Iphone Updates

Filed under: OS, Software, Apple, Leopard, Snow Leopard

‘Twas the night before Snow Leopard, and all through the ‘net, Apple was sending takedowns for previews of software that technically wasn’t out yet… Snow Leopard is almost out, but “almost” isn’t quite good enough for Apple. Apparently they sent a last-minute takedown notice to The Register for posting their Snow Leopard preview a little early, and The Register is declining to do anything about it.

Similar previews have appeared around the ‘net (our friends at Engadget have published their own review), and while Apple claims that images and descriptions in the post are still confidential, The Register disagrees, saying that many features of Snow Leopard were seen and known way before this week.

So. Will Apple be angry? Will The Register be locked out of any future events (actually, we can identify with that one, given our metaliveblogging chops here on TUAW)? Will they care? It does seem a bit strange that Apple has targeted them with a takedown — we doubt, as The Register suspects, that Walt Mossberg will be getting any takedown notices. Then again, maybe Apple was just trying (or their lawyers were just aiming for some extra legal fees), and they won’t bother enforcing what seems like a shaky case anyway.

Most likely Apple will pass. We’ll probably hear them exclaim, however, though it may be less staunch: Merry updates to all, and to all a good launch!

TUAWThe Register fighting Apple takedown notice originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Productivity

I have very fond memories of iGTD, and of its sole developer, Bartek Bargiel. The much-anticipated iGTD2 never really reached fruition, much to our dismay. There are a good number of people still using iGTD and iGTD2 today, even after development ceased quite some time ago, and I’d wager that anyone who used it probably has pretty nice things to say. I’d heard from Bartek a couple of times over the years, but I got caught by surprise when I heard the news today: he’s joined up with Cultured Code, and worked some of my favorite features of good ol’ iGTD into the latest release of Things for Mac (1.2). See what’s new and brush up on your keyboard shortcuts at the Cultured Code blog.

iGTD users and former users will probably recall the F-key trick; the one that grabbed whatever you had highlighted in most apps and popped it into the quick-entry window. While the OmniFocus clipper is quite capable, if this is as good as iGTD’s was, it’s going to be a killer feature. Bartek has also contributed Quicksilver, Launchbar and Google Quick Search Box plugins to the party. It’s great to see Cultured Code catering to us keyboard geeks, and I personally just got way more into Things.

If you did some donating to the development of iGTD back in the day, there’s an additional surprise headed for your inbox. Cultured Code and Bartek have promised free licenses to everyone who donated to iGTD, and multiple licenses if the amount of your donations exceeds the value of a Things license. Things retails for $49.95US, so that’s a pretty good return. Plus, they’ve set up data migration for current iGTD users to make the switch to Things. I’m checking out the latest version right now, so until I have a full review out, I’d just like to say congratulations to Bartek, and to Cultured Code!

TUAWiGTD’s Bartek Bargiel joins Cultured Code, Things 1.2 hits the streets originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Apple Professional, Software Update

Aperture, Apple’s pro-level photo editing/management software, has been updated to 2.1.4.

The software update, which weighs in at a whopping 213 MB, comes with the following fixes:

- Addresses an issue from Aperture 2.1.3 that prevented the “Do not import duplicates” option in the import window to properly detect and filter out duplicate photos.

- Addresses an issue that caused JPEG images to be compressed when uploading photos to MobileMe, even when the “Actual Size Images” option was selected.

- Addresses an issue that could cause dust jackets to render incorrectly when switching between the softcover and hardcover options with the Stock Book theme.

Aperture 2.1.4 is available now via Software Update.

TUAWAperture updated to 2.1.4 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Snow Leopard is purported to provide many small but much-needed tweaks to its predecessor, Leopard. One oft-touted tweak is a speed boost, but according to tests by Macworld the performance and speed of a few different computers improved only slightly with many native tasks, and some took even longer.

Macworld installed Leopard and Snow Leopard on even-sized partitions on the drives of three different configurations: a 20-inch 2.66GHz iMac Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM, a 3GHz Xeon 5300 eight-core Mac Pro with 4GB of RAM from April 2007, and a 15-inch 2.8GHz MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM. They charted simple tasks like start up, shut down, PDF scrolling, and more complicated ones like iMovie import/export and Photoshop CS4 filters. You can see the final results here.

The chart is a bit confusing about the actual speed improvement, and it is important to note that a mark of 100% on the chart indicates that the task performed was the same on both operating systems; likewise, a mark of 103% means it the task was 3% faster with Snow Leopard, and so on.

The improvements were small on most fronts, and the only significantly improved tasks were shut down, JavaScript, and Time Machine. The MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard inexplicably saw a huge improvement of 42% over Leopard when it imported movies into iMovie, while the the other two computers barely budged. A few of the benchmarks were even slower with Snow Leopard, such as waking the computer up and opening duplicate Finder windows. While the tested computers only represent a small part of the spectrum, it appears that now Leopard’s speed improvements for native applications are there, but not mind-blowing.

TUAWSnow Leopard performance improvements are there, but small originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Features, iTunes, Ask TUAW, MacBook Air, Snow Leopard

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we’ve got questions about syncing notes, iLife ’09, iTunes downloads, the importance of keychains and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you’re running and which version of Mac OS X (we’ll assume you’re running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don’t specify). And now, on to the questions.

Scott asks

When I sync my iphone (3.0.1) with my Mac (10.5.8) and have “sync notes” checked in iTunes, I cannot find my notes synced anywhere in Mail.app – including under “Notes”…what am I missing?

To sync ‘Notes’ first make sure you have your iPhone connected to your Mac with iTunes open. Then, be sure to have “sync notes” checked in iTunes. Also, be sure to check “Sync Notes” in the MobleMe Sync options in System Preferences.

