The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.tuaw.com The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.tuaw.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Google revamps mobile Google News format]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/19/google-revamps-mobile-google-news-format/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/19/google-revamps-mobile-google-news-format/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/19/google-revamps-mobile-google-news-format/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Like most "mobile versions" of websites, Google News was simplified for use on devices featuring what Steve Jobs once called "the baby Internet." Sadly, this simplified version also showed up by default on the iPhone, leading to an experience that was, to put it charitably, subpar.

That's all changed now that Google has redesigned the mobile version of Google News for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre users. The new mobile version is far more feature-rich than the old one and is more consistent in its appearance (i.e., it's almost indistinguishable from the desktop version) compared to the old "mobile-optimized" Google News.

It also includes a handy "Jump to" link which brings up a window that allows you to skip to the news section of your choice, saving your thumbs from severe scroll fatigue.

There's no need to download anything. Simply go to Google News on your iPhone and check out the changes.

[Via MacRumors]

TUAWGoogle revamps mobile Google News format originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>GoogleGoogle NewsGoogleNewsInternetiPhoneiPod touchIpodTouchThu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Buyer's Guide: 33 things you don't need if you have an iPhone]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/19/buyer-s-guide-33-things-you-don-t-need-if-you-have-an-iphone/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/19/buyer-s-guide-33-things-you-don-t-need-if-you-have-an-iphone/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/19/buyer-s-guide-33-things-you-don-t-need-if-you-have-an-iphone/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Every time I walk through Warehouse Stationery (New Zealand's equivalent to Office Depot) or Dick Smith's Electronics (pretty much Best Buy), I'm struck by how probably half the products in each store are pretty much useless to me since I've got an iPhone.

Thanks to the apps that come pre-packaged with the iPhone and the more than 100,000 third-party offerings now available in the iTunes Store, the iPhone has gained functionality that might have seemed hard to fathom under three years ago when Steve Jobs first announced the device.

"A widescreen iPod with touch controls... a revolutionary mobile phone... a breakthrough internet communications device... these are not three separate devices. This is one device." So Steve Jobs told us all back at Macworld Expo 2007. But since then, the iPhone has grown to be much more than just those three concepts.

What follows is a sort of anti-buyer's guide, a list of products and devices that you may never need or even want to buy again (or receive as a gift) if you have an iPhone. Some of these are certainly open for debate, but more than a few of them are products that, for all intents and purposes, are completely unnecessary if you have an iPhone. (Items in bold also apply to the iPod touch).

Continue reading Buyer's Guide: 33 things you don't need if you have an iPhone

TUAWBuyer's Guide: 33 things you don't need if you have an iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>2079Air Mouse ProAirMouseProAmbianceCleartunedictionary.comDropboxFlight ControlFlightControlGoogle EarthGoogleEarthGuitarToolKitHandbrakeHero of SpartaHeroOfSpartahggiPhoneiPod TouchIpodTouchiShootKindleMotionXnetbooksPeggleRunKeeperShakespeareStanzaVLC RemoteVlcRemoteWriteRoomThu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Adobe pre-release of Flash Player 10.1 now available]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/17/adobe-pre-release-of-flash-player-10-1-now-available/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/17/adobe-pre-release-of-flash-player-10-1-now-available/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/17/adobe-pre-release-of-flash-player-10-1-now-available/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Adobe's Flash Player has long been a notorious CPU hog on Macs. Every time I hear my wife's MacBook's fans going off like a cyclone on the other side of the living room, I know it's because she's playing Bejeweled Blitz or some other crazy Flash-based game that's pegging her poor machine's CPU to infinity and beyond.

Things are a bit rosier with Adobe's pre-release of Flash Player 10.1. The Windows version has significant improvements, namely support for hardware-accelerated video decoding of h.264 video, but the Mac and Linux versions do not include support for this feature. As usual, Adobe blames Apple for "not being open enough" -- "Mac OS X does not expose access to the required APIs" according to Adobe -- but even without hardware-accelerated video decoding, this pre-release build of Flash boasts significant CPU load improvements over its predecessor.

Anandtech tested the performance improvement of the pre-release version of Flash Player with the following results:
I took the same Office clip I'd been using for all of the other tests and ran it on my Mac Pro at full screen (2560 x 1600). Using Activity Monitor I looked at the CPU utilization of the Flash Player plug-in. I compared both versions of Flash and saw a significant drop in CPU utilization:

Flash 10.0.32.18: 450%
Flash 10.1.51.45: 190%

Going from roughly 450% down to 190% (or a bit over 10% of total CPU utilization across 16 threads) made full-screen Hulu playable on my machine. In the past I always had to run it in a smaller window, but thanks to Flash 10.1 I don't have to any longer.

Continue reading Adobe pre-release of Flash Player 10.1 now available

TUAWAdobe pre-release of Flash Player 10.1 now available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adobeadobe flashAdobeFlashflashTue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[John versus Joe: iPhone earnings smackdown edition]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/16/john-versus-joe-iphone-earnings-smackdown-edition/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/16/john-versus-joe-iphone-earnings-smackdown-edition/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/11/16/john-versus-joe-iphone-earnings-smackdown-edition/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Apple naysayers are a dime a dozen these days. I keep a few in my garage just so I can laugh at them when I wave my iPhone in their general direction and they all cry in unison, "The Zune phone is so totally going to be an iPhone killer. You know, if and when it comes out. Just wait and see."

Rarely do Apple naysayers come with more unintentional hilarity than Joe Wilcox from Betanews, who, alone among reporters everywhere, uncovered a media conspiracy on a scale not seen in recent memory. Namely, contrary to what literally everyone else has reported, Apple was in fact NOT more profitable with the iPhone compared to all of Nokia's cellphone business during the recent financial quarter.

John Gruber from Daring Fireball saw Joe's post, and with his response laid the smackdown on Joe's analysis.

Gruber's post boils down to castigating Wilcox for ignoring Apple's statement of non-GAAP earnings. Basically, Apple's subscription-based accounting for the iPhone spreads its revenues out over several quarters, which it expresses in GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) earnings. These are the earnings Wilcox looked at and said, "Wait a minute! Apple didn't make that much money at all! Murder most foul!" If you want a real idea of what Apple actually made with the iPhone over the quarter, you have to look at the non-GAAP earnings. This is something I figured out back when I edited earnings press releases for PR Newswire, and something anyone who reports on financial matters really ought to double-check before protesting to one and all that something foul is afoot.

Wilcox updated his post after Gruber's response, but his rationale is almost as funny as his initial post:

I chose to use the GAAP figures because a) Again, that's what Apple is supposed to report; b) It made for a simpler analysis; c) Apple recognizes previously deferred revenue with the quarterly results; d) According to Apple SEC filings, deferred revenue is for more than just iPhone and Apple TV. The last two points are paramount.
In other words, a) It's the SEC's fault, not mine; b) like Gruber said, I didn't bother reading past the first paragraph of the press release; c) I also didn't bother parsing through the reams of financial tables that come with every quarterly financial press release; d) Gruber is wrong and Apple TV is totally selling like hotcakes.

I showed Wilcox's post to the Apple naysayers I keep chained up in my garage, and they just kind of turned away scratching their heads awkwardly. I don't think that's a good sign for the supposed "misreporting" of Apple's iPhone profits that Wilcox thinks he's uncovered.

TUAWJohn versus Joe: iPhone earnings smackdown edition originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apple earningsAppleEarningsBetanewsdaring fireballDaringFireballiphoneMon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Five Gifts for the Mac AV Geek]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/30/audio-video-mac-geek-gift-guide/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/30/audio-video-mac-geek-gift-guide/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/30/audio-video-mac-geek-gift-guide/#commentsFiled under: , ,

'Tis the season to be buying. But what do you get for that special geek in your life?

I can't speak for your geek, but I know what I'm asking Santa for this year - I just hope he's a TUAW reader. Whether he is or not, maybe going through my list will give you an idea on how to max out your credit card spread some holiday cheer this year.


Dear Santa,

I've been a good boy this year. I've cut back on the booze, and they don't greet me by name at the strip club anymore. So instead of a stocking full of coal, could you find it in your heart to bring me one or more of the following items on the night before Christmas? I know it's a long flight to New Zealand from the North Pole, but you've got to admit, at least the weather down here is waaaay better than in Cleveland this time of year.

First of all, I'd like a shiny new 802.11n Airport Express. I like my Time Capsule (when it's not being a recalcitrant piece of junk), but the 5GHz wireless signal doesn't reach from my living room all the way back to my office. With an Airport Express, I'd be able to extend the wireless signal from my Time Capsule to the other side of the house and geek away in privacy. That way my wife won't have to grit her teeth every five minutes when the theme from Metroid goes off at 80 decibels and tells me I got a new e-mail. And since the Airport Express is 802.11n-enabled, I'd still be able to back up my data to the Time Capsule at a brisk pace.

I'd also like these Shure SE115m+ earphones. I've been using a set of Shure E2cs for about three years now, and I love them, but the one big advantage the SE115m+ has is the controls built into the cord that would allow me to pause, play, and skip through tracks on my iPhone. I'd also be able to take calls, and it even has a built-in microphone. Santa, if I had these earphones I'd be able to put those white earbuds that came with my iPhone into a drawer and never look at them again, and that would make me a very happy boy indeed.

