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Posts with tag colors

Apple settles out MacBook class action lawsuit

Almost a year after those two photogs first tried to bring a class-action suit against Apple for supposedly underperforming colors on MacBook and MacBook Pro LCD screens, our own Mike Rose has been proven right -- Apple has "quietly settled" the suit, and presumably Apple didn't have to pay much: the plaintiffs apparently had trouble finding other people who had purchased the laptops solely for the "millions of colors" claim.

Which makes sense -- why would you need any more than a few hundred thousand colors on a single screen? Of course, the drawback here is that we'll never find out if you really can get millions of colors on a MacBook screen, as the photographers wanted. For all we know, they might actually be technically correct -- widely recognized as the very best kind of correct.

[Via Engadget]

Colorwared Apple stuff (and a gilded iPhone)

Our good friends at Engadget note that Colorware has now included every single new slice of Apple in their lineup, so if you want a brand new iPod Nano in Cotton Candy, Fusion, Cobalt, or Crush, it's yours, baby. Expect to pay through the nose, though-- just one color is over $200, and mix it up any more than that and you'll be racking up the price even further. The reviews we've seen say Colorware does a great job, but just how much are you willing to pay for a Mystique-colored iPod Classic?

And if King Midas (or Bob from Heroes-- good show tonight) has more your touch, Engadget also links to an even pricier color mod for the iPhone. A company named Goldstriker International (sound like a corporation James Bond infiltrates, doesn't it?) is willing to dip your iPhone in 24-carat gold to give it that "I have so much money I'm willing to dip my iPhone in it" effect. Unfortunately the price is listed as "TBA," so you'll have to wait until they list one to tell your butler how much money to get out of the gold-plated wallsafe, but who are we kidding? If you have to ask how much it costs to dip your iPhone in molten gold, you can't afford it.

New iPod Shuffle lineup comes in colors (again)



Among all the updates to the iPod lineup today, this one might have gotten lost in the... well, I'm not gonna say it, but you know what I mean. It would seem that January's iPod Shuffle color choices were so nine months ago; the new Shuffles are stumbling in with a somewhat more subdued, 'pro' palette and adding a Product (RED) version that sends a contribution to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The new Shuffles are retailing for $79 and include 1 GB of flash storage. Get them before they change again!

Hue and cry over color-constrained MacBook displays

One could allow Fred Greaves and Dave Gatley some latitude for extreme frustration. Both Mac-toting photographers found themselves, along with other MacBook and MacBook Pro owners, dealing with 'sparkly' and 'grainy' color on their laptop screens; as color-sensitive professionals, this rankled. Being told by Apple support that they were hypersensitive and they should get over themselves? Not good. Seeing discussion threads on the issue squelched on Apple's support boards? Infuriating. So, the two men decided to avail themselves of the last tech support refuge of the American consumer: the class-action lawsuit.

At the heart of Greaves and Gatley's action is the belief that Apple deceptively promoted its laptop screens as having superior color performance, when in fact the displays are only capable of displaying 18-bit color (6 bit * 3 channels, about 262,000 colors; contrast with 24-bit color, 8 bits per channel for 16.7 million colors). While almost all laptop panels are 6-bit models, and other laptop manufacturers use similar dithering methods (Frame Rate Control) to achieve the perceived wider gamut of millions of colors, this seems fishy to G&G. Additionally, the subjective experience of some MBP owners indicates that the banding/sparkling issues are nonexistent when the machines are booted into Windows; hence, a software or firmware issue on the Mac side would seem to be degrading the display/adapter performance.

I'm no stranger to the hardware problem that's oddly OS-specific, and I sympathize with those who expected Pro color on Pro laptops. The 6-bit vs. 8-bit issue aside -- it's industry-standard, and some Apple tech notes even acknowledge the distinction -- and as frustrating as the color conundrum must be for those affected, I can't imagine that this lawsuit is going to allow anyone to see green (aside from plaintiff's attorneys, that is).

