All Blogs > Macworld Team

Macworld Team

>> Postings for June 2009

Does the iPhone 3GS overheat?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009

Is the Apple iPhone 3GS having overheating issues? I've seen some reports circulating on the Web that indicate some handsets might indeed be affected. And I have my own tale to add to fray.

The story began at French site Nowhereelse.com, with a piece that showcases a discoloured white iPhone 3GS whose owner says the discolourations came from the device noticeably heating up during use of the GPS over 3G wireless.

Melissa J. Perenson | Read more...


Apple v Microsoft gets nasty

Mon, 22 Jun 2009

There’s all-out war raging between old foes Apple and Microsoft on US television. And, here’s a surprise… Microsoft appears to be winning. Back at the start of 2007 Apple UK mimicked the US ‘I’m A Mac’ TV ad campaign, using Peep Show’s very funny David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Unfortunately, the ads backfired. YouGov’s BrandIndex report showed that UK consumer buzz around Apple actually fell from +8 to +4 after the ads were screened.

Apple’s decision to cast the affable Mitchell as the PC character was a mistake, as viewers warmed to him rather than Webb’s smug Mac man. In the US, however, the campaign is still going strong, and Apple is happy to share all its anti-PC ads online: www.apple.com/getamac/ads/.

Simon Jary | Read more...


Creative Profiles - Emma du Pille – Graphic Designer

Mon, 22 Jun 2009

Emma du Pille graduated from Norwich School of Art & Design in 2008 and has since been working in London, undertaking various design placements at some of the capital's top studios. Her work has already attracted rave reviews on various design forums and blogs. Macworld caught up with Emma to discover her hopes and ambitions as she continues a career in design.

Whilst in my final few weeks at NSAD I had lined up some promising placements and I had a positive response from exhibiting at D&AD. As the recession started to kick in finding a junior designer role has become more and more difficult but there are certainly many good placements available, and I believe interns have much to offer an agency for what they gain back in experience.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Creative Profiles - Dan Milnor – Photographer

Fri, 19 Jun 2009

Dan Milnor is a documentary fine-art photographer who spends his time making portraits and working on self-assigned documentary projects.

He is also a compulsive book and print maker.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Did Apple downgrade the new MacBook Pro's SATA interface?

Thu, 18 Jun 2009

Apple's latest MacBook Pro laptops came with a number of upgrades to processor speeds, RAM and hard drives - not to mention reduced price tags.

Apple also reduced something else: the serial-ATA (SATA) drive interface, which dropped from 3Gbit/sec on earlier MacBook Pros to 1.5Gbit/sec. on newer ones.

Lucas Mearian | Read more...


Apple fires my old PR agency

Thu, 18 Jun 2009

Today’s news that Apple has fired its UK PR agency Bite has a bittersweet taste for me in my role as Editor of Macworld.

This is not because it’s one less port of call for Apple equipment loans or one less person to speak to when in search of comment or an Apple exec to speak to. To be honest, over the last five years Bite have actually fallen on the way side when it comes to Apple PR. In fact I’ve been wondering for some time what the agency was actually doing for the computer company.

Karen Haslam | Read more...


Analysis: Did Apple downgrade the new MacBook Pro's SATA interface?

Thu, 18 Jun 2009

Apple's latest MacBook Pro laptops came with a number of upgrades to processor speeds, RAM and hard drives - not to mention reduced price tags.

Apple also reduced something else: the serial-ATA (SATA) drive interface, which dropped from 3Gbit/sec on earlier MacBook Pros to 1.5Gbit/sec. on newer ones.

Lucas Mearian | Read more...


Apple will banish Palm Pre's iTunes sync

Wed, 17 Jun 2009

One month after Palm declared its new Pre phone syncs with iTunes, Apple has posted a warning to third-party vendors that although the Palm Pre's sync may work now, it probably won't last for long.

"Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players," the bulletin reads.

Brennon Slattery | Read more...


Safari 4 download stat is pure hype

Mon, 15 Jun 2009

I know I'm cruisin’ for some abusin’ at the hands of the Mac fanatics, because twice in one morning I’ve felt compelled to bring a little skepticism to the exuberant reporting surrounding the latest developments from Apple.

This time, all the major tech outlets are credulously reporting on Friday morning's press release from Apple, which heralds the runaway success of Safari 4 on the basis of 11 million downloads in three days.

Robert Strohmeyer | Read more...


How to break an iPhone

Mon, 15 Jun 2009

Right. No foolin’ around. The situation is dire and will only get more so as time marches onward. So let’s roll up our sleeves and design Apple a new iPhone.

“But what’s wrong with my current one?” you ask. The problem with your current one is that you have selfishly refused to leave it in your pocket and throw it in the washing machine, or drop it so that it lands on its corner on a concrete pavement, or throw it violently at a pursuing grizzly bear.

Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Factory 311 and a world of possibility

Fri, 12 Jun 2009

I'm chatting to Nicholas Hardy, director of Factory 311 via Skype direct from Los Angeles when the famed, or infamous, Ron Jeremy walks into his studio for a chat. A lot has changed since Hardy and I last spoke online, first in Manchester, then London and now Los Angeles.

Along with a team of gifted artists and photographers, Hardy is in town to promote a special event called Evolution on Saturday 13 June at the De La Barracuda store on Melrose Ave, a five-hour celebration of the work of Factory 311's Lionel Deluy.

Nick Spence | Read more...


In Every Dream Home a Heckler Design

Thu, 11 Jun 2009

As someone whose home office is a collection of boxes and bags piled up under a desk heavy with one man's stuff, or another mans junk, it's good to see great design helping to ensure that your Mac looks immaculate.

