Resolving Stubborn Wi-Fi Connection Problems in Mac OS X

A fair amount of Mac users have encountered long lasting Wi-Fi connection issues, whether it's a dropping connection, a refusal to reconnect after waking from sleep, or any other number of oddities pertaining to wireless networking. Often these connection problems can be resolved with renewing a DHCP lease and changing the MTU size, but sometimes things are more stubborn and a wireless connection will continue to drop or throw unusual connection errors when waking from sleep. If you find yourself struggling with persistent wifi problems, try deleting all preference plist files associated with wireless settings in OS X:

Fix Stubborn Wi-Fi Problems by Deleting Preference Files

Before beginning, be sure to have the wi-fi password of your primary network handy. You will need it to rejoin the network.

• Pull down the Wi-Fi menu and turn Wi-FI OFF



• From any Finder window, hit Command+Shift+G to bring up Go To Folder, and enter the following path:

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/


• Locate the following files, copy them to the desktop for a backup, then delete them from the /SystemConfiguration/ folder:

com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
com.apple.network.identification.plist
NetworkInterfaces.plist
preferences.plist


• Empty the Trash and reboot the Mac
• Turn Wi-Fi back ON from the Wi-Fi menu, join your preferred network as usual

This process forces OS X to create all new preference files for wireless networking, which can be an effective troubleshooting strategy if the wi-fi problems began after upgrading versions of Mac OS X and even installing incremental system updates.

The wi-fi connection should now work as expected unless there's a deeper problem, whether it's a compatibility issue with the router (often resolved by this DHCP and MTU fix), a problem the router itself, or something as simple as network interference (here's how to check connection strength and interference issues), which can often be resolved by reconfiguring a routers physical arrangement or changing it's broadcast channel.

Let us know if this worked for you, or if you have any other helpful wifi problem.

Shipping Estimates for New 27-Inch iMac Already Slip to 3-4 Weeks [Mac Blog]

Just hours after Apple began taking orders for the new iMac, shipping estimates in the company's online store for the stock 27-inch models have slipped from the original 2-3 weeks to 3-4 weeks. Estimates for the stock 21.5-inch models remain at 1-3 days.


Supplies of the new iMac are expected to be constrained into 2013 as Apple's suppliers deal with the challenges of producing thinner displays laminated directly to the cover glass, with the larger 27-inch panels being particularly difficult to produce.

Roundup of Changes in iTunes 11: 'Expanded View', No Cover Flow, 'Up Next' and More

iTunes 11 has finally arrived, nearly a month after it was originally promised because of the need to "get it right" according to Apple. The app promises a redesigned store, simplified layout, and more.

Aside from the tentpole changes, there are a number of other things -- both promising and confusing -- that have changed in iTunes 11. Here's a selection:

- The default iTunes 11 view removes the sidebar that has been a staple of iTunes since it was first released. The Mac Observer tells us how to get it back. Head to the View menu and select Show Sidebar.

- iPods have come in a wide variety of capacities in their time, but one notable capacity has never graced the device. There has never been a 128GB iPod, though as Sonny Dickson points out, iTunes appears to be ready for such an eventuality. A 128GB iOS device has been consistently rumored over the years, but has yet to make an appearance.

- Users can now redeem store-purchased iTunes Gift Cards by using the camera built into most recent Macs (or Windows machines) to scan the redemption code. This should make redeeming cards quicker and reduce user frustration.

- It has a new icon, as seen above.

- The red/yellow/green buttons at the top left of the window again perform in the standard OS X manner. Previously, the green button would send the iTunes into its special MiniPlayer window. Now, a special icon in the top right corner, next to the full screen button, toggles minimization.


- John Gruber at Daring Fireball notes the new 'Expanded View' mode:

I think my favorite new design element is what Apple is calling "Expanded View". In a graphical list of albums or movies or shows, you click one and it opens in a subview right there under the album/movie/show. Instead of going to a new view, you stay where you are. No way to get confused about where you are, more of a sense of direct manipulation. I think this is a brilliant design for everyone, particularly typical users. And there's a neat trick: the colors for the song listing are chosen algorithmically based on the album or poster art. (Examples: here and here.) Very clever, very fun. It's a digital approximation of going through real-world albums or DVD jewel boxes and opening them in place — with the custom color palettes, the listings feel like the "inside" of the albums.

