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Martha Stewart Gets a MacBook Air

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 21st 2008 at 11:53AM

Martha Stewart Gets a MacBook Air
Martha Stewart - home maker, business woman, convicted criminal, and apparently part-time Apple PR rep. The queen of domesticity got her cupcake making mitts on a shiny new MacBook Air and blogged about her new gadget du jour. But rather than reading like a person simply in love with their new toy, Stewart's blog comes off more like a press release:

"I was amazed by how razor thin and how light it is – just .76 of an inch and only 3 pounds. It has a full-size illuminated keyboard, which is terrific for working in a dimly lit car or on an airplane. And I really love the trackpad, which works in much the same way as the Apple iPhone, giving you many more options by simply moving your fingers... It's a little difficult to photograph just how thin this MacBook Air is, but you can see for yourself by stopping at an Apple store or checking it out on line at www.apple.com."

Did Martha Stewart just encourage us to go the Apple store to check out the MacBook Air?

We're not sure how much Mr. Jobs is paying Stewart, but it obviously isn't enough.

Stewart also reveals that she still uses an HP laptop for her Windows-only tasks, which led some of her geekier readers to school her about running Windows apps using Parallels on her Mac. Stewart says she isn't quite ready to leave Windows behind completely, but it still looks like Apple has another high profile convert on its hands.

From Wired and The Martha Blog

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Apple Soars to 14% of Computer Sales In February

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 18th 2008 at 2:16PM

Apple Soars to 14% of Computer Sales in February
While the rest of the economy (and the computer industry along with it) flounders, Apple is apparently making out like a bandit. According to industry analyst NPD, Apple's share of computer sales rose from 9 percent to 14 percent in the month of February, while increasing its share of market revenue from 16 percent to 25 percent.

Notebook sales have been climbing in general, but Apple is growing at about three times the rate of the rest of the industry. And, most surprising, Apple's sales of desktop PCs has increased 55% since last February, a time during which the rest of the industry has seen desktop PC sales shrink by 5 percent.

Also surprising is Apple's continued revenue increases, even in the face of sagging iPod sales, which are actually down from the same time last year.

From AppleInsider

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Rush Limbaugh (Finally) Gets His Mac Fixed

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 17th 2008 at 2:17PM

Limbaugh Gets His Mac Fix
About a month ago Rush Limbaugh went on the air, but instead of mocking Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's Disease, or suggesting we bomb a country full of brown people back into the stone age, he made a public plea to Steve Jobs to help him with his brand new Mac Pro.

Turns out that Mr. Limbaugh is a bit of a Mac fanatic. But an issue with the new Time Machine back up feature was preventing it from properly backing up the pundit's e-mail.

Well, after several phone calls and a whole lot of headaches the man whose idea of comedic gold is putting the words "bomb Iraq" to the tune of 'Yakety Yak Don't Talk Back,' has his fix.

For the rest of you out there suffering from this same issue (and we know there are plenty) here's how to do it: Delete the null mail folder, then rebuild the Mail.app's internal directory via a terminal command.

So now Limbaugh has his fix, and Steve Jobs can stop worrying about late night phone calls threatening to out him as a gay terrorist prostitute.

From the New York Times

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MacBook Air Confuses Airport Security, Forcing Man to Lose Flight

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 11th 2008 at 9:18AM

Airport Security Can't Identify MacBook Air, Causes Man to Miss His Flight
You'd think that being in charge of what "devices" are allowed on an airplane would require TSA (Transportation Security Agency) agents to be on top of the latest technology. Or that at least the head office would send out memos about new and unique gadgets that might confound the agents. But think again. As one man found out, the wild world of consumer electronics can baffle not just one, but several agents all at once.

One poor man missed his flight when a gaggle of TSA agents were unable to identify his fancy new MacBook Air as an actual laptop. The security person monitoring the X-ray machine was apparently perplexed by the lack of a hard drive -- it was the 64-gigabyte solid state memory model -- and ports on the back of the machine. When several other agents were called over and unable to identify the thinnest laptop on earth as a legitimate computer, the frequent flyer was pulled aside into a security cubicle and forced to stand just out of arms reach of his new ultra-light Mac.

Thankfully, a younger, and more tech savvy, agent wandered in and explained to the befuddled security reps that this was the new MacBook air and didn't have a hard drive. After several, progressively dumbed-down explanations the agents let the man go, but it was already too late, his flight was long gone.

