Cult of Mac

The Atlantic has posted an article discussing the iPad’s appeal to Baby Boomers, and makes some good arguments as to why the newest iDevice may be a huge hit with this demographic:

1. It isn’t that hard to use.

Your mom is awful with a computer. That time you taught her how to use e-mail, you felt like you needed a fifth of Jack to quench your frustration. But downloading an app is much, much easier than installing a program in Windows. You just go to the app store, download it, and — voila! If she thought a Mac was easy to use, wait until she sees an iPad in action. Just pray she doesn’t discover Facebook.

Currently my Mom doesn’t see the need for an iPad at all – she’s yet to be convinced that an upcoming switch from dialup to cable modem will make a difference in how she uses her computer.  But as the article notes, perhaps that may change…

Thanks to Digg for the tip.

Apple may ship a CDMA version of its popular iPhone later this year. Pegatron, an electronics manufacturer with plants in China, has received orders from the Cupertino, Calif. company to produce a CDMA version of the handset ready for fourth-quarter shipping, an industry publication reported Thursday.

If correct, the rumor appears to signal a shift by Apple away from its usual iPhone supplier, embattled Foxconn, and bolster a Wall Street Journal report that the handset maker would produce a CDMA phone this September.

The only thing that Apple didn’t actually update with the iPhone 4 was the storage, raising the question of whether or not the iPod Touch will get a storage bump come September.

Theoretically, Toshiba’s currently available flash storage modules could give us a 128GB iPod Touch this year… but next year, we could possibly see that number double again to a shocking 256GB, thanks to Toshiba’s latest announcement: they have just announced the first-ever 128GB embedded flash memory chip manufactured with a 32nm process to start shipping this autumn.

Stacking sixteen 8GB NAND layers, the new design is just 0.06″ thick and seems ready made for iDevices. Since Apple employs one NAND flash module in the iPhone 4 and two 32GB NAND flash modules in the 64GB iPod Touch, that means next year, the iPhone 4 could conceivably leap to 128GB of storage to the iPod Touch’s 256GB.

Image via Mactropolis

In certain corners of the Internet, it has become received wisdom that the iPhone will appear on Verizon any time now. Timelines are speculated upon. AT&T’s rampant incompetence is cited. And then Apple announces another must-have product that only works on AT&T’s network in the U.S.

So, in case you’re wondering, the iPhone 4 isn’t coming to Verizon in September. It’s not going to T-Mobile (in spite of what some misinformed analysts think, it’s still not 3G-compatible) or Sprint, either.

This is understandably frustrating, as every U.S. iPhone user has, at one time or another, experienced complete AT&T meltdown — full bars but no connectivity, battery life dropping at more than a percentage per minute, and dropped calls every few steps. But the sad fact is, AT&T was and is the only credible partner for Apple to work with on the iPhone and the iPad. And the reason for that has very little to do with the United States and everything to do with the rest of the world. They’re stuck together until everyone goes 4G.

Most of us are familiar with the annoyance of a pair of earbuds squirting out of our ear canals. The best earbuds either use rubber tips to anchor your headphones in place or, better yet, are specifically molded to fit your ears, but even those solutions can be uncomfortable for long listening sessions.

UrbanEars have a different solution with their latest Medi buds: they use an “earclick” solution which secures them in your ears by applying pressure at the catilaginous antiragus and inferior crux. The end result? Even though you can hardly feel them, they stay in your ear.

Each pair of Medis comes with four variably sized swappable pads to guarantee a close fit, and each bud boasts a 15.4mm driver, an inline remote and microphone compatible with the iPhone and a fabric, tangle-free code. They are available now for just $50 in twelve different colors.

[via Gadget Lab]

We’ve heard a bit about OnLive before, a client that promises to interactively stream spec-intensive games in real time to devices that can’t natively run them like the iPhone, iPad or OS X. Touch Arcade just got a chance to try OnLive out at this year’s E3, and the resulting video of the service streaming Borderlands to the iPad is pretty impressive, even if the current control scheme is pretty wonky.

The only problem is that, as usual, OnLive is being demonstrated in ideal conditions involving a local server, an extremely limited pool of players and a great WiFi connection. Latency is going to make or break OnLive, and there’s a lot of skepticism that the technology’s there yet to make this work under non-ideal circumstances, especially for twitch-based games like shooters and RTS titles.

