Mac OS X Lion 10.7 released for public use – get 250 new features at just $29

Jul 222011
 

The 8th and the latest version of Mac OS X Lion i.e. version 10.7 has been released for public use. In a very dramatic style, Apple announced its newest operating system and not only that, Apple also didn’t shy away from calling it the “the world’s most advanced desktop operating system”.

According to Apple, 250 new features have been added in the latest version of the MAC OS i.e. OS X Lion 10.7. The OS has picked up quite a bit from the iOS and that makes you feel like using an iPad instead of a Macbook. The OS can be obtained in two ways: first, by downloading it from the Mac App store for $29 and second, by means of a USB flash drive install which is a little pricier at $69. Once downloaded the installation takes less than 20 minutes.

After installation, the first feature that grabs your attention is the inverted scroll, to add further surprise Apple calls it as ‘natural scroll direction’ (thankfully, the feature can be switched off from system preferences).

Two other features that will greet you when you boot up are Mission Control and Lauchpad. Mission Control will take a shot of desktop with all opened windows in the center of the screen, whereas, Launchpad will effectively transform your Mac desktop in to a mobile looking one. Another new useful feature is the ‘Spotlight’. In the latest OS, using ‘the spotlight’ search results will also include results from the internet (from Wikipedia and also dictionary results).

Applications like QuickTime and Safari have also been upgraded in the OS X Lion 10.7 upgrade. Many features like merging, exporting audio-only tracks, rotating clips, and recording a portion of the screen are the highlights of QuickTime. Safari has been given a performance and security update which fills up quite a few holes that existed in the earlier version of Safari.

Another feature of the upgrade is the multitouch gesture support. Apple integrated this in the ‘Finder’ and other proprietary applications. For example if you swipe three fingers from left to right, dashboard will appear. Though this is a good feature but sans two fingered scrolling and cursor control, the rest are not that useful.

Now arguments can be made on whether the OS is the ‘best till date’ or not; but features like AirDrop and versions are enough to keep you interested. If not them then at least one out of the 250 will catch your attention. Thus, with the modest tag of $29, it is a must buy.

Macbook Air refreshed say bye to the old Macbook Air

Jul 212011
 

Apple Inc. has launched a new generation of Macbook Air notebooks. Apple has equipped the new notebook with a faster processor based on Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture and has added a new backlit keyboard to the device. The Cupertino, CA Company has also dumped the old Macbook on the same day.

Talks about revamping the Macbbok Air were on for quite a while and were mostly cantered around the new operating system i.e.  the OS- ‘X Lion’. The operating system was released earlier on the same day and from now onwards all new Macbook Air models will ship with this new operating system.

The new Macbook Air comes in two sizes, one with an 11.6-inch screen and the other with a 13.3-inch screen. For both the models, two variants are available, an entry level one and another model with all the top specs. In all, four new models will be available.

Specs of ‘MacBook Air’ vary with the models; Both the 11.6 inch models are powered by a 1.6 GHz processor, RAM of the 11.6-inch entry level model is 2GB while for the high end model is 4GB. The storage capacity is 64 GB and 128 GB for the lower and higher end model respectively. Similarly, the 13.3-inch Macbook Air is powered by a 1.7 GHz processor along with 4 GB RAM. The storage capacity is 128 GB and 256 GB for the lower and higher end models respectively. Users can upgrade to a 1.8 GHz processor on demand.

Another part of the revamp was the addition of Thunderbolt port. The new notebooks don’t have any additional ports but a single Thunderbolt port for connecting to external hard drives and new Apple Thunderbolt display (with a resolution of 2560 x 1600!). Also the power supply is now inbuilt and Apple has provided with a built in speaker for Bluetooth connectivity with other iDevices.