- Gruber also noticed that the 'Up Next' menu displays differently on retina and standard displays. "On regular displays, the Up Next icon is a bullet list. But on retina displays, it's a numbered list with minuscule numerals."

- iTunes DJ, formerly called Party Shuffle, is gone. It's been replaced by the clever 'Up Next'.

- Cover Flow, a major feature when it was introduced, is gone. It's been replaced by the 'Expanded View' mentioned above.

- There seems to be a bug with the AirPlay button. The button, which has been moved from the bottom right to the top left of the main window is missing for some users. Some have reported restoring the button by going to the MiniWindow and activating AirPlay there and it will then appear in the main window. Not all users are affected by the issue, however.

- Many users are reporting label issues within the iTunes and App Stores. As the stores are basically glorified web pages, these issues will likely be fixed server side while Apple gets the bugs shaken out.

New iMac Unboxing Video and Teardown Photos

The new iMac is going on sale around the world on Friday, November 30th. In Australia, Ben Pasternak was able to walk into his local Apple Store and buy one and has posted the first unboxing video of the new machine.Meanwhile, Japanese site Kodawarisan has posted teardown photos showing the innards of the thin new machine. 


The new iMac tapers to a 5mm thin edge along the sides, requiring the use of a special welding technique to achieve the design.

The 21.5" iMac will go on sale today in the U.S. both in retail stores and in the online Apple store with immediate availability. The 27-inch model will be available for pre-order but won't ship until December. Stock is expected to be tight throughout 2012.

Use Page Resources to Find & Access Embedded Files in Safari

Past versions of Safari included a feature called Activity Monitor that let you easily see and access resources loaded on a web page and even download embedded files like javascript, images, css, FLV video, mov files, and audio. The Activity Monitor feature was widely used by web developers, but it has been removed from Safari 6 onward, meaning if you want to track down files embedded into web pages and see other resources, you'll have to use the Page Resources feature found within the developer menu.

• Enable the Safari Developer menu by opening Safari Preferences, going to the "Advanced" tab, and checking "Show Develop menu in menu bar"
• Navigate to the web page where you'd like to access page resources
• Pull down the Develop menu and select "Show Page Resources"
• Use the search box to find the embedded files or resources you are looking for, for best results search for file extensions

Common file types like images, scripts, and stylesheets, are broken into subfolders in the page resources menu, which makes browsing through all of them simple enough, though the search feature is much faster if you know exactly what you're looking for.

A few things to keep in mind here; in order to find FLV files accessible in the Resources search you must have the Flash plugin installed in Safari. Similarly, many audio files are accessible behind Flash players and also will require the Flash plugin to be installed before they load. You'll also find that not all embedded files are shown with a file extension and they may not be returned in the generic search, if that's the case you can typically locate them within the "Other" folder in page resources instead.

iTunes 11 Released, Download Now!

iTunes 11 has been released by Apple, offering a fairly significant update to the music player and iOS device syncing app. A variety of new features have been added, the user interface has been redesigned and modernized, a new mini-player has been included, and there's even a redesigned icon to go with it. This is the first major update to iTunes in quite some time and is available for both Mac OS X and Windows users.

Download iTunes 11

There are a variety of ways to grab the latest version:

• Download from the Mac App Store (OS X 10.8 or later)
• Get it from Software Update from the  Apple menu (OS X 10.7 and before)
• Update directly from iTunes itself
• Download directly from Apple for Mac or Windows

If you find any particular method unavailable, downloading directly from Apple should work without incident. Entering email addresses is not necessary to get it from Apple, clicking the giant blue Download button is sufficient to start downloading the installer.

iStat Menus Updated With New Look, History Views, and Bandwidth Monitor [Mac Blog]

iStat Menus by Bjango has been updated to version 4, adding a new look and new features. Among other things, the app now shows a historical chart of various system metrics looking at the past hour, 24 hours and week. It also adds a Little Snitch-esque look at which processes are using up network bandwidth.

