MacMost: Archives

Apple announced many new products today including a new iPad mini, a 4th generation iPad, new iMac, new 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display and a new Mac mini. They also updated iBooks and iBooks Author with new features.

You can type Emoji characters on your iPhone, iPad or Mac and add them to your text messages, email messages or documents. Emoji characters are color characters with small images like smiling faces, map symbols, hearts, and so on. On the iPhone and iPad you need to enable the Emoji keyboard to easily type these. On the Mac, you need to turn on your character viewer.

If your iPhone is stolen much of your personal data, including access to your email and online accounts, can be stolen as well. Protect yourself by setting up your iPhone correctly in advance. Turn on passcode protection and also the Find My iPhone feature. With Find My iPhone you can erase or track your iPhone.

Apple sent out invitations to the press for a special event on Oct. 23 at San Jose’s California Theater. The invitation promises: “We’ve got a little more to show you.” The “little” perhaps hints at the announcement of the rumored iPad Mini, a 7.85-inch version of the iPad. Bloggers have been speculating for months about the device, but specifics are still hazy. Even the name of the new device could be something unexpected.
Reportedly, 24 new iPad models have been showing up in retail databases. This could mean an iPad Mini with two colors, three memory sizes and four wireless configurations. Or, it could also mean updated versions of the full-size iPad as well as a new Mini model.
In addition, there are some rumors that Apple may release new MacBooks and iMacs at the event, and even a new Mac Mini. The strongest of these rumors points to a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display. Currently, only the 15-inch MacBook Pro has a retina display.

They want the Mac so they can participate in an international website building competition, create a school-wide newspaper publication, and produce school videos.
Join MacMost in supporting this project.

“The new iPod nano plays video. And in related news, there are rumors that Apple will soon come out with DVD creation software for the Mac, and a new iCloud feature to build websites.”

When you buy a new iMac you will need to choose between the Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad. Which one is better? While it is somewhat a matter of personal preference, the trackpad has several advantages over the mouse that you may want to consider before making your decision.

Take a look at the new iPod nano. The latest iPod allows you to play music, video, view your photos, listen to and watch podcasts, listen to the radio and track your steps. You can also store files on it and use it for audio recording with the right earphones. But it is not an iOS device and has a limited feature set compared to the iPod touch.

By making one change in your iTunes preferences, you can use music in iTunes that is stored outside of your Music folder. This allows you to collect and organize your music on a shared drive and still have it play within iTunes. You can then have those same music file available to other Macs on your network.

Research firm IDC came out with its quarterly numbers showing that Macs now have a 13.6 percent share of new PC sales, the largest share in recent history. However, the overall market for PCs is down significantly and the total number of Mac sales is down, though still doing better relatively than PC sales.
The downturn in PC sales could simply be because businesses and consumers are waiting for Windows 8 to come out later this month before buying a new computer. Likewise, rumor sites say they are expecting new iMacs soon. However, it is also possible that the iPad and Android tablets are cutting significantly into sales. With consumers sometimes purchase a tablet instead of a new computer, the industry does not place them in the same class as PCs.
Apple is also looking to revitalize iPod nano sales with a new model that began shipping this week. Commercials for the new iPod started airing on television yesterday. Sales of non-iOS iPods have been down in recent years because of the iPhone and iPod touch.

Myadorth was disappointed that the new Maps app doesn’t support subterranean directions.

Learn how to place an image behind your text in Mac Pages. In this excerpt from Gary Rosenzweig's new book, My Pages (http://macmost.com/j-mypages) he'll show you how to place an image in the background, adjust it to fill the page, lighten it so the text is readable, and also apply it to all pages in the document.

iOS 6 removes the old Google Maps app and replaces it with the new Apple Maps app. While this new app features flyover and spoken turn-by-turn directions, people miss Google Maps features like Street View and biking directions. You can get those back, plus the familiar Google Maps look by simply going to the Google Maps web site in Safari. You will get a iPhone-specific version of the maps site, and be able to access Street View and more.

Mac Mail has a feature that allows you to use colorful email templates. There are many to choose from, and you can buy more from third-party companies. You can also create your own through a variety of methods.

Now that September’s iPhone and iPod announcements are behind, attention is turning back to the possibility of a new “iPad Mini.” In fact, the Wall Street Journal has published a report that production is already underway. Fortune has reported that press invites to the next Apple announcement will go out on Oct. 10.
It is thought that the this smaller version of the iPad will have similar capabilities to the full-size model, but will be smaller and with a lower price tag. It is possible that it will have a standard display, rather than a high resolution retina display, and perhaps less-capable cameras and battery life. But like with any new Apple product, some rumors are bound to be wrong, while others may be right. Even the name of the new device may be different that expected.

“Which will work better with my iPhone 3? An iPad 3 or an iTouch?”
“Let me get someone else to help you.”

You don't need any special software to quickly and easily capture your Mac's screen. With some simple keyboard shortcuts you can grab the whole screen, or a portion. You can save it to have a file, or copy to the clipboard to paste into an email message or document.

Learn how to use Preview in Mountain Lion to merge two or more PDF documents into one file. You can also re-arrange the pages in a PDF document or delete pages.

Gary Rosenzweig has a new book about using Pages for Mac: My Pages. In this video, learn how to put your text into columns in iWork Pages on your Mac. You can switch between single and multiple columns using layout breaks. You can customize your columns with the Inspector.

Seems that Apple cannot release a new version of iOS or a new iPhone without at least some controversy. This time it is the new Maps app. This Maps app, created by Apple and using a new map sdatabase owned by Apple, replaces the old app which used Google Maps data.
With the change comes a change in features. The big new feature is turn-by-turn spoken directions. The big missing feature is Google’s Street View.
Instead of Street View, Apple Maps includes Flyover — 3D renderings of buildings in major downtown areas. Apple Maps also ties in to Yelp for reviews but it lacks public transportation or walking directions.
The reason for the new app reportedly comes from Google’s reluctance to allow spoken directions in the old app, instead reserving that key feature only for rival Android phones.
Complaints about the new app include losing Street View, public transportation and walking directions, and inaccuracies in the new maps database. The Google maps database has been refined and corrected over a period of almost 10 years, while the Apple Maps database is just now being used by the public for the first time.
There are rumors of a coming new maps app from Google that iOS users can get from the app store. In the meantime, some of the features of Google maps can be accessed in iOS in the Safari browser. There are also a variety of other 3rd-party maps apps in the iOS app store.