Then, sync your iPhone as normal. After that, check in Apple’s Mail program under “Reminders” to see if the notes appear. You need to click on the little triangle to show the contents of Reminders. If they don’t appear, close Mail and open it again. Also, restart your iPhone completely before trying another sync.

Also, keep in mind Notes sync works only via USB and not over the air. If you are not seeing notes appear, be sure you sync your iPhone via USB with your Mac or they won’t appear at all. If the notes still don’t appear in Apple Mail, it might be time to give a call to Apple tech support because at that point the problem may be something larger than the scope of what this column can answer.

Evan asks

I bought a new MacBook Pro last month, which came installed with Leopard and iLife ’09. My purchase was within Apple’s “Up-to-Date” program timeline, so I was able to order a copy of Snow Leopard for $9.95. I know Snow Leopard doesn’t come with iLife ’09 but considering my new computer already comes with iLife ’09, I’m not going to have to re-buy iLife, am I?

Continue reading Ask TUAW: Syncing notes, iLife ’09, iTunes downloads, keychains and more

TUAWAsk TUAW: Syncing notes, iLife ’09, iTunes downloads, keychains and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Multimedia, Software

It hasn’t exactly been a secret that I (and several others at TUAW) have been big fans of ScreenFlow since its release. Up until yesterday, I didn’t really think it had much serious competition in the professional screencasting field. That seems to have changed with the release of Camtasia for Mac. At the same $99US price tag as ScreenFlow, Camtasia is offering a very similar interface with some impressive capabilities.

Camtasia has long been considered a heavyweight in the PC world, and its Mac debut has been anxiously awaited. While it hasn’t exactly reached feature-parity with the PC version, it’s been quite a pleasure to try out. Some of the features it’s lacking in comparison to its PC counterpart include region recording, narration-only recording and ScreenDraw. However, its capabilities in the area of direct media manipulation are quite well-developed. For a complete feature comparison, check the TechSmith website or grab the comparison PDF.

A quick run-through with a review copy convinced me that this is some serious competition for ScreenFlow. One of the coolest features I played with was the SmartFocus action, which can be applied to an entire clip or just a region in the editor. It automatically determines what the point of focus at any given time should be, and zooms that area. Additionally, you can highlight the foreground window, add text and shape callouts, and work with imported media. The only problem I noticed immediately was with changing colors of library elements (arrows, etc.). I haven’t figured that out in my brief trial, and haven’t had a chance to ask yet. I’m hoping that’s not a missing feature, as it seems relatively important to me.

A complete array of QuickTime formats can be exported, and presets for YouTube, Screencast.com and iTunes are included. There’s a default export which gave me a 10.5MB QuickTime file for a 47-second clip, at a 960×600 resolution. The “Advanced Export” option provides the opportunity to tweak settings and export to all the standard formats. There’s some mismatch between the PC and Mac export capabilities, though, making cross-platform projects difficult (file format comparison).

Camtasia for Mac requires that all of your video cards be Quartz Extreme-enabled. If you run any USB->DVI hardware, be sure to disconnect it before you launch the application. Also, TechSmith warns against running Perian with Camtasia. I tried it and didn’t have any problems — but it was for a short record/export experiment and I’m guessing they have good reason for pointing out the potential conflict. I would probably heed that advice when working on a more important project. Camtasia for Mac is currently available at the Camtasia website as a free trial, and can be purchased for $99US, or a 5-pack for $495US.

TUAWCamtasia for Mac looks like a screencasting powerhouse originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Peripherals, Video, Cool tools, Odds and ends, First Look

Whenever I’m traveling on business, I rely on my lightweight and compact MacBook Air. There’s only one problem with my MBA as far as I’m concerned — the screen can sometimes seem too small when I have a lot of applications running simultaneously. What I need is a portable monitor that I can just hook up to display a frequently updated window off to the side of my primary display.

That’s where the Mimo 710-S USB-powered monitor (US$149) could help out. It’s a tiny, foldable 800 x 480 pixel monitor that weighs less than a pound.While this is predominantly a Windows-oriented product, the company provides a place to download a Mac driver. The driver install does require a reboot, which is a bit annoying but to be expected with a proprietary display driver. There’s a swivel built into the monitor so that it can be rotated into a portrait configuration. While the monitor doesn’t automatically rotate what is being displayed on the screen, it’s a simple matter to go into the Display system preference pane for the monitor and choose “Rotate 90°.”

Continue reading First Look: USB-powered Mimo 710-S display (which you could win)

TUAWFirst Look: USB-powered Mimo 710-S display (which you could win) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, First Look

I’m one of those people who “Gets Things Done” the old-fashioned way. I’ve tried just about every To-Do list manager for the Mac and iPhone, and I still end up resorting to writing lists in my Moleskine notebook and then crossing off the completed items. Still, when I saw that an upgrade to CheckOff had been shipped by Second Gear Software, I decided to give it a try.

CheckOff 4.0 is not the latest navigator and weapons officer for the USS Enterprise. It is a compact and easily accessible to-do list for Mac OS X, and it runs both on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard. CheckOff 4.0 is shareware, and requires that you purchase a US$12.95 license to use it for more than ten to-do items.

After installing and launching the 4.4 MB application on your Mac, a check mark icon appears in the menu bar. To add or delete items from your to-do list, you click on the check mark to make the CheckOff menu appear (below):

What you see is the complete user interface for CheckOff 4.0. Those five icons are used to add a new item, add a new folder, delete an item, change the color or category for an item or folder, and to delete checked (completed) items. There’s a place for notes down at the bottom of the the window.

Continue reading First Look: CheckOff 4.0 for Mac OS X

TUAWFirst Look: CheckOff 4.0 for Mac OS X originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reviewer Stephen H. Wildstrom (businessweek.com) calls Snow Leopard an “inexpensive and painless upgrade” that “also completes the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing, which enhances performance and allows the use of vast amounts of memory. Apple has pulled it off seamlessly.”

