 percent of the color gamut. And because of proper calibration, the new iPad offers vibrant colors that aren’t overly saturated like some OLED displays.

Seeking To Save Chinese History In Singapore

Kirstin Han, Asia Sentinel:
As one of the biggest Chinese cemeteries outside China – proof of the history of large-scale Chinese immigration in Southeast Asia – the cemetery is also home to a variety of flora and fauna, and 86 bird species. 12 of the 86 species have been identified as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.

How To Navigate Apple's Crowdsourced Product Support
Lance Whitney, CNET

Simplify The OS X Finder To Look Like A Retro Mac OS Classic Style

You can bring much of that traditional simplified Finder styling to OS X with a few minor adjustments.
The problem, of course, the OS X Finder doesn't behave like the old Finder.

Seven Ways To Free Up Drive Space

For most of the past decade, many people had more drive space than they knew what to do with. Hard drives got bigger and bigger while prices went lower and lower. So it probably comes as a surprise, as you prepare for spring cleaning, to realize your drive may be getting full. The popularity of digital media means that many people are storing huge video files and thousands of photos and music tracks. Just as significantly, a growing number of computers are using solid-state drives (SSDs), which, while speedy, offer considerably less capacity than traditional hard drives. Even a modest iTunes or iPhoto library can quickly fill up a MacBook Air’s 64GB or 128GB SSD, leaving little room for anything else.

Review: Bad Apple

Simson L. Garfinkel, Technology Review:
Taken one at a time, each of these decisions made good business sense. Most of Apple's customers—the digital consumers—weren't using these products and features. Apple clearly can't be all things to all users. But in each of these cases, the company avoided the extra effort required to satisfy creative elites, catering to the mainstream market instead. This strategy is sure to be profitable at first, but in the long run, it will rob Apple of the very differently thinking content creators and software developers who made the Mac great.

Review: Three iOS-app-controlled Toys

Lauren Crabbe, Macworld:
There’s something endearing about a tiny, remote-controlled toy. It’s nearly impossible not to love the way it romps around your carpet, gets stuck under your desk, and antagonizes your housepets. We got our hands on three little robotic friends that can be controlled through your iOS device and, of course, we took them for drives.

More Consumer Reports Sensationalism

Any reasonably competent, well-intentioned writer or editor would assume that most people reading this would think the new iPad gets hot, implying severe discomfort and a significant flaw that will affect nearly everyone who uses it, rather than merely warm, which would imply an occasional minor inconvenience for the few people who might notice and care.

Basil Review

Federico Viticci, MacStories:
Basil is a fresh take on “smart recipe books” that lets you to keep your recipes neatly organized in a clean interface that gets out of the way, but it’s also smart enough to facilitate the process of cooking better.

How To Become A Battery Miser: Tips For Saving Battery Life On The iPad
Cesar Torres, Ars Technica

Separating The Baby From The Bath Water

John Gruber, Daring Fireball:
The actual truth — that underage workers have been discovered, that over 100 workers had been harmed by exposure to n-hexane, that there were a rash of suicides-by-jumping and as a result Foxconn dormitories now have gruesome safety nets installed — has already been reported. And these facts were all reported by, among others, Apple itself. Now, you can argue that Apple’s reporting of these facts has been presented euphemistically, to present the facts in the company’s favor. But the fact remains that Apple itself has acknowledged and reported all that we know to be true about problems with the company’s Asian supply chain.
Daisey told an entirely different story. Daisey’s story was this: Not only did those things happen, but they are all ongoing problems, right now, today, and they are so rampant, so commonplace, that a big white American wearing a Hawaiian shirt — a man who’s never before been to China and speaks neither Mandarin nor Cantonese — can simply travel to Shenzhen, China and stand outside the Foxconn gates with a translator for a few shifts and he will find workers as young as 12, 13, and 14 walking out. Any day, every day. That in the course of a single six-day trip, that same man could encounter a man who lost the use of a hand while assembling iPads and a group of workers poisoned by n-hexane, and that a man would drop dead after working a 34-hour shift. Just another week at Foxconn. That was Mike Daisey’s story — and it bears no resemblance to anything anyone else has reported.

Make An iPhone, Android App Without Knowing A Line Of Code

Kit Eaton, Fast Company:
The idea behind AppBuilder, JamPot's VP of Sales Matthew David explained to Fast Company, is simple. By using its web interface, pretty much anyone, no matter their coding expertise, can create a smartphone app and have it running on their device within minutes. They're not web apps, not a clever HTML5 app-like experience--they're genuine native apps, optimized for each platform's particular foibles. And within a couple of weeks, makers expect AppBuilder to support Windows Phone 7 with all the, as David phrased it, "fantastic" attributes of Metro.

Tue, Mar 20, 2012

Apple Responds To Supposed iPad Heat Issues

Jim Dalrymple, The Loop:
“The new iPad delivers a stunning Retina display, A5X chip, support for 4G LTE plus 10 hours of battery life, all while operating well within our thermal specifications,” Apple representative Trudy Muller, told The Loop. “If customers have any concerns they should contact AppleCare.”

Mr. Daisey And The Fact Factory

Scott Rosenberg, Grist:
I’m sorry, that’s not the statement of a theater artist examining his soul; that’s the statement of a public figure doing damage control.

New iPad Revolutionary In Its Subtlety Of Change

Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times:
The point of this thing is more clear. Its elements do their jobs better, more efficiently . . . and with a great deal more panache and style. The process of making the new iPad was one of examining every element and figuring out how to improve it in place.

My Father’s Final Gift

In it is my father. The man who invented the Macintosh and misnamed what should be the “typefaces” menu the “fonts” menu. He never forgave himself for his incorrect usage of English. He groomed with exacting use of language and considered that mistake a failure of being young and reckless with semantics.

How To Secure DNS With DNSCrypt

Eric Geier, eSecurity Planet:
This open-source software for Mac and Linux does for DNS what SSL does for HTTP: It encrypts DNS traffic to prevent spoofing, snooping, and man-in-the-middle attacks.

A Sad Story

Jason Zinoman, Slate:
By inventing events that audiences thought were real, Daisey turned Chinese workers into abstractions, means to an end. He became a dehumanizing storyteller.

Mike Daisey Was Wrong About Apple In China

Daniel Engber, Slate:
In Daisey World, the worker-rights violations at Apple’s factories are several orders of magnitude more common than they are in real life. On the radio, he states that among the Foxconn workers he met in Guangzhou, 5 or 6 percent were underage. Later fact-checking revealed that the real proportion is closer to 0.05 percent. He also specifically exaggerated the suicide rate at Foxconn factories. And his story—essentially a description of an ad hoc experiment for which he surveyed a random sample of workers—suggests false prevalence rates for other kinds of abuse, too.

Chinese Writers Say Apple Is Online Book pirate

A group of prominent Chinese writers have demanded millions of dollars in compensation from Apple Inc. for allegedly selling unlicensed versions of their books in its online store, a lawyer said Monday.

Welcome To The Post PC Era

Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror:
At the point where these simple, fixed function Post-PC era computing devices are not just "enough" computer for most folks, but also fundamentally innovating in computing as a whole … well, all I can say is bring on the post-PC era.

