Guide to Mac, iPod, iPad and iPhone news and reviews
Alfons Schmid has announced Mac OS X and Windows versions of Notebooks, a productivity app that combines text processing with task management and file organization.
It includes text processing …
Parliant has announced Echoes (http://www.echoes-app.com), a new Mac voice messaging product. It’s different from Skype, FaceTime, and other voice chat applications because it eliminates “dialing” or setting up connections with your recipients.
Echoes puts an icon in your menu bar where you just choose “Announce” (or press a keyboard shortcut), speak your announcement, and press return. Echoes lets you:
° Announce to other users running Echoes on your local network;
° Announce to everyone, groups of people you configure, or individuals;
shinywhitebox (http://shinywhitebox.com) has launched iShowU Studio 1.1.0, an update to their screen casting solution for Mac OS X.
Aimed at the consumer and beginner prosumer market, iShowU St…
[This is an advertorial. Maclife gets a portion of each unit sold.]You’re always on the lookout for a great deal. Any opportunity to snatch up an awesome item for an affordable price gets you excited. Well, then you’ll love our Deals tab. There are alw…
Bountiful bagsThis week’s roundup of new Mac gear includes new options for carrying your MacBook, as well as a way to protect it from spilled milk.BlueloungeThe $18 Kickflip is a hinge that elevates the back edge of your Macbook, if you prefer a raised…
Roxio has introduced two new additions to its Toast family: Roxio Toast 12 Titanium and Roxio Toast 12 Pro. They provide: support for popular social media platforms and devices; capture, copy, c…
Excelisys has announced The eX-BizTracker 4.13, an update of the eX-File business productivity template for small- to medium-sized businesses.
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Thieves last night stole an unknown number of MacBooks in a smash-and-grab theft at the Apple Store located in the Southpoint Mall in Durham, North Carolina. The MacBook units reportedly were display models situated in the front section of the store. …
In this week’s Mac app roundup, you’ll find a duck that likes to move your data around, a phone that doesn’t need dusting, and a tower that knows what happened to all your files.
Developer David Kocher’s $24 Cyberduck is a Swiss Army knife of utilities for transferring your files over the Internet.
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The Apple TV might not yet rival the hundreds of channels on your cable box, but that’s not to say they aren’t getting close. On Tuesday morning, the company added a few more options to its set-top streaming box, including some aimed at specific countries.
Two new major networks dominate the offerings, at least in the U.S. First is a CNBC channel, which streams programs from the business network in real time, as well as providing access to on demand clips of its many shows.
The second is Fox Now, which offers full episodes from the network’s broadcast shows, including the likes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Sleepy Hollow, and New Girl. It also sports bonus content, and a personalized home screen, complete with recommendations based on your viewing preferences. And if you’re a binge-watcher, you’ll be glad to know that when you finish one episode, the Fox app will automatically cue up the next one for watching, so that you can never ever escape your couch again.
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Details discussed during a recent earnings conference call by Apple supplier TPK Holdings suggest the production of the iWatch is behind schedule, reports UDN via GforGames. According to earlier rumors, the iWatch may debut in late 2014 with the latest report claiming it will launch alongside the 5.5-inch iPhone 6.
Based on reports from Asian sources, TPK executives spent a portion of the company’s Q3 2014 earning conference call explaining why it sees poorer than expected financial projections for the current quarter. TPK is allegedly supplying Apple with flexible displays that use silver nanowire touch screen technology for inclusion in the iWatch wearable.
iWatch concept based on TRIWA’s Havana Nevil Brown watch, by Gábor Balogh
Though the iWatch was not mentioned in the call, pundits believe TPK’s shortfall is the result of a slip in the production schedule for the iWatch, which had been expected to be in production and contributing to TPK’s bottom line during the third quarter. Now, the company is projecting an increase in profits during Q4 2014, suggesting the iWatch rollout may be slated for closer to the end of this year.
Shares of TPK stock dropped significantly late last week on the outlook.
At an investor conference Thursday, TPK forecast flat quarterly growth, or at best a 5 percent sequential increase, of its consolidated sales for the third quarter, citing decisions by its customers to postpone the launch of their new products. […]
Sales growth, however, could pick up in September, TPK said, forecasting a break-even operating margin in the third quarter on higher operating costs.
This late start in production may result in Apple shipping fewer iWatch units than expected in 2014, claims analysts at CSLA, a leading Asian investment banking and asset management firm. Instead of shipping 20 million iWatch units by the end of the year, Apple may only be able to deliver a significantly smaller 6 million units. It is unknown if this lowered estimate will translate into a shortage of the device at launch.