We’re not necessarily optimistic, but we hope for the best: the idea of playing top-of-the-line PC games on our Macs and iPads without having to wait for an official port or upgrade our hardware is just too promising to ignore.

Our favorite unibody vivisectionists over at iFixIt have done their usually thorough job tearing down the new Mac Mini.

A lot of the Mini’s biggest changes are already obvious: the transition to aluminum unibody and the ability to easily access the Mini’s internals with a single counter-clockwise twist, making it very easy to replace RAM. In fact, there aren’t really any big revelations, except one: running at just 10 watts idle, the new Mac Mini is one of the most energy-efficient computers around, and Apple’s most frugally power-sipping desktop yet.

Steve Jobs has openly criticized Adobe Flash as being slow, buggy, insecure and crash prone… so it seems strange that the recent 10.6.4 update to Snow Leopard did not bother to include the latest version of Flash that actually addresses many of thoese concerns.

The version of Flash in 10.6.4 is version 10.0.45.2, while the latest version is 10.1.53.64, which not only patches numerous security vulnerabilities but implements support for hardware flash decoding under OS X… commonly cited as the number one reason why Flash works better on Windows than on a Mac. (Edit: As commenters below helpfully inform me, no, it jolly well doesn’t. Hardware decoding is coming in a future version of Flash for Mac.)

A conspiracist might think that Apple doesn’t want Adobe to fix Flash: they just want it to die. My guess, though, is that it takes so long to thoroughly test a software update that last week’s Flash update was simply too late to be bundled in.

If you’re concerned, just download and install the latest version of Flash yourself: it’s quite the improvement.

No one’s disputing that the unprecedented demand for the iPhone 4 would have tested the limits of even the most thoroughly tested and fail-proof preorder system…. but even giving AT&T the most generous benefit of that doubt, yesterday was an utter debacle for them in almost every way: not only did their pre-order system fail in almost every way imaginable, but in the process, they yet again exposed their customers’ private data.

When iPhone 4 pre-orders went live yesterday, a huge volume of customers discovered it was virtually impossible to order one online directly from AT&T, with many realizing the best way to get an iPhone 4 was to order it for in-store pick-up at an Apple store.

According to a source speaking PC World, the demand put on AT&T’s servers had less to do with the sheer volume of demand than the fact that AT&T didn’t even test their ordering system before the launch.

Perhaps that failure to test the system thoroughly explains AT&T’s other major SNAFU yesterday: dozens of AT&T customers reported that logging into pre-order the iPhone 4 would often log them into other people’s accounts, exposing these users’ personal details, including credit card information and personal address.

If you intend on upgrading to iOS 4 on Monday, the first piece of the puzzle has landed on Software Update: iTunes 9.2 is now available for download.

It’s a pretty tiny update, with the only non-iOS 4 specific feature being some new album artwork improvements, including a new transition effect. Apple’s clearly saving all the big new features for iTunes 10, which we can probably expect to land in September with some sort of cloud-storage and streaming functionality.

Here’s the change log:

• Sync with iPhone 4 to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on-the-go

• Sync and read books with iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4 and iBooks 1.1

• Organize and sync PDF documents as books. Read PDFs with iBooks 1.1 on iPad and any iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4

• Organize your apps on your iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes

• Faster back-ups while syncing an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4

• Album artwork improvements make artwork appear more quickly when exploring your library

Get it now through Software Update, or download it directly from Apple.

The iOS device-controlled AR.Drone quadricopter from Parrot, last seen terrorizing my co-workers, will finally reach the consumer market in September for $299. The crazy vehicle, which can do things that no flying thing should be able to, for lack of better words, uses cameras, WiFi, and the iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad to look through a live video feed, steer around blind corners, hover, bank, and generally act amazing.

Oh, yeah, and you can hold augmented reality dogfights with your friends. An Android client will ship eventually, but for now, this thing is for Apple users only. Check it out!

If, like me, you walk around all day executing random karate hand-chops to the theme of Mission: Impossible running through your head, then you might consider adding this next app to your quiver.

Just like the messages sent to IMF (Impossible Mission Force, for all you non-spies),  Self-Destructing Message will erase evidence of clandestine texts, on both the sender’s phone, and the recipient’s — just so long as you both have a copy of the app. It also has a “black book” feature that hides the actual identities of your contacts.

Apple announced 600,000 pre-orders for iPhone 4 on Tuesday, a number “far higher” than the company anticipated.

