Is anyone else curious as to why Apple decided to make an entirely new FaceTime app instead of adding support to iChat? Lets look at why Apple could have done this. So far, FaceTime for Mac isn’t even what I’d expect from Apple; it has little flaws that lead me to think it was rushed—more on that in a bit. → Read More
Today during their Back to the Mac event today at their headquarters in Cupertino, Apple gave a first glimpse of the next version of OS X. As anticipated, OS X 10.7 is going to be called “Lion”. What perhaps wasn’t so anticipated (though we guessed), was how inspired it would be by iOS.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted that iOS came from OS X. But he noted that with IOS, they’ve invented new things and perfected others. And now it’s time to bring those features “back to the Mac” as well, Jobs noted. → Read More
As you’re well aware by now, this morning, Apple sent out invites to an event taking place in one week at their headquarters in Cupertino, CA. The invite reads, “Back to the Mac.” and asks those invited to “Come see what’s new for the Mac on October 20, including a sneak peek of the next major version of Mac OS X.” But the most interesting thing about the invite has to be the picture. It’s an Apple logo cut out a sheet of metal that has been slightly turned to reveal what’s behind the sheet: a lion.
Apple began using big cat nicknames with initial release of OS X. 10.0 was “Cheetah”, 10.1 was “Puma”, 10.2 was “Jaguar”, 10.3 was “Panther”, 10.4 was “Tiger”, 10.5 was “Leopard”, and the current version, 10.6, is “Snow Leopard”. Initially, these were internal code names at Apple, but they eventually became a part of the marketing for the OS. And it certainly looks like OS X 10.7 is going to be dubbed “Lion”. → Read More
Remember back when anti-mac fanboys use to say that “the Mac doesn’t have gaming, it’s not 1337”. Then Apple entered the gaming world as a noob, and now look, OS X is running Steam. → Read More
It’s interesting that this WWDC keynote was all about mobile. Obviously he had a big reveal this year – last year was all about the 3GS and Snow Leopard – but there was a decided lack of desktop talk this year. iOS looks like the horse Apple is betting on, at least this year. The uptake in terms of programming for the iPhone far surpasses that of OS X. After all, you’re not going to make a mint writing for Mac desktops and laptops. With 10 million phones and iPads in the pipeline and $1 billion in app sales, the economics of iOS are staggering. → Read More
Apple’s WWDC event kicks off on Monday with a keynote by CEO Steve Jobs (we’ll be there). There, he’s widely expected to unveil the next generation iPhone, and well as show off more of the new iPhone OS 4.0 software. But this keynote will be a bit odd because the leaked iPhone prototype has already revealed the next generation iPhone, so Jobs may have to do a bit more to wow the crowd. Speculation about what else could be coming is already well underway: iTunes in the cloud? Free MobileMe? A new Apple TV? And then there’s the OS X 10.7 question.
As MacRumors points out today, use of OS X 10.7 within Apple has clearly been on the rise the past few months. I decided to check the TechCrunch logs, and sure enough, we’re seeing the same thing. Hits from the “Intel 10.7″ identifier in Google Analytics started coming in October of last year and they’ve been growing ever since. In the past 30 days, we’ve seen a roughly 25% increase (from the previous 30 days) in visits. That said, the jump from March to April was much greater (nearly 100%). Apple is clearly expanding the work on the new OS, but is it ready to be unveiled? → Read More
I’m not sure Google has ever come out and said that they hope the future of computing doesn’t involve Windows. But we all know they’re thinking it. However, while they may think that way, it’s been hard to take that too seriously since most of the computers they do their work on likely run Windows. In the near future though, that may not be the case.
A new report tonight in the Financial Times suggests that Google is steering its employees away from using Microsoft’s dominant operating system in the workplace. In fact, the reports says that, “New hires are now given the option of using Apple’s Mac computers or PCs running the Linux operating system.” And it states that getting a computer running Windows may require permission as high up as Google’s CIO. → Read More
It’s so appropriate yet sad that Alyx is tasked with announcing the six-year old Half-Life 2′s Mac launch. But really there’s no shame in playing the some-what old Half-Life 2 even today. It’s one of the games that we agreed with in PC Gamer’s top games of all time list. But it’s yet another sign that the Mac gaming scene still has a long way to go. → Read More
Opera has always been a bit of a curiosity to me. Nearly everyone seems to tout its speed and adherence to web standards — and yet, no one seems to use it. Well, at least not in the United States anyway, and really not that many people worldwide either. Why is that?
Today, Opera announced a new version (10.52) available for OS X. The promise is that it’s ten times faster than the last version I used (10.10). In fact, they’re saying it’s the “world’s fastest browser for Mac.” So I decided to try it out as my primary browser the entire morning. → Read More
Film critic Roger Ebert has been unable to speak with his own voice since 2006, when he underwent surgery related to his battle with thyroid cancer. Since then, he’s been using a computerized voice (notably, “Alex,” a voice built-in to Mac OS X), to communicate all this time. But today on Oprah, he’s debuting a new computerized voice: his own.
