Lonnie Lazar - page 31

Interested in trying out a cool media center for use with your Apple TV? Cult of Mac readers are invited to receive expedited applications for testing the alpha release of Boxee, a music, video and picture management solution to let your Apple TV play practically any DRM-free multimedia file. Follow this link to receive your alpha testing invitation.

Boxee for (Intel based) Mac works on OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard). Boxee for Linux is supported on Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) or 8.04 (Hardy Heron) x86 (not x86_64) operating systems. The Boxee patch works with the 2.2 update to Apple TV, but remember to install the update before you install the Boxee patch.

Detailed instructions for installing the Boxee patch after the jump.

Bathtub III from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

There is no end to the creative wonders made possible with Apple gear, it seems. Combining a variety of techniques including tilt-shift and time-lapse photography, Sydney-based photographer Keith Loutit uses his iMac to produce short films like those presented here, which turn ordinary places into scenes worth a second look.

Loutit also employs Apple software in his workflow, using Automator for file management and preparation; QuickTime pro for assembling stills onto video format; Aperture for archiving of frames as higher quality stills; and Final Cut Studio – mostly final cut pro, for color, compressor and motion for editing, toning and export.

Beached from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Asked how he gets the stunning effects, Loutit is unwilling to give away the store, but allows that “I use two lenses, one Medium format, both converted to tilt further than most manufacturer lenses will tilt on a 35mm body.”

Image by lodev via Flickr

Maybe it’s a perk of being consistently named among the most influential people of one’s era.

Perhaps it’s bravado borne of having put a ding in the universe.

Whatever it is, Steve Jobs seems to think nothing of driving a car without license plates and parking in handicapped parking spaces, as the picture above, captured on September 30th by Flickr user lodev shows.

The pic is but the latest in an ongoing parade of evidence Jobs is prone to park wherever he pleases.

It almost begs us to start a Spot-Jobs-in-the Blue-Zone contest, doesn’t it?

A citizen journalist posting to CNN’s iReport website early today had Steve Jobs being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance after suffering a heart attack.

Katie Cotton, Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Communications quickly shot the rumor down as false, though not before Twitter exploded with tweets on the story and Apple’s stock tanked, before bouncing back.

In early morning trading in New York, AAPL opened strong, up $6 from Thursday’s close at $100. In no time, however, when the rumor hit the wires, the stock was trading at $98. The stock quickly recovered, bouncing back to hit $106 again in early afternoon trading, before sliding back into the close near $97.

Undoubtedly, recent analyst revisions to the broader economic outlook as well as to Apple’s particular prospects, more than concerns about Job’s health, would seem to account for the recent poor performance of the company’s shares. Apple, Inc. stock has dropped from $180 to $97 in just six weeks.

Apple published the 2.2 update for Apple TV users last night and the biggest news may be that users will now be able to turn the device off from within the control panel.

A major complaint about Apple TV has been that the thing runs extremely hot, in addition to the fact that even when not in use, it sits there burning kilowatts of energy, very much at odds with the company’s aspirations to environmental friendliness.

Now, finally, users may put the device into “Standby” mode by pressing the “Play/Pause” button for about 3 seconds from the Main menu. There is also a “Standby” option accessible from an interior menu that I can’t mention here because WordPress doesn’t like the word. But it rhymes with vettings.

As expected, US Apple TV users can now buy HD TV shows directly from iTunes. The latest update also lets users make music video playlists from their favorite songs and Genius can be used with Apple TV, as long as users activate Genius in iTunes and sync with their device.

See all the update features here.

Thanks to an iPhone app called Stereoscope, iPhone users will be able watch a giant interactive art show played across the façade of Toronto’s City Hall buildings this week.

A free download, Stereoscope is an amazingly fluid 3D rendering of the Toronto City Hall’s two curved, opposing façades. With your fingers, you can zoom in and out and move around the giant buildings, Matrix-style, on your iPhone’s screen.

