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Macworld Team

>> Postings for July 2010

Jonny Evans - WWDC 2011: Apple focus turns to OS X 10.7

Fri, 30 Jul 2010

If you are a regular reader, you'll know I've been going on about user interfaces, the fact that the Mac is far from dead and Apple's gradual move to bring touch to the desktop (which it has with its Magic Trackpad, released this week).

Apple is involved in complex competition with so many other firms in tech today that it is focusing on its central DNA -- the capacity to innovate into futures others haven't seen yet. The company has some very, very clever people working at it -- which isn't to say its competitors don't...

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Karen Haslam: Core blimey!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010

Hooray. Apple hasn't forgotten about the Mac Pro. In the 16 months since Apple last updated its Mac powerhouse the iMac had gained Core-i5 chips and in many of our tests performed better than the Mac Pro's Xeon processor. All that seems set to change: the Mac Pro has been given a boost with Intel's new Xeon Westmere technology, and as a build-to-order option you can boast that your Mac has, not four, not eight, but 12 cores!

But why would you need all those cores? Here's some history to set the scene. In June 2003 Apple's Steve Jobs promised that within a year Apple would introduce a 3GHz Power Mac G5, but the 3GHz version never materialised, and in August 2006 the IBM-powered Power Mac was replaced by the Intel-powered Mac Pro. Even so, it took time before 3GHz chips appeared as options in Macs. Right now the only +3GHz Mac Pro is built-to-order (although, thanks Turbo Boost, you can get dynamic performance of 3.06GHz from a 2.8GHz chip). Instead of GHz-galore we have dual-cores, quad-cores, 8-cores, and 12-cores to contend with. Why?

Karen Haslam | Read more...


Jonny Evans - iPad: Apple's missing links

Thu, 29 Jul 2010

I've been falling inexorably in awe of my iPad. In essence, it is everything I actually enjoy doing on my computer inside a much lighter, more portable and -- somehow -- more intimate device. As I use the iPad more I find myself less and less surprised that Apple is selling so many millions of the things.  It can do anything, but some things are missing -- here's three missing features, with solutions.

Rather than launch off into some lengthy review in which I would probably reel off the spec sheet, give some glowing description of the product and its build quality (it just "oozes style", you "feel like you've never been without it" etc., etc.,), and then rant on knowledgeably about something I just read about on Wikipedia, I thought I'd focus on just three missing iPad features ...

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Apple's Magic Trackpad is more than you think

Wed, 28 Jul 2010

Apple introduced a host of new products on Tuesday. These suggest something I've thought for a while: Apple is putting together the user ecosystem it will need for future touch-based 3D user interfaces. They also hint at further adventures in SSD across the AAPL product range.

To recap today's big news:

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Wake up to an Apple planet, PC world

Tue, 27 Jul 2010

Driven by the iPad and iPhone, Apple is the world's leading personal computer maker -- but this isn't reflected in so-called market share studies from the likes of Gartner or IDC.

An outrageous claim? It isn't. It is a statement of fact.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Press Release - Macfriendly - A Software Bundle that is Friendly to Your Wallet

Mon, 26 Jul 2010

Macfriendly - A Software Bundle that is Friendly to Your Wallet - Published on 07/26/10

 IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nick Spence | Read more...


Press Release - MifiClub starts Free NextDay Delivery on Mobile Wifi UK Service

Mon, 26 Jul 2010

MifiClub starts Free NextDay Delivery on Mobile Wifi UK Service - Published on 07/26/10

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nick Spence | Read more...


Press Release - Dejumble 2.0 for iPhone - Popular Mac Task Management App Now on iPhone

Mon, 26 Jul 2010

Dejumble 2.0 for iPhone - Popular Mac Task Management App Now on iPhone - Published on 07/26/10

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nick Spence | Read more...


