Cult of Mac

With National Novel Writing Month coming up this November, it would already be a good a time as any to plug our third entry in our Mac Essentials list, the incredible novelist’s tool Scrivener… but the imminent arrival of version 2.0, a new blog update explaining the new version’s added features and a last chance to get Scrivener at its old, cheaper price make it a no brainer.

What to expect in Scrivener 2.0? The lengthy list of new features is too big to fully cover, but in the upcoming version, you can expect to find significant improvements to the corkboard mode, including freehand movement of note cards; a revised text editor that includes a Pages-style format ribbon and a page layout view, as well as an Ommwriter-style image background in full screen mode; multiple project notes; editable QuickReference panels; document collections; custom templates and icons; the ability to sync with Simplenote and ePub support to read your new masterpiece on the iPhone, iPad or just self-publish it.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As a major new version, Scrivener 2.0 is getting a price bump to $45. Anyone who bought Scrivener 1.0 since August 15th gets the upgrade for free, while older customers must pay a $25 upgrade free.

The good news is that until Friday, September 17th, you can still buy Scrivener at its old price of $39.95… and since you will have bought it after August 15th, that’ll make you eligible for a free upgrade to 2.0 when it lands in October, giving you an entire month to get comfortable with the new features before NaNoWriMo.

Could an App Store-like arrangement rescue newspapers seeking to use the iPad to prop up dwindling print revenue? That’s the question as a new rumor floats across the radar, suggesting Apple will provide newspapers access to demographic data in exchange for a cut of digital subscription sales.

Apple has agreed to allow subscribers share their personal data with newspapers, demographic information that can be a treasure for publications looking to lure advertisers. Previously, Apple had balked at sharing such data, wanting to provide only sales volume.

There’s an interesting change in the way iOS 4.2 handles orientation lock on the iPad… one that indicates a curious design backpedal on the part of Cupertino.

Previously, orientation lock on the iPad was handled with a physical hardware switch on the side of the device, but in iOS 4.2, it has been repurposed as a physical “Mute” button, with the orientation lock achieved the same way it is on the iPhone 4 or iPod Touch under iOS 4: through the multitasking tray.

It’s a minor but significant change that, I suspect, portends the elimination of the mute/screen orientation button on the second-generation iPad. For famously minimal and streamlined Apple, a physical mute button doesn’t make a lot of sense on an iOS device that isn’t a phone.

[via MacRumors]

Avid will soon begin offering packages of its M-Audio branded audio hardware bundled with an entry-level package of its Pro Tools recording software that could well make a dent in the progress Apple has lately made with Garage Band.

Three offerings priced under $130 will make it easy for first-time Pro Tools users to easily create and record music at home using Avid’s Key, Recording and Vocal studio products with the included Pro Tools SE recording software. Whatever Pro Tools SE may lack in Garage Band’s take-you-by-the-hand user friendliness, it more than makes up for in multi-track recording capability and direct compatibility with higher-end professional grade Pro Tools installations.

Recent updates to Apple’s iLife suite of software included a revamped, juiced up version of Garage Band with well-received interactive learning features that solidified the software’s status as a highly capable tool for creating great-sounding recordings at home. But soon it will become possible to do the same things using an inexpensive version of Pro Tools — with the resulting tracks being readable and usable by the same more expensive studio versions of Pro Tools used by nearly every major recording facility in the world today.

Once Apple announced its own baked-in Game Center for iOS, OpenFeint — the previous go-to mobile social gaming network — seemed to lose a bit of its luster, but the guys Aurora Feint seem to have a plan and they’re falling through with it: starting today, OpenFeint is now available on the Android operating system.

But Aurora Feint’s strategy in dealing with Game Center isn’t to abandon iOS. Oh no: this news is very relevant to iOS gamers because now that OpenFeint is on Android, you can now take part in cross-platform multiplayer games, achievements, leaderboards and friending in Fruit Ninja, MiniSquadron, Super Slyder, The Moron Test and Tic-Tac Toe… with fifteen other titles to follow this month.

At the very least, the relevance here to iOS gamers is they now have twice as many people to play Tic Tac Toe against… I just can’t wait for iOS vs. Android OpenFeint deathmatch tournaments.

Adobe’s just released a new version of their Flash Player for Mac into the wild. Called “Square,” the latest version enables native 64-bit support on OS X, which Adobe hopes will result in a substantial speed boost for users running modern Macs.

On our end, we haven’t seen much improvement, short of a marginal (and perhaps imaginary) performance boost under 64-bit Safari. It still seems to take up just as many system resources as before.