Apple Confirms: Three Million iPads Sold In 4 Days
Federico Viticci, MacStories

Developer ID Gotcha
Daniel Jalkut, Red Sweater Blog

Pixel-pumping Prowess: Ars Reviews The Third-generation iPad
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica

PhotoZoom Pro 4 Review

Duncan Evans, Macworld UK:
In our low-res portrait test PhotoZoom Pro 4 produced the best result here, producing a good combination of artefact reduction, detail and edge smoothing. It wasn’t as good on the noisy, high-res landscape, though, with a little jagged edge and more noise.

The Case For Buying iPads For Your Kids

Brad Moon, Wired:
My wife and I made the decision last year to equip our kids with iPads, something that might have sounded excessive only the year before. Now it only makes sense. When you do the math, an iPad (or tablet of choice) for a child makes sense; when you have more than one child, the upfront hardware expenditure is higher, but the savings are even greater.
Buy refurbished.

What Apple's Dividend And Buybacks Mean To You

Anders Bylund, Ars Technica:
The announced quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share works out to an annual yield of about 1.8 percent to investors. That's hardly ultra-generous, even by tech standards: Intel's yield is 3 percent today, Microsoft pays out 2.5 percent, Texas Instruments runs a 2.1 percent payout, and telecoms like Verizon and AT&T typically sport yields north of 5 percent. Rather, it's a modest dividend along the lines of IBM and Cisco, both in the general neighborhood of 1.5 percent.
As for the share buybacks, the program isn't designed to juice share prices. Instead, Apple plans to neutralize the dilution from employee stock purchase programs and equity grants.

Mon, Mar 19, 2012

Microsoft's Metro: Does It Need iTunes To Thrive?

Jay Greene, CNET:
To make Windows 8 a success on tablets, Microsoft may well need help from the one company least likely to give it: Apple.

Troubleshooting Your Apple TV
Christopher Breen, Macworld

Apple Announces Plans To Initiate Dividend And Share Repurchase Program

Subject to declaration by the Board of Directors, the Company plans to initiate a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share sometime in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012.
Additionally, the Company’s Board of Directors has authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program commencing in the Company’s fiscal 2013, which begins on September 30, 2012. The repurchase program is expected to be executed over three years, with the primary objective of neutralizing the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs.
“Combining dividends, share repurchases, and cash used to net-share-settle vesting RSUs, we anticipate utilizing approximately $45 billion of domestic cash in the first three years of our programs,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “We are extremely confident in our future and see tremendous opportunities ahead.”

Foxconn Not Off Hook After Radio Retraction, Critics Say

Faith Hung, Reuters:
The Hong-Kong based China Labor Bulletin said Foxconn still employed harsh working conditions, while a fund manager with shares in Foxconn's parent said investors were watching how the company treats workers.
Foxconn said on Monday it had no plans to take legal action although the programme had hurt its reputation.

Playing At No Cost, Right Into The Hands Of Mobile Game Makers

Brian X. Chen, New York Times:
In Apple’s App Store, the largest store for mobile software, the freemium strategy has become more lucrative than charging for apps.
Flurry, a mobile-software analytics company, estimates that 65 percent of all revenue generated in the App Store — roughly $2 billion — has come from free games that charge for extra goods. Peter Farago, vice president for marketing at Flurry, said that was partly because Apple had made it easy for people to buy goods within apps and charge them to a credit card on file with Apple.
In other words, trials -- the basic model of shareware all these years -- is important.

Apple And The Daisey Affair

Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune:
It turns out the Apple public relations staffers did talk to reporters -- always off the record -- about Mike Daisey, pointing out inaccuracies in his account and suggesting that it was extremely unlikely that one man could have seen as much as Daisey claimed he saw in one trip to China. Among the journalists they warned off the Daisey story were Ira Glass and This American Life producer Brian Reid.

Apple Schedules Conference Call To Announce Outcome Of Cash Balance Discussions

Federico Viticci, MacStories:
Apple just issued a press release confirming a conference call scheduled for tomorrow, March 19th, to announce the outcome of discussions concerning the company’s cash balance.

Sun, Mar 18, 2012

Apple Firestorm Leads Artist To Change His Show

Mike Daisey, the off-Broadway performer who admitted that he made up parts of his one-man show about Apple products being made in Chinese sweatshops, has cut questionable sections from the monologue and added a prologue explaining the controversy.
An Apple spokeswoman declined again Saturday to comment on the revelations about the monologue. The company has been rebutting Daisey's allegations for months, to little effect.

Council Holds Meeting On Apple's Expansion Proposal

Jade Mingus, KVUE:
The Austin City Council discussed new details about Apple's proposal to bring thousands of new jobs to the Austin area. The expansion promises to bring an economic boost-- the City of Austin is debating whether to offer an incentive.

New Apple TV Constantly Dropping Network Connections
Kirk McElhearn, Kirkville

Apps For Runners
Bob Tedeschi, Sydney Morning Herald

Apple's iPad: First Day Impressions

Nathan Olivaez-Giles, Los Angeles Times:
Apps launch faster, websites load quicker and the camera actually takes good looking pictures this time around thanks to a 5-megapixel rear shooter.
But there is no question that the best feature found in the new iPad is its display. With a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, and 3.1 million pixels in total spread across the screen, the new iPad's screen has a higher resolution screen than today's 1080p high definition TVs.

Instapaper 4.1
Federico Viticci, MacStories

My First iPad 3 Report

Dave Winer, Scripting News:
And it does heat up as others have reported. Not so as to be uncomfortable, but it is noticeable.

Apple, China, And The Truth

Evan Osnos, New Yorker:
Going to the factory gates is exactly what reporters do in China. But when I heard it, a part of me was embarrassed by the prospect that maybe Daisey had found stuff that we in China had not.

Lies

Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine:
When anyone — performer, politician, blogger — says he has a license to lie because he’s not a journalist, he’s lying.

Sat, Mar 17, 2012

Use Sparrow For iPhone For A Near Flawless E-mail Experience
Jason Cipriani, CNET

How Many Apple Accounts Do You Have To Remember?

Apple, we need to have a talk. You've created a monster with all of these accounts. You're looking at a disaster of usability here.

New iPad Retina Display, Comixology Make A Potent Mix

Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times:
The experience of reading a comic book on either of the first two generations of iPads was, at best, adequate. If your vision is good and you’re willing to squint a little, you can possibly read comics in fullpage mode. Halfway through the first issue of a story arc, though, you’ll stop being a hero. If you’re using an open comic book editor, you’ll start zooming and scrolling. If you bought your comics from the Comixology mode, you’ll switch to their guided panel view mode.
On the new iPad . . . you can stay in fullscreen mode through all 100 issues of “100 Bullets.” The art and the lettering is slightly smaller than a standard printed comic book page, but it’s perfectly crisp and readable throughout.

Worse Than Kony2012: The Tragedy Of Mike Daisey's Lies About China

Max Fisher, The Atlantic:
By lying, Daisey undermined the cause he purported to advance. That's the real scandal.

Find And Use Those Crowded Out Menubar Apps

Rob LeFebvre, Cult Of Mac:
Ever plug your laptop into an LCD projector and have to switch to a much lower resolution than you’re used to? Do you use a lot of menubar apps? Have a hard time seeing all those menubar apps when you’re using a lower resolution display setting? If so, today’s tip is for you.