If you watch the video at the bottom of this post, it’s pretty remarkable just how much it sounds like Ebert. He has a distinctive voice that a lot of his fans know well thanks to his many years on television reviewing films. You should also watch the longer version of the video here, to compare his new voice to his old one (again, Alex from OS X). → Read More
There’s no real cause for alarm here, but it might be a good talking point (or at least something to be aware of) that Windows 7 is nose and nose with OS X for install numbers, according to stats published by Net Applications. This isn’t really significant in and of itself, as it was sure to happen at some point or another.
The fun part is that both sides can use it as ammunition: “We sold more copies in a month than you’ve sold in ten years!” or “A month later and only 5% have upgraded? Either Windows 7 sucks or you’re all stupid, or both.” Good points all around, guys. → Read More
Anyone that has used both Windows 7 and OS X can see the similarities. It’s clear that some Windows 7 parts were sampled from OS X, but now there is confirmation from Microsoft’s partner group manager, Simon Aldous, that OS X was indeed the mold all along. → Read More
Yesterday, when I wrote that Tweetie was the best iPhone Twitter client not everyone agreed. Fair enough, there are a few other really great ones including Birdfeed (which we’ve covered here) and Echofon (the app formerly known as TwitterFon). And the team behind Echofon has today rolled something that puts it ahead of Tweetie in at least one regard: A native Mac client that syncs with the iPhone client.
While Tweetie does have a (very nice) Mac client, there is no syncing between it and the iPhone version just yet. It is coming, but Echofon has beaten them to the punch. This puts in in the league with TweetDeck, which also has a desktop and iPhone client that sync, but Echofon is nicer because it’s a native Mac app rather than running on Adobe Air. (Seesmic also has an iPhone app in the works that will sync with its desktop client, though that is again, Air-based.) → Read More
Uh oh, sounds like there’s some bugs being introduced into the gilded cage that Mac users seem to enjoy so much. People using older versions of Safari are discovering that they can’t connect to the store. Turns out that the new version of iTunes is deeply attached to Safari. This is causing problems for users of older versions, and also for users that have pre-release versions of Snow Leopard. → Read More
The first update to Snow Leopard, OS X 10.6.1 has just been released by Apple. It seems that it’s mostly bug fixes, which is hardly surprising considering that the OS was just released a couple weeks ago. But one odd thing about the update is just how small it is for some users: 9.8 MB, to be exact.
Again, that is just for some users. Others are reporting it weighing in at a still small 75 MB (this usually depends on what system you have). But plenty, including myself clicked update and got the download in record time as it was under 10 MB. Snow Leopard itself, of course, made headlines for its svelte size, as Apple was able to trim gigabytes off of OS X Leopard’s footprint. → Read More
As most Mac users have undoubtedly read over the past few days, there are some pieces of software that are a bit buggy with the latest version of OS X, Snow Leopard, which was released on Friday. Applications that have been having issues include the developer builds of Chrome and Chromium for OS X. While these versions are obviously still not complete yet, there are more and more people using them as they had been becoming increasingly stable and usable under OS X Leopard. And today, Google rolled out a bunch of bug fixed to keep it purring along in Snow Leopard as well.
Specifically, version 4.0.203.4 of the Dev channel build of Chrome fixes a host of problems, ranging from text being garbled to favicons no longer working. Find the full list of changes here. → Read More
Classy, Apple. Tell people running 10.4 that they need to buy the $169 box set when the $29 upgrade will work just fine. That’s the Apple philosophy in action, isn’t it? As long as you’ve got an Intel-based Mac, $29 is all you need to get Snow Leopard on your computer. And don’t let Apple tell you otherwise. → Read More
iSync 3.1.0, to be shipped with Snow Leopard, has struck another blow against Palm. What is it this time? They’ve removed Palm HotSync support, relegating thousands of Centro, Treo, Zire, Tungsten, and Palm Pilot users to the darkest corners of Obsoletia. When will this arms race end? → Read More
Are you ready for Windows 7? Remember, you need go out and get a really nice computer with a nice monitor and lots of hard drive space – basically you’re going to have to get a Mac. Don’t worry, though. It’s easy to switch.
Parallels is essentially a virtual machine that can run almost any version of Windows. The $100 software and hardware solution lets you drag everything from your old Windows PC to your Mac and then run almost all your apps natively under OS X. Viola! → Read More
You’re telling me Snow Leopard isn’t a major update? Well affix your chapeau to your pate, sir, and go forthwith on a long walk off of a short fjord! The most important feature in Snow Leopard has been revealed and it’s a doozy. → Read More
