Features Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

LaCie XtremKey USB 3.0: the flash drive you want for the zombie apocalypse

by Steven Sande (Jun 4th, 2013)

USB flash drives are usually a yawner, something that is more of a giveaway item (at least to the press) at trade shows than something that deserves a blogger's attention. However, LaCie has introduced the XtremKey USB 3.0 flash drive in 32 GB (US$84.99) and 64 GB ($139.99) versions, and it's ...

ZAGGkeys Cover and Folio keyboards for iPad mini

by Steven Sande (Jun 3rd, 2013)

April showers apparently brought May iPad Bluetooth keyboards, as I reviewed a ton of them during the month. The month of June is starting off with a duo of iPad mini keyboards from ZAGG, the ZAGGkeys Cover and ZAGGkeys Folio (both priced at US$99.99). While these two keyboards aren't available ...

Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET: WWDC wish list/preview, and a whole new way to call

by Michael Rose (Jun 2nd, 2013)

All-new dial-in experience! See below -- do not call into Talkshoe, we won't be there. The cone of silence ahead of WWDC is beginning to crack -- Mac Pro stocks getting lean, laptop rumors percolating, a new low-end iPod touch showing up... and of course everyone is eager to see what Jonny Ive's ...

Innoio Innocube pico projector: a tiny handful of video

by Steven Sande (Jun 1st, 2013)

Just like an iPhone crams a roomful of devices into a pocketable device, miniaturization of electronics has now made it possible to create a battery-powered, cube-shaped pico projector just 1.8 inches (4.5 cm) on a side. From an unexpected source -- South Korean mobile provider SK Telecom -- the ...

Friday Favorite: Lemon Wallet

by Steven Sande (May 31st, 2013)

Back in the frosty days of February, the guys over at Distil Union sent me one of their very cool Wally iPhone 5 wallets to try out. That ended up being a fortuitous review for a few reasons. First, I found out that the back pain I had experienced for the previous year was due to having a George ...

Origin Stories: Reflow

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 31st, 2013)

Reflow bills itself as "music notation for the rest of us" and I have to say the app packs a punch for musicians and students of music. Reflow's notation software has a lot of great drag-and-drop functionality for quickly building compositions, and takes away some drudgery from the process. Plus, ...

Macworld discovers the most loved (and hated) features of OS X

by Mike Schramm (May 31st, 2013)

With WWDC and revamps of iOS and OS X on the horizon, Macworld conducted an interesting survey, asking its readers what they liked and disliked most about Apple's desktop operating system. As Macworld admits, the survey isn't scientific and only polled 5,000 responses, which is a drop in the ...

Reality Absorption Field: iPod's trail of tears, part 2

by Ross Rubin (May 31st, 2013)

The last Reality Absorption Field discussed how most of the big names in the PC industry tried to take on the iPod and the fates of their eventual efforts. This week's column will look at PC peripherals companies and how the consumer electronics giants reacted, while next week's final installment ...

Newer Technology's GripBase Podium is perfect for hands-free iPad use

by Steven Sande (May 28th, 2013)

There are going to be a lot of very happy musicians, public speakers, and presenters around the world now that Newer Technology has introduced the US$49.99 GripBase Podium. Combining an adjustable-height stand with a sturdy base and a protective iPad case/holder, the GripBase Podium makes easy to ...

Productivity Tip: Synchronizing tasks for the individual

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 28th, 2013)

This week's Productivity Tip... As a kid I used little Day Timer notebooks to keep track of my schedules and projects. Of course my duties in high school were minimal compared to today, but those pocket-able sprial-bound notepads were great for capturing and tracking all my "stuff." In film school ...

Scosche BoomBOTTLE brings big beats to bikes, beaches

by Steven Sande (May 28th, 2013)

If there's one major problem I have with most Bluetooth speakers designed for use with iOS devices, it's that they share a boring design. Let's face it; most of them look like bricks. Accessory manufacturer Scosche has broken out of the design doldrums with a new rugged wireless speaker called the ...

ECBC Dart Laptop Tote review and giveaway

by Steven Sande (May 27th, 2013)

There's nothing quite like the abrupt ending of a three- or four-day weekend to slap you back into reality, and that's what a lot of TUAW readers here in the US will experience this morning. One thing that might soften the blow of heading back to work would be a new laptop case courtesy of ECBC ...

Hands-on with the Kensington USB 3.0 Docking Station with Dual DVI/HDMI/VGA Video (Giveaway!)

by Steven Sande (May 25th, 2013)

The popularity of Apple's MacBook Pro and Air laptops is one of the reasons that Mac sales have increased while PC sales are waning. But if there's one thing that the laptop experience is lacking, it's a plethora of USB 3.0 and video ports. Kensington's USB 3.0 Docking Station with DVI/HDMI/VGA ...

Ailing Mac? Try Drive Genius 3

by Ilene Hoffman (May 24th, 2013)

When your Mac starts acting unreliably your first line of defense is Apple's Disk Utility, but that solves a small number of problems, such as permissions and disk verification and repair. A good second line of defense is Drive Genius 3 for Mac from Prosoft Engineering. Drive Genius offers repair ...

Reality Absorption Field: iPod's trail of tears, part 1

by Ross Rubin (May 24th, 2013)

The recent celebration of iTunes tenth anniversary provided an opportunity to remember that it debuted before the iPod and was initially positioned as a way to get Macs to play well with the CD burners that had come to the iMac as well as to early MP3 players from rivals. Before and (mostly) after ...