IT's Apple Problem Is Not Apple's Problem

Galen Gruman, InfoWorld:
Get a clue: The notion of a three- or five-year technology road map is untenable and unrealistic outside of mainframes, ERP, retirement tracking, and nuclear containment -- the systems that need to be static and stable at their cores for decades. Any IT leader expecting such plans from any user-oriented technology provider should be fired.

The Mike Daisey Scandal In A Nutshell
Rafe Colburn, rc3.org

Mike Daisey's Betrayal Of This American Life's Truth – And My Trust

Bob Garfield, The Guardian:
Which is the most anguishing aspect of the whole episode. He has made me an accessory, not just by passing along his scandalous tale, but by exploiting my preparedness to believe him. Which is precisely how Big Lies work, as well. Like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, or Saddam's supposed weapons of mass destruction. The Bush administration's fictions about Iraq frightened America because they seemed to confirm the nation's worst fears and suspicions. Mike Daisey may be no Dick Cheney, but how do I know?
I trust nobody to seek a greater good with trivial lies, because I cannot trust myself to know the difference.

Get Genius And iTunes Match To Live Together In Harmony

Dan Moren, Lex Friedman, Macworld:
In a welcome move, Apple’s iOS 5.1 update included, among other features, the return of Genius Mixes and Genius Playlist for subscribers to iTunes Match. At least, in theory. Initially, we—and many others, if Apple’s support discussions are any indication—found that the Genius features either didn’t work or didn’t even appear on our iOS devices after installing the 5.1 upgrade.

Bugs & Fixes: Troubleshoot Journals In iPhoto For iOS

Ted Landau, Macworld:
In my use, the biggest trouble spot has been the Journals feature. This is a spanking new option, not yet available in the Mac version of iPhoto, where you can create and publish photo albums. In essence, it replaces (and improves upon) MobileMe’s soon-to-be-defunct Gallery.

Elcomsoft Criticism Of iOS Password Apps Overblown

Glenn Fleishman, TidBITS:
In order to extract information from one of these iOS apps, a cracker needs physical access to the device and the ability to bypass certain security protections, or access to either an iTunes backup of the device or an image of the device’s storage. App data can be extracted from a local iTunes backup if the backup is unencrypted, or if the backup is encrypted and a cracker knows or can guess the backup password.
If you use iCloud for backups or have a strong, secret iTunes backup password, your device backups aren’t vulnerable. There is more risk if the cracker obtains access to your actual device, but that person must have significant forensic skills and software, and extracting the app data might take an inordinately long time. Such extraction may not be possible at all on the latest iOS hardware when it’s properly protected with a passcode that’s not easily guessed (don’t pick “1234”, for instance). If locked, the passcodes used by the iPad 2, third-generation iPad, and iPhone 4S are entirely secure unless the device was jailbroken before being locked.

Retracting "Mr. Daisey And The Apple Factory"

Ira Glass, This American Life:
I have difficult news. We've learned that Mike Daisey's story about Apple in China - which we broadcast in January - contained significant fabrications. We're retracting the story because we can’t vouch for its truth. This is not a story we commissioned. It was an excerpt of Mike Daisey's acclaimed one-man show "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," in which he talks about visiting a factory in China that makes iPhones and other Apple products.
Daisey lied to me and to This American Life producer Brian Reed during the fact checking we did on the story, before it was broadcast. That doesn't excuse the fact that we never should've put this on the air. In the end, this was our mistake.
Also:
  • 460: Retraction (This American Life).
  • Rush Transcript of "Retraction" (This American Life). Note: This link points to an PDF document.
  • New York Times Edits Article By Mike Daisey It Posted Just After Steve Jobs’ Death Due To Fabrications

    Matthew Panzarino, The Next Web:
    The New York Times has edited an article by now-suspect monologuist and performer Mike Daisey to reflect that questions have been raised about its accuracy. This follows the public radio program This American Life retracting an entire episode of its program starring Daisey after it found evidence that he had fabricated much of it.

    Fri, Mar 16, 2012

    How To Restore Data From Time Machine

    Leah Yamshon, Macworld:
    Now that you’ve been using Time Machine regularly to back up your computer, you should be fully prepared if your Mac crashes or if you need to move data from one Mac to another. Restoring data from Time Machine is just as easy as backing things up in the first place.

    How To Get The Best Price Selling Your Used iPad
    Rob Griffiths, Macworld

    New Apple iPad Launch: Still Mania, But More Muted

    Sarah Berlow, Wall Street Journal:
    Beyond the lines, past Apple launches have been accompanied by a spectrum of Apple-related paraphernalia, including iPad headbands and themed costumes. Friday’s queue included the usual assortment of goofy attire. But the mania seems to have dissipated somewhat, with the crowd remarkably calm—professional even, as customers patiently waited in a neat double line.

    The New iPad's Screen Under The Microscope
    Lukas Mathis, Ignore The Code

    No Excitement As New iPad Launches In Singapore

    Matthew Allen and Shibani Mahtani, Wall Street Journal:
    Over at Singtel’s flagship store near the busy shopping district of Orchard Road , a spokesman for the country’s largest telecommunications provider acknowledged the lack of queues. This had nothing to do with the popularity of the product, or the proliferation of iPad 2s across the country, but rather decentralized sales for spreading customers out and preventing large crowds at any one store, he said.
    In Singapore, where there is no official Apple store unlike those in New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo or Shanghai, customers are without one iconic place to get their iPads. For Singtel alone, about 24 of their stores and partner outlets were selling the new iPad. They also started selling the device online from midnight on Friday, using couriers to deliver the units at 3 a.m.

    OS X FileVault Questions Answered
    Topher Kessler, CNET

    For Apple, Pressure Builds Over App Store Fraud

    Evelyn M. Rusli and Brian X. Chen, New York Times:
    In a little over an hour, Ryan Matthew Pierson racked up $437.71 in iTunes charges for virtual currency that he could use to buy guns, nightclubs and cars in iMobster, a popular iPhone game. One problem: Mr. Pierson, a technology writer in Texas, has never played iMobster.

    Choosing Between A New iPad And An iPad 2

    Lex Friedman, Macworld:
    The most important factor to weigh is what you’ll use your shiny new tablet for.

    Anarchy In The App Store

    Adam Satariano and Douglas MacMillan, Bloomberg:
    Apple has been fighting infractions of its App Store rules on a case-by-case basis. Now it may be looking for more effective solutions.

    Kindle 3.0 For iOS Released With New Library Design, Retina Text
    Federico Viticci, MacStories

    New iPad: A Million More Pixels Than HDTV

    Walt Mossberg, AllThingsD:
    Since it launched in 2010, the iPad has been the best tablet on the planet. With the new, third-generation model, it still holds that crown.

    Thu, Mar 15, 2012

    Sparrow For iPhone Review

    Federico Viticci, MacStories:
    The way Sparrow puts the focus on quickly archiving and replying to messages, its search capabilities, the design, the photo attachments — these are all features that have contributed to my decision of replacing the app I used for more than four years to manage email on my phone. Sparrow works for me. It makes me faster and more efficient at managing email.

    Familiar Apple TV adds 1080p video support

    Jason Snell, Macworld:
    At $99, the third-generation Apple TV continues to be as excellent a value as the previous model—and now it supports higher-quality video too. That’s a good thing. For those with the previous generation, however, the decision to upgrade comes down to whether the difference in quality between two high-definition formats is important (and noticeable) enough to you.

