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Filed under: OS Updates, Hardware, Apple

Atom support back in Mac OS X, Hackintosh netbooks not dead after all

by Jay Hathaway Nov 5th 2009

We recently reported some bad news for Hackintosh enthusiasts: Apple's upcoming OS update, OS X 10.6.2, had removed support for Intel Atom processors. None of Apple's hardware uses Atom, but some of the most popular netbooks do, so that news affected a big chunk of the unauthorized OS X installs out there. With the latest developer build of 10.6.2, though, Apple seems to have flip-flopped and reintroduced Atom support.

A couple of possible explanations come to mind: removing Atom support could have been a bug, or it could have been an intentional, yet temporary, measure. On the other hand, maybe flipping the Atom switch back on is temporary. We really don't know, because Apple hasn't commented. The company is notorious for taking measures to keep its OS running exclusive on Macintosh hardware, so this could still go either way. For now, though, enjoy having a netbook with the very latest build of OS X

[via Engadget]

Tags: apple, atom, hackintosh, intel atom, IntelAtom, netbook, os x 10.6.2, OsX10.6.2

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Productivity, Apple, Microsoft

iWork files are really just zip files, and contain PDF previews

WindowsMacby Jason Clarke Nov 1st 2009

iWork 09Have you ever received an iWork file created in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote on a Mac, and not had any way to deal with it? Next time, try changing the file's extension to .zip, then unzip it with your favorite zip utility. Inside you should find a PDF preview document containing a nicely formatted version of the document in question.

It seems strange that Apple doesn't promote this fact more, as it's a real usability win for iWork users that want to share their documents with non-Mac users. Wouldn't it be nice if Word, Excel, and Powerpoint did this?

[photo by *keng]

Tags: apple, document, formatted version, formatted-version, FormattedVersion, iwork, mac, pdf, usability, zip, zip-utility

Filed under: OS Updates, Utilities, Apple

Windows 7 will (officially) work in Apple's Boot Camp before 2010

by Jay Hathaway Oct 22nd 2009

Intrepid Boot Camp users have found ways to run Windows 7 on their Macs, but Apple hasn't officially supported their efforts thus far. With the release of Windows 7 today, Apple has announced official Boot Camp support is on the way, and plans to release an update before the end of the year. The update may be Snow Leopard only, however, and won't work on some older Intel Macs.

As MacRumors notes, there are already alternative ways to run Windows 7 on a Mac. You can go the virtual machine route with Parallels which supports 32-bit Windows 7, or wait a week for the newest version of VMWare Fusion, which will support 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the OS.

[via Engadget]

Tags: apple, boot camp, BootCamp, os x, OsX, windows 7, Windows7

Filed under: Mozilla, iPhone, Browsers

Mozilla getting ready to roll the dice on Weave for the iPhone?

by Lee Mathews Oct 19th 2009

Om Malik waxed poetic over the weekend about a chat he had with Mozilla CEO John Lilly. Among the topics that came up: a Mozilla submission to Apple's App Store.

Don't go getting all excited about a Fennec port for the iPhone. We're all well aware of Apple's stance on apps that compete with duplicate functionality of their own apps or offer choice "potential confusion for users." Fennec most certainly would stomp all over Safari's toes, so that's pretty well out.

Malik mentioned something based on Weave as a possibility, and he received a Nudge-Nudge style knowing grin from the Mozilla crew. Could it be true? Is Weave about to run the gauntlet that is Apple's approval process?

While it's a sync app and might step on MobileMe's toes ever so slightly, Weave for the iPhone should be able to wrangle an approval. After all, the only functionality they would likely share is bookmark syncing.

And what about Apple preferring not to let app out of the sandbox? Vic and I kicked this around, and a simple Safari-based front end to your Weave data in the cloud could very well be a workable solution. Mozilla's actual plan remains a mystery for now.

While I'm sure all Firefox fanatics with an iPhone are pulling for Mozilla, we probably shouldn't hold our breath. Apple's rejected plenty of apps on fairly tenuous grounds before, after all.

