Author Archives: Dave

Rumor: Revamped iMac With Retina Display Coming Soon

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Dave



Following on from the recent report suggesting that the MacBook Pro would be receiving a revamp in the design department, a new report is claiming that the iMac is also in line to receive an upgrade. According to a report from ABC News, the iMac will soon be on the receiving end of a Retina Display update that will substantially boost the screen resolution.

The report follows on from yesterdays report that the MacBook Pro would also be getting Retina Display when the next iteration of it is released at the Word Wide Developers Conference in June. Retina Display, or HiDPI as it is referred to in the Mac OS, has long been thought to be coming to the Mac, primarily because of the discovery of a HiDPI mode in the latest version of the Mac operating system, 10.7 Lion, as well as standard OS X icons getting increased resolution in the latest builds of the OS.
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Adobe Unleashes Lightroom 4 On The Mac App Store

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Dave



Adobe, publishers of popular photo editing software Photoshop, have released their Lightroom 4 software on the Mac App Store, priced at $149.99. Lightroom 4 is a comprehensive panel of digital image processing tools that allow experimentation with photographs in a nondestructive environment. The software allows the manipulation of a large number of digital images and is a powerful photo enhancement package.

The new software is priced at $149.99 which is identical to the price that would be charged if purchasing Lightroom 4 directly from Adobe. This is significant move for the company as Apple takes 30% of all sales on the Mac App Store. There is, however, an upgrade available for users of previous versions of Lightroom which is $79 but has to be purchased from Adobe itself.
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Evernote Receives A Significant Update

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Dave


Following on from Evernote’s acquisition of the popular app Penultimate, the Evernote app itself has just received a big update. Available now on the iOS and Mac App Store, Evernote version 4.2 has been unleashed bringing with it a large number of improvements and fixes for the app on iOS devices. The note editor has received a major redesign on the iPhone and iPod touch on iOS 5 and now has easier access to attachments, a redesigned note info screen and more powerful note editing capabilities. In addition to this, there is also improved checkbox functionality, an improved attachment system, including support for Photo Stream, together with the improved Note Editor settings.

Evernote for Mac has also received a major update, bringing it up to version 3.1 which offers a brand new Card View to replace the old thumbnail view. This reflects the user interface for Evernote on the iPad and full screen on the Mac. The app also includes more minor improvements like word and character counts, a Save All Attachments option, better Print functionality and other bug fixes.
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Spotify Finally Unleashes Dedicated iPad App

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Dave


The successful music streaming service Spotify has today launched a dedicated iPad app, available free on the iOS App Store now. The launch of the app means that Spotify users who pay for a Premium account, the highest level of package offered, can receive streamed music via a dedicated app on their iPad. The app is free for anyone who wants to download it from the App Store but you’ll have to have a premium account with Spotify if you want to use it – Free and Unlimited Spotify accounts don’t work with it.
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Apple Gives Mac Developers A Mountain Lion Update To Play With

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Dave


Apple has seeded a major update to the current developer seed of the next version of the Mac operating system OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. The update, weighing in at around 1.5 GB, is distributed through the Mac App Store to registered members of the Mac Developer Program and applies only to the Developer Preview 3 of Mountain Lion. The company also released a new build of XCode 4.4 Developer Preview 4 through the Mac Developer Centre to allow devs to test apps for the update.
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Prototype Apple eMate Laptop Hits eBay

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Dave


A prototype of the Apple eMate 300 personal digital assistant has popped up on eBay with a list price of approximately $8,500. The listing shows a clear case eMate 300 device running the Newton operating system and is apparently in good working order (even including the original eMate stylus). Notably, the device is marked prototype and is essentially identifiable by the fact that it has a clear case, whereas the eMate models that actually made it to public release sported a dark green casing.

The eMate was original introduced in 1997 and was offered for sale at $800. However, it was discontinued less than a year later alongside the rest of the Apple Newton product line in early 1998. As shown in the listing description, it has a 480 x 320 pixel resolution and grayscale display as well as a full size keyboard and stylus. The design is reminiscent, or perhaps predictive, of the later iBook design.
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Rumor: Apple Playing With A Smaller iPad

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Dave


Apple is apparently toying with idea of releasing an iPad with 7.85 inch display that has a resolution of 1024 x 768, according to author of Daring Fireball, John Gruber. Speaking on The Talk Show podcast, Gruber reports that he has numerous sources suggest that Apple is playing with the idea of releasing a smaller iPad and that they have prototypes of the smaller device in their labs. However, he is quick to point out that the device may never be released as many prototypes made by Apple quite simply never make it to market.

It is known that Apple has built alternative sizes of the iPad as Steve Jobs announced when asked about choosing the size of the iPad. At the time Jobs suggested that the 9.7 screen of the current iPad was the ideal size and that the company had no plans to release a smaller or larger one, but recent rumors seem to suggest that the company is taking the smaller sized device seriously.
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Rumor: Random Foxconn Dude Suggests iPhone 5 In June

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Dave


A new report sourced from a random Foxconn employee is suggesting that the iPhone 5 could pop up as early as June. The report comes from Macotakara who have spotted on TV Tokyo that Foxconn, the company that Apple contracts to assemble iOS devices, are apparently recruiting up to 18,000 new works with a view to getting the iPhone 5 assembled and ready for a June launch.

There have been rumors in the past suggesting that Apple would be deviating from their minimum year long interval between iPhone releases to release an iPhone 5 in June, but coming so soon after the release of the iPhone 4S in October 2011, is it likely that the company would release a new iPhone only 8 months after the release of the last one.
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New Book: iPad Battery For Dummies

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Dave



Given the recent coverage of the iPad battery, either noting how it continues drawing power after the indicator hits 100%, or even the heat generated by the iPad itself, you’d perhaps be forgiven for thinking that some tech sites have been holding an iPad shaped portable nuclear accelerator in their hands. Fortunately, Apple has been speaking to AllThingsD and has offered an explanation for the recent coverage of the now legendary third generation iPad battery.

According to Apple Vice President of Product Marketing Michael Tchao, the new iPad displays a 100% charge just before the battery actually hits that point and then continues charging until the battery hits its maximum. The device will then intelligently manage a small discharge and then continue the charging up to 100% once again. This cycle can be maintained indefinitely so that the iPad can be kept plugged into a power outlet for as long as the user wants.
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New iPad Gets A Second Wind Tomorrow

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Dave



In the second wave release for the new iPad, the device will be going on sale in an additional 25 countries tomorrow. This follows on from the March 16th launch of the device in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK, along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the launch of the third generation iPad in your country, and according to Apple’s press release on the subject, the new iPad will be hitting Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden tomorrow.
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