As long as there have been airplane flights, there have been people on the ground wondering when those flights will arrive or depart. Heck, Orville and Wilbur’s friends probably wondered what time they’d land so that everyone could all go out to dinner. Little has changed in the smartphone age, but our tools have gotten better: The $5 FlightTrack 5, by Mobiata, is among the best apps for keeping tabs on plane trips.
FlightTrack’s been around for several years, but its latest redesign appeared last November, bringing a revamped interface in line with iOS 7’s aesthetics; just this week, the app received an update that finally added a native iPad interface.
Sony’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera to date, the Alpha A5000 is worth flagging amongst rivals for featuring a physically large APS-C sensor that is well-endowed with 20 million pixels. That at least suggests image quality practically on a par with a DSLR camera.
Sony bundles the A5000 with an ultra-compact 16 to 50mm lens that’s operated by a switch rather than a twist of the wrist. The lens retracts into its housing when not in use to allow for a slim possible profile with attached lens in transit.
Email hasn’t changed much over the years, but a new generation of mobile and desktop apps is out to challenge the status quo with unique new ways to wrestle incoming missives — or just put them on ice until a later date.
Mail Pilot for iOS debuted in early 2013 as a third-party attempt to build a better mobile email client. The developer has since turned its attention to the Mac platform, with the same modus operandi: Incoming missives are treated as tasks that can be checked off, swatted aside, or resurrected in the future. For someone who frequently treats his inbox as a to-do list already, this sounds like a match made in heaven.
In daily use, however, Mail Pilot for Mac lacks the polish of OS X Mail. For starters, there’s no draft mode — the developers promise to add the ability to save unsent emails in a future update. The app also stumbles when using folders to organize emails, requiring several clicks to file messages that Mail can copy or move via contextual menu.
Mail Pilot also isn’t built for users plagued with junk mail — there are no options to mark or file away unwanted emails, let alone spam filters to combat them. Incoming emails are all given equal treatment: There’s no way to color-code or otherwise create rules, although Mail Pilot does ping users via Notification Center and the dock when new mail arrives.
For casual users, Mail Pilot for Mac does offer a compelling alternative to email management. For example, we did rather enjoy the satisfaction of checking off an email as complete, and rather than leave messages sitting in the inbox where they nag you daily, less important tasks can be set aside for later, with or without a built-in reminder — although this feature isn’t yet integrated with OS X’s own Reminders.
“Inbox zero” enthusiasts will also find plenty to like about Mail Pilot for Mac, such as the ability to group related messages into lists and view related message conversations as nested, flat, or reversed. The app also offers intuitive keyboard shortcuts, but there’s a lost opportunity here for supporting gestures, which are completely missing in action.
The bottom line. Mail Pilot for Mac is the missing piece of the puzzle for those already using the iOS version, but compared to OS X Mail, we found its feature set too limiting.
The Finder’s tags feature, which debuted in Mavericks (OS X 10.9), can be quite useful. But if you prefer to use the keyboard instead of a mouse or trackpad, you may find it limiting. This video shows you how to take full advantage of tags without lifting your fingers from the keyboard.
Transcript
One of the big new features in the Finder in Mavericks is tags. Much like labels in older versions of OS X, tags let you assign categories to files and folders, though in Mavericks, you can assign multiple tags to the same item. Once you tag items, you can sort files by tag, or even use tags as criteria for smart folders. For example, I’ve got a smart folder that displays all items in my Work directory with an orange or red tag – I call it my High Priority folder.
Unlike a compact camera or a DSLR, your iPhone doesn’t let you adjust the most popular settings: aperture, lens length, shutter speed, and white balance. That said, several tools within the Camera app (and other third-party programs) can aid you in taking very attractive pictures.
Exposure and focus
When you tap and hold on a point to lock the focus, this yellow focus box appears.
Setting your iPhone camera’s exposure (which controls the image’s brightness) is a simple matter of tapping once on whatever part of the image you’d like to source. If you move, or if the view changes too much, the Camera app recalibrates and picks a new focus and exposure point.