You know how I like to shoot HD video, right Santa? But not those kinds of videos, because that would get me on the naughty list. My MacBook Pro does a good job of encoding video - it works pretty close to real-time - but if I had an Elgato Turbo.264 HD Video Encoder, it would go so much faster. Like 3-4 times faster. That way I could spend less time waiting for videos to encode and more time drinking helping old ladies across the street.

If I'd been a really good boy this year, like if I'd won the Nobel Peace Prize or employee of the month at TUAW, I'd ask for a bona fide guitar amplifier. But since I haven't been that good, I'd settle for a Zoom G2.1U Guitar Effects Pedal with USB interface. This thing will simulate all kinds of guitar effects for me, and it'll plug right into my MacBook Pro. So far playing my guitar through Garageband has been an acceptable substitute for a real, live amplifier, but the one thing I definitely miss is all my effects pedals. Garageband includes lots of neat software effects that simulate pedals, but you can't stomp on them to switch them on and off. I know - I've tried.

Last thing, Santa: if none of those other things will fit in your bag, could you just get me a big, fat iTunes gift card? I've got nearly US$120 worth of songs I want to upgrade to iTunes Plus so I can stop worrying about DRM nonsense on my previous purchases and get higher-quality music in the process.

Thanks Santa. Next year I promise to be more helpful and honest and say fewer naughty words about New Zealand's telecommunications companies.

TUAWFive Gifts for the Mac AV Geek originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>airport expressAirportExpresschristmaselgatofeatureshanukkahhggholidayholiday gift guideHolidayGiftGuideituneskwanzaashuresolsticezoomFri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Google Chrome released for Mac]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/23/google-chrome-released-for-mac/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/23/google-chrome-released-for-mac/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/23/google-chrome-released-for-mac/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Google has released an official developer preview of Google Chrome for the Mac. Rather than digging through nightly development builds, you can download the developer preview of the WebKit-based browser at Google's official webpage.

Chrome sports several features similar to Safari 4 in Snow Leopard, such as sandboxing - each tab runs as its own process, so if one crashes, it doesn't bring down the whole browser. It also sports the "tabs on top" interface present in some builds of the Safari 4 beta released earlier this year. Some people hated tabs on top in Safari, but others eventually got used to it and even missed the feature when it was omitted from the final release of Safari 4; if tabs on top is your thing, then Chrome has you covered.

Chrome supports importing bookmarks, settings, and history from whatever browser you're currently using, so if you're curious to see how it runs on a Mac, go ahead and give it a try. Let us know in the comments if you run into any issues.

[Via Download Squad]

TUAWGoogle Chrome released for Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>betabrowserschromegooglegoogle chromeGoogleChromeFri, 23 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST<![CDATA[New unibody MacBook loses two ports]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/20/new-unibody-macbook-loses-two-ports/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/20/new-unibody-macbook-loses-two-ports/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/20/new-unibody-macbook-loses-two-ports/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The new polycarbonate MacBook released today has gained some tantalizing new features, but in the process of redesigning the case to accept the new integrated battery, it's also lost two ports.

Just like the unibody aluminum MacBooks released last year, the latest version of the plastic MacBook has no Firewire port. This also means that the last Firewire 400 port in the Mac lineup has vanished - all new Macs, save the Firewire-free new MacBook, now have Firewire 800 only. Farewell, Firewire 400, we hardly knew ye.

But that's not all that's been lost: in a more puzzling omission, the MacBook has also lost its dedicated audio out port. Now one port does the job of both audio output and input.

I don't imagine the loss of Firewire will go down well with many people (it certainly didn't the last time this happened), but the audio port seems like less of an issue. If you're going to do any serious audio work, you're generally going to want to use a USB peripheral anyway, and having one port do everything makes it impossible to plug your headphones into the wrong port and unintentionally blast your potentially embarrassing iTunes playlist to passersby. Not that that's ever happened to me...

TUAWNew unibody MacBook loses two ports originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>audioFirewireFirewire 400Firewire400MacBookTue, 20 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Apple versus Woolworths: logo smackdown]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/05/apple-versus-woolworths-logo-smackdown/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/05/apple-versus-woolworths-logo-smackdown/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/05/apple-versus-woolworths-logo-smackdown/#commentsFiled under: , ,

UPDATE 2: Be sure to read Engadget's analysis of what appears to be a non-event here.

Apple is apparently getting hot and bothered over Australian/New Zealand supermarket chain Woolworths' new logo. Woolworths insists the logo is merely a stylized "W," but Apple's copyright lawyers aren't buying it. They're trying to knock down Woolworths' copyright application for the logo by claiming it violates Apple's intellectual property.
Apparently, according to trademark lawyer Trevor Choy, Apple does this fairly often, trying to make sure that some other company's branding can't be mistaken for its iconic logo.

I'll admit that at first glance the logos look similar (to me, anyway - my ex-graphic designer wife doesn't agree). Even so, it seems kind of a stretch to assume anyone is going to confuse Woolworths, a supermarket chain based only in Australia and New Zealand that mostly sells, you know, food, with Apple, a worldwide company that sells computers. Trust me, I shop at the Woolworths here in Palmerston North every week; it's a decent grocer, but nobody's going to wander in there looking for a MacBook Pro.

What do you think? Does Apple have a case here? Or is it sort of ridiculous for Apple to claim that anything roundish with a leaf on top endangers its trademark? Sound off in the comments.

UPDATE: A couple of points we should clear up on this post. First, Apple is not, in fact, the aggressor in this case. No one is, really. It is a trademark action, and as far as we know it has NOT become a lawsuit. It appears to be a part of the trademark process as it happens down under. Apple is free to object, and since Woolworths is attempting to register their mark across a huge range of products (like computers), they are practically obligated to do so. We'll keep an eye out for any interesting developments, however. - Ed.


TUAWApple versus Woolworths: logo smackdown originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apple legalapple logoAppleLegalAppleLogoaustralianew zealandNewZealandwoolworthsMon, 05 Oct 2009 09:30:00 EST<![CDATA[New, Star Trek-ish Apple multitouch patent surfaces]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/02/new-star-trek-ish-apple-multitouch-patent-surfaces/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/02/new-star-trek-ish-apple-multitouch-patent-surfaces/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/02/new-star-trek-ish-apple-multitouch-patent-surfaces/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Details of a recent Apple patent have just emerged, and they describe a potential new multitouch input method that sounds like it came right off the Starship Enterprise. The patent describes a large multitouch-enabled surface that will allow differentiation of input between all ten fingers at once, plus palms and wrists.

In essence, once implemented this would enable a multitouch surface to act like one big keyboard and mouse combo - think the iPhone's keyboard (on steroids) combined with a Wacom tablet, and that's just the start of the possibilities such a device allows.

Naturally this patent application has people buzzing about the long-rumored tablet, but properly realized this device could easily be applied to any Mac as a one-stop replacement for the keyboard, mouse, and any other number of input devices. That said, this may just turn out to be one of Apple's many phantom patents - the company often patents concepts without ever bringing them to fruition. Still, the thought of one day being able to tap away on a glass surface that you can manipulate into any configuration you want? Make it so, Apple.

[via Engadget]

TUAWNew, Star Trek-ish Apple multitouch patent surfaces originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>multitouchpatenttabletFri, 02 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EyeTV app for iPhone released]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/30/eyetv-app-for-iphone-released/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/30/eyetv-app-for-iphone-released/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/30/eyetv-app-for-iphone-released/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Elgato, maker of EyeTV, has released EyeTV for iPhone [iTunes Link], an app that allows access to both live and recorded video content from any Mac running EyeTV 3.2 or later. The $4.99 app lets you view live and recorded TV on your iPhone or iPod touch over your local network, and it also allows you to access the same content from a remote WiFi location using a service called MyEyeTV. Unsurprisingly, just like SlingPlayer, access over 3G isn't possible.

Accessing either live or recorded TV over your local network is simple, and usually works well. Recorded content plays back almost immediately with barely a stutter to be seen -- the caveat to this is that all recorded content has to be rendered into a format the iPhone will understand, which can take a while if you have a slower Mac. Live TV takes longer to load on your iPhone and is far more finicky. I found the only way to get reliable, stutter-free playback on my iPhone was to close the EyeTV playback window on my Mac. Apparently the strain of displaying content on my Mac and simultaneously streaming it to my iPhone was just too much for a 2.6 GHz processor to handle.

You can set video quality on Live TV from 80 kbps to 800 kbps, and there's also a setting that allows you to always use highest quality when you're on a local network. Again, streaming over my local network almost always worked well, so long as I wasn't trying to play back content on my Mac at the same time.

Continue reading EyeTV app for iPhone released

TUAWEyeTV app for iPhone released originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>elgatoelgato eyetvelgato systemsElgatoEyetvElgatoSystemseyetveyetv3iphoneipod touchIpodTouchWed, 30 Sep 2009 09:40:00 EST<![CDATA[New Zealand iPhone GPS ban considered, then overturned]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/28/new-zealand-iphone-gps-ban-considered-then-overturned/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/28/new-zealand-iphone-gps-ban-considered-then-overturned/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/28/new-zealand-iphone-gps-ban-considered-then-overturned/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

A few days ago, I learned of a new law coming out in Australia that's set to ban cell phone GPS usage while driving. I criticized the Aussie government's approach and noted that while New Zealand had a similar forthcoming law, at least NZ's government was sensible enough not to pursue the cell phone usage ban to the same extent seen in Australia's case.

