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On its web site Apple lists over 300 new features that were added to OS X, culminating in the system software update that is 10.5 Leopard.
But when you get down to it, what, exactly is new?
I mean, really, really new?
Continue reading "Have Operating Systems Become Feature Complete?" »
It's the weekend, so indulge me as I engage in some more mathematical musings, this time with the MacBook Air vs. the relatively long-in-the-tooth but beloved 12" aluminum PowerBook.
Also, my earlier article on the Air vs. Eee has generated more than a few comments and emails and rebuttals, so I'll reply to a few of those issues as well.
Especially as they apply equally well in any discussion of the PowerBook.
ComputerWorld's Seth Weintraub just published an article detailing ten reasons why you might want to wait before buying a MacBook Air.
Assuming, of course, that you haven't already placed an order.
Among the "concerns" listed are the processor, wireless, "glitchy" components, the drives, docks, speed, expandability, size, and price.
But are those concerns justified? Let's take a look.
The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg has reviewed the MacBook Air and determined that it's not for everyone.
Which to my mind should be obvious.
But it's amazing just how many people fail to appreciate the Air for what it is, and want it to remake it into something else.
Here's an excerpt from a comment on MacNN, "I think I will wait for 3 things to be addressed, Firewire port, 2 USB ports and GB ethernet port or 2 USB ports, GB ethernet port and a Cardbus [sic] slot..."
The same individual also mentions the lack of an optical drive and removable battery, which means that by the time we cram all of the "missing features" back in we essentially have a machine with the feature set and footprint of a MacBook Pro...
Which we already have.
AppleInsider seems to have scored an exclusive, having confirmed that forthcoming MacBooks and MacBook Pros will also contain the Air's new multi-touch trackpad technology.
Wow. Who saw that coming?
But even if Apple adds it to future notebooks, and even if those notebooks are coming soon, I still have a problem. Because my iMac has a acute case of multi-touch envy.
Which leads us to the question of the day:
With gestures becoming more and more important to the Mac interface, when will we get multi-touch on the desktop?
It's given that version one of any product will have a few problems and rough spots, and Apple's new movie rental program is no exception to the rule.
So with that in mind, here are three ways that Apple could improve their new service right now, making it a lot more valuable to all concerned.
Continue reading "Three Easy Ways To Make Rentals More Popular" »
Some people have complained about the footprint the Air needs to support that 13.3" screen and full-size keyboard, saying that they would have prefered a smaller notebook like the Asus Eee PC.
A "true" subnotebook.
Well, their wish has come true, because by my calculations the Air is actually both thinner and smaller than the Eee PC.
You do the math.
According to published specifications, the Eee's dimensions are 8.9x6.5x0.9~1.4, or a total of 66.52 cubic inches in volume. But at 12.8x8.94x0.16~0.76, the Air is only 52.63 cubic inches in volume, making it over 20% smaller than the Eee.
True, the Air does weigh a bit more, and it obviously costs a lot more.
But if small is what you want, then we've got you covered.
There have been a few sites touting various conspiracy theories regarding the MacBook Air's external SuperDrive and the fact that it's only compatible with the Air.
As such, Apple has been accused of deliberately "crippling" the drive so that it doesn't work with their other computers, and some have provided "proof" that other manufacturers can make a standard USB bus-powered drive, and so Apple should have been able to do so as well.
But such accusations, and the proof that goes with them, are really little more than hot air.
Continue reading "The MacBook Air: SuperDrive Conspiracies" »
With iTunes 7.6 you now have several new ways to sync music, movies, and TV shows to your iPhone.
First, you can now turn syncing off.
That's right, now you can finally manage everything by hand, dragging songs, playlists, and individual video files directly to the iPhone icon. Just check the "Manually manage music and videos" checkbox on the iTunes summary page for your phone.
Second, in addition to the venerable sync "X most recent unwatched" options they've added the ability to sync the least recent unwatched episodes.
Why would you want this?
Continue reading "New iTunes Synchronization Features For iPhone" »
Purchased a couple of movies and TV shows and some music all at the same time?
And now you're waiting with nothing to do?
In iTunes 7.6 that's no problem. Just drag the songs to the top of the Downloads list and they'll be done first. Rearrange the movies and shows to your liking too.
Then you can listen to your new music while you wait.
Much has been made of the fact that Apple managed to get all of the major movie studios onboard the iTunes rental gravy train.
According to the press release, signed up are 20th Century Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios, Sony, MGM, Lionsgate, and New Line Cinema.
And much was made of the pricing, $2.99 for "library" titles, $3.99 for first-run titles, and HD titles a dollar more.
But no mention whatsoever has been made of any changes to the pricing structure for iTunes movie purchases. This despite the fact that the current fixed-pricing scheme has been a notorious sticking point in previous studio negotiations.
Which leads us to our question: Will you be able to buy titles from everyone involved, or are these agreements strictly for iTunes rentals?
And if you can buy them, has the iTunes store pricing structure changed?
Either way, the answers will tell us some interesting things about the industries' relationship with Apple.
[via Apple]
Since the MacWorld keynote I've had several discussions about Apple's newest notebook and have roamed the Apple blogosphere looking at reactions and—perhaps more importantly—the comments to those reactions.
As such, I'd like to touch on an obvious point that some people seem to have missed.
The MacBook Air isn't meant to be your only computer.
