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Macworld Team

>> Postings for April 2008

Opportunism knocks

Wed, 30 Apr 2008

The evolution of personal computing, mass- market acceptance of digital music, and the industry-changing iPhone all reinforce Apple’s place at the heart of technological development – an evolution that’s changing the world.

But when it comes to the iPod and iPhone accessories market, many of Apple’s ‘Made for iPod’ partners seem imitative, rather than innovative. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at a lot of iPod products, and while many are excellent – well-designed, unique, or ground-breaking – I have seen an awful lot of flawed products. Poor quality materials, insanely high prices, or pure exploitative rubbish that shouldn’t be touched. We try to report only on the best products in this magazine.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Big Mac market

Mon, 28 Apr 2008

With recession looming consumers and businesses are tightening the purse strings. However, the temperamental market may actually be a boon to Apple, according to a number of analysts who’ve been commenting on Apple’s ability to weather the recession while the rest of the industry falters.

Why the confidence in Apple? One reason is that the company is already making gains. According to NPD data, while the PC market saw a gain of 20 per cent year-on-year in February 2008, Apple saw 60 per cent growth.

Karen Haslam | Read more...


SDK showdown: iPhone vs. Android

Fri, 25 Apr 2008

While the iPhone has without a doubt been the big success story of the past year in the mobile phone world, many other companies are planning to release similar devices this year to challenge its status as the undisputed king of smartphones. Some of the more intriguing competitors for the iPhone will be those devices that are powered by Android, Google’s open source mobile platform.

Google said in November that it developed Android to spur innovation among developers to create applications for mobile phones that wouldn’t be exclusive to particular carriers or devices. In contrast to the iPhone, which developers previously had to unlock in order to create and distribute their own applications, Google said that Android would create a truly free environment for third-party developers.

Brad Reed | Read more...


Is iPhone ready for business?

Thu, 24 Apr 2008

The iPhone created a whole new segment of smartphones targeted at consumers rather than business users when it was introduced last year. As a consumer who has tried to use a business-targeted smartphone (the HTC Touch for one painful month) I can honestly say that the frustrations of the Windows Mobile interface by far out weigh the usefulness of having a web browser and email access.

However, for business users coveting an iPhone it’s been tough to convince IT managers that Apple’s mobile is a legitimate alternative to Windows mobile-enabled smartphones or RIM’s BlackBerry. Perhaps most crucial was the fact that the iPhone currently lacks support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, something that Nokia, Palm, Symbian, HTC, and other mobile players already support. Without it, iPhone users can’t connect to company email safely and securely. There is also the absence of crucial third-party applications such as a word processor or spreadsheet. But all that is about to change.

Karen Haslam | Read more...


Take advantage of face detection

Wed, 23 Apr 2008

We love photographing people. But our cameras aren’t always cooperative. They focus on the bricks in the background instead of on handsome Uncle Ted, or they set off a blinding flash that washes out playful party pictures.

This sad situation hasn’t gone unnoticed by the engineers who design digital cameras—which is why many of the newer cameras on the market include a new technology called face detection.

Derrick Story | Read more...


Paradise or prison?

Mon, 21 Apr 2008

So, you’re a petty tyrant and dictator, hypothetically. One of your subjects strides into your throne room and demands the freedom to emigrate from the country. “Why would you want to leave Macworldreaderstan?” you ask. “Is it not an utter paradise? That’s partly why I had those 80ft-high fortified walls built around the whole nation… just to keep people from lesser-off nations from barging in.”

“Yeah. Well, my boy wants to be a physicist and the best he can do here in your little paradise is assemble tank radios.”

Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Three-fingered salute

Mon, 21 Apr 2008

I recently purchased a MacBook Air. Yes, yes… I know we rated it at three stars. My irresponsible purchase does not affect Macworld's overall rating (which we stand by).

My justification is that the MacBook Air is a perfect choice for a small, select group of people who need a reasonable amount of power, and a lot of portability. I've decided that I'm one of them.

Mark Hattersley | Read more...


Hot Air

Fri, 18 Apr 2008

Like Jesus Christ, the MacBook Air’s coming was foretold and its arrival was eagerly anticipated... and now that it’s on sale we’re dealing with a crying and bawling newborn that demands to be fed and adored with gold. $1,799 worth, and I know that’s in American money but it still stings.

I had a private briefing on the day that Steve Jobs appeared unto the shepherds in the field and announced his tidings of great joy. “Wow... it’s really sealed up tight,” I said, flipping the Air over and looking for seams and access hatches. “How does one upgrade the RAM on this?” I asked.

Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


What's £100 between friends

Thu, 17 Apr 2008

O2's decision to drop £100 from the price of the iPhone is surprising. Not because we didn't see it coming… we did. But because it's rare in general to find Apple products discounted.

This is all part of Apple's clever marketing plan. You don't knock down the price of products because it screams to the world that you're trying to offload unsold units. In this case it is because everybody and his dog knows that a new iPhone (hopefully with 3G) is coming out in June.

Mark Hattersley | Read more...


TOKYO EDGE : April's coolest gadgets

Wed, 16 Apr 2008

The month has been notable not just for some of the cool new products that will be hitting store shelves soon but for a few interesting prototype products.

Four PC makers offered a glimpse of their upcoming Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). The PCs are part of a push by Intel and the manufacturers to extend portable computing beyond laptops to even smaller devices that are a couple of steps up from a cell phone. MIDs, offering full Internet access, should be appearing soon.

Martyn Williams | Read more...


Apple takes a trade show pass

Wed, 16 Apr 2008

There’s something different about this April for me. You see, normally I’d be in Las Vegas attending the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual trade show—dodging 130,000 people as I moved from meeting to meeting across vast halls, spending my per diem on Sbarro pizza, and hitting the pai gow tables in the wee hours of the night (after my stories were filed for the day, of course).

But not this year—I’m sitting at my desk in San Francisco instead of wandering around the Las Vegas Convention Center. For the most part, this is because of Apple’s decision to forego a booth at this year’s NAB trade show. Unlike the 2007 event for video and audio professionals, which Apple used to launch Final Cut Studio 2, the company indicated it would have a scaled back presence this year. And it’s not the only company—Avid also took a pass on exhibiting at this year’s show. Certainly, there’s still product news a-plenty for Mac video pros, but the reduced presence of some major players at NAB means that I’m sticking close to home.

Jonathan Seff | Read more...


Tune in, zone out, switch off

Tue, 15 Apr 2008

Forget about carbon emissions, there’s enough hot air about climate change blown out by the media to heat every home in Sheffield without the need for a single air turbine or wave farm. Even quite sensible people now appear concerned that polar bears can save themselves from drowning only by clinging on to a ton of washed-up plastic Tesco bags. The Green agenda has been utterly commercialised, but that doesn’t make it completely risible.

You’d have bet that Apple – so seemingly people-friendly and run by a beardy vegan – was greener than Dell or IBM but it’s had a torrid time fending off attacks by greenies over the past few years. Apple admits that it has not acted fast enough to remove toxic chemicals from its new products and not aggressively or properly recycled its old products.

Simon Jary | Read more...


Stan Flack, MacCentral and MacMinute founder, passes away

Tue, 15 Apr 2008

It is with incredible sadness that I write this note. MacCentral and MacMinute founder Stan Flack passed away quietly on Monday in his Prince Edward Island, Canada home. According to his sister, Stan (42) died of complications to a pre-existing condition.

Stan has been in the Mac industry since 1994 when MacCentral first went online as a weekly publication. Things were a lot different back then - the internet as we know it was in its infancy - but Stan saw a way to make a successful business.

Jim Dalrymple | Read more...


Word search

Tue, 08 Apr 2008

A car will always be an even number of wheels controlled by a steering wheel and a number of pedals proportionate to the number of feet attached to the average human being. The hammer: hold it by the wooden end, swing the metal end at the nail, repeat until either the nail is flush with the surface or your mum runs in screaming about her antique oak writing desk.

Pens and pencils? Very rarely are these things used properly (particularly if there’s a New York Times crossword or White House stationery underneath them) but the mechanics of applying a line to a page are well-understood.

Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


The Great Firewall of China

Wed, 02 Apr 2008

Possibly the world's greatest named tech product ever: "The Great Firewall of China" (also known as the "Golden Shield") is China's answer to the free press of the world.

It's even got its own mascot, called Jinjing, the friendly (thought) police officer:

Mark Hattersley | Read more...


Five great illustrator tutorials

Wed, 02 Apr 2008

Adobe Illustrator is an important, yet often overlooked, tool for adding flair to your creative projects. This is mostly due to the fact that it can be a complex program to learn, but once you learn the basics, there’s really not much you can’t do in this venerable vector graphics program.

One of the most underused and misunderstood tools in Illustrator is the Gradient Mesh Tool. It’s an extremely powerful tool that can make your vector illustrations look nearly photographic once you master it. iStockDiary has a great starter tutorial which shows you how to create a realistic velvet curtain using gradient mesh. While it’s certainly not an in-depth piece, it will give you an idea of what the tool is capable of doing.

James Dempsey | Read more...