[via Ars Technica]

John Gruber releases BBColors 1.0

John Gruber has released a command line tool called BBColors which allows BBEdit and TextWrangler users to save, reload and even share customized color schemes. BBEdit, like many code-friendly text editors, has offered a coloring system for some time, but it still doesn't allow users to save and swap out schemes for, say, different languages or simply different days of the week. John's free utility not only brings color swapping to these app's tool belts, but he also posted a few examples to help get your feet wet. DeviantART, eat your heart out.

Instructions for installation and usage can be found on Mr. Gruber's project page for BBColors.

Hey Folders! adds colored folders to Finder


Hey Folders! is a handy utility from the maker of Mail.Appetizer that extends the Finder's colored label feature to labeled folders themselves. As you can see, the entire folder icon takes on the color of the label, though files (fortunately) do not receive the colored overlay treatment (I wager that would result in some really funky looking icons). Hey Folders! requires a small amount of manual work to get it to start with each login, however, as you simply need to add it to your startup items if you want it to augment your finder 24/7 (it's a background process known as a daemon; it won't appear in the dock or menubar - only in a process list like Activity Monitor). Full instructions are listed at the Hey Folders! site. Note: at the moment, Hey Folders! is PPC only, but the developer told me a Universal Binary version is 'coming soon.'

Hey Folders! is offered as freeware from Bronson Beta.

Taco HTML v1.7.2 is Universal


If Dreamweaver is a bit overkill for some web work on your desk, Taco HTML might just be the editor for you. It's a small yet feature-packed web editor with tag coloring, HTML preview, syntax checking, code snippets and more. It's my favorite editor for HTML pages or tweaking a WordPress PHP page file or two.

As far as I can tell, Taco HTML is provided free, and is a Universal Binary. Check it out if you read this post in less time than it takes Dreamweaver to start up.

Widget Watch: Art Director's Toolkit

Code Line Communicators, developers of Art Director's Toolkit, has developed a handy widget for easy-access to some of the tools and features of their app right within your Dashboard. However, the widget only comes with a copy of Art Director's Toolkit 5; the latest version which I don't believe is bundled with Macs just yet.

Either way, this widget definitely pulls its weight, as it can "Search through thousands of color swatches in industry-standard libraries, view characters and keyboard equivalents of fonts, sample colors on-screen, convert fractions/decimals/units of measure, calculate file sizes, and much more."

While the widget is listed at Apple's Dashboard download site, the link simply points to the latest version of Art Director's Toolkit.

Order a pre-painted Mac mini case

If you're the instant gratification type who is sick of white, check this out. FastMac is selling Mac mini cases in your choice of seven colors. For $69.95US, they'll send you a pre-painted case and a video that shows you how to swap the painted case for the boring white one that your mini is currently sporting. Once you've made the switch, you send your old white case out to them. I guess it's easier than shipping your computer out for a couple of weeks, but opening a mini isn't for everyone. Let us know if you try this out.

Poll result: Select a MacBook color



The results are in from our most recent, highly unscientific poll. The question was based on rumors that the forthcoming MacBook would be available in white, black and one other "mystery color." We asked: What color MacBook would you be likely to buy? Here's how you answered:

  1. Black: 42%
  2. White: 17%
  3. Blue: 10%
  4. Green: 9%
  5. Red: 7%
  6. None of the above: 4%

Finally, a full 11% of you thought this was our silliest poll ever. I'm sure we'll top it eventually.

Black was the clear winner, followed by white and then blue. If the color rumor is true, perhaps Apple will go with more subtle tones this time, as opposed to the candy colors of the original iBooks (though I loved Tangerine). Time will tell.

RUMOR: Macbook may come in colors

What do you do when you've exhausted your idea of brightly-colored computers (hint: "Flower Power" was a sure indication of this)? Go with all white. What happens when you've tired of white? Why, go back to colors, of course. AppleInsider is reporting that the forthcoming Macbooks will be available in white and two other colors (at least initially). Black could certainly be an option, considering the iPod line, but what about color number three? What would you likely buy? Take out poll, and come back tomorrow for the results.

[Via Cult of Mac]
 
What color MacBook would you buy?
Red
Blue
Green
White
Black
None of the above
This is the silliest poll yet
  

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