Jonny Evans - RIP: Why the iPad 'killers' are already dead

Mon, 26 Jul 2010

iPad is huge, big, massive hit, an echo of the iPod effect on the MP3 player market and the iPhone effect on the mobile world. Apple has stolen the tablet/netbook industry to the extent competitors face a pretty tough time in even manufacturing their 'iPad killers'.

Apple has already won - and that's even before the product hits the Asia Pacific countries, in many of which it has only today been made available for sale.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Apple seeks ways to make us touch our Macs

Mon, 26 Jul 2010

I've written before on my belief Apple will in future find some way to meld the iOS and Mac OS operating systems together.

Some readers quite correctly observed the huge challenges which must be overcome in order to achieve this.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - iPhone and iPad mean Apple shines in the enterprise

Mon, 26 Jul 2010

Apple, the iPhone company, also makes Macs -- and as recent Gartner and IDC figures show, these are selling in record quantities -- this morning a fresh report confirms that Apple has finally begun invading the enterprise.

[This story is from the new Apple Holic blog at Computerworld. Subscribe via RSS to make sure you don't miss a beat.]

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Apple's iPhone 4 Antenna-gate Gambit Pays Off

Tue, 20 Jul 2010

To save Apple's iPhone 4 from antenna scrutiny, all it took was the promise of free bumper cases and a dose of Steve Jobs' magic.

The iPhone 4's antenna problems continue to be a major tech story, but the debate has changed. Before Apple held the last-minute press conference on Friday, pundits and analysts debated how Apple would respond. That there was a major problem with the iPhone 4's antenna to begin with was a foregone conclusion.

Jared Newman | Read more...


Andy Ihnatko - Destruction porn

Tue, 20 Jul 2010

Like the Olympics or sex between a minotaur and a harpy, the release of a new consumer Apple device is a lengthy affair in which a few petty details may change, but it’s pretty much a rote sequence of events that happen in a fixed and predictable order.

The day before, the news channels show the line outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York (or the Regent Street store in London). They interview the same professional

Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Simon Jary - Hail Apple, the outovator

Mon, 19 Jul 2010

Much is made of Apple’s ‘revolutionary’ role in technology, bringing innovative new products into the mainstream. From the Apple I to the iPad, Apple is credited with game-changing engineering and design wonders. But is Apple really the über innovator or the company that just gets things right first? Maybe Apple’s more of an ‘outovator’.

Take the Apple I. It’s seen as innovative as, unlike other hobbyist computers of the time, it was sold fully assembled – that is, a fully assembled circuit board; you still had to add a case, power supply, keyboard, display, etc. What was forward thinking was its use of a keyboard and standard TV display. Beside it, the Altair 8800 looked like the controls of the Tardis with toggle switches and flashing lights all over the place.

Simon Jary | Read more...


Apple Must Kill The iPhone 4 – The Sooner The Better

Mon, 19 Jul 2010

Image is everything. And that's why Apple must terminate the iPhone 4 as quickly as possible.

In his Friday morning news conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs admitted the iPhone 4 is flawed, no doubt a painful admission for a proud man known for his perfectionist ways. He even offered free cases to alleviate the signal and reception problems plaguing some iPhone 4 users.

Jeff Bertolucci, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com">PC World US</a> | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Not invented here: Apple's secret applications

Thu, 15 Jul 2010

With Apple preparing to face the 'antenna-gate' music at a media event tomorrow, today seems a good day to explore another big Apple secret -- that not all the software used internally is 'Made In Cupertino'.

We know Apple doesn't like to talk about this.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - iPhone 4 demand explodes, BlackBerry ain't sexy

Wed, 14 Jul 2010

Despite its problems, Apple's iPhone 4 has hit the ground running, with huge numbers of consumers planning to grab themselves an iPhone.

Has Apple's iPhone defined the smartphone market? Not entirely, but it leads the pack, the latest Changewave survey confirms.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Apple crisis: How many iPhone 4 signal problems?