Bjango has now come out with iStat Menus 4, and the new version has some interesting and, for me, welcome changes. Aside from the usual bug fixes, Retina support and better Mountain Lion compatibility, iStat Menus 4 introduces a refreshed look that brings consistency with Bjango's other iStat app, iStat 2. iStat Menus now features the same style for graphs and charts as iStat 2, and, even better, it comes with the same History menu to view a component's performance over time. For instance, you can mouse over the CPU's main graph and check out a second menu with History for the past hour, 24 hours, and 7 days. There are more time-related view options available, and there's more to customize in the app's Preferences (which have also been redesigned, and it took me a while to get used to them at first). I appreciate the consistency with iStat 2, and I like History because it lets me easily check my network's conditions over time.

iStat Menus 4 is available for $16 via Bjango's online store. It's $9 for current iStat Menus 3 owners.

Polaroid Snapshots of the First Apple Computers Ever Made

Technologizer's Harry McCracken has unearthed some photographs taken by Paul Terrell of the Byte Shop in Mountain View, California in 1976. At the time, the Byte Shop was one of the only computer stores in the world, and ended up being the first dealer for an upstart company called Apple Computer.

According to Terrell, Jobs and Wozniak came into his shop with the first version of the Apple-1 asking him to sell it to his customers. Here's an early photo of the circuit board hooked up to a keyboard and monitor.

They called their machine the Apple-1, and it was a bare board; any buyers would have to solder on the necessary chips themselves, then supply accoutrements such as a power supply, keyboard and display.

Terrell was intrigued, but told Jobs that what he really needed were fully-assembled computers. In fact, if Jobs could come back with an assembled version of the Apple-1, the Byte Shop would buy fifty of them. Jobs did, and the Byte Shop became the first Apple dealer (it eventually offered the Apple-1 in a wooden case with keyboard and power supply).

Terrell eventually paid $500 each for 50 Apple-1's, which history says sold for $666.66 each at retail. There are more pictures, and some additional backstory, at Technologizer.

Time Warner CEO wants Apple to release a television set

After years of rumors, we'd like to think the Apple TV set is a reality, and so would Time Warner Cable's CEO. Speaking at Business Insider's IGNITE conference this afternoon, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes believes Apple has what it takes to change the television market. When asked about the company delivering the Apple TV set, Bewkes said, "I hope they do. I think Apple is a great device company. They bring good interface and navigation skills."

This isn't the first time we've heard Time Warner talk about the Apple TV. In September, COO Rob Marcus said the company would be willing to give up control of the user interface, though he wants to keep the "customer relationship." We've noted before the difficulty Apple will face to get cable companies to relinquish control of the user interface and user experience.

Recently, analysts have pegged the Apple TV set launch for the 2013 holiday season, but that's not without timeframe misses in the past. Analyst Gene Munster said the HDTV size will be between 42- and 55-inches, priced between $1,500 and $2,000.  At any rate, it looks like we'll have to wait a while longer to get official word — if ever. In the mean time, check out a solid Apple TV concept.

Source: Business Insider
Image: The Verge

Photoshop CS6 Retina Display Support Coming on December 11?

Macotakara notes that Adobe's promotional materials for its upcoming Create Now Live event on December 11 appear to show a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro running Photoshop CS6 in high-resolution Retina mode.


Adobe announced in late August that it would be bringing Retina display support to Photoshop CS6 "this Fall", with the company's other applications also receiving updates "over the next few months". Several of those updates have already appeared, but Photoshop will be the most popular of the company's applications to receive the upgrade to Retina resolution.

Intel Reports Fix Coming for Flickering on Monitors Connected to 2012 Mac Mini via HDMI

Following last month's launch of new Mac mini models, a number of users in the MacRumors forums and Apple's support forums have cited issues with flickering on external monitors connected to their machines via HDMI. Connections via Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort are not affected.


The issue seems to be a known one related to the Intel HD 4000 graphics used in the Mac mini, and Intel has now acknowledged the issue in the Mac mini and indicated that a fix is on the way. A timeframe for a fix delivered through Apple is, however, so far unknown.

We are aware of the flickering issue, and there will be a fix provided in the future. The overall flicker issue is also being addressed here; http://communities.intel.com/thread/32932

Your OEM (Apple) will provide the driver with the fix when they are done configuring our driver (that has the fix). An ETA on this is currently unknown.

Apple has begun developer seeding of OS X 10.8.3 with an emphasis on graphics drivers, but it seems to be unclear at the present time whether the current beta version of OS X 10.8.3 contains the specific fix for this issue.