    Review: Apple TV

    Jim Dalrymple, The Loop:
    On my network, the movie starts almost instantly, so I don’t have any lag time to download. I walk in, choose a video and watch it.

    The New iPad Doesn't Allow FaceTime Over LTE

    Dieter Bohn, The Verge:
    It's the exact same behavior that iOS devices on 3G networks have always exhibited, but it's doubly frustrating as Verizon's LTE plans for the new iPad include Wi-Fi hotspot functionality at no extra cost. In other words, you could easily initiate a Wi-Fi hotspot from your new Verizon LTE iPad and use it to successfully make a FaceTime call from an iPhone — likely with little to no degradation in video quality as compared to a Wi-Fi connection, since LTE is so fast.

    iPad Lines Around The World
    Federico Viticci, MacStories

    Review: iPad Third Generation

    Jim Dalrymple, The Loop:
    For me, the real benefit comes with the clarity of text. I know that may sound strange, but I use the iPad to read quite a bit of text everyday. Crispness of the text matters to me.

    Review: The Third-generation iPad

    Jason Snell, Macworld:
    The new iPad is just that: The iPad, updated for a new year and millions of new iPad users. It's not smaller or lighter, but it's got a remarkable screen, a much better rear camera, and support for cellular networking that can run at Wi-Fi speeds. It's the iPad that millions of people have embraced, only one year better.

    IPad (3)

    John Gruber, Daring Fireball:
    The retina display is amazing, everything in the UI feels faster, and the price points remain the same. What’s not to love? It’s that simple.

    Get Notified When Hackers Get Your Data

    Tom Simonite, Technology Review:
    A new iPhone app launched today will add a serious – but hopefully infrequent – note to the notifications that set your handset buzzing. AllClear ID will let you know when the FBI or other investigators have found your data in the hands of cyber criminals.

    Draw Something From OMGPOP Is Like Pictionary For Your iPhone, But Way Better
    Elle Cooke, Macgasm

    Wed, Mar 14, 2012

    Byword For iOS Review

    Federico Viticci, MacStories:
    If you are looking for a Markdown editor with exporting options that has native iCloud and Dropbox support across Mac and iOS, this may be your best choice right now.

    Second Round Of ‘New iPad’ Launch Countries Announced
    Joshua Schnell, Macgasm

    Finding The Best iOS Podcast Manager In The App Store
    Joel Mathis, Macworld

    iPhoto's Mystery Meat Gestures

    Lukas Mathis, Ignore The Code:
    Touching and gesturing in different ways would make seemingly random things happen. I regularly unintentionally activated features, changed views, opened or closed pictures, and got iPhoto into states I wasn’t sure how to get out of again.

    Apple Officially Announces 8:00 AM Local Time Launch For New iPad On Friday, March 16
    Eric Silivka, MacRumors

    The Technology Of A Better Footnote

    Alan Jacobs, The Atlantic:
    But what's really got me excited these days is the method of presenting notes Marco Arment has recently come up with for the iPad and iPhone versions of Instapaper. This is pure coding elegance: simple, straightforward, attractive, usable. Has the ancient problem of the footnote finally been solved?

    Letting Your Fingers Do The Photo Editing

    Katherine Boehret, Wall Street Journal:
    People shouldn't be tied to their computers when editing photos, and this version of iPhoto is an asset to people who want to be more productive on their iPhones and iPads.

    Apple Releases Aperture 3.2.3 And Epson Printer Driver Update
    Topher Kessler, CNET

    In China, Once-thriving Apple Scalpers Are Struggling

    David Pierson, Los Angeles Times:
    [Apple's] expansion is dealing a blow to a unique part of China's Apple experience: a thriving underground system of smugglers and unofficial resellers who had unwittingly become key players in the brand's still-growing distribution network.

    An Overly Cluttered Desktop Can Seriously Slow Down Your Mac—Clean It Up For A Noticeable Speed Boost

    Whitson Gordon, Lifehacker:
    Because of the way OS X's graphical system works, the icons on your desktop take up a lot more of your resources than you may realize.

    Why I’m Sticking With Instapaper

    Marco does something really smart that gives him a big advantage over the makers of other, similar apps: he makes himself extremely visible. But even more importantly, he does so as himself, with his own personality, as opposed to some tightly controlled and measured “social media brand engagement” thing.

    Camera+ 3 Is Smarter Than Ever, But Not Always Faster
    Giles Turnbull, Cult Of Mac

    Screensaver+ Adds An iOS-like Lock Screen To Your Mac

    Adam Dachis, Lifehacker:
    The simplicity of the iOS lock screen is fantastic, so why not have it on your Mac? Screensaver+ lets you do just that, and you can even set an Android-style unlock pattern for added security.

    Tweetbot Gets An Update, Brings Instant Tweet Display And Retina Graphics

    Grant Brünner, Macgasm:
    Tweetbot now has the ability to display tweets as they are posted live to the site instead of having to pull to refresh or wait for a 5 minute timer. This is wonderful, but it sadly only works when you’re on Wi-Fi.

    Quickoffice For iOS Gets Enterprise Makeover
    Tom Kaneshige, CIO

    Which iPad Should You Buy On Friday? Your Questions Answered

    Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica:
    We decided to lend you a hand by answering some of the most common questions about buying an iPad in a single place. Got questions about 4G versus LTE, data plans, international roaming, or where to even buy an iPad? Or do you have friends or family who won't stop asking you those questions? The answers are right here.

    Is iTunes’ Radio Service Wigging Out?

    Kirk McElhearn, Kirkville:
    It seems to get stuck, waiting for a response, as this displays for a long time.
    Personally, I've been listening to WQXR through iTunes these past couple of days and haven't had this problem.

    Hazel, The Standout File Organizer, Gets Even Smarter

    Dan Miller, Macworld:
    If you invest the up-front time Hazel sometimes demands, you’ll get a neater, better organized drive with little to no further effort.

    OmniPlan 2.0.3 Review

    Jeffery Battersby, Macworld UK:
    OmniPlan offers the kinds of features that make large-scale project management as easy as a simple to-do list. Centralised data management, file synchronisation, and change tracking combined with task and resource management make OmniPlan an excellent tool for planning a major project, whether it’s large or small.

    Tue, Mar 13, 2012

    The New iPad: Available Friday March 16th At 8am
    Mark Gurman, 9 To 5 Mac

    Apple Avoids Showcasing Google Maps In Promotional Material For New iPad

    Neil Hughes, AppleInsider:
    However, the filename for "retina_gallery_3" can be manually entered into a Web browser to access the images that Apple uploaded to its website. These show that the files labeled "3" were actually screenshots of the Maps application running on iOS.
    The uploaded-but-unpublished screenshot shows directions from the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, to the Eiffel Tower via Google Maps for iPad.

    Picking The Right Keyboard For Writing On The iPad

    Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times:
    User One: Me. You do lots and lots of writing and you’re willing to sacrifice convenience for the same kind of comfort you experience on your notebook.
    Easy. Use the exact same keyboard that Apple ships with all of their desktops. The Apple Wireless Keyboard is fairly affordable ($69) and you’ll have absolutely no trouble touch-typing at 100+ words per minute on it.