Until recently, I didn’t waste time with two different apps for Facebook communications. The official app works just fine for checking in, reading your timeline, and chatting with others. The only reason I ended up downloading Facebook’s Messenger app was to have faster, less distracted communication with my band mates who use it exclusively to […]
Could it be? Will the next iPhone finally include NFC (near-field communication) features? That’s the latest rumor based on a leaked photo of the device’s internal components. Plus, we’ve got the details on the newly updated MacBook Pro with Retina display, a report on AppleCare+, and news on Facebook Messenger in Tuesday’s Morning Report.
Right on cue, the Apple Online Store has been updated overnight Monday with refreshed MacBook Pro with Retina Display models, exactly as rumored over the weekend. The 13-inch and 15-inch notebook models now feature slightly faster versions of Intel’s Haswell processors, with the former now featuring 8GB RAM with the base model and the latter getting a bump to 16GB across the board.
Apple is also making it more enticing to buy a MacBook Pro with Retina Display, now that the highest end 15-inch model is $100 cheaper than it was yesterday, dropping to $2499. The 13-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro also dropped by $100, bringing it down to a new record low of $1099, although without a spec bump of any kind.
As usual, build-to-order options are also available, with new choices including a 3.0GHz dual-core i7 processor for the 13-inch model and a 2.8GHz quad-core i7 processor for the 15-inch model. Apple has also bumped the potential flash storage for both display sizes up to 1TB.
This modest refresh may have to appease MacBook Pro with Retina Display lovers, given that Intel’s next-generation Broadwell processors may not be notebook-ready until sometime in mid-2015.
The iPhone 6 leaks just keep on coming, with the latest revealing bare logic boards from both of the rumored 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models. According to MacRumors, each of the components are larger than the one found in the current iPhone 5s, and are once again rumored to include support for near-field communication (NFC) at long last, which could line up nicely against rumors of a new mobile wallet service Apple may be planning to launch this fall.
TechCrunch reported Monday that Facebook will start pushing smartphone chat users onto its free Messenger app starting later this week, a move the social network already started enforcing in Europe earlier this year. “Our goal is to focus development efforts on making Messenger the best mobile messaging experience possible and avoid the confusion of having separate Facebook mobile messaging experiences,” Facebook said in a statement. Curiously, Facebook users on mobile web, feature phones, Windows Phone, Facebook Paper, or desktop computers won’t have to endure such a change — at least for now.
Good news for iOS device owners in Mexico and Sweden. MacRumors today reported Apple has expanded AppleCare+ service in those countries to include iPhones and iPads. The extended warranty service, priced at 1,599 pesos in Mexico and 799 kronor in Sweden, must be purchased separately for each device and includes coverage for accidental damage.
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Been holding out for the latest update to the MacBook Pro line? Hold out no longer: Apple on Tuesday issued a small speed bump to its professional notebook line, bringing new processors to the laptops.
The upgrades see the intro-level and mid-range…
Over in the United Kingdom, the word is that iPads and iPods are saving lives. Not through the power of their magic Apple logo, of course — as doctors and nurses Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital claim (via the Gazette Live), the Cupertino company’s easily portable units allow the hospital to sideline the hassle of paper notes and focus on the information that demands immediate attention.
Using the iPod touch, for instance, medical personnel can monitor their patients’ health through the help of specialized apps that produce immediate reports on a person’s vitals and deliver alerts if something seems awry. The staff at the hospital also use networked iPads to check on each patient.
Via Gazette Live
“The key benefits of the system is the more rapid identification of deteriorating patients which in pilot sites has led to a reduction in hospital and critical care length of stay and a reduction in mortality — all of which are a huge benefit to both patients and clinicians,” said Tricia Hart, the head of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Even more remarkable, the hospital is reporting such success just a few weeks after the program launched on June 23. The South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust obtained £1 million ($1.69m) for the project in March, and the use of Apple’s devices at James Cook marks only the first step in a much wider adoption of the project throughout Britain.
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Hotels often make a big deal about how much their premises make you feel “at home,” but according to the Wall Street Journal, Hilton’s upcoming app will let you walk straight up to your room after your arrival like you own the place. No more of that nasty socializing with the folks behind the counter business; you’ll be able to bypass human interaction altogether.
We’ve covered this kind of stuff before, but it’s always been for comparatively small regional chains or tests before wider rollouts. (Back in January, for instance, Starwood Hotels and Resorts implemented a similar program for two of its Aloft hotels in Manhattan and in Apple’s own Cupertino.) Hilton’s adoption of the feature marks one of the first steps to making the practice common at internationally recognizable hotel chains.
Hilton, in fact, is already halfway there. The current app for the influential hotel chain lets you check in through the app, but you still need to run up to the front desk if want your keys. That’ll change in the future, though — specifically, sometime next year. By 2016, according to the WSJ, you’ll be able to use your iPhone has your hotel key at all of the company’s locations worldwide.
Pity, then, that they’ll probably still charge you an arm and a leg for Wi-Fi.
Follow this article’s writer, Leif Johnson, on Twitter.