Crenk » apple

Internet Music Innovation with Songbeat360

Luis Sandoval — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:41:11 +0000

Today finding the music you want, when you want it has been channeled to using sites like the Amazon store or iTunes. Sometimes, when looming for an obscure song that is not mainstream, you’d be lucky to find it. This frustrating experience paired with the perceived greedines of corporate music labels has forced many of us to find our music on peer to peer networks or bitorrent sites such the Pirate Bay.

Songbeat360.com is an amazingly innovative way of integrating a music player with a music search. Now you can listen to your favorite songs while searching for more. You are essentially still building your own station, much like Pandora or Last.fm, but on this music player you have the ability to download your music immediately.

Bypassing the need to go to the likes of Amazon or iTunes may please some, but does the pricing compare? Based on the site, the application is an Adobe Air app, and comes with 25 free credits. Credits are used when a search is done, and searches are supposedly capable of returning up to 500 results, ensuring you will fond what you need. For further credits, those can be purchased via a stored credit card. For $15 you receive 1000 credits for more music, which breaks down to a whole lot less than $.99 per song on the iTunes store. This is of course assuming you find what you want in one search.

Is the next revolution to your music search? I’d say know, but it’s definitely interesting. The pricing alone is attractive, and if the quality is the same, I can see this web app becoming extremely successful.

Top 4 Converter Programs from PDF to JPG for Mac

Steven Finch — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:45:43 +0000

A lot of people have big issues converting files from PDF format to any other format. Today, I wanted to run through converter programs which change PDF files to JPG (image) files for both Mac and PC.

Zamzar

Zamzar is probably the most well known file conversion site. The process is simplicity personified: Choose the file to convert then choose the format to convert to (e.g. JPG) then enter your email address to receive the converted file then convert. The minuses with the free service are that the file size is limited to 100MB with just 5 simultaneous conversions. Also, you might feel a wee bit uneasy uploading sensitive data without encryption support.

YouConvertIt

YouConvertIt is a new site that lets you upload 5 files at a time and then convert them from PDF to JPG format.

Neevia Document Converter

Neevia Technology has a web interface which facilitates the conversion of PDF documents to image files. Select the conversion settings and upload your file. The converted file can be rendered in the browser or can be downloaded via an email link. Two dropdowns further give you control over image quality and resolution. The only visible restriction is the 1MB file upload size limit.

If you are wary of uploading sensitive files over the net, you need to look beyond the online solutions to something much more local. Thankfully these three pieces of free software take up the task.

PDF-Xchange Viewer

PDF-Xchange Viewer is a light feature-rich PDF document reader. The free version of the software is a capable document handler with most of the standard features expected. Add comments and annotations, mark-up pages with texts and objects, type within the PDF document along with plug-ins for both IE and Firefox are also included.

But the feature which interests us is the ability of the software to export a file or a page to the supported image formats like JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PNG and more.

Open the PDF file in the viewer, click on File – Export to Image and the dialog opens up where you can set the pages to convert, the image type to convert to and the destination folder. More importantly, the ‘Export Mode’ setting allows you to designate the number of image files for the subject PDF file. The ‘Page Zoom’, ‘Resolution’ and ‘Page Background’ also allow added finishing touches.

Apple Release New Magic Mouse, iMacs, MacBooks and Mac Mini’s

Steven Finch — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:00:49 +0000

As im sure most people are aware, Apple released new products yesterday and here at Crenk I wanted to just quickly run through them. RAck. r

Magic Mouse

Here it is: the new Magic Mouse, a single button mouse (with a software-controlled right click option) and a touch sensitive top surface that allows you to touch the mouse to pinch, scroll, and drag, just like a trackpad. The mouse uses two AA batteries and lasts 4 months on one change.

It costs $69 and is available at the end of October.

iMac

Fastest iMac yet. Big LEDC-backlit displays in 21,5 and 27 Inch 16:9 aspect ration. Wireless keyboard and mouse standard (check that mouse!). Fastest iMac yet. No surprise there.

The New Macbook

The new MacBook has a durable unibody enclosure (aluminum or plastic?), 1,08 inch thin, light at just 4.7 pounds, 7 hour battery. 13 inch LED backlit display and glass multi-touch display.

