Alex Heath - page 85

Elgato has announced Game Capture HD, a USB device that will record gameplay from a Microsoft Xbox 360 or Sony PlayStation 3 and send it to a Mac or PC. The little dongle requires no power supply, and it uses HDMI to record HD footage from a Xbox 360 and AV to record from a PlayStation 3. Elgato uses H.264 video compression to capture 480i, 576p, 720p or 1080i video. Theoretically, Game Capture HD will also work to capture most signals from other HDMI/component-enabled devices.

When capturing gameplay footage with the new device, you can still keep playing on a regular TV via HDMI. The desktop software allows you to edit and timeshift footage before saving it or sharing the video on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

A host of Hollywood celebrities payed special tribute to late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs tonight at the 2012 Webby Awards. The special segment of Monday night’s show was introduced by the actors from Apple’s famous ‘Mac vs. PC’ TV ads, Justin Long and John Hodgman. Richard Dreyfuss, the actor who narrated the original Apple ‘Think Different’ ad, also took the stage to honor Jobs’ legacy.

Celebrities like Bill Clinton, George Lucas, Adrianna Huffington, Bono, Al Gore, Jimmy Fallon, Steve Colbert and John Stewart payed tribute to Jobs in a short video clip. The mashup ended with President Barack Obama saying, “We only need one word to describe Steve Jobs: amazing.”

Popular music streaming service Spotify is now available in Australia and New Zealand, making the platform available in a grand total of 15 countries. Spotify lets its users stream 16 million tracks via its desktop and mobile apps, and the service is updated every week with new albums and releases.

The iOS 5 Notification Center displays incoming messages in a couple of ways. When you have an iOS device unlocked, a new message can be shown via a small banner notification at the top of the screen. A regular alert can be displayed for certain apps, and incoming notifications are also pushed to the iOS lock screen when a device is locked. The system works well, but Apple restricts the amount of text you can see in a given notification. If you want to read an entire message that’s more than a sentence or two, you have to open the associated app.

The jailbreak community has improved the way Notification Center handles longer messages. A new Cydia tweak called Reveal lets you view long chunks of text from a banner or lock screen notification.

Facebook has launched its official iPhone app for managing Pages. After a slow rollout throughout other parts of the world, Facebook Pages Manager for iPhone is free and available now in the U.S. App Store. If you manage Pages on Facebook, this app will let you check statistics, post, comment, and more on the go.

Panic, the company behind popular Mac app Coda, has announced the second major version of its prized web development tool. Coda 2 for Mac will launch on May 24th alongside a new app for the iPad called Diet Coda. Version 2.0 of Coda is “better at everything,” according to Panic, and Diet Coda will allow you to preview your code live on the iPad as you write on the Mac. The iPad app will also let you make quick edits to your code on the go.

The rumor mill has been saying for many months that Apple is planning a 4-inch iPhone for release later this year. Two major publications, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, recently hopped on the bandwagon to “confirm” the rumor. All signs are pointing to a larger iPhone, but what does that mean for iOS developers?

People have hypothesized all kinds of ways Apple could make an iPhone with a larger screen and still make it easy for developers to update their apps. The general consensus seems to be that Apple could change the aspect ratio for a taller display, but now the people that actually make apps have weighed in on the topic. While it’s unclear exactly how a new screen size would be implemented, developers feel confident that Apple won’t “pull an Android” and create a fragmented mess.

In my neverending quest to find the perfect iPad case, I’ve been giving the DODOcase a spin with my new iPad for the last several weeks. I’ve used Incase’s book jacket for the longest time on my iPad 2, and I wanted to change things up when I got the third-gen iPad.

Based in a bookbindery and wood shop in sunny San Francisco, DODOcase has been an award-winning brand for iPad cases since 2010. Built with pinpoint precision for the newest iPad, the DODOcase lineup blends nostalgia and the cutting edge into a charming combination.

Big news from the jailbreak community can tend to come out on the weekends, and this weekend is no exception. Earlier today Chronic Dev Team hacker pod2g confirmed that the upcoming untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 is only a “matter of days” away from dropping. We’ve been telling you that the jailbreak is coming for months, but it looks like things are finally coming together for a public release.

Coincidentally, a hacking convention called “Hack in the Box” will be taking place this week, and the Chronic Dev Team will be there in full force. We’re hearing that the new jailbreak tool will likely be announced at the conference. The name of the new jailbreak will be “Absinthe 2.0,” following the previous version of Absinthe that jailbroke the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 for the first time.

There are currently two movies about Steve Jobs in the works. The one we’re most excited for is based off Walter Isaacson’s official biography and is being made by Sony in conjunction with Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. An indie film dubbed jOBS and starring Ashton Kutcher as Jobs is also underway. More information about the second film has been released.

We’ve already seen pictures of Kutcher in the infamous black turtleneck, and now the people behind the film have confirmed that parts of jOBS will be shot in the garage where Apple was started.

Ok, I’ll admit it: I still haven’t kicked my RSS addiction. As hard as I try to just use sources like Twitter and Flipboard to get my news, there’s something about having every article from every site I follow in one place. And in my line of work, it’s very important to stay on top of the news cycle.

For the longest time I’ve used Reeder to scan RSS feeds on all of my devices. The iPhone, iPad and Mac apps are about as good as it gets for RSS, but I’ve been longing for some competitive apps to come on the scene. On the Mac, a RSS client called Caffeinated may have way it takes to dethrone the reigning champion, Reeder.

