December 2007
Snitter: Snook’s Twitter →
Twitter, the micro-blogging service, has really taken off since its inception in July of 2006. Users can tell the world what they’re up to at every moment of their day via text messaging, Twitter’s web interface, or through desktop clients. Given that most Twitter users are in fact geeks (readers, be proud!) and spend most of their time at their computers, desktop clients are the most popular. For...
iPhone Firmware 1.1.3 Imminent: Breaks Unlock,... →
I’m sure by now everyone with an iPhone has seen and is equally excited about the latest firmware update for Apple’s iconic shiny phone. When videos of the update running on a live phone surfaced (hat tip TUAW) this weekend I was a bit skeptical, but it appears this update is legit. Killer new features will include: saving pinned locations in Google Maps, location triangulation via cell tower...
Gear Live posts followup iPhone v1.1.3 video →
Filed under: Macworld, Software Update, Apple, iPhone
You may recall that yesterday we posted a link to Gear Live’s gallery of iPhone v1.1.3 snaps. In this season of rumors, we were trying to take it with a pinch of salt; we ended up with enough salt to make some Margaritas here at TUAW HQ, such was our skepticism — and we were, it would seem, quite wrong to have doubted. Thankfully...
Five ways you can make life easier for new Mac... →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, Holidays
As we close out 2007, there are thousands of new Mac users just beginning to explore the wonderful world found on those shiny computers that were tucked under the tree/menorah/nonsectarian gift deployment venue. If there’s one thing we’d recommend that experienced Mac hands could do to make the adjustment easier… well, there...
1Password updated to 2.5.8 →
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools
Today, Agile Web Solutions updated their password manager, 1Password. As many Mac users may already know, 1Password is an indispensable application for managing passwords and browser auto-fill for Mac OS X. Now that it has been updated to version 2.5.8, it boasts some new features along with bug fixes. New in 1Password 2.5.8 is support for the Firefox 3 beta;...
TotalTunes controls iTunes with ease →
Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Freeware, iTunes
We’ve all been there, you’re working on something and want to easily change a song in iTunes. What do you do? Well, you could right-click on the iTunes icon in the dock; but that will only give you rudimentary options. Well, here comes TotalTunes Control.
With TotalTunes, just create a toggle key then start playing a song. When you...
iPhone firmware 1.1.3 breaks unlocks →
Filed under: iPhone
This continuing cat and mouse game reminds me of radar detectors. I recall when radar detectors first came out, and something akin to an arms race broke out between authorities and lead-footed civilians to stay one step ahead of each other. I’m fairly certain that’s a race that won’t end until modern transportation takes some strange turn. So it is with the...
Adium Beta 1.2: Final Release Coming Soon →
I’m a bit late with this one but I noticed the guys over at Adium released the latest beta of their popular multi-client chat software over Christmas. Since the 25th there have been a few more bug releases, and according to Evan Schoenberg a final release “…shouldn’t be too far off.” New features include: an improved group chat interface, Bonjour support, XMPP support, reworked Applescript...
Wallet 2.7 Released →
Yesterday, Waterfall Software released version 2.7 of Wallet, their well known private data manager. Wallet allows you to manage all your passwords, applications’ serial numbers, and other important data. All of your information is well protected with a 448-bit Blowfish encryption. This new version adds better Leopard integration and some cool new features such has Global Search.
The new user...
Reminder: Last talkcast of 2007, Sunday night at... →
Filed under: Podcasts
It’s your last chance this year to join the conversation on the TUAW talkcast, as we return live Sunday night at 10 pm ET for a roundup of the year’s top stories and the introduction of our newest blogger. As always, you can listen in on Talkshoe (even from the widget in this post, if you like — also downloadable as a Clearspring OS X dashboard...
Cocoa developer time-saver: SparkleZip 1.1 →
Filed under: Freeware, Developer
Sparkle is an open-source module for Cocoa that allows developers to add that cool “Check for Updates” and auto-install feature with relative ease; it’s used by some of our favorite applications. If you already knew that, then you might be part of the small but important group of people who would be interested in SparkleZip.
SparkleZip is a...
Liven up Address Book with Avatars →
Filed under: Freeware
Is your Address Book full of web-savvy friends who know what a Gravatar (or a Pavatar) is? Avatars is a freeware plugin for Address Book that searches for, displays, and adds your contacts’ avatars to their cards. It installs with a package installer as a SIMBL plugin, and it looks to me like SIMBL is in the package, too, just in case you need it. It’s simple,...
