Beta Beat: Delish

Posted May 7th 2008 7:00AM by Cory Bohon
Filed under: Software, Beta Beat

If you're a Del.icio.us fanactic like I am, then you have hundreds, going on thousands of bookmarks. How do you view your 1,000+ bookmarks? If you use a web browser, then you're living in the dark ages. I am going to show you a better way to view your bookmarks that may leave you speechless.

Delish is a completely new way to view your Del.icio.us bookmarks. You may ask, "What's so special about this. Can you not do this with other applications"? Well, no, because Delish is a way to view your bookmarks similar to the way you view your iPhoto images; as a matter of fact, the user interface is almost identical to that of iPhoto. When you load your bookmarks, Delish will automatically download a new snapshot of the page and use it as a thumbnail which can be enlarged for your viewing pleasure. You can also search through your bookmarks and view all of your tags in the left sidebar.

Another killer feature is reserved for those of you with one of those fancy new MacBook Pros or MacBook Airs, because you can zoom into your bookmarks by "pinching" the Multi-touch trackpad -- the very same way you can in iPhoto. The only thing missing from the application is the ability to add bookmarks directly from it, although this software is currently in beta and definitely has time to add this support later on.

Delish is currently free while in beta and can be downloaded from the Pine Point Software website.

Steve Ballmer uses a Mac for presentations

Posted Apr 30th 2008 8:00AM by Cory Bohon
Filed under: Cult of Mac, Macbook Pro

You may remember Steve Ballmer (CEO of some other company) criticizing the iPod and iPhone on several occasions. Something that he definitely cannot criticize is the Mac, mostly because he was seen using one for with one at the podium while he gave a presentation. MacLife pointed us to this Flickr picture showing what really powers the other Steve's presentation. What's there? You guessed it, a MacBook Pro. We imagine that it is running Windows via BootCamp, proving once again that the best Windows machine money can buy is a Mac.

I guess Microsoft is staring to "Think Different," eh?

Update: As noted by several Flickr commenters, Ballmer didn't actually use the Mac to present; all that was displayed was his title slide, most likely driven by backstage gear, and presumably the MacBook Pro was left at the podium by the conference organizers or a previous presenter. Still a pleasant thought to imagine him slaving away over his PowerPoint (or Keynote!) presentation on the MBP, but it doesn't look like that's how it went.

MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air EFI firmware updates

Posted Apr 8th 2008 6:15PM by Cory Bohon
Filed under: Software Update

Today, Apple updated the EFI Firmware for the entire notebook line. MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air all received the EFI update. Here's what Apple says about the updates:

This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of [MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air] computers.

You can download this update by opening Software Update on your notebook (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading the installer package from Apple's support website.

Apple also notes: To complete the firmware update process, please follow the instructions in the updater application (/Applications/Utilities/MacBook EFI Firmware Update.app). The updater will launch automatically when the Installer closes.


Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

More Apple gold for superstar athletes

Posted Apr 2nd 2008 10:00PM by Dave Caolo
Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, iPod Family, Mac Pro, iPhone, MacBook Air

David Beckham recently received a snazzy gilded iPod touch from his teammates. That's nice and all, but this guy is a superstar. He needs some seriously togged out Apple goodies. With that in mind, we're offering the following shopping list:

• The golden MacBook Pro. This sucker features gold-plated casing, a keyboard painted to match and "...your logo in diamonds." Try opening one of these at Starbucks.
• The $39,750 MacBook Air. Twelve thousand hand-applied Swarovski crystals decorate its 24k gold casing. For forty grand, you would think you get a solid state hard drive.
• The golden iPhone. You knew this one was coming. Unfortunately, the pricing is still "to be announced."
• Golden "classic" iPods. Why stop at the touch? You can just as easily get your 160GB or 80GB classic dipped in gold, as well as the nano.

Here's hoping someone special in David's life reads our list and makes a purchase. While you're at it, a buffing cloth would be good, too.

Reviewing the new MacBook Pro

Posted Mar 12th 2008 12:00PM by Dave Caolo
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Portables, Macbook Pro

Blogger Shawn Blanc has written another one of his thorough reviews. This time, it's the new MacBook Pro.

The interesting thing is that he's using it to replace his Mac Pro. Most tech professionals have a primary machine (often a desktop) and a secondary (usually a laptop). After living with this setup for some time, Shawn noticed that the laptop had become his main machine:

"I don't need the Mac Pro. The loss in horsepower is negligible for what I do, and the gain in simplicity cannot be expressed with words. I'm selling the tower and going back to being a one-computer consumer, and connoisseur of fine laptops."

The same thing eventually happened to me. My MacBook Pro is the machine I use most often, and my iMac is the machine I use to sync my iPhone, make iTunes purchases and upload photos. Other than that, it pretty much just sits around.

Shawn goes on to describe setup, migration of his older data and (much, much) more. The whole thing is written in Shawn's comprehensive and readable style. Check it out.

