Cult of Mac

If you can imagine an iPad the size of Apple’s largest iMac, with the iOS multi-touch interface plus the power of OS X, then you can imagine the next generation of computing.

You’ll use it tilted at an angle on your desk like a drafting table. Or, you’ll tilt it up for TV or presentations, or flat for using it as a table. Or you’ll use it as a coffee table or a kitchen counter top. The point is: You’ll use it.

Apple has a gazillion patents for their version of this technology. Microsoft has already promised a consumer version of Surface. The third generation of desktop computing (after command line and GUI generations) is coming.

But Google has already announced the operating system for their giant desktop multi-touch PC of the future.

Bungie, the previously Mac-exclusive game developer who defected to the arms of Microsoft to release the best-selling Halo series, is making a new game… and it’s probably coming to iOS.

For years, an unassuming Microsoft Research scientist named Bill Buxton has been collecting gadgets that have informed today’s landscape of technology. Now his collection is on display at the the Computer-Human Interaction conference in Vancouver, and what do you know? A large number of them seem to have directly inspired many of Apple’s most iconic products and innovations. If only they’d done the same for Microsoft.

Amazon is preparing a tablet of their own to compete with the iPad, and no lesser a higher-up than CEO Jeff Bezos has all but confirmed it.

We start the day with a deal for the iPhone and two for the iPad 2. First up is a dock cradle charger for the iPhone 4. The unit a line-out portand charging/syncing for the phone. A USB sync cable is not included. Next is a TPU Case for the iPad 2. Finally, we also check out an anti-glare screen protector for the iPad 2.

Along the way, we also talk about several other gadgets for the Mac crowd and more, details all of which can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” pag right after the jump.

Illustration student Rachel Walsh was assigned a seemingly impossible design task by her professor: explain the concept of the Amazon Kindle to Charles Dickens. Her solution is ingenious, and applies just as well to iBooks, but just imagine if she’d been asked to explain the iPad to Dickens instead.

With the 2011 iMacs, it’s become even harder for users to upgrade their machines without paying Apple their pound of flesh.

Just a couple of days ago, we saw a leaked case for the iPod nano that seemed to confirm that Apple intends on ditching the sports clip and integrating a 1.3 megapixel camera instead. At the time, we wondered just why Apple would do such a thing.

Now it looks like we know: it’s so the Nano can look out into the world and see just where it’s being used, then adapt itself like a chamelon accordingly.

Although they stopped recording together decades ago, the Beatles are being credited with reviving music sales that have been on the skids for a decade.

If you’re so inclined and mad enough to try it, you can install Google’s Android operating system on your original iPhone, iPod Touch or iPhone 3Gwith a minimum of fuss, but later iPhones like the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, as well as the iPad? A much stickier wicket.

A week after its release, a memoir about Navy Seal Team Six is topping sales on iTunes. The elite military personnel are trained to conduct the most top secret operations involving combat, anti-terrorism and dangerous rescues – like the one that led to killing Osama Bin Laden on May 2.

Remember the days when Mac owners chuckled as Windows users swatted swarm after swarm of malware, confident in the old saw about ‘security through obscurity’? Well, one side-effect of Apple’s growing popularity is the Mac is becoming a more visible target for malicious hackers — and they’re already building Trojans aimed at your machine.

The BrudaCase for iPad 2 is a sleek, elegant case made out of wood to protect your iPad while still maintaining a classic look that is truly worthy of holding your favorite tech treasure. With its nod to the past, while still looking to the future, the BrudaCase is one of the most beautifully manufactured iPad cases I’ve come across. Handcrafted in the heart of Amish Country Pennsylvania, the case doesn’t set out to be just another piece of beauty, as it also brings a lot of thoughtful functionality with it.

The case is made from slabs of cherry or maple wood that have been precision trimmed, sanded, and finished by an Amish cabinet-maker. The two pieces are held together by two discrete hinges inside the case. Padding lines the interior cavity to protect your iPad 2 from scratching, while four magnets secure the two sides together to prevent the case from opening accidentally. One of the neat things about the BrudaCase is how they addressed the need for different viewing angles. Two different notches inside the case allow the user to adjust the viewing angle of the iPad based on preference or the need to do some typing. The typing angle didn’t feel that comfortable though as the angle of inclination was a bit greater than that of a SmartCover, and to achieve the typing angle the iPad is recessed a bit too far back in the case for my liking.

Shortly after announcing big changes to its web application, Twitter has pushed out an update to its free application for the Mac. Version 2.1 boasts an improved user interface and new features that make the application a whole lot nicer.

A handful of components said to come from the guts of the next iPhone have hit the web. Or they might just be a piece of junk taken from some tinker’s pockets. If they’re for real, though, consider at least a couple of the juicier rumors about the hardware of the iPhone 5 debunked.

We’ve seen DIY versions of iPad necklaces, now one enterprising former robotics student hopes to bring this wooden version to stores near you soon.

Desmond D. Dixon designed, engineered and models (that’s him in the pic above) these iPad and iPod chains. The iPod chains will go for $25, the iPad chains $49 when they go on sale in fall 2011.

A new patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reveals that Apple is working on a ‘smart’ keyboard that provides users with tactile feedback using proximity sensors and air vents on individual keys. It could radically change the way we do everything with our keyboard, from sensing a letter being pressed before it’s typed to allowing us to ‘feel’ a video game through our finger tips.

After 13 years, Microsoft will no longer be scrutinized by the Department of Justice. The timing is apt, because Apple has supplanted Microsoft as the biggest company in tech — and with Apple’s rise in fortunes come its own anti-trust concerns.

Looking resplendent with its iMac adornment, this super-cheap desk is entirely made out of cardboard.

It was designed by Hong Kong born Savio Ku, who is at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, as part of his final year studying 3D design.

Keyboard launcher Alfred just got updated to 0.9, and there’s a lot of lovely stuff included.

Most of the new features are for users of the optional paid-for Powerpack, but there’s some nice bits for free users too.

False alarm, guys. Despite fears, the latest 4.2.2 firmware for the second-gen Apple TV is still just as jailbreakable as it ever was, despite an update to iOS 4.3.

For years, publishers have been fighting Apple for the ability to collect user data from iOS subscribers without their consent. It turns out, though, they don’t have to: over half of all subscribers give up their personal details willingly.

If you want to find an available hooker nearby, there will soon be an app for that on the iOS App Store.

Sources in Apple’s supply chain have revealed that Foxconn Electronics is currently facing supply and labor shortages that could delay shipments of both the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2 during the second quarter.

A number of users are reporting problems with Wi-Fi or 3G data connections after upgrading their iPhones to iOS 4.3.3. I’ve encountered the problem myself on 3G and a friend called me the other day to complain to me about the problem on both Wi-Fi and 3G. He was pretty frustrated about it and I cannot blame him since it seemed to come and go for him.

You’ll notice the problem manifest itself whenever you try to access a network resource and the busy indicator to the right of the carrier signal label seems to get stuck and nothing happens – mail isn’t downloaded, a web page doesn’t load, etc. I haven’t noticed the problem on my iPad 2 nor have I seen people complain about it happening on their iPads.