And starting October 4th, the Stereoscope app will replay a live light show playing across the surfaces of each building, generated using lights in the buildins’ 960 windows. The Stereoscope app will stream the light show live, replaying it on the rendering of the buildings.

“Reaction to the iPhone application has been overwhelmingly good as many people were surprised what 3D on the iPhone could be like,” said project director Tim Pritlove.

The light show is part of an all-night art event called Nuit Blanche that will turn the landmark buildings into a giant computer screen.

Created by Project Blinkenlights, the unique art show will feature animations and interactive games.

The full story after the jump.

The Apple blogosphere is rife with renewed chatter sparked by Adobe’s Senior Director of Engineering, Paul Betlem at the recent Flash On The Beach conference in Brighton: “My team is working on Flash on the iPhone, but it’s a closed platform. If Apple says yes, Adobe will have the player available in a very short time.”

So, let’s see, getting Adobe’s closed platform to play on Apple’s closed system, that sounds like a fun game, right? Building a plug-in for a browser that doesn’t support plug-ins, what more productive endeavor could a team desire?

Of course, the Internet itself is riddled with Flash and Apple has positioned the iPhone as the must have mobile device for browsing the Internet, so there is that conflict to resolve somehow, plus, allowing people access to the gazillion online Flash games could hurt game sales in the AppStore, but Apple doesn’t see the AppStore as a significant profit center anyway (coughs), and oh yes, there’s the battery issue to resolve since Flash is such a processor hog.

Of the pieces I’ve read, I think Aviv at MacBlogz gets it mostly right, saying if Flash does come to the iPhone, Safari better get a “Flash-Off” setting.

I kinda like not seeing Flash ads on my iPhone, personally.

Photo courtesy wwww.stallman.org

Web-based applications like Google’s Gmail and Apple’s MobileMe will force people to buy into locked, proprietary systems that will cost more and more over time and ultimately put user’s data at risk, according to Richard Stallman, founder of The Free Software Foundation and creator of the open source operating system GNU. He calls cloud computing “worse than stupidity” in an interview with The Guardian. Follow after the jump to learn why cloud computing is not such a good idea and why Apple users should already know this.

Adobe appears to be pricing its soon-to-be-released CS4 suite of design tools much higher for users in the UK than for its US customers, according to a report at ITHound. For the extra £1000 the full Creative Suite 4 Master Collection is set to cost Mac users in the UK, a clever designer could fly from London to New York, buy the software in the US, and fly home, while still saving around £400.

Flickr user Sandy’s Shots! claims this photo came from an Apple employee. The black border on the screen replicates the image rumored to have been spotted earlier this month in Germany, and there appears to be some speculation about a glass trackpad and the dock that seems to be reflected – embedded? – therein.

Let us know what you think in comments below.

The lull between Apple product announcements is always a fertile time for the imaginations of Apple users and, over the years has produced many compelling, sometimes laughable ideas for products the company should, or might make. Occasionally, users end up hitting quite close to the mark of what eventually makes it to the marketplace, as shown by a few of the items in this mock-up retrospective.

Images in the gallery are taken from a much larger presentation of past Apple mock-ups at Andrew Wise’s blog. Click through the thumbs for larger images.

Nitrozac is an artist and co-founder of GeekCulture, a high-tech humor web site, thriving online community and, according to the artist, purveyor of fine propeller beanies. She says she’s always wanted to take contemporary technology subjects and render them in old style media, and has been offering her acrylic and oil paintings on canvas by auction since December 2007. “I love working with digital images on my Mac, but there is something extremely satisfying about creating with paint and a canvas,” she adds, and describes her paintings as “based on my work at the The Joy of Tech. The subject matter will usually be geeky and techy; the people, places, and things that make up geek culture.”

Her latest work is titled, “The Introduction,” a painting of Steve Jobs unveiling the MacBook Air at Macworld 2008, shown above. Click through in the gallery below to see some of her past work.