Olloclip Releases 3-in-1 Photo Lens for iPhone 5 [iOS Blog]

olloclip has released a new version of its 3-in–1 photo lens solution, which has been redesigned for the iPhone 5. The lens set comes in three different colors, red, black, and white, and features three lens types in a single accessory.


The fisheye lens captures photos with a 180 degree field of view, while the wide-angle lens doubles the iPhone's normal field of view and the macro lens applies a 10x macro magnification.

olloclip's fisheye lens is also designed to work with Apple's new Panorama camera feature, which was introduced with iOS 6. With Panorama 360 Plus, the lens is able to capture a 360 degree image with both a wider and taller field of view than the standard iPhone 5 camera can produce.

As with the olloclip for the iPhone 4 and 4S, olloclip for the iPhone 5 snaps on to the upper right corner of the phone over the camera and allows for the quick changing of lenses.

Steven Sande of TUAW recently released a review of the olloclip for the iPhone 5.

I was impressed with the olloclip both for the quality and ease of use. If you're in the aftermarket for some creative lenses for your iPhone 5 (or the 4/4S), it's definitely worth buying one of these little gems.

The olloclip 3-in–1 lens system for the iPhone 5 costs $69.99 and is available for purchase

Use iPad as an External Monitor with Air Display Free

Air Display is a great iOS app that turns an iPad into an external display for just about any Mac or Windows PC. It's been around a while, but now there's a new free version available that lets you try out a full featured ad-supported version before buying the regular version, offering an excellent way to see if AirDisplay fits into your workflow. Though the screen size makes it best for iPad, Air Display Free technically works with iPhones and the iPod touch too, and there's no shortage of helpful ways to use it on whatever device you run it on.

You'll need two small downloads to get going, the iOS app and a simple menubar utility for OS X or Windows that switches it on and off:

• Get AirDisplay Free from the App Store
• Download AirDisplay Connect for your Mac or PC

Install the menubar utility on the computer and launch the app and you'll find some quick easy instructions on setting it up. You'll be up and running in no time and able to enjoy the extended desktop that Air Display provides. The free versions ads aren't terribly intrusive which makes it more than adequate for trying the app out and for occasional use, though if you're happy with it you'll probably want to shell out for the full version to get rid of the ads.

Performance varies a bit based on the computer in use and the iPad model. Retina iPads have the benefit of being able to function as an external HiDPI display for the Mac, but some older Mac models may struggle with HIDPI video output leading to CPU spikes and undesirable performance. For older computers, it's probably best to run in lower resolution mode on retina iPads, but that's a nonissue for iPad 2 and iPad Mini, and most any modern Mac or PC should be able to push the higher resolutions without incident.

All in all, Air Display is a great app, and with the new free version there's little reason to not try it out on you iPad, iPhone, or iPod.

Picture from a past Mac Setups post

Apple Fires Manager Responsible for Maps as Eddy Cue Turns to Outsiders for Help

As Apple continues to work toward improving the new Maps service the company rolled out in iOS 6, Bloomberg reports that Apple has fired Richard Williamson, the manager directly responsible for the project.

Richard Williamson, who oversaw the mapping team, was fired by Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information wasn't yet public. Cue, who took over last month as part of a management shakeup, is seeking advice from outside mapping-technology experts and prodding digital maps provider TomTom NV to fix landmark and navigation data it shares with Apple.

As part of a management shakeup at Apple announced last month, iOS chief Scott Forstall will be leaving the company next year and his responsibilities have been delegated to other executives. With Eddy Cue now overseeing Maps in addition to his iTunes Store, App Store, iCloud, iBookstore, iAd, and Siri responsibilities, Apple has brought on its "product resuscitator" to help fix the highly criticized service.

Cue is said to be taking a very hands-on approach with Maps, and with his firing of Williamson seems to be looking to build his own team to address the service's many 

Apple Releases Thunderbolt Firmware Update v1.1 [Mac Blog]

Apple has released an update to mid-2012 MacBook Pro models to fix an issue with some Thunderbolt cables. The 442KB update is available via Apple's support site and the Mac App Store.

About Thunderbolt Firmware Update v1.1 This update addresses an issue with MacBook Pro (mid 2012) and some Thunderbolt cables that may prevent bus-powered Thunderbolt devices from functioning properly.

