“I just bought an iTouch and an iMac mini. What’s the first thing I should learn about them?”
“The correct names.”
Curious as to which apps use the most power on your iPhone? Carat seeks to find out. It slowly samples energy use on your iPhone to provide you with a report showing apps that use a lot of power. While other apps that claim to do this actually only look at your installed apps and then make an education guess, Carat gathers data (it takes at least a week to give you your first report).
It was another quiet news week, with only very minor updates to Apple’s iOS office apps and Apple Maps.
A new iMac option appeared in the Apple Store this week with a full set of VESA mount iMacs. These models have hardware on the back to let them connect to special wall mounts or desk stands, rather than the normal iMac stand hardware. Four such mounts are available through the online Apple Store when you purchase an iMac, while others can be purchased elsewhere. VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) mounts refers to an industry standard. Computer and screen companies can make their devices VESA mount compatible so they will work with any third-party mount that uses the same standard. Apple had offeredVESA mount versions in previous generations of iMacs.
Rumors this week focused on the financial side of Apple, with some buzz around the idea that Apple may increase its shareholder dividend or enlarge its stock buyback efforts.
“Can I get an avocado slice on my burger? The green will add some nice color for the picture I’ll post to Facebook.”
You can add applications to your Mac’s Dock by simply dragging and dropping the icon in Launchpad to the Dock.
I’m not into running, but I’m thinking about it thanks to the iPhone app Zombies, Run! It is essentially a physical fitness app for tracking your runs. But it also motivates you by allowing you to pretend that you are being chased by zombies. It will interject apocalyptic news reports and zombie sounds into your music while you run virtual supply missions.
You may already know that you can use the volume up button on your iPhone as the shutter release button to take a picture when using the Camera app. But you can also use the volume up button the iPhone’s Earbud or EarPod cable, or any compatible headphones with a volume up button. This allows you to take pictures while standing further away from the camera, or while it is resting on a surface or tripod.
Apple news this week was dominated by stronger rumors of a new wristwatch product. Rumor blogs have been reporting that the device will come out later this year. While some believe this will be simply an iPhone accessory, extending the iPhone’s functionality as a Bluetooth device, other reports paint a picture of a completely independent iOS device to stand next to the iPhone and iPad. It is important to remember that these are just rumors, and more often than not such rumors do not pan out.
Other rumors this week focused on release timeframes for new iPads, making conservative predictions of new models coming either this spring or in the fall. Also, there are rumors of an iPhone 5S coming out in the fall, a safe bet considering Apple has produced a new model every year.
“I’ve got a completely original idea for a game app.”
“Tell me about it.”
“It’s basically Angry Birds meets Fruit Ninja meets Dragonvale.”
Say you are traveling with your MacBook and find yourself using a very slow connection, but you need to get some information from a web page. You can disable image loading in Safari by going to Safari, Preferences, Advanced and turning on “Show Develop menu in menu bar.” Then use the Develop menu and choose Disable Images. Cached images will still show, but Safari will temporarily stop loading new ones.
Apple held its annual shareholder’s meeting this week, and it was largely uneventful. Answering questions, Apple CEO Tim Cook did reiterate that Apple is looking to create new products in new categories. In addition, Apple is planning to move into its new 2.8 million square foot building in 2016.
In other news, it is being reported that Mac sales in January were strong after a week December causes by stock shortages. The new iMac was only available in limited numbers in December, but is now shipping in 2-3 weeks according to the online Apple store.