The New Mac Mini

up to 2,66Ghz with up to 4GB memory. Faster than ever. NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor for graphics and Wi-Fi built in. Optional 500GB hardisk.

Apple To Launch iPhone in China End of October

Steven Finch — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:02:16 +0000

Apple (AAPL) will begin selling iPhones in China at the end of this month, company executives said during today’s Q3 earnings call. Apple will be launching with China Unicom and this is going to obviously be a great opportunity for Apple to gain even more market share in the smartphone market.

New details:

Apple will have 1,000 points of sale.
Plans will range in price from $18/month to $100/month.
With higher-priced plans, users will get their iPhones “free.”

10 New Points About The New Apple Tablet: To Be Announced in January 2010

Steven Finch — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:47:32 +0000

Over at iLounge they have got a tip from a very reliable source about the specifics of the new Apple Tablet that a lot of people have been talking about. On Crenk we first talked about the Apple tablet back in May and then again in August. The iLounge source also correctly called the iPod nano 5G, iPhone 3GS and Chinese iPhone 3G months ago.

Apple has created at least three separate prototypes of its tablet computer. Let’s call it “iPad.”
Version 1 was designed with a 7” screen, which was judged to be too small. The latest version has a 10.7” screen.
It runs iPhone OS.
There have been reports that it looks like an iPhone. They’re sort of true. It looks like an iPhone 3G, complete with a curved back.
It will come in two different variations: one with 3G networking capabilities, and one without 3G networking capabilities. Think of the 3G version as a bigscreen iPhone 3GS, and the non-3G version as a bigscreen iPod touch.
Screen resolutions will obviously jump considerably from the iPhone and iPod touch 480×320-pixel displays, enabling easy reading of full-sized book and magazine pages, plus cropped newspaper pages. Expect something like 5-6 times the resolution of an iPod touch or iPhone screen (720p or thereabouts) and 7 times the touchable surface area.
It is designed to expand the iPhone and iPod touch media concept to its next potential level: as a slate-like replacement for books and magazines, plus all of the media, gaming, app, and web functionality of the iPhone and iPod touch.
It is not meant to compete with netbooks. It’s an iPhone OS media player and light communication device.
Apple is currently planning to announce it on or before January 19, 2010, and to use an iPhone-like hype buildup period to start selling it in May or June.
It is apparently awaiting a final green light from Steve Jobs; chances of it appearing in the market are believed to be 80% at this point.

Purchase a New iPhone on Orange! O2 Dont Have Exclusivity in the UK anymore

Steven Finch — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:37:34 +0000

O2 has had the exclusivity for the iPhone since launching in the UK back in November 2007. Now that is set to change with Orange announcing its plans to sell the iPhone very soon.

A news release this morning states:

Orange UK and Apple have reached an agreement to bring iPhone 3G and 3GS to Orange UK customers later this year. Orange globally now offers iPhone in 28 countries and territories.

Orange, which has the largest 3G network covering more people in the UK than any other operator, will sell iPhone in all Orange direct channels including Orange shops, the Orange webshop and Orange telesales channels, as well as selected high street partners.

This is great news for consumers who are interested in getting the iPhone but didnt want to switch to O2. A pre-registration site for customers to register their interest has been launched at www.Orange.co.uk/iPhone. More information on pricing, tariffs and availability dates is set to be released “in due course”.

Snow Leopard Skin for Windows Live Messenger 2009 Free

Steven Finch — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:47:28 +0000

I find it funny how there are a lot of skins for Mac like skins on products, however there doesnt seem to be many people making Windows skins for Mac’s. Anyways, here is a new skin for Windows Live Messenger which makes it look like Apple Mac OS Snow Leopard. This is the first Apple theme plus! skin that works with Windows Live Messenger 9 or 14.

This Snow Leopard 1.0.2 skin for Windows Live Messenger 2009 has already had over 1 million downloads despite being in beta.

Download here.

List of the Best Free iTunes Alternatives

Steven Finch — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:50:24 +0000

Most people im sure would probably agree that Apple’s iTunes software isnt a lightweight application. I was wanting to put together a great list of free alternatives to iTunes that are actually worth checking out.