The prices remain in the same range. Earlier the entry price for the Macbook Air was $999, though the good old Macbook Air is gone but the entry price remains the same ($999) for the lower end 11.6 inch Macbook Air. The 11.6-inch high end model, 13.3-low end model and 13.3-inch high end model are available for $1199, $1299 and $1599, respectively.

unfollow for Twitter Mac App Review

Jun 042011
 

Different people use Twitter in different ways. Some are very selective about who they follow and interact with – e.g, only the people who they actually know. Others, use it like an open chat service and follow basically everyone that they find interesting. There are numerous of different kinds of users and different kinds of purposes. One thing that some users encounter is that they end up following too many people and their timeline has become too difficult to keep up with. There are a number of websites/services that allow you to sort out and clean up your following list. But if you’re a Mac user and want a desktop application, take a look at ‘unfollow for Twitter’.

‘unfollow for Twitter‘ by Spicy Apps, is a Mac desktop application that makes it easier for you see (stalk? :P ) who unfollowed you, sort out or “weed” your Twitter following list. Its key features include:

  • load twitter users from your account into the app.
  • find inactive twitter users by selecting a filter.
  • select twitter users and batch unfollow them.

After you enter your Twitter account login details, you are presented with 2 viewing options.

  1. View your Twitter following list by last tweet.
  2. View those on your following list who does not follow you back.

Both viewing options will allow you to sort by username, no. of following, no. of followers, description (useless), location, tweet count and last tweet. You can also filter out the list according to time (weeks and months). However, one of the major drawbacks is that it can only list 100 users. According to the app’s help section, this is a limitation of Twitter’s servers as they only allow to load 100 users per call.

After loading your list, unfollow is quite simple. Just select the unfollow check-box next to the user and click the unfollow trash button. Of course, you can batch select users.

As you can see, there isn’t anything too special about this app. It doesn’t have the fancy bells and whistles but it does what’s it’s meant to do. ‘unfollow for Twitter’ is available in the Mac Apps Store for $$0.99. Find it in the Mac App Store here.

There’s also an iPhone / iPod Touch version of the app version, which has received lots of positive feedback (4.5 out of 5 stars in the iTunes Apps Store out of 229 ratings). MWD also has a review of the iPhone / iPod Touch version of ‘unfollow for Twitter’ app here.

How To Set Google Video, Youtube & DVD Video, or Limewire Music to iPhone 4

Feb 012011
 

1. Put music as well as videos from Limewire into your iPhone 4

Limewire is a download tool I suppose a lot of you use. I frequently use it to download complimentary music as well as videos an put them on my iPhone 4. If you do not have Limewire, you may download it from its website.

Search as well as download music from Limewire. You might get songs in every sort of format, however not every format is supported in iPhone 4. Typically I select 3 formats: MP3, M4A as well as AAC formats which are supported by iPhone , additionally, they can be directly moved to iPhone 4 by means of iTunes. You may visit the Apple website for the full specifications of iPhone 4. After you download the music, open iTunes, click on “File” from the top left corner, choose “Add file to library”, look through your computer hard disc and navigate to the folder of Limewire downloads, choose the songs you like , click OK and the songs will be placed in your iTunes.  After that simply transfer these songs to the iPhone from iTunes.

2. From Youtube to iPhone 4

I frequently visit Youtube to watch videos from my iPhone as well as from time to time I download videos that cannot be found by iPhone from Youtube for putting on the iPhone. The Youtube videos are in FLV formats; as a result I make use of a free of charge online FLV converter for doing the conversion.

Initially, go to Youtube and play the video you wish to put in your iPhone. You will get the Youtube URL for the video on the side of the playback pane. Copy that URL.

Once you have the URL, visit vixy.net; insert the copied URL in the URL box on the page, choose “MP4 for iPod or PSP” from the  ”Converts to” drop-down list (iPod Video can be used in iPhone as well. Something to keep in mind if you have a lot of iPod videos.) After that click “Start” underneath this list.

Finally, after the conversion, the site will give a download link so you can download a converted MP4 file. Just download the final file from that link, store this downloaded MP4 file in your computer and then use iTunes to sync it on to the iPhone 4.

3. Google Videos to iPhone 4

As Google permits you to download the videos from the site with an iPhone friendly format, you only need to download the appropriate version for this video. But since searching ain’t watching, to play this video, click the small select list on the right and choose “Video iPod or Sony PSP” then press “Done”. Click the download button the video would come up soon.

