Richard Gaywood

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Platter: novel photo-sharing social network for keen cooks

by Richard Gaywood (May 24th 2012 9:00AM)

How do you launch a social networking site in this day and age, long after the likes of Facebook and Twitter seized the world? One answer is "micro-social networks": designed with a clear and specific purpose in mind, they can fulfill that purpose better than any of the generalists like ...

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Instacast pricing raises hackles: are apps bought or rented? [Updated]

by Richard Gaywood (May 17th 2012 12:30PM)

Update: I made a mistake about Instacast's support for notifications in the original draft of this article. Please read my corrections at the end. My apologies, readers. --Rich The release of Instacast v2.0 ruffled some feathers recently. Vemedio, publishers of the popular podcasting app, have ...

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Faux G: New "4G" indicator on iPhone 4S is the tip of a standards iceberg (Updated)

by Richard Gaywood (Mar 14th 2012 8:00AM)

Update: See discussion of the ITU's "sliding scale" of 4G below. Commenters have pointed out that since 2010 the standards organization has acknowledged that 3G evolutions can reasonably be called 4G. References to 4G vs. IMT-Advanced have been clarified. In a rare move of capitulation to a ...

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Retina display Macs, iPads, and HiDPI: Doing the Math (updated)

by Richard Gaywood (Mar 1st 2012 10:00PM)

Love Apple gear? Like math? TUAW's Doing the Math series examines the numbers and the science behind the hardware and software. The rumourmill has been busy lately with claims that we might get "Retina display" Macs soon -- and of course, a Retina display iPad 3 on March 7, probably, maybe, ...

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Does Gatekeeper point the way to an App Store-only OS X?

by Richard Gaywood (Feb 23rd 2012 12:30PM)

Apple's announcement of Mountain Lion included many promised new features, including a stronger focus on the Mac App Store than ever before. Two significant new features, iCloud document syncing and Notification Center, are only accessible to App Store apps, and the new Gatekeeper security tool ...

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In pictures: AirPort Utility 6.0's missing features

by Richard Gaywood (Jan 31st 2012 4:00PM)

Apple's new AirPort Utility 6.0 for OS X was released yesterday, bringing over the slick UI from its pre-existing iOS version -- but as my colleague Chris reported, it also removes access to a number of features in the process. At the same time, Apple are still hosting downloads for the older ...

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Will the iPhone 4S overtake the Kinect as the fastest selling consumer product device?

by Richard Gaywood (Jan 29th 2012 11:00PM)

In 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of Guinness Breweries, was involved in a drunken argument about which of Europe's many game birds could fly the fastest. Unable to settle the argument even after consulting a well-stocked library, he commissioned a new reference book that would be filled ...

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AT&T's iPhone "sales" versus "activations": Doing the Math

by Richard Gaywood (Jan 27th 2012 1:00PM)

Love Apple gear? Like math? TUAW's Doing the Math series examines the numbers and the science behind the hardware and software. Several sites -- including TUAW -- reported yesterday that 80% of all smartphones AT&T sold in Q411 were iPhones, based on AT&T's quarterly earnings report. On ...

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Apple's plans for your living room: On Apple TV, "iTV", Siri, and all the rest

by Richard Gaywood (Jan 15th 2012 10:00AM)

The "iTV" rumourmill -- speculation that Apple will be releasing a full-size television, screen and all -- is back to full speed again. I've long been skeptical about this possibility, but even I have to concede that we reached the "no smoke without fire" level some time ago. The rumours are ...

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Thunderbolt devices are still irritatingly thin on the ground

by Richard Gaywood (Dec 11th 2011 9:00AM)

Apple's announcement of Thunderbolt on Feb 24th was greeted by excitement, as Mac users became aware of the tantalising possibilities of this new high-speed port. There's lots of things Thunderbolt can do that were simply not possible before -- driving multiple external displays from a single ...

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