Posts Tagged apple
Most Popular How-To Features of 2009 [Best Of 2009]
Posted by vosduholov in Articles, Google, Twitter, apple on December 10th, 2009
We cover a lot of tips every day on Lifehacker, but we get our greatest pleasure from putting together in-depth, step-by-step guides. From Windows 7 to Hackintoshes and beyond, here’s a look back at our most popular how-to features of ‘09. Read the rest of this entry »
VMWare Fusion 3 Makes Running Windows on Mac Almost Fun
Posted by howlPholveled in Articles, Google, apple, microsoft on October 6th, 2009
As we pointed out yesterday, more and more Americans are buying Macs, but going to the iSide doesn’t always mean you can leave Windows behind. Since 2006, every Mac that Apple sells has also had the ability to run Windows using Boot Camp.
However, for most users, the best way of using Windows on a Mac is using a virtualization program like VMWare Fusion, Parallels, or Virtual Box. These programs let you run Windows alongside Mac OS X all on the same machine. Read the rest of this entry »
Snow Leopard shipping August 28th for $29, order now
Well, it’s not September, but we’re not going to hold an early launch of its performance-focused Snow Leopard OS against Apple. The Apple store has come back online bearing an order page for OS X version 10.6 in Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Pro… oh wait, it’s just $29, as an upgrade from 10.5. August 28th, that’s when, now go ‘n get it. Read the rest of this entry »
Get a Mac vs. Laptop Hunters: Which Are the Better Ads?
Posted by Hassan Alsheikh in Articles on July 16th, 2009
It seems that Microsoft’s been turning up the heat on almost all of its big rivals – Microsoft’s new search engine Bing had a strong first month and is giving Google a run for its money with Microsoft Office on the web. And earlier today, we learned that Microsoft’s building retail stores this fall right next to Apple stores.
The icing on the cake for Microsoft this week? It looks like the company’s new “Laptop Hunters” ad campaign struck a nerve with Apple, so much so that it apparently called Microsoft and asked them to stop the ads. So with this new ad campaign gaining traction, we started to wonder which company has the better ads: Apple’s “Get a Mac” ads or Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunters” campaign? We want your vote on the matter.
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Microsoft: Apple Told Us to Cancel the Laptop Hunter Ads
Posted by Hassan Alsheikh in Articles on July 16th, 2009
By this point, 99% of you have probably seen the “Get a Mac” ads where the Mac (Justin Long) proves in 30 seconds how he’s clearly superior to the PC (John Hodgman) in every way. The result: an advertising hit.
For years, Microsoft either never responded or put together ads that didn’t resonate with the public (do you remember those Seinfeld-Gates ads from last year? Yeah, I’ve tried to block those out too). However, its most recent ad campaign, “Laptop Hunters,” has been gaining traction.
In fact, it’s been so effective that apparently Apple’s legal department called Microsoft and asked them to stop running the ads.
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Apple Tablet Coming in October?
Posted by Hassan Alsheikh in Articles on July 13th, 2009
The Apple tablet is much like the Loch ness Monster, frequently talked about with no real proof of its existence.
Well, The China Times is now reporting that the oft-rumored Apple tablet isn’t just coming out someday – but it’ll be released this October… and it’ll set you back a cool $800.
Would you buy an $800 Apple tablet? Tell us.
The myth of the Apple tablet has been one of wild speculation and trumped up gossip from day one. Even though this news comes from a reputable newspaper, you can still color me suspicious. Below are a few snippets from the article, translation via MacRumors forums…
“Taiwan’s high-tech supply chain companies said Apple will debut its first netbook in October; Apple will pose itself to tackle the Christmas shopping season. Three corporations – Foxconn, Wintek, Dynapack have received direct orders from Apple. (Wintek will be producing touch screens and providing relevant technologies for Apple.)”
This isn’t the first time that Wintek’s name has been associated with the Apple tablet. Earlier this year a rumor began floating around that they had supplied Apple with a slew of touchscreen panels… but the rumor eventually died away when nothing was confirmed.
The rumored $800 price tag seems to be distinctly Apple and I would have no trouble believing that price…
“Because Apple will adopt touch screen technology on its netbooks, Apple will not target low-end consumers, avoiding direct competition with Acer, Asus, as well as their less-than-500-dollars netbooks. Apple’s netbook (or a “tablet” as many call it,) will probably be sold at around $800 USD each.”
So what do you think about this latest Apple tablet rumor? Is there any validity to it?
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Apple Tablet Coming in October?
Dazzboard, An Open iTunes For Just About Any Portable Media File (500 Invites)
Posted by Hassan Alsheikh in Articles on July 12th, 2009
Finnish startup Linkotec is close to debuting the public beta version of dazzboard, a browser-based media manager that it says has all the goodness of iTunes but without the disadvantages of Apple’s closed environment.