    Camera+ 3.0 Review

    Federico Viticci, MacStories:
    Few iPhone apps have managed to substantially improve on the functionalities offered by Apple in its core system apps. Tap tap tap’s Camera+, a popular alternative to Apple’s Camera app, is one of them, and the 3.0 version released today takes a major leap in turning Camera+ into a more powerful solution to shoot, edit, and share photos online, as well as providing a solid foundation other developers can integrate their apps with.

    Apps: Apple's Not-So-Secret iPad Weapon

    Michael J. Miller, PC Magazine:
    Apple has set an example for tablet developers with its efforts to rework what makes sense on a screen that is larger than a mobile phone but smaller than a laptop.
    I haven't heard of any Android tablet apps that even come close to the quality of Apple's iLife and iWork apps.

    Add Finder Labels Via Drag-and-drop
    Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

    Snapseed Desktop Delivers

    Mike Pasini, Imaging Resource:
    The great thing about Snapseed Desktop is, well, two things. The most important is having the power of Nik Software's image editing technology at your fingertips. And the second is that most reasonable price. What a gift!

    Transform Your iPhone Into A Microscope: Just Add Water

    I’ve engineered a fair number of inexpensive DIY camera hacks. This one is by far the cheapest: it’s free! Simply place a drop of water on the phone’s lens, carefully turn the device over, and the suspended droplet serves as a liquid lens.

    Real-time Face Recognition Comes To Your iPhone Camera

    David Goldman, CNNMoney:
    Called "Klik," the iPhone app automatically displays your friends' names in real time when they appear in view of your iPhone's camera. After Klik detects a face, it instantly connects to your Facebook account and scans your friends' photos to identify the person in view. It also scans your iPhone for photos you've tagged on your phone.
    "Oh, good morning, Mr…, er, pardon while I whip out my iPhone and put it right in front of your face… ah, Mr Smith."

    iPhoto Review

    Jackie Dove, Macworld:
    Don’t expect iPhoto for iOS to do everything that Photoshop or Aperture can do, but it does do a surprising number of things extremely well. Regardless of how many photo apps you now have running on your iPad, I recommend giving Apple’s new product a try. You won’t regret spending that latte money on the app. And I anticipate that most people will wind up turning to iPhoto for iOS as their default mobile photo editor, perhaps using other apps to fill in special effects here and there.

    Getting Your iPad App Ready For The New iPad

    With the announcement of “the new iPad,” developers are quickly readying their apps for the latest and greatest iOS device from Apple. Preparing an iOS app for a more powerful, Retina display device is a familiar task for those developers who got apps ready for the iPhone 4. Whether you do or don’t have that experience, it’s still helpful to have a checklist of sorts for preparing your app for the new iPad.

    A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

    Rian van der Merwe, Smashing Magazine:
    Designing apps for children is extremely hard. Not only is quality, age-appropriate content hard to create, but designing the flow and interaction of these apps is made more difficult because designers must refrain from implementing advanced gestures, which would only confuse and frustrate kids (and, by extension, their parents).

    A Personal Computer

    This is all just to say that of all of the computers at my disposal, the iPhone was the most personal and therefore the one most often used.

    Cure For An Incomplete iOS Update

    Christopher Breen, Macworld:
    The best advice I can offer is for you to start over. Plug your iPhone into the computer you normally sync it with, launch iTunes, select your iPhone’s icon in iTunes’ Source list, choose the Summary tab in iTunes’ main window, and click on Restore.

    How To Use Boot Camp With Lion
    Christopher Breen, Macworld

    Apple Releases Safari 5.1.4

    Lex Friedman, Macworld:
    Apple on Monday released Safari 5.1.4, an update chock full of fixes for the Snow Leopard, Lion, and Windows versions of the company’s Web browser.
    Among the fixes packed into the update are improved JavaScript performance, better search field responsiveness, and interface fixes when viewing Flash content after zooming. Apple also claims that the update addresses a bug that could cause webpages to flash white when you switched between Safari windows—potentially losing any data you had entered into those pages.

    Preparing Your Old iPad For Sale In Five Easy Steps

    Steven Sande, TUAW:
    There are five steps that you should take to prepare your old iPad for a new owner, even if it's just going to be turned over to a friend or relative.

    Mon, Mar 12, 2012

    Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 Review
    Simon Walker, Macworld UK

    Sir Jonathan Ive: The iMan Cometh

    As Apple’s senior vice-president of industrial design, he is the driving force behind the firm’s products, from the Mac computer to the iPod, iPhone and, most recently, the iPad. He spoke exclusively to the Evening Standard from the firm’s headquarters.

    iOS 5.1 Brings Smattering Of Features And 4G Confusion
    Agen G. N. Schmitz, TidBITS

    Review: iPhoto For iOS Out-does Adobe For Mobile Image Editing

    Chris Foresman, Ars Technica:
    iPhoto for iOS is a clever rethinking of editing and organizing photos on a mobile device. Most of the tools are intuitive and easy to use, and we suspect that novices will pick it up faster than pros looking for things like levels or curves. It includes important basic controls, more advanced editing via brushes, and a nice selection of effect. It also has a ton of sharing options, including easy sharing with common social networking services and integration with iCloud. And, the journal feature is clever and fun.

    Hollywood Studios Warm To Apple's iCloud Effort

    Jessica E. Vascellaro, Erica Orden and Sam Schechner, Wall Street Journal:
    Last week Apple said five major movie studios had agreed to allow consumers to buy their films on one Apple device, such as an iPad, and watch them on another, such as a Mac. But clinching those deals required both sides to work through hurdles that included at least one licensing arrangement one of the studios already had in place.
    HBO isn't planning to give up its exclusive windows, for which it pays hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and which allow it to beam movies to its online service HBO Go as well as to its traditional TV channels. But HBO is relaxing terms to let users of iCloud and other services send movies they already own to other devices during those windows, an HBO spokesman said.

    Tip: Avoid Hiccups In Safari Browsing

    Rob Pegoraro, USA Today:
    In my experience, complex pages heavy with Adobe Flash content are more likely to trip Safari over the line, more so than the raw number of pages open at any one time. You could try to spend less time on the Web, but that's not exactly practical.
    Instead, try using one of Safari's lesser-known features, Reading List, as an alternative to opening every new interesting link in its own tab for your later inspection.

    Apple: iPad Preorders Sell Out, Demand 'Off The Charts'

    Geri Coleman Tucker and Jefferson Graham, USA Today:
    "Customer response to the new iPad has been off the charts and the quantity available for pre-order has been purchased," Apple said in a statement. "Customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date."
    Consumers hoping to snag an iPad on its March 16 launch will have to visit one of Apple's retail stores or select Apple resellers.

    Sun, Mar 11, 2012

    It's The Battle Of The Read It Later Apps! Read It Later Vs. Instapaper Vs. Readability
    Christine Chan, AppAdvice

    Les Moonves: Steve Jobs Approached CBS For Apple TV Content

    Matthew Belloni, The Hollywood Reporter:
    "I told Steve, 'You know more than me about 99 percent of things but I know more about the television business,' " Moonves said, citing his concerns about providing content to a service that could disrupt CBS' existing revenue streams. Moonves said Jobs, in characteristic fashion, strongly disagreed with his assessment.
    Didn't the Palm guys also claimed that they knew more about the phone business than Jobs?