The first unlocked iPhones may be selling through Apple’s online Store in Hong Kong, according to a report this morning in at a Singapore-based blog. Techgoondu is reporting online shoppers at the Apple web site in Hong Kong are beingn told “”iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.”

The 8GB is HK$5,400 ($695) and the 16GB is HK$6,200 ($798). Ouch. Shipping is free, and they are supposed to ship “within 24 hours”. Apple’s warranty for the iPhone 3G is local only – “Warranty service is restricted to the country where Apple or its authorized distributors originally sold the iPhone.”

Honk Kong-based carrier Three enjoyed a brief two and a half month exclusivity deal with Apple and recently sweetened its iPhone rate plane to include “free unlimited wifi.”

People who claim to have seen production-ready versions of next-gen MacBooks and MacBook Pros in the US say new Apple notebooks will look more alike than ever before, according to a report in AppleInsider. While clear that its information should be viewed as rumor, the report cites sources with “a lengthy track record” and who have “been privy to early glimpses of some of [Apple’s] other hardware offerings.”

Both the new 13-inch MacBooks and 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros will share aluminum enclosures, with the new 13-inch MacBooks for the first time matching their higher-priced cousins as if they were members of the same product family, according to the report.

The sources say Apple has made changes to the notebooks’ I/O ports in an effort to reduce their overall footprint. In particular, the FireWire 400 port appears to have been removed from the new MacBook Pro, leaving a backwards compatible FireWire 800 port. In addition, the new MacBook Pro is reported to be missing the 28-pin DVI-I (Dual Link) port, which has been replaced with what appears to be a mini-DVI port like the one found on the existing 13-inch MacBook line and iMac line.

If true, these emerging details would indicate Cult of Mac’s Craig Grannell was not so wide of the mark in his recent piece on Apple’s notebook roadmap.

Expectations for a mid-October product announcement remain high.

iPod accessory retailer EasyiShop sells a range of products made by OhMiBod designed to let iPod users “feel the music” in ways they might not have previously imagined.

Designed with an audio-enabled integrated microchip that allows the OhMiBod iPod massager to vibrate to the beat and rhythm of the music the user is listening to, this new generation of vibrator is said to combine listening to and feeling music to create an “unbeatable sexual experience,” according to the manufacturer.

OhMiBod’s five different iPod/iPhone vibrators combine a 3′ “freedom cord” with an integrated splitter that connects the vibrator and headphones to any iPod, iPhone, laptop, microphone, electric guitar virtually any electronic audio output source with a 3.5mm jack — to let the massager vibrate to the beat and rhythm of the music the user is listening to.

The company also maintains an online network called Club Vibe that allows users to share their favorite playlists via the iMix section of the iTunes music store.

Apple reaffirmed its intent to control what programs may legitimately run on its iPhone this week when the company revoked ad hoc distribution authority from a developer whose application it previously barred from distribution through the iTunes AppStore.

Last week, when Podcaster received official notice from Apple that the AppStore would not be carrying its application because the company had determined it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes, the developer decided to use Apple’s ad hoc distribution method to get the program into the hands of users who were willing to make a $10 ‘donation’ for the privilege of becoming beta-testers.

Tuesday, Apple revoked Almerica’s access to creating ad hoc licenses for the podcast downloading tool, prompting howls of protest from developers and consumers, many of whom have been skeptical of Apple’s intentions and critical of its business practices involving the AppStore from the very beginning.

Follow me after the jump to learn more about what’s behind the dispute and why Apple could be standing on shaky legal ground.

Adobe announced its “biggest ever” product release on Tuesday. The Creative Suite 4 product family, a new series of media applications scheduled to ship in October, features tightly integrated workflow solutions designed to advance the creative process across print, Web, mobile, interactive, film and video production.

The entire product line includes Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design editions, Creative Suite 4 Web editions, Creative Suite 4 Production Premium and the Creative Suite 4 Master Collection.