Sadly, for most of Monday the NZ government had me eating crow, because they temporarily decided to emulate the Aussie rules and amend the new cell phone usage law: according to New Zealand's Transport Ministry, after November 1, New Zealand would ban all use of cellular phones other than using the phone as a hands-free headset to make calls. This would have included using the iPhone as a GPS, and could even potentially have been interpreted to ban using the iPhone as an iPod hooked to the car stereo!

This out-of-the-blue recast of the law had many Kiwi iPhone users fuming, including me, and iPhonewzealand set up an online petition protesting this law. I didn't expect an online petition to have much (if any) impact, so I really hoped some more organized, legitimate form of protest formed before this law took effect.

I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that common sense walks the halls of the NZ government, as the Ministry of Transport's Press Secretary has clarified the Ministry's position:

It is not the intent of the rule to make it illegal for motorists to use the satellite navigation or music functions of their cell phones, provided these are mounted in the vehicle and are manipulated infrequently.

The rule has been clarified to keep its focus where it should be: on discouraging motorists from using handheld cellphones to talk or text while driving.

I've got to say, I'm pretty shocked by this ruling for two reasons: that it came out so quickly (less than a day after the first article claiming the GPS ban would go into effect), and that it came down on the side of common sense. It's not often that any government does something that puts a smile on my face, but it definitely happened today.

TUAWNew Zealand iPhone GPS ban considered, then overturned originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cell phone banCellPhoneBangpsgps banGpsBaniphoneNew ZealandNewZealandMon, 28 Sep 2009 09:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Aussie drivers: Buy a cradle, or no iPhone GPS for you]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/22/aussie-drivers-buy-a-cradle-or-no-iphone-gps-for-you/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/22/aussie-drivers-buy-a-cradle-or-no-iphone-gps-for-you/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/22/aussie-drivers-buy-a-cradle-or-no-iphone-gps-for-you/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Live in Australia? Have an iPhone? Do you use the iPhone's built-in Maps app, Navigon, or TomTom [iTunes links] to navigate? If you answered yes to all three of those questions, then I have some bad news for you: under the Australian Road Rule 8th Amendment, all use of the iPhone in your car is soon to be banned unless you buy a cradle for it, including using it as a GPS navigator.

An article from the Sydney Morning Herald initially makes it sound as though you won't be able to use such apps at all, especially after reading this quote from a spokesperson for VicRoads, the traffic authority for the Australian state of Victoria: "A phone will only be allowed to be used for its primary purpose. If it's a phone, it's a phone." But once you read farther down the article states, "Drivers will only be able to use mobile phones if they are placed in purpose-made cradles and operation is entirely hands-free." The language of the amendment itself also supports that interpretation.

So it's not the end of the road for iPhone nav apps in Australia, but if you want to continue using your iPhone for said purpose, you'd better go buy a cradle for it, because the fine for getting caught using your iPhone in the car without one is heinously expensive: AU$234! Even TomTom's iPhone cradle doesn't cost that much.

So far the new rule is only confirmed to be rolling out in Victoria, and not until November 9. But don't be surprised if other states and territories follow suit afterward.

New Zealand has a similar cellphone ban coming on November 1, but the NZ proposal is less draconian than the Australian version: the fine is only NZ$80, and the language in the proposal focuses on use of mobile phones for talking and texting, without making any mention of GPS or other uses.

The Australian law seems a bit of an overreach, but I fully support New Zealand's upcoming ban on talking and texting while driving (especially texting - I can't fathom why anyone would think it's okay to text and drive at the same time). I can't speak for Australia's roads, but the roads in New Zealand definitely require one's full attention. The iPhone in particular requires a lot of visual focus in order to use it as a phone unless you have a handsfree setup, and that kind of distraction from the task of driving could potentially lead to a fatal crash on our narrow, winding roads.

Of course there's a question of just how enforceable these laws will be in either country. Unless you're holding the phone up to the side of your head or using it at night, it's unlikely that a passing police car is going to see that your eyes are focused on what's in your hand rather than what's on the road. That's where common sense has to step in: is that phone call from your boss important enough to risk flying off the road? Probably not.

Thanks to reader Brian Rayner for sending this one in.

TUAWAussie drivers: Buy a cradle, or no iPhone GPS for you originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>australiagpsgps navigationGpsNavigationiphonemobile phone banMobilePhoneBannavigonnew zealandNewZealandtomtomTue, 22 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Apple store is down... and now back up]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/20/apple-store-is-down/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/20/apple-store-is-down/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/20/apple-store-is-down/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The online Apple store is currently down. Considering it's the middle of the weekend for folks in the Western Hemisphere, and considering that we haven't heard much in the way of rumors concerning new products or product updates, this is more than likely just a maintenance update. We'll be monitoring the store's status and try to determine what, if anything, has changed when it comes back up.

And... it's back up. Nothing much appears to have changed, aside from some reports of pricing changes on refurb iPods and the 'new' badges on some products.

Thanks to the many readers who sent this in.

TUAWApple store is down... and now back up originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apple storeAppleStorestore downStoreDownSun, 20 Sep 2009 03:02:00 EST<![CDATA[iTunes 9 Focus: iTunes Media organization]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/10/itunes-9-focus-itunes-media-organization/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/10/itunes-9-focus-itunes-media-organization/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/10/itunes-9-focus-itunes-media-organization/#commentsFiled under: , ,

iTunes was never known for organizing things well in the Finder. It pretty much just dumped everything in your iTunes Music folder, whether it was an album, movie, or a season of TV shows. You could still find what you were looking for, but it was kind of a pain, because you'd have to scroll past potentially hundreds of music albums before you got to your Movies or TV Shows folders.

In iTunes 9, there's a new feature that remedies this organization problem, appropriately named iTunes Media organization. It moves your folders around into a much more logical structure, with separate folders for audiobooks, iPhone apps, movies, music, podcasts, ringtones, TV shows, and voice memos.

Another extremely useful organizational feature that's come out in iTunes 9 is a new folder named "Automatically add to iTunes." This folder does exactly what it says; drag a file into it, and not only will it be added to iTunes immediately, it will also automatically move to the appropriate folder. So, for example, if you drag a movie file into the "Automatically add to iTunes" folder, it'll show up your iTunes library immediately, and it'll also automatically move to the iTunes Music > Movies folder. This makes it easier than ever to keep things organized.


Sweet, sweet organization, how I love thee
One thing to keep in mind if you're backing up using Time Machine: sadly, Time Machine isn't smart enough to know that your files have merely been moved around, not deleted and re-added. So if you upgrade to iTunes Media organization, Time Machine will back up your entire iTunes library again. This might not be a big deal to you if your iTunes library isn't very big, but if you're one of those people toting around half a terabyte of media files, you might want to think twice before upgrading to the new organization scheme. My library was only 78 GB, but that still entailed deleting five months worth of backups from my Time Capsule and an overnight backup.

The "Automatically add to iTunes" folder is enabled automatically when you install iTunes 9, and is located in the /Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/ folder for each user on the Mac. This happens whether you enable iTunes Media organization or not, so all you'll be losing by not upgrading to the new organization scheme is the peace of mind of having a far less cluttered library in the Finder. Unless you're a fiend for organization, it might not be worth the hassle of backing up your entire iTunes library again.

Note to readers: the last paragraph was rewritten to clarify how the Automatically Add to iTunes folder works, how it is enabled, and where to find it.

TUAWiTunes 9 Focus: iTunes Media organization originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>itunesitunes 9Itunes9Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Shopping cart gone in iTunes 9]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/09/shopping-cart-gone-in-itunes-9/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/09/shopping-cart-gone-in-itunes-9/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/09/shopping-cart-gone-in-itunes-9/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Buyer beware: one of the features that has silently disappeared from iTunes 9 is the Shopping Cart, where you used to be able to place songs, albums, videos, and apps for future purchase. It has been replaced with a new feature called "Wish List" that functions similarly to the old shopping cart, storing your potential purchases on iTunes's servers.

What's slightly sneaky about this is there's nothing apparently different from an end-user's perspective at first glance. Clicking "purchase" or "buy now" used to automatically place items in your shopping cart if you had that preference enabled, but now the behavior has been completely altered - now all purchases on the iTunes store are 1-click if you click the "Buy Now" button, and there's no way to cancel them once they start. So whether it's a $1.29 song or a $129 iPhone app, if you click that "Buy Now" button, you're getting charged.

If you want to emulate the old "shopping cart" purchase behavior, you have to instead click the arrow to the right of "Buy Now" and select "Add to Wish List."


Save your wallet! Always click the arrow!

A big thanks to the many readers who sent this tip in.

Update: If you had items in your shopping cart before updating to iTunes 9, they won't have disappeared. All of the items that used to be in your shopping cart in iTunes 8 or older should have migrated to the new Wish List in iTunes 9.

image via http://www.flickr.com/photos/mukluk/ / CC BY 2.0

TUAWShopping cart gone in iTunes 9 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>itunesitunes 9itunes storeshopping cartWed, 09 Sep 2009 18:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Unsung Snow Leopard feature: multiple-language spell checker]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/04/unsung-snow-leopard-feature-multiple-language-spell-checker/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/04/unsung-snow-leopard-feature-multiple-language-spell-checker/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/04/unsung-snow-leopard-feature-multiple-language-spell-checker/#commentsFiled under: , ,

OS X has had a system-wide, built-in spell checker for a while now, but until Snow Leopard, it could only check the spelling of whatever your default language was. But what if you needed to prepare a document in another language, say for a college Spanish assignment? In that case, you'd end up with a document with pretty much every single word underlined in red, with no reliable way to spell check it.

