MacMost: Archives

This news this week centers around Apple’s quarterly financial results. Once again, Apple seems to have wowed Wall Street with better-than-expected results.
It recorded a $1.23 billion profit for the quarter, as compared to $1.07 million for the same quarter last year.
Mac sales grew in contrast to the rest of the computer industry. They sold 2.6 million Macs, 4 percent higher than the same quarter last year.
iPhone sales were in fact seven times that of the quarter last year, with 5.24 million sold. Apple also reported 1.5 billion apps were download from the iTunes App Store, though that combines free and paid apps.
This may be cutting into iPod sales, as they only sold 10.2 million iPods, which is 7 percent less than last year.
The stock price went up on the news, as you would expect. In fact, AAPL is up about 80 percent so far this year, compared with 21 percent for the rest of the NASDAQ.

Learn about the different options in Safari's security preferences, such as fraud alerts and disabling plug-ins, JavaScript and cookies.

With the release of the iPhone 3GS, there was a subtle, but important change in the gadget world. It has to do with the iPhone’s camera. The new camera will not only take better pictures, but also video.
The video recording capability is what is so interesting. Many of us have been carrying around little Flip cameras or something similar for a while now. The iPhone 3GS has pretty much the same capability as these cameras, so they can now be retired. More importantly, the iPhone is always with us, whereas the Flip usually one came with in situations where it was anticipated that it would be used. So there opportunities to record video just broadened enormously.
But there are two more important aspects here to consider. The first is network connectivity. You can shoot, trim and upload video right from your iPhone. You can upload to YouTube or MobileMe. Can’t do that with a Flip. Heck, just getting the video from your Flip to your Mac requires putting up with old AVI video codecs.
The second interesting thing about using an iPhone for recording video is that you are not stuck with the built-in microphone for audio. You can actually use the mic on the earbuds that come with the phone for recording, providing an easy way to speak directly into the mic while pointing the camera elsewhere. You can also use any third-party iPhone mic. For a lot of people this is minor, but for video creators like me this is huge. Camcorder makers have ignored the external mic option for a long time.
So now we have a phone, Internet device, compact camera, compact camcorder and mp3 player all in one small gadget. Getting better all the time.

Take a close look at the new iPhone 3GS Voice Control feature. Learn what it can do and about its many shortcomings.

Take a close look at the iPhone 3GS camera and compare it to the iPhone 3G. It has many advantages, including the ability to record video. It can act as a replacement for both a compact still camera and a mini camcorder.

It must be the middle of summer because news has slowed to a crawl. What makes headlines these days is Steve Jobs attending a Cold Play concert and Apple doesn’t like the Microsoft ads.
The only hard news is about very minor software updates. We have iTunes 8.2.1, which, along with bug fixes has stopped Palm Pre phones from syncing with iTunes. We’ll never be sure if Apple intentionally disabled Pre syncing, or if Palm is simply taking advantage of loopholes in iTunes software that require them to keep up with new versions of iTunes. But Apple did warn Pre owners that syncing wasn’t supported on the Apple side of things.
The story that Apple doesn’t like the Microsoft “Laptop Hunter” ads seems to exaggerated. The source is Microsoft itself, making fun of Apple during a conference speech. If you read the transcript, it sounds like Apple legal had a problem with Microsoft quoting MacBook prices in the ads that were out-dated. Would Burger King have a problem if McDonalds claimed BK’s burgers were $1.39 when they were in fact $1.19? Probably. Anyway, the whole thing as created headlines like “Apple demanded Microsoft to stop its Laptop Hunters ads” which are a little sensationalist.
Microsoft is also reported as planning to open Microsoft stores near Apple Stores. It is not clear what these stores will be selling, since Microsoft doesn’t make PCs, only the Windows OS and other software.

It is important to keep your third-party non-Apple applications updated so they are stable and you have the latest features. Often you have to manually check your version against the version at the Web site and carefully follow update instructions.