Too bad that same tech-savvy security agent wasn't around to help us when we got stuck at Boston's Logan Airport with an Asus eeePC, which also has no hard drive. Security agents pulled us aside and had us wait a good 15 minutes until they figured out it was just an eeePC.

Next time we're sure he'll show up with a little more time to spare.

From Engadget

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PayPal to Customers - Don't Use Safari

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 4th 2008 at 6:23PM

PayPal to Customers - Don't Use Safari
As more people switch to Mac and pick up iPhones, the Apple-built web browser Safari is becoming more and more popular. Though it still only makes up 4.5 percent of the web browser market, that is still a significant number of people who should take heed of PayPal's warning: Use another browser.

The online payment company is strongly suggesting that users visit the site with a different browser, be it IE7, IE8, Firefox, or Opera, since Safari (and its Firefox-based Mac cousin Camino) lack anti-phishing features. PayPal is a popular target for phishers who want to steal your login information, and then of course your money and possibly identity.

Modern versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera all warn you when you visit a suspicious web site, and IE7 and 8 as well as the upcoming Firefox 3 all support Extended Validation for extra protection from fraudulent sites.

The best way to protect yourself from phishers is to pay attention to small details yourself. Double check that E-mail address. Does the URL look suspicious? are there any cosmetic differences between the page you meant to visit and the one you're on now? While only you can make sure you never fall victim to these scams, a little help can't hurt.

From Slashdot

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University Lets Students Trade Windows Laptops for MacBooks

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 1:20PM

Oklahoma Christian University Will Let Students Trade in Windows Laptops for MacBooks
Oklahoma Christian University (OC) is the latest in a long line of schools to get on the Apple bandwagon. Handing out new MacBooks to incoming students is hardly unique, but this new exchange program is.

Most of these programs are for new students only, but OC will offer current students an opportunity to trade in their Windows laptops for brand new Apple machines. And if that isn't enough, students will also be offered an iPhone or iPod touch.

OC's Apple hocking programs and campus-wide Wi-Fi put the university at the cutting edge of technology and education, so we're big fans.

From TUAW

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MacBook Air Selling Out Around the Country

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 12:22PM

MacBook Air Sold Out Around the Country

Despite some mixed reviews, it seems that retailers just can't keep the MacBook Air in stock. Whether the reason is that the ultra thin laptop is inspiring hardcore gadget lust, or that Apple kept shipments low to give the illusion of demand remains to be seen, but one thing is definitely true: Trying to track an Air down is increasingnly touch at Apple Stores around the country, as the folks at ArsTechnica recently found out.

Amazon isn't shipping orders until March 16, while stores in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and all throughout Massachusetts were all reported to be out of stock over the weekend.

Apple is refreshing stock at the stores on an almost daily basis, but the laptops are sold on a first-come-first-served basis and rarely stay on the shelves for even 24 hours. Whether that daily inventory refresh is 30 laptops or three, though, is not clear. Regardless, it looks like small laptops are in.

You can check to see if your local Apple outlet has the Air in stock here.



From ArsTechnica and Engadget

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iPod and iPhone Price Cuts on the Horizon?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 11th 2008 at 5:44PM

iPod and iPhone Price Cuts on the Horizon?
Rumor has it that Apple is getting ready to shake up its line up of iPod Touches and iPhones again. Less than a week after announcing new higher capacity iGadgets, the Apple rumor mill has latched on to the idea that a $100 price cut is due in the near future for all of the devices and that eventually the lower-capacity 8 gigabyte (Gb) model iPod Touch and iPhone will get the axe.

The price drop would take the iPod Touch down to $199, $299, and $399 for the 8 Gb, 16 Gb, and 32 Gb models respectively, while the iPhone would drop to $299 for the 8 Gb and $399 for the 16 Gb versions. Some theorize the price drop is part of a preparation for the 3G data-capable refresh of the iPhone, which many believe is right around the corner.