Foobar 2000 – A digital music management program for Windows users. It works with Windows 2000, Windows Vists , Windows XP and Windows XP 64 bit edition. To use this program you will need 32 MB of RAM and a display with at least an 800 X 600 resolution. This program is compatible with MP1-4, MPC, AAC, WAV, SND, WMA, Ogg Valis, WavPack, AIFF, CDDA, FIAC/Ogs FLAC and AU. It also supports full Unicode and Replay Gain. Other great features include third party development potential and keyboard shortcut that are fully customizable.

Froddle Pod – Froddle is not as feature rich as iTunes but it provides access to the main features that iPod owners need: It can copy music and videos from and to an iPod which is definitely the main feature that any iTunes alternative should support. The software can also backup and restore all data that is stored on an iPod. Another feature is music normalization for all or selected music on the iPod.

Songbird – Built on the Firefox platform and works with iPods and other media players. In addition to many great features, Songbird has a plenty of add-ons, and because it’s open source, clever programmers will be adding more as time goes on.

YamiPod An interesting iTunes alternative, because you don’t have to install it on your computer at all. Just copy it to your iPod’s hard disk and then you can manage your songs from any computer running Mac OS X, Windows or Linux.

Winamp – Sometimes called the grandfather of Windows music players, Winamp is a full featured music manager, with integrated iPod support and will even play iTunes protected files if QuickTime is installed.

Amarok – A great iTunes alternative for Linux and Unix users. It works with a wide variety of portable music players including: iPod, Creative Zen players, iRiver iFP and T players, Nomad players, generic MTP players and generic USB players. Some of the features that this program has that you are going to love include: album covers, wikipedia integration, last.fm integration, superior visual effects, lyrics support and music tracking capabilities.

Banshee – Linux users are going to enjoy what Banshee has to offer. This free download allows you to do everything that you want to do with your digital music. You can import music, organize music, play it back, share it and rip it on a CD. This is a great program for people who love their music and who want to actively manage it.

Cog – Most people using Mac OSX feel that iTunes is the best option because it was designed for this platform. However, Cog is worth a look for Mac users, because it addresses many of the limitations that iTunes has. It can be used with the following file types: Ogg vorbis, Monkeys Audio, MP3, Wavpack, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Musepack, AAC and WAV/AIFF. Some of the features that make it a worthy alternative to iTunes include: gapless playback, auto updating, preferences, Growl support, global hot keys, seeking, feedback forms, last.fm support, and smart shuffle.

Incoming Announcements for iPod/iTunes

Augusto Alvarez — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:00:42 +0000

Apple’s has more news for us, and they are going to make it official this Wednesday, September 9 at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. So, what’s going to be? New versions for iPod Touch with cameras included (maybe including iPod nano) and new features for iTunes.

There are a lot of rumors, which unfortunately are only that, just rumors. Marco Arment made a few guesses around all those and here’s a quick review about what he said:

New iPod touch version with the following features: camera, double the storage capacities, and new pricing: 8 GB for u$s149, 16 GB for u$s199, 32 GB for u$s249, 64 GB for u$s349.
New iPod nano version with camera. But they will offer only one model: 8gb for u$s99
iPod classic out of the market.
New pricing for the iPod shuffle: u$s59.

You want more? iTunes will include new social network features; and this event will possibly have a special guest: Steve Jobs.

Yes, I didn’t mention anything about the Apple Tablet. Seems that there’s not going to be any announce around that, and they could possibly wait until next year to say something official about it.

Mac OS X Server v 10.6 Snow Leopard Available as Free Trial Direct from Apple

Steven Finch — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:25:01 +0000

Apple is currently offering corporations Mac OS X Server v.10.6 “Snow Leopard” for a free trial.

Mac OS X Server v.10.6 “Snow Leopard” has everything you need to deliver standards-based workgroup and Internet services, providing an ideal solution for education, small businesses, and large enterprises. The amazing features in Snow Leopard Server make it easy to share contacts and calendars, collaborate on projects, access information remotely, create and distribute podcasts, and more.