Beta Beat: Screenium →
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Beta Beat
Screencasting is becoming a standard method of conveying software-related information. I’m fairly certain that even my mom knows the word, which is my typical buzz-guage. And here you were, thinking “I wish there was yet another contender in the screencast recording arena”, right? Lucky you. Synium’s Screenium, which is currently...
Girl opens iPod, finds wacky note instead →
Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends
A Washington, DC area father gave his daughter a gift of an iPod classic this Christmas, surely thinking she would be thrilled. Sadly, when his daughter opened the iPod she didn’t find everyone’s favorite MP3 player waiting for her. Instead she found a note which read, ‘Reclaim your mind from the media shackles. Read a book and resurrect...
FileSpot 2.1 released: Supercharged Spotlight... →
Filed under: Software
Synthesis Studios has released version 2.1 of FileSpot (formerly MoRU), their advanced interface for Spotlight. It allows you to make advanced, boolean logic queries and makes accessible some of the more complex aspects of Spotlight. Not to make it sound complicated, though, its iTunes-ish interface is pretty simple to use. It also adds file tagging with support for other 3rd...
Frostwire: Limewire's open source cousin →
Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source, P2P
Limewire is one of the most popular Peer to Peer file sharing applications around, and it’s easy to see why. With its simple but powerful interface, it’s the next best thing to old school Napster. One thing that cheapskates and teenagers don’t like about it, however, is its tendency to nag the user to upgrade to...
iPhone v1.1.3 screenshots leaked? →
Filed under: Macworld, Rumors, Software, Software Update, Apple, iPhone
Fire up that chunk of your brain known as the Macworld Rumourbuster, readers! With just a little over two weeks before Macworld kicks off, let’s officially call the crowd to order, and let the rumour-mongering, blurry ‘leaked’ pictures, and Photoshop-ing begin. Gearlive kicks off the “fortnight of...
AppleScript: Finder commands →
Filed under: Features, How-tos
Now that you’ve mastered the tell command, it’s time to introduce some of the other AppleScript commands that you may encounter. Location command This command will allow you to open a specific location (either on your Mac or on a web server). This command is most often used with the Finder. For instance, if you wanted to open “www.tuaw.com,”...
Glubble makes parenting a little easier →
Filed under: Internet, Kids, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Social Software
The internet is full of many wonderful things. However, it is also host to any number to bad influences that parents dread their children being exposed to. Because of this, many companies produce filtering software in an effort to help protect children from profanity. Glubble’s approach is a little...
iPod's victims: first CDs, now DVDs? →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, iTunes
Fortune’s Brian Caulfield suggests that Blockbuster and Netflix should be very concerned about Apple’s rumored move into digital movie rentals. He suggests that history has proven the iPod to be a very disruptive device. Just look at CD sales, says Mr. Cauflied, their decline over the last several years certainly proves that people want...
MacCamp →
Filed under: Macworld, Other Events
Macworld Expo 2008 is fast approaching (it takes place in San Francisco from Jan. 14th to the 18th) and people’s social and conference calendars are filling up. If you don’t get a chance to cram enough Mac talk in during the conference itself why not stick around for a Mac centered BarCamp called MacCamp? BarCamp, in case you aren’t familiar...
Apple posts iTunes tutorials →
Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, Video, Internet Tools, iTunes, Apple
It is a safe bet that many people received iPods this holiday season (I know a bunch of TUAW readers did), and a few of those people might be new to the whole iPod/iTunes combo. Apple has recently posted a number of video tutorials that cover iPod and iTunes basics. Now, if you’re somewhat familiar with iTunes/iPods you...
A brief introduction →
Filed under: TUAW Business
Greetings, TUAW fans. My name is Brett Terpstra and I’m excited to introduce myself as a new member of the TUAW blogging team. It’s conceivable that my name may sound familiar to some of you, but entirely possible that I’m just a fresh, new face. I’m a 29 year old Art Director, referred to by friends as a “supergeek”, and I’m...
Pogue: Visual Voicemail 'feature of the year' →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
There is no doubt that the iPhone is innovative (heck, even ComputerWorld thinks so), and there is also no doubt that David Pogue, New York Times tech columnist, is a big fan of Apple’s products. It should come as a surprise to no one, then, that Pogue has included the iPhone on his list of the most important new features in tech of 2007 (the...
RIP Netscape Navigator (1994 - 2008) →
Filed under: Internet, Apple History
Soon, Netscape Navigator - the first highly successful graphical web browser (yeah, yeah, I know Mosaic came before Netscape, but I don’t remember seeing Mosaic floppy-disks bundled with my PC World and Macworld magazines in 1995, at least not under the name “Mosaic”) - will be nothing more than a footnote in Internet history. Let’s take...