MagStay PRO keeps your MagSafe stuck

Posted Mar 5th 2008 6:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Hardware, Macbook Pro

Enjoy gestures across applications with MultiClutch

Posted Mar 4th 2008 5:00PM by Dave Caolo
Filed under: Software, Beta Beat

The multi-touch feature that's been added to the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air is pretty cool, but rather limited (for now, at least). Wouldn't it be cool to have gestures across applications, like Safari and iChat?

Check out MultiClutch. It's a preference pane that lets you assign your own keyboard shortcuts to a given gesture across applications. Switch Safari tabs with a flick. Zoom in on email with a pinch. That kind of thing.

MultiClutch lets you bind gestures to a Cocoa app, including swipe, zoom and rotate. If you want to test this out, understand that it's beta. With that in mind, have fun!

Put your laptop to sleep with SmartSleep

Posted Feb 28th 2008 6:30PM by Dave Caolo
Filed under: Software, Macbook Pro, MacBook, Beta Beat

You know the drill. Close your laptop's lid or select "Sleep" from the Apple Menu and it does just that - it goes into low-power mode, or "sleep."

That's just not good enough. Check out SmartSleep, which puts your MacBook or MacBook Pro into either Sleep Mode or Hibernate Mode, depending on several factors.

For example, if your battery is at 20%, SmartSleep puts your Mac to sleep and hibernate. If it's down to 5%, it goes right to hibernate mode, preserving items in memory. Otherwise, it just sleeps as it typically does.

Finally, you can select any of these settings as the default for your machine. SmartSleep is free.

[Via Download Squad]

The new MacBook (Pros): the fine print

Posted Feb 27th 2008 7:00AM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Portables, Macbook Pro, MacBook

We finally got the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros we've all been waiting for and now it time to dig into the fine print a little bit. As we noted earlier the new machines are shipping without the $19 Apple remote, but there are also some other subtle changes worth noting:

• The processors are confirmed to be Intel's Penryn technology.
• Only the MacBook Pro is getting the multi-touch trackpad functionality of the MacBook Air. Apparently Apple is doing this deliberately to differentiate the higher-end portables from the MacBook line.
• Only the Pros are getting LED backlights, and that's standard only on the 15". LED backlighting is a $100 BTO option on the 17" and simply not available on the MacBook. This despite Uncle Steve's assurance that the entire Mac line would transition to LED backlighting "when technically and economically feasible." I suppose that Apple would say that it's not yet economically feasible in the MacBook line.
• The Pros feature a slightly new keyboard layout missing the virtual number pad.
• The Pros also have 3 USB ports now, instead of 2. Update: Oops, lots of people have pointed out that only the 17 incher has the 3rd USB port, and it has had that forever. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
• Perhaps most disturbing is that the official battery life estimates have dropped noticeably. MacNN notes that "Apple's revised projections falls to a maximum of 4.5 hours versus six [on the MacBook]... from six hours to five [on the 15" MBP and]... from 5.75 hours of use to 4.5" [on the 17" MBP].

Now none of these things is that big of a deal (hence the fine print), but there is some cause for concern, especially with the reduced battery life estimates. We may hope that perhaps Apple is being more realistic in their projections and that accounts for the reductions. It's particularly confusing given that one of the supposed advantages of the Penryn processor is energy efficiency. We won't know for sure until third-party benchmarks are available.

Thanks to everyone who sent in tips!

New MacBook Pro tear-down

Posted Feb 26th 2008 9:30PM by Cory Bohon
Filed under: Macbook Pro

It's only been about 12 hours since the new MacBook Pro's were released and already someone has posted a tear-down online. AnandTech has a full gallery of pictures showing the tear-down process. Interestingly enough, AnandTech's Anand Lal Shimpi reports that while the MacBook Pro's processor got an upgrade today, it offers "very little performance boost."

[via MacDailyNews]

New MacBook and MacBook Pros now available

Posted Feb 26th 2008 9:10AM by Christina Warren
Filed under: Hardware, Retail, Macbook Pro, MacBook

Well, the rumors were right on target -- new MacBook and MacBook Pros are finally here! Unlike the very minor updates in November, this refresh features across the board speed bumps, bigger hard drives, more stock RAM and for the MacBook Pro, a few new features sure to make every Apple fan's mouth water. Both lines are now featuring the new Penryn Core 2 Duo chipset, with the higher end MacBook Pro models taking advantage of a spectacular 6MB of L2 cache.

MacBook

The price configuration is the same same (starting at $1099 US for the non-Super Drive white base model, $1499 for the BlackBook), but the base features have received a nice upgrade. The significant changes:

• Processor speeds now start at 2.1 GHz for the base model, 2.4 GHz for the $1299 and $1499 models
• 120 GB drive is standard for the base level MacBook, 160 GB for the $1299 MacBook and a whopping 250 GB drive for the BlackBook. All drives are 5400 RPM
• 2 GB RAM standard for all but entry-level MacBooks (that remains at 1 GB)

MacBook Pro

• Processor speeds now start at 2.4 GHz, and are available up to 2.6 GHz (2.5 GHz is standard for the 17"); the new 2.5 GHz chip has 6 MB of L2 cache
  
• The MBP 17" now has an LED backlit screen option
• 200 GB is the starting HD size (this is up from 120 GB in the last revision), 250 GB standard for the upper 15" and 17" models. A 300 GB drive is available BTO, as is a 7200 rpm 200 GB drive
  
• NVidia 8600GT now starts at 256 MB of VRAM -- 512 for the higher end 15" and stock 17"
• Multi-touch trackpad a la the Air.