In a comprehensive Snow Leopard review, Michael Gartenberg (slashgear.com) writes: “Apple has evolved the OS in ways that change core infrastructure while preserving and refining the experience that has differentiated the platform over the years. The result is an elegant, modern OS with some new features that help it retain the status of best of breed in personal computing.”

Calling out significant new Logic Studio features such as flexible audio editing, streamlined audio production, expanded guitar amps and effects, and enhanced MainStage live-performance capabilities, reviewer Peter Kirn (macworld.com) awards it 4.5/5 mice. Writes Kirn: “The choice is easy: Logic Pro 9 should not be missed.”

Filed under: Retail

While the entire retail sector is in the doldrums of recession and reduced consumer demand, there’s a shiny spot in midtown NYC with a big glass cube sitting on top of it. Apple’s 5th Avenue store should replace that glowing Apple with a big ol’ dollar sign, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

The story says that while overall retail sales in New York have fallen between 8 and 10% since 2008, and US retail sales for the first half of 2009 are down 9.2% from the same six months of 2008, Apple’s retail operations are still holding steady.

In particular, the 5th Avenue store stands out; while Apple did not release store-by-store numbers, Bloomberg quoted an estimate of about $350 million in annual sales; that’s $35K per square foot of the 10,000-sf store. By comparison, high-end jeweler Tiffany & Co. does only about $18K per square foot. That $350M number is lower than the New York Post’s $440M estimate, but still astonishingly good business.

TUAWApple Store 5th Ave continues to defy gravity, macroeconomics originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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David Pogue (nytimes.com), reviewing Mac OS X Snow Leopard, applauds “the radical concept of a software update that’s smaller, faster and better — instead of bigger, slower and more bloated. May the rest of the industry take the hint.”

Reviewer Edward Mendelson (pcmag.com) calls Snow Leopard “Apple’s fastest, most functional, and feature-rich operating system yet,” awarding it 4.5/5 stars and a “Very Good” editor’s rating.

Filed under: Audio, Software, Cool tools

In the video below I quickly run through the basics of Soundboard, from Ambrosia Software (makers of WireTap Studio and Snapz Pro, but they’ve made Mac apps and games for years). It’s just what you’d think: a series of buttons tied to sounds, just like you’d see at a radio station for live broadcasting.

But Soundboard brings the drag-and-drop ease of desktop computing to the table, and adds several small features that add up. Namely: quick editing and loop controls. Plus, you can route your audio using Soundflower, or just play what you want through speakers. Given the number of crank calls I made as a kid, I’m glad this wasn’t around.

Soundboard normally sells for $29, but there’s a free trial and you get 25% off if you’re a WireTap owner. Also, Ambrosia is encouraging Sound Byte users to switch over with a $19 deal for registered owners of that application. If you’ve ever wanted a live radio show like Dingo and the Baby, then Soundboard may be just what you need.

Incidentally, the screencast above was made using the excellent site, Screenr.com. If the video won’t play on an iPhone, just click here for the Screenr page.

TUAWSoundboard is a simple but useful sound board originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Our colleague, Sam Abuelsamid, at Autoblog has pointed out the release of a roadside assistance app from automaker MINI. The app, MINI Roadside Assistance [iTunes link], is a collaboration between the automaker and insurance company Allstate and allows one to access roadside assistance as well as the specify its cause

So, say you’re driving your MINI to Las Vegas for your buddy’s bachelor party. During the drive, your car overheats; it’s 120 degrees and you forgot were too lazy to check the coolant before you left, what’d you expect to happen? Well, no need to worry — roadside assistance is just a few taps away with MINI Roadside Assistance.

MINI Roadside Assistance is available as a free download. MINI Cooper not included. More info and a demo video are available at Sam’s article.

TUAWMINI Roadside Assistance can get you and your MINI out of trouble spots originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: OS, Software Update, Apple, Snow Leopard

There’s been a lot of news circulating around about the upcoming release of Mac OS X 10.6. First, Snow Leopard hit Amazon’s pre-order list (and soon topped it) and days later, there were reports that Snow Leopard had finally reached gold master.

Today, Apple’s UK store has posted information about Snow Leopard and Apple’s “Up-to-Date” program, with an interesting note: Ships by August 28th. If this is true, it would confirm rumors that the next major release of the Mac operating system would be released ahead of the September release date set by Apple.

While the page is public, there’s no way to order it yet. This could be a simple error or an outdated page but has Mac fans in a buzz as the release gets closer.

[via MacRumors]

TUAWApple Store UK says Snow Leopard ships by August 28th originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Productivity, iPhone, App Review

I’ve mentioned some options for iPhone-based mind mapping before, but I’m pretty excited to let everyone know about the release of MindMeister for iPhone (iTunes Link). MindMeister is a web-based mind mapping application with excellent import and export features for most major formats.

They’ve been focused on collaboration from the beginning, allowing realtime editing of mind maps by multiple participants, and including Skype integration. The iPhone version allows you to download your maps from your account (or start from scratch) and sync changes back to your maps, share maps, and export as MindManager, Freemind, Word, PDF or image files.

MindMeister for iPhone (and iPod touch) is an evolution of the MindMaker application, which was acquired by MindMeister. While the online version of MindMeister allows for a range of icons, images and metadata on each node, the iPhone version currently lacks a lot of this functionality. However, it provides a fast, simple way to edit the text of nodes, adding to existing maps or creating new ones on-the-go. The navigation is an intuitive pan-and-zoom, tap-to-edit interface which is pretty standard among iPhone mind-mapping apps. It also incorporates the GeistesBlitz feature of MindMeister, which allows you to instantly add ideas to a default map, or create a basic map from scratch, through email or a variety of other methods (there’s a REST API available if you feel like adding your own points of access).