ComputerWorld crowns iPhone as 2nd most innovative... →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
ComputerWorld has created another end of the year list: the 25 most innovative products of 2007. An Apple product isn’t on the top of the list, that place goes to Google Gears, but the iPhone does clock in at the number 2 spot which isn’t too shabby. The biggest innovation, according to CW, is the touch screen display. I’m going to disagree...
NYT: 'More than one studio to offer iRentals at... →
Filed under: Macworld, iTS, Rumors, Apple, Apple TV
Whilst the blogosphere is known for its seemingly endless attempts at Apple rumour one-upping, the New York Times has joined the fray, not only re-iterating the Financial Times’ earlier statement that Twentieth Century Fox will be on-stage for the Stevenote but also adding “more than one studio [will] appear onstage at the...
DockStar adds RSS and To Do support →
Filed under: Software
Mail.app users who are all about information overload rejoice: DockStar has been updated to alert you about even more unread content in Mail. That’s right, the little utility that transforms your Dock, Dashboard, and Menubar into a command center for all things Mail.app related now actually handles alerts for everything that Mail.app offers up in Leopard. I am speaking,...
British iPhone users love their data →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Apple Financial, Steve Jobs, Apple, iPhone
Insanely Great Mac has the breakdown on a meeting between O2 (purveyors of the iPhone in Britain) and Mr. Jobs from the UK’s Financial Times, and it seems iPhone users across the pond can’t get enough data. Over 60% of iPhone users use over 25mb/month of data, while only 1.8% of non-iPhone users...
Get those DVDs onto your iPhone or Mac →
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video
HandBrake is one of those applications that we adore here at TUAW HQ. It makes converting DVDs into a variety of digital files a snap (though only use it with DVDs you own. Don’t be pirates, kids). Chris Breen, of Macworld fame (and an amateur astronomer it would seem) shows us how to use HandBrake like a pro. Breen goes a step beyond ‘use the...
Starting bittorrent downloads remotely from the... →
Filed under: Hardware, Tips and tricks, Odds and ends, Internet Tools, Open Source, iPhone
I like Mac OS X Hints a lot, although I will admit that most of the hints they post just aren’t for me— either they’re for things that I just don’t have a need to do, or they’re for things I already figured out a solution for on my own. But lately, I’ve been trying to...
Songbird 0.4 developer preview released →
Filed under: Audio, Developer, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source
Yesterday, the Songbird team released version 0.4 of their Mozilla based music application. We took a quick look at it, and were pleased with what we found. While at first glance Songbird may seem like an iTunes clone, it is actually much more than that. It’s sort of what iTunes might have been were Apple not an evil...
Apple TV on Yahoo! Tech's Worst of 2007 list →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple TV
Apple products often find themselves on the yearly ‘Best of’ lists composed by the mainstream media and bloggers alike, but they don’t often grace the ‘Worst of’ lists. Sadly, Yahoo! Tech has deemed the Apple TV as one of the ‘Top 10 Worst Tech Products’ of the year. Apple TV made the list for a few reasons: you...
Amazon best of 2007 lists include MBP, iPod Nano... →
Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Apple
It’s Amazon Day and nobody told me — more news from Big Beige concerning Apple products, as the annual Best Of Amazon list was announced earlier. The MacBook & MacBook Pro topped two computer lists, as the most-gifted and most-loved computers respectively; meanwhile, the iPod Nano was the top electronics product both gifted and wished-for...
iTunes Tagging on deck for Macworld? →
Filed under: Accessories, iTS, iTunes
We first heard about iTunes Tagging back in September and it looks like it is going to make an appearance at Macworld 2008. iTunes Tagging, in case you don’t recall, is the name of a method by which one would dock their iPod with an HD Radio. You hit a button when you hear a song you like and that song’s info is ‘tagged’ onto your iPod....
iPhoto books and calendar discounts →
Filed under: iLife, Deals, Holidays
If you want to “cash-in” on all of those after holiday sales, look no further than your Mac’s desktop. Apple is starting a new winter promotion for iPhoto books and calendars. By using two promotional codes you can save 20% on books and calendars through February 29, 2008. Apple says that the book code will also work in Aperture. For...
FlickrFinder →
Filed under: Internet Tools
I love Flickr, Yahoo’s photo sharing site, and I find myself posting every picture I take on it. Today I decided to whip up a blog post (for my personal blog) highlighting my favorite pictures of the year in my Flickrstream. I first tried looking over my pictures on Flickr itself, but it soon became clear that a desktop client would make this task much more...