Are any of our readers experiencing varying mileage with Adobe Flash Square? Let us know in the comments: we keep on rooting for Adobe to prove Steve Jobs wrong, but it still remains a slow and unacceptable system hog.

Although Valve released their other Source engine titles with astonishing rapidity when they finally brought Steam to Mac earlier this year, but one sad lingering hold out in the games library disgorgement was the team-based zombie-shooter series, Left 4 Dead, with the delay largely chalked up to some bugs in OS X’s graphics drivers that Valve helped Apple iron out.

We’d previously heard tell that now that those graphic issues are fixed, Valve as hard at work to bring Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 to OS X by October… and now, if a casual mention over at Macworld is anything to go by, it looks like that date might have been further locked down to October 5th, along with the latest Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 add-on pack, “The Sacrifice.”

Looks like for us Mac gamers, the Halloween season is going to be filled with even more zombie mutilating than usual. Expect Cult of Mac to organize a few games of Left 4 Dead once it finally hits our platform.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has a warning for Apple: That iAds doo-hickey? Well, that dog just isn’t going to hunt. Bartz told Reuters the ad platform launched in July will ‘fall apart’ due to Apple’s obsession with control.

“Advertisers are not going to have that type of control over them. Apple wants total control over those ads,” she said. However, iAds is “ok for experimentation,” Bartz opined.

A little over two months ago, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev toured Silicon Valley, making a stop at Apple headquarters in Cupertino where Steve Jobs gave the Mac-happy leader an iPhone 4.

Some CoM readers wrote in to ask us what we thought the visit would mean for Russia and the future of tech there.

We might have an answer: on Monday, Sergei Chemezov, the head of a state- run holding company Russian Technologies State Corp. showed off a prototype of the country’s first domestically-manufactured 4G smartphone.

Chemezov and Medvedev met to discuss tech advances taking place the country, including broadband internet and digital TV and creating a Linux-based national software program.

The 4G phone is expected to launch next year under the Yota brand, which already makes a portable wi-fi “egg” that looks vaguely Apple-inspired in its design.

But from the transcript from the Kremlin translated by the Wall Street Journal, it sounds like they may need to take that iCopycat design back to the drawing board, or borrow the president’s iPhone for tips:

Medvedev (holding handset): Not even sure where to press …
Chemezov: It’s still a prototype.
Medvedev: But this is entirely our [Russian-made] product, which will be produced in our factories?
Chemezov: For the time being, unfortunately, we only make it in Taiwan. But soon we’ll completely switch over to production in Russia.

We’ll be curious to see how the final design of the phone, which reportedly has two screens, may be Apple inspired.

Look at this button in the top-right corner of a Finder window. Ever wondered what this is for?

It’s called the “toolbar control button” and you’ll see it all over the place in OS X. It lives in the top-right corner of an application or document window.

But what does it do? Simple: it hides the toolbar from view. The toolbar is that strip across the top of the window where buttons and controls live. You can choose to leave it there all the time, or you can reclaim that screen space by getting it out of sight. That’s what this button is for.

Let’s look at an example.

If you’re a DevonThink user and an iPad owner, here’s some good news: the forthcoming DevonThink To Go app will let you take entire DT databases with you.

Just as you can with the desktop application, it’s possible to add notes into each database’s inbox while you’re out and about, and sort and categorize them later. Everything gets synced to your computer over a local wifi network when it suits you.

Although intended as a companion for the desktop, there’s no reason why you can’t use DevonThink To Go as a standalone iPad notebook and document storage box.

For a better idea of what’s to come, check out the screenshots gallery.

Here’s a taster of what iOS 4 will be like on the iPad, courtesy of AppAdvice.com.

See also: iOS 4.2 Beta 1 For iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch Now Available To Developers

This new app from Epson significantly ramps up iPhone or iPad print capabilities: PrintJinni for Epson will allow users to print from an iDevice, via a web-based cloud service, to any network-connected Epson. It also comes with an impressive range of print options, even allowing the user to print attachments directly from an email — without requiring an app associated with the attachment to open it.

The range of document types the app can work with includes pdf, jpeg and most versions of Microsoft Office documents.

PrintJinni doesn’t come cheap. The app is $10 (though offered now at an intro price of $7 for an unspecified time), and continues to ding the user at what Epson says will probably be $7 each additional year for the cloud services; though they also say that these recurring fees won’t be necessary for all document types (users just wanting to print jpegs, for instance, won’t need to pop for the yearly fee), and that the yearly fee can be opted out of, should the user just wish to print on local networks  not need to print MS Office documents.