So rumors are growing stronger that Apple will come out with a tablet product later this year or next. A lot of people seem to think it will be a large-screen iPod Touch.
In a way, this makes sense. With the iPhone/iPod Touch App Store a huge success, Apple can come out with an iPod Touch that takes advantage of all of that third-party software and the whole iPhone OS with its Web browser, Mail and other apps.
What a cool device that would be. Or would it?
For instance, I’m not sure how I would such an “iPod Tablet” myself. Would it come in handy at the office? Not with my desktop Mac, or even my MacBook Pro around. Why would I setting for an iPhone OS experience when I could have a full Mac experience.
At home, I use either the MacBook Pro for bits of work, or my iPhone for something quick. The only advantage of the iPhone is that it is on my person, which gives it an advantage when the MacBook Pro is somewhere else in the house. An iPod Tablet would suffer that same drawback since it won’t fit in my pocket.
So what about when I step out of the office? Well, the iPod Tablet probably won’t come with me. I need my iPhone, because it is a phone. I can check email, check news, tweet, etc., with it. It is small enough to be in my pocket all the time. The Tablet just won’t be there when I need it.
How about on long trips — overnight excursions to conferences or on vacation? Well, for that the Tablet probably won’t be enough. I’d need to take my MacBook Pro. And my iPhone for communication. So why do I need a Tablet?
So a Tablet won’t be for someone like me. It is more likely that it will be for someone who doesn’t use either an iPhone or MacBook. I just can’t see that being a very big market.
So how could Apple make it better? Make it a real Mac. If it runs Snow Leopard, and not the iPhone OS, then it can be a successor to the MacBook Air and a competitor to the NetBooks. Make it touch screen, sure, but also make sure Bluetooth and USB keyboards and mice work with it so you can use it for real work with real apps. For that, I would ditch my MacBook.
I hope they go that route, iPhone apps are great, but they are more for communication, organization and entertainment. To compete with NetBooks, a Mac Tablet would need to run applications, not apps.

Gary Rosenzweig talks about the software, hardware and Internet services he uses to produce and distribute the MacMost Now video podcast. See the full post at https://macmost.com for links.

Learn the ins-and-outs of titles in iMovie 09, which include title overlays, in-between clip titles, lower thirds, and more.

This was a slow Apple news week for both hard news and rumors. Predictably, the new 13-inch MacBook pros are selling well according to reports. The machine has a low price but includes high-end features.
There is a new version of Safari, 4.0.2, this week, which addresses security issues. At the same time, we are hearing rumors that Apple is already working on version 3.1 of the iPhone OS, with possible improvements to the copy and paste feature.

Spaces creates virtual displays that you can switch between even though you only have one physical screen. You can place different windows and applications in different Spaces to extend the amount of desktop space you have to work.

Snow Leopard will arrive in September. Here's what you need to know about the new Mac OS X.

In addition to screen capture keyboard shortcuts built into Mac OS X, you can also use the Grab utility to capture the screen. This enables you to capture windows and perform timed screen captures as well.

This week’s news seems to be dominated by little problems with the iPhone 3GS. First, it seems to be out-of-stock in a lot of places, and orders from AT&T are taking more than a week to fill. Second, when people do get their iPhones, they are still reporting long delays in activation. Third, there is an overheating problem reported by many that has the phones getting so hot that the white-colored ones are already turning yellow.
But all the news isn’t bad. AT&T seems to be seeing record sales of the new iPhone and most users reporting in to MacMost love their iPhone 3GS, even while having to pay extra for the unsubsidized price.
Back at Apple, reports are that Steve Jobs is back at work, at least for several days per week. The news broke last week that Jobs actually had a liver transplant during his absence, and the procedure went well. Not much fanfare was given to Jobs’ return, but his return has been official acknowledged by Apple.

You can change your system alert sound, even using a custom one that you create.

Learn all of the different ways you can edit clips in iMovie 09. You can select a portion of the clip, trim the ends, split a clip, use the clip trimmer and the precision editor.

iWork 09's spreadsheet program Numbers isn't like the old-fashioned spreadsheet programs you may be used to. You can create small tables and design a sheet with each table having its own numbers and formulas and also using numbers from other tables.

Following last week’s release of the iPhone OS 3.0, the new iPhone 3GS hardware became available in Apple Stores and elsewhere in the U.S. and several other counties. More then one million new iPhones were reported to have been solid in the first week.
The new iPhone is faster and has a better camera than the old one, but many customers in the U.S. won’t be eligible for a partially discounted upgrade until July and a full discount until 2010.
Some people who bough the new iPhone in the U.S. found themselves unable to use it for hours because of glitches in AT&T’s system needed to activate the new phones. Similar problems plagued the initial iPhone launch in 2007, and the launch of the 3G in 2008.
Outside of the new iPhone, the other big Apple news is that Steve Jobs, on medical leave from Apple since December, is reported to have undergone a liver transplant two months ago. These same reports indicate that it went well and that he has been seen at work. Rumor has it that he may return as CEO of Apple soon, though not with a full schedule.

You can use Smart Builds in Keynote to quickly add a slideshow of photos into your presentation. The photos all exist on one slide, so you don't need to create a separate slide for each image. You can set the transition and other options.