Bites from the Apple: Catching Up

After being away from the gadgetosphere the past couple of weeks (traveling the vast expanse of this country to visit family and then deal with unexpected family health emergencies), I'm just starting to dip my toes back into the waters of Apple-y goodness. So let's get down to it...

• First, some sad news: no new hardware releases from Apple this year. That means iMacs won't be refreshed with new processors until at least January 6, when the Macworld conference keynote takes place.

• And, fingers crossed, that's where and when we'll get an update to the Mac mini, which has been rumored to be on death's door recently but seems to be making a recovery. According to AppleInsider, a distraught mini fan sent an email to Mac hardware engineering chief Bob Mansfield to express his displeasure. Surprisingly, he got a phone call from another Apple executive telling him that the mini wasn't dead and that he should have patience. I must say, my Core Solo-powered mini is starting to feel vastly underpowered these days, and I'll patiently hold the line as well.

• Steve Jobs also returned to the customer service arena this week, emailing a new MacBook owner who seems to be one of many having trouble with the buttonless trackpad with one of his characteristic one-line responses: "Software fix coming soon." Also, check out these multi-touch tips for the new MacBooks from TUAW.

• The very first Apple Computer sign with the company's initial rainbow logo is up on the auction block, with final bids expected between $15,000 and $20,000 (via AppleInsider).

  

• After much kvetching, it looks like AT&T will make an official iPhone tethering solution available sooner than later. If you're not hip to the lingo, "tethering" refers to the ability to connect your laptop to the Inter-tubes using your phone's 3G connection. Previously, it's only been available to those who have jailbroken their iPhones. Jason O' Grady over at The Apple Core writes of his recent experience with the PDAnet application for JB'd phones, which has its pluses and minuses (easy set-up, quick iPhone battery drain).

• Does your new MacBook or MacBook Pro not feel quick and nimble enough? Even if you've maxed out the official 4 GB RAM capacity, it looks like both models can handle up to 6 GB (via MacRumors and TidBITS).

• If you're about to build your own iPhone-formatted web site, check out these lessons learned by the Flickr team when developing its iPhone portal.

• The iPhone Atlas blog reports that the next version of the iPhone software (2.2) looks to include over-the-air downloads of podcasts, which may explain why Apple previously rejected the Podcaster iPhone app, which enabled you to download podcasts directly an iPhone/iPod touch.

• Lifehacker has a rundown of some of the more popular task management iPhone apps, including Remember the Milk (which requires a $25 annual Pro account subscription) and the barebones To Do's. Unfortunately, the article doesn't cover OmniFocus, the task manager that I finally settled on. It's certainly not for everyone, as it's tailored to folks who are very serious about managing to-dos using the Getting Things Done (GTD) philosophy. It's also rather cost-prohibitive, as the iPhone app and the desktop software will set you back about 100 clams. But, cost aside, I've been very happy with my investment. Getting used to the GTD way of task management was a bit of a learning curve, but I've now gotten to the point where I've added some of my own methodologies to the template and am a better task hound for it.

• The iPhone doesn't do voice dialing natively, but Wired's Gadget Lab reports the new Say Who app "recognizes voice commands and dials a number accordingly. It's as simple as holding down the "Press while speaking" button and dictating a name or phone number. Once you release the button, the app dials away."

• Jason O'Grady at The Apple Core points us to the Briefcase iPhone app, which "allows you to quickly download any type of file to your iPhone and it requires no cables, client software, network set up, and no typing IP addresses. The iPhone's built-in file viewer allows it to view (but not edit) Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Word, Excel, MP3, M4V, and PDF files." It comes in two versions--a free Briefcase Lite version and a $4.99 full version that looks to add SSH connection support.

• And finally, check out this demonstration of Ocarina, the first and only app that transforms the iPhone into an expressive musical wind instrument (via Cult of Mac).

  The app synthesizes sound in real-time, just like a regular instrument, based on actual gestures including wind input, tilt, and finger placement over the four holes overlaid on the multi-touch pad. Unlike other iPhone audio apps, the sound is not pre-compiled but is generated by the notes, gestures and nuance of the individual performer. As a result, it allows an iPhone user to explore and master the musical sounds of an entirely iPhone-native version of an ancient flute-like instrument.

• One more thing... don't stop believin'... in Journey, that is. According to Hypebot, it seems that the timeless power ballad "has become the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history and the sole catalog track to go double platinum" (that'd be 2 million digital downloads).

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Comments

[John B. Kendrick on November 08, 2008 at 04:45 AM]

Congrats on a great post. This was a great update on the latest news from Apple, and I loved it.

BTW, regarding GTD I used and taught Covey and Daytimer for many years before reading David Allen's GTD book and switching to GTD. Its made a significant impact for the good on my business and personal productivity.

And I found an application that allows me to view my entire GTD at work on my Win machine, at home on my Macs and even on my cell phone. And another app lets me call in tasks to my GTD without any writing or typing, great for those thoughts that hit me while driving.

I've written about my experiences with GTD at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com/how-to-gtd/ John

[SteveR on November 08, 2008 at 01:32 PM]

Instalanche!