But now, OS X offers simultaneous spell checking not only in four different varieties of English, but also in Spanish, French, German, Italian, and six other European languages. You can mix and match these languages in a single document, and the built-in spell checker will intelligently adapt to whichever language it thinks you've switched to. Pages from iWork '07 doesn't seem to benefit from this new feature, nor does the 2008 version of Word, but it works just fine in Safari and TextEdit. With TextEdit you get an added feature: once it figures out what language you're typing in, autocorrect will work for that language just as well as it does for English.

So, for example, when you write in Spanish, the computer's dictionary knows it has to look for words in Spanish.

Or, if you'll forgive mi español descompuesto,

Entonces, por ejemplo, cuando tú escribes en español, el diccionario de la computadora sabe que tiene mirar por palabras en español.

That last sentence would normally have red underlines under nearly every word, but using TextEdit in Snow Leopard the spell checker adapted to Spanish spelling as soon as I finished typing "entonces." It also auto-corrected espanol to español, which is much easier than having to type option-n, n to get the tilde above the n.

The adaptation seems to happen on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis. In other words, the spell checker doesn't seem to be intelligent enough to recognize when you switch languages in mid-paragraph, much less mid-sentence. The spell checker will do its best to figure out the primary language of the paragraph; for example, if you type a few words in English but the rest of the paragraph is in Spanish, the English words will show up as misspelled.

There's some potential for confusion if you switch back and forth between languages within paragraphs, but between paragraphs there's no apparent issues.

This would have come in really handy a couple of years ago; after opening some old Spanish assignments I had, I found some of my compositions riddled with minor errors (mostly misplaced accent marks) that the spell checker in Leopard or Tiger never would have caught.

¡Viva la Mac!

View the video below for a brief glimpse of the new spell check behavior in action:

TUAWUnsung Snow Leopard feature: multiple-language spell checker originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>10.6snow leopardSnowLeopardspell checkSpellChecktext editTextEditFri, 04 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lost your favorite Safari plugin after upgrading to Snow Leopard? Try 32-bit mode]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/03/lost-your-favorite-safari-plugin-after-upgrading-to-snow-leopard/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/03/lost-your-favorite-safari-plugin-after-upgrading-to-snow-leopard/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/03/lost-your-favorite-safari-plugin-after-upgrading-to-snow-leopard/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Snow Leopard has brought a host of improvements to OS X, but Safari has been changed in one way that could ruin your day if you're used to using third-party plugins. Support for Input Managers has been removed in 64-bit Safari, which means that popular Safari plugins like Saft won't work.

Getting these plugins to work again in Safari is easy, but there is one tradeoff to keep in mind.

Re-enabling plugin support for Safari is as simple as forcing Safari to start up in 32-bit mode. When you choose "Get Info" on Safari, you'll notice a checkbox in the window that says "Open in 32-bit mode." Check this box.

That's it. Safari will now open in 32-bit mode, and any Input Manager plugins you were using before upgrading to Snow Leopard, like Saft or PithHelmet, should work just fine. Additionally, running Safari in 32-bit mode allows Multiclutch's custom trackpad gestures to work; these weren't working for me when I ran Safari in 64-bit mode, probably because Multiclutch is a 32-bit prefpane.

There's one caveat to running Safari in 32-bit mode: there's a tradeoff in stability. One of the features you gain by running Safari in 64-bit mode is that Safari will "sandbox" plugins like Flash, so if (when) Flash Player crashes, it doesn't take all of Safari down with it. This is because when Safari runs in 64-bit mode, plugins actually run as their own separate processes rather than being bundled up with Safari. But when Safari is run in 32-bit mode, Flash and other plugins work the old way, which means if (when) Flash crashes, so will Safari.


Safari in 64-bit mode: Flash runs as its own process.
Result: far fewer four-letter words in your workflow



Safari in 32-bit mode: Plugins work, but Flash makes it crash


If you can't live without your plugins (and I can't - Safari without Multiclutch or PithHelmet is like a day without sunshine), then the small sacrifice in stability you'll suffer by running Safari in 32-bit mode is probably going to be worth it to you.

Note: if you're running anything that runs off the SIMBL input manager plugin like Saft or PithHelmet, you might have to take a few extra steps to get things running properly in Safari on Snow Leopard. This procedure is specifically tailored toward getting PithHelmet running, but the steps for Saft should be similar (Procedure courtesy of versiontracker.com user tech.bear).

- Edit the file "/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/PithHelmet.bundle/Contents/Info.plist" using either TextEdit or another editor (If you're dealing with Saft, substitute as needed); you can find this file by finding PithHelmet.bundle, right-clicking on it, and choosing "Show Contents" from the contextual menu.

- Look for "<key>MaxBundleVersion</key>" down towards the bottom of the .plist file; now look at the next line. It's the <string> line.

- Change the number to 9999.9

- Save the file
What happens is there's an identifier string that checks against the version number of Safari; by changing that value to 9999, you shouldn't have to deal with that incompatibility error ever again. Of course, this is at your own risk -- this version check is designed specifically to prevent SIMBL plugins from "breaking" Safari when Safari gets updated, but if you don't want to or can't wait for the developer to update the plugin, this procedure shouldn't really give you any problems. I've been doing something similar for four years of using PithHelmet, and I haven't run into any major issues.


TUAWLost your favorite Safari plugin after upgrading to Snow Leopard? Try 32-bit mode originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>input managersInputManagersmulticlutchpithhelmetsafarisaftsnow leopardSnowLeopardtips and tricksTipsAndTricksThu, 03 Sep 2009 07:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Benchmarking results: Is Snow Leopard really any faster than Leopard?]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/02/benchmarking-results-is-snow-leopard-really-any-faster-than-leo/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/02/benchmarking-results-is-snow-leopard-really-any-faster-than-leo/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/02/benchmarking-results-is-snow-leopard-really-any-faster-than-leo/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Be sure to check all of our ongoing Snow Leopard coverage right here.

One of the biggest features of Snow Leopard isn't something apparent to the naked eye: software tweaks and refinements intended to make OS X a leaner, meaner OS for your fighting Apple machine. But is Snow Leopard really any faster? Now that I've successfully upgraded two Macs to Snow Leopard I've got some benchmarking results to share.

My Early 2008 MacBook Pro shipped with OS X Leopard 10.5.2 installed. I ran Geekbench on the stock OS X installation after upgrading the RAM to 4 GB to get a baseline for comparison of future performance. 18 months later I ran the same test immediately after updating to 10.6. Both tests were performed with Geekbench testing in 32-bit mode immediately after a restart, with no other programs open except the Finder, nothing loaded in Dashboard, and no Time Machine backup running.



Machine specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.60 GHz w/ 4GB RAM

Average Overall Geekbench score for this model of MacBook Pro: 3304

Read on for the scores.

Continue reading Benchmarking results: Is Snow Leopard really any faster than Leopard?

TUAWBenchmarking results: Is Snow Leopard really any faster than Leopard? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>10.6benchmarksgeekbenchSnow LeopardSnowLeopardWed, 02 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Apple store back up; only minor changes]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/30/apple-store-back-up-no-change/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/30/apple-store-back-up-no-change/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/30/apple-store-back-up-no-change/#commentsFiled under:

The Apple Store is back up, with no major changes. It appears to have just been a maintenance update a chance for Apple to change out the graphics on the Mac images to indicate that new machines come with Snow Leopard. [Thanks to everyone who sent that in!]

An earlier post went out claiming that the store had come up with a new 2 TB Time Capsule and a price reduction for the old 1 TB model. This was a middle-of-the-night editorial error, and we apologize for the misinformation. The Time Capsule updates were actually introduced at the end of July.

TUAWApple store back up; only minor changes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 30 Aug 2009 04:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apple storeAppleStoreSun, 30 Aug 2009 04:23:00 EST<![CDATA[Failure to launch: Apple bungles Snow Leopard distribution in New Zealand]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/29/failure-to-launch-apple-bungles-snow-leopard-distribution-in-ne/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/29/failure-to-launch-apple-bungles-snow-leopard-distribution-in-ne/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/29/failure-to-launch-apple-bungles-snow-leopard-distribution-in-ne/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

So, how's everybody enjoying Snow Leopard? Good stuff, isn't it? Gotta love those new Exposé options in the Dock, and all that saved hard drive space, and the faster if slightly quirkier performance... isn't it, um... great?

Argh. I can't keep up the charade anymore. I know nothing about the Snow Leopard experience other than what other people have told me, because it's not available in New Zealand yet (at least not outside of Auckland). And I'm not happy about it. And I'm going to rant... now.

In July of 2008, the Apple-loving (and Apple-hating) world's eyes locked onto a small, isolated nation in the South Pacific: New Zealand, home to 40 million sheep and a few hundred otherwise perfectly normal human beings dressed as hobbits. Why so much attention on New Zealand? Because of all the countries getting the iPhone 3G, New Zealand was getting it first thanks to its location just west of the International Date Line.

The logistics involved in a rolling launch across most of the world must have been staggeringly complex, but with a few bumps here and there, Apple pulled it off. The launch of the iPhone 3G was a success not just in New Zealand, but worldwide.