Photoshop, the most widely used Adobe product, will take advantage of new graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware in the CS4 edition ($699) to deliver a smoother pan and zoom experience, allowing users to easily edit images at even the highest magnifications. For an additional $300, Photoshop CS4 Extended give users the ability to manipulate 3D imagery, such as painting directly on 3D models and surfaces, merging 2-D files onto 3D images, and animating 3D objects.

InDesign, Adobe’s page layout program, also comes in for some interesting upgrades, including a feature that highlights potential production problems in real-time from within the layout and directs users to the problem area to resolve the issue. Other new features make it easier to create and manage long documents such as manuals and textbooks, including a Conditional Text feature that lets users quickly produce multiple versions of a document for different uses such as multi-lingual documents or Teacher/Student materials.

Below we reproduce Adobe’s comparison chart to help give you an idea of the range of options available in the new applications and their bundles, but be sure to visit the Adobe website for detailed information and several arresting demos of the kinds of work supported by these products.

Rumors around the changes in store for Apple’s laptop line started way back in July. One of the more persistent has expectations set to ‘high’ for a MacBook with a glass, multi-touch, gesture-oriented trackpad.

We found the mockup pictured above posted by Photobucket user skylersaleh; what do you think?

Apple fans are speculating madly about a new product code-named ‘brick’ that could be anything from a fat Mac Mini to an entirely new product category.

The word ‘brick’ has Apple fans speculating particularly fervently. It goes against the company’s traditional code-naming practices, and evokes images of a very un-Apple object, although the Apple mouse is kind of a brick and the iPhone is, too. Websites and forums are lit up with speculation– not that Apple fans need anything in particular to get the speculative juices flowing. It’s become almost de rigueur… as soon as a product is officially out, the rumor mill starts up about the next one, like clockwork, every quarter. Indeed, it’s part of Apple’s business model by now.

The ‘brick’ rumour started circulating when the Apple-oriented website 9to5 Mac spoke to an Asia-based tipster, who said next month’s ‘Big Event’ will be “all about ‘the brick.'” 9-to-5 says the tipster is “reliable” — as the source had previously made the early call on this month’s ‘rainbow colored’ Nano, though the initial interpretation among Apple fans led to expectations for a single ‘rainbow colored’ device rather than the device eventually delivered in a ‘rainbow of colors.’

On MacRumors forums, readers are speculating Apple might be taking a page from Gateway’s playbook and will bring us a standalone input hub like the one pictured above

ComputerWorld writer Seth Weintraub posits the brick is a wireless USB hub similar to one already on offer by Belkin:

iPhoneSavior thinks it’s possibly a redesigned Mac Mini:

The Mac scientists at MacEnstein wonder if we can simply look for a Windows-killer. Hint: How do you break windows? With a brick.

What do you think Apple’s ‘brick’ might be?

An Alpha version of the long-awaited BitTorrent client for Mac has been leaked, according to a post at Pirate Bay. The application is still in development, but as expected, looks very Mac-like, and reportedly runs better than its Windows counterpart.

BitTorrent’s VP of Product Management, Simon Morris, said in response to the leak, “An internal development build of uTorrent for Mac has been leaked publicly. It [is] an “alpha” quality build. We did not intentionally release this build and would strongly recommend folks not to use it as it isn’t yet complete or stable enough to be released to the public.”

Early user reports say the application is largely functional, though search appears to be broken. The good news for P2P lovers is that BitTorrent seems serious about releasing uTorrent for Mac in the near future.

Via TorrentFreak

A number of users are reporting iPhone 2.1 firmware appears to disable automatic email retrieval under certain circumstances, according to active Apple support forums. Specifically related to the 2.1 update loaded onto various models of the phone, users report the phone will not automatically check for mail, whether set to fetch new items on a schedule or to push mail in real time, and will only download new mail when asked to do so manually.