As an aside, I’d like to point out that the online version has some cool tricks. For example, you can import a tab-indented outline from a text file and turn it into a map automatically (just go to “Import Mindmap” and select a text file). Also, if you’re editing a map, select a node and then click the image or note button … not the dropdown menu, just click the button. It will do a quick search of Google Images or Wikipedia, respectively, and insert the results. Don’t like the image it found for your text? Click again. Try it, it’s fun.

While I’m not completely sold on iPhone mind-mapping (paper is pretty fast), the syncing, sharing, rapid-entry features of MindMeister make it my top pick. It’s not just about device portability, it’s about data portability; with MindMeister, my maps can end up in just about any format I want them to, and I can share them directly and get feedback instantly. MindMeister for iPhone is currently $6.99 in the App Store. If you’re a MindMaker user, it’s a free upgrade. The MindMeister.com online service has plans ranging from free to $6/month, with a $15/year academic option.

TUAWMindMeister for iPhone, mind map in the cloud! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review

The Wikimedia Foundation has just released a free app for accessing the web based encyclopedia right on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Wikipedia Mobile [iTunes link] brings the full boatload of Wikipedia knowledge to a nicely formatted iPhone screen. In my tests, it responded quickly, and without any glitches over Wi-Fi and the 3G network.

The only issues really are that there are already dozens of similar apps available for the iPhone. In fact, if you go to the Wikipedia site in Safari things are nicely optimized for the iPhone screen. Of course the app has a built in history button, but Safari does too.

Some of the other Wikipedia apps I’ve tried are Wikipanion [iTunes link], which has more features, including changing the font size, and Wikiamo [iTunes link] that allows landscape view, reading of saved material offline, and links to other languages.

I’d like to see the ability to email entries to myself or others, and the Wikipedia Mobile support page just goes to the home page of Wikipedia. That’s not too helpful.

One other odd thing. When trying to install the software on a first generation iPod touch, users are reporting it fails with an error message saying a microphone is needed. Huh?

However you access it, Wikipedia is a great resource, and the Wikimedia Foundation says it will be updating the app frequently based on user requests. The current version is 0.1, so I think this app is just getting started.

TUAWWikimedia Foundation creates official iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Humor, iPod Family, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends

In 2001, the same year the Game Boy Advance was introduced, Apple brought the iPod to us (and not to universal enthusiasm, either). When I was doing some Google searching last night on Apple model numbers, I found something quite strange.

Who knew that there were first-generation iPods still for sale on store.apple.com! This is the very first iPod model, introduced in 2001. I don’t know how they ended up there, or why they’re selling them, but they’re shipping “within 24 hours” and are available for $129.00. Remember, this is the model with the “scroll wheel,” it’s not touch sensitive, and you have to physically turn it with your thumb or finger. Note that the image Apple is using on the store is actually for a third-generation iPod, but the product description and model number are for the first-gen. Also, these iPods are refurbished, they’re not brand new.

It includes a 5GB iPod (for Mac only, the Windows-compatible versions came later) w/rechargeable lithium battery, original scroll wheel, headphones, an Apple iPod Power Adapter, an Apple FireWire Cable (2 meters), a Manual (iPod Getting Started), CD-ROM Disc w/iTunes (version unknown, but let’s take a guess and say “old”), and a One Year Limited Warranty that by rights should have expired eight years ago.

Are you going to take the plunge? Will it look good next to your G3 iMac? If you do or don’t, feel free to leave a comment below!

Update: Before this post was written, I did order the 5GB iPod linked on this page, but it looks like they will now send me a 10GB 2nd generation iPod instead for some reason.

We are also getting reports of confusion as people try to order over the phone.

Plus, there’s a brand new 1GB iPod shuffle available.

Continue reading Want a 1st generation iPod? They’re still available from the Apple Store

TUAWWant a 1st generation iPod? They’re still available from the Apple Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

Like its music app on the iPhone, which allows you to use your iPhone to tap into your desktop’s music collection, Simplify Media provides similar functionality with photos through its Simplify Photo [iTunes link] iPhone app.

Many of us are forgetful in some form, and this trait is especially magnified when one proceeds to show others an “awesome photo” on your iPhone that, sadly, didn’t get synced. Instead of telling your friends that you’ll show or email them the photo later — assuming you even remember to — you can use Simplify Photo to view your entire iPhoto collection.

While increased megapixels in digital photography brings with it the promise of better picture quality, in most cases it comes at a file size premium. And because storage space on your iPhone is a finite resource, you can choose to set aside dedicated space for those really important photos and use Simplify Photo for those that are not as important but would nonetheless like to have access to just in case.

Simplify Photo is available for 99 cents on the iTunes App Store, while the required desktop client (available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux) is available as a free download at the Simplify Media site. The desktop app allows you to not only specify which iPhoto albums and events to sync, but the people as well — via integration with the app’s “Faces” facial detection feature. And if you’re not exactly sure which album or event a photo is stored, you can use the app’s search feature, which searches your photos’ tags, titles and comments.

But the standout feature of Simplify Photo is its geolocation support. Like iPhoto ’09′s places feature, Simplify Photo displays a map with various dropped pins; and tapping on the pins will display the photos taken in the vicinity.

If a picture can say a thousand words, then Simplify Photo’s desktop syncing capabilities have the potential to make your iPhone speechlessly filled with photos.

TUAWYour iPhone and iPhoto library are in sync with Simplify Photo originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Illumina, a San Diego, CA-based biotechnology company that designs breakthrough tools for genetic analysis, uses iPhone to track customers and manage employees across five continents. And soon it will make it possible for consumers to carry their personal genomes with them on iPhone.