All in all, some very nice updates -- particularly for the MacBook. The basic specs for the BlackBook and entry-level MacBook Pro are so similar, I have to think the MacBook is the better deal for anyone who doesn't need the dedicated graphics card.

Update:
As the commenters have pointed out, the Apple Remote is no longer included in the box. That's right, you know have to spend an extra $19, for what I think is one of the most convenient Mac accessories. With $18 billion in cash, you'd think they could throw in something that we all know probably costs $0.30 to make. Oh well.


Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

TUAW Reviews the MacBook Air

Posted Feb 6th 2008 4:00PM by Chris Ullrich
Filed under: Reviews, MacBook Air

As you probably know, I'm one of the people who, upon first opportunity after the Macworld Keynote ended a few weeks ago, exited the hall into the lobby of Moscone West and immediately ordered a MacBook Air -- the 1.6 Ghz version with the 80GB hard drive, to be exact. I've already spelled out my reasons for ordering one and you've all had a chance to comment and otherwise make your views known, good or bad, regarding my decision.

Now, after waiting for Apple to ship my MacBook Air to me, its finally here and in my hands. In fact, I'm writing this very review on it. So, now that it's here and I can examine it more closely, use it and otherwise put it through its paces, does it live up to my expectations? Will I really miss not having Firewire or more than one USB port? Will the MBA become my notebook of choice or now that I can actually use it, do I regret ordering? For those answers, and more, read on.


Size and Weight

First, let's talk about what many people (particularly Apple) are talking about: how thin and light the MacBook Air is. At 3 pounds and .76" thick, the MBA is the lightest and thinnest notebook I've ever used and for me, the weight in particular was a major deciding factor in getting the MacBook Air. Now that I have had a chance to carry it around in my bag for a day or so, I can say the lack of weight makes an even bigger difference than I originally thought.

To be sure, nobody has ever called me small or weak in the past so its not that I can't carry a couple extra pounds around in the form of a notebook and associated peripherals. Its just that if I don't have to, why should I? The MBA being this small and light and still feeling solid and very usable makes for a winning combination. And let's not forget that the MBA's power brick is very small and light as well.

The power brick for the MBA is even smaller and weighs less than the one used by the MacBook, so that makes a difference too, especially as I'm used to carrying the giant brick for the MacBook Pro. If you still can't imagine how little 3 pounds is or how really small the power brick is, head to your local Apple store and heft one for yourself. Then, go pick up a MacBook Pro. The difference is pretty amazing...

Continue reading TUAW Reviews the MacBook Air

Apple among InfoWorld's Tech of the Year

Posted Jan 9th 2008 4:00PM by Dave Caolo
Filed under: Apple Corporate, OS, Portables, Macbook Pro, Apple History

Infoworld has identified its 2008 Technology of the Year award recipients, and Apple's name shows up twice.

First, the MacBook Pro gets the nod as their Best Notebook Computer, calling its glossy screen a "revelation" (that might be a little extreme) and praising its performance and build quality.

But wait, there's more! Mac OS 10.5 was named Best Operating System. We all knew that, of course, but it's nice to see some recognition outside of the faithful.

Reading this report after watching the videos of old Steve Jobs keynotes makes me marvel at the company's success. Apple was so close to the brink just ten years ago. Here's to a tremendous 2008!

MacBook keyboard fix in Software Update

Posted Dec 18th 2007 7:30PM by Cory Bohon
Filed under: Portables, Software Update, Macbook Pro, Mac Pro

If you own a MacBook or MacBook Pro and have had keyboard problems, Apple just released a software update that will (hopefully) fix this issue! This problem was first spotted when users started upgrading to Leopard. Some users have reported that their keyboards temporarily freeze, especially in Carbon apps such as MS Office 2004.

Apple states, "Some MacBook and MacBook Pro systems may occasionally experience a temporary suspension of keyboard input which can last a minute or longer." You can download the update from the Apple Support website or via Software Update.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

MacBook Pro Software Update 1.2

Posted Nov 2nd 2007 12:11AM by Scott McNulty
Filed under: Software Update, Macbook Pro

If you're the happy owner of a 2.2/2.4GHz MacBook Pro then Apple has a present for you: MacBook Pro Software Update 1.2. What does this update do you ask? Well, curiosity killed the cat which is why Apple keeps the release notes about this update terse. I'll reproduce them in their entirety for your enjoyment, "This update improves graphics stability and is recommended for all MacBook Pro (Mid 2007, 2.4/2.2GHz) computers running Mac OS 10.4 Tiger."

That's all she wrote, folks.

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