It is uncertain at this time how widespread the problem may be, though at least one forum participant reports having “just received a telephone call from [an iPhone] product specialist, and he confirms that 6 other iPhones in their building are exhibiting the exact same problem,” adding, “This is a global problem. This in their eyes is a ‘major’ issue and is getting escalated as we speak.”

Is your iPhone running 2.1 failing to get mail unless you ask it to? Let us know in comments below.

Apple has issued a recall for the ultracompact USB adapter that shipped with iPhone 3Gs sold in North America, Japan and certain countries in Latin America. The rectangular metal prongs that insert into a wall socket have shown enough of a propensity to break off, exposing users to the risk of electric shock, the company was spurred to offer redesigned adapters free of charge.

Web replacement forms went up on the Apple support site Friday; replacement adapters are expected to begin shipping on October 10. You can also exchange adapters at Apple Retail stores beginning October 10, according to the Apple communication.

Replacement adapters will feature the distinctive green dot shown below.

UPDATE: Initial analyst reaction to the recall news indicates this is more of a tempest in a teapot than a black eye for Apple. Shaw Wu of American Technology Research commented that while the threat of electric shock is a “negative” with the potential for “headline risk,” the number of people likely to be affected by the faulty adapters is believed to be minimal. The recall can also be viewed as a customer service coup for the company, which keeps its standards high by “doing the right thing” and offering free replacements.

The humorous side to this development, if there is one, was highlighted by a commenter on the MacRumors forum, who wrote, “I thought the sparks meant it was working.”

Apple has denied AppStore certification to a third party developer’s mail application that the company says “duplicates the functionality” of the iPhone’s built-in Mail app. Angelo DiNardi’s MailWranger app claims to let users check multiple GMail accounts without manually logging in and out and to provide functionality unavailable through the iPhone’s native mail application, including support for threaded views, access to Google contacts, and support for easy mail archiving.

The dispute here recalls last week’s brouhaha over Podcaster’s denial of service based on similar claims the app would “duplicate the functionality” of the podcasting functionality of iTunes. Whether MailWrangler will follow Podcaster creator Alex Sokirynsky and resort to ad hoc distribution is uncertain at this time.

By any analysis, however, Apple’s gatekeeping behavior with the AppStore seems increasingly capricious. If “duplicating the functionality” of native apps is a standard, for example, can someone at Apple explain why there are nearly two dozen tip calculators in the AppStore?

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak became fabulously wealthy using minimal resources beyond their own time and talent, working out of Job’s garage. Today, Jobs and the company he and Wozniak founded are making similar rags-to-riches stories possible with the iTunes AppStore and applications created by third party developers for Apple’s iPhone.

Steve Demeter, developer of a popular $5 iPhone game, Trism, announced he made $250,000 in profit in just two months, according to a story by Gadget Lab blogger Brian Chen. If his profits continue at their current rate, Demeter will earn $3 million by July 2009.

Demeter by no means tried to reinvent the wheel. Trism is basically a version of Bejeweled that uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to good advantage, giving the game what Demeter believes are the fundamental requirements for success at iPhone app development: unique gameplay and high replay value. He also designed support for an online leaderboard that creates community and says applications with great content sell themselves, something the developer of another popular game, Tap Tap Revenge, agrees with.

Bart Decrem was one of only four people who originally worked on Tap Tap Revenge, a free application that hit a milestone of 1,000,000 downloads just two weeks after its launch. Decrem’s company recently began inserting advertisements in the game, and it also has plans to release a premium version that will cost money in addition to the free app. He says iPhone development is “reminiscent of the early days of the web in terms of the amount of green fields and opportunity,” according to Chen. “You really don’t need a huge amount of capital. You need attention to detail and product, and that’s going to keep increasing.”

Image by LuisDS via Flickr

Flickr user LuisDS discovered metadata on the creative copy of the “stereotyped PC user” and other photos appearing on Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” website that reveal they were produced using Macs running Adobe Creative Suite 3.

Microsoft code monkeys scrubbed the identifying information from the website stills overnight.

Via RoughlyDrafted