Despite the global economic crisis, 2008 seems to be a year of growth for Apple. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that Apple added more than 13,000 full-time and contract workers. Most of these populate the 50 new Apple stores opened this year. Apple also showed a 40 percent increase in research and development spending. Hopefully that means more cool new products coming next year.
But one area of 2008 growth, the iPhone App Store, is showing some growing pains. Apple rejected yet another App for questionable reasons. CastCatcher, from developer return7, was simply submitted for an update from version 1.2 to 1.3 when it was rejected because “it is transferring excessive volumes of data over the cellular network.”
CastCatcher is a streaming radio App, similar to others in the App Store. The developer believes that version 1.3 uses the same amount of bandwidth as these other apps, as well as version 1.2 of CastCatcher, which is still available in the store.
This is just the latest in a series of puzzling decisions by Apple about which apps to accept and which to reject.
Significant updates this week include a major batch for the iPod Nano and a new version of Parallels. The iPod Nano update includes support for the new Apple in-ear headphones with remote and microphone, the ability to turn off cover flow, and some bug fixes. Parallels 4.0, software used to run Windows and other OSes in a virtual environment, includes a new look and some significant speed increases.
So the new MacBook Pros have lots of upgrades: faster processor, better video chips, more standard memory and hard drive space, a snazzy new aluminum shell. But they have one downgrade: the video port.
The new MacBook Pros, like all the MacBooks, now use a Mini DisplayPort for external video. While this is supposed to be a industry-standard can-do-anything port, it is a poor substitute for the DVI port on the older MacBook Pros.
For one, there are almost no monitors in existence that support Mini DisplayPort. The new 24 inch Apple monitor does, but the old ones do not. So you need an adapter. No problem, right? Just use the adapter that comes with the MacBook Pro. But wait, no adapters come with it at all.
So Apple decides to move forward to use a very new type of video port, and then doesn’t even give us the adapters that they used to include.
So you can get a VGA or a DVI adapter, purchased separately. But large monitors, such as the 30 inch Apple Cinema display, and any 30 inch monitor, require a Dual-Link DVI adapter. The plain DVI one won’t do.
So Apple has a third adapter: Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter. Check it out. It is $100! Worse, it isn’t even available yet. And it will use both the Mini DisplayPort and a whole USB port for power.
So there is currently no way to hook up a new MacBook Pro to a 30 inch monitor. This sort of configuration is common among media professionals like myself who like the portability of a MacBook Pro, but need to have a huge desktop when working in programs like Flash, PhotoShop or Final Cut.
It makes me appreciate the Dual-Link DVI built into the side of my current MacBook Pro. And it made me forget about ordering a new MacBook Pro, at least for the time being.
Show Notes:
Place to look for application files:
Library folder, both in your user folder and at the hard drive level.
Library > Application Support folders.
Library > Preferences folder, look for com.developer.application.plist files, files and folders with the application name.
Search for the application name to find aliases and other files.
Remove the application from the Dock if it is there.
Some software that will help you uninstall applications. Some of these just help you with uninstalls, while others have other functions as well.
AppTrap (free)
AppZapper ($12.95)
AppDelete (free)
SuperPop ($15)
CleanApp ($13)
Hazel ($21.95)
Hello and welcome to the first issue of the MacMost email newsletter! Each week, we hope to keep you up-to-date with the new content at MacMost.com. We’ll cover the latest Apple news, list the new MacMost videos and blog posts, and throw in some tips as well.
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Tower defense games have been around for a long time. The basic idea is that there is a never-ending wave of enemies approaching you, and you must put down defenses to stop them before they reach your base.
Fieldrunners for the iPhone is a particularly good one. Not only is it simple and fun, but it works well using the iPhone’s touch interface. I was surprised when it got me hooked. I played it obsessively for a week, which is much more than I can say for most iPhone games I’ve downloaded.
You can read more and view it at the iTunes Apple Store.
We find that most note-taking, project planning and business organization tools are too restrictive. They want you to organize your information in a certain way that may or may not fit your business or style. VoodooPad is a little personal wiki program that runs on your Mac and allows you to create almost any organizational system you want. You can keep notes, to-do lists, frequently used text and images, ideas and almost anything all together and linked to each other in a way that works for you.
The “Lite” version is free, and it may be all you need. It is packed with features and there is also a full and pro version if you want more power or to support the creators. You can read more and download it at FlyingMeat.com.
