Pomoto is basically a replacement for iPhoto's .Mac web albums, designed to take your iPhoto collection and put it on the web with as little trouble as possible. Like FlickrExport (although this is a separate app, of course, not a plugin), it looks like a pretty smooth way to get all the cool stuff in iPhoto out where everyone else can see it.
The latest version, 1.0.1, includes support for iPhoto 7 Smart Albums and Events, better "privatization" of private Albums, and "more robust photo loading," which I'll leave up to you to decide. Since Pomoto publishes your photos for you, it's really an app tagged into a subscription service, so it costs either $3 a month or $30 a year. If you really like the .Mac photo publishing features, but don't need all of .Mac, it's definitely worth checking out.
No, not exploding batteries. I'm talking about 12-18 months from now, when thousands upon thousands of iPhone batteries, completely sealed from consumers, will begin to lose their juice. Sheldon Liber, on our sister site Blogging Stocks, suggests that in about a year, Apple is going to be dealing with a lot of unhappy campers who will have to surrender their iPhones for a bit while a new battery is transplanted into their tiny tech wonders.
Of course, we now have warranty info, which means you really shouldn't worry until next July, right? Something Sheldon misses is the fact that, for another $30 or so, they'll give you a loaner. That should put a stop to the whining-- mostly. It will certainly ease the sting of a 3-day turnaround. But when you can get a replacement BlackBerry battery for less than $10 in many cases, once again users may complain about the "Apple tax."
Randall from Wireless Info sent us the news that Apple has acknowledged the iPhone battery issue is in fact a bug that will be fixed in a future software update. A few days ago, WI noticed that even after sitting in the charger for 12 hours, their iPhone battery gauges didn't show a full charge. After conducting an informal survey, they found that the problem was widespread, and now Apple has confirmed the bug.
And since Apple says it's just a firmware problem, then the batteries should all be OK (although WI also says Apple is replacing faulty batteries anyway, so chances are that if you want to replace your iPhone, you can still do that). At first, WI said that the non-charge-showing phones were operating on a shorter battery life, but after a few cycles apparently they're running just as well.
So that's one fix Apple can throw in the iPhone's first big patch. What's next?
Do you feel lucky? Got an iPod with a dead, undersized or otherwise less-than-peachy hard drive? Well, pilgrim, surf your way over to Command-Tab for a detailed, delightful rundown on iPod hard drive replacement. They've got the scoop on every drive that will fit in full-size current and past model players, plus detailed replacement instructions and tool info (careful with that razor blade, Sparky!) for the do-it-yourselfer behind those white earbuds. Now, my inventory of dead iPods includes one Mini that could use new storage; for that I might have to go with this series of tips on upgrading to 4, 8 or 16 GB of Flash RAM.
Remember Karl, the frustrated iMac customer from Dublin who was going to prove he could walk his sick iMac 156 miles into service for replacement faster than Apple could pick it up? As it turns out, he apparently never hit the road; Infinite Loop at Ars Technica is reporting that Apple Ireland received word of this much-publicized stunt not long after it hit the media (perhaps they use the digg widget?) and promptly sent a brand new replacement straight to his door about ninety minutes later.
Score one for the little guy, but I'm wondering how many more frustrated service customers are going to attempt such a stunt. Maybe, as Jeff at Infinite Loop suggests, next time Apple will have to wait for the customer to actually get a couple miles into the walk before they fire off any more replacement units.
Everyone's favorite duck-icon sporting graphic designer is more than a pretty icon of a face, he helps make the rest of your programs look good too. Adam Betts regularly posts modifications or add-ons to various pieces of Mac software to his blog, and although each one is cool enough to warrant a post of its own, I thought I'd be nice to you all and compile some of my favorites into one mega-post.
First off we have a simple interface tweak that goes a long way to unifying the look of your system. Adam's new QuickTime Plugin Controller replaces the old icky Aqua bubble quicktime plugin interface with a sleek platinum/unified/post-brushed metal look.
Next are two replacement icons; one for a certain flammable fox, the other for a Preview alternative. The Firefox icon touchup fixes dock weight issues (how close it is to the other icons) as well as making the whole package a bit smoother.
The Xee replacement set actually contains replacements for both the actual application icon as well as the status bar. Xee is a replacement for Preview and available for free download.
Finally, we have the 9.3% complete interface-lift for Google Earth. This package will replace the application icon as well as modify certain UI elements such as toolbar icons and the sidebar to make them more Mac-like.
The saga of
the NYC cube continues. For the uninitiated, the cube in question is the huge, 5 story glass
cube that will adorn the upcoming Manhattan Apple Store. Steve Jobs designed the cube, and is very much in love
with it. According to a report at
ifoAppleStore, the titanium pieces that hold the massive glass panels in place were recently replaced with a
different material, at the request of Mr. Jobs who felt that the titanium pieces were ruining the aesthetic of the
cube. Who knows how much of an extra expense this last-minute adjustment was.
