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Archive for the ‘CNN Big Tech’ Category

App Review: Rolando 2 — Roll On the Second Coming

Written on July 09, 2009 by Olly Farshi and No one has commented

Rolando 2 is the sequel to Rolando, a game which proved that the iPhone can compete with Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS in the handheld console wars.
Just over a year after opening, the App Store is coming into its own. Indeed, there’s the dodgy dirge of novelty joke apps, but at the other end of [...]

Google Chrome OS: Hype, Hope or Humbug?

Written on July 09, 2009 by Tom Reestman and 10 people have commented

So there’s a new OS that’s based on the web, relies primarily on a web browser, and whose native apps are web apps. Old news, you say? We already know about Palm’s WebOS. No, I don’t mean that one. This one will primarily target netbooks. Still old news, you say, because we know a modified [...]

Safari 4.0.2 Addresses Security, Stability

Written on July 09, 2009 by Charles Jade and 1 person has commented

Apple has released version 4.0.2 of Safari for both OS X 10.4 and 10.5 (but not Snow Leopard), as well as Windows XP, Vista and 7 beta. The 40MB update is available through Software Update and download via Apple’s web site.
The release notes, cryptic as usual, state the update improved “the stability of the Nitro [...]

VLC 1.0 Goldeneye Released

Written on July 08, 2009 by Chris Ryan and 2 people have commented

VLC media player, an open-source application from the VideoLAN project, finally reached version 1.0 today. The software had its original start back in 1996 as a school project from engineering students at the Ecole Centrale Paris (though it wasn’t released as an open source project until 2001).
Through many point releases before today, VLC has continued [...]

Google OS Announced: How Will it Affect Apple?

Written on July 08, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 22 people have commented

Late yesterday evening, the folks at Google made official what many have suspected for months, or even years: They’re working on an operating system. The new OS, dubbed Chrome OS after Google’s recent entry into the ongoing browser wars, will have speed and Internet connectivity as its two top priorities, and be based on a [...]

More Evidence of a New iPod touch Found

Written on July 08, 2009 by Charles Jade and 11 people have commented

Pinch Media, an analytics firm for iPhone OS developers, has found evidence of a third-generation iPod touch. An “iPod3,1″ string has been showing up as the version identifier in its online logs, with first- and second-generation identifiers for the touch being “iPod1,1″ and “iPod2,1,” respectively.
In a blog posting, Pinch Media reported applications using its analytic [...]

Would You Be “Lost” Without Your Mac on Vacation?

Written on July 07, 2009 by Dave Greenbaum and 4 people have commented

As you head out the door, you have your tickets, you set the alarm. What did you forget? Unless you’re boarding Oceanic Flight 815, you probably have little to really worry about, but there are a few things that will ease your anxiety and ensure that your trip is as stress-free as possible.
Sometimes you just [...]

Dock Gone: Say Goodbye to Your Dock

Written on July 07, 2009 by James Dempsey and 20 people have commented

When Apple introduced the Dock with OS X, people immediately either love it or hated it. Over time, we all got used to it. Among some of the usability complaints about the Dock is the fact that without hacking, you can’t simply get rid of it. Hiding the Dock will only get you so far – it still pops-up at inopportune times. If you’re frustrated by the inability to completely hide the Dock, there is a simple solution.

Snow Leopard in Depth: Grand Central Dispatch

Written on July 06, 2009 by Weldon Dodd and 4 people have commented

At the beginning of the decade, Intel was imagining that by 2010 it would have processors with over 1 billion transistors running at a clock speed of 20GHz. As we move into the second half of 2009, the reality is that we will soon have 3GHz mobile chips with four cores on them and 2010 [...]

Apple’s Tilt to SD Cards Looking Smarter Than Ever

Written on July 06, 2009 by Charles Moore and 8 people have commented

Last month I commented that Apple’s substitution of Secure Digital Card (SD) slots for ExpressCard slots in the 15″ MacBook Pro made considerably good sense. It would be nice to have both, but the ExpressCard support wasn’t being heavily used, according to Apple, while SD was growing more popular. The 13″ MacBook Pro also gets [...]