Apple patent reveals plans for more iPhone wifi... →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Rumors, Software, Apple, iPhone
I’d just like to say that I called it. Way back earlier this year when Apple first announced that you’d be able to use your iPhone to buy iTunes songs at Starbucks, I commented that this was only the beginning, and now Forbes publishes news about a patent that confirms exactly that: Apple is working on other ways to sell...
Amazon year-end deals on Mac software →
As if you haven’t spent enough already, another opportunity to pull out that whimpering, threadbare credit card comes along — Amazon’s year-end software sale includes some Mac-only & crossplatform titles at a substantial break. Highlights include a .Mac family pack for $140, iWork ‘08 family pack for $80, VMware Fusion for $42.50 after rebates, and Final Draft 7 for...
Mac OS X 10.5.2 seeded to developers →
When I asked Santa Steve for iPhone stability, a number of people left comments asking not for iPhone stability but for Leopard stability — as it seems that not everyone’s been enjoying a trouble-free few months with Leopard. Thankfully, if you’re waiting with bated breath for OS X 10.5.2, then you might be intrigued to hear from ITwire that OS X 10.5.2 has been seeded to...
Have thumb drive, will travel: 11 portable apps... →
Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Blogging
It used to be that a USB thumb drive was used mainly for transporting files to and from computers. Now, however, more people are using thumb drives to house portable applications. When you sit down at a computer that doesn’t have Firefox, for example, and you’re simply unwilling to double-click that Internet Explorer icon, just pop in your...
iTunes: Free, um, Friday →
Filed under: iTS, Features, Deals
Once again, TUAW is pleased to present you with a selection of free songs and videos from around the world. Many of these iTMS items won’t be free for long, so grab your copies before the week is up. And don’t forget: If you want to buy these on your iPhone or iPod touch, make sure to sign into your account in iTunes before you sync.
By the way, I...
Export Silverlight files on OS X with Flip4Mac →
Filed under: Internet, Macintosh, Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, Commercial, Freeware
Mac-using readers may well already know of Flip4Mac, the free Quicktime components which allow OS X users to playback Windows Media files within Quicktime. For Windows users, that may seem a bit unusual, but given that Microsoft no-longer develops Windows Media Player for Mac and actively points to the Flip4Mac site,...
TextExpander Giveaway Winners →
Last week we ran a video review and giveaway for TextExpander, a really great application that lets you choose certain phrases that will automatically expand into phrases of your choice.
The good people at SmileOnMyMac have generously given us two licenses of TextExpander to give away to two lucky readers. Thanks to everyone for the great responses (you made the developer smile).
But there are...
Fortune: Radiohead was dumb to ditch iTunes, make... →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Multimedia, Odds and ends, iTunes
As long as we’re in 2007 review mode, let’s review the saga of Radiohead’s In Rainbows album (which is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year, by the way). First, they said no to iTunes to keep their album in one-piece, then they decided to “sell” it for free on their website (asking their...
MobileScrobbler hits milestone updates →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Multimedia, Developer, iPhone
Scott hasn’t found any reason to jailbreak his iPhone yet, but one of the jailbreak apps that readers suggested would make it worth it was MobileScrobbler, and now Sam Steele has dropped us a note that he’s updated the iPhone’s Last.fm client to a 1.2.0 release. There are a number of neat features, not least of which...
iPhoneSender sends addresses to the iPhone's... →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Tips and tricks, Odds and ends, iPhone
Even I can see that this one is a little lazy, but hey, maybe someone out there will be looking for a way to more easily send street addresses to their iPhone without actually typing them in. What? That’s you? Well then, pardner, you’re in luck— give iPhoneSender a look. It is a Safari bookmarklet...
NY Times profiles Apple stores →
Filed under: Retail, Apple
From BusinessWeek predicting they wouldn’t work to the New York Times writing a piece lauding Apple Stores as ‘community centers’ for the neighborhoods in which they are situated. The article points out that Apple now makes 20% of its total revenue from Apple Stores (not too shabby), and highlights some of the unique features of the stores themselves:...
Do you take this iPhone, to have and to hold? →
Filed under: Humor, Hacks, Odds and ends, iPhone
So you’re the groom at a wedding this last Saturday. You realize, 10 minutes before the ceremony, that you forgot to print out your vows. You try to get an HP printer to plug and play with a Windows Vista laptop, but no dice— they’re playing “Here Comes the Bride,” and Windows is only telling you “Found New...
Warner Music Group ditches DRM, on Amazon MP3 only →
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, iTunes
You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone outside of the Music Industry who thinks that DRM is a good thing, and today it looks like more people in the Music Industry are seeing the error of their ways. Warner Music Group has announced that starting today people can buy their entire digital catalog via Amazon MP3 (see our review of Amazon’s...