Apple issued updates to firmware for MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros and the Mac mini this week. Firmware is a term used to describe small applications and data stored on chips in a Mac, as opposed to hard drives or memory. Firmware that comes with a Mac can be updated by Apple to fix bugs and add features. See http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1471.
These new updates include improvements to how the new Thunderbolt port can be used with external displays, as well as in target disk mode — a way to access your Mac as a hard drive from another Mac with the Thunderbolt connector.
In addition, the updates provide more support for recovery in case of a hard drive failure. Newer Macs with Lion can recover and even re-install Lion with an Internet connection thanks to a special recovery partition and software in firmware. This way Lion can be restored without needing an optical drive or other storage device with a Lion installer. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718 for details.
While having the Dashboard as a whole “space” in Lion is useful for those that use Dashboard a lot, you can also return to using these widgets over overlays to your desktop like they were previously. Go to Mission Control in System Preferences and turn off “Show Dashboard as a Space.” Now you can still use your shortcut key or the Dashboard Dock icon to access those widgets, but they will just appear on top of your existing screen items.
Yet another new game idea made possible by the iOS touch interface. In Continuity 2: The Continuation, you not only get a very intuitive and interesting way to move a character around the screen by swiping, but you also get a new game concept. You can move the character, sure, but you can also move the environment. You zoom out and slide sections of each level around. Bizarre, fun and addictive.
“I don’t feel I’m communicating with my wife as much anymore.”
“Are you two drifting apart?”
“Yes. I’m still on Facebook and she’s moved to Google+.”
With the release of iOS 5 growing closer and the current line of iPods and iPhones growing older, many sites report that new models are imminent. The second week of September is usually when Apple unveils new iPods, but they may be looking to come out with a new iPod Touch and iPhone at the same time, for the first time.
Reports from Apple’s Chinese manufacturer, Foxconn, say that iPhone 5s are being built by the millions right now, which would point to a late September or early October release. A German mobile carrier has gone as far as accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 5, even though it lists no specifications or release date.
Rumors speculate that the next iPhone will have a better camera, faster processor and perhaps a larger display. There are some rumors that the iPod touch will get 3G capability, allowing for a mobile data connection like some iPad models.
“Do you know that I’m the mayor of this place on Foursquare?”
“Well, in that case I’d like to talk to you about the working conditions.”
I’m not into cooking, but if I were, I wouldn’t use anything so old-fashioned as a cook book. Well, I would, but it would be on my iPad. Epicurious seems to be the ultimate next-generation cook book. 30,000 recipes, searchable, shopping lists, social features, etc.
If you want to select the system sound input or output device you can use System Preferences. But if you have the volume control menu icon you can do it there too. The key in Lion is to hold down option when you click it. Then you can select input and output, and also get quick access to the sound preferences.
Seems like everyone wants to figure out how to make a better news app. News360 is certainly a contender. It seems to bring in news from a ton of sources, and customizes to your interests. There is also a new exploratory mode that lets you see a collage of images and perhaps find interesting stories that you might have otherwise missed. Also good is the fact that to read full articles you get shown the original web page. So you don’t miss anything and the app respects the publications’ rights as well.
Reports this week show Apple getting closer to releasing a new OS for the iPhone and iPad, and new features for Mac OS X Lion. Rumor sites are reporting on a new developer release of iOS 5 with only bug fixes, showing that Apple is almost finished with development. In addition, a new version of Mac OS X Lion, version 10.7.2, with iCloud support has been seen, and a new developer version of iTunes with iTunes Match enabled has also been reported. There are also rumors floating around that some of the new iCloud features may be supported in Snow Leopard with an update to that OS.
It is expected that iOS 5 and Lion 10.7.2 will be released simultaneously because both will hook into iCloud, Apple’s network syncing service that replaces MobileMe. The expected release date for iOS 5 and iCloud is “the fall” which could be any time starting at the end of this month.
New in Lion is the ability to set a custom desktop color without having to first create a solid color graphic image. If you go to System Preferences, Desktop & Screen Saver, Desktop you can choose Solid Colors from the list on the left, under the Apple category. There you will see a few sample colors. But you also have the Custom Color button at the lower right. Click that to choose any color from the color picker.
“Do you know when the new iPhone will be out?”
“My guess is October.”
“I just got confirmation from a credible source!”