Snow Leopard Server offers countless behind-the-scenes features, which greatly reduce IT time and effort, improve compatibility in mixed environments, enhance support for iPhone and iPod touch users, and boost the already robust security of Mac OS X Server. With a full 64-bit operating system, Mac OS X Server is designed to maximize the computing potential of today’s Xserve and Mac Pro systems and dramatically increases the total number of simultaneous system processes, threads, and network connections that the server can utilize. Designed to handle the most demanding server operations, Snow Leopard Server is up to twice as fast as its predecessor.

All you need to do to receive your copy is fill out the form located here. You must be a USA citizen however.

Spotify iPhone App Gets Accepted into iTunes Store, but did iTunes Make a Deal to Be a Music Download Provider?

Steven Finch — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:42:16 +0000

There has been a lot of talk this morning about Spotify getting their new iPhone application accepted into the iTunes store. I know we have talked a lot about Spotify recently including them entering into the Chinese market, USA market, and how to use Spotify if your based in the USA or any other country. However, today’s news is probably bigger than all of these.

The company’s iPhone application has been approved for the App Store ahead of competitors Rhapsody and Grooveshark. PaidContent UK reports that Apple has notified Spotify that its app will appear in the store shortly. In late July there was fear that the Swedish site’s iPhone service would be denied due to the fact that it was seen as a threat to iTunes.

Unlike many other iPhone music apps, Spotify’s iPhone service offers users the ability to select tracks and listen to them in an offline playlist. The ability to cache files is a huge asset to those who commute to work without a wireless connection.

With today’s announcement, Spotify’s audiences in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Spain, France and Finland will be more likely to pay for the company’s premium service.

This is a very interesting decision by Apple who recently blocked Google Voice from entering the app store because it basically provided free phone calls via the iPhone. I dont think Spotify is a future competitor to iTunes because they are offering completely different products. iTunes provides a platform to purchase digital products, while Spotify is strict music streaming service. However, im very surprised that Apple didnt make an agreement with Spotify and accept them into their iTunes store but only if iTunes because a default download provider for the music on the service (like 7digital currently).

First Augmented Reality App – Metro Paris Subway

Dean Sherwin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:50:49 +0000

The first ever augmented reality app has appeared in the Apple App store for the iPhone. I know – what the hell is Augmented Reality or AR as it’s often called? Basically, it’s a layer of digital information displayed over real information.

The app is called ‘Metro Paris Subway’ and what it does is use the iPhone’s GPS, compass and camera all together to give you information about your surroundings when in the city. Basically, you point your camera at a certain location and details of local shops, restaurants and tourist locations will pop up as you can see in the screenshot. It gives you direction and distance also.

This kind of technology wasn’t expected until Apple released an updated version of the iPhone OS in a few months.

It’s cool and everything, but for some reason I can’t see it catching on in this form. People like their GPS and it suits them fine. As soon as the novelty wears off they will retreat back to GPS. You don’t need AR to tell you where to go – GPS does a better job at twice the speed with half the effort. However, if you do get this app (which bear in mind will only work in Paris) then don’t worry about discarding it after purchase as it costs a reasonable 99c – I was expecting it to cost $30!

The Mac Tablet – What do you think?

Dean Sherwin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:19:37 +0000

Dear Readers,

At this stage I’m getting fed up. Every day I open my inbox there are a dozen e-mails from colleagues and readers of the

various publications I write for including Crenk asking about the news or a new product. There’s always at least one talking about the supposed upcoming Mac Tablet.

‘What do you reckon will be included?’, they ask.

Honestly, I’m nowhere near 100% certain. Obviously you’d have a touch screen QWERTY keyboard, media centre of some sort and maybe even fingerprint recognition (I believe Apple have patented that idea).

In truth, only the bigwigs at Apple could tell us. And even then they would probably just numb our brains with pre-release jargon so we all buzz around the internet still asking ‘Ohh, what could it be?!’

My reason for writing this post is clear and simple. I want to know what you would like in a Mac tablet. Send us in your thoughts, opinions and ravings here at Crenk. Either leave a comment below of tell us on the Crenk Twitter.

They could be about anything – ‘when will it be released?’, ‘what features will it have?’, ‘how much will it cost?’, ‘what will it look like?’ and so on. I look forward to reading your replies.

