Cult of Mac

Microsoft says that a filter and human buffer are stopping inappropriate tweets from being displayed in monitors in Saks Fifth Avenue windows in New York.

The Twitter stream which broadcasts on one of the world’s busiest shopping streets had been flooded with “Get a Mac!” messages, but Redmond spokespeople say they are not going live.

Microsoft sent seattlepi.com this statement (emphasis ours):

This holiday, Saks Fifth Avenue and Windows 7 are working together to bring the magic of the season to life. For the first time, the legendary Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday windows are powered by Windows 7. As part of this campaign, there are three Microsoft Windows on 50th Ave that feature video monitors displaying a live feed of people’s holiday wishes for the season shared via Twitter and from kiosks in store.

The windows are the private property of Saks Fifth Avenue. As such, there are filters in place to make sure that in opening them up to Twitter feeds we had content that was appropriate for the general public to view and was within the holiday theme. This filter includes any attempt to spam the windows with negative commentary that is not in the spirit of the holidays. The windows have not been hijacked.

Here’s the thing: if you look at the #holidaywindows, if they filter out “Mac” messages as inappropriate, there’s almost nothing left.

So we need your help, CoM readers: if you’re in New York and happen by the Saks window display on 50th Ave, send us pics.

An iPhone application developer has upped the ante on criticism of Apple’s App Store approval policies with apprejections.com, a website devoted to collating “all the known examples of rejected Apps.”

Adam Martin, CEO of UK-based Red Glasses, makers of three iPhone apps (and a software development start-up with a curiously thin web presence), created the site earlier this month to document and share all known examples of “what is actually rejected” from the App Store — and he pulls no punches in his critique of Apple’s process for deciding which apps and updates make it onto the iTunes App Store.

“Apple has a secret, undocumented, unquestionable, random process for deciding which applications to “allow” onto the deck,” claims Martin on the site. Ironically, his own BrainGame Summation (iTunes link) app had an update rejected this week for using a common workaround to bugs in the official Apple APIs; the worrkaround previously appeared to pose no approval problems but has apprently been the basis for several recent rejections.

“Apple point-blank refuses to document the criteria – or even to discuss the matter on anything except a case-by-case basis,” Martin writes, though he does allow that “in most cases, rejections [are] perfectly reasonable, and/or Apple had officially warned developers “don’t do this; we won’t allow it”.

But the site does take App Store gatekeepers to task for being, among other things, “unskilled staff [who] are given a technical tool (the secret static-analyer) [sic] which they don’t understand – but trust 100%, [causing them to] reject apps that haven’t done anything wrong, but which the tool (incorrectly) flags.”

Martin acknowledges that the fledgling site has only just gotten started, but writes that he’s “been following reports on app-rejection for over a year,” and aims to catalog everything unusual and unfair about the mysterious process for joining the 100,000 (and growing) iPhone apps available now on iTunes.

It’s now gone from “easy” to “tricky” to avoid having your App rejected by Apple, according to Martin.

4iThumbs is a $14.95 overlay for the iPhone screen that provides tactile feedback when using the on-screen keyboard. It has little bumpers placed right above the virtual keys that provides the feedback.

If you previously owned a Blackberry, typing on an iPhone might be a pain for you. Even though the on-screen keyboard is pretty responsive, it lacks the tactile feedback that you get on devices like BlackBerry Storm 2 etc. Now with 4iThumbs, you can fill that gap. The company boasts that the typing experience should become much better within just hours of use. As an extra feature, it also acts like an anti-glare screen protector.

However, it doesn’t look like an ergonomic option. The overlay is required just while typing and becomes a hindrance when doing other stuff like playing games. Thankfully it’s removable but taking it off and putting back on every single time is even worse. Also, carrying an extra screen every time in the pocket isn’t something that people like.

Currently, it’s the only option if you are looking for a way to have tactile feedback from your iPhone keyboard. Even though their commercial depicts just the portrait version, a landscape version is also available.

via Engadget

Tired of all the ringtones the iPhone comes with, and can’t stomach loading a Kenny Chesney tone onto your phone? Here’s your salvation: The ringtone upstarts at San Francisco-based iRingPro are tossing out free goodies for Thanksgiving — namely, a free, tri-pack sampler of their sangfroid-inducing ringtones.

