Showing posts with label mac. Show all posts

LimeWire lets users share and search for all types of computer files, including movies, pictures, games, and text documents. Other features include dynamic querying, push-proxy support for connecting through firewalls, the ability to preview files while downloading, advanced techniques for locating rare files, and an extremely intuitive user interface.

Introducing Windows Media Player 9 for Mac OS X. Sporting a new brushed steel skin for Apple's newest operating system, this new version of our player opens the world of Windows Media 9 content to Macintosh users, enabling them to access the best audio and video on the Web. New plug-in support added for Internet Explorer, Netscape and Safari enables playback of Windows Media files right from the browser.

Dassault Systèmes, a French iPhone developer and world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, has announced 3DVIA Mobile, its first iPhone and iPod touch application. 3DVIA Mobile allows users to employ a Collage feature and combine 3D models with pictures taken within the application (iPhone only) and create new works of art by spinning, panning, zooming and inspecting 3D models in real time.

Sidenote tries to catch the "Stickies" spirit but in the form of a multi-document drawer that will hide in the corner of your screen (left or right).

You can use it to take all your daily notes, include images and easily modify text color and font.

Sidenote will automatically expand so that you will be able to drag into it any picture, text clipping or pdf file from the finder or your favorite application.

Sporting notes auto-saving, you'll never have to save your notes. Sidenote will handle that for you. Sidenote also allows you to print your notes or to export them to rtf.

Apple Inc. recently showed off their new family of MacBook Pro laptops, boasting longer battery lives and faster processors with lower prices.

Macbooks are now available in 13, 15 and 17 inch sizes. The baby of the family, 13-inch sells for $1199, the 15-inch for $1699, and the 17-inch for $2499.

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The SIRIUS XMiPhone application has been downloaded by more than 1 million users since its release on June 18th. The title quickly became the top free app in the music category during its brief two-week stint on the App Store. The free app delivers sports, comedy, commercial-free music, and talk radio channels to an iPhone or iPodtouch.

SIRIUS XM requires a Premium Online subscription, enabling access to exclusive radio channels from SIRIUS XM's satellite radio service such as Oprah Radio, MLB Home Plate, Martha Stewart Living Radio, and Blue Collar Comedy Radio, among others. Streaming content also includes Internet-only channels such as Bootlegs, Talk Showcase, Music Showcase and Comedy Showcase.

The SIRIUS XM application requires at least a $13 subscription to the Sirius or XM services, while existing satellite-only customers can add the streaming option for $3 per month.

Recently a battery completely failed in a two-year old black 2.16GHz MacBook that was covered under AppleCare. It worked fine one day, went completely dead the next. It wouldn’t charge and no LEDs would light up. When I brought it into the genius bar at my local Apple Store I learned something interesting about the way Apple treats batteries covered under warranty.

The first thing that the tech did was run a diagnostic application on the battery from a bootable iPod nano (pictured). The application graphed the gradual decay of the battery over time and the little black dot could fall into one of two buckets: defective or consumed (not the exact terms, but you get the idea). Luckily, the little black dot on my battery fell into the defective area and was replaced.

Since batteries are consumable parts (like tires on a car) Apple doesn’t cover them indefinitely — even if the machine is covered under its AppleCare Protection Plan (APP). Batteries that areconsumed are considered past their normal lifespan and will not be replaced under warranty.

One of the telling things about this particular visit to the Apple Store was something the tech told me. He said that he would replace the battery with a new one because it has be “used correctly.” When I asked him to elaborate on what that meant, he told me that Apple’s notebook batteries last longest when they’re routinely charged and discharged.

My defective battery had 200+ discharge cycles on it which means that it had be charged and discharged that many times — in Apple’s eyes more is better. He wouldn’t give me a specific cutoff point but he said that when a customers comes in with sub-70 charge cycles over 2+ years they know that it’s probably been plugged into AC power most of the time — which is not how the battery is designed to work and can lead to premature failure.

He went on to say that the chemistry inside a rechargeable battery works best when it’s used — translation: charged and discharged — and that if it’s always plugged into AC power (and fully topped off) most of the battery isn’t being used and will gradually decay. The genius helping me claimed to have 700+ charge cycles on his three-year-old battery and said that it still gets three plus hours of run time as as result.

I guess the lesson here is to unplug your MacBook and let the battery run down before recharging it.

Quick poll: Post the age and number of charge cycles on your MacBook battery in the TalkBack. (You can check the number of charge cycles in System Profiler > Power > Battery > Health Information > Cycle Count.)

Call of Duty Deluxe Edition combines the original Call of Duty with its expansion pack, called United Offensive. Call of Duty is an award-winning first-person shooter that puts you in the front lines during World War II, in the European theater of operations.

Call of Duty lets you play through 24 single-player missions in four interconnected campaigns: playing through D-Day, the Russian charge at Stalingrad and the Battle for Berlin. You can also play online against other players, taking the sides of either the Axis or Allies. United Offensive adds 13 new single-player missions, 11 new multiplayer maps and three new modes.

When it was originally released for the Mac, Call of Duty was available only for PowerPC-based Macs, and it was only available for purchase on disc. This download release marks the first time the game has been developed to run natively on Intel-based Macs. Aspyr said it’s working on a Universal binary patch for the retail version of Call of Duty Deluxe as well.