    A Day In The Life Of An Apple Event Liveblogger

    Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica:
    Do you ever find yourself wondering about the glamorous life of an Apple liveblogger? Do you imagine yourself as me, jet-setting across the country to bask in Apple CEO Tim Cook's presence while he presents the next product in Apple's lineup: a time traveling iPad that acts as a particle reactor on the side and can make your coffee in the morning?
    If so, you're in luck (and if not, you're uh, not in luck). The number of requests I receive from Ars readers and Twitter followers about what my daily life is like when I go to San Francisco has increased steadily over the years, so I made an attempt to document my activities as I traveled to cover the March 7 Apple event in which the company unveiled its third-generation iPad and Apple TV. So if your curiosity has been getting the better of you, have a seat and prepare yourself for a day (or three) in the life of yours truly when I'm covering Apple events.

    Sat, Mar 10, 2012

    Apple Denies E-book Price Fixing To Beat Amazon

    Don Reisinger, CBS News:
    In a court filing obtained by PaidContent yesterday, Apple argues that any claim that it views Amazon and the Kindle e-book store as a threat is nonsense.

    How To Boost Your Mac’s Drag And Drop Productivity With Dropzone

    Adam Dachis, Lifehacker:
    OS X: Dropzone is a neat little app that seems like a basic file sharing utility, but when you look further you'll find it actually provides fantastic shortcuts for moving, copying, and uploading files, perform various tasks, and use information. Everything is handled via drag-and-drop, saving you time with common, tedious tasks.

    The Strange World Of Clock Apps For Mac Users

    How do I know that? Search for clocks on the Mac App Store. There are a few dozen clocks and alarms that range from free to about $20.

    The 1Password Emergency Kit

    Imagine if something was to happen to you. Something that would keep you from accessing stuff on your computer that has passwords associated with it. It’s not a pleasant thing to think about, but we’d be foolhardy not to. I mean, we all keep an updated will, and most other pertinent documents are kept in a fire safe or safe deposit box so that your next of kin can move through anything tragic that may befall you with as little resistance as possible.
    But now that we spend so much time online – whether with online banking, email or earning a living – that having a failsafe in place isn’t just a good idea anymore. It’s mandatory.
    That’s why I came up with the 1Password Emergency Kit.

    Apple Shutting Down iWork.com On July 31 Amid Transition To iCloud

    Eric Slivka, MacRumors:
    Apple today sent out an email to users registered for its iWork.com beta noting that it will be discontinuing the service as of July 31. The discontinuation comes as Apple places its focus on iCloud, which offers users ways to keep documents in sync among their various iOS devices.

    Why Are Companies Defecting From Google Maps?

    Geoff Duncan, Digital Trends:
    Google first announced plans to begin monetizing Google Maps nearly a year ago, including a requirement that any new services forward display advertising in Google Maps along to their end users, so Google could start generating advertising revenue from the service. The hammer truly dropped in October 2011, when Google finally revealed pricing for Google Maps services.

    Ask The iTunes Guy: Work With Playlists
    Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

    Scholastic Releases iPad E-reader App For Kids
    Kelly Hodgkins, TUAW

    Fri, Mar 9, 2012

    In Praise Of Wren

    Matthew Guay, Techinch:
    Not distract you, not help you waste time, just send tweets from any of your accounts. It can shorten URLs and auto-complete @names, and even shows you the last thing you tweeted so you won’t repeat yourself. And you can save tweets you want to send later, for those ideas that are too good to tweet at 2AM when no one else will see them. Everything you need to make you great at sending tweets, and nothing else.

    Something’s Unraveling, Alright
    Matt Thomas

    The iPad Is Unbeatable
    Farhad Manjoo, Slate

    Behind The Scenes With iMovie Trailers

    Serenity Caldwell, Macworld:
    iMovie may not have the flashiest updates of the bunch, but it does gain a neat new feature from iMovie ’11 on the Mac: movie trailers. Now, when creating a new project, you can choose to instead create a trailer with one of nine different templates: Retro, Romance, Scary, Superhero, Swashbuckler, Narrative, Fairy Tale, Expedition, or Bollywood. You can swipe through and preview these for a better idea of what the trailer formats are like—be prepared for child spies and adventuring backpackers.

    iA Writer For iPhone Review

    Federico Viticci, MacStories:
    Ultimately, it comes down to the writing experience, and iA Writer excels at this because it is an app that wants you write more by seeing less. This first version of the iPhone app might not be as powerful as its Mac counterpart, but it sure is a pleasure to look at on the Retina display as what really matters, in the end, is that you’re looking at your own words, and nothing else.

    Supercharge Quick Look On Your Mac With These Plugins, Terminal Commands, And Shortcuts
    Alan Henry, Lifehacker

    iTunes 1080P Video Looks Better, Saves Space Using Better H.264 Compression

    Iljitsch Van Beijnum, Ars Technica:
    The reason that the 1080p versions of the iTunes Store videos can be a good deal better without doubling the file size—or worse—can be found in the tech specs of the new AppleTV and the new iPad.

    iPad Hotspot Feature Will Be Available On Verizon, Not AT&T

    Dan Moren, Macworld:
    Consumers trying to decide between Verizon and AT&T on their new 4G-enabled iPad have an additional consideration to take into account: Only one of those companies will be offering Apple’s Personal Hotspot feature at launch. That capability allows users to share the fast 4G connection on their iPads with other devices, such as a laptop or smartphone, via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB.

    Smultron Is A Capable And Inexpensive Text Editor

    Kirk McElhearn, Macworld:
    This inexpensive text editor offers many of the features that developers need, such as syntax coloring, the ability to comment text, text snippets for commonly used tags and bits, and auto-complete. But it’s also a lightweight text editor for anyone who composes text, be it technical, fiction, homework, or anything else.

    Apple Using OpenStreetMap Data In iPhoto For iPad

    Kelly Hodgkins, TUAW:
    Apple is using the OpenStreetMap data to render its own tiles in iPhoto. The map data Apple uses in iPhoto is supposedly old (circa 2010) and is used without attribution, a situation OpenStreetMap is working with Apple to remedy.

    iOS 5.1 Update Brings 4G Label To iPhone 4S On AT&T's Network

    Lex Friedman, Macworld:
    Thus, because the iPhone 4S on AT&T’s 3G network can achieve what both Apple and the carrier describe as 4G-style speeds, the status bar now shows the 4G label whenever you’re connected to AT&T’s HSPA+ network. Again, though, your iPhone 4S isn’t any faster than it was last week; this label change falls somewhere between semantics and marketing.

    Thu, Mar 8, 2012

    New In iTunes 10.6: Auto-Conversion Of Music Files To Bit Rates Other Than 128

    Kirk McElhearn, Kirkville:
    This will certainly please those who have iTunes libraries with music in lossless format, who didn’t want to downsample their music to 128 kbps.

    U.S. Warns Apple, Publishers

    Thomas Catan and Jeffery A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal:
    The Justice Department has warned Apple Inc. and five of the biggest U.S. publishers that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books, according to people familiar with the matter.
    As Apple prepared to introduce its first iPad, the late Steve Jobs, then its chief executive, suggested moving to an "agency model," under which the publishers would set the price of the book and Apple would take a 30% cut. Apple also stipulated that publishers couldn't let rival retailers sell the same book at a lower price.

    iPhoto For iOS Review

    Federico Viticci, MacStories:
    There’s no denying that iPhoto is an impressive piece of engineering; maybe less from a design standpoint, but that’s a personal preference. Still, there are issues that need to be mentioned, and some underlying limitations of the app (and iOS) that Apple will have to address someday. If we have a single Camera Roll, why can’t Apple’s two apps treat it as an actual single Camera Roll? If Apple makes both apps, why can’t they share the same design and navigation languages, without utilizing different sidebars and grid views that will have users confused and disoriented? Why can’t Apple be consistent in its use of taps, tap & holds, and button labels, so we can all get along in merry UX celebration?