OS X 10.8.3 Beta has new ATI 7000 series Tahiti graphics drivers

.

Netkas notes that the 10.8.3 Beta released yesterday contains support for the ATI 7000 series graphics processors. The following was found inside the update:

ATI7000Controller.kext
AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle

The new iMacs utilize Nvidia graphics, so these are likely for Mac Pro-level cards.  Netkas forum user Rominator, who discovered the ATI driver support, also claims to have gotten the ATI 7970 to work with OS 10.8.3 (above and below).

Time to start speculatin' about new Pros?

Report: Apple bumps Android from top spot in US smartphone market on strength of iPhone 5 sales

On the strength of iPhone 5 sales, iOS has once again reached the top spot for smartphone market share in the United States, according to new data from Research firm Kantar Worldpanel Comtech (via Reuters). According to the report that tracked smartphone sales over the last 12 weeks ending Oct. 28, iOS now accounts for 48.1-percent of the U.S. smartphone market. That's up 25 percent year-over-year, and it officially bumps Android into second place, but is still just shy of the record 49.3-percent it was able to capture earlier this year.

Android was down from 63.3-percent marketshare over the same 12-week period last year to just 46.7-percent today. As for the rest of the world, you can see from Kantar's data for other countries in the chart below that Android still dominates in most other countries, including: 54.2-percent of the market in Britain, 81.7-percent of the market in Spain, and 73.9-percent in Germany.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: "The last time we saw iOS overtake Android in the US was when the iPhone 4S was released and Apple managed to retain its lead for three consecutive periods. This time we predict that Apple will beat its previous high of 49.3% and achieve its highest ever share of the US smartphone market within the next two periods."

The report also provided some data on iPhone 5 sales, noting 62 percent came from existing Apple device owners upgrading. Apple also captured 13 percent of iPhone 5 sales from Android switchers:

The majority of US iPhone 5 sales, 62%, have come from existing Apple owners upgrading to the new device, although Apple has also benefitted from people switching from Android devices (13%), people switching from BlackBerry devices (6%) and a small number of first time smartphone owners… "Apple has always managed to maintain loyalty levels far above the competition, and this has clearly played a part in driving sales of its new device.  An impressive 92% of existing Apple owners in the US said they will choose an iPhone the next time they upgrade.

Siri 'Eyes Free' Mode Coming to Chevrolet Spark and Sonic in Early 2013

Back in June, Apple announced that it was working with car manufacturers on a new "Eyes Free" mode for Siri that would integrate with voice command buttons found in an increasing number of car models to allow users to interact with Siri without needing to look at their devices' screens. As part of his iOS 6 presentation at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, Scott Forstall displayed a slide showing that Apple was working with BMW, GM, Mercedes, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, and Honda on the initiative.


GM reportedly confirmed soon after that it would be bringing Eyes Free Siri to the Chevrolet Spark and Sonic within the following 12 months, and the company today announced more details on that integration. The announcement notes that Siri will be included as part of the MyLink system on several Spark and Sonic models beginning in early 2013.

In the Spark and Sonic RS, owners can use Siri in Eyes Free mode to:

- Make voice-activated, hands-free calls to Contacts on their iPhone
- Play songs in the iTunes library, and even switch music sources automatically from AM/FM/XM radio to iPod mode
- Listen to, and compose and send an iMessage or text message to a phone number or anyone in saved Contacts
- Access Calendar and add appointments
- Minimize distraction even more by keeping the screen of the iPhone from lighting up, even when Siri answers simple questions such as game scores or the dates of national holidays
- While in Eyes Free mode, Siri will not provide answers to complex questions that require displaying a web .

Batch Resize a Group of Pictures from the Command Line with sips

Though most Mac users will likely prefer to use Preview to batch resize images because of the ease of use, advanced users often like to go with the command line for repetitive tasks. We've discussed sips before as a way to resize, rotate, and flip images, but if sips is combined with wildcards it can also function as a quick way to batch resize a group of photos.