4. DVD or Video on iPhone

I have a vast collection of DVD movies as well as videos. I load my iPhone with some of them to kill time when I’m on the subway or bus.

DVD movies cant be moved to iPhone directly with iTunes ; as a result I had to get a converter to do that. I have tried a few converters and now use Wondershare DVD to iPhone Converter. Though it is not free, it is however not costly either. I decided to spend the cash because it does a fine job in terms of  quality as well as conversion speed. In addition, if I don’t wish to put the entire movie, I may just convert a fraction of the movie onto the iPhone with this app.

Over 1 Million Apps Downloaded from Mac App Store in 24 Hours

Jan 082011
 

Apple announced yesterday that over one million apps have been downloaded from its Mac App Store in just 24 hours after its launch. It was mentioned on Apple’s official website.

Apple Mac Store -Off With a Great Start!

Apple Mac Store -Off With a Great Start!

The store, which was launched yesterday a day ago include over thousand free and paid software applications for Mac users. We know the Apple Mac Store is a huge project but nonetheless it has also got a huge start.

No doubt, Steve Jobs and the company are ‘amazed’ at the response. Read this press release to know the details:

CUPERTINO, California—January 7, 2011—Apple® today announced that over one million apps have been downloaded from the Mac® App Store℠ in the first day. With more than 1,000 free and paid apps, the Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac, so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes® account, download and install them in just one step.

“We’re amazed at the incredible response the Mac App Store is getting,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is.”

The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard® users through Software Update as part of Mac OS® X v10.6.6.

Mac developers set the price for their apps, keep 70 percent of the sales revenue, are not charged for free apps and do not have to pay hosting, marketing or credit card fees. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Five reasons you may love (not hate) the Mac App Store

Jan 072011
 

Aside from all the CES news yesterday, there was also the unveiling of Apple’s new Mac App Store. Yes, after years of hoping against hope (at least one person had to be anyway), Mac users can finally purchase, install, and enjoy apps on their magical Apple computers.

So is it as wonderful as Steve said it would be? The responses so far run the gamut from the greatest thing since the Apple iPad to the biggest fail since Google Buzz. Of course, we ran our Mac updates yesterday, installed it and took it for a test drive. After playing Angry Birds and a few of the free apps, we can say that you may hate it. Of course, there are a few reasons why you may love it, too. The important thing is to make sure you form an educated opinion, not one based on what tech websites say about it. So, take a few minutes to read through our list and decide for yourself.

Continue reading »

Don’t Like Macbook Air? Here Comes Samsung 9 Series

Jan 072011
 

Samsung will be offering two ultra thin laptops Samsung 9 Series and Samsung 7 Series this year which can qualify to compete with popular Apple Macbook Air.

Main difference between the Samsung 9 and 7 Series ultra thin laptops is that 7 has slide-out keyboard which you can see in the video below that our friends at Engadget shot. And Samsung 9 series , well that one is one *ultra* thin laptop.

Samsung 7 Series:

Samsung 9 Series:

 

Quick features:

  • Windows 7
  • 128GB HD
  • HDMI and Mini HDMI
  • USB Port
  • Ethernet dongle, Wi-Fi
  • Price: $1500 and up (depends on what kind you ask for)
  • Release Date is Unknown (probably summer 2011)

Apple Mac Store is Live

Jan 062011
 

Long waited Apple Mac Store is now available for Mac Fans. Apple Mac store is available only for Snow Leopard or Mac OS X version 10.6.6. There is more than1000 applications ready for you to install.

Apple Mac Store

Steve Jobs said:

“We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps.”

Here is the press release, following with the link below to the Apple Mac Store:

CUPERTINO, California—January 6, 2011—Apple® today announced that the Mac® App Store℠ is now open for business with more than 1,000 free and paid apps. The Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac, so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes® account, download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard® users through Software Update as part of Mac OS® X v10.6.6.