That led me to believe that something similar would happen for the launch of Snow Leopard. After all, if Apple could pull off launching the iPhone 3G in so many countries on the same day, it ought to be a simple matter to do the same thing with a much smaller and simpler product. I mean, it's got to be harder to coordinate the launch of a big ol' phone compared to what's essentially just a plastic disk in a box, right? Right...?

Well, not so much. Apple has fumbled the NZ launch of Snow Leopard like a wide receiver wearing butter-coated gloves. Plus the receiver is blind. Also, he doesn't know how to play football.

Continue reading Failure to launch: Apple bungles Snow Leopard distribution in New Zealand

TUAWFailure to launch: Apple bungles Snow Leopard distribution in New Zealand originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 29 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>10.6apple retailAppleRetailnew zealandNewZealandsnow leopardSnowLeopardSat, 29 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Aperture updated to 2.1.4]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/27/aperture-updated-to-2-1-4/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/27/aperture-updated-to-2-1-4/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/27/aperture-updated-to-2-1-4/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Aperture, Apple's pro-level photo editing/management software, has been updated to 2.1.4.

The software update, which weighs in at a whopping 213 MB, comes with the following fixes:

- Addresses an issue from Aperture 2.1.3 that prevented the "Do not import duplicates" option in the import window to properly detect and filter out duplicate photos.

- Addresses an issue that caused JPEG images to be compressed when uploading photos to MobileMe, even when the "Actual Size Images" option was selected.

- Addresses an issue that could cause dust jackets to render incorrectly when switching between the softcover and hardcover options with the Stock Book theme.

Aperture 2.1.4 is available now via Software Update.

TUAWAperture updated to 2.1.4 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apertureaperture2software updateSoftwareUpdateThu, 27 Aug 2009 18:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Twitterrific updated to 2.1, adds many new features]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/19/twitterriffic-updated-to-2-1-adds-many-new-features/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/19/twitterriffic-updated-to-2-1-adds-many-new-features/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/19/twitterriffic-updated-to-2-1-adds-many-new-features/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

The Iconfactory's Twitter for iPhone client app, Twitterrific [iTunes link] , has been updated to 2.1. The new version has added several new features that make it far more useful than before. A few highlights:

  • New "Load More..." button at the bottom of the timeline to retrieve older tweets
  • New "Following" and "Followers" lists in author view
  • Support for recording, posting, and viewing videos (recording and posting require iPhone 3GS)
  • Built-in browser now supports landscape orientation
  • Image links are now displayed in a photo viewer
  • Long uploads now show a percentage completed
  • Added in-app email support

The update comes with bug fixes as well, including improved typing speed, plugged memory leaks, and many more.

Twitterrific is the only Twitter client app I've used for my iPhone so far. The free version may be ad-supported, but even before this update its smooth interface and impressive functionality were enough for Twitterrific to make it to my iPhone's first page of apps. So far the update seems to run far smoother, and the added features, particularly "Load More..." and the Following/Followers lists, ensure that this will most likely remain my Twitter app of choice.

I don't have a 3GS, so I wasn't able to test the video upload feature in Twitterrific 2.1. Our own Dave Caolo used it on his 3GS to upload a ten-second film, and he said it took less than thirty seconds to upload it over 3G.

Oddly enough, even though the app has a built-in internet browser, it's still only rated 4+. Other apps have run into approval hurdles from Apple's app store requiring them to be rated 17+ because the built-in browser "could be used to link to objectionable content." Perhaps we're seeing the end of this practice?

TUAWTwitterrific updated to 2.1, adds many new features originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>app reviewapp storeapp-reviewAppReviewAppStoreiphoneiphone 3gsIphone3gsipod touchIpodTouchtwittertwitterrifficWed, 19 Aug 2009 18:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Mac 201: Preparing your Mac for Snow Leopard]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/17/mac-201-preparing-your-mac-for-snow-leopard/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/17/mac-201-preparing-your-mac-for-snow-leopard/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/17/mac-201-preparing-your-mac-for-snow-leopard/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

With Snow Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X, expected rumored to ship out any week day now, it's worth looking at one thing that can make upgrading to 10.6 a lot easier (at least on an Intel Mac-as most PowerPC Mac users should know by now, Leopard 10.5 is the end of the road for you: Snow Leopard is Intel-only).

Snow Leopard is mostly about optimizing Leopard's performance rather than introducing new features. Part of that optimization is that OS X 10.6 is expected to save users several gigabytes of space on their hard drives versus a 10.5 installation. And part of the reason that Snow Leopard is able to pare down that much space is that Rosetta is now an optional installation.

(Update: as many commenters have noted, the Rosetta program itself doesn't take up much space - only a couple of megabytes. Most of the space savings in Snow Leopard is from Apple stripping out PowerPC binaries from the apps and OS libraries. It's still worth going through your apps and updating the PowerPC-only apps to universal binaries, however, because you will still see a significant boost in performance by doing so.)

Introduced in 2005, not long after Apple announced its transition to Intel processors, Rosetta is a dynamic translator that allows legacy PowerPC applications to run on Intel processors. It was intended as a stopgap measure to allow PowerPC applications to continue to run on Intel-powered Macs until developers were able to update their applications to support either universal binaries or Intel-only code.

Applications which run under Rosetta provide slower performance than their universal binary counterparts because the CPU has to translate Intel instructions into PowerPC, so developers definitely had an incentive to switch to universal binaries. With four years having passed since the Intel transition, almost all applications for the Mac now run under a universal binary, which makes Rosetta largely unnecessary-hence its inclusion in OS X Snow Leopard as an optional installation.

So, why not save some space on your hard drive and leave Rosetta out? Well, if you do that, any applications you have that still have PowerPC only code won't run at all. (Update: Apparently Rosetta will download on demand if you try to run a PowerPC-only application.) Rosetta is absolutely necessary to run those applications. But, before Snow Leopard drops to consumers, you can take one simple step that will save you a lot of trouble.

Continue reading Mac 201: Preparing your Mac for Snow Leopard

TUAWMac 201: Preparing your Mac for Snow Leopard originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>10.6How toHowToOS XOS X 10.6OsXOsX10.6rosettasnow leopardSnowLeopardMon, 17 Aug 2009 12:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The history of the mythical iTablet]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/03/the-history-of-the-mythical-itablet/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/03/the-history-of-the-mythical-itablet/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/03/the-history-of-the-mythical-itablet/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Stefan Constantinescu of IntoMobile has written a lengthy piece dissecting the long, tortuous history of the Newton II/Apple Tablet/iTablet/Tablet Mac. It's a pretty comprehensive look at seven years worth of speculation, rumor, outlandish analyst claims, more speculation, more rumor, and event after event with no release of what's become Apple's most infamous vaporware product.

The article is definitely worth a read (as long as you're not sensitive to its occasionally salty language), but the conclusion Constantinescu reaches at the end of the article is perhaps most interesting of all:

"The Apple Tablet does not exist. What do I believe will happen? [...] I believe what will be announced at the end of this year, or early next year, is a new MacBook with a 10 or 11.6 inch screen. The screen may or may not be touch enabled. This will be the first Mac portable with a 16:9 aspect ratio LCD. Why wide? One reason: foot print. With a wide LCD, a laptop in the open/closed position can house a wider keyboard."

While that certainly sounds plausible, there's one thing I have to wonder: aside from a slightly wider keyboard and a possible touch screen, what distinguishes that theoretical miniature MacBook from the glut of netbooks made by other manufacturers, products that Apple has derided as underpowered machines that provide a dismal user experience?

While Apple does have a history of taking existing products, putting their own spin on them, and gaining industry laurels for innovation as a result (iMac, iPod), the introduction of a product like the one Constantinescu is talking about seems a little bit too much "Me too!" even for Apple. Such a device would also heavily cannibalize sales of the MacBook Air, to the point of making that device largely irrelevant.

After reading this piece, our own Aron Trimble noted, "I don't think it makes any more sense to speculate on what Apple will not do than to speculate on what Apple will do." Despite the fact that I pretty much did just the same thing, I agree with him.

The only thing that's certain about all of this: until Apple releases something like an iTablet, or definitively says "We will never, ever make this product, and we mean it, pinky swear!" the speculation will never end.

What do you think? Do you agree with Constantinescu that the long-rumored Tablet Mac will never see the light of day? Let us know in the comments.

TUAWThe history of the mythical iTablet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featuresitablettablettablet macMon, 03 Aug 2009 23:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Is AT&T behind the rejection and removal of Google Voice apps?]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/28/is-atandt-behind-the-rejection-and-removal-of-google-voice-apps/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/28/is-atandt-behind-the-rejection-and-removal-of-google-voice-apps/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/28/is-atandt-behind-the-rejection-and-removal-of-google-voice-apps/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

In the wake of TJ Luoma's report earlier tonight that the two independent Google Voice applications have been removed from the App Store, Jason Kincaid at TechCrunch says that the official Google Voice app has also been given the shaft. He theorizes that, despite the official Apple line that the apps "duplicate features that come with the iPhone," the real reason the apps were removed was because of squawking from AT&T.

While TechCrunch doesn't offer any definitive proof that AT&T is behind the Google Voice blockage, they do cite GV Mobile developer Sean Kovacs' point that Phil Schiller himself, who you may remember from Apple events like Macworld '09 and WWDC, personally approved the GV Mobile app last April. In fact, Kovacs says that Schiller called him to apologize for the delays in getting the app approved.

