News - page 1673

I have always believed that if Apple designed a Photoshop competitor, it would be something like Pixelmator: clean, powerful, and intuitive. While Photoshop will set you back hundreds of dollars, Pixelmator can normally be purchased for only $30 in the Mac App Store.

Not only is price a huge factor, but Pixelmator is also updated more aggressively than Photoshop. For example, Pixelmator looks great on the new MacBook Pro’s amazing Retina display, but Adobe still hasn’t Retina-ized most of its Creative Suite.

The folks who make Pixelmator have announced a special holiday discount. For a limited time, the image editor is being sold for 50% off!

For developers, distributing promo codes can be a pain in the neck. Apple gives its third-party devs the ability to share an app with a limited number of users—a feature that is often used to give bloggers like myself early access to software before it comes out. That way we can test and get familiar with a certain app in order to provide helpful feedback and possibly write a review.

A new Mac app called Tokens offers developers a drastically improved method for generating and distributing their app promo codes.

Apple today released its second supplemental update to OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2. Supplemental Update 2.0 addresses a bug in OS X’s Keychain, the database that stores saved passwords and logins.

We received a couple tips yesterday about 2012 Macs being unable to update to 10.8.2 due to a password-related bug. It appears that today’s update resolves that issue.

“This update addresses an issue with Keychain that can affect 2012 Mac systems,” according to Apple. If you bought a new Mac this year, then grab this 27MB update now in the Mac App Store.

Source: Apple

If you’re a Comcast subscriber and have been using the XFINITY TV Player app on Android or iOS, there’s a sweet little update waiting for in your respective app market. Sometimes the only thing getting in the way of enjoying one of your favorite TV shows or movies on your mobile device is a bad connection or no WiFi. Thankfully, Comcast is taking care of this issue by allowing users to download some of their favorite content straight to their device to be viewed at a time when a connection may not be available.

I hate shaving. Like seriously, it is the most annoying personal hygiene chore that a proper gentleman is supposed to undertake everyday. Mostly I hate it because it takes up a lot of time and me and razors don’t really get along.

But maybe you’re different. Maybe you love the smooth texture of a fresh shaven face everyday. If so, you might want to get this iPhone wannabe shaver.

The new, ultra-thin iMacs may not be shipping yet, but they are at using cutting-edge manufacturing and fabricating techniques that are right out of the space program.

Case in point? The way the new iMacs achieve their remarkable thinness is because of something called friction-stir welding, and it’s a process that’s been used in spacecraft fuel tanks and airplane wings.

Your kid probably wants something from Apple for Christmas this year. It’s a fact. No I’m not being an ultimate fanboy who’s saying that just to make Apple look cool or spread Apple’s evangelical message of peace, love and minimalism.

Kids this year want an iPad more than anything. More than an Xbox, Wii U, computer, or even a smartphone.

WavTap is a teeny tiny little audio recorder for recording whatever audio is playing through your Mac.

Situation: You own and iPad and a perfectly good full-sized Bluetooth keyboard.

Problem: You don’t always want to use them together on a desk. After all, the whole point of the iPad is its portability, right?

Solution: a GroovBoard. Literally, a plank of wood with grooves in it.

Whenever I read the name “Wahoo,” I can’t help but think of Mario jumping, punching the air an screaming it in his falsetto tones. Wahoo!

Then I come back down to Earth, take a sip of coffee and a deep breath, and realize that Wahoo is the maker of fitness gadgets, geegaws and dongles. So I guess it does — in some convoluted way — have something to do with jumping.

Today’s Wahoo (Wahoo!) item is the Wahoo Balance Smartphone Scale, a scale for weighing your smartphone (except the Galaxy Note, which will overload it). Just kidding. It’s actually a Bluetooth-enabled scale for humans (although the Note really will overload it).

The Three Laws of Robotics are supposed to save humankind from an evil robotic uprising. It didn’t really work that way for Will Smith in iRobot, and based on Siri’s answer to the question, “What are the three laws?” we’re probably screwed as well because she doesn’t know them either.

If you ask Siri, “what are the three laws” she’ll respond with the following:

1. Clean up your room
2. Don’t run with scissors
3. Always wait a half hour after eating before going in the water.

Sometimes she’ll even give you a fourth law:

Leading game developer Big Fish Games is giving away free codes to the paid version of Fairway Solitaire for iPhone / iPod touch! Get a free code for the full version of the game by going here.

Fairway Solitaire is a fun mix of the classic card game, Solitaire, and golf. While teeing shots, putting balls and clearing courses, a pesky gopher pops up occasionally to laugh at the ineptitude of the card-turning, 8-iron swinging player. The antagonistic gopher, McDivot, is a sworn enemy of all golfers. The game is rated 5/5 stars on iTunes.