We ran a post in August pointing out what makes these quieter, more civilized tones so cool.

The sampler includes one ringtone from each of their three theme packs: Zen, Tek and Origin. The last is my personal favorite of the three, as the complete tone is split into three pieces and plays progressively with each ring.

The theme packs are $9.95 for anywhere from 22 to 31 ringtones. The free sampler is, well, free.

AppShopper has the full list of iPhone/iPt Apps on sale for Thanksgiving.
Highlights include:

Terminator Salvation : The official game — $0.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Brothers In Arms Hour of Heroes — $0.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
The Sims 3 — $4.99 (normally $6.99) App Store Link
SimCity — $2.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Trivial Pursuit — $2.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Wolfenstein RPG — $1.99 (normally $2.99) App Store Link
Command & Conquer Red Alert — $6.99 (normally $9.99) App Store Link
Star Trek — $0.99 (normally $1.99) App Store Link
CoPilot Live North America — $19.99 (normally $34.99) App Store Link
Scrabble — $2.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Tetris — $2.99 (normally $4.99) App Store Link
Shoppee — Free (normally $2.99) App Store Link

While you wait for the bird, the pies and the Thanksgiving Day football, check out some of the deals for your iPhone, iPod and Mac. Nothing goes better with gorging yourself on apple pie than yet another freebie from iTunes. This time we have Royce da 5’9″ “Something to Ride.” Next up is a number of classic games from Electronic Arts, including Tetris, SimCity and Madden. Finally, if you have a Mac but work with Windows files, get the best of both worlds with a deal on Parallels 5.0 for $40.

For details on all of these details and more (like a skin for the Nike+ iPod sensor), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

iPhone owners are more willing to pay for digital content than the wider online audience, two new UK surveys find. The results may support publishers looking to the iPhone to boost sales of digital magazines, video and other material. The introduction of the App Store, where iPhone owners purchase software from their handsets, has developed a class of consumers less resistant to digital purchases.

“It seems to be that people get used to paying for content, such as an application on the iPhone because it is so easy and the idea of paying for something suddenly becomes much less of a barrier that it is online,” said Peter Enser, partner with Olswang which creates the annual Olswang Convergence Study.

They’ve been out for the last few days, so you’ve probably already seen one or both of the two new TV spots where Apple hops in to aid AT&T. The ads attack rival carriers by flaunting the iPhone’s ability to perform 3G-related activities while on a voice call, and end with the question “Can your phone, and your network do that?” Then the  AT&T logo then flashes on the screen in a show of solidarity right before Apple’s.

The ads follow strong assaults on TV by Verizon designed to exploit what it believes is a weak chink in the iPhone’s shiny armor, namely AT&T’s 3G coverage.

But the ads also follow one early indication that young men are deserting the iPhone en masse, as reported by CoM in a previous post.

So, are these ads a show of strength? Or is Apple feeling the heat?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Ksp-ZkVTk
Department store Saks Fifth Avenue is running a Christmas display in New York City, sponsored in part by Microsoft, where well-wishers can send messages from Twitter to the store window.

In a rather unsurprising, but still entertaining, turn of events a lot of those people express the holiday spirit with “Bah Microsoft!” which then pops up on the Windows screen.

A few recent ones:

midy No need for a black and blue holiday. Black Friday is coming, why would you want a blue screen of death? Get a Mac.

RGNeighbour Friends don’t let friends buy PC’s. GET A MAC!

If you want to get in on the holiday fun, read the shenanigans or send your tweet try this:  #HolidayWindows .

UPDATE: The GNU/free software folks have also jumped on the bandwagon:

kennydude #holidaywindows Get Ubuntu, it’s free and easy-to-use. It’s also secure, customizable and does more than Windows. By @fernandovalente

rodrigoy Very happy with my Linux: No locks-up, no blue screen, no anti-virus, no malwares, no bullshit…

The interesting thing — with all the obscenities and potentially obnoxious other stuff that could’ve come up that Microsoft should’ve worried about, they’re getting a playful public bashing, which they also might have predicted…

Via MacDaily News

More men currently profess loyalty to Motorola than iPhone-maker Apple, according to a brand survey. The figures are the first clear indication of the impact of the Motorola-made iPhone rival Droid and the ad bashing between AT&T and Verizon.

After peaking at 48.1 for the month of November, Apple dropped to 22 last week, according to brand research firm YouGov. Motorola, which peaked at 32.3 this month, finished last week with a 29.3 score in the company’s BrandIndex. Study results range from -100 to 100 based on weekday interviews with 5,000 people.

When you go to the grocery store, pick me up a loaf of bread, some milk and an iPhone. That could soon be the refrain of UK shoppers as a deal between Apple and Tesco was announced Wednesday. The arrangement would put the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in around 100 Tesco Phone Shops throughout the UK.

The agreement with Tesco Mobile, a virtual network operator, and carrier O2 would provide the Apple handsets as pay-as-you-go phones.

Did I mention I’m in love with my new sound system, the heart of which is the T-2 vacuum tube amplifier from Neuhaus Labs?

Custom designed to bring iTunes to life, the amp sounds unbelievably awesome. But in my review I neglected to rave about its aesthetics. This thing glows!

Hit the link for some more dimly-lit tube porn.

It’s dangerous and illegal, but I like listening to music when I’m riding my bicycle. Nothing like a bit of techno to get the blood pumping on a foggy morning. Trouble is, sound-isolating earbuds — the ones you jam deep in your ear canals — can get you killed. They sound great, but they block that firetruck running a red light with sirens blazing.

Altec Lansing’s Backbeat 906 Bluetooth headphones, which have great sound quality, don’t isolate you from the environment, and best of all, have no wires. Paired with an iPhone, they can be used for music and phone calls, even on the bike.

It’s vey liberating. Once you go wireless, it’s hard to go back.

Here’s the Top 5 Secrets for making a killer website to showcase your iPhone app, courtesy of the WebDesignerWall blog.

“To compete with thousands of iPhone apps in the App Store, having a good app icon is not enough. A nicely designed website for the app is very important. A beautiful website helps to drive traffic in and also makes your app stand out from the crowd.”

Here’s the list:

• One Page — Your app’s site should be one page. No more, no less.
• iPhone Image — Use an image of an iPhone running the app as the main design element. Drop shadow or reflection optional.
• Apple App Store Badge — The download button should be Apple’s App Store badge. Easy to spot and instantly recognizable.
• Animated Screenshots — All sites show screenshots of their app, but animated screens show it in action.
• Display Pricing — It’s frustrating for prospective customers to not know the price up front.

Link.

Objectified, the documentary about industrial design, is airing on PBS tonight. The critically-acclaimed documentary features Apple’s Jonny Ive, among others, geeking out about design.

It airs at 11pm on KQED in San Francisco. Check your local listings.



A freelance designer quit his job in the most original way yet. He created a custom warning dialog resembling the unexpected quit dialogs in OS X.

The message, posted on his work machine, says:

“The designer you treat like shit has quit unexpectedly.

Your company and other employees are not affected.

Click Renegotiate to discuss terms for new contract. Click HR to find out how badly you fucked up.”

Unfortunately the “Renegotiate,” “Ignore” and “HR” buttons don’t work — it’s just a Photoshop mockup. The company is unnamed.

The message was found by one of his former colleagues, who posted it to Redditt.

The colleague said the designer was expecting his temp job to turn into a real one, but hadn’t.

“He believed he was in a temp-to-hire position, and after three months of extra hours and butt-kissing, turns out it’s just a temp position. He was a good worker too. I’d have recommended him. Too bad he burned his bridges… Obviously he had contemplated quitting long enough to make this thing, but still refused to speak to anyone about his feelings. Ironically, he complained about the ‘divas’ at his last job.”

Via Methodshop. Thanks Jon.

More Thanksgiving iPhone app sale action.

At 8:00am ET tomorrow, the CoPilot Live turn-by-turn GPS navigation app will go on sale for $19.99. The app is normally $35 and has got generally good reviews. Gizmodo calls it the best cheap GPS app (it has some quirks, but what do you expect for $35? I mean $20?).
The app features pretty 3-D maps, text-to-voice directions and monthly map updates. Maps are stored locally on the iPhone/iPt (weighing in at about ~1.3GB), which means no blackouts in the boonies.