“With more than 1,000 apps, the Mac App Store is off to a great start,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps.”

The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews.

Entirely new apps, as well as current Mac favorites, are available from developers such as Autodesk, Ancestry.com and Boinx. iPhoto®, iMovie® and GarageBand® apps from Apple’s popular iLife® ‘11 suite are available individually in the Mac App Store for $14.99 each, and Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® apps from iWork® are available for $19.99 each. Aperture® 3, Apple’s powerful photo editing and management software, is available for $79.99.

“We’re delighted to bring our professional-grade paint and drawing app, Autodesk SketchBook Pro, to the Mac App Store on its first day of launch,” said Carl Bass, Autodesk’s CEO. “We’ve seen tremendous success on the Mac, iPhone and iPad with multiple apps. We’re excited to offer SketchBook Pro on the Mac App Store so artists can easily create everything from quick sketches to high-quality artwork right on their Macs.”

“By offering the Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker app on the Mac App Store, we’re making it even easier for people to discover and access their family history,” said Tim Sullivan, Ancestry.com’s CEO. “The Mac App Store will drive a new generation of innovation on the Mac platform.”

“We’re thrilled to have our award-winning animation, video production and photography software available on the new Mac App Store,” said Oliver Breidenbach, Boinx Software’s CEO. “The Mac App Store makes it easier than ever for consumers to access all the innovative software designed for the Mac.”

To get the Mac App Store, download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Software Update or visit www.apple.com/mac/app-store. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

VLC for iPod Touch App is Out on iTunes

Oct 252010
 

image VLC for iPod Touch is approved and is out on iTunes ready for you to download and install it on iPod Touch. As most of you know VLC is one of the best Video Players of all time for many reasons.

 

  • It’s Free
  • You can play almost any Video File
  • Has advanced options for advanced Video settings (geeks love that)

Just like it’s free for PC or Mac or even Linux, it is free also for iPhone and iPod Touch users!

ipod touch vlc

- Runs on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and the recent iPod touches
- You can now delete files from the application, without having to go through iTunes
- Many more extensions are being recognized.
- Much faster decoding thanks to assembly optimizations

Here is  direct link to iTunes

No Flash Player on New Macs, At Least Not by Default

Oct 232010
 

Jeez, can’t Steve Jobs leave Adobe sit idle for once?

Once again, Apple has taken back all hope for using Flash on its products by removing it from the new MacBook Air releases. Not only that, but all future Macs will eventually follow suit.

Except in this case, it’s only as long as before you go online to Adobe’s website to download it yourself. According to a statement released by Apple, “We’re happy to continue to support Flash on the Mac, and the best way for users to always have the most up to date and secure version is to download it directly from Adobe.” Until they do, they will get whitespace in their browsers with a standard plugin is not currently installed message etched somewhere in that area of the webpage.

Though I really do have to wonder on something: is this really a precursor to Apple completely prohibiting the use of Flash on every single one of its products, and in turn closing the platform on Macs as it does with iPods and iPhones?

Source: Engadget

FaceTime for Mac is Out You Can Start Downloading Now

Oct 202010
 

Yo! Mac users, now you can connect with your iPhone 4 friends via Facetime, because Facetime is now available on Mac. It is beta version but as simple app as Facetime there really should be no bugs.

We knew that this is going to come out but we were not sure when exactly. Most Mac’s nowadays have webcam so, as I said it was just matter of time when it will launch.

facetime mac vs iphone

Anyway, here is the link where you can download Facetime on your Mac. So tell me folks, do you see the need for Facetime app on your Mac? I personally wish it would be available for PC and Linux too, but I can just dream about that.

Chrome Offers Update to Fix Serious Mac OS X Bug

Sep 172010
 

Google Chrome released an update for all the stable and beta versions of its Chrome web browser. Through this update many important bug fixes and stability improvements can be realized. This update is succeeded in correcting the serious security bug in Mac OS X too.

All the beta and stable version of Chrome browser users will receive the update automatically and will be prompted to restart the browser for the safe update. Google didn’t mentioned any further details about the Mac OS X bug as there is a chance for the someone to exploit the vulnerability before it gets the fix in place.

