iOS 4.2 is nearing completion. Several sites report that the new operating system is at “gold master” status. This version will be for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but it will also be the first major update for the iPad. For the first time the iPad will have multitasking and other features that have been available in the iPhone for months. Apple originally promised the new iOS version for November.
A new release of Mac OS X, version 10.6.5, may also be near release. The new version is expected to only bring stability and bug fixes.
If you are an iPad user, you have probably tried to use your iPad while relaxing on a sofa or in bed. I’ll bet you have even pulled a pillow over to rest your iPad on. Well now there is a pillow specifically designed for this. Sized perfectly, and with a bar along the bottom for placement, the iPad Pillow will make a nice holiday gift for any iPad user this holiday season.
In System Preferences, Dock, switch on Minimize windows into application icon. Then when you click on the yellow minimize button at the top of any window, it won’t appear on the right side of the Dock. Instead, you can bring it back by control+clicking on the application and selecting the window. Or, click and hold the Dock icon to bring up an Expose-like view of the applications’s windows.
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.
I never got to check out Alice in Wonderland when it first arrived in the app store to promote the new movie. But now that it is $0.99, I thought I’d give it a try. Good old-fashioned adventure game fun.
You can copy files with drag and drop, but did you know you can also use copy and paste? Just select a file in one folder, choose Edit, Copy or Command+C. Then go to another folder and choose Edit, Paste or Command+V. This is very handy when you don’t want to have both folders on the screen at the same time.
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.
The keys at the top of your Mac keyboard are both function keys (F1 to F12 or F19) and special feature keys: brightness, expose, volume, etc. You can decide what they do by default in System Preferences, Keyboard. Check or uncheck “Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.” Then, look for the “fn” key on your keyboard. This toggles those keys the other way. So if you choose to use them as F-keys, then holding “fn” will make them work as special feature keys. The main reason to use these as F-keys is if you use software that utilizes them, like many Adobe applications do.
Another free game this week from CleverMedia (MacMost parent). Just Solitaire: Pyramid is your basic pyramid solitaire game. But the problem with pyramid solitaire is that different people play it different ways. Sometimes there is one waste pile, sometimes two. Some people play with reserve cards. This game allows you to customize the rules to play like you want to.
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.