Given that high-level support for the app, it's not hard to follow TechCrunch's logic and set sights on AT&T when looking for reasons for its removal. While few people would argue that Apple's app approval process is pretty broken right now, it's hard to believe that an application that was approved by Apple's VP of marketing was somehow magically unapproved because it "duplicates functionality."

As TJ said in his post, it's difficult to believe that Apple truly thinks users will be confused by an application that does the same thing as the built-in Phone app when they went out of their way to purchase and download it. Even setting that aside, it's not at all clear exactly what functionality is supposedly being duplicated. If it's the dialer, then that's a poor excuse; lots of other approved apps include dialers, including Skype. If it's the SMS functionality, again, poor excuse, as other apps provide SMS functionality as well.

It's true that Google Voice isn't necessarily as "scary" to AT&T as a true VoIP app like Skype, but some of the Google Voice functions that TechCrunch describes, like free SMS messages and cheaper long distance, certainly do sound like something that would rattle AT&T's cage.

Take into consideration that Skype was approved because it will only work over Wi-Fi, even though there's no technical reason it shouldn't run over 3G. Look at how crippled SlingPlayer is compared to the same app on other phones. Now, Google Voice is dead in the water on the iPhone. What we have is a very clear and disturbing pattern. Applications that provide innovative solutions to users, but which fall outside the bounds of what a traditionally-minded telecommunications company like AT&T considers acceptable, are being either hobbled by arbitrary restrictions like Skype and Sling or blasted out of existence like Google Voice.

Whether it's Apple's fault or AT&T's, it's getting tiresome to see innovative applications like Skype or Google Voice constantly kicked to the curb or kneecapped. Are we headed for an App Store with nothing in it except fart apps? Those, at the very least, don't duplicate any built-in iPhone functionality that I've heard of.

One more thing: who else thinks it's ironic that a company started by a couple of guys who spent lots of time phone phreaking in a garage in the 1970s now kowtows to AT&T and kills apps that help people make cheaper calls?

TUAWIs AT&T behind the rejection and removal of Google Voice apps? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>app storeATTgoogleiphonerejectionsTue, 28 Jul 2009 00:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Mac 301: Time Machine backups after your Mac's brain surgery]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/20/mac-301-time-machine-backups-after-your-macs-brain-surgery/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/20/mac-301-time-machine-backups-after-your-macs-brain-surgery/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/20/mac-301-time-machine-backups-after-your-macs-brain-surgery/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

As I've discovered recently, one of the unfortunate side effects of having the logic board on your computer replaced (aside from the potentially hefty bill involved if your AppleCare has lapsed) is that your Time Machine backups won't play nicely with your Mac after the repair if you're using a Time Capsule.

Replacing the logic board is essentially like getting a whole new Mac; though all the data on the hard drive is identical, the new logic board will have different hardware identifiers (specifically, the MAC address) that will tell your Time Capsule, "This is a new Mac that's never been backed up before. Please treat it as such." The Time Capsule, doing as it's told, will fumble along and create a new Time Machine backup while ignoring the old backups completely.

Your options then are these:

1. Scrap your old Time Machine backups and start fresh. There may be an allure to this, but it's almost certainly unnecessary, and you can lose months of perfectly good backups. Plus, you then have to deal with the incredibly long first Time Machine backup all over again.

2. Hack your Time Machine backup using the following procedure, which will allow you to resume Time Machine backups as though your logic board was never replaced.

Continue reading Mac 301: Time Machine backups after your Mac's brain surgery

TUAWMac 301: Time Machine backups after your Mac's brain surgery originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>applecarehackshow tomac osx hintsMacOsxHintsterminaltime capsuletime machineTimeMachineMon, 20 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Worldwide Mac: the dos and don'ts of international electricity]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/20/worldwide-mac-the-dos-and-don-ts-of-international-electricity/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/20/worldwide-mac-the-dos-and-don-ts-of-international-electricity/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/20/worldwide-mac-the-dos-and-don-ts-of-international-electricity/#commentsFiled under: ,

Whether you're moving to another country or just visiting, chances are pretty good you're going to be bringing a lot of electronics with you. Chances are also pretty good that whatever country you're going to is going to have an electrical system with a different voltage or frequency than your home country, and probably differently-shaped outlets, too.

When traveling abroad, this vast array of voltages, frequencies, and plug types can be confusing, and whether you're packing a $200 iPod nano or a $2000 MacBook Pro, it can lead to a great deal of trepidation as well. The traveling geek's worst nightmare goes like this: you plug your very expensive, potentially irreplaceable electronics into some weird Romanian outlet, and suddenly sparks start flying. You try to unplug your precious device as quickly as you can, but the damage is done -- with a whiff of ozone, hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of equipment has just become a glorified brick.

Happily, most modern electronics shouldn't experience this issue, and that includes all recent Macs and iPod/iPhone power adapters. Here are a few dos and don'ts when it comes to international electricity.

Continue reading Worldwide Mac: the dos and don'ts of international electricity

TUAWWorldwide Mac: the dos and don'ts of international electricity originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ACadapterselectricityinternationalpowertiptravelworldMon, 20 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Why I'm not buying an iPhone 3GS in New Zealand (spoiler: it's not Apple's fault)]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/16/why-im-not-buying-an-iphone-3gs-in-new-zealand-spoiler-its-n/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/16/why-im-not-buying-an-iphone-3gs-in-new-zealand-spoiler-its-n/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/16/why-im-not-buying-an-iphone-3gs-in-new-zealand-spoiler-its-n/#commentsFiled under: , ,

When Apple announced the 3GS with all its whiz-bang new features, honestly the only thing I cared about was the increase in capacity. Everything else was just a bonus. I had my bank account all primed and ready to buy the thing as soon as it came out down here in New Zealand, but I was also keeping a wary eye on the NZ telcos to see what sort of blech they'd bring to the situation. Well, the blech they've brought is bad enough that I'm not buying a 3GS any time soon.

I looked forward to the release of the iPhone 3GS in New Zealand with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Excitement, because it would be nice to finally own an iPhone that can hold all of the music I actually listen to (16 GB just doesn't cut it). Trepidation, because as I made clear in an earlier post, the NZ telcos don't make buying an iPhone a cheap proposition.

The more time passed without any major announcements from either of the main NZ telcos, the more I knew their plans would suck. Vodafone already sold the 3G down here, so they were in a position to do pretty much whatever they wanted to the prices. Telecom was supposedly in "deep negotiations" with Apple to sell the iPhone in New Zealand, but the days stretched into weeks without any official word.

Traditionally, Apple has kept the prices of new products either the same or slightly lower when refreshing product lines like the iPod or iPhone. Many worldwide telcos have followed suit; in fact, across the Tasman Sea, Vodafone Australia offers a free iPhone when you sign up to a two-year plan.

Pretty much the most I was hoping for from the NZ telcos was that they'd keep their plan prices the same. I got my wish, sort of.

Continue reading Why I'm not buying an iPhone 3GS in New Zealand (spoiler: it's not Apple's fault)

TUAWWhy I'm not buying an iPhone 3GS in New Zealand (spoiler: it's not Apple's fault) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>iphoneiphone 3GSnew zealandtelecomvodafoneThu, 16 Jul 2009 00:30:00 EST<![CDATA[International iPhone users: bringing your iPhone to the States? Your options are limited.]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/15/international-iphone-users-bringing-your-iphone-to-the-states/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/15/international-iphone-users-bringing-your-iphone-to-the-states/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/15/international-iphone-users-bringing-your-iphone-to-the-states/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The iPhone seems like it should be the perfect companion for the international traveler. Not only can it make phone calls in pretty much any country, it can also help keep you entertained on long flights. You can even use it to hold your flight itinerary and other important info like hotel and car reservations. But if you're an international iPhone owner and you were planning on using the device to its fullest potential during your trip to the United States, such as keeping track of e-mail, surfing the Internet, checking weather, getting driving directions, or even making cheap phone calls, then I have some very shocking news for you, delivered courtesy of everyone's favorite telecommunications conglomerate, AT&T.

Before a recent vacation to visit with family in the US, I decided that instead of paying for international roaming rates that are tantamount to armed robbery (US$2.42 a minute for phone calls and up to US$19 per megabyte of data -- totally not kidding), I'd instead perform a trick that savvy international travelers have pulled for years: upon arriving in the States, I'd visit an AT&T store, purchase a SIM and pre-paid plan from them, and reap the benefits of far lower charges for voice calls. Though I'd still suffer exorbitant data rates, I was aware beforehand that the lovely folks at AT&T had already discontinued pre-paid data plans for the iPhone. Still, at least I'd be able to make cheaper calls to my family if necessary; or so I thought.

Continue reading International iPhone users: bringing your iPhone to the States? Your options are limited.

TUAWInternational iPhone users: bringing your iPhone to the States? Your options are limited. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>attcautionchargesconsumergophoneinternationaliphoneroamingSIMtravelWed, 15 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EST<![CDATA[iDVD - black sheep of the iLife suite]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/26/idvd-black-sheep-of-the-ilife-suite/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/26/idvd-black-sheep-of-the-ilife-suite/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/26/idvd-black-sheep-of-the-ilife-suite/#commentsFiled under: , ,

For me, iDVD has always been the redheaded stepchild of the iLife suite. While I've used Garageband to make songs, iPhoto to manage photos (until I got Aperture), iWeb to make websites, and iMovie to make movies, until recently I'd never once tried to use iDVD to put together a DVD project. I've spent the past week trying to put together a DVD of our first year in New Zealand to share with our family back in the States, and while the movie's turned out great, getting there has definitely not been half the fun.