Apple has today released the first beta of iOS 4.2 for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, which is now available to download for developers.

4.2 comes just a week after the public release of 4.1, and was first previewed by Steve Jobs at Apple’s media event on September 1st. The update introduces some much-anticipated new features to the iPad in particular, including; folder organization, Game Centre, and long-awaited multi-tasking. AirPlay, a new feature for streaming music to your device, is also introduced to iOS in this update, along with the wireless printing feature, AirPrint.

Devices supported in beta 1 include the iPad, the iPhone (3G and above), and the iPod Touch (2nd-gen and above).

The iOS 4.2 download weighs in at 514MB and is currently only available to registered developers through Apple’s Dev Centre. The update is scheduled for public release in November.

[via TUAW]

We start the day with a powerhouse: a 6-core 333GHz Mac Pro. The offer from Expercomm includes a bundle with 6GB of memory and a 3-year AppleCare plan – all for $3,899. At the other end is a bevy of iMacs, starting at $929 for a 22-inch 3.06GHz all-in-ine desktop machine. Finally, what better ally to have when hunting down zombies than a cute, cuddly and armed-to-the-teeth teddy bear? Our third featured deal is the latest batch of iPhone app freebies from the App Store, including “Battle Bears.”

Along the way, we’ll check out many other items, including a deal on iPods, sound systems, refurbished iPhones and software for your Mac. As usual, detail on those and much more can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Along with the Sun in the morning, you can count on a Verizon Wireless iPhone story appearing almost daily on the pages of Apple watchers. Not to disappoint, two Wall Street analysts have released a report suggesting Apple needs to join forces with the wireless carrier to fend off the growth of Android.

In five quarters (or roughly just over one year), Android’s growth could outnumber the installed base of iPhones, according to Bernstein Research analysts Toni Sacconaghi and Pierre Ferragu. Indeed, the analysts say the Android platform has gone from 60,000 phones sold each day seven months ago to 200,000 phones per day. That sort of growth makes the analysts believe Android could singly push smartphone sales. By 2011, Apple and Android will control 52 percent of smartphone sales, the two analyst contend.

Thanks Chris.

We’re not sure what’s stopped you from already buying yourself an iPad case if you planned on getting one at all, but perhaps Kensington’s PowerBack case can finally get you to whisk out the credit card: not only does it have one of those kickstands all the cool cases are flaunting these days for handsfree media watching, but it comes infused with a slim 4400mAh battery that will juice your iPad for an extra five hours. It’s available now for just $129.99.

Apps are so easy — maybe too easy? — to buy on an iPad even a three-year-old can do it.

Toddler Sienna Leigh in Sydney racked up about $50 in app purchases before her mom noticed the shopping spree.

“She uses it every day for a few hours, but I didn’t think anything of it.
“She was just playing with it until, later, when she had gone to bed and I was checking my email and I saw that I had paid for a whole bunch of apps that I didn’t remember buying.”

Mother Lisa Leigh had to go to a Mac forum to figure out how her kid did it — it seems she went to a recently-purchased app and continued shopping with the saved password.

Sienna bought $17 Docs to Go app and a flight control app among others before mom managed to stop the spending spree. “But the main thing is that I’ve completely turned off the Wi-Fi on her iPad so she has no chance of accessing the app store at all now.”

Leigh decided not to ask Apple for a refund, since by the time she figured it out her other children had already opened and played with them.

Apple said it wasn’t the first time parents had contacted them about iPad purchases made by their kids.

If you have a tech-savvy toddler, here’s how Apple Fiona Martin spokesperson suggests you keep the tyke from shopping: “The restrictions preferences are located under Settings > General > Restrictions > Allowed Content (In-App Purchases) OFF. When this is activated, in-app purchases is turned off.”

Via The Age

It turns out we didn’t need to wait for the Dev Team to jailbreak iOS 4.1 after all: if you’ve got a jailbroken iPhone 3G or 3GS running the iOS 4.1 beta, all you need to do is download the HDR Camera Enabler through Cydia from the ModMy repository to enable high dynamic range snaps on your last-gen iPhone.

Presumably, this same tweak will also work with the Dev Team’s official iOS 4.1 jailbreak, which has yet to be released. Unfortunately, for right now, it’s 4.1 beta only, though, making it available to only a very small subset of jailbreakers. If you want to give it a shot, though, Redmondpie has a series of good tutorials on how to jailbreak the iOS 4.1 beta on the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 3G.