Some of the less serious bugs as squashing a bug in the Geolocation features and some of the memory corruption bugs that were causing trouble to Linux users were corrected through this update from Google Chrome. Earlier a bug is resulting as constant crash for the Chrome browser users and this is also addressed through the latest update. This update is going to offer quite flawless Chrome browser for all.

The First Million Dollar of a 16 Year Old Kid

Aug 162010
 

His name is Christian Owens and he made his first one million dollar at the age of 16. He thought himself how to design a webpage when he got his first computer at the age of seven and four years later he started his own company. Inspired of course by his hero and idol Steve Jobs, his first simple site that maybe some of you already know: the Mac Bundle Box. The site has a cool design and rooted back to Apple’s own looks and guidelines.

The page is selling a Mac OS X for a discounted price for a limited time. He is the one dealing with the developer to get the apps that they have at a certain price and sell it for a tenth of its price. Of course, selling your apps in a discounted price will be a good promotion.

This teenager is on his way to become as rich as his hero, but still keeping his feet on the ground by giving some percentage of his sales to a certain charity. (Oh, I think this the reason why he is so blessed, for having a good and kind heart.)

Extending his business, he is now having a pay-per-click advertising company name Branchr that distributes 300 million ads per month on over 17,500 websites, iPhone, and Android applications. In addition to that, he employs 8 adults including his 43 year old mother.

We all know what will be this kid after a couple more years, as he is planning so many things in life and his busines is going strong. His secret? It is hardwork, determination and focus in doing something great!

Magic Talk from Magic Jack’s Free Internet-to-Phone calls

Aug 162010
 

This week Magic Jack announced their Magic Talk for the people that are looking forward to make calls to internet-connected phones and computers. This software will be a best way to waive the upfront costs in this kind of phone calling capabilities. In an interview Dan Borislow, CEO of Magic Jack said that this service is as same as Google voice and Skype.

magic jack
Only difference would be that this software got capabilities to call at free-calls to regular telephones bit by charging the companies that carry incoming calls. Presently these services are available on windows and Mac next week, with iOS, BlackBerry and Android operating system’s by October. Borislow also said that company’s legally-ambiguous is now on hold. Actually the device can’t legitimately muster up enough power without a cellular carrier on board.

Surprisingly there is another news and new addition to Net Talk last week. Net Talks’ pair of competing VoIP boxes now support free video calls. Now this latest announcement from Magic Jack can make this facility lot insecure in the field of business

Mac Users Update Flash Player Plugin “Now”

Jun 162010
 

According to Wendy Poland from Adobe, the Flash Player Plugin that Apple released for its Mac Owners is not the most updated version which fixes many Vulnerabilities and is outdated from June 10th.

Here is what she said on her Blog Post on June 15, 2010 6:24 PM:

“Earlier today, Apple released security update 2010-004 / Mac OS X v10.6.4. This update includes an earlier version of Adobe Flash Player (version 10.0.45.2) than available from Adobe.com. While the Mac OS X v10.6.4 update does not appear to downgrade users who have already upgraded to Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe recommends users verify they are using the latest, most secure version of Flash Player (10.1.53.64) available for download from http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer.

To verify the Adobe Flash Player version number installed on your system (after applying the Mac OS X security update), access the About Flash Player page, or right-click on content running in Flash Player and select “About Adobe Flash Player” from the menu. If you use multiple browsers, perform the check for each browser you have installed on your system.

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties and confers no rights.”

The Flash Player plugin (10.0.45.2) version that Apple sent in the Mac OS X patch bundle is outdated from June 10th when Adobe shipped Flash Player 10.1.53.64.

According to ZDNet there is over 28 Security holes in the previous Flash Player Plugin! Saying:

“In some cases, a hacker could take complete control of an affected machine if a user is lured to a malicious Web site or views a rigged movie file.”

My advice to you would be to get the most recent Flash Player Plugin to make your Mac more secure!:-)

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