Filed under: Bluetooth, Software Update, Macbook Pro

Apple has just released two firmware updates, one fixing issues with Bluetooth and the the other fixing the MacBook Pro hard drive noise issue.

The first, Bluetooth Firmware Update 2.0.1, fixes bugs and improves compatibility with the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse and Apple Wireless Keyboard. It’s available for all Macs with Broadcom Bluetooth chipsets, which include all unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and all other Macs introduced in 2009.

The other one, Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0, which has been promised by Apple for some time now, fixes the widely reported issue with hard drive noise. This issue only affects MacBook Pros with 7200 RPM hard drives introduced in June 2009 or later, so this update is only available for those Macs.

Both of these updates are available through Software Update, or they can also be downloaded on Apple’s support downloads page.

TUAWApple releases fixes for Bluetooth and MacBook Pro hard drives originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Odds and ends

FileMaker issued an update to their Mac database application Bento this morning. Bento 2.0v5 is a bug-fix release, with no new features added to the application.

According to the download notes, Bento 2.0v5:

• Resolves an issue related to duplication of Address Book and iCal information when synchronizing with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch. They’ve also posted details on removing duplicate entries.
• Resolves an issue related to library icons when importing library templates. This issue was originally reported as fixed, but Filemaker has updated the release notes and now indicates that it is NOT a fix in this build.
• Resolves an issue related to importing Bento databases to FileMaker Pro

The download weighs in at 76.1 MB, while the expanded disk image is a full 127.9 MB in size and replaces the existing Bento installation. FileMaker also notes that this release includes the changes that were delivered in Bento 2.0v4, which added compatibility with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch as well as improved performance of the application.

TUAWBug-bashing Bento 2.0v5 is now available for download originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Apple Corporate, Internet Tools, MobileMe

If you’ve been trying to upload a picture from your iPhone to a MobileMe gallery, and are getting the message “Unable to connect to MobileMe” message you’re not alone.

The problem appears to be related to a bug in user name recognition. Apple has published a KB article dealing with the issue. The problem seems to be triggered if your member name is in mixed case, or if it is in all caps. MobileMe requires the user name be in all lower case letters, although the same rule does not apply to passwords.

Apple suggests you go to your iPhone settings, and under account info make sure your name is all lowercase. If not, a visit to the KB article would be advised. The fix is simple: just delete and re-enter your account details, getting your member name in a form Apple will like. When the bug is fixed, this workaround won’t be needed.

Apple needs to continue to pay close attention to MobileMe. My perception is it has become generally more reliable since the ugly launch in 2008, but the support page still reports a few new glitches per week. Lately I’ve noticed a few mail outages/slowness and difficulty getting to my iDisk.

TUAWCan’t upload pix to MobileMe? Apple has a fix for that originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we’ve got more questions on migrating user data when upgrading to Snow Leopard, expanding Apple’s built-in Dictionary application, accessing iPhone notes without Mail.app, and more.

As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you’re running and which version of Mac OS X (we’ll assume you’re running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don’t specify). And now, on to the questions.

Continue reading Ask TUAW: More migration, expanding Apple’s Dictionary, syncing iPhone notes, and more

TUAWAsk TUAW: More migration, expanding Apple’s Dictionary, syncing iPhone notes, and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple today announced that Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard will go on sale Friday, August 28 at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple’s online store is now accepting pre-orders. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard users for $29.

Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone, App Store, App Review

Have you ever had a device that you wanted to make just a little bit more sonic? Have you ever been up late, measuring rooms and thought: “Could I approach this task with an iPhone? Sonically?” Fortunately for you, the good people at Laan Consulting have already thought of this. They’ve anticipated this eventuality and are now shipping the iPhone Sonar Ruler [iTunes link] for just a buck on the iTunes Store.

Yes, these good folk have imbued the iPhone with sonic goodness. As the video on the next page shows, the application sends short pulses and measures their return delay. Sure, you could go out to Office Depot and spend twenty bucks getting a far more reliable, dedicated unit but isn’t it more fun to help support iPhone devs while really pushing the device beyond its design intent?

And don’t forget: Bananas are good. They are excellent sources of potassium.

Thanks to Neekers

Continue reading Found Footage: The iPhone sonic ruler

TUAWFound Footage: The iPhone sonic ruler originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Apple, iPhone, iPod touch

Earlier today, I posted about the ability to find previously deleted emails using the Spotlight search on the iPhone, adding to the already intense swarm of news surrounding this issue. My findings were that, by ensuring your trash folder was emptied and refreshed, the problem appeared to be solved.

However, many of you responded indicating that this did not work for you, and that you were still seeing cached messages. Then Cult of Mac posted an update to their original piece, suggesting that the problem was more specific to POP accounts. Although I had tested both POP and IMAP accounts with similar results, I decided to investigate further.

First, to clarify: The problem here is *not* with Spotlight caching the contents of your email, as many have suggested. Spotlight simply indexes the available content on your phone, and logs a pointer to it. When you tap a search result, it opens the associated application and tells that app to view the content. In this case, it sees an email message and asks Mail.app to open it, which it does, because Mail.app still has the message content stored locally. Secondly, this appears to be specific to POP accounts. On IMAP or Exchange accounts, deleted email messages do appear in Spotlight results until the trash folder is emptied, as described in my earlier post.

I created a fresh account and configured it for POP access, then downloaded the mail. Searching spotlight, I could see the message I was looking for. I then went back to the message and deleted it, and that’s where the fun starts. I conducted this same test multiple times, and found that sometimes, the message would now show up in Spotlight twice, one result opened the message, intact, with the Inbox listed as the folder to return to; the other displaying a message in the trash folder, but with an error displaying the body of the message. Other times, I would only see one result, pointed directly to the trash.

