Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen  Apple's January event is slated for the 26th of that month, an alleged leak maintains today. The firm is believed to have rented out the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco to unveil a "major" product on January 26th. It would also have access to the small theater for "several days," most likely for Steve Jobs or other Apple executives to conduct final rehearsals in advance of the actual presentation....
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Lifehacker - The iPhone is the most popular cellphone in the country, and with good reason. Despite occasionally awful choices by Apple, it still has the most&mdas...  
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen  Big change in TV distribution is in the wind, if the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on Apple’s “all you can eat” iTunes television plan is true. According to the WSJ, CBS and Disney are considering allowing their entire television lineup to be sold on a single-fee, all-access subscription basis. Consumers will love this, but many traditional cable companies will probably feel as though Apple shoved coal in their stockings.
Apple’s subscription strategy makes the most sense when viewed alongside the introduction of a larger screen iPod device. Some will buy the “ iPod Tablet” because it’s new and exciting, but at an average of $25 or more per season per show, iTunes as it currently exists won’t be replacing your cable company anytime soon. However, with a network-wide subscription service, the balance changes.
More devices means the same content in more places for the same monthly fee. Your Apple TV becomes the digital hub Steve always imagined it to be and, hopefully, gets upgraded by Apple to handle it’s new role as a set-top box. Your iPod Tablet becomes your TV anywhere device; not as good as your home TV, but much better than your iPhone.
Back in June, I wrote how cable companies and Apple were on a collision course, and the WSJ’s article only reinforces the points I made then. It’s not just cable companies of course; DirecTV, AT&T Uverse and other traditional media distribution companies will feel just as threatened. Cable companies, though, are the most established in the field and have the most to lose. Combined free HD over-the-air local broadcasts and a iTunes network subscription for premium content, and Apple really starts looking like a spoiler to Comcast and the like.
Cable companies bundle content to increase revenue. Subscribers can’t... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Tuesday, 08 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen  Apple has posted iTunes Rewind 2009, a section on the iTunes Store drawing attention to the year's bestsellers in apps, music and video, as well material considered genuinely superior by Apple staff. Top sellers at the App Store include titles like Flight Control, Oregon Trail, Textfree Unlimited and MLB.com at Bat. The best-rated apps, conversely, include ones like ReelDirector, SketchBook Mobile and Jamie Oliver's 20 Minute Meals....
Monday, 07 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen MagicPrefs 1.1  MagicPrefs is a toolbar application for OS X which aims to improve the functionality and configuration options of the Apple Magic Mouse.
It features the ability to bind a variable number of finger clicks and taps to functions like Middle Click , Hold Down Both Mouse Buttons , Spaces , Expose, Dashboard etc.
Tap Sensitivity implements a advanced algorythm that impacts a number of factors used to determine taps , all controllable by a single slider.
Tracking Speed adds the ability to increase the maximum available speed by a extra 25%.
And to top it all off it features a real-time display of the fingers touching the surface of the mouse that you can enable to test and monitor the way the mouse sees your input. WHAT'S NEW Version 1.1: Added presets. REQUIREMENTS Mac OS X 10.5 or later Apple Magic Mouse. PRICE Free DEVELOPER DOWNLOADS 756 
Monday, 07 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Monday, 30 November 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
That new Macbook sitting in the box, all wrapped up, never filled you with so much excitement, and you're the one giving the gift. Apple's computers iPods and iPhones all come with the promise of empowerment and enjoyment as big as one's imagination.
Maybe your loved one is planning to do their homework in style and turn in outstanding school projects. Maybe they're a son or daughter heading off to college. Or perhaps they're a mum or dad that can't wait to turn those digital photos and movies into a glossy book or family DVD. Whether it's leisure or work, organising or theorising, chances are they're going to need some guidance.
An hour introducing your family or friend to their new Apple may make a huge difference in their enjoyment of the product. At their convenience, in the comfort of their home, they can receive tution and troubleshooting from someone who's concientious, experienced and passionate about Apple's products.
Order a Gift Certificate now, and we'll mail it to you in time for the holidays. They're perfect for kick-starting those plans once the New Year rolls around.
Orders are currently by phone or email. Please do not send credit card information via email, you will be contacted.
The bearer is entitled to complimentary in-home support, tutoring or consultation to the value indicated on the certificate. A minimum of 1 hour per home visit until depleted. In-home service hours are restricted between 6:30pm and 9pm weekdays, 9am to 9pm weekends. Service outside of North and West Vancouver and within Greater Vancouver, will incur a half-hour travel time per visit deductible from the value of the gift certificate. Only remote tutoring and support is available outside of the Greater Vancouver area. Certificate expiration is one year from the date of purchase. Examples of use are as follows, but not limited to: PC to Mac migration, multi-Macintosh installations, integrated home network design, family-wide connectivity planning, iPhone and iPod synchronization, home wireless network setup, software installation, data-loss prevention strategies and setup.