Dean Heckler of Heckler Design produces a striking range of office equipment that would bring order to any home office chaos. Beautiful, ergonomic and space saving, it's hard not to disagree, for once, with the marketing blurb.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Creative Resources – The Association Of Illustrators – Strength In Numbers

Wed, 10 Jun 2009

Illustration has long been the job of choice for many a young creative mind, a chance to draw, paint and create while getting paid to so something you love can seem like the ultimate dream job. But for those raw recruits, fresh from college, finding their feet while finding work, the reality of that dream job can seem more like a nightmare.

Essentially a solitary profession, often working from home or a small studio space, illustration is mostly a freelance pursuit. You may have a great agent but essentially you're out to seek as much employment as possible because, like actors, you rarely know when you will be next working or unfortunately "resting".

Nick Spence | Read more...


The MacBook turns Pro

Wed, 10 Jun 2009

When Apple quietly updated the 13-inch MacBook a couple weeks ago, giving the company’s least-expensive—and previous-generation-design—laptop better performance than the more-expensive aluminum unibody models, it was a good hint that the aluminum models were due for a refresh. After all, what company wants to undercut its “premium” models by selling a better-performing product for less money?

Sure enough, just 12 days later, Apple announced updates to nearly the entire MacBook line. The MacBook Air gains faster processors; the 17-inch MacBook Pro gets a faster processor and a larger hard drive; and the 15-inch MacBook Pro sports faster processors, higher RAM capacity, a solid-state drive option, a longer-life battery, an improved display, and an SD memory-card slot (in lieu of the ExpressCard slot found on the previous version). All of these changes are accompanied by lower prices (in the US at least).

Dan Frakes | Read more...


Creative Profiles - James Cullen - Graphic Designer

Tue, 09 Jun 2009

James Cullen is a graphic designer living and working in Dublin, Ireland. In June 2008 he graduated from The National College of Art and Design, Dublin, and is currently taking part in the ThreeX3 program with three of the cities finest design studios. His strong classic graphic design work has already won many admirers. Macworld caught up with James to discover his hopes and ambitions for a career in design.

I don't suppose I had a game plan, as such. During the run up to finishing college in May 2008 things were extremely hectic, with finishing degree show projects and what not. Even small things like making my own business cards took way too long. Once everything was wrapped up, I was quite adamant that I needed a website that showcased a bit of diversity in the work that I had done over the previous three years. So some sort of web presence is what I wanted after leaving college, I guess.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Rob Shoesmith's journey from binman to iPhone app developer

Mon, 08 Jun 2009

It's been a busy week or two for Rob Shoesmith, a 27-year-old binman from Whitley, Coventry, who hopes to swap a life on the streets, so to speak, for one helping to design Apple iPhone apps.

Recently Rob has appeared on the BBC, in The Guardian, Macworld and numerous local press and radio reports following news that his iPhone app design had been selected from thousands. The competition, to develop great app ideas without necessarily having the technical knowledge or footing the financial outlay, is backed by MEDL Mobile and their App Incubator service. In return for developing the app MEDL Mobile will give potential developers 25 per cent of any profits.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Pre is Not the Homerun Palm Needed

Thu, 04 Jun 2009

Someone at Palm should probably be kicking themselves: The first reviews of its much-hyped Palm Pre aren't bad, but they are not incredibly good, either. This sets a pretty low bar for what coming competitors must achieve to appear more advanced than Palm’s newest device.

I'd expected the Pre to make me at least a little envious. But our week of testing with the Palm Pre actually makes me glad I'm an iPhone user. I have twice the memory, limited multitasking (plays music while I do something else), and gobs of useful applications to choose from. I've learned to live without a teensy keyboard.

David Coursey | Read more...


Apple has squandered the gift that was Vista

Tue, 02 Jun 2009

While it’s true that Apple has significantly grown its share of the desktop and laptop operating system market since the release of Windows Vista in November of 2006, the company's market share remains below 10 percent, and it actually dropped in Q1 2009, according to Gartner’s Worldwide PC Shipment report.

To most observers, it’s fairly clear that Vista’s failings gave people a reason to take a fresh look at the Mac. And in its own right, OS X has become a robust, reliable, and feature-rich OS. It appeals both to the techie who is attracted to its UNIX underpinnings and the neophyte who wants a computer that just works. Additionally, Apple has always appealed to professionals in audio, video, graphic arts, and publishing. Basically, the Mac appeals to people who are willing to pay for something that is a cut above.

Michael Scalisis | Read more...


It's a Mac Mac Mac Mac World - then reality bites

Tue, 02 Jun 2009

Working with Macs, writing about them, enthusing to anyone who will listen, occasionally falling asleep with iPod attached can give you a false sense of security. It may be Macworld but we are some way from being a Mac world as a recent experience highlighted.

Last month I attended a press launch, a get-together that required an early start then standing around in corridors while someone worked out how to hook a laptop up to a projector that looked like it was last used for a mid-1970's school assembly hall screening of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Pastries, muffins and the early morning lifeblood that is coffee looked to be fair compensation for the late start but frustratingly these were just out of reach as we wandered in.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Creative Profiles - Anthony Fern - Graphic Designer

Mon, 01 Jun 2009

With a BA (Hons) Graphic Design, Anthony Fern is a multi-disciplinary graphic designer about to graduate from the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), Epsom. His distinctive work is currently being showcased at Free Range at The Old Truman Brewery, London. The 9th annual student art and design show is Europe's largest, with work from thousands of UK graduates shown over 8 weeks running through May, June and July.

Free Range was set up to showcase the works of budding designers and artists to both public and potential employers alike, giving students the best opportunity to promote their work. Over 150,000 people visited the various Brick Lane venues last year.

Nick Spence | Read more...