Continue reading Clarification on the iPhone Spotlight email issue

TUAWClarification on the iPhone Spotlight email issue originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple, iPhone

Note: The problem discussed below behaves differently depending on the type of email account being used. Users of POP mail accounts are indeed noticing a problem with deleted email messages appearing in Spotlight search results. Please see this post for updated information.

Our friends over at Engadget have highlighted a Cult of Mac post that, at first glance, appears to have found a bug in Spotlight’s caching of email search results on the iPhone. The idea is that after you delete an email from your inbox in the iPhone’s Mail.app client, you can still locate and open the e-mail using Spotlight search, if you know the subject of the message.

What’s really happening, though, is what Apple might otherwise call “user confusion.” When you delete an e-mail message in most mail clients, the message isn’t magically deleted, but instead moved to a “trash” or “deleted messages” folder. Being a folder, it is indexed by Mail to provide an unread count, as well as by Spotlight so that you can easily find messages in the folder. When you search for the email, it shows up in Spotlight and opens in Mail because the message still exists in your trash folder.

All right, so what can you do to avoid this? Well, you need to empty the trash folder from your email. With many providers, you can just go to the trash folder, and delete the message from there to permanently remove it. The problem there is that, if you use a service like Gmail, the message doesn’t really get deleted when you do this because of the way Gmail translates its labels into folders. Gmail’s Trash folder is also set to purge itself after 30 days by default.

Your options? You either have to use the Gmail web interface in Safari, or if you don’t mind tweaking your Gmail settings, you can enable the Advanced IMAP Controls Lab and then change your Gmail settings to immediately delete messages instead of using the trash folder. (Note that if you have your “All Mail” label configured to show up in IMAP, you will need to either disable it, or delete the message from that folder on the iPhone as well. See this thread for more information.) Once you’ve deleted the message, go in to the Trash folder and hit the refresh button to ensure that the message is no longer listed, which will remove it from the local mail cache. This should also clear up Spotlight’s index so that the message no longer appears.

By now, you’re probably wondering if this is really something to worry about. In my opinion, it really depends on how you manage your email. If you rarely delete messages, or you just delete things that are not of interest to you, they will most likely disappear from your trash folder after a specified time period that is set by your email provider (usually somewhere between 7 and 30 days.) However, if you intentionally delete messages with the idea that the message is unretreivable, then you should probably consider testing this out for yourself to see if it affects you. Again, with many providers, just periodically deleting the contents of the trash folder will do the trick. If you use Gmail, or your company’s email services are hosted by Google, then you may need to log in to the web interface periodically to empty the trash, or you can look into the available configuration options, if you feel comfortable doing so.

So in reality, this isn’t really a bug as much as it is what I would call “intended, but unexpected behavior.” Many people simply forget that the trash folder exists, particularly on the iPhone where you don’t always see it sitting off to the left hand side of your inbox. Checking your trash folder for any unintentionally deleted items, and cleaning out the old messages periodically, isn’t really a bad habit to get into. With that said, however, I do think that Apple could improve this behavior by implementing some simple changes like adding an “Empty Trash” button to the trash folder, showing the count of all messages in the trash instead of just unread messages (so that it’s easier to notice there are messages in there), and having Spotlight either ignore deleted messages like Leopard’s Spotlight does, or at least indicate that they were found in the trash.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you consider this to be a bug, or do you think it’s just a place that Apple could improve the experience on? Let us know in the comments!

Update: Leander Kahney has posted an update to the original Cult of Mac post that clarifies this issue a bit more. It seems that accounts using POP are configured by default to remove messages after one day or one week, thus causing them to continue to appear in Spotlight search results. Unfortunately, there isn’t an option to remove them immediately, however, only after a day, one week, one month, or never. Because of this, Spotlight still sees them in the index, and Mail still contains a cached copy of the message until the time limit configured in the settings is reached.

If you’d like to check out this setting for yourself, go to the Settings app, tap on Mail, Contacts & Calendars, and choose the POP mail account you want to modify. Scroll down and choose Advanced, and the retention settings will be at the top of that page under Deleted Messages. It appears the default for a new account is to retain messages up to one week. So this is still the OS doing what it’s configured to do, but there really should be an option to remove messages immediately here. If Apple were to add an option there, and/or remove Spotlight’s ability to index deleted messages, the problem would be solved.

Update 2: After further investigation, it appears that some messages deleted on POP accounts do disappear from Spotlight, while others show up long after the message is deleted. I have conducted several tests on this situation, including on different versions of the iPhone OS, and have posted an update with details.

TUAWPrevent Spotlight from resurrecting your deleted emails on iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Cult of Mac, Steve Jobs, Apple, Apple History

The London Sunday Times has done an interesting profile of Steve Jobs that is a good read, even though it may infuriate some and please others.

There’s nothing really groundbreaking in the piece, but it brings together a lot of material and a bit of pop psychology to try an illuminate the mysterious and mercurial Apple CEO.

Jobs is, in the words of the psychiatrist and scholar of leadership Michael Maccoby, “a productive narcissist”. To Jobs, the world is an epiphenomenon, a side effect of the existence of Steve. Or rather, it is a pyramid with Jobs at the top, a few bright people just beneath him, and then the rest of us – the “bozos”. The customer bozo is not, to him, always right…

“The very striking thing about productive narcissists, particularly men” [said Maccoby], is that they grow up in families where there is an absent or weak father figure. You can see this in narcissistic presidents like Obama, Clinton, Reagan and Nixon. They struggle with their identity and view of the world. So they tend to come up with a very original view of things and are then driven to find followers.

There is also plenty of positive insight:

I swim through Apple newsfeeds like a whale swims through krill,” says Elmer-DeWitt. Yet the company continues to surprise and amaze. I don’t want Jobs to die because my computers and iPhone are, indeed, “insanely great” compared with the dismal competition but, more importantly, because he is an extraordinary figure. I don’t use the word “genius” about businesspeople, but in Steve Jobs’s case I’m prepared to make an exception.