In a short press release, the company said the unexpectedly-high demand caused many system malfunctions and apologized for any difficulties and frustration.

Yesterday Apple and its carrier partners took pre-orders for more than 600,000 of Apple’s new iPhone 4. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions. Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock.

Earlier, AT&T said it had received 10-times the number of iPhone pre-orders than last year’s iPhone 3GS, and is suspending pre-orders.

“Given this unprecedented demand and our current expectations for our iPhone 4 inventory levels when the device is available June 24, we’re suspending preordering today in order to fulfill the orders we’ve already received,” AT&T spokesman Mark Siegal told the New York Times. “The availability of additional inventory will determine if we can resume taking preorders.”

Radio Shack has also suspended pre-orders, it said on Twitter.

SAI: AT&T: iPhone 4 Pre-Orders 10 TIMES Higher Than First Day Last Year

We start the day out with another deal on MacBook Pros. This time, MacConnection offers a number of MacBook Pros, ranging from a 2.4GHz 13-inch Core 2 Duo model for $1,099 after rebate to a 17-inch, 2.53GHz i5 unit for $2,049. We also check out the latest round of App Store freebies, including “Trippy Replay,” billed as an augmented music experience. Finally is the Cable Unlimited Battery Boost to provide a bit more energy for your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS.

Along the way, we check out other Mac-related gadgets, including iHome’s portable speakers for the iPod and Sony’s Clock Radio for the iPhone or iPod. As always, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

With the snap of an iPhone camera, one police department is identifying suspects on the go.

Using an app called MORIS (Mobile Offender Recognition and Identification System), the police department in Brockton, Massachusetts is matching photos of suspects with a database in development by statewide sheriff’s departments.

Sean Mullin, president and CEO of BI2 Technologies of Plymouth who developed the app, explained that the app allows officers to identify suspects through facial recognition, iris biometrics and fingerprints – all on one device.

Yesterday saw the release of Google Earth for iPad, and I cannot put into words how awesome it is. Though there is no amazing new feature or killer new interface, using it on the iPad’s 10-inch, high-resolution screen is pure joy.

This app is one of the best uses for the iPad to date. I wholeheartedly encourage you to give it a try.

This Luxo iMac is living out its retirement as an elegant iPad stand.

Flickr user Rusty took his dear, departed 700MHz Flat Panel iMac and then spent a little of that trial and error time all DIYers know to mold the acrylic holder to the arm. (The first few tries, he notes, shattered or “bent weird.”) Then he added a pair of speakers into the base and a bluetooth keyboard.

This stand could pair very nicely with the Luxo lamp, or the iPad Mac Classic stand for an office space filled with retro repurposing.

A day after record-breaking pre-orders for the iPhone 4 knocked both Apple and AT&T back on their heels, one prominent analyst says the Cupertino, Calif. company should prepare for record sales during the June fiscal quarter. Apple will sell 9.5 million iPhones for the period, predicts Gene Munster.

Munster, analyst with Piper Jaffray, told investors Wednesday a longer period between unveiling the new handset coupled with AT&T’s generous upgrade policy means Apple could report 9.5 million iPhone sold during the quarter, up from his previous estimate of 8.5 million.

What a difference a day makes. If you were hoping to get Apple’s new iPhone 4, yesterday’s record-breaking flood of pre-sale purchases means you’ll have to wait until July 2 to receive the iconic handset, the Cupertino, Calif. company announced.

The delay will affect those consumers that did not place their preorder Tuesday. The nearly one-week difference is the first result of the crush of consumers hoping to lay claim to an iPhone on the first day Apple, the exclusive carrier AT&T, and some retailers began accepting pre-orders for the handset. Apple had hoped to ship the iPhone by June 24, the day the handset was supposed to be available nationwide.

When most Western Apple owners hear the word Foxconn, they probably think suicide. However, the brother of Foxconn’s founder hopes to change that by opening 100 Apple stores in China over the next three years.

With China expected to become the largest market for PC sales by 2013 and Foxconn already manufacturing components for Apple products, T.C. Gou will open stores selling Macs, iPads, iPods and other Apple gadgets. The stores will be in addition to the 20 “Studio A” Apple Premium Resellers stores already operated by Taiwan-based Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn.

