News Archive for 05/05/13

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Apps: GPSPhotoLinker, pzizz, Synergy Classic...

05/13, 5:10pm

pzizz, Synergy Classic

GPSPhotoLinker 1.3 (free) can be used to save location and GPS position data to a photo. New to version 1.3, GPSPhotoLinker automatically records the city, state, and country to the photo. Using Spotlight in Mac OS X 10.4 and Spotlight, users can quickly find photos by searching for these annotations. [Download - 2.7MB]
pzizz 1.0.1 ($40) allows users to create more than 100 billion combinations of personalized powernaps in one simple application. This update features Tiger support and is free for current registered users. [Download - 52MB]
Synergy Classic 1.9 is an update to the popular and iTunes accessory that puts buttons to control iTunes in your menu bar, provides global control over your music using system-wide hot keys, automatically handles cover art downloads, and displays a highly customizable semi-transparent "floater" so that you know what's playing. Today's update delivers a number of key bugfixes and eight free new button sets. [Download - 1.1MB]
Jon's Phone Tool 2.3 ($12) is a versatile phone dialer that can dial a Bluetooth mobile phone or a regular land line through a Mac's modem or speakers. This is a major upgrade with Mac OS X 10.4 compatibility as well as other new features & fixes. [Download - 2.6MB]
Mobile High Speed 4.12 ($90) eases the set-up of Mac OS X for an UMTS, EDGE or GPRS connection with a mobile phone or PC Data card. The new version includes compatibility with a host of new mobile phones and PC Data Cards, including the popular Treo 650 device from PalmOne. [Download - 5.6MB]
PhoneValet Message Center 2.2.1 ($200) turns any Apple computer running Mac OS X into a telephone communications hub for homes and small businesses. The update adds Address Book dialing support for Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" users, and improves the performance of searching operations in the Phonebook and Call Log. [Download - 21MB - update only]

Briefly: WWDC deals; KHTML; Playlist Club; Aspyr demo

05/13, 1:30pm

WWDC deals

In brief: Aspyr will be showcasing the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront, Friday, May 20th at the monthly Aspyr game night at Austin's Apple store.... Playlist Club is inviting iPod DJs, dancers, and judges in the U.K. and U.S. to its events in London (May 21st) and Philadelphia (May 23rd).... Apple is offering a "buy 4 get 1 free" bargain for groups attending WWDC.... WWDC attendees can also save $100 when they buy a Tiger Developer Kit and register for WWDC 2005.... Firefox engineer Ben Goodger has posted his thoughts on Safari and the KHTML rendering engine, on his weblog (see Goodger's previous comments).

Apple's future: Mac sales growth, subscription model?

05/13, 12:45pm

ML reiterates Buy on AAPL

Apple's future is more than iPods, according to one analyst who believes that recent launch of Yahoo's music service does not represent a threat to the iPod/iTunes ecosystem. In a research report to clients, Merrill Lynch said that the current weakness in Apple's stock represents a "buying opportunity" as the research firm believes that Apple could easily create a subscription model to counter Yahoo's service and also said that the iPod "halo effect" will significantly drive more Mac revenue. PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster expressed a similar view earlier this week.

Xbox 360 enclosure reminiscent of iPod, Macs

05/13, 10:35am

Xbox 360 enclosure

Microsoft yesterday unveiled the much-anticipated Xbox 360. The new gaming console debuted on MTV during a red-carpet Hollywood extravaganza. The Xbox 360 features PowerPC processor with three 3.2Ghz cores. The Xbox 360 features a minimalist enclosure, reminiscent of Apple's products. "We did lots of color studies," says J Allard, corporate VP of Xbox, "Most people actually came back and said, 'This reminds me of iPod'." Taking "further minimalist cues from Apple's iPod," the Xbox 360 keeps most of its functionality hidden, a 1UP.com article explains. "Inspired by Apple's audacious iPod campaign, Microsoft hopes Xbox 360's minimalist industrial design and frosty white appearance will appeal to more than just hardcore gamers."

Teen's iPod goes through washing machine, "explodes"

05/13, 9:45am

iPod \"explodes\"

Fire investigators are probing a small explosion that burned a hole in the bed of a Melbourne teenager who tried to repair his damaged Apple iPod. The boy was treated by paramedics at his Bayswater home for breathing difficulties after ingesting fumes emitted by the device as he pulled it apart in his suburban bedroom on Wednesday. Country Fire Authority spokesman Peter Philp said the leaky iPod had been taken away for testing by CFA investigators. "His mother did the washing and the iPod was in the clothing so it went through the washing machine [...] It wasn't working, the young fella tried to undo it or fix it with a screwdriver [...] It was more smoke than fire but it did leave a burn mark on the cover."

Briefly: 'Best desktop OS;' More on KHTML; Year of HD

05/13, 9:35am

Best desktop OS

In brief: Enterprise technology analyst Butler Group says, "Apple has produced the best desktop operating system in the world to date, and with the server variant it is a serious contender for the data centre."... Firefox lead engineer Ben Goodger backs Apple in its dispute with open-source KHTML developers: "Safari's renderer is vastly superior to the KHTML used by Konqueror," he said (see previous report for background).... iCompositions has partnered with PowerFX to give away a package of free loops for GarageBand, Logic, and Soundtrack.... Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice-president of applications marketing, says the new Final Cut Pro Studio will make 2005 "the year of HD."... An Australian teen's iPod "exploded" after he put it through the washing machine and tried to fix it.

"iCon" explores roles of Jobs, Ive in iPod

05/13, 9:25am

iCon excerpt

Wired News has published a lengthy excerpt from "iCon," the controversial and unauthorized biography of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. In the excerpt, authors Jeffrey Young and William Simon look at the creation of the iPod. "How many companies could tackle a project in a brand-new category, create a groundbreaking widget that looked great and worked better than anyone else's -- and do it all in under a year? It happened only because Steve Jobs cracked the whip in his usual roles of slave driver, taskmaster and ringmaster." The "creative genius" behind the look and feel of the iPod was Jonathan Ive, according to the book. "From early on, we wanted a product that would seem so natural and so inevitable and so simple, you almost wouldn't think of it as having been designed," Ive said. "Like everyone else on the project, I knocked myself out, not so much because it was a challenge -- which it was -- but because I wanted to have one," he said.