Creating the movie itself was somewhat of a chore. Because I haven't yet upgraded to iLife '09, I'm stuck with the much-maligned tinker-toy interface introduced in iMovie '08. I couldn't use iMovie HD instead, because it's not compatible with my hard disk-based camcorder. After several days of wrestling with iMovie '08 to get it to do what I wanted it to do, I finally had a 95-minute project ready.

At "professional quality" in iDVD, that 95-minute project left me with almost a third of the DVD unused, so I decided to add more content, including a slideshow with 300+ pictures and two more short movies in an "extras" menu.

This turned out to be my downfall. Suddenly, iDVD no longer wanted to co-operate with me.

Continue reading iDVD - black sheep of the iLife suite

TUAWiDVD - black sheep of the iLife suite originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>iDVDiLifeiMovie 08Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update addresses SATA interface speeds]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/22/macbook-pro-efi-firmware-update-addresses-sata-interface-speeds/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/22/macbook-pro-efi-firmware-update-addresses-sata-interface-speeds/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/22/macbook-pro-efi-firmware-update-addresses-sata-interface-speeds/#commentsFiled under: , ,

While most of the focus of WWDC fell on the iPhone 3GS, the MacBook Pro line got some love from Apple last week as well, with several upgraded features on the 15" model and a re-branding of the 13" model from MacBook to MacBook Pro.

The Achilles' heel of the new upgrades, as reported last week, was that the MacBook Pro's SATA interface was limited to 1.5 Gbps in the latest models, down from 3.0 Gbps in previous models. Although this wasn't likely to be an issue unless you replaced the hard drive with a high-speed SSD, it still seemed like somewhat of a boneheaded move to downgrade the SATA interface without sufficient cause.

Today Apple has released MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7, which makes the issue moot. The update allows the SATA interface to work at full speed once again.

If you have one of the affected models of MacBook Pro, grab this update either via Software Update, or else go here (requires OS X 10.5.7). More info on the firmware update can be found on its support page.

Thanks to reader Joachim Bean for sending this in.

TUAWMacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update addresses SATA interface speeds originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>efifirmwareMacBook ProMacbookProsataSoftware UpdateMon, 22 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Notes in iPhone OS 3.0: getting rid of that syncing feeling]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/22/notes-in-iphone-os-3-0-getting-rid-of-that-syncing-feeling/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/22/notes-in-iphone-os-3-0-getting-rid-of-that-syncing-feeling/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/22/notes-in-iphone-os-3-0-getting-rid-of-that-syncing-feeling/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

When I heard that OS 3.0 was going to enable syncing of notes between the iPhone and the Mac, I was overjoyed. I use the notes app on my iPhone all the time for everything: reminders, grocery lists, and figuring out the monthly budget while I'm away from home. Having those notes sync back and forth with the Mac was something I very much looked forward to, because it made the notes app far more useful.

The first few times I synced notes between my iPhone and Mac, however, I'd get a message like this one:



Since I don't have many notes on my iPhone to begin with, this alert would come up every time I changed, deleted, or added a note on the iPhone. This would also hold up completing the iPhone's sync with my Mac until I confirmed that syncing notes was okay.

After a few days of this, it was starting to get irritating. I racked my brain trying to figure out how to stop it.

Then I remembered: iSync is still its own program (though one largely restricted to the background these days), so there ought to be a preference in it to stop this behavior.

And there was. In iSync's preferences, you can set the threshold for the alert message that appears on syncing with your iPhone:




You can disable the alert entirely, or you can set it to go off if 50%, 25%, 5%, or any data on your Mac will be modified by syncing with the iPhone.

I'm not sure if this was set to 5% by default, or if years ago I'd set it that low out of paranoia and just forgot about it. Now I have it set at 50%, and the irritating alerts have gone away.

TUAWNotes in iPhone OS 3.0: getting rid of that syncing feeling originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>iPhoneiPhone OS 3.0iPod TouchiSyncNotes appMon, 22 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Damage control: AT&T denies $55 tethering charge rumor]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/19/damage-control-atandt-denies-55-tethering-charge-rumor/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/19/damage-control-atandt-denies-55-tethering-charge-rumor/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/19/damage-control-atandt-denies-55-tethering-charge-rumor/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


While it was rumored that AT&T would charge an additional $55 to enable U.S. customers to use internet tethering on the iPhone, the company has scrambled to deny that claim by posting an update on its Facebook page:

"There are a lot of reports out there, but wanted you guys to know that rumors of $55 tethering plan on top of an unlimited data plan are false. We'll have more news to share when the iPhone tethering option is closer to launch."

I'm guessing one of two things has happened.

1. The $55 tethering option price that leaked was real, and AT&T is now in damage control mode. Perhaps realizing that they're overdosing on bad press already, they might be considering following in the footsteps of other telcos and let people tether the iPhone for free, or at least at a far more reasonable price.

or,

2. AT&T is doing the typical corporate PR thing, and by telling us that tethering won't cost $55, they'll expect their customers to be grateful when it actually costs "only" $35 instead.

I'm not a betting man -- when I visit Vegas, I go to visit family and for the cheap drinks -- but if I was, I wouldn't lay down any money on option 1.

[Via Macworld]

TUAWDamage control: AT&T denies $55 tethering charge rumor originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ATTiPhonetetheringFri, 19 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[AT&T iPhone customers: tethering is coming, for a price]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/18/atandt-iphone-customers-tethering-is-coming-for-a-price/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/18/atandt-iphone-customers-tethering-is-coming-for-a-price/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/18/atandt-iphone-customers-tethering-is-coming-for-a-price/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Citing an exclusive source from within AT&T, appmodo reports that "tethering support is coming later this summer" is AT&T-speak for "tethering support is coming at the end of July."

It won't be coming cheaply, however; appmodo's source says a tethering option will cost AT&T customers a whopping $55 a month.

While this is cheaper than the $70 rumor that's been making the rounds, it still strikes me as ridiculous that AT&T is charging additional money for this option in the first place. Considering their "unlimited" data plan is reportedly only unlimited until you reach 5 GB or so in any given month, it seems preposterous for AT&T to charge their customers an extra fee to use the iPhone to access the internet via tethering. But, since AT&T's wrangling caused Skype to be restricted to WiFi only and SlingPlayer Mobile to be almost totally crippled compared to the same software on different models of smartphones running on AT&T's network, perhaps this shouldn't come as a surprise.

With all the negative press AT&T has been getting over the past week, I have to wonder: what do they have against the iPhone?

Editor's Note: As many of our commenters have pointed out, several other sites have posted instructions and a hacked carrier file to allow tethering on AT&T-activated iPhones immediately; some have linked to an application that allows one-click tethering. We encourage anyone who is trying one of these procedures to be cautious in your network usage, as you may rapidly run afoul of your contract terms with your carrier.

TUAWAT&T iPhone customers: tethering is coming, for a price originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ATTiPhonetetheringThu, 18 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Inside iPhone 3.0: Tethering]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/17/inside-iphone-3-0-tethering/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/17/inside-iphone-3-0-tethering/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/17/inside-iphone-3-0-tethering/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

While I trashed Vodafone NZ's pricing in a previous post, in at least one way it's far ahead of U.S. telco giant AT&T: internet tethering using the iPhone is already possible over Vodafone's network without resorting to lengthy, kludgy, and unsupported hacks. Who knows how long tethering will stay supported here, or how long it will take before Vodafone remembers to charge extra for it, but for now, tethering is go in the Southern Hemisphere.

Tethering works over both USB and Bluetooth. Using USB to tether simply requires enabling internet tethering in the iPhone's settings, then plugging the iPhone into an available USB port on your computer. The Mac will automatically recognize the tethered iPhone, and your connection will be up and running.

Bluetooth tethering obviously requires enabling Bluetooth on both your iPhone and computer, and then selecting "Connect to Network" from the Bluetooth drop-down menu. Once again, the rest of the setup is automatic -- it really doesn't get much simpler than this.

The speed of the internet connection appears to be comparable to the iPhone's standard mobile speed using USB, but Bluetooth was only about half as fast. I didn't remain tethered for long for fear of gulping down my meager monthly data cap, but for the time I used it, tethering worked with no issues whatsoever.

For my money, having tethering available in little ol' New Zealand long before the U.S. will have it puts AT&T in an even less flattering light -- while AT&T has far more users spread over a much larger area than Vodafone NZ, AT&T also has more towers and more money to pour into their infrastructure.

Any other international iPhone users managed to get tethering working on their networks? Sound off in the comments, and be sure to let us know what network you're on.

Read on for a pictorial guide to enabling tethering over Bluetooth.

