MacMost: Archives

Learn about GarageBand 11's new features that help you adjust the timing of recorded tracks. You can force one track to match the beat of another, adjust individual notes or force a track to adhere to consistent timing.

While new MacBook Airs fly off the virtual shelves at the Apple Store, the iPad is now being sold in a large variety of places throughout the U.S. Both Verizon and AT&T have begun selling iPads. Verizon bundles a Wifi-only iPad with their MiFi device. AT&T is selling the 3G iPad with AT&T network service. Recently, Apple also began selling iPads through stores like Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
While last quarter saw record Mac sales, the current quarter might easily top that with the addition of the new smaller MacBook Air. One firm is forecasting 700,000 units with a majority being the smaller size.

iPhoto 11 includes a new way to email directly from iPhoto using colorful themes and a built-in email client. You can use any email account and customize the message. You can also email individual photos using drag and drop or exporting them first.

Apple has been giving some love to the Mac again, so I thought I would too. It isn’t hard to name a lot of reasons why I have loved Macs for a long time. But since I get asked occasionally for specific reasons, here is a good top-ten list.
1. Clean Consistent Intuitive Interfaces

I like to learn by doing. Mac OS X and Apple’s applications let you do that. You can “click on the pretty buttons” to figure things out very quickly. By extension, most third-party developers have followed suit and their programs work the same way.
One of the main reasons switchers have trouble with mac software is that they are looking for a complex answer when there is a simple one: drag and drop, click once, or a logical menu choice.

iMovie 11 allows you to set the volume for specific portions of the audio track. You can adjust the sections of volume control and set fade in and out times for each section. You can also apply audio effects, filter sound using an equalizer and layer multiple tracks of audio.

The new free FaceTime for Mac application from Apple lets you place and receive video phone calls. You can video chat with people on other Macs, iPhones or the new iPod Touch. You can use an email address as an identifier, or their iPhone phone number.

Apple started the week off with its quarterly earnings call, reporting a record $20 billion in revenue. Apple sold 3.89 million Macs, 4.19 million iPads and 14.1 million iPhones. Most numbers beat Wall Street expectations except the iPad sales numbers which were predicted to be slightly higher.
On Wednesday Apple held its Back to the Mac event, announcing Mac OS X Lion, new MacBook Air models and the iLife 11 suite.
Lion, which will be released in summer of 2011, will incorporate many user interface elements from the iPhone and iPad. One feature, a Mac App Store, will be released as an update to Snow Leopard in about three months. A Mac App Store would provide an alternative distribution model for software over the traditional web site download or in-store purchase. Not all software products will be found in the App Store, however, as programs like system utilities won’t meet Apple’s requirements.

Apple has three major Mac announcements today in a special event. iLife 11 brings updates to iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand. The new Mac OS X 10.7 will be called Lion and will be released in summer of 2011. Some features, like FaceTime and a new Mac App Store will be available sooner. A new, lighter, smaller and cheaper MacBook Air hits stores today.

Learn how to replace a folder or file's default icon with one from another file, or one you create in a graphics program. Find out how you can use a free graphics program to create your own icons and use them to make it easier to identify folders in the Finder.

Learn how to use and customize Stacks, a feature of the Mac OS X Dock. You can quickly access your files or applications through Stacks. They can be configured to show grid and list views. You can create custom stacks to hold specific items.

Apple has announced a special event for next week entitled “Back to the Mac.” The invitation shows a lion behind a slightly cut-out Apple logo. Most believe this means the next version of Mac OS X will be called “Lion.” That would follow along with the previous names: Cheetah, Puma, Panther, Jaguar, Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. It is likely than an announcement of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion would mean only an upcoming developer release and it could be more than a year before it is available for non-developers.
Rumors of a new MacBook Air have also been strong, and Apple has often mixed software announcements with some hardware news. Some speculate that the new Air would be even smaller and lighter than the current model.
Many have also noted that both the iLife and iWork suites are overdue for updates. A new version of both for 2011 could be announced or even released next week.
The timing for this press conference seems to be perfect as Apple now owns 10 percent of the U.S. computer market, just slightly behind third-place Acer. HP and Dell still dominate the market with a combined 50 percent.

Learn about the various export options in Keynote 09. You can export as an interactive QuickTime movie, a PowerPoint document, a series of images, an HTML page or a PDF file. Each of these options have various uses.

iMovie 09 has its own unique way of storing files. Understanding how and where iMovie stores events and projects will help you manage your videos. You can store clips and projects on your internal drive, or a secondary or external drive. You can also easily remove and archive projects and events.

Alarm Clock Pro is a good alternative to filling your calendar with alarms and events. You can easily set alarms for specific times or intervals. These alarms can trigger scripts, sounds, alerts and actions for a variety of purposes.

Since there has been little or no Apple news this week, it is a good time to catch up on current Apple rumors. Since 2007 there have been rumors of the iPhone coming to America’s largest mobile network, Verizon. This week the Wall Street Journal claimed that Apple will be producing a CDMA version of the iPhone for Verizon in 2011.
While new versions of every Mac line have come out in the last year, the MacBook Air remains largely as it has been since its debut. It is hard to see its value over the less expensive, more capable and only slightly larger 13-inch MacBook Pro. But rumors of a smaller, lighter Air are growing stronger with reports that the current Air is out of stock. Rumors state that the new one will have an 11.6-inch screen and a special low-power processor.
There have also been more unlikely rumors of tests of a touch screen for future iMacs. While this innovation seems inevitable with the touch interfaces on iOS devices, most think that a touch-screen Mac may still be years away.

Learn how to create simple charts from spreadsheet data in iWork 09 Numbers. You can create pie charts and line graphs and then customize how they look with inspectors and by just dragging elements. You can also put the charts on a separate page for printing.

Gmail is often the choice of email power users. You can optimize your Gmail experience even more by learning some simple keyboard shortcuts that allow you to navigate, read and compose email without having to move your fingers from the keyboard.

Take a look at the new Apple TV. In addition to most of the features of the original, the new device includes Netflix streaming. The new iOS is masked behind an interface just like the original. But the possibility exists for future expansion with apps.

The new Apple TV began arrive on doorsteps this week as Apple shipped the product in September as promised. Reports from those who have examined the device show 8GB of internal flash memory and a very similar architecture to the iPad. The door definitely seems to be open for future Apple TV apps.
Apple also updated iTunes to version 10.0.1 with bug fixes and a new right-side sidebar listing recent activity on your Ping social network. It even lists relevant information based on which artist and song you have selected in your library, such as showing artist posts and profiles.

One option for screen captures and recording is Snapz Pro. It offers more options than the standard capture ability in Mac OS X, such as being able to follow the cursor around and record anything on the screen. It comes with a high price tag, however.