Apple Looking to Add Photog Flair to iPod Line?

Written on July 06, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 9 people have commented

Evidence is mounting that Apple could indeed be planning on bringing at least one new hardware feature to the iPod touch. First, it was just general whisperings, involving the addition of a video camera after the appearance of the iPhone 3GS with similar functions. Then, a crop of case designs turned up that boasted a [...]

30″ LCD Showdown: Apple vs. Dell

Written on July 06, 2009 by James Dempsey and 28 people have commented

In my quest to upgrade an aging dual-monitor setup, a 20” main screen with a 17” screen off to the side to house application palettes, iTunes, etc., the only question in my mind was choosing between an Apple 30” Cinema Display and a Dell 30” UltraSharp Widescreen. In this article, I’m covering both monitors from an average user’s perspective – and you may be surprised what this Apple-fanatic found.

Windows 7 Pricing vs. Mac OS X: Why Even Go There?

Written on July 03, 2009 by Tom Reestman and 48 people have commented

Windows 7 pricing was made official not long ago, and the general consensus is that, despite a slight drop in Home Premium pricing compared to Vista, it’s too expensive.
Still, there are some in the Microsoft community that try to justify it by comparing it to Apple’s pricing for Mac OS X. Microsoft can never win [...]

App Developer Diary Part 2: Pitching My Concept

Written on July 03, 2009 by Olly Farshi and No one has commented

In this week’s enlightening installment of the App Developer Diary, I pitch my game concept to the coders, preach the gospel of the Game Bible and muse upon the possibility of the project imploding.
Straight after submitting last week’s App Developer Diary, I packed up my MacBook Pro and headed down to Nolla, a local bar [...]

Greenpeace Demands Apple Come Clean

Written on July 02, 2009 by Charles Jade and 18 people have commented

Greenpeace released the 12th edition of its Guide to Greener Electronics today (PDF), with Apple falling somewhere between tangerine and burnt orange. For those who take the rating seriously, Apple scored 4.7 out of 10, unchanged from last time, though the company slipped from 10th to 11th place in the ranking of 18 companies.
The guide [...]

Apple/NVIDIA Rift to Spark Major Component Changes?

Written on July 02, 2009 by Darrell Etherington and 7 people have commented

If you bought a MacBook Pro between May 2007 and September 2008, you might be painfully aware of NVIDIA’s major screw-up in providing fundamentally faulty 8600M GT graphics processors for Apple computers, as well as others. Apple no doubt still remembers that, too, since the warranty extension and repair refund policy is undoubtedly costing it [...]

Secret to App Store Success: $1,875 per day

Written on July 02, 2009 by Dave Greenbaum and 5 people have commented

Do you have what it takes to create the next great iPhone app? Or have it featured on iPhone commercials and installed on the all iTouches at the Apple store? Maybe have a big ol’ icon flashing so fast at the next WWDC that you have to include a seizure warning? There’s an app for [...]

MacBook Air is the Apple Netbook, End of Story

Written on July 01, 2009 by James Dempsey and 54 people have commented

Apple Announces Netbook! That’s the headline you wanted to see, right? That’s the headline that industry analysts and so-called experts believe Apple must have to remain relevant in today’s economic climate. That’s also the headline you’re not likely to come across unless it happens to be April 1st.

The truth is, Apple already has a netbook on the market, which they’ve been selling for over a year now. It’s called the MacBook Air.

What Do You Do With “Retired” Macs?

Written on June 30, 2009 by Charles Moore and 27 people have commented

What do you do with your old Macs when you upgrade to a new system? Many folks sell their old computer on eBay or locally, but that’s something I’ve rarely done. I mostly either keep them as “B-team” units, or hand them off to other family members.
My Mac laptops are tools of my trade, and [...]

Fairmount: Convert Your DVD Collection

Written on June 30, 2009 by Bryan Schuetz and 22 people have commented

Have you ever wanted to copy or convert your personal collection of DVDs for backup or easy viewing on your Apple TV, only to be thwarted by CSS encryption? I feel your pain, and so do the good folks at Metakine. Lucky for us, Fairmount is here to help, and it’s free!
CSS, or Content Scramble [...]