TUAW reported earlier on Thursday that Apple was planning to start rejecting apps from the Mac App Store that used universal hotkeys to trigger functions and access features. The ban was supposedly set to go into effect on June 1st alongside Apple’s app sandboxing deadline. A new report from Macworld debunks TUAW’s claim by saying that Apple is not planning to start rejecting apps like Alfred that rely on universal keyboard shortcuts.

Reiterating previous claims that Apple is set to unveil a larger 4-inch iPhone later this year, Bloomberg now reports that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs “closely” oversaw the new design of the sixth-generation iPhone.

The device will supposedly be a departure from the design Apple introduced with the iPhone 4 in 2010, and the current 3.5-inch screen will be replaced with a larger display.

Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin recently signed on to pen Sony’s Steve Jobs biopic. The film will be based on Walter Isaacson’s official Jobs biography, but most of the details, including plot and casting, have yet to be announced.

In a recent interview Sorkin talked about the kind of film he wanted to make, saying that it “can’t be a straight biography.” Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has also been hired as an advisor for the film.

Interesting factoids and stories about late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs have been constantly surfacing since his death in October of last year. Biographer Walter Isaacson revealed that Jobs had “finally cracked” a standalone Apple TV set, and many “lost” interviews and anecdotes with Jobs have made headlines over the last several months.

One of Jobs’ more interesting closet skeletons is the fact that he dreamed of designing an iCar before he died.

The internet was sent into an uproar yesterday after Verizon CFO Fran Shammo revealed that the carrier would be effectively killing off grandfathered unlimited data plans as subscribers are transitioned to 4G LTE plans. The change will come alongside the introduced of shared data plans for families and businesses this summer.  Once the new policy is in effect, you’ll lose grandfathered unlimited data on Verizon when upgrading to LTE or a new device.

In an attempt to calm its disgruntled customers, Verizon has issued another statement today that details more closely how unlimited data will die a slow death.

Following heavy complaints from activist group Greenpeace, Apple announced today that all of its data centers will be powered by 100% renewable energy. Apple has also received approval to build its 20-megawatt solar farm next to its other data center in Maiden, North Carolina.

60% of the energy powering Apple’s data centers will be created onsite, while the remaining 40% will be generated through negotiations with local energy providers, like Duke Energy.

We picked up a story this morning saying that Apple was censoring the word “jailbreak” in the iTunes Store. While the news just started making the rounds this morning, Apple has actually been censoring “jailbreak” with asterisks for many months. We noticed the activity first when a recent episode of the CultCast called “The Jailbreak Breakdown” showed up as “The J*******k  Breakdown.”

It looks like Apple pays attention to the blogosphere, because the word “jailbreak” is already starting to be uncensored in the iTunes Store.

As OS X continues to become more of a consumer-oriented platform and less of a power user-friendly environment, Apple is reportedly set to begin enforcing new guidelines in the Mac App Store that will ban apps that use “hotkey” functionality.

Apps like Alfred are able to give the user a universal system hotkey that can be used to access the app anywhere in OS X. Starting on June 1st, Apple will be prohibiting these kinds of system-wide features from making their way into the Mac App Store.

We here at Cult of Mac love Apple rumors as much as the next guy, but sometimes it’s helpful to be reminded of the power rumors can wield. Samsung’s market value fell 6% on Wednesday to the tune of a $10 billion nosedive. Why? One silly Apple supply rumor.

Sprint took a huge hit when it brought on the iPhone. While Apple’s smartphone has undoubtedly been a godsend for the smaller carrier, Sprint signed on to pay over $15 billion in iPhone subsidies over the next four years. Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse even took a $3.25 million pay cut to appease shareholders after his company agreed to the pricey iPhone deal with Apple. You’d think that Hesse would be a little peeved.

He’s not. On the contrary, Hesse reiterated today that he believes Sprint’s iPhone customers will become its most profitable subscribers. The only catch is that Sprint won’t make money on the iPhone until at least 2015.

Apple today issued an update to its third OS X Mountain Lion developer preview. The update (Build 12A206j) can be downloaded now by registered Mac developers.

The second update to the latest Mountain Lion developer preview doesn’t seem to contain anything substantial, but Apple is obviously gearing up for the public release of its next-gen desktop OS this summer.

Bad news for grandfathered unlimited data subscriber on Verizon: the nation’s largest carrier will kill unlimited data once and for all when subscribers switch over to 4G LTE data plans.

Starting in mid-summer, when you buy a LTE handset and switch over to 4G data, Verizon will make you buy one of its new data share plans. Switching plans will end your grandfathered unlimited plan.

Apple’s upcoming lineup of MacBook Pros are expected to feature a slimmer design, Intel Ivy Bridge architecture and jaw-dropping ‘Retina’ displays. Like the last two iPhones and newest iPad, Apple’s new MacBook Pro and iMac models are supposed to flaunt a screen like you’ve never seen on a computer before. And if iOS device marketing is any indication, such a display will likely be the flagship feature in new Macs. Apple is expected to unveil the new MacBook Pros at WWDC next month, according to multiple reports.

If the next MacBook Pro and iMac really do come outfitted with gorgeous Retina displays, then the new screens will cost Apple more to make.

Back in March a man sued Apple for conveying a “misleading and deceptive message” about Siri, the flagship feature of the iPhone 4S. He said that Apple’s marketing made Siri seem more magical then it actually was, and he wanted Apple to pay unspecified damages. A string of similar lawsuits also occurred, with someone claiming they couldn’t replicate the ‘Rock God’ Siri commercial in real life and another complaining about Siri not properly giving directions.

Apple has responded to the plaintiffs with a simple message: Siri is still in beta, and if you don’t like your iPhone you can always return it.