Tags: app-store, apple, fennec, firefox, iphone, mozilla, weave

Filed under: Business, Apple, Google

iPhone Maps app now showing "sponsored links"

by Jay Hathaway Oct 5th 2009

It's no secret that Google's in the ad business, but it looks like they've snuck ads into an unexpected place: the Maps app on the iPhone. Maps is powered by Google - for now, anyway, because Apple has purchased its own map company, PlaceBase - and so Google has the ability to drop "Sponsored Links" into the system. You might not see them everywhere, but you can test for yourself by searching for things like food, sushi, and diners in NYC. You'll see some automatically highlighted results pop up, marked as sponsored.

None of the sources writing about this development seem to know whether Apple is getting a cut of the profit from these advertising placements, but Apple and Google have a complicated relationship. Although it's tempting to think that Google is trying to be pesky to Apple on the iPhone because Apple rejected the iPhone version Google Voice, I suspect there's something more going on. For now, though, we'll have to wait for one of the companies to comment, and see what Apple does with PlaceBase.


[via The Apple Blog]

Tags: apple, google, iphone, maps

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Filed under: Audio, Windows, Apple

iTunes 9 continues to suck on Windows, makes halfhearted attempt at Windows 7 integration

Windowsby Lee Mathews Sep 12th 2009


I make no bones about the fact that I'm not an iTunes fan. With Apple's usual trumpeting of a new release of version 9, I was hopeful that things might be different this time around.

Really, we all know better. Apple apps on the Windows platform are kind of like that Christmas present in the fancy wrapping that turns out to be a pair of work socks or plain white briefs.

So off I went to download yet another 80+ megabytes of upgrade. You know, because Apple also hasn't figured out how to do modest, intelligent updates (a la Google Chrome or a dozen other apps). After I'd given up 110 megs of disk space to iTunes 9, here's what I was rewarded with on my Windows 7 laptop.

Jumplist: the Windows default options are there, i.e. songs can be pinned to open in iTunes, but that's thanks to Windows 7. What did Apple themselves integrate? Two links to the iTunes store so we can more easily spend money on fart apps and soundboards. No recently played items, no playlists, nada.

Taskbar preview: Album artwork? Nope. Progress indicator? Nope. Previous, Play/Pause, and Next buttons and a balloon with the current track's title, artist, and album name.

This is the best Apple can do? It's not even close to as slick as what this independent developer knocked together for Foobar2000. Feel free to share your take on iTunes 9 for Windows in the comments.

Tags: apple, itunes, jumplists, shell integration, ShellIntegration, suck, windows 7, Windows7

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Filed under: Apple, Mobile

Updating your iPod Touch to OS 3.1 - now 50% cheaper!

by Paul O'Brien Sep 11th 2009

It might not have been worthy of a mention at Apple's iPod extravaganza, but owners of existing iPod Touch models running 2.x software will be pleased to hear that the update to OS version 3.1 has been slashed in price by 50%!

The update previously retailed at $9.95 and can now be purchased for $4.95 - UK users now pay £2.99 instead of £6.99.

Version 3.1 includes genius mixes, genius recommendations for apps, peer-to-peer gaming, spotlight search, A2DP Bluetooth stereo and a whole bunch of fixes. Of course, if you haven't made the jump to a 3.x release at all yet there has never been a better time to do so - the major 3.0 update added copy and paste, a landscape keyboard and much more.

You can read more about the update at the Apple site and purchase the update itself from within iTunes.

Now, while the price drop is undoubtedly a good thing, many Apple critics argue (quite rightly in my opinion) that the update should not be chargeable in the first place. A number of the features in the new release actually have the potential to increase Apple's revenue from the device (such as genius recommendations for apps), so arguably it would be in Apple's interest to make the update completely free.

If you've not made the jump yet, does the new price point of the update tempt you?

Tags: apple, ipod, ipod touch, IpodTouch

Filed under: Web services, Search

uQuery: search the iTunes app store ... without iTunes

by Jay Hathaway Sep 10th 2009

If you're curious about iPhone apps, but you either hate iTunes or just hate the hassle of downloading and installing it, you're in luck. uQuery is an app store search engine with no iTunes required. Even if you do have Apple's proprietary music software installed, sometimes its built-in app store search can be frustrating to use. uQuery gives you more control over your search results.

Granted, not too many iPhone owners are going to be without iTunes (although maybe you don't have it on every computer you own), so the better search results are uQuery's biggest draw. You can quickly filter apps by price, category, and when they were added to the store. Unfortunately, you still iTunes to buy the apps, but at least uQuery helps you find them.