From 9 to 5 Mac

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Apple Fans Show Feelings of High Superiority, Low Modesty

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 18th 2008 at 11:02AM

Apple Fans Show Feelings of High Superiority, Low Modesty

Apple fans are usually easy to spot. Maybe it's the trendy glasses or the messenger bag with the iconic Apple logo stitched on the side. Maybe its the way they cradle their iPhone gently. Maybe it's how they laugh at you every time you mumble something about your PC crashing. This has led to certain ... stereotypes being applied to Mac users, stereotypes largely reinforced by Apple's own advertising. Now those stereotypes have received some (debatable) scientific backing, with a recent personality study given to Macworld attendees showing some revealing findings.

The study was given to 7,500 people at the show, and the results depict Mac users as "more liberal, less modest, and more assured of their own superiority than the population at large." The study rated individual personality traits as "high" or "low" depending on the responses. Interestingly the findings show that participants had low modesty and high superiority but also have low self-esteem, an interesting combination that some could say results in a somewhat defensive position. Also interesting that, contrary to other stereotypes, Mac users did not rate high in creativity.

We're hoping a similar study is performed at the next Microsoft press event to see just how things compare and give a different perspective on this Mac vs. PC war that has been raging for decades. Any guesses on how PC users would score? We're thinking high in patience and low in bravado.

From Engadget

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Apple's New Time Capsule Wireless Hard Drive

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 15th 2008 at 1:08PM

Apple Time Capsule
With all the rumors flying about an Apple subnotebook, and new Apple TVs, we're sure most of you didn't have your money on an Apple NAS (Network Attached Storage) box, but that's exactly what we got in the form of Apple's Time Capsule. Time Capsule is a companion piece for Time Machine, the automated back up system built in to OS X.

The box essentially combines a hard drive and an Airport Extreme N adapter for wireless communication with all of the Macs in your home, if you have more than one. The Time Capsule can be set to automatically backup all of the Macs you own on a regular basis, taking what little thought there is left in process out.

Prices however aren't too pretty. The 500 gigabyte capsule will run $299 and the 1 terrabyte model will cost a whopping $499 or about twice what you could get an external 1 terabyte drive for.

From Engadget

E-Mail Security Hole Found in Apple's OSX Leopard

by Tim Stevens, posted Nov 28th 2007 at 9:15AM

Apple's New Leopard Has Old Security FlawMac addicts like to tout their chosen operating system's security superiority over those who have chosen Microsoft's product, but a report of a major security oversight in the latest release, Leopard, might just give Windows users something to snicker about. It seems the latest Apple OS has a critical flaw in its e-mail application -- a flaw that was fixed in older versions of OSX.

The flaw enables a person to attach malicious code to an e-mail attachment that looks like a simple JPEG image. When you double-click on that supposed image, the code runs and can do whatever it likes to your system, including deleting all your files (or just running something in the background to steal all your passwords). It surreptitiously uses the Unix command-line prompt that few OSX users ever see.

Older versions of Apple Mail pop-up a warning when such attachments are run, but this new one does not, leaving less-in-the-know Mac users somewhat in the cold. To see if your Mac is properly warning you about these e-mails, you can have a safe one sent to you by using the Emailcheck service at heise Security.

From heise Security

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Is There Hope for the Apple TV?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 27th 2007 at 11:44AM

Is There Hope for the Apple TV?

The Apple TV, after garnering some initially positive press, has faded into obscurity. Apple won't even release sales numbers for the tiny device, and Steve Jobs recently dismissed it as a "hobby."

So what happened? Apple usually has unprecedented success with its consumer electronics, and has a knack for creating a market where one didn't previously exist. But the Apple TV did not find much of an audience beyond die-hard Apple fanatics and the hacker/tinkerer crowd.

The failure of the Apple TV can be attributed to a number of decisions by the boys in Cupertino:

Poor Marketing
It's not that Apple didn't push the product, but more that they didn't explain it properly. The Apple TV is not a proper set-top box or a smaller Mac Mini. Essentially, it's a stationary video iPod with a hefty set of restrictions.

Apple TV didn't come with cable to connect to your TV.
It may seem like an odd complaint, but Apple is known for shipping products that work right out of the box. If you have to buy a $30 HDMI cable to make the thing work, it's betraying Apple's "it just works" ethos.

Apple TV requires an HDTV.
While HD is invading American homes at an incredible rate, Hi-Def sets are far from ubiquitous, limiting the device's appeal from the outset.