Call of Duty Deluxe Edition is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.4.11 or Mac OS X 10.5.7, G5 or Intel 1.6GHz or faster, 256MB RAM, 2.5GB hard disk space, ATI Radeon 9800 or Nvidia GeForce 5200 or better 3D graphics (Intel integrated video chipsets not supported).

SQLabs has announced the availability of SQLiteManager 3.0, an application used to manage memory databases, AES-128 encrypted databases, and REAL Server databases utilizing sqlite 2 and sqlite 3. Version 3.0 includes a bug reporting tool that automatically opens when a crash bug occurs as well as a database recovery feature that replicates the previous database in a new file if there is a serious database issue. The update lso expands the application's print options, utilizing new print engine that enables users to customize and preview all files that are being printed.

SQLiteManager allows users to insert, delete and update records which can then be viewed by generating reports and can be exported in almost every kind of format. The chart panel enables reports to be viewed in a variety of forms including bar graphs, pie graphs, Venn graphs, radar, and QR code. The application has a built-in scripting language based on RBScript that enables users to write their own plug-ins.

SQLiteManager 3.0 requires Mac OS X 10.4 and is immediately available. The application can be purchased from the SQLabs online store for $50.

The iPhone 3.0 update has lots of goodies for end-users. But the update's real treasure trove may be the thousand or so programming tools Apple has added for app makers. With these programming enhancements, developers can add new features and built-in capabilities to their apps, further swelling the ranks of useful App Store offerings. Just a few days after iPhone 3.0's official release, we're already starting to see the arrival of apps that take advantage of these newfound tools. Here's a sampling of some of the iPhone 3.0-enhanced apps that have caught our eye.

An Australian University is warning its faculty and students about some potential adverse health effects of using Apple's notebook and other products with high gloss screens, saying prolonged use could lead to injury if precautionary measures aren't adopted.

The advisory, published a few months ago by Brisbane, Australia-based Queensland University of Technology on its Health and Safety website, specifically addresses Mac users with Apple 'glass' or high gloss monitor screens and urges them to assess the manner in which those products are positioned and used.

"Reflections and glare on high gloss monitor screens and their relation to the angle of the monitor screen, could cause the operator to adopt awkward postures when viewing the monitor screen and using related equipment," the advisory says. "These reflections on the screen can be from internal and external sources such as the overhead lighting and/or position of windows."

Queensland recommends that users of such products conduct an assessment of the area in which those products are to be used to ensure the sources of reflections and glare are eliminated or minimised to reduce the potential for injury. It advises users to close their blinds or window shades and place the glossy displays at a 90 degree angle to any overhead lighting to minimise glare and reflection.

Apple said Friday that more than 11 million copies of its new Safari 4 web browser have been downloaded in the first three days of its release, including more than six million downloads by users of Microsoft's Windows operating systems.

A new and extensive screenshot gallery taken from the near feature-complete build of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard distributed at this week's Apple developers conference shows off a more polished operating system nearing its final stretch of development.

1. It's faster

Apple launched the iPhone 3G S by announcing it has a faster processor, more memory and "snappier performance". Although the iPhone 3G is no slouch, it can be a little sluggish when opening and closing applications. If Apple's demo videos are anything to go by, the iPhone 3G S will be a much zippier smartphone.

2. It has more memory

Apple will sell two models of the iPhone 3G S: 16GB and 32GB. There original iPhone came with 4GB, 8GB or 16GB of storage.

3. Video recording

Wow! A smartphone in 2009 that can record video? No way! Apple critics will point to the fact that the iPhone 3G can't record video as an example of a phone that lacks some basic features, but for potential iPhone owners the addition of video recording is a real plus.

4. Improved camera

The iPhone 3G S has a 3-megapixel camera with autofocus, compared with the iPhone 3G's 2-megapixel, non-autofocus camera. It still lacks a flash, but the increased megapixel count should slightly improve photos and tapping an area on the screen to focus on is a cool feature that should make mobile photography easier.

5. You can talk to it

The iPhone 3G S introduces what Apple calls Voice Control, a voice recognition feature that allows you to make a call and play music by speaking. Voice Control can find any entry in your contacts list, and users simply have to say a name or phone number to make a call. For music, you can ask what song is playing and hear the iPhone 3G S answer, tell it to play your favourite album, or play similar tracks to the current one.

6. It has a built-in compass

A built-in digital compass is another new feature of the iPhone 3G S. We aren't sure exactly how often anyone would use this as a standalone app, but when combined with Google Maps, the compass will rotate maps to always match the direction you're facing. Now that is pretty cool.

7. Internet tethering

The iPhone 3G S can now be used as a modem, connecting to a Mac or PC via USB or Bluetooth. Although AT&T in the US won't be supporting this feature, Optus is one Australian telco that has confirmed it will be. Telstra and Vodafone are yet to announce whether they will offer tethering capability.

8. Accessibility features

Apple has included a number of features that help people with disabilities use the iPhone 3G S. These include Apple's VoiceOver function, which reads aloud what is on the screen, a zoom function that magnifies up to five times, and a white on black display option that provides increased contrast.

9. Nike+ iPod integration

Previously only available for selected iPod nano models, Apple's Nike + iPod is a fitness system that involves a Nike shoe communicating wirelessly with an iPod. The iPhone 3G S will be compatible with the system, which displays real time walking or running statistics.

10. New headphones

The iPhone 3G S will include Apple's remote headphones in the sales package. The new headphones have a multi-button remote and volume control keys, as well as a microphone to handle voice calls.

For the latest on the iPhone 3G S check out our iPhone Centre.