Reader Doug McGowan is interested in creating instructional slideshows. He writes:
I have some information that I’d like to present to a group via a slideshow that they’ll watch on their computers. I have the pictures I need in iPhoto but I can’t find a way to annotate them. Is it possible?
Not in an effective way. The Ken Burns and Classic slideshow themes let you display captions. And although you could do this by adding some text to each image’s Description field within its Info window and then choosing to display the description as a caption, iPhoto will cut off long strings of text rather than wrap them to a new line. Plus, there’s no way to add a background shape (a colored rectangle, for example) to help set off the text.
When Paper by 53 first appeared in the App Store, its beauty was in its simplicity. Unlike other iOS drawing apps, it didn’t try to emulate a desktop workspace by cramming a bunch of features onto a small screen; with an elegant set of digital tools, it redefined our expectations of art in the Multitouch era.
In many ways, Pencil is the perfect complement to Paper’s singular style. Designed to mimic the look and feel of a high-quality carpenter’s pencil, it doesn’t succumb to the usual stubby stylus pitfalls. When gripped like a normal pen, its soft, cushioned tip gives it a spongy, almost brush-like, quality that belies its precision, while a touch of weight adds just the right amount of leverage.
Pairing is as easy as pressing Pencil’s point against a small circle in the toolbar, but if you leave Paper for more than a minute or two, you’ll need to repeat the process. Once connected, the full power of the app will be at your fingertips — including all brushes and the color mixer — along with nifty palm-rejecting technology that lets you rest your hand comfortably on the screen while you work (though you’ll still want to use your fingers to blend and undo).
Pencil responded well to our movements, and we only experienced the slightest bit of occasional lag, particularly when using the color brush. Building the eraser into the top of the stylus is a stroke of genius, as is the concealed magnet that firmly attached our walnut review model to the iPad Smart Cover while traveling.
The bottom line. Whether you’re a painter or a doodler, Pencil will help you get a grip on your creativity.
Who could possibly have seen this coming? Hitman, the series of violent and visually sumptuous stealth shooting games, has come to iPad in the form of Hitman Go, a mannered, turn-based puzzle board game.
As bizarre as the juxtaposition seems, however, this isn’t quite as illogical as it sounds. For one thing, Hitman—despite the kinetic and controversy-baiting adverts and the heavily armed stripper nuns—was always a quieter game than it was given credit for; its big points are generally earned by slipping through a level with barely a ripple, taking down your mark cleanly while leaving the guards not only alive but unalerted.
The OM-D E-M1 is the best mirrorless camera ever from Olympus, and it’s attracting interest from serious photographers who had, up until now, ignored Olympus and Micro Four Thirds technology. But the E-M1 deserves all the attention—it’s the new champ in the “lightweight heavyweight” class.
The E-M1’s sturdy magnesium body is splash and dust resistant, and freeze resistant down to 14º F (-10º C). At 1.1 pounds with a battery and SD card, it’s lightweight compared to, say, a full-frame Sony A99 (1.8 pounds). And while not tiny, it’s not a lot bigger than my iPhone 5 in its Otterbox case.
Bluetooth speakers are important not for only adding a bit of punch to music from mobile devices, but also for providing entertainment in social situations. With the increasing frequency that people are carrying around music on portable devices, it mak…
There’s a lot of gear out there for your Apple devices, but how do you know which are worth your time and what’s not worth your money? In our Gear We Love column, Macworld’s editors tell you about the products we’re personally using—and loving.
Most of the stuff we cover in “Gear We Love” are accessories, but occasionally we’re excited about an accessory for an accessory. That’s the case—no pun intended—with this week’s item, WaterField Designs’ $49 CitySlicker for the Jawbone Mini Jambox. As its name implies, the CitySlicker for Mini Jambox is a version of WaterField’s excellent CitySlicker MacBook Case that’s been sized down to fit Jawbone’s nifty Mini Jambox Bluetooth speaker.
Macworld commenter Lisban Osorio has a multimedia problem that faces a few of us. He writes:
My copy of the Godfather II comes on two DVD discs. I’d like to play it on my Apple TV as one continues file. How can I do that?