Did you know you can customize the look and features of the clock that appears in the upper right corner of the menu bar? Just go to System Preferences, Date & Time and choose the Clock tab. You can display the clock as digital or analog. In digital mode, you can choose to show a 24-hour clock, show AM and PM, show the day of the week and display the seconds as well as the hour and minute. You can even have the colon in the time flash every second. You can also set up a chime to announce every hour, half-hour or quarter-hour.
Many people have been reading the signs lately and trying to predict the future of the Mac Mini. In fact, it’s death has been prematurely predicted several times before. But Apple responded directly an email from a Mac Mini fan with a phone call. An Apple representative told him that that Apple knows the value of the Mini and seemed to indicate a new version of the machine will be available soon.
But that probably won’t be until next year, as Apple has stated that no new machine updates will be coming out this year. This is probably to encourage people to go ahead and buy holiday presents and Mac as end-of-year expenses right now. It also makes sense that any major changes will wait until the MacWorld announcements in January.
The new MacBook Air is shipping, with its upgraded video chips. But the base level machine, with a 1.6GHz processor seems to have been delayed. People with orders have been told they won’t get theirs until after Thanksgiving.
In iPhone news, it is confirmed that AT&T’s free iPhone WiFi access at Starbucks and other AT&T hotspots is official. We received and email directly from AT&T with the procedure. iPhone users at an AT&T hotspot need to look for the “attwifi” network and then they will be asked for their 10-digit phone number. A free text message will then give them a link to follow to complete the connection.
Looks like we’ve been given an early holiday present by Apple: a break from the Apple rumor mill. Apple made an official statement this week that there will be no updates to product lines before the end of the year. No new iMacs or Mac Minis, which is the opposite of what we’ve heard on Apple rumor sites.
Now the reason for such an unusual announcement is obvious: Apple wants to sell some product for the holidays and they want the selling to start now. Rumors of new product updates always get people waiting instead of buying, hoping to avoid buying a computer just before a new version comes out.
So this may be the perfect time to buy, knowing you’ve got at least two months ahead where your purchase will remain the latest and greatest.
Of course early January brings MacWorld, where Apple traditionally announces something new. New iMacs and a Mac Mini update or replacement are likely there. But that’s a long time to wait if you need a new machine.
This week saw some minor software updates to Mac OS X Leopard, such as iPhoto print quality fixes. Make sure you run Software Update to download and install.
On the hardware side, Apple is now shipping updated MacBook Airs, which include new new Nvidia video chip set, the same ones in the new MacBook Pros and MacBooks.
The iPhone OS version 2.2 is getting closer. It was spotted on the net several times this week. Improvements seem to be the inclusion of Google Maps street view feature in the Maps application, and possibly the ability to download podcast episodes directly to the iPhone. It is frustrating now when you know a new episode of a podcast is available but you have to download it on your Mac and sync to get it on your iPhone. And street view arrives just in time as it is being touted as one of the ways that the Google Android mobile phone is better than the iPhone. At the same time the free Google Earth iPhone app was released this week. It’s more of a toy than anything else, but it can be a fun distraction when you have spare time and only your iPhone to entertain you.
AT&T once again seems to offer free WiFi at AT&T hotspots like Starbucks for iPhone users. They have started and stopped this service without announcements before. So we’ll see if it sticks around this time.
To quickly launch an application without even touching your mouse, press Command+Space to activate the Spotlight menu at the upper right corner of your screen. Then type the first few letters of the application name, such as “Tex” for TextEdit. Type as few or as many as you need for the application to show up in the menu as the “Top Hit.” Then press Return on your keyboard to launch the application.
The official FaceBook application lets you check your new feed, update your status and even access some data feeds from your FaceBook application. You can also view photos and do all of the most common FaceBook tasks that you do on your Mac or PC. This is a must-have for any FaceBook user. Best of all is that it is free!
Read more and check it out at the iTunes App Store.
Show notes:
You can search for iPhone Apps and sort them by price to find the free ones at the MacMost iPhone Apps Directory. You can find the ones talked about in the show there too:
Google Earth: Explore our planet using satellite views and Web data.
iTalk: Record audio.
Fring: Instant messaging and calls over Skype using Wifi.
Fonts: See which fonts are installed on your iPhone and how they look. Useful for iPhone Web site developers.
Free Translator: Translate text from one language to another.
Wikipanion: Look up items on Wikipedia.
Facebook: Check FaceBook and make status updates.