Launch Terminal from the /Application/Utilities/ folder and use the following syntax:

sips -Z (max height in pixels) /path/to/images/*.(image file extension)

For example, to resize a collection of jpg pictures to each have a max height of 620, located in the desktop folder "ResizeMe":

sips -Z 620 ~/Desktop/ResizeMe/*.jpg

The -Z flag instructs sips to retain the images original aspect ratio while maintaining a maximum height of 620, but you can also specify exact height and width by using a lowercase -z flag instead like so:

sips -z 620 840 *.jpg

The height in pixels is first, followed by the width in pixels.

If the command line doesn't fit well into a workflow, another great option is to batch resize images with an Automator script, which has the added benefit of becoming a self-contained application allowing for standard Finder interactions like drag and drop.

This handy reminder about sips comes to us from Lifehacker

OS X 10.8.3 Beta 1 Released for Developers

The first beta of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 has been released to registered Mac developers. OS X 10.8.3 beta 1 is identified as build 12D32 and focuses on AirPlay, AirPort (wireless), Game Center, and graphics drivers, though it's not yet clear if the intention is for bug fixing, feature enhancements, or a bit of both.

Installing the release must be done through a new OS X Software Update Seed Configuration Utility, which is a separate download available to developers. The release notes indicate several known bugs with the first beta build.

Those registered with the Mac Developer program can download the 10.8.3 beta and the required Seed Configuration Utility directly from Apple's Developer Center. Everyone else will have to wait until a public release is available sometime in the future.

Those interested can read more about this beta release on MacRumors.

New iMacs to Go On Sale as Early as Tomorrow?

Belgium-iPhone.Lesoir.be claims that Apple will be delivering the new 21.5" iMac to Apple Premium Resellers in Belgium starting on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the 27" iMac model is still believed to be scheduled for December.


The site also believes that the new iMac would be available for online orders at approximately the same time.

Separately, we received an unconfirmed tip saying that the new iMacs would be ready to order tomorrow, Tuesday, November 27th. We're not sure if the time difference (6 hours behind U.S. Eastern) explains the conflicting time frames or if one (or both) are simply wrong. Neither sources has a track record, but both guesses are certainly realistic. Apple originally claimed that the 21.5" iMac would begin shipping in November.

Cyber Monday 2012: Zagg, Belkin, Hex3, BestBuy, Macs and More

The Monday after Black Friday has been dubbed Cyber Monday to reflect a large number of online purchases that takes place on that day. As a result, many retailers continue or begin online sales on Monday. Here's a selection of Apple-relevant Cyber Monday sales.


- Zagg - Popular iPhone/iPad accessory maker is offering 20% off Keyboard Cases and 50% off "almost everything else", including their Invisible Shield protection.


- Hex3 - 25% off two of their products with coupon code "Monday25". First is Jaja ($89.99 -> $67.49), a pressure sensitive stylus for the iPad that allows for 1024 levels of pressure. Interestingly, it uses high frequency sound to communicate with the iPad. The other product on sale is the AppTag Laser Blaster ($59.99 -> $45.99) which is an augmented reality gun that you can clip your iPhone to.

- Belkin - Popular Mac and iOS accessory company. 30% off everything with coupon code "CYBER30". Until noon PST.

- Marware - 30% off sitewide with coupon code "CYBERMONDAY2012"

- Das Keyboard - Mechanical keyboard for the Mac. 20% off with coupon code "DASCHEER"

Macs

- MacMall, BestBuy and Amazon continue to have discounts in place across a broad range of Apple products. Our Black Friday 2012 comparison price chart has been updated to reflect the latest prices.

Others

- Best Buy: Dell UltraSharp 27" LCD Monitor - $999.99 -> $649.99
- Best Buy: iTunes Gift Card - $100 Card for $85
- Best Buy: Refurbished 2TB Time Capsule - $179 ($299 New)
- Mac App Store: Fantastical - $19.99 -> $9.99
- Software Bundles: MacUtility Bundle, MacLegion Bundle, iStack Mac Bundle 2.0.

Some of the vendors listed are affiliate partners with MacRumors and referred sales may benefit the site financially.

iTunes Digital Gift Cards Now Available Through Facebook

Facebook today announced that it has added iTunes Store digital gift cards to its Facebook Gifts platform, making it easier for users to send iTunes credit to their networks of Facebook friends.

Starting today with Facebook Gifts, you can instantly gift your friends iTunes digital gifts and recommend albums, movies, games, apps, and more available on the iTunes Store.