It’s worth reading all of the profile. Steve Jobs doesn’t like being written about, and Apple did all it could to kill the piece.

See what you think, and come back and share your thoughts.

TUAWLondon Sunday Times profiles Steve Jobs over Apple objections originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: App Review

I have been a fan of 3D ever since I found a 3D horror comic book in an old flea market when I was a kid. The anaglyph red/blue glasses made the black and white comic images jump off the page. It really hooked me, and since then I’ve seen most all of the 3D movies made, ranging from The Creature From the Black Lagoon, to Kiss Me Kate, to Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, in the early days, to the pretty darned amazing IMAX 3D Across the Sea of Time, the first one that really blew me away. With recent releases using the Real-D process, films are using 3D as a storytelling device instead of a gimmick – as evidenced in both Coraline and Up.

Now 3D is making a huge resurgence. It’s hard to find a CGI animated film that’s not in 3D. The market is getting ready to explode with live action 3D films from big name directors, like the upcoming Avatar, directed by James Cameron, and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Dreamworks states that all it’s animated product will be in 3D from now on and Pixar is redoing the two Toy Story pictures for 3D before the release of Toy Story 3, also in 3D.

I spent many visits exploring the old Museum of Holography in lower New York City standing, amazed, in front of, and walking around seemingly impossible sights. I’m by nature a gimmick nut and holography is the most impressive visual manipulation I’ve ever come across. I was very excited to find the Holograms app by Mach Kobayashi. Even though the app’s 3D effect is not actually holography, the demo video looked amazing and the results are impressive – but getting it to work is less easy.

Continue reading Holograms: potential and confusion for $1.99

TUAWHolograms: potential and confusion for $1.99 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today Apple filed with the FCC the following answers to their questions.

Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch, First Look, App Review

There are some applications out there that never cease to amaze me. We’re always looking for shortcuts and ways to make our lives (and our computer use) much easier. Iced Cocoa’s new Keymote [iTunes Link] for iPhone and iPod touch is sure to do just that!

With Keymote, you’ll never again have to remember a shortcut. Keymote creates single buttons out of complicated shortcuts and groups them by application, speeding up your productivity and boosting your workflow. Basically, Keymote acts as a remote for your Mac and can control almost any application.

The developer notes that you can “Easily control Front Row from across the room, refresh your Twitter stream wirelessly, or play a song from iTunes without even touching your computer, the possibilities are endless.”

Some highlights of Keymote include:

• Simple and intuitive user interface that makes using Keymote easy and fun.
• Easy to connect and operate over a Wi-Fi connection.
• Organizes your keystrokes, keeping the ones you use close at hand.
• Highly customizable with different key colors, the ability to add tactile feedback with vibrations and more.
• Built-in store for purchasing keystroke sets for almost any Mac application. Don’t worry, most of these are free.
• Customize and share your keystrokes and layouts with other users easily.

I found the Keymote interface to be simple to use, and the commands are snappy, happening almost instantly. The in-app store is great too; I was able to download keystroke sets for Tweetie, Coda, iTunes, Safari, Firefox, Photoshop and so much more. I’m also a sucker for a beautiful user interface and Keymote certainly has that. The menus are easy to use and the keystroke pages are downright gorgeous.

The application is available in the iTunes App Store for $3.99 and is well worth the price. In addition to the app, you’ll need to head over to Iced Cocoa’s website, download the free Keymote receiver, and then pair your iPhone or iPod touch with the receiver application on your Mac.

Here are a few shots of the application in action:

TUAWFirst Look: Keymote for iPhone / iPod touch takes control of your Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, iPhone

About two weeks ago I pledged to lose weight using my iPhone, AppleTV and Mac. Well, I’m happy to report that I’ve lost a whopping 6 pounds since then using my iPhone 3GS. Below is a short list of the apps I used as well as a mini-review of each.

LIVESTRONG

This iPhone app has a great feature set for calorie, exercise and weight tracking, although it is not without its problems. Overall, it needs a little “spit and polish.” The foods I logged often failed to save correctly when I initially entered them. Instead, I’d have to save them, then go back and edit them in order to adjust time of day, or servings eaten. It wasn’t a huge deal, but calorie tracking should be quick and easy to encourage me to keep doing it. If every entry takes twice as long because of editing, well, I’m probably going to give up eventually. Which I did.

In addition, the exercise trackers seem very skewed. LIVESTRONG tells me that a 2-hour bike ride burns about 1,600 calories, while Trailguru gives a much more conservative 750 for the same time and distance. When trying to lose weight, you should overestimate calorie input and underestimate calorie burning in my opinion. I learned pretty quickly to ignore however many calories it said I was burning.

Continue reading TUAW Fitness: An Apple a day update

TUAWTUAW Fitness: An Apple a day update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, iPhone

Getting through the work week is hard enough for most of us… but the minute Friday afternoon rolls around, there’s a certain breed that face the weekend with a long list of “honey do” projects and household duties. Yes, the weekend warriors need iPhone app love too — whether to help with those maintenance challenges, or find ways to make the break from the day job a bit more enjoyable. Here’s a five app collection just for you, my brothers and sisters in the two-day sprint; enjoy.

Weber’s On The Grill[TM] [iTunes link] for iPhone, at $4.99, would seem to be a bit pricey compared to other grill-centric cooking apps selling for $0.99 (dadoo’s Grill Guide) or the large number of free and well-regarded cookbook apps on the store (check out Epicurious Recipies & Shopping List, for one). Nevertheless, if you’re serious about getting the most out of your grill, the $5 you spend on this app will be well worth it.