Apple TV lacks media support.
Sure, you can load up just about any audio file (other than Ogg or WMA) or photos of your choice, but the Apple TV's main selling point was its video capabilities -- where it undeniably fell short. The Apple TV is limited to lower-resolution MPEG 4 and H.264 video files such as those available through the iTunes store. These formats are nowhere near a high enough resolution to look passable on the fancy HDTV required to use the box. No DivX, no Xvid, no WMV. In fact, the Apple TV isn't even capable of handling the HD trailers hosted on the Apple Movie Trailers web site. Basically if you didn't buy shows and movies on iTunes and don't want to watch YouTube videos blown up to 1280x720, you probably have no reason to purchase the Apple TV.

A small community of intrepid hackers managed to add support for more formats, add USB storage expansion (a must on the original 40 Gigabyte model), and force the diminutive box to run both OS X and Linux, but homebrew enthusiasts alone cannot float an entire market segment.

Is there hope for the Apple TV? Probably not. At least not in its current iteration. Dropping the HD requirements would be a start, but simply building a more open and capable streamer is the only way to reinvigorate interest in the device. The Apple TV might be significantly cheaper, but we'd strongly recommend you drop the extra couple hundred bucks on a Mac Mini and an adapter for your TV -- you'll be much happier with the results.

From DailyTech

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Apple's Leopard OS Has Bugs

by Tim Stevens, posted Oct 31st 2007 at 9:49AM

Apple's Leopard OS Has BugsApple's new version of Mac OS X, version 10.5, a.k.a. "Leopard," launched last week to a good bit of fanfare ... and a strong dose of piracy, too. It's already sold more than two million copies.

That said, things aren't entirely going well for the new cat. Many users are suffering from a wide range of problems when installing and configuring the new operating system (OS), ranging from random errors about Swedish language packs (oh ja?!?) all the way up to lost profiles.

According to reports, the problems are generally non-terminal, as in you probably won't wind up permanently losing any data, but some are complaining that their existing user profiles, along with all their preferences, are not being imported by Leopard. (So, starting up the new OS for the first time users are frighteningly asked to create a new account!) All the profile information is still there and data can be copied over to the new account, but that's a bit more work than you'd expect from an OS that prides itself on being extremely user-friendly.

Part of the problem apparently surrounds a program called the Usanity Application Launcher, or APE, which is somehow causing issues with the upgrade. If you use the program on your Mac (which apparently installs itself along with a number of Logitech devices), you're advised to uninstall it or upgrade that to a new, Leopard-friendly version before doing the full Leopard upgrade.

Or, you could maybe wait for the next update, which hopefully won't be quite so problematic.

From ars technica

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Apple Founder Steve Wozniak Calls For Open iPhone

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 30th 2007 at 6:17PM

Apple Founder Calls For Open iPhone
In a recent interview with Laptop Magazine, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak joins the legions clamoring for a more open policy regarding the iPhone. "I'm really for the unlockers, the rebels trying to make it free," Woz declares, throwing down the gauntlet with the camp opposing his old buddy and Apple evangelist Steve Jobs. Woz complains about how Apple is treating the iPhone less as as though it were a computing platform (which it is) and more as though it were an appliance.

He even complains about the just-released Leopard and other operating systems, which Woz says are little more than gradual improvements and not the march towards brain dead user interfaces that even the least computer literate could use.

Why does Woz care, anyway -- he's got a new book out and is on his way to ending up on a reality show if he does indeed end up marrying Kathy Griffin (assuming those rumors are true).


From Engadget

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No Gift Cards on iPhone Purchases, Either

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 29th 2007 at 10:11AM


Apparently Apple has gone complete mad. Apparently, it's not obnoxious that the company is running its proprietary operating system (OS) on its own custom hardware, and that its fancy touch screen phone can only be used on one carrier with its own set of iPhone specific plans. Or that the ubiquitous iTunes and iPod wont work with any other players or media managers. No, no, no, now the control freaks in Cupertino want to control how and how many of its products you buy.

New restrictions on iPhone purchases are being hurled at the consumer left and right. Last week, Apple decided no cash for iPhone purchases -- only credit or debit cards. Then it dropped the per-person purchase limit from 5 to 2. And now the latest bomb: Apple won't even accept cash or its own gift certificates for the iPhone. Credit or debit and nothing else -- not even if you bought the gift cards with a credit card.

We figure it's only a matter of time before someone or some state sues the Mac boys.


From AOL News and Engadget

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