Continue reading Inside iPhone 3.0: Tethering

TUAWInside iPhone 3.0: Tethering originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ATTdatafeaturesiphone 3gIphone3giphoneosNew ZealandOS 3.0tetheringVodafoneWed, 17 Jun 2009 20:30:00 EST<![CDATA[OS 3.0 compatible apps already trickling in]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/15/os-3-0-compatible-apps-already-trickling-in/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/15/os-3-0-compatible-apps-already-trickling-in/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/15/os-3-0-compatible-apps-already-trickling-in/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Some of our readers have informed us that Tap Tap Revenge (iTunes store link) has been updated to version 2.6, boasting compatiblity with iPhone OS 3.0. This is most likely merely the first of many apps that will see updates in the coming weeks, but it's interesting that Tapulous has unleashed this update so far in advance of OS 3.0's release.

If you are running OS 3.0, upon launching the new version of Tap Tap it will ask you for permission to send push notifications to your device. If you allow them, a new category called Notifications will appear in your device's main settings, which will allow you to toggle push notifications on or off. Additionally, it appears that each app will have individual settings for badges and alerts.


It's not likely that Tapulous will be sending any push notifications just yet, as Apple has yet to throw the novelty-sized Frankenstein knife switch to activate push services. It's also unclear at this point what type of push services Tap Tap Revenge may offer after that switch is thrown. It is an interesting preview of things to come, however.

TUAWOS 3.0 compatible apps already trickling in originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>app storegamesiPhoneiPod touchOS 3.0Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Multi-touch coming to older MacBooks? Not so fast.]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/15/multi-touch-coming-to-older-macbooks-not-so-fast/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/15/multi-touch-coming-to-older-macbooks-not-so-fast/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/15/multi-touch-coming-to-older-macbooks-not-so-fast/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Mac Life and Gizmodo are both reporting that Snow Leopard will add multi-touch gestures to all older MacBooks and MacBook Pros. This has gotten a lot of people's hopes up that three- and four-finger multi-touch gestures will be back-ported to all Apple portables that previously did not have them.

Unfortunately, this is incorrect. Apples own information on Snow Leopard's enhancements reads, "All Mac notebooks with Multi-Touch trackpads now support three- and four-finger gestures." (emphasis added)

This raises the question, what's the difference between a multi-touch trackpad and a regular one, and which models have it?

The multi-touch trackpad was introduced with the first MacBook Air in early 2008. Not only does it allow two-finger scrolling like older models, it also allows advanced three-finger gestures like swiping to go back in Safari.

One month later, the early 2008 MacBook Pro received the same trackpad, with the same gestures. The multi-touch trackpad gains this new functionality because it has an embedded controller chip, identical to the one in the iPhone and iPod Touch, which allows advanced input from more than two fingers at once.

Later, the unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros debuted with multi-touch trackpads, but also introduced new four-finger gestures, which will not be officially supported in the older MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros until Snow Leopard's release.

The original MacBook Air and early 2008 MacBook Pro are the only machines which will gain additional gestures via Snow Leopard. The only reason these notebook models are able to gain these gestures via software updates, while earlier MacBook Pros and all plastic MacBooks are not, is because they possess the multi-touch controller chip in their trackpads.

Just to break it down, this is a list of the only, and I mean only, notebooks that support multi-touch gestures, either now or after Snow Leopard:

MacBook Air (all models)
Early 2008 MacBook Pro
Late 2008 17" MacBook Pro
Unibody MacBook (all models)
Unibody MacBook Pro (all models)

If you have a MacBook Pro manufactured before early 2008 or any plastic MacBook, then Snow Leopard or not, multi-touch isn't coming your way...


Continue reading Multi-touch coming to older MacBooks? Not so fast.

TUAWMulti-touch coming to older MacBooks? Not so fast. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>MacBookMacBook AirMacBook ProMacbookAirMacbookPromulti-touchSnow LeopardSnowLeopardMon, 15 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Worldwide Mac: Using the iPhone in New Zealand]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/14/worldwide-mac-using-the-iphone-in-new-zealand/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/14/worldwide-mac-using-the-iphone-in-new-zealand/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/14/worldwide-mac-using-the-iphone-in-new-zealand/#commentsFiled under: , ,

In a previous post, I discussed some of the shortcomings of New Zealand's broadband infrastructure. A lot of you gave some great responses, which led me to realize that although it's certainly not world-class, NZ's broadband isn't quite as bad overall as I thought - it's just my ISP isn't the greatest in the country, and it doesn't help matters that I don't live in a major city like Auckland or Wellington. When we first got here last July, we were kind of bewildered by pretty much everything (moving to a new country will do that to you), so we signed up for what seemed to be the best value for our money at the time. This turned out to entail a one-year commitment to Vodafone. Well, as it turns out, Vodafone NZ's broadband plans kind of stink compared to some other offerings people brought up, so we'll be ditching them for something better as soon as that commitment is over next month.

With my iPhone, however, I don't have the option of giving Vodafone the heave-ho for at least another 20 months. In fact, right now if you want to buy an iPhone in New Zealand, unless you're willing to jump through a lot of hoops and pay a lot more money, Vodafone is pretty much the only horse in town.

While some Kiwi commenters pointed out that broadband here isn't necessarily as terrible as I made it out to be, one thing they all agreed on was that the mobile phone pricing here is just barely short of criminal. No, let's not mince words: it is criminal. New Zealanders pay some of the highest mobile rates in the world, both for plans and for handsets. What we get for our money down here is pretty astonishing, and not in a good way.

Continue reading Worldwide Mac: Using the iPhone in New Zealand

TUAWWorldwide Mac: Using the iPhone in New Zealand originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>iPhoneNew ZealandTelecomVodafoneSun, 14 Jun 2009 23:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The iPhone: most dangerous cell phone ever? (No.)]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/14/the-iphone-most-dangerous-cell-phone-ever/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/14/the-iphone-most-dangerous-cell-phone-ever/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/14/the-iphone-most-dangerous-cell-phone-ever/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Is the iPhone the most dangerous cell phone ever?

Dr. Joseph Mercola thinks so. He's concerned about that great modern boogeyman, cell phone radiation. But lucky for you, he's got a solution he can sell you: the Blue Tube headset.

The Blue Tube headset looks to be a 2.5 mm plug hooked into a tiny speakerbox at the other end. That speaker box then emits sound up a long, hollow tube (similar to how a stethoscope works) and into an earpiece similar to those found on higher-end headphones from Shure and Etymotic.

What exactly makes an iPhone more "dangerous" than other cell phones? Well, Dr. Mercola helpfully points out that the iPhone emits radiation way more often than other cell phones, mostly because of what he calls "data waves."

Hookay. Let's be real for a second: cellular phones do emit low-level electromagnetic (EM) radiation. I used to work as a radiological health physics technician, so I know a fair bit about radiation (which is why I used to be in that field. Not anymore). Without getting too science-lecturey about it, let's just say there's two basic types of radiation:

1. The scary kind that can turn you into a sewer mutant and/or kill you. This is called ionizing radiation. It comes from nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors, nuclear waste, nuclear medicine (I'm sensing a pattern here), x-rays, and Cleveland.

2. The not-so scary kind that doesn't do much of anything to you at all. This is called non-ionizing radiation. Sources include power lines, your computer's display, cell phones, and the North Korean government's secret mind control rays.

It seems like every other week we get to hear about how the microwave radiation from cell phones is going to cook all of our brains like popcorn, and yet over decades of cell phone use by hundreds of millions of people, it hasn't happened yet. In fact, the U.S. National Cancer Institute has said, "Studies have not shown any consistent link between cellular telephone use and cancer." If anybody should know, I think it'd be those guys.

At any rate, it's kind of unnecessary to shell out close to $30 for the Blue Tube anyway, since the iPhone comes with a perfectly decent set of headphones already; and unlike the Blue Tube, they have a built-in microphone as well. If you're really as scared of iPhone-induced brain cancer as Dr. Mercola seems to think you should be, just use the free pack-in headphones instead.

Thanks to reader Chuck Cooper for sending this in!

TUAWThe iPhone: most dangerous cell phone ever? (No.) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>accessoriesheadsetsiphoneSun, 14 Jun 2009 07:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Worldwide Mac: getting online in New Zealand]]>http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/13/worldwide-mac-getting-online-in-new-zealand/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/13/worldwide-mac-getting-online-in-new-zealand/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/13/worldwide-mac-getting-online-in-new-zealand/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Last year, after years of planning, my wife and I left the United States and moved to New Zealand. Moving to the other side of the world has meant adjusting to an entirely different geography and culture. Driving on the left, the "reversed" seasons, the completely unfamiliar constellations and upside-down face of the moon, and having everything expressed in metric are ever-present reminders of just how much life has changed for us since leaving the U.S.

Another thing that's changed is our internet situation, and some of the changes have been big enough that it's profoundly affected our computing habits.

In the U.S. we had a fairly decent internet connection, especially for the Cleveland market: a 5 Mbps download speed, 768 Kbps upload, all delivered over the same cable line that delivered our television service. That internet connection, plus basic cable and a DVR, cost us a little over US$100 per month.

In New Zealand, the broadband landscape is completely different, and it's forced us to completely adjust our usage patterns.

According to a recent Norton Online Living Report (links to NZ Herald) commissioned by Symantec, New Zealanders spend an average of only 12.7 hours online per week, compared to a global average of 23.6 hours. Analysts are unsure why New Zealand lags so much in internet usage compared to the rest of the developed world, but after nearly a year of sampling the best they have to offer down here, I'm not at all surprised.

Continue reading Worldwide Mac: getting online in New Zealand

TUAWWorldwide Mac: getting online in New Zealand originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>data capsinternetISPsNew ZealandSat, 13 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST