Cult of Mac

We cap off the week by highlighting a trio of tactile Mac gadgets. Keyboards are likely the way most Mac cultists commune with their Apple devices. In the New York office, I change keyboards like a woman (sexist alert) might change shoes. The “professional” keyboard included with my iMac quickly gave way to Apple’s slim-line MacBook-like keyboard. Logitech’s diNovo Edge Bluetooth wireless keyboard also sports something the company describes as “TouchDisc navigation” that appears close to the iPod’s. Next up on the tactile parade are cases. It is ironic that Apple’s design team put so much effort into creating a sleek, slick and that I-just-gotta-touch exterior, only to have owners quickly hide it behind a forest of cases. We look at a new clip-on rubber case and a crystal clear protector. Finally, after keyboards and cases, cables probably are the most dragged, pulled or kicked component. Wouldn’t it be great if the snakes nest of cables could retract into a compact house? Well, we have just the gadget for you.

For details on these and other bargains, read CoM’s “Daily Deals” page.

When I was a kid, digital calculators were roughly the size of a brick, and had satisfyingly chunky displays. They also, in those pre-internet days, provided a means of minor technical mischief. Type in 5318008, flip your calculator upside down, and it appeared to say ‘boobies’. If you were five, this was the most hilarious and original gag in the history of the world.

In this modern and rather less innocent age, the media would have you believe that personal technology devices in the hands of children merely teach them how to joyride while murdering innocent puppies and simultaneously fashioning bombs out of string, jelly babies and bits of twig. It’s presumably for this reason that Apple considers it a good idea to warn you (Every. Single. Time.) when you download an eReader from the App Store that it—shock!—potentially enables you to view content that some people might deem objectionable.

Enter, stage right, James Thomson, creator of iPhone/iPod touch calculator PCalc. In a minor slice of design genius, he combined the two issues mentioned above and PCalc now slaps a huge ‘Censored!’ sign across ‘naughty’ words when your device is flipped, thereby ensuring fragile little minds aren’t warped beyond all recognition.

This is a smart, funny, satirical swipe at the recent trend towards over-zealous censorship. Unless you’re, say, Sajid Farooq of NBC, who, inexplicably takes Thomson’s joke seriously (and, sadly, he’s not alone) and states PCalc’s change would “make even George Orwell shudder in his grave”. I’m thinking Orwell would be more likely to laugh his CENSORED off.

PCalc is available on the App Store for $9.99/£5.99.

This article originally appeared on Revert to Saved.

Three’s a crowd… unless the three in question are the latest bags from hip Australian bag maker Crumpler.

Branching out from its original line of messenger bags, Crumpler now offers, amongst others, the Salary Sacrifice (a laptop rucksack), the School Hymn (a laptop clutch case) and the Barney Rustle Blanket (a messenger bag). The names are weird, but the bags aren’t.

Hit the jump for full reviews of all three.

For someone’s who makes makes only $1 a year, Steve Jobs sure is rich.

Jobs has been ranked 43rd on Forbes annual list of the 400 richest Americans — his highest ranking yet.

Jobs has a net worth of $5.1 billion, Forbes says, thanks mostly to nearly $4 billion worth of stock in Disney. Jobs became the largest individual Disney stockholder after the company bought Pixar in 2006.

“Best investment: bought Pixar from George Lucas in 1986 for $10 million; created string of hits (Finding Nemo, Toy Story). Sold to Disney in 2006 for $7.4 billion in stock,” says Forbes. “Today is Disney’s largest shareholder; stake worth $3.9 billion.”

Last year, Jobs placed 61st on Forbes’ list, and despite a decline in net worth of about $600 million, he comes inside the top 50. The economic climate hasn’t been as kind to other billionaires, poor souls. His previous highest showing was 49th place in 2007.

Jobs climbed up the ladder thanks to a massive 90% rebound in Disney’s stock price, and a similar doubling of Apple’s. Just six months ago, in the middle of the slump, Jobs slipped to 178th place.

Jobs has drawn only a $1 annual salary from Apple since returning to the company, although he has received massive stock option grants and a private Gulfstream jet.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates remains at the top of the list for the 16th year in a row, despite a drop in worth of $7 billion. Gates still has $50 billion to his name.

Ken Clark’s post about using Dropbox for iPhone to automatically import photos to Yojimbo is a wonderful pointer to new possibilities, and got me thinking about a few that can’t be done yet – but could be, if future versions of Dropbox add one or two features.

Ken’s trick depends on a little bit of Applescript to make it work. But not everyone knows Applescript, which is where another app called Hazel comes in handy.

The realtime city guide Buzzd has just released a slick and easy-to-use dining-and-drinking app that tells you what’s buzzing right now.

Available for free, the Buzzd iPhone/Touch app uses the company’s “buzzmeter” algorithm, which pulls in data from services like Twitter and Buzzd, to tell you what local venues are hot. Drunksourcing, it’s been called.

To drunksource venues you need to be a Buzzd member (it’s free) but the app will return hot places to eat and drink whether you’re a member or not. A quick test of my local neighborhood highlighted what looks like a pretty good list of the hot restaurants and bars around 16th and Valencia in SF’s Mission.

It’s certainly a lot easier to use than the overrated Urbanspoon app, which I’ve never really liked. Buzzd looks like a venue-finder I might actually use. Reviews are short and snappy, and the popularity of something is usually a pretty good yardstick of quality.

Plus, it’ll probably also function as a pretty good reverse warning system, alerting you to venues packed with insufferable hipsters.

Get the free Buzzd app here. Here’s a video demo:

About 18% of all Mac users upgraded to Snow Leopard in just a month, new numbers from the online research firm Net Applications suggest.

Snow Leopard was released on August 28. Thanks to its low $30 price tag, Mac users are pouncing on it. But a nearly 20% percent adoption rate is fast — by anyone’s standards.

Net Applications estimates market share by measuring the number of visits to a network of sites, recording things like browser and operating system. According to the firm, about 1% of all computer users are currently running Snow Leopard. The firm estimates that 5% of computer users worldwide are Mac users, which means about 18% of Mac users are running Snow Leopard.

On interesting thing to note is the peak in Mac users during weekends. Presumably, people are surfing on PCs at work during the week, and using a Mac at home over the weekend.

Via MacRumors.

All Power Pro is a cool battery meter for the iPhone/Touch that displays your battery level as an animated plasma engine.

The amount of plasma in the window indicates the amount of juice in your battery pack. Double-tap the screen for the actual percentage of charge. The plasma flows with gravity or tap the screen to watch little plasma explosions. It also estimates how much juice you’ve got left for talking, listening to music, or surfing the web.

Very cool idea to turn something mundane into something clever by putting a new interface on it. Here it is in action.

Available from the App Store for $0.99c.

When we think of wooden music devices, our memories go back to the hulking consoles that created mellow tones. You’d think that today’s release by iFrogz of their wooden EarPollution Timbre earbuds would be just as warm and fuzzy – and if you did, you would be wrong.

The $50 earbuds practically fell apart in the hands of Gadget Labs’ reviewer Charlie Sorrel, who told readers the earbuds produced harsh sounds and music akin to listening to your playlist over the telephone.

The video above shows why tablet computers are so exciting. Using your fingers to directly manipulate objects onscreen (as opposed to hitting radio buttons with a stylus pen) is clearly a powerful and intuitive way to interact with our machines.

The video shows a demo of BumpTop, a 3D desktop overlay for Windows 7. As you’ll see, it makes the computer desktop just like a real physical desktop. It’s pretty magical. Just look at the way photos are cropped — by chopping them with your finger!

BumpTop’s blog has more details about the specific gestures.

If this is what can be done on Windows, I can’t wait to see what Apple’s got up its sleeve.

Greenpeace has given Apple a “pat on the back” for last week’s publication of a detailed breakdown of its greenhouse gas emissions.

The environmental group also credits Apple for being ahead of the industry in removing toxins from its products. While Apple eliminated poisonous chemicals from its entire product line about a year ago, other companies are lagging.

Despite the praise, Apple got a middling score in the latest edition of Greenpeace’s quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics, which ranks tech companies according to their green initiatives, such as cutting emmissions and removing harmful materials.

Apple sits in the middle of the pack of 18 tech companies, well behind the leader, Nokia, but Greenpeace acknowledges the guide went to press before Apple published its environmental report.

“We went to press before Apple’s updated environmental information was published last week but the welcome news of their transparency about greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental disclosures will be factored in to the next edition. Apple can justly pat itself on the back for listening to their customers who asked for greener gadgets. And all you Apple users should pat yourselves on the back for asking.”

The group also praised Hewlett-Packard for attempts to eliminate toxins and releasing a computer that is virtually free of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride, or vinyl plastic) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Earlier this year, Greenpeace launched a HP=”Hazardous Products” campaign against the company, pressuring it to match Apple.

“HP has made the first step in catching up with Apple, which eliminated these materials from its entire product line almost a year ago, and now puts pressure squarely on HP’s competitors to put more products on the market that are cleaner and safer,” the group says.

Greenpeace saved its greatest praise for consumers who pressure companies to be greener. “The big points go to activist consumers for proving once again that public pressure creates positive change.”

Greenpeace’s August 2006 Guide to Greener Electronics is here.

Publishing house Simon & Schuster  just launched a new product dubbed “vook,”  a dumb name for what sounds like a smart video book.

The idea? Vooks blend text and video into a reading and viewing experience, so the next time you’re not really getting a sense of place from a novel, or want to see how exercises are done you can watch a video. It’s also got all of the social media trappings, so you can discuss, rant etc. about the vook, (pronounced to ryhme with book), too.

The first four titles, available for $4.99  each on iTunes, are workout book “The 90-Second Fitness Revolution,” a book of DIY spa treatments called “Return to Beauty,” a thriller by Richard Doetsch called “Embassy” and romance novella “Promises.”

Deals on MacBook Pro laptops keep landing on our desk – and we keep passing them on to you. This week’s cage fight is between the mothership herself and ExperCom. While ExperCom’s offer has more power under the hood (2.93GHz versus Apple’s 2.66 GHz alternative), Cupertino appears to lead in variety. For discount shoppers, we have a battle between Mac Mall’s 75% off and PC Micro Store’s 50% off on iPhone accessories. Finally, we round out the top tier with a smattering of cases and assorted equipment.

For details on these and other bargains (like App Store price drops), head over to CoM’s Daily Deals page.

With over 75 gazillion apps in the iTunes App Store now having generated more than Umpteen billion downloads, it might seem a tad preposterous to try and pick the 10 with the most beautiful GUIs.

But we’ve never let being a tad preposterous stop us before and we’re not saying these are the 10 most beautiful apps in the App Store — we’re just saying these 10 are beautiful. In almost every case, too, they have other redeeming features that make them worth checking out if you don’t have them already.

And don’t forget to let us know in comments if you’ve found something useful and beautiful that we may have missed here.

Classics — $2.99

Classics is the, uh, classic reader app that lets you experience some of the greatest works of literature ever produced — in a digital format that’s so natural and so obvious, it just feels right. Meticulous care has been given to the typography and illustration of works such as Alice in Wonderland, The Art of War, Paradise Lost and many more, with sensual touches like realistic 3D page flips, a satin bookmark to remember where you left off reading and a beautiful woodgrain bookcase to store your collection.

In a sign that Apple is perhaps distancing itself from Google, the Cupertino company has bought a mapping startup.

In July, Apple bought the Los Angeles mapping startup Placebase, Seth Wientraub reports at Computerworld.

Placebase offered a sophisticated mapping application and API called Pushpin, which can create rich, detailed maps from all kinds of public and private data sets — much more than Google. See the example above, which shows gas stations and auto service shops in the L.A. area.

Steve Jobs has always said he likes to control the primary technology in his devices. Can he be preparing to move away from Google, especially its Mapping app, which is behind some of the iPhone’s primary functions and underlies new mapping features in iPhoto?

As Weintraub notes, Apple has been fighting with Google lately over the Google Voice app, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt quit Apple’s board to avoid conflicts of interest.

Is the Google/Apple rift deepening?

Entrepreneur Peter Collingridge, founder of Enhanced Editions, an experimental ebook publisher that’s just put out Nick Cave’s The Death of Bunny Munro as an iPhone app, thinks it unlikely Apple is trying to “redefine publishing” as recent reports have suggested.

“Whilst I’d love it if Apple were looking at doing exactly this, I find it unlikely,” he says.

But Collingridge does think there’s huge opportunity in reinventing the ebooks as “digital books,” and that Apple’s tablet presents some interesting UI opportunities.

The latest release into the already crowded market of iPod/iPhone holders is the StandHear Travel Stand & Headphone Splitter from Agent 18.

The compact, fold-out case allows you to support your iPod/iPhone at four different viewing angles, leaving your hands free to do whatever they might need to be doing whilst watching your favorite movie or reviewing por… er, important documents.

As Brian Lam on Gizmodo today says about Apple “redefining print” for its upcoming tablet, it’s all about the content.

If Apple has learned anything from the iPod, it’s that a modern consumer electronic device is a three-legged stool: hardware, software, and media that fills it.

Apple doesn’t want to launch a tablet without media to consume on it. This is the mistake Apple made with the Apple TV: It’s a great piece of hardware and software, but the content isn’t there yet (especially the paucity of Hollywood movies).