In fact, in some ways we'd all be much better off if we considered it to be an oversized iPod Touch with a big screen and a better keyboard.
Continue reading "The MacBook Air: Apple's Latest iPod - Part 2" »
The keynote is over, and the MacBook Air has been confirmed.
And it's designed to be a completely wireless machine, as I speculated in an earlier article.
And it's designed to use iPod-sized 1.8" drives, as I also predicted.
But there's also a few surprises to be found, as it has more in common with an iPod than just a drive.
Several web sites are live-blogging Steve Jobs' keynote at Macworld, but Internet technology channel CunningTV has announced that it will be providing live video footage of the event.
However, you can now stream the keynote directly from Apple's web site.
As if we didn't have enough speculation, Valleywag jumped on the bus with a prediction that cellular wireless capabilities will be built into the Air, and that they'll be supported by AT&T.
While possible, we still have the same AT&T problem that we have with the iPhone: AT&T has been glacially slow in rolling out 3G coverage throughout the United States.
Actually, there's another problem there too, but let's take first things first.
No sooner do I post an article speculating on a completely wireless laptop than does Wired's Gadget Lab post a story regarding the "MacBook Air".
According to their "source", the Air "will be a purely wireless device, relying solely on Wi-Fi or other wireless technology for its connectivity — hence the "Air" moniker."
Check out the artist's rendering after the jump.
Continue reading "The MacBook Air: An Ultra-Portable Concept" »
So there I was at my local computer store, idly checking out ThinkPads and Acers and other notebooks and comparing them to their Mac brethren.
And one of the things about them that struck me was the sheer number of ports that festooned and adorned the poor things. I mean, one still had serial and VGA ports.
Seriously. In this day and age.
Which lead me think about Apple's rumored ultraportable and this year's wireless MacWorld theme and wonder.
Just how far away are we from a truly wireless notebook?
One of the contracts Apple is signing with select studios allows for the addition of a "portable media file" to DVDs.
This is a smaller "pre-ripped" file designed to be quickly copied to iPods and iPhones and other digital media devices, allowing them to play the content legitimately.
But do we really need such a thing?
Do we even want such a thing?
With Steve's MacWorld keynote looming on the horizon speculation is once again running rampant.
What new computers and notebooks and phones and pods are we going to get? What new software? What updates?
And how many "booms"?
But from my perspective, it might be much more illuminating to speculate on "who" will be there, instead of what.
So how does a lineup of AT&T, Amazon, Google, Fox, Warner, Starbucks, and Microsoft strike you?
One product widely predicted for MacWorld Expo is the "ultra-thin" MacBook Pro, a replacement for the 12" aluminum Powerbook that never made the Intel transition with the rest of the family.
In keeping with Apple's "thin-is-in" bleeding-edge design strategy, the new notebook is rumored to drop the on-board SuperDrive for an external unit, and is said to use LED screen backlighting and a Solid State Drive (SSD) for better performance and power management.
But there's another drive option I haven't heard mentioned, and one which could make a lot more sense.
Dollars and cents, that is.
Continue reading "Want A Small Thin Light Notebook? Here's How." »
It's said that the best alliances are made when all of the parties involved have a stake in the outcome and when each one is operating in the other's "mutual self-interest".
But what happens when an individual decides that his own best interests are no longer aligned with those of the group?
What happens when the other side starts winning?
Does that individual honor his original commitment and stand by his friends and allies? Or does he defect?
Continue reading "The Blu-Ray/HD DVD War: Defections And Betrayals" »
Avant-garde filmmaker David Lynch is on rant. His mission?
To convince you that watching a feature-length major motion picture on a 3" screen is—to put it mildly—sacrilege.
To quote, "If you're playing the movie on a telephone, you will never in a trillion years experience the film. You’ll think you have experienced it, but you’ll be cheated."
Which is on one hand true, and which on the other misses the point entirely.
As I reported in a earlier story, Spaces will occasionally lose track of all of the windows in a given space and that when it happens they just all just vanish into... well, you know.
Now, according to a new support document from Apple, the reason may be related to syncing System Preferences using .Mac. The vanishing window behavior can occur if one computer has Spaces enabled but another computer does not, or if both use Spaces but they have different row and column settings.
The recommended solution, unfortunately, falls into the "don't do that category".
To quote, "use the same Spaces settings on all computers that are syncing Preferences, or do not sync Preferences if you do not want to use Spaces on all of your computers."
Okay, but here's hoping that 10.5.2 brings a solution to this and most of our other problems with Leopard.
Of note is quick-and-dirty patent application by Apple for a new type of notebook docking connecter.
Think of an iMac with its built-in screen and connectors, but with a notebook-sized slot in its side. Just slide your MacBook Thin into the cavity and boom!
One full-sized desktop computer at your service.
But while a good idea, I'm not sure it's what's really needed.
Continue reading "Apple Patents iMac-Shaped Notebook Docking Station" »
No sooner do I finally order my 320GB notebook drive than am I informed that Hitachi is announcing two new drives in 400GB and 500GB capacities.
Keep in mind that these are dual-platter drives and are 12.5mm thick versus the 9.5mm "superslim" drive more commonly used. As such they may not fit all existing notebooks and enclosures.
The new Travelstar drives are scheduled to be released in February (though we all know how that goes), and will be priced at $350 and $400 for the 400GB and 500GB versions, respectively.