    Eyeballing The iPad 3 Retina Display

    Phil Plait, Discover Magazine:
    If you do happen to have perfect eyes, under ideal circumstances you’ll probably be able to see the pixellation in the screen, but it won’t be that big a deal, I’d wager — and if you hold the iPad 3 about 18 inches from your face, the pixels are too small to see in any case. So, for the majority of people, the claim of a "retina display" is probably accurate.

    What LTE Means For Apple And The Wireless Industry

    Brian X. Chen, New York Times:
    The complicated issue with LTE is that the network technology is available on different spectrum bands on networks around the world. That means to offer the iPad on more LTE networks worldwide, it will have to manufacture multiple models to be compatible with each different band — a splintering effect that the company has been trying to avoid with iPads and iPhones.

    Quickly Jump Between System Preference Panes On OS X
    Whitson Gordon, Lifehacker

    Hands-on And Questions Answered: Third-gen iPad, Third-gen Apple TV

    Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica:
    Apple's tech specs page claims the third-generation iPad is 1.44 pounds (1.46 for WiFi+4G), while the iPad 2 was 1.33 pounds. This is again a relatively minor difference, but it's certainly noticeable if you're used to handling an iPad 2. (The original iPad weighed 1.5 pounds, so the third-gen device is close-but-not-quite the same weight as the original.)

    Apple Releases iBooks 2.1 And New Find My iPhone
    Mel Martin, TUAW

    iOS 5.1 Adds A 4G Indicator For AT&T Customers

    Kelly Hodgkins, TUAW:
    When the iPhone 4S was released, AT&T said it was pushing Apple to make this change on the iPhone 4S and it appears the company made good on this promise.

    A Few Minutes With The New iPad

    Jim Dalrymple, The Loop:
    It’s impossible to put into words just how good the Retina display is on the iPad. It’s not just images that look sharper, it’s text too. Reading a Web site or an iBook on the iPad’s display is incredible. Even the home screen on the iPad is crisper and sharper than I expected.

    Which New iPad Should I Get?

    Good luck.

    Apple Increases Over-the-Air App Store Downloads From 20 MB To 50 MB
    Chris Herbert, MacStories

    Apple Releases Configurator App For Mac To Mass Configure And Deploy iOS Devices
    Arnold Kim, MacRumors

    iOS 5.1 Available, You Can Finally Delete Photos In Photo Stream
    Victor Agreda, Jr., TUAW

    Netflix Now Offering 1080P Streaming On New Apple TV With Direct iTunes Store Account Billing

    Jordan Golson, MacRumors:
    Netflix has announced that it will support 1080p streaming on the new Apple TV. In addition, users will be able to sign up and pay for Netflix service on both the second and third-generation Apple TV models, using their iTunes Store account.

    iPad 2 Remains In Lineup With $399 Price Point
    Megan Lavey-Heaton, TUAW

    Apple Unveils New iPad

    Lex Friedman, Macworld:
    Apple on Wednesday unveiled a new iPad, the third edition of its wildly successful multitouch tablet. The new tablet sports a Retina display, a vastly improved camera, the new A5X processor, the high-speed mobile broadband technology LTE, and voice dictation support. Rather than give the iPad a new name like iPad 3 or iPad HD, Apple appears to be calling the new iPad simply “iPad” or the third-generation iPad.

    Apple Unveils New Apple TV With 1080P Support, Updated UI

    Jonathan Seff, Macworld:
    Apple unveiled a new Apple TV model on Wednesday, with support for 1080p video and a new user interface, at a special event in San Francisco.

    iPhoto For iOS Arrives On The App Store

    Philip Michaels, Macworld:
    During Wednesday’s press event, Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller pitched iPhoto as the next step after the Camera and Photos apps that come included with the iPad. While those offerings let you capture and view photos, respectively, the mobile version of iPhoto offers more browsing and editing capabilities.

    Apple Updates iMovie, GarageBand, iWork For iOS
    Serenity Caldwell, Macworld

    iTunes 10.6 Adds 1080P Support, iTunes Match Improvements
    Jonathan Seff, Macworld

    Wed, Mar 7, 2012

    Elgato Offers Thunderbolt SSD

    Roman Loyola, Macworld:
    Elgato on Tuesday announced its entry into the storage market with its new Thunderbolt SSD, a solid-state drive designed for use with Macs equipped with a high-speed Thunderbolt connector.

    How To Convert A POP Email Account To IMAP

    Kirk McElhearn, Macworld:
    If you’ve been using a POP account, but have grown frustrated with inaccessible messages, you can usually convert your account to IMAP. Most hosting companies and providers offer both options. However, making this conversion requires that you take precautions so you don’t lose any messages. Here’s how to make the switch safely.

    Tue, Mar 6, 2012

    Easy Typing With A Little-Used iPhone Feature

    Roy Furchgott, New York Times:
    Shortcut is great for oft-used phrases or answers to common questions. It has saved me numerous times from having to type my mailing address, my lengthy e-mail address, or a polite “no thanks” for invitations to events in distant cities.

    Correct Spelling From The Keyboard
    Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

    Adobe Ships Photoshop Lightroom 4 And Cuts Price In Half

    Jackie Dove, Macworld:
    Adobe has released version 4 of Photoshop Lightroom, its professional photo management application, following a beta period of about two months. But perhaps the biggest news is that Adobe has permanently cut the price of Lightroom in half. Version 4 is priced at $149, as opposed to the $299 shipping price of version 3. The upgrade price is now $79, as opposed to the previous upgrade price of $99. "Lowering the price makes Lightroom more accessible to a broader range of photographers—from pros to amateurs,” said Tom Hogarty, Lightroom's principal product manager.
    The new Lightroom upgrade focuses on improving photographic results and providing a more complete workflow than previous versions. "Photographers have been asking for [workflow improvements] for quite awhile, and they've been having to use different tools to achieve those results. Now we're really at the point where we're saying that a complete workflow is now within Lightroom," Hogarty said.

    Small-Biz iPad Use Explodes

    Michael del Castillo, Portfolio.com:
    And with the expected unveiling this week of the iPad 3, it's practically a sure thing to predict that entrepreneurs and business owners will continue to embrace Apple's tablet. After all, the iPad already has done a stellar job of making most tablet alternatives business failures.

    Eavesdropping Antennas Can Steal Your Smart Phone's Secrets

    Tom Simonite, Technology Review:
    At the RSA computer security conference last week, Gary Kenworthy of Cryptography Research held up an iPod Touch on stage and looked over to a TV antenna three meters away. The signal picked up by the antenna, routed through an amplifier and computer software, revealed the secret key being used by an app running on the device to encrypt data. An attacker with access to this key could use it to perfectly impersonate the device he stole it from—to access e-mail on a company server, for example.

    Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.7.3 Supplemental Update

    Federico Viticci, MacStories:
    Apple just released a “supplemental update” to OS X 10.7.3, resolving ”an issue when restoring a Mac from a Time Machine backup.” Apple also adds in the release notes: ”This update is recommended for users running 10.7.3 with Time Machine backups.”

    Square Announces Register For The iPad

    Joshua Schnell, Macgasm:
    Square, the popular company behind those cute little credit card dongles for your iPhone, has just released announced Register, an iPad application that is taking direct aim at replacing the clunky cash registers of yeasteryear that still dominate the retail scene.

    Changing Your Apple ID's Email Address

    Christopher Breen, Macworld.
    For those times when you have to abandon an email address.

    Apple Names The App Store 25 Billionth Download Winner

    Jim Dalrymple, The Loop:
    According to Apple, the 25 billionth app downloaded, Where’s My Water? Free, was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China. Chunli Fu will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card.

    Mon, Mar 5, 2012

    The Same Challenge Facing Ebooks And Apps

    Frédéric Filloux, The Guardian:
    Over time, the new book publishing business will look more and more like the software industry.

    Hazel 3.0
    Agen G. N. Schmitz, TidBITS

    Give Alert Sounds A Little Personality

    Sylvester Roque, ATPM:
    It’s time to add a few new sounds to the Mac. Don’t panic; we’ll do it in a way that shouldn’t affect your system’s stability at all.

    Will Apple Create The All-iPad Classroom?
    Sharon Noguchi, San Jose Mercury News

    Sun, Mar 4, 2012

    Frequent, Intense Mature And Suggestive Themes

    Teenagers who can’t look at porn in Safari or Atomic Web Browser can just get there from Google Search or Twitter instead.
    I suggested a much better solution almost three years ago: Add another rating category. Call it something like “Can access unfiltered web content.” Require all apps with such abilities to select that classification in iTunes Connect.

    Apple Reveals New “All-Time Top Apps” Following 25 Billion Downloads
    Federico Viticci, MacStories

    Sat, Mar 3, 2012

    Apple Still Isn't Doing A Very Good Job Creating U.S. Jobs

    Rebecca Greenfield, The Atlantic:
    Certainly Apple's existence supports these employees, but would the FedEx worker not have other deliveries to make without the iPhone? The other 210,000 jobs Apple attributes to the app economy, which Apple has a lot to do with, but again, involves other technology companies. And it's not clear how dependent on Apple any of these app makers are.

    Apple's Over-compliant Media

    Dan Gillmor, The Guardian:
    Apple is one of the most important enterprises on the planet, for some very good reasons, as well as less praiseworthy ones. It's time for journalists to examine much more closely all aspects of the organization and its power.

    Apple Touts Its American Hiring Record
    Joel Mathis, Macworld

    Bugs & Fixes: Troubleshoot Messages Beta On A Mac

    Ted Landau, Macworld:
    In deciding whether or not to install Messages Beta today, don’t overlook the word “Beta” in its name. It’s a warning. It means: “This is pre-release software. Expect more bugs and interface glitches than will exist in the release version.” While this means we have to give Apple a bit of a pass before complaining about such bugs, it still pays to be aware of what you can expect. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. With that in mind, here are some of the most significant and common problems that have cropped up thus far.

    FaceTime For Apes: Orangutans Use iPads To Video Chat With Friends In Other Zoos

    Rebecca Boyle, Popular Science:
    Orangutans living in captivity will soon start using iPads for primate play-dates, using Skype or FaceTime to interact with their brethren in other zoos, according to zookeepers. The great apes have been playing with iPads for about six months at the Milwaukee County Zoo, and they’ve been such a hit that other zoos plan to introduce them, too.

    Air Force Gives $9 Million Award For As Many As 18,000 IPads

    Brendan McGarry, Bloomberg:
    The U.S. Air Force awarded a $9.36 million contract to buy as many as 18,000 Apple Inc. iPad 2s in one of the military’s largest orders of computer tablets.
    Taking a cue from commercial airlines, the service will use the tablets to replace the bags of paper manuals and navigation charts carried by pilots and navigators.
    Once upon a time, a $9 million order for Apple would be a very big deal.

    Retina Display Macs, iPads, And HiDPI: Doing The Math

    Richard Gaywood, TUAW:
    People shouldn't get their hopes up for how much better a Retina display Mac would be compared to the current offerings. The iPhone 4 was a huge step forward from the iPhone 3GS mostly because the 3GS's screen was comparatively poor. Existing Macs have much better screens to start with, so any improvement will be much more modest.
    Retina displays may be coming to every single Apple products with a screen (except non-touch iPods), but except for the iPad, you probably shouldn't expect any major improvements as the chart in this article clearly illustrates.

    Fri, Mar 2, 2012

    Beyond Browsing: Tricks For Using Safari Like A Pro

    Michael Gray, Tecca:
    Safari has some amazing options for getting the most out of your internet use. It's often easy to miss those tools, though, because Safari is so streamlined. You don't really need to optimize things to get a lot out of Safari; that's part of its elegance. But with these additional tools, you can quickly find yourself surfing like a pro and getting a lot more out of Safari than you thought possible.
    The two features I liked most about Safari -- and which are not available on any other browsers on Mac OS X -- are: 1. Reader, 2. Smart Zoom.

    How To Sell Your Old iPad Now
    Mickey Meece, New York Times

    How New Mac Security Measures Will Impact AppleScript

    Lex Friedman, Macworld:
    Apple doesn’t want to annoy you, or restrict you from doing the things you want to do with your Mac. So if you run a script “by hand”—whether from AppleScript Editor, from within Automator, or as a standalone app or droplet—it should be able to do whatever it’s scripted to do, just as it can today. Put another way, you should be able to continue to run scripts by hand just as you always have.
    If, however, a sandboxed app wants to use AppleScript to interact with another app or with other parts of your system—a menubar app that uses AppleScripts to control iTunes, say—then the new restrictions will come into play. A sandboxed app can’t use AppleScript to communicate with another app on your Mac, unless the developer specifically requests (and receives) an entitlement to do just that.
    I'm glad to hear that AppleScripts isn't going away in Mountain Lion -- I use it a whole bunch of them every single day.

    Bookle Makes Your Mac An E-reader

    Serenity Caldwell, Macworld:
    Overall, I’m impressed by Bookle’s initial feature set, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Currently, there’s no way to search through a book or to add annotations, though according to Engst, these features are planned for a future update. Additionally, the developers are actively seeking feedback from the community for upcoming versions.

    Thu, Mar 1, 2012

    Apple Releases iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0

    Eric Slivka, MacRumors:
    Apple today released iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0, addressing an issue that could cause hanging and freezing on iMac models.

    Reflection App Goes Live, Brings iOS Screen Mirroring To Your Mac
    Erica Sadun, TUAW

    Trust Your Mac To Give You A Faster, More Accurate Way To Type

    The Mac and iPhone tool of choice for keyboard efficiency is TextExpander. It’s a behind-the-scenes Mac (and iPhone) app that collects snippets of text that you can insert into a document using keyboard shortcuts.

    Apple Rejects Seth Godin’s Book Because Of Links To Amazon Store

    Joshua Schnell, Macgasm:
    Apple has refused to sell his book in the iBookstore because Godin has “Multiple links to Amazon store” within the pages of his book.

    MLB At Bat Goes Live For 2012 With Improved Pricing Scheme
    Jordan Golson, MacRumors