Tue, 13 Jul 2010

The clamor concerning the iPhone 4 and its widely-reported 'death grip' issue is gathering ever more intensity.

"Apple will be forced to do a recall of this product," Professor Matthew Seeger told Cult of Mac this morning. "It’s critically important. The brand image is the most important thing Apple has. This is potentially devastating."

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Apple's user interface experiments make sci-fi a reality

Mon, 12 Jul 2010

Imagine a pocket-sized device that changed its shape depending on what functions you wanted to use it for.

I'm not talking about an on-screen image to depict a shape, but actual shape-changing technologies which alter the properties of the object itself -- at least to the extent of offering a new interface, with tangible features to enable easier access to those features.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Next-gen Apple TV remote control revealed?

Mon, 12 Jul 2010

Apple's decision to rebrand the iPhone OS as iOS means the company intends widening its family of iOS devices far beyond the phone.

Today saw new images published which show us a tiny 1.2-inch touchscreen module emblazoned with Apple branding.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Five Apple predictions

Fri, 09 Jul 2010

Apple-watching is a strange occupation. We're all increasingly fascinated by the company's products, expected products and the seeming consumer design genius of death-defying founder, Steve Jobs, and his band of merry souls.

That fascination's clear if you take a look at Google News, where you'll see how highly Apple or its products feature among the top searches on Google News in the last week.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Apple's iPad is opening up the enterprise

Fri, 09 Jul 2010

Say what you like about 'reality distortion fields', first-generation Apple products and beta testing, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs has achieved the impossible -- big business is turning to Cupertino, as the iPad and iPhone move from consumer markets into the center of the mobile enterprise.

Apple's leader took a computer company on life support with weeks to live and has led it not just to a healthy recovery but into becoming the biggest -- most influential -- computer company on the planet.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - The Beatles on iTunes: the tease goes on and on

Tue, 06 Jul 2010

I’ve come to a conclusion about this: The Beatles are messing with us all.

The surviving members and family of the band continue to inch slowly forward with some form of digital strategy, but we still can’t get The Beatles on iTunes, or anywhere else, for that matter.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Holiday plans: Google battles Apple for music in the cloud

Mon, 05 Jul 2010

Even as Apple continues to develop an iTunes to rule them all, Google's battle with Apple continues -- and a fresh skirmish is seen this morning with the sneak preview of what seemed to be an early iteration of the search giant's own cloud-based iTunes-killer, Google Music.

Purported publication of a Chinese-language webpage for the service, which promised music in both streamed and a la carte forms, came as Google officially began contingency planning regarding its new operating license in China. At present, the company is directing search traffic to servers in Hong Kong.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Jonny Evans - Apple finds iPhone 4 flaw; iTunes TV hits headlines

Sun, 04 Jul 2010

Apple Friday morning published its own response to the much-publicized signal strength problems which have been impacting the incredibly successful launch of the iPhone 4.

At the same time a huge host of information has broken out which seemingly confirms Apple's next adventures will be in television and music in the cloud.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Andy Ihnatko - A web of conflict

Fri, 02 Jul 2010

The first sign of a coming war isn’t the rumbling of tanks crashing through a border, or even citizens mailing their valuable property to overseas relatives, or their relatives to valuable overseas properties. It’s a footnote in a Presidential address, mentioning that the nation has stepped up domestic production of steel and entered into new treaties to secure unlimited supplies of fuel.

And then the President quickly moves to the next paragraph, in which he announces that he’s just made it a Federal crime for airlines to charge extra fees for checked baggage. The citizenry leap to their feet with cheers and applause... and nobody remembers the line about the steel and the fuel. Not until every man and woman with an even number of limbs is drafted into the army and pointed towards every available border.

Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Jonny Evans - No Verizon iPhone till 'late 2011'

Thu, 01 Jul 2010

"You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part."
Tom Petty, The Waiting Song

There's millions of people in America.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


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