Dominating Apple news this week was the release of version 2.2 of the iPhone OS. This included some pretty interesting new features, such as Google Maps street view and the ability to download podcasts directly on the iPhone instead of requiring them to be added to iTunes on your Mac or PC first. See episode 162 of MacMost Now for more details.
QuickTime update 7.5.7 seems to fix a problem where standard definition movie rentals cannot be watched on an HD screen connected to a Mac. This triggered an HD anti-piracy restriction called HDCP, which is meant only for HD content, not the SD content used for movie rentals in iTunes.
An update to iTunes itself, version 8.0.2, adds VoiceOver accessibility to control iTunes, plus a quality fix for making .mp3 files with iTunes. A bug was also fixed that may have prevented connecting to the iTunes Store through a proxy server.
In the United States, this is thanksgiving week, which is followed by “black friday” — a day of shopping and special sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. For the last few years Apple has participated both online and in stores with some special deals. Be sure to check the news at MacMost.com on Friday to see what’s on sale.
From the very first day of the iPhone App store, we’ve loved Pandora Radio. This App is basically the same thing you get at the Pandora Web site, but on your iPhone. You can listen to streaming music based on a song or artist you choose. As you indicate how much you like each song that is played, Pandora continues to customize the music. The App is free, as Pandora is advertising supported. This App makes your car’s FM radio obsolete.
If you hold down the Option key and click on the WiFi indicator at the top right of your screen in the toolbar, you will get additional information about your current WiFi connection. You’ll find out your signal strength and WiFi channel. You’ll also see your MAC address, which you sometimes need to give out to be allowed to connect to closed WiFi networks.
Chaperoning elementary school field trips is something every parent should try to do. You’re pretty lucky, though, when your first call to do one is a visit to the Apple Store.
Apparently some Apple Stores offer opportunities to allow schools to bring in classes. The employees then teach something age-appropriate using the Macs in the store.
In this case, we brought about 17 kids in and they divided them up, two per Mac. They actually used MacBooks, MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs. This was done with the sample machines scattered in the store for customers to play with.
For this first grade class, the tasks were simple. First, they had them open up Photo Booth. The kids had a blast taking pictures of themselves, especially when they were shown the special effects.
Then they opened up Pages. I thought it was weird to have them work with a program from iWork, but it was basically an introduction to publishing, and iWork is the publishing tool.
The kids were shown how to make shapes on the page, and then drag their photos from the PhotoBooth panel to the shapes. They then added a bit of text, usually talk bubbles.
While all the kids had experience with computers before, most seemed a little uncomfortable with the track pad as they are used to mice. But instructions like “drag the triangle along the slider to zoom out the picture” were understood easily.
It is obvious what the goal was here for Apple — get the kids to come home with their printouts and “certificate” and talk to their parents about how cool the Apple Store was. Maybe even force a detour into the Apple Store the next time the family goes to the mall.
From the school’s side of things, there was some benefit as well. I think it was a pretty comparable experience to an in-school computer class — at least at the first grade level. The kids gained a little more knowledge about what computers can do and how to use them.
So it was a win-win. A win-win-win if you count me in there. I mean, how often do you get to participate in a school field trip, do some research for work, and have a good time all at once?
Several small announcements and updates this week from Apple. The AppleTV OS version 2.3 was released, with AirTunes streaming and the support for third-party remote controls. That’s a good idea considering how small the Apple remote is and how easy it is to lose. And, of course, the fact that anyone with a home theater setup (AppleTV’s target market) is using a multi-device universal remote anyway.
But in other home theater news, Apple has given in to another draconian anti-piracy measure by building in HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) into the new line of MacBooks. That means that you can’t play protected movies you bought from iTunes on large TVs and projectors unless they are “HDCP authorized.” If you are wondering how this is supposed to prevent piracy, or do anything other than upset Apple’s paying customers, you are not alone.
But then on the other side of the DRM battle, Apple is supposedly in talks with Sony, Warner and Universal to join EMI in allowing Apple to distribute non-DRM versions of their music through iTunes.
This week we are also finally starting to hear Snow Leopard rumors. The Mac OS X 10.6 operating system is potentially ahead of schedule and may ship earlier in 2009 than expected — perhaps in the first quarter.
For some of us, an FTP program is a basic requirement of any computer. We need to move files to and from server and maintain content on Web sites. There is no lack of FTP programs for the Mac. Plenty to choose from. But Transmit from Panic gives you a simple drag-and-drop interface just technical enough to get things done, but simple enough to be easy to use. It’s powerful too, supporting all sorts of types of file transfer. Well worth $30.
Galcon is a combination of a strategy game and an arcade game. You start with a home planet among a bunch of uninhabited ones. You spread out in an array of conquest — that is, until you meet your enemy. But instead of happening at a slow turn-by-turn strategy game pace, you’ve got move as fast as you can, touching and dragging the screen to move your ships. It’s a lot of fun.
Show Notes:
You can find the Google iPhone app in our iPhone Apps directory.
Back in January of 2007 when the iPhone was announced, many people cheered. People cheered the touch screen. People cheered the beautiful design. People cheered the fact that the rumors were right.
I cheered what Steve Jobs said about the built-in Safari Web browser: that it would allow you to surf the real Web. In other words, that it would be a real Web browser, capable of displaying Web pages just like a Mac or PC.
Show Notes:
To turn off Data Detectors, open the Terminal program from your Applications, Utilities folder, and type:
defaults write com.apple.mail DisableDataDetectors YES
To turn it back on again, type:
defaults write com.apple.mail DisableDataDetectors NO
There are some utilities that no Mac should be without. And when they are free, you really have no excuse not to at least try it. iStat Menus is a great collection of menu bar items that monitor everything about your Mac. You can see CPU usage, temperature readings, power usage, drive space, and tons of other bits of data. CPU usage, for instance, can tell you which apps are hogging the most power. There is also a Dashboard widget version called iStat Pro.
You can make a sticky note quickly and easily from selecting text and then going to the application’s menu (named for the application, between the apple and the File menu) and selecting Services and then Make New Sticky Note. It works in Safari, Mail and many other applications. In Safari, you can also use Command+Shift+Y. This is a quick way to capture bits of information for later use.
Seems a bit ridiculous to carry around a scrap of paper with a shopping list when you have all the power of an iPhone in your pocket. But most shopping list apps make a scrap of paper look good. However, Groceries Grocery List from Ontomni is a pretty cool app. You only need to type the first few letters of most items to add it to your list, and it remembers new and unique items that you’ve added before. It also organizes your list by section, so you can proceed through a super market in a logical manner and save time. So far it seems to be the best choice for a shopping list app.