-Dean Sherwin

Microsoft Adds Outlook To Office Bundle for Mac in 2010

Steven Finch — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:27:43 +0000

Microsoft is planning on bringing out Microsoft Outlook to the Mac in 2010. Outlook will be apart of the Outlook bundle for the Mac and it is about time!

Entourage isn’t gone yet however. Microsoft also announced today’s launch of Entourage Web Services Edition, which better integrates Entourage with Exchange Server and with Outlook for Windows. It’s now available for download.

Microsoft have made this announcement as Apple has added Microsoft Exchange support in the next version of its OS X operating system which ships this month. As many more players are entering the market, but more importantly entering the market online supplying Office like packages online and in the cloud, Microsoft still needs to provide its users a reason to keep paying for their products.

How to Find Your iPhone UUID

Steven Finch — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:50:45 +0000

If you are beta testing an application, or working with a developer to track down an issue, the developer will almost certainly have to ask you to provide your UUID. This page describes details of what a UUID actually is, and how to find it.

When manufactured every iPhone is assigned an identifier that is unique to that physical device. This is commonly referred to as it’s ‘UUID’, an acronym for Universally Unique Identifier. It’s worth noting that the UUID is anonymous, e.g. if you have a UUID there is no way to tie that to a person.

iTunes will only install applications that have been digitally signed by a developer using an Apple-provided certificate. Applications can either be signed for the AppStore where they can be used by anyone who purchases a copy, or for AdHoc distribution where users install the application by adding it to iTunes. With Adhoc distribution the developer must include the UUID of all devices in the certificate for the application. This is intended to prevent people freely distributing their applications.

Below are instructions for retrieving your UUID. Alternatively you can download Erica Sudan’s most helpful and free AdHoc Helper Application from the AppStore.

1) Start iTunes and connect your iPhone

2) On the Summary page for your iPhone, click on the word “Serial Number:” text

3) The serial number should change to the word “Identifier”, followed by a long string of numbers and digits

4) When you press CTRL+C (Windows) or Command/AppleKey + C (Mac) and the UUID will be copied to the clipboard and can then be pasted into an Email / IM window / whatever

Google’s CEO leaves Apple

Dean — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:08:55 +0000

Apple have today announced that Eric Schmidt who is the CEO of Google and a member of the board of directors at Apple has stepped down from his position at the company. Schmidt has held the prestigious position since August 2006 and says that he is leaving the job because conflicts of interest arose.

These “conflicts of interest” arose around 15 months ago when Google started making their way into Apples territory such as announcing their upcoming Chrome OS and the recent debacle over Google Voice being denied into Apple’s App Store.

An official statement from Apple read:

“Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board.”

To be honest readers, I don’t find this too surprising. Schmidt was being asked to leave certain meetings at Apple when they were discussing plans that could be used by Google. This is no kind of behaviour to be going on in one of the world’s biggest companies. He will be replaced by a more effective person who will not have conflicts in other businesses with Apple.

Download Skype 2.8 for Mac Free

Steven Finch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:01:10 +0000

There has been a lot of news from Skype lately, Skype new headset, Skype Windows and iPhone improvements, and Skype 4.0 release. Just to jump on the bandwagon Skype has now released their 2.8 version for the Mac. This new version brings two totally new and unique features namely Screen sharing and Skype Access.

Screen Sharing is a key new feature in Skype client for the Mac which allows one easily to see/share all or a portion of their desktop with another Skype user during a call. And for those on the move, Skype Access allows them to pay for Wi-Fi hotspots using their credit.

More new features include:

Improved chat management
Quick Add
Mood message chat
Larger profile pictures
Hidden avatars in incoming contact requests
Add notes to contacts

To download this new version of Skype, simply head over to the Skype website.

How To Change Admin Password for Apple Mac Without The Disk

Steven Finch — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:45:19 +0000

In the last week or so we have been having a lot issues with a few of the Macs in the office and in particular changing the admin password. I thought I would just write a quick article letting everyone know how we fix this.

You need to enter terminal and create a new admin account:

1. Reboot
2. Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
3. When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
* mount -uw /
* rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
* shutdown -h now
4. After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account. When you login as the new admin you can simply delete the old one and you’re good to go again!

Hope this works for everyone!