[via AppScout]

Tags: app store, apple, apps, AppStore, iphone, search, uquery

Filed under: Audio, Apple

iTunes 9: no social networking, plenty of new features, breaks Palm Pre sync

by Jay Hathaway Sep 9th 2009

I guess those leaked iTunes 9 screenshots were fake after all. Apple has just released the latest version and, while it doesn't include the Facebook integration we were speculating about, there are some major improvements to syncing, the iTunes Music Store, and Genius. For iPod Touch and iPhone users, the biggest new feature is the ability to organize your apps and create custom home screens from within iTunes. We'll have a detailed look at these features soon, but here are the basics:

Syncing

If you have more than one computer on your home network, you can now share your iTunes library with up to 5 other machines. Previously, you could view and play music from shared libraries, but now you can import songs from other authorized machines, and play your purchased music on any of them.

The Music Store

The iTunes Music Store has gotten a nice facelift, and is now a bit easier to navigate. The big news is that both music and movies now have extras. New iTunes LPs feature album artwork, liner notes, videos and more, putting a digital spin on the gatefold covers from LPs of yore (do most iTunes customers even remember vinyl?). Movies also come with extras now, which should attract a few customers who held off making the switch from DVD because of the bonus features.

Read more →

Tags: apple, audio, itunes, itunes 9, Itunes9

Filed under: Audio, Apple, iPhone

Apple approves Spotify streaming music app for iPhone

by Jay Hathaway Aug 28th 2009

In a move that might have come as a surprise to some, Apple has approved an iPhone app from streaming music service Spotify. Spotify hasn't come to the US yet, but it's taking Europe by storm, and making more money for labels than the iTunes store in some countries. That's why there was some uncertainty that Apple would approve an app that seems like a strong competitor to its own music service. However, Spotify is reporting that they've been in communication with Apple and heard that their app will make it into the store.

What makes Spotify better than its streaming competitors is the ability to cache tracks into a playlist for offline listening. It's not the same thing as downloading them from a music store, but Spotify's subscription model is clearly very attractive, considering its popularity in the parts of the world where it's launched so far. The next test is whether Spotify makes it to the US in time to gain an advantage over competitors like Grooveshark and Rhapsody, both of which have submitted iPhone apps to the store.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Tags: apple, iphone, music, spotify, streaming

Filed under: Apple, iPhone

TUAW gets its own iPhone app!

by Jay Hathaway Aug 28th 2009

Our sister site, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (aka TUAW) just made a move that I think is perfectly fitting for a blog about all things Apple: they've launched a free iPhone app. The TUAW app is like the TUAW RSS feed on steroids, offering all of the site's content, categories and selected galleries, in one slick little package. There's even a built-in mini browser, so you don't have to jump back and forth to Safari.

The TUAW app also allows you to bookmark articles for online or offline viewing, which makes it every bit as good as reading TUAW in your RSS application. It's better, even, because the TUAW app plays videos inline. And, because those TUAW kids really believe in their content, the app makes it absurdly easy to share interesting TUAW posts on Digg, Twitter and Facebook. What more could a Mac fanatic ask for?

Tags: apple, iphone, theunofficialappleweblog, TUAW

Filed under: OS Updates, Apple, Mobile

Apple cuts off Palm OS syncing in Snow Leopard

by Jay Hathaway Aug 28th 2009

Snow Leopard, the next generation of Apple's OS X operating system, is ushering out a lot of old technology. It's the first version of OS X that won't run on a PowerPC processor, and now Apple has announced that it will no longer sync with Palm OS devices.

While this might look like a slap in the face to Palm after Apple blocked the Palm Pre from sneakily syncing with iTunes earlier this summer, it's probably unrelated and unsurprising.

Palm OS is being phased out, and the Pre doesn't run it - it uses WebOS - so this is hardly a move by Apple to hurt an iPhone competitor. In fact, Apple had to write a Palm syncing feature into its own iSync software because Palm stopped updating its sync app for the Mac.

If you're still using a Palm Centro or Treo, you might have to look for some third-party sync options, but this doesn't affect Pre users.