First, you’ll have to rip each disc, a process we’ve described many times. The free HandBrake continues to be my tool of choice for such chores. I’d suggest that you rip them using HandBrake’s Apple TV 3 preset to get the best looking video.
Once you have the ripped versions of your two movies you must find a way to join them. Although you can do this in iMovie and QuickTime 7 Pro, the operation can take hours. To speed up the process I use MKVToolNix an open-source utility that converts video files into the MKV format. Among its talents is MKVMerge, which will combine multiple movie files and export them as a single MKV file.
The NEC MultiSync EA274WMi is a 27-inch widescreen desktop monitor that uses high-quality IPS panels, LED backlights, and an anti-glare screen. This 2560 by 1440 resolution monitor connects to your Mac or PC via DisplayPort, HDMI, DVD-D, or VGA and offers a four-port USB hub for peripherals. You can also connect two sources to the display and use NEC’s Picture By Picture feature to view both simultaneously. The display has built-in speakers as well as a port for plugging in headphones—handy features, especially for people using the EA274WMi with tower computers. The EA274WMi doesn’t offer a DisplayPort Out connection, which is a nice-to-have-but-rare feature that allows you to daisy chain monitors.
Here are a few common situations and some tips on how to photograph them successfully. We emphasize basic approaches, but don’t be afraid to get creative and capture something unique.
Sunsets and bright windows
If you find yourself observing a beautiful sunset, and you’re itching to take someone’s picture in front of it, remember that the sun is still very bright even when it’s setting. This means that you’re shooting in a backlit situation, so you need to take the same steps you would if you were shooting in front of a sunny window.
When capturing a backlit portrait, use your iPhone’s flash to illuminate your subject. Because the camera will expose for the background lighting, the result should be a nice, even exposure. Alternatively, you can tap to set the exposure on your subject and then use the iPhone’s HDR mode to flesh out the sunset’s shades. HDR is perfect for capturing sunset landscapes.
The second coming of tablets came in on the heels of the iPad, and frankly, crushed the traditional PC market. It took some time for the market to adapt to the new reality, but in 2014 it has — and Lenovo has a handful of devices that attempt to cater…
OmniGraffle is known for being the top diagram and wireframing app for the Mac. It’s gathered a loyal following for a feature set used for everything from app design to drawing up plans for a new kitchen.
OmniGraffle 6’s most visible change is the “one-window” design. Inspectors to edit your document no longer float in separate windows; they live within one window alongside your document. While you can still open inspectors in floating panels of their own, this substantial change means the messy and overlapping windows found in previous versions are gone. Instead, there’s a more carefully considered approach to accessing the tools that live at the heart of OmniGraffle, and full-screen support (which arrived a few versions ago) finally sings.
The push to bring everything into one window is reiterated with the type inspector, allowing you to change fonts using a pop-up menu within the new inspector. For those who prefer the OS X font panel, that’s also still available. The type inspector also adds fine-grained control for kerning, and the ability to set up tracking for an entire word.
Managing templates and stencils within OmniGraffle is new, too. There’s no need to dive into the Finder, though it’s worth noting that users of version 5 must manually import any previously created Stencils and Templates in order for them to be used in this version. We also like the in-canvas image masking: no more chopping up images in Photoshop before dragging them into OmniGraffle.
Syncing with OmniGraffle for iPad (and any other Mac you may use) is handled through “OmniPresence,” a free service from The Omni Group. There’s no iCloud sync offered in the Mac App Store version, but OmniPresence is fast, free, and also available as a self-hosted option that companies can run in-house instead of on a third-party server.
We’ve been looking at the standard-edition features so far, but Pro (an additional $100 from the Omni Group’s website, or as an IAP on the Mac App Store) adds big features in version 6 too, particularly if you’re designing apps or working as part of a larger team. resolution-independent display scaling for Retina-accurate wireframes, Xcode Project import, presentation mode, layered Photoshop document export and shared layers across a document may double the price, but for heavy users, they’re worth it.
OmniGraffle 6 balances important big new features with tons of smaller additions. As a result, it’s easier for newcomers, and existing users find themselves even more productive.
The bottom line. OmniGraffle 6 raises the bar for diagramming apps on the Mac, and is easier to use than ever.