Yesterday at their annual Nokia World Conference, the beleaguered Finnish cell phone giant, introduced their latest answer to the iPhone, the Nokia E7, prominently boasting a high-quality new ClearBlack Display which they hope will impress users as much as the iPhone 4’s Retina Display. How does it measure up?

Quite well, actually. While the 4-inch, 640×360 ClearBlack Display doesn’t boast the iPhone 4’s pixel density, it does seem more vibrant in color and less cool in tone than the Retina, and a polarizing layer promises to give superior visibility outdoors. Since it is AMOLED, it would also consume significantly less power than the iPhone 4’s display, and theoretically faster response times and wider viewing angles as well. We’d still prefer the clarity of a Retina Display, but we’ve got to admit, we’re impressed.

Of course, Nokia’s ability to put together some decent hardware isn’t in doubt. Where they’ve been falling all over themselves in the last few years is in software, having yet to put together a credible challenger to Apple’s amazing success with iOS. Until they manage that, Nokia will continue to founder no matter how innovative the hardware of their phones.

Six weeks after inaugurating an iPad wine list, one top Atlanta restaurant is reporting an uptick in sales and interest with patrons ordering more — and often more expensive — wines.

Bones offers a 1,350 label wine list, loaded with descriptions and ratings, including those from wine writer Robert M. Parker Jr. The owners say wine purchases shot up overnight — about 11 percent higher per diner in the first two weeks compared with the previous three weeks, with no obvious alternative explanation. The New York Times reports that other restaurateurs who are experimenting with iPad wine lists, from Sydney to London to Central Park South, report similar results.

“I felt like they had given me the answer sheet to the test,” said Bradley D. Kendall, a Bone’s regular who recently used the iPad to select a 2005 Corté Riva cabernet franc for $102, about 25 percent beyond his usual range.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJSESZ3faH4

Letemsvetemapplem.eu managed to get their hands on the new fourth generation iPod Touch, and put Apple’s latest touchscreen PMP in a showdown against the iPhone 4 in a battery of tests.

In the video above, you can see the difference between the quality of the Retina Display on the iPhone 4 compared to the new iPod Touch. While the Touch is packing the same amount of pixels as the iPhone 4, it’s slightly less vibrant and has significantly worse viewing angles than the former’s IPS touchscreen.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkOq2qgaSHo&feature=player_embedded

It seems to me that the iPod Touch acquitted itself a lot better when it came to taking video, though. To my eye, the iPod Touch seems to produce the better footage in the side-by-side clip embedded above, despite a significantly wimpier camera module. That said, it seems pretty clear that the subtle discrepancy in quality we’re seeing here has everything to do with the iPhone 4 being held in the tester’s unsteady left hand while filming, which presumably kept things slightly out of focus throughout the test.

[via Mac Rumors]

With the App Store’s prohibition on third-party interpreters having recently been reversed, the iOS future is again rosy for Epic Games, one of the biggest names in next-gen engine licensing whose Unreal Engine powers some of the most visually impressive games on PCs and consoles, including the Gears of Wars series, Bioshock, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Borderlands, among others.

Following the impressive release of their proof-of-concept demo app, Epic Citadel, Epic vice president Mark Rein has announced that the software development kit for its Unreal 3 Engine will soon add iOS support to the many other features available to its licensees.

This is great news for gamers: Epic Citadel was a stunning demonstration of the graphical power of iOS which was downloaded over a million times in one week… and it wasn’t even, strictly speaking, a game. Native iOS support in the Unreal Engine makes it all the more likely that developers will bring your favorite franchises to your iPhone in the future.

Now let’s hope Epic themselves follow Epic Citadel up with that Unreal Tournament iPhone port they were playing with back in December.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2I-jCY4N9I&feature=player_embedded

The Parallels Desktop
has been updated to version six today, bringing over eighty new features to the Windows virtualization program, including enhanced performance and vastly improved 3D graphics rendering speeds…. but maybe it’s neatest trick is finally letting you run Windows 7 on your iOS device.

Well, kind of. Parallels isn’t actually virtualizing Windows on your iPhone or iPad. Rather, the Parallels Mobile App is basically a VNC, allowing you to seamlessly connect and control your Parallels Windows install from any network-connected iOS device. Fair warning, though: things get a bit cramped trying to drive Windows from your iPhone.

Parallels Mobile is a free download from the App Store, while Parallels Desktop 6 costs $80, or $50 if you already own version 5.