Granted, we hear that a lot, but I’ve been invited to take an early peek at what they’ve been cooking and came away fairly impressed.
Dazzboard is currently invitation-only but is shooting for a Wednesday release of the public beta version. TechCrunch readers with limited patience (yes, you there) can already sign up to take it for a spin before that: 500 of you can register for an account right here. Note that the web application currently requires Windows – a Mac-compatible version is in the works – and works best when you’re using the latest Internet Explorer or Firefox browser.
With dazzboard, you can plug a wide range of mobile devices into your computer and easily transfer multimedia content like photos, videos and music to the web-based management interface, after which you can organize all your files and seamlessly share them through a variety of social networking services. It goes both ways: with the use of the ‘Dazz me’ bookmarklet you can download content from the Web to the media manager and distribute it to your favorite social network or your mobile device once it’s transferred to your account.
Dazzboard supports any portable device that can be used in mass storage or media transfer mode. The company divides the range of portable media players and mobile phones it supports into two groups: full supported devices (supported and maintained by the Dazzboard database, meaning no specific user action is required) and so-called generic devices (not fully supported by Dazzboard so handled as a generic media hub). In the latter case, it’s possible not all functionality of the media manager will work without any glitches.
All in all, dazzboard worked as advertised with the few portable devices I used to test it, and it does a great job syncing media content from and to social networks like YouTube, Flickr, etc. Of course, supporting ‘thousands of devices’ means that the company risks getting flooded with just as many device-specific support questions on a daily basis if it takes off. There’s a reason why closed platforms sometimes win.
Give it a whirl yourself and tell us what you think.
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Dazzboard, An Open iTunes For Just About Any Portable Media File (500 Invites)
App Store Is One Year Old and Revenues Are Still Secret
Posted by Hassan Alsheikh in Articles on July 10th, 2009
Apple’s App Store has reached its one-year milestone. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company one year ago launched the online store for its iPhone and iPod touch and has had great success offering users applications that do everything from calculate nutritional information to games that shoot cartoons out of volcanoes.
The question on many peoples’ minds remains how to gauge the App Store’s success.
“I can confirm more than 50,000 apps are available for download on the App Store and that over one billion apps have been downloaded since launch,” said Simon Pope, an Apple spokesperson.
While the number of apps downloaded isn’t something to ignore, Apple, which receives 30 percent of revenue from each app sold, has never revealed what the profits are from the popular store. Because Apple has remained tight-lipped about profits and the cost to maintain the App Store, it’s not clear if it has been a financial success for Apple.
Apple’s Bruises
Not all has been perfect in the 12 months since the store’s launch. Developers have complained that Apple doesn’t like competition and has blocked any app that might compete with its own iPhone programs.
They have also criticized Apple for being too rigid when it comes to deciding what is offensive. Developers have further complained about the app-approval process, which is often described as controlling, confusing and slow.
As a result, some developers have accepted Apple’s terms in order to continue to develop for the store, while others have boycotted Apple’s gatekeeper ways by developing for others.
“About 90 percent of apps are low-quality and unacceptable, and apps have been free as opposed to having fees,” said Robert Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group.
In the year since its launch, the App Store has had to face competition from others.
“The Apple app store has been the property to set…
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App Store Is One Year Old and Revenues Are Still Secret
Switched On: With Google, this is not your father’s OS war
Posted by Hassan Alsheikh in Articles on July 8th, 2009
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Google’s incursions into software — particularly in strategic markets for Microsoft, are like an Earth-bound asteroid. Observers see it coming for a long time, and fear its impact will be devastating when it finally arrives. So far, though, Google’s major software forays have been anything but cataclysmic, and Microsoft hasn’t even had to send Bruce Willis into space to stop them.
On one hand — as I discussed in a recent Switched On column that argued why Android was not the right choice for netbooks — the mobile operating system continues to have a lot of potential to reshape the smartphone OS competitive landscape. On the other hand, while Chrome is a fine browser, Microsoft, Apple and Mozilla all have their counterparts, and certainly Firefox and Safari at least give Google’s browser a run for its money in terms of speed, privacy and user interface. Chrome’s impact has been blunted because the PC is already an open platform.
Enter Chrome OS, which will be available on ARM and Intel processors. For the high-volume Intel PC market, Chrome OS will have to take on Windows, but Chrome OS is very different than other Windows competitors such as the Mac OS, Ubuntu or the OS/2 of yore, in that Google does not seem focused on creating platform-exclusive applications. In some ways, Chrome is more of a competitor to Silverlight than to Windows, as Silverlight is Microsoft’s cross-platform application foundation. Of course, Windows is Microsoft’s home field, and Chrome OS will be Google’s.
Continue reading Switched On: With Google, this is not your father’s OS war
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Switched On: With Google, this is not your father’s OS war originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Switched On: With Google, this is not your father’s OS war