Written by Benny Ling | 20 December 2011
Posted in Apple

There's a new Apple product doing the rounds on the rumour blogs, and it's called the iTV. We've already heard the name once before, but this time it's for real: the Wall Street Journal thinks they've nailed down exactly what the iTV will be, including facts like how it will be very dependent on the cloud, will integrate with iOS devices, have an upgraded version of AirPlay, and more.

Steve Wozniak has been recorded as saying structured societies can't produce great companies like Apple, as they just don't contain the right ecosystem for innovation like Apple's. Don't get me wrong — it's not about the people, it's about what's seen as the "norm" — where are the crazy ones? The misfits? The square pegs in the round holes?

Written by Benny Ling | 19 December 2011
Posted in Apple

Apple has seeded the third beta of 10.7.3 to developers. The new build (11D33) follows builds 11D16 and 11D24, and most likely means 10.7.3 will hit public machines sooner, rather than later. The release notes for the latest build state that there are no known issues, and the focus areas are Address Book, iCal, Mail, Spotlight, and Safari.

What, exactly, is a telephonic MacBook? Because according to Patently Apple, Apple has won patents for something called a "telephonic MacBook" as well as some other patents related to the Magic Mouse. It seems like some of the patents deal with wireless connectivity on the MacBook side, with the Magic Mouse patents covering the whole optical-sensing surface of the Magic Mouse.

Written by Benny Ling | 16 December 2011
Posted in Apple

Apple are reportedly in talks to purchase Israeli flash memory company for in excess of $400 million, and AppleInsider take a look at why Apple are making the move. Turns out, Apple are just interested in "packing more storage capacity into Mac and iOS devices at lower prices, with the same level of component reliability and longevity". Like the PA Semi acquisition back in 2008, we probably won't see the fruits of this (not-confirmed yet) acquisition for the next few years.

The documents that founded Apple Computer in 1976 have been sold at auction in New York for a staggering $1.6 million, over ten times the pre-sale estimate. Jump forward thirty years, and that 1.6 million is a mere drop in the ocean of Apple's cash reserves — and Apple itself is the most valuable publicly-traded company on the planet. If that doesn't give you an idea of how far we've come, then I'm not sure what does.

Written by Benny Ling | 15 December 2011
Posted in Apple

Apple were bound to take this resolution-doubling retina display business to the Macs eventually, and now DigiTimes says we could see a retina-display MacBook Pro with 2880x1800 resolution sometime in Q2 2012. Note that that's a resolution bigger than any normal 30" display currently in production — which means Apple will be once again pushing the envelope on screen display tech (their first time was with the iPad 3 retina display).

If you're doing any kind of customer support via email, you would be mad not to use a tool like TextExpander to quickly reply with canned responses to the most common queries. However, there's another way — Smoking Apples has reviewed Replies for Mac, an email client that takes the hard work out of responding to support emails by allowing users to re-use previously-sent snippets from emails.

Written by Benny Ling | 14 December 2011
Posted in Apple

The Mac App Store has hit the magical 100 million downloads mark, making Apple the largest software retailer in the US, at least according to The Loop. The Loop arrived at this conclusion based on the fact that NPD reported that sales of boxed software in the US reached 50 million copies — but not only is Apple (probably) the largest software retailer in the US, all of those 100 million downloads don't include Lion, updates to existing apps, nor downloads to other authorised Macs.

TechCrunch are saying Apple might be in talks to purchase an Israeli flash memory company, Anobit. The supposed acquisition will be something to the tune of $400-500 million, and will make Anobit the first non-software company acquisition since PA Semi, and the first acquisition in Israel.

Written by Benny Ling | 12 December 2011
Posted in Apple

The iTunes Store may be the more popular of Apple's two App Stores, but that doesn't mean the Mac App Store wasn't subject to the same treatment when it was time for Apple to choose the very best Mac apps for 2011. The Best of Mac App Store 2011 (link opens the Mac App Store) shows off the best of what the App Store has to offer. Pixelmator has taken out app of the year, with runner up djay. Then we have a few best apps, which include old favourites such as Fantastical, 1Password, DaisyDisk, Things, Hype, and more.

AirPlay hasn't seen a fantastic uptake even though it has a solid feature set and excellent premise; in short, it's underrated for what it is, which is why Apple might be looking to expand AirPlay capabilities to work over Bluetooth connections, instead of currently requiring a Wi-Fi network (and associated wireless infrastructure).

Written by Benny Ling | 12 December 2011
Posted in Apple

Apple has released two new apps into the Mac App Store. Joining Aperture, the iWork suite, Xcode, Motion, Final Cut Pro, and all the other Apple apps already available are Logic Pro and MainStage, two Apple apps that previously existed as boxed versions. Logic Pro is priced very reasonably at $259, and means that Logic Express probably isn't worth buying anymore — as Logic Pro allows you to download all the Apple Loops and other content free of charge when you purchase Logic Pro.

Also available in the Mac App Store is the first app from Rogue Amoeba, an app called Piezo. Piezo allows you to record audio from basically any source on your Mac, whether it be from an app (a playing movie, a video on the web, or many other sources) or any audio device you've got plugged in. There's a free trial version available on the Rogue Amoeba website, and the full version in the App Store is $14.

Written by Benny Ling | 09 December 2011
Posted in Apple

Forbes reports that a next-generation iMac might contain television-like functionality similar to what the current Apple TV offers in terms of streamable content via the iTunes Store, but there are plenty of people skeptical that this will eventuate. Mac Rumours even notes that this may even be pure speculation on the part of the analyst that produced the original report, which is exactly how the Apple rumour sphere operates.

Fortune has a nice video walkthrough of Apple's opening-very-soon Grand Central store. As far as Apple stores go, it's perhaps one with the most variety — plenty of open space, but also a few cosier spaces. Glass doesn't seem to be featured quite as prominently, but that's okay, New Zealand still doesn't have an Apple Store.

Written by Benny Ling | 08 December 2011
Posted in Apple

The Ivy Bridge refresh of same Intel processors used in most Apple hardware today is due around the same time next year as the iPad 3, and that might even bring triple display support for those machines currently unable to perform the feat. With the exception of more recent Thunderbolt-enabled models, using three displays on any Mac has traditionally been something that wasn't typically done, at least not without the use of third party adapters and accessories.

The excellent mail client for Mac, Sparrow, has been updated to version 1.5. The new release brings support for a feature called Dropbox sync, where users can sync attachments right into their Dropbox folder, along with remote image blocking and Gmail-like search filters, according to The Next Web.

Written by Benny Ling | 07 December 2011
Posted in Apple

It's a well known fact that Apple employees aren't allowed to publicly comment on Apple-related websites. The full extent of the Apple social media policy hasn't been discovered until now however, with 9 to 5 Mac spilling the beans on what Apple employees can and can't do. All the policies seem to make sense and are in line with basic common sense, but others, like the restriction on speculating on rumours, seem to be a little out there.

The 27th Macworld Annual Editor's Choice awards have been revealed, and they cover all facets of the Mac including both hardware and software releases for the past year. Making the software side of things are concepts like AirPlay and single apps like Fantastical, and on the hardware end, we have the fantastic MacBook Air and the iPad 2 making the cut. There's a heap more products on the full list, so go check it out!