Apple unleashes new Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Server

Steven Finch — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:59:19 +0000

Mac OS X 10.5.8 build 9L25

Since opening the Mac OS X 10.5.8 beta test to developers approximately one month ago, Apple has shown signs that the release may cap off development of Mac OS X 10.5.

For example, each new build has arrived with a focus area noticeably distinct from the last, with lower-level technologies and frameworks seeing greater attention than usual. As such, it’s been speculated that the Mac maker may be giving its Leopard OS a final once-over.

This trend appears to have culminated with this past weekend’s release of build 9L25, which no longer asks that developers focus their attention on a small subset of Leopard’s components. Instead, it groups together the more than three dozen components that had been isolated into smaller focus groups in earlier betas.

The latest build also lists no known issues and addresses just two new bugs, one related to saving mail messages as individual message documents and another to URL localization.

Mac OS X 10.6 Server build 10A403

Separately, developers this weekend were also treated to a new build of Mac OS X 10.6 Server, labeled build 10A403. With it, Apple asked that they test upgrade installs of the server software itself, in addition to upgrade installs of Calendar server.

Developers were also reportedly asked to spend some time with the system’s new Podcast Producer, evaluating as many third-party video and web cams as they possibly can. Included with the software is a new Web Podcast Capture which leverages a new Dual Source Video Capture feature for allowing users to create picture-in-picture format podcasts.

Mac OS X 10.6 build 10A402a

Mac OS X 10.6 Server build 10A403 arrived on the heels of Mac OS X 10.6 Client build 10A402a earlier in the week. That build introduced some widely-reported interface tweaks to the Dock’s pop-up menus and Expose.

Apple Planning New iPhone

Dean — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:26:31 +0000

At least once a week we hear an iPhone rumour, ranging from new updates, faults, releases and Apple news in general where the devices name is uttered as an afterthought. Now however, it seems that the latest rumours may hold water.

On the 2^nd of July, Apple filed patents for what seem like very interesting features for the iPhone. With the 3G S barely onto the market as it is, it seems like Apple is thinking ahead already.

These patents filed revolve around the fingerprint idea and how a touch screen recognizes them. This could be used for security reasons (which would make an iPhone pretty darn secure) and also for basic control of the device. For example, a touch with the little finger may be preset to bring you back to the homepage while the middle finger could launch the internet browser.

All this seems very complex and as such is unlikely to make an appearance to the market for a few years as apple don’t want to over complicate what it already a very revolutionary device. Still, it’s good to know that the Smartphone market will still be alive and competitive two years down the line.

Apple to Adopt Micro-USB Connectors for iPhone Charging in Europe

Will Wilson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:06:47 +0000

Reuters reports that ten top mobile phone manufacturers, including Apple, have agreed to adopt the Micro-USB connector standard for smartphone chargers in the European Union. The shift, planned to begin next year, will allow smartphones from the companies, which control 90% of the market, to use the same charging cables. Apple currently uses a proprietary dock connector compatible with both the iPhone and iPod touch.

The chargers will be usable only for data-enabled phones, which have more capability than just standard calls and SMS texts. Data-enabled phones are expected to account for almost half of all new mobile handset purchases in 2010.

The Commission hopes that as people discard their old handsets, within three to four years all data-enabled phones in Europe will be using standardized chargers.

The plan also calls for new phones to be sold with Micro-USB chargers for a period of time before ultimately selling phones and chargers separately in order to allow customers who already own chargers to continue using their existing ones. While the agreement extends only to European phones, it is expected that the standard will make its way into phones around the world as companies attempt to keep their design and manufacturing costs streamlined.

Apple Gets Generous?

Will Wilson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:00:53 +0000

Last Friday I treated myself to a new 17″ MacBook Pro (that’s a story for another post though!) One thing that always puts me off is as soon as I buy one a new one comes out, so I thought I would be safe buying a couple of weeks after the WWDC when it was upgraded. Of course the other big news at the WWDC was the upcoming official release of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard due to be released in September.

It made me think, do I have to pay the full price to upgrade my OS even though it’s not far away and I’ve just spent a small fortune in the Apple store?

So a bit of poking around on the Apple website came up with an interesting page (one I might add that is not well linked to!)