Although it started as a clandestine probe into enemy territory, Apple now pretty much owns the handheld gaming market — game for game, buck for buck — thanks to the App Store. The previous king of handheld gaming, Nintendo, hopes their new console will swing things back in their favor: they think the future of handheld gaming is 3D, and have just announced the console they hope will prove it, the Nintendo 3DS.

Sharing the look of its predecessor, the Nintendo 3DS has two displays: a 3.02-inch touchscreen display running at a 320×240 resolution, and a 3.52-inch 3D widescreen display that works without the need for additional glasses. It also includes three cameras (one front facing, two back facing — to allow 3D photos to be taken) as well as an SD slot, a traditional DS cartridge slot, 802.11n WiFi, a 3D depth slider to reduce or disable 3D effects in games and both a D-Pad and analog stick for controls.

Neither price nor release date have been announced for the 3DS yet, but a $149 – $199 MSRP and a holiday season launch would be my guess.

It looks like a fantastic update to the original DS, and the 3D technology is uniquely amazing, but with the 3DS, it seems like Nintendo’s still locked in to a primarily retail distribution channel for new titles. As long as Apple has the edge of a thriving app ecosystem and a low-barrier to developer entry, Nintendo is only going to continue to fall behind Apple.

Just point and shoot as fast as possible, or you might miss the moment. This is the mantra of most digital camera owners. Set the camera on auto exposure, auto focus, auto everything – and expect the camera to figure everything out instantly and also provide you with museum quality photos. All this expectation and I want it to fit in my shirt pocket.

It is what American consumers have grown to expect. If, on the other hand, you want a choice of interchangeable lenses, manual control and professional results you have to spend an arm and a leg for one of the many pro SLR cameras on the market. Do you want to spend $1,300 and up on a body and another $500 or more for a decent lens? How about the bulk and weight of a pro system? Who wants to carry all that stuff around? Trust me, it won’t fit in your pocket.

Enter the new Olympus PEN E-PL1 interchangeable lens micro 4/3. Retailing for about $525 (MSRP is $599), the E-PL1 has a 4/3 inch 12.3-megapixel high-speed Live MOS sensor and TruePic V image-processing engine; this little camera can also do 720p HD videos. It has built-in image stabilization (IS), a Live Guide user interface, HDMI output, ISO sensitivity ranges from 100 to 3200, TTL-AUTO and Super FP flash, and wireless remote control flash. It may not fit in your pocket, but you won’t need a pack of horses to transport it.

One of the members of the Goatse Security group, which recently exposed the AT&T security breach that exposed over 114,000 iPad 3G customers’ personal data, has been arrested for drug possession following the execution of an FBI search warrant on his home.

24 year old Andrew Auernheimer is now being held in the Washington Country Detention Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas for four felony charges of possession of a controlled substance and one misdemeanor possession charge. The drugs found at his house included cocaine, LSD and ecstasy.

It appears that the search warrant was prompted by complaints made by AT&T, who — in a recent letter to afflicted customers — blamed “hackers” for “maliciously exploit[ing] a function designed to make your iPad log-in process faster by pre-populating an AT&T authorization page with the email address you used to register your iPad for 3G service.”

That’s one way of putting it. Another way of putting it is that AT&T’s security malfeasance exposed the private user details of over a hundred thousand customers, and are now busy hunting down and vilifying the benign group of security activists who alerted them to the problem before less well-meaning hacker groups could exploit the data.

Even though it’ll be out in less than five days, iOS 4 just keeps on delivering up new surprises: over at 9to5Mac, some digging into the latest iOS4 SDK reveals that the iPhone 4 may natively support Facebook video uploading.

The evidence comes in the way of some incriminating XML code that strongly hints at Facebook integration. It makes sense: we already know that Apple’s probably working on Palm Pre-style Facebook integration with calendars and contacts.

The big question here is why this isn’t working on the iPhone 3Gs with the latest iOS 4 Gold Master: Facebook’s iPhone app can already do direct video uploads, so certainly the device is capable of it.

Yeah, okay, this felt and leather iPad case doesn’t just look elegant, it’s functionally neat: the cover rolls back allowing the case to double as an iPad stand. But is it worth 75 Euros?

Not to me: this is a one hour DIY project at best. Buy a flexible leather folder at your local office supply store and some felt and some stretchy loops from a crafting store and then sew it all together at home. It’ll cost you less than ten bucks.

Big thumbs up to Hard Graft for giving me a DIY project for this weekend, though!