Is it more important that your carrier have impeccible cellular service, or that they have the smartphone you want? In T-Mobile’s case, they don’t have great service or great phones, so they’re kinda screwed until they get the iPhone and expand their 4G network.

T-Mobile is the only major carrier left in the U.S. that doesn’t sell the iPhone, and they’re probably not going to be able to sell it anytime soon because the iPhone’s expensive and according to their COO, they can’t afford it.

When you walk into an Apple Store the only thing Apple wants you to think about are Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPods. Surrounded by a minimalist technology paradise, nothing is supposed to distract customers. There are no cash registers, shopping carts, shopping bags, receipts or pretty much anything.

Well actually, there is a spot for the shopping bags, cash drawers, and receipt printers, they’re just all hidden from customers. Underneath tables in the store are little secret spots (like in the picture above) that hold shopping bags for customers along with a printer and cash drawer. Next time you’re in a store, take a gander under the tables to see what kind of stuff Apple is hiding.

Source: Reddit

The Lumawake is an iPhone dock designed for your nightstand. It will of course charge your iPhone overnight whilst holding it in a convenient spot, but that’s just the beginning. To really tell you all that it does, I probably need to start a list…

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been one of the most outspoken proponents of the idea that Apple will release their own television, having predicted it for at least the last years every three or four months Now he’s at it again, promising a sub-$2000 Apple HDTV before the end of 2013. That’s not the weirdest thing he’s predicting though: a retina iPad mini by March, and a third-gen by September 2013.

Finally, a bag which will suit the every need of our esteemed deputy editor John Brownlee. The Brixton is a leather camera bag with a wax finish that will only become more beautiful as it is used, and used it will be, as Mr. Brownlee has an unnatural obsession with natural materials.

Take two gadgets into the shower? A spray-head and a Bluetooth speaker? Not me; I just want to shower, and listen, and go.

Yes, I’m fully aware that I just butchered my parody of the old Wash & Go ads, but it was for a very good cause. You see, the Moxie from Kohler is a shower-head with a built-in Bluetooth speaker. Yup! A shower speaker that is not only waterproof, but water-spurting.

Just over a week ago, Apple and HTC decided to end their patent disputes with a 10-year cross-licensing agreement. The specifics of the agreement were not disclosed, and as with all things that aren’t disclosed, it lead to rampant rumor mongering.

AirPlay is one of Apple’s killer features in iOS or the Mac. As long as you have an AirPlay-compatible speaker or, better yet, an Apple TV in range, you can automatically stream video or audio to another device, all without pairing first.

Now according to a new report, Google wants to not only launch its own bonafide AirPlay competitor, but one-up AirPlay by offering true second screen capabilities to customers using Android devices with their Google TVs.

Move over, Photo Stream. Facebook is horning its way into iOS’s automatic photo syncing turf. The world’s largest social network is starting to roll out a new service to users of the iOS app that will automatically squirt up to 2GB worth of their most recently taken photos to Facebook’s servers.

Disappointed with iOS 6 Maps but sick of waiting Google to finally get its act together and release a native Maps app on the App Store. Good news: another big name in maps, Nokia, have launched their own native maps app for iOS today. Called Nokia HERE, the app leverages Nokia’s decade-long expertise in mapping and brings it to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, while also offering cool new features like Facebook integration, turn-by-turn directions, the ability to save maps for later, transit directions, and more.

There’s another way to get refurbished Apple stuff, and it’s…eBay? Oddly enough, the online auction retail site has a dedicated page for Apple certified Macs, iPods, and iPads, each coming with their own one year warranty just like they do in the onlineApple Store.

All the devices on sale through this eBay page are refurbished to seem like new, and even given new batteries in the case of iOS devices. The original operating system is also installed, and the unit gets a full round of testing, just like it does on the Apple Store.

MacLegion puts together some of the best Mac app bundles around, and this year’s holiday collection is certainly no exception. This may be one of the best bundles we’ve ever seen, in fact. The folks at MacLegion have assembled $540 worth of top-notch Mac software and bundled it together for only $50—that’s more than a 90% discount!

I bought a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display this summer, and I’m absolutely in love with it. I firmly believe that it’s the best laptop Apple has ever made, and it has totally changed my workflow.

One of the main qualities of the Retina MacBook Pro is its portability. It’s crazy thin. I carry this laptop with me everywhere, and I knew when I bought it that I needed something to help keep it protected.

I’ve been using Mujjo’s wool MacBook sleeve nonstop for the past couple months, and I couldn’t be more pleased.