Weber may be the world’s largest grill manufacturer, but the relationship of Weber owners to their grills feels more personal than mass-marketed; in fact, the slightly obsessive and cultish fandom around the Weber brand may seem a wee bit familiar to, uh, owners of a particular company’s computers, music players and cellphones. Ahem.

The iPhone app takes the Weber customer very seriously, providing a great collection of hundreds of recipes along with grilling technique guides (including videos from chef Jamie Purviance), time and temperature recommendations, a handy shopping list manager, and a convenient cooking timer right in the app. About the only thing that’s missing is an optional meat thermometer to plug into the dock connector (which I would totally buy if they made one).

Continue reading Five Apps for the weekend warrior

TUAWFive Apps for the weekend warrior originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhoto 8.1, the latest update to iPhoto ’09, introduces an extra-large version of the popular hardcover photo book. The new 13 x 10-inch size book — nearly 40% bigger than the traditional large book — features the same full-cover dust jacket and a new satin finish on the photo wrap cover. It makes a perfect gift or coffee table addition. Also included in this update are new travel book and holiday card themes.

European newspaper giant Axel Springer has transformed itself from an old-school, print-based publisher to a digital media powerhouse. Key to that transformation was embracing mobile digital content delivered by iPhone 3G.

In It Might Get Loud, director Davis Guggenheim invites Jimmy Page (The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2), and Jack White (The White Stripes) to tell the history of the electric guitar from their own unique perspectives. How did each develop a sound unique to rock music? See It Might Get Loud and find out. The documentary comes to theaters on August 14.

To keep Surfline.com, with 150 live-streaming cameras in key surf spots around the globe, functioning glitch-free, product manager Graeme Rae uses iPhone: “The surf doesn’t stop. With iPhone, I can reboot a server from the beach.”

For anyone trying to navigate Lollapalooza 2009, one of the biggest music festivals in the U.S, running August 7-9 in Grant Park, Chicago, Jim Dalrymple (www.loopinsight.com) reports that there are several iPhone apps for that.

Thanks to the Virginia Department of Education and the Professor Garfield Foundation, you — and your kids, of course — can get an Introduction to Comics on iTunes U. The 15 video episodes encourage children to draw, sculpt, and carve. In fact, Jim Davis — who created Garfield — gets the course off to a great start, showing us all how he draws his famous lasagna-loving feline.

Meryl Streep is already receiving rave reviews for her performance as Julia Child in Julie & Julia. The film, which co-stars Amy Adams as Julie Powell, is based on Powell’s memoir, Julie & Julia, and Child’s My Life in France. Written and directed by Nora Ephron (You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle), Julie & Julia opens in theaters on Friday, August 7. Bon appétit.

If you subscribe to MobileMe, you can now use your iPhone or iPod touch to view and share Pages documents, Keynote presentations, Microsoft Office documents, PDFs and more. To view documents, simply select them. To share them with others, just tap the share icon and choose your recipients. iDisk will send them an email with a download link. Get the free MobileMe iDisk app from the App Store.

Salesforce Mobile, RoamBi Visualizer, the eBay Profit Calculator, Invoice Makers, Day Tracker, Bid Estimates — they’re but a few of the growing number of apps now available for small business owners on the iPhone App Store, according to Riva Richmond (online.wsj.com). Says iphonebootcampnyc.com dveloper Jonathan Sarno, “For the road warrior, the iPhone is perfect.

Ready for a sequel that outplays the original? Rolando 2 breaks new ground, taking you underwater and up in the sky, offering new vehicles and weapons, and featuring a new 3D look and 45 levels of play. Like the original, it encourages you to touch, tilt, and slide your Rolandos to new levels of achievement. You can let friends know about your high scores, or challenge them via Facebook or email. Will you be able to discover the Golden Orchid?

Filed under: Mac 101

Welcome back to Mac 101, our series of tips for new and novice Mac users.

In the Mac operating system, the term “menu bar” refers to the the horizontal bar at the top of the screen that generally has a little picture of an apple on the left end, the time of day on the right and words like “File”, “Edit”, “Format” and so on in-between. Found it? Good, because understanding how this bar works is essential to getting the best out of your Mac.

In this bar, there are two constants: one is the apple, on the far left, and the other is Spotlight on the far right. Clicking the Apple logo on the left gives you access to all the vital functions of your computer, like Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down, as well as the “About This Mac” window and the option to check for software updates.

Save for the apple, the left side of this bar will change depending on which application you have selected. For you switchers, it’s similar to the bar that is found at the top of each window in Windows, but cuts down on the space each window occupies by having all applications use the same menu bar. The drop down menus perform the same functions as Windows’ menus, but like Windows, will be different depending on which application you currently have selected.

Continue reading Mac 101: The Menu Bar

TUAWMac 101: The Menu Bar originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For Sunbelt Rentals, the iPhone is as indispensable as hard hats. Sunbelt rents scissor lifts, cranes, backhoes and other heavy machinery to construction companies in 34 states. And its 1200-strong sales team depends on iPhone for real-time customer, business, and inventory information. The company even created its own iPhone app — Mobile SalesPro — to deliver that information to every member of its sales force.

Astronomer RIchard Massey maps “dark matter,” little understood material that holds our universe together but is otherwise invisible. The presence of dark matter can be inferred, however, by its effect on galaxies we can see. So Massey takes high-resolution photos of distant galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope. And to analyze the huge, multi-terabyte images he captures, Massey depends on his Mac.

“Once you get a new employee an iPhone, they are in,” says Aedas Sport’s Michael Sedlacek. “They’re connected.” And that connection has spiked productivity — by as much as 400%, the architectural firm estimates. “We couldn’t imagine letting people work without one,” adds managing director Dan Meis. “Because that would mean they weren’t connected to us. And ultimately, that would cost the business money, far more than the cost of a phone.”