UK – http://www.apple.com/uk/macosx/uptodate/
US – http://www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate/

So the deal is simple if you bought a new Mac on or after June 8th you get a special upgrade price! $9.95 USD and £7.95 GBP (gotta love Apples currency conversions!) You have to claim within 60 days of purchase and before December 26th 2009 but it seems well worth it.

You can apply at the above links pay by credit/debit card and it will be shipped upon release. Makes a nice change for Apple to do something nice seeing as they charged me £20 to buy a Mini-Display Port to DVI adaptor!!!!

iPhone apps with push notifications start to appear

Will Wilson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:40:36 +0000

One of the most anticipated features in the recent release of iPhone OS 3.0 was the inclusion of push notifications. Apple’s comprimise to not allowing background apps, I think most, myself included, were skeptical at how this would turn out. Well a few days after the OS was officially launched applications started appearing having been updated to take advantage of this new feature.

Tap Tap Revenge was first, however I want to skip past that and move on to 2 apps which will possibly benefit the most from push notifications. AIM andBeeJiveIM.

AIM

Now with Push Notification, AIM® lets you stay even more connected with the people you care about right on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Communicate whenever you want, wherever you are. Connect with friends and family and keep track of status, location, and presence updates in real time

AIM comes in two different flavours: the free, ad support version and the paid, ad free version for $9.99. Now i’m not a big AIM user so I tool the free version for a test drive and with the notable lack of landscape mode in the free version, there wasn’t much of a difference the sponsor ads never got in the way as is often found in ad supported apps which totally winds me up!

The main issue with AIM is the user interface, it just felt a bit small?! It was hard to read the messages and the navigational menus weren’t asintuitive as they really should have been, but on the flip side the push notifications did exactly what they said on the tin! AIM keeps you signed in forupto 24 hours after exiting the app (you can set the timeout in the prefs , if you can find them!). Should you receive an IM whilst out of the program you get the nice little pop up similar to the text message alert. Although it did show a preview of the IM which I couldn’t find a way of switching off unlike you can with text messages.

Unfortunately for me I know one person who actually uses AIM so after a few messages to them I was bored, now I’m not sure how popular AIM really is for me MSN/Live messenger has always been the IM of choice, which brings us very nicely onto the next app!

BeeJiveIM

Stay connected to all your instant messaging buddies anywhere you go! BeejiveIM (pronounced \bē-hīv\ IM) keeps you in touch with your friends on AIM®/MobileMe®, MSN®/Windows Live®, Yahoo!®, GoogleTalk®, Facebook, MySpace, ICQ® and Jabber… all at the same time, all on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for! And I have to say this is worth every penny! For only $9.99 this app really does do it’s developers proud. With support for multiple IM protocols and multiple simultaneous accounts this was one of the most impressive things I have seen come out of the App Store since iPint (haha).

It has a really lovely UI fully in keeping with the iPhone OS and has full support for landscape mode which is nice, the chat screen is similar to the iPhone own messaging app although feels like you have a bit more space. I was moving around town shopping and the app seemed to cope rather well dipping from 3G to EDGE to public WiFi and when it did loose connection a handy popup on the screen told me about it.

This I would say is definitely the app to go for if you are looking for a comprehensive IM client for iPhone, and the push notifications seem to be really working! The true test will be if the Apple systems can cope with millions of pointless apps all using push notifcations in the future. The only thing I did notice was a slight decrease in battery life which I mention, but am not entirely sure if is related.

Conclusion?

Is there really one? Push notifications work there is no doubt, but going past IM clients what else can be done with them? I’m holding out for a better push email system, yeah I like my mobile me account but I want push on all my mail! Let’s have a nice Blackberry App for iPhone! Then we will really see what push on the iPhone really can do!

Watch The Apple WWDC 2009 Keynote Video

Steven Finch — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:14:29 +0000

Apple WWDC 2009 conference has finished, but if you didnt get a chance to attend like me, then you can still watch the keynote over at the Apple site.

Phil Schiller Apple Keynote Live from WWDC 2009

Steven Finch — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:52:27 +0000

Wanting to find out where you can see what is happening over at WWDC Conference? Well over at Engadget they are blogging live, so make sure you head over and check it out!