So Steve has set out to persuade publishing houses, magazine companies and textbook publishers to make interactive books and magazines that make sense on an interactive, multitouch device. Here’s the key paragraph from Lam’s story:

“Some I’ve talked to believe the initial content will be mere translations of text to tablet form. But while the idea of print on the Tablet is enticing, it’s nothing the Kindle or any E-Ink device couldn’t do. The eventual goal is to have publishers create hybridized content that draws from audio, video and interactive graphics in books, magazines and newspapers, where paper layouts would be static. And with release dates for Microsoft’s Courier set to be quite far away and Kindle stuck with relatively static E-Ink, it appears that Apple is moving towards a pole position in distribution of this next-generation print content. First, it’ll get its feet wet with more basic repurposing of the stuff found on dead trees today.”

But what might this “hybrid content” look like?

One clue comes from Enhanced Editions, a U.K. startup founded by former-book industry executives that seeks to marry technology with traditional print publishing. “We have long-since seen the destiny of the latter bound to its embrace of the former,” the company says.

One of the dumbest decisions Apple made regarding iPhone and iPod touch is devices wiping all traces of an app when it’s deleted, but providing no means for saving preferences and progress. Unless you use an uninstaller to remove an app or game from your Mac, you can usually pick up where you left off after a reinstall; savvy Mac owners can also fiddle around with preferences, moving them between Macs to ensure consistency across machines in app environments or videogame progress.

iPhone and iPod touch don’t allow such things. Spend hours making headway in Peggle and then, for whatever reason, delete and reinstall Peggle (by accident, or through having a restore go wrong), and your progress is gone—you have to start again. It’s like 1980s arcade games after the plug has been pulled, or cheap, miserly Nintendo DS games that lack a battery back-up in the cartridge, erasing progress and high scores when the device is powered down. For a platform Apple’s pushing as the best solution for handheld gaming, it’s asinine that you cannot export and import videogame progress and save states.

There is a workaround, however, using the shareware app MobileSyncBrowser, but it’s not for the faint-hearted…

iHome combines the common iPhone doc and the ubiquitous iPod alarm clock into the iP88, a dual dock for both the iPhone and iPod that also serves as a customized alarm clock. The $150 simultaneous charging unit is the result of iHome’s understanding that “many households have multiple iPhones, iPods and docking stations,” the company said upon announcing the start of shipping.

There is a parallel with the cell phone. Initially, mobile phones were not that common, so one family could do with a single charging station. Eventually, multiple cell phones with accompanying chargers resembled a tangled snakes nest of cords and plugs. The result: companies created charging stations where multiple phones could reside.

But multiple docking is not all the iP88 offers. Along with convenient charging, you can customize how you awake: either with a selection from your iPod’s playlist, a tune from the AM/FM radio, or a buzzer. Along with the Reson8 stereo speakers, the unit comes with a remote control.

The alarm clock portion of the iP88 is what makes it stand out from the crowd of other dual docking station, such as the Gigaware model we featured earlier this week.

[Via iHome]

This an ad mock-up from Moscow agency Doberman Studio has me plenty confused.  Sure,  the sleek, round lines of the Mac Mighty Mouse might induce one to think it feminine.

Or is it some kind of commentary on gay marriage — i.e. did Mickey fall for the cartoon Mighty Mouse?

In the second version, cartoon mouse Jerry also falls prey to the seductive powers of the Mighty Mouse.

If you have a yen for MacBooks, we have two offers competing for attention. Both are 13-inch Core 2 machines. If you’re all set for hardware, Apple is pushing its Apps and iTunes wares. Finally, there are price cuts on cases – as much as 85 percent off.

For details on these and other items, check on CoM’s Daily Deals page.

Europe’s Alpine glaciers are going fast — some reports have them washed away by 2050.

To stop them, some Alpine regions have tried gimmicks like heat-reflecting blankets, but the Swiss region of Jungfrau is banking on an iPhone app to raise awareness.

Developed by the University of Berne’s Institute for Climate Change, the Jungfrau Climate Guide app, also available on iTunes, shows hikers where the effects of climate change are already visible and what scientists know about the subject.

For years, people used to bash Macs by noting the absence of what was viewed to be an absolute essential application. Though there’s still a hold-out or two (we’re still waiting for AutoCAD for Mac, despite hints to the contrary), things are much better these days.

No application, perhaps, embodies this change more than Intuit’s QuickBooks. The company abandoned support for business accounting software package on the Mac in 1997, then pushed out a superficial and generally disappointing port for OS X in 2003. But things started to look up three years ago with QuickBooks 2007 for Mac, the first Mac-like QuickBooks release in almost a decade.

Intuit’s newfound commitment to the platform continues with this morning’s announcement of QuickBooks 2010 for Mac (out in late October for $200), which uses signature OS X UI elements to create a more intuitive accounting experience.I had the chance to observe the software in action yesterday, and there’s a lot to be impressed by. Read on to learn more.

Finally, the team at Dropbox have released a native iPhone app. And it’s pretty awesome.