Path Finder, the powerful file browser/manager (pseudo-Finder) from Cocoatech,
has been updated to version 4.1. Along with Universal Binary status and the typical round of bug fixes, this update also
includes:
Improved Go To Folder with autocomplete
Smart Folders – Path Finder can
now read Finder-created Smart Folders
New Size Browser for quickly viewing total file sizes of folders,
bundles, etc.
Added rotate buttons to the integrated PDF viewer
Path Finder can now preview
PDF bundles (often found on OS X install disks)
Added preview support for Help Viewer bundles
Path Finder now displays if an application is PPC, Intel, or Universal Binary in the info panel
Path
Finder can now previews NEF files
Added preliminary “email to” support for Microsoft Entourage
and Eudora
Updated Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, and German localizations
Check out
Cocoatech's changelog for the full list of improvements and fixes,
and scroll to the bottom of Path Finder's product page to download the new
version. A 21-day demo is available, while a full license costs $34.95.
Or at least that's what it seems to be turning into. Two vendors this week announced major iPod battery initiatives.
First, the people at FastMac publicly announced their TruePower batteries for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen iPods. TruePower promises charges that last two to three times as long, and a battery that lasts through nearly seven times as many charging cycles, as the OEM iPod LiON battery. If the TruePower claims are true, or even half true, this is great news for iPod owners, especially starting at $29.95. Mini, 4th gen, and iPod Photo batteries coming soon.
The folks at TechRestore have taken a different tack. Their iPod Battery Freedom lifetime battery replacement service offers 24 hour turnaround battery replacement for as long as you own your iPod for a one time fee of $99 plus $12.99 S&H on subsequent replacements. You don't even have to get up from the computer to ship them your 'Pod; for an additional $19.99, they'll schedule overnight pickup anywhere in the U.S. It will take a couple of replacements for this to pay for itself, but you can't beat the convenience.
For those interested in the full range of available iPod battery options, the iPod Battery FAQ has a nice rundown.
No, not exploding batteries. I'm talking about 12-18 months from now, when thousands upon thousands of iPhone batteries, completely sealed from consumers, will begin to lose their juice. Sheldon Liber, on our sister site Blogging Stocks, suggests that in about a year, Apple is going to be dealing with a lot of unhappy campers who will have to surrender their iPhones for a bit while a new battery is transplanted into their tiny tech wonders.
Randall from Wireless Info sent us the news that Apple has acknowledged the iPhone battery issue is in fact a bug that will be fixed in a future software update. A few days ago, WI noticed that even after sitting in the charger for 12 hours, their iPhone battery gauges didn't show a full charge. After conducting an informal survey, they found that the problem was widespread, and now Apple has confirmed the bug.
Do you feel lucky? Got an iPod with a dead, undersized or otherwise less-than-peachy hard drive? Well, pilgrim, surf your way over to Command-Tab for a detailed, delightful rundown on iPod hard drive replacement. They've got the scoop on every drive that will fit in full-size current and past model players, plus detailed replacement instructions and tool info (careful with that razor blade, Sparky!) for the do-it-yourselfer behind those white earbuds. Now, my inventory of dead iPods includes one Mini that could use new storage; for that I might have to go with this series of tips on upgrading to 4, 8 or 16 GB of Flash RAM.
Remember Karl, the frustrated iMac customer from Dublin who was going to prove he could walk his sick iMac 156 miles into service for replacement faster than Apple could pick it up? As it turns out, he apparently never hit the road; Infinite Loop at Ars Technica is reporting that Apple Ireland received word of this much-publicized stunt not long after it hit the media (perhaps they use the digg widget?) and promptly sent a brand new replacement straight to his door about ninety minutes later.
Everyone's favorite duck-icon sporting graphic designer is more than a pretty icon of a face, he helps make the rest of your programs look good too. Adam Betts regularly posts modifications or add-ons to various pieces of Mac software to his blog, and although each one is cool enough to warrant a post of its own, I thought I'd be nice to you all and compile some of my favorites into one mega-post. 
The saga of
the NYC cube continues. For the uninitiated, the cube in question is the huge, 5 story glass
cube that will adorn the upcoming Manhattan Apple Store. Steve Jobs designed the cube, and is very much in love
with it. According to a report at
ifoAppleStore, the titanium pieces that hold the massive glass panels in place were recently replaced with a
different material, at the request of Mr. Jobs who felt that the titanium pieces were ruining the aesthetic of the
cube. Who knows how much of an extra expense this last-minute adjustment was.
Or at least that's what it seems to be turning into. Two vendors this week announced major iPod battery initiatives. 