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen
New Apple Mouse features innovative Multi-Touch technology. While Apple excels at creating best-in-category hardware and software, every time the company has unleashed a new mouse, well…let’s just say that their rodentia haven’t lived up to the Apple name. And sometimes their mice have just plain sucked. But now with the Magic Mouse, which brings Multi-Touch technology to the desktop, Apple has created an input device a bit more worthy of its pedigree.
Every previous Apple-branded mouse had tried to change the mousing game with innovative new features. So does the Magic Mouse, but this time Apple has succeeded, at least to some degree. The mouse is smooth and buttonless and could easily be mistaken for a piece of modern art, if not for the Apple logo on top. But make no mistake: All the usual mouse controls are available. You get two “invisible” mousing buttons (similar to the Mighty Mouse), with which you can scroll up and down, left and right, and even in 360-degree rotations.  Two rails run the length of the mouse on the bottom, alleviating the filth buildup found on other desktop rodents.Even without the tactile feel of an actual scrollwheel, you quickly get used to swiping your finger down the middle of the mouse. In fact, you can use nearly the entire surface, swiping from the very upper tip of the mouse to the top of the Apple logo at the bottom of the mouse. Couple that with the momentum feature, which matches the speed of scrolling to the speed of your swipes, and you’ll even find yourself working more quickly. We’re guessing that Apple considers the “money” feature to be the two-finger swipe, which lets you navigate through websites and photo galleries one page or image at a time, the same as you would with your MacBook’s trackpad. The... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Friday, 27 November 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >>
This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends, iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air The sust-it website, which provides rankings of energy usage and annual energy cost for thousands of appliances, home entertainment devices, and computers, has announced that Apple's Mac mini fills the top four spots for the most efficient desktop computer in their latest listing. The 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac mini is at the top of the chart, sipping just .94W when turned off (power still goes to circuits monitoring the power status of the computer), 1.71W when in sleep mode, and just 12.6W when turned on but in an idle mode. sust-it calculated the energy cost per year for the mini (without a monitor, of course) as US$5.51 when calculated with the average US electrical rate. It's interesting to note that this model is no longer produced by Apple, and that the new 2.26 GHz mini is even more energy efficient. Apple's own environmental report for the mini shows that the revised model uses only .80W when turned off, 1.39W in sleep mode, but 13.4W while in idle mode. Not surprisingly, other Apple models were near the top of the charts in both the laptop and all-in-one computer categories. The 1.86 GHz MacBook Air was barely edged out of first place in the laptop category by the HP Pavilion DM3. Although the two laptops had identical annual energy costs (US$2.39), the HP model had lower sleep and off power consumption than the MBA. In the all-in-one category, the top iMac came in 6th behind eMachines, Acer, Asus, and MSI all-in-ones. Although the sust-it site is citing an iMac model that is no longer produced, even the new iMacs would be a bit behind the list-leading eMachines EZ1601. If the power consumption and CO2 footprint of your computer is of concern... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen 
It’s such an obvious idea it’s amazing it didn’t happen sooner. Wired reports that Apple has teamed up with promoter Live Nation to bring Live music to its iTunes Store.
The reason for the delay is the tremendous difficulty getting all the required signatures on all the dotted lines. For each live performance to be made available to consumers, the performers, their management companies, record labels, venue management, promoters and countless others must have forged some sort of agreement deemed of value to them all. That’s far from easy, but it helps if you happen to own the venues; Wired’s Eliot Van Buskirk says that Apple and Live Nation are the owners of the more than 80 venues featured in the collection of live shows.
While Apple has made live performances available in the iTunes Store in the past, they was never marshaled together into one single place and made so easily searchable. As you’d expect, it’s possible to search the Live music by genre and artist, but it’s also possible to search by venue. Flagship Apple Stores are often the venues for intimate live shows and they’re now just a click away; Montreal, Sydney, London and New York’s SOHO stores are just a few of the locations in the list. (The mind boggles at the legal wrangling that must have taken place to clear the worldwide rights for those performances…)
A section is also reserved for highlighting iPhone apps that also deliver, or are connected with, Live music.
The content isn’t just reserved for music, either. Videos of Live performances are also available, and as you probably guessed already, do cost a bit more than music alone. Concert videos start at $8 and go as high as $13 while straight audio shows are usually in the $8 range.
I’d have thought this universally good... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
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The iPhone owner on your list loves her iPhone. Really loves it. Become an enabler and give her the gifts she really wants. Here are five great gifts for the iPhone owner.