The sale lasts all weekend. The app is fully functional, the company says, and there’s no additional fees for updated maps.

App website.
iTunes link.

How often do you find a 1TB networked hard drive that stores and pumps out 1080p high-def video wrapped in a black monolith-like enclosure – plus it costs only $250? That’s the word on LaCinema Classic HD from the hard drive folks over at LaCie.

The LaCinema Classic HD will stream 1080p videos, music or photos from your Mac (or PC) to your HD television. You can either use the included HDMI cable or the optional Wi-Fi 802.11n USB adapter for wireless media transmission to your network. A remote control is included.

The iLingual app is clever translation software that speaks foreign phrases with video of your mouth saying the words. Launch the app, snap a picture of your mouth (or someone else’s) and hold the iPhone in front of your mouth. The software animates your mouth to make it look like you’re actually talking French (or German and Arabic). Well, sorta.

Either way, it’s a lot of fun and it’s free (sponsored by the Emirates airline). Great way to break the ice with the locals, who always appreciate tourists trying to speak the language. Watch the app being tested in Paris in the video above.

• iLingual French.
• iLingual German.
• iLingual Arabic.

Via 9to5Mac and Gizmodo.

Before the iPhone beget the iPhone case, speakers were probably the most-often added accessory for computer systems. But the MacBook has stereo speakers – they just need a bit more bass in the form of a subwoofer. BassJump from Charleston, SC-based Twelve South provides that extra audio oomph, but in a definitely Mac way.

Are you looking for an Apple laptop for under $1,000? The Apple Store has a 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro starting at $999. Do you want to keep that brand-new iPhone shiny and secure? There is a 90 percent discount on select iPhone cases. Finally, yes, there is an app for that – and it may be among those with lower prices. Check out the App Store listings below for specific titles.

As always, for details on these or other bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

A group of more than 50 publishers, led by Time Inc., are in the final stages of creating a consortium for selling digital versions of their magazines through the iPhone, Apple’s rumored iTablet, Amazon’s Kindle and other e-readers, according to a Tuesday report.

The company, including Time Inc., Conde Nast and Hearst, would offer The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time, People, Sports Illustrated and other magazines using an iTunes-like “any way you want” store for content, sources told The New York Observer. The deal could be “announced within weeks,” according to the newspaper.

Apple Monday joined AT&T in its attempt to counter Verizon’s attack on both the iPhone and the handset’s exclusive carrier. In a series of prime-time ads, the Cupertino, Calif. company asked viewers: “can your phone and network do that?”

The two ads show the iPhone checking e-mail and movie listings while on a phone call. AT&T’s 3G GSM network is capable of multiple voice and data connections, an ability apparently lacking from Verizon’s CDMA network.

Australian police are after an organized gang they believe is behind 80 Mac thefts from schools.

Nearly 80 Apple computers (laptops and desktops) have been ripped off  from 15 schools in the state of South Australia this year,  along with a number of screen projectors for a total loot count police place at about $90,000 ($100,000 AUD).

Thieves wore gloves to eliminate fingerprints and knew exactly how much time they had to get in and out — in one case only swiping half of the MacBooks available. The thefts took place at suburban schools, in one case a Christian K-12.

“At times there are individual computers taken but they’re more opportunistic thefts,” Chief-Inspector Dennis Lock told local papers. “The short time it took for the thieves to steal the computers before security arrived indicates this was a more planned, organized and coordinated attack.”

Do you know a lucky Mac cultist who will get Apple’s fastest and largest iMac under the tree this year? Before you wrap one of the new 27-inch iMacs with Intel’s Core i7 processor, you might want to test the machine. A number of customers of the quad-core custom-built iMacs are reporting damaged screens or computers that show up dead on arrival.

Owners on Apple’s support discussion boards report Core i7 iMacs arriving either with a crack in the bottom left corner of the computer’s screen or the desktop computer won’t boot. Some customers report a two-week waiting period for a replacement.