Tags: apple, os x 10.6, OsX10.6, palm, palm os, PalmOs, snow leopard, SnowLeopard, sync

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Filed under: Business, News, Apple, Google, iPhone

Apple responds to FCC inquiry about Google Voice rejection

by Jay Hathaway Aug 22nd 2009

After Apple decided not to allow Google's phone app, Google Voice, into its application store, the FCC opened an inquiry into Apple's reasons for rejecting Google Voice, and its notoriously inconsistent app store approval policies. Now, Apple has not only responded to the FCC's questions, but publicly released the response on its website. Here are some of the highlights:
  • Apple claims it didn't reject Google Voice, but continues to study it. The semantic distinction between "rejected" and "not approved" doesn't offer much comfort to Google Voice users who would really like an easy way to use the service from their phones."
  • The reason Google Voice hasn't been approved (yet?) is that "it appears to alter the iPhone's distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone's core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail."
  • AT&T was not at all involved in the decision not to approve Google Voice, Apple says: "Apple is acting alone and has not consulted with AT&T about whether or not to approve the Google Voice application. No contractual conditions or non-contractual understandings with AT&T have been a factor in Apple's decision-making process in this matter."
Although Google Voice isn't a voice-over-IP app, the FCC also asked Apple some questions about those. Apple answered that it does have an agreement with AT&T not to allow apps that can originate VOIP calls using AT&T's network. Apple also appears to be worried that the Google Voice app passed users' contacts from the iPhone's Address Book to Google's servers without alerting users, but I can't imagine too many people who would sign up for a service like Google voice would be worried about that.

The inquiry is still in its early stages, and it's too early to make a good prediction about what will happen. So far, I agree with Daring Fireball's read on the situation: Apple's decision seems to be all about its competitive relationship with Google and maintaining control over the phone experience on its own device.

Tags: apple, ATT, FCC, google, google-voice, inquiry, investigation, iphone

Filed under: Apple, Social Software

Are these iTunes 9 screenshots for real?

by Jay Hathaway Aug 19th 2009

Download Squad isn't the only blog that gets dubious screenshots sent in by anonymous tipsters. Just a couple of weeks after we got some purported screenshots of the Google Chrome OS, gadget blog Boy Genius Report received some unsourced images of Apple's upcoming iTunes 9. Highlights include the Facebook support that blogs have been buzzing about lately, and the ability to sync non-iPod devices.

The screenshots depict a Facebook menu that contains shared playlists, and then a user's Facebook activity stream with a shared item in it from "My iTunes." I'm not sure I wouldn't just block the My iTunes app on Facebook if I started seeing these - hell is other's people's terrible musical tastes, after all - but Apple would inevitably sell more music this way. It's like free advertising for the iTunes store!

There's also a screenshot of a Samsung device apparently syncing in iTunes. Maybe this could be for real, but after killing Palm Pre syncing with the 8.2.1 update, Apple doesn't seem to be two keen on third-party devices working with iTunes. On the other hand, maybe they want compatibility on their own terms, instead of through slightly shady mimicry of iPod device IDs.

What say you, Download Squad readers? Are these screenshots the real deal, or just clever fakes?

Tags: apple, facebook, fake, itunes, itunes-9, screenshots, sync

Filed under: Apple, iPhone, Education

Apple censors iPhone version of Ninjawords dictionary

by Jay Hathaway Aug 6th 2009

The saga of Apple's inexplicable App Store approval policies just got even weirder. This time, a dictionary iPhone app was rejected for containing profanity, and only accepted once a 17+ rating was attached, and the allegedly obscene words were removed from the app. Even more frustrating is that Ninjawords, the censored dictionary, distinguishes itself by using different sources for its definitions than any other app on the store right now. It could have been a great app.

It's true that it's Apple's store, and Apple is allowed to make the rules, but it's hard to see how such a crucial part of the iPhone business can continue to expand with rules so sporadically applied. Developers won't want to develop, for fear of having their apps rejected, or being asked to remove content or functionality before they're allowed into the store. These same arguments come up every time a legitimate-seeming app gets rejected, but Apple really doesn't seem to have learned its lesson: rejecting legitimate apps is bad for everyone involved. Censoring a dictionary to protect readers certainly isn't going to sell any phones.

[via Daring Fireball]

Tags: app-store, apple, dictionary, iphone, ninjawords, rejection

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