Search for a specific song or album to recommend, or let your friend decide. iTunes digital gifts are available for $10, $15, $25, or $50.


AllThingsD notes that the partnership offers increased visibility for the iTunes Store and gives Facebook a part of what is currently estimated to be a $260 million business in iTunes Store gift cards for third-party retailers.

Per Apple’s last 10-K, the company generated $7.5 billion from the iTunes Store during fiscal year 2012. Industry sources say that more than $2 billion of that revenue comes directly from iTunes gift cards. Sources also tell us that existing retailers who sell iTunes gift cards (like Best Buy, Target and the like) usually keep around 13 percent of each gift-card dollar sold.

So that adds up to around, say, a $260 million-dollar market size for physical iTunes cards split among participating retailers, of which Facebook will now be an active participant. That pie is small compared to Facebook’s overall revenue ($3.71 billion in 2011), but another digital product with less overhead and high demand is definitely a win for Facebook’s Gifts department.
Apple and Facebook have had a bit of a rocky history, with the two companies having sparred over Apple's efforts to offer Facebook integration in its failed Ping social networking service for iTunes. The companies have, however, been working more closely together recently, with systemwide Facebook integration now included in iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion.

Next Version iOS 7’s Alerts [Concept]

Here’s How Jony Ive Should Re-Design iOS 7’s Alerts [Concept]




Right now, iOS’s notifications system is curiously bifurcated in design between the alert bubble system of iOS 4 and the banner notifications that appeared in iOS 5. A new concept floating around, though, has some great ideas on how these systems could be merged in iOS 7 by a new iOS UI design team lead by Jony Ive.

Over at The Verge, user Sentry makes the case for a new steamlined notifications system that takes iOS 5/6’s banner-styles and applies them to pop-up alerts, like so:

Here’s How Jony Ive Should Re-Design iOS 7’s Alerts [Concept]

Sentry explains the idea:

    [When] iOS 5 came around, [Apple] added a new type of alert. It brought a long overdue upgrade to the notifications system, by introducing an alert style that didn’t put a complete halt to whatever you were previously doing; banners. Banners are minimal and provide information in a condensed format that doesn’t need to take up the entire screen.


    One problem; the pop-up alerts still exist, and have gone unchanged. (for example, alerts don’t show an app icon indicator, which banners do despite taking up less space)

    Not only are they visually outdated, but they also visually segregate the app-based notifications into two unique UI styles (opaque white vs transparent dark blue). So why not unify the visual forms, and in the process finally get rid of the circa-’07 alert pop-up?

The meat of the concept is the biteSMS-like quick reply button, which allows you to quickly type a message in text-based apps.

But what about system alerts not tied to an individual app via push? Sentry imagines a solution something like this:

iOS 6 Jailbreak Already Available with Redsn0w 0.9.13dev

     
    
Redsn0w jailbreak for iOS 6 beta

The first beta of iOS 6 has only been in the wild a few days but has already been jailbroken. The DevTeam released a dev build of Redsn0w 0.9.13 to handle the jailbreak which works on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch 4G, though each device is tethered for the time being and there are a handful of major issues with the jailbreak that should prevent most users from attempting to use it on their devices.

As the versioning implies, Redsn0w 0.9.13dev1 is intended for developers only. There are many components that do not work, including Apple’s default apps, many 3rd party apps, Cydia apps, and more. Furthermore, this version of the tethered jailbreak does not install Cydia. Because of all the caveats this is really a proof of concept and should not be widely adopted beyond those developing jailbreak tweaks or apps, but it does suggest that when iOS 6 is released to the public a jailbreak will accompany it rather quickly.
Download Redsn0w 0.9.13dev

For the brave devs that wish to try this, these are direct links:

    Mac
    Windows

If you’re a developer and you wish to try this out, point Redsn0w at the iOS 6 IPSW file to jailbreak, and then boot tethered. As the Dev Team mentions, anyone attempting to use this version of redsn0w will need a registered UDID to activate their device.

iOS 6 is scheduled for a public release this fall.

Review: HyperJuice 2 External MacBook and iPad Battery MBP2-100

Talk about good timing. A few days before Sandy hit our town, Hyper sent me its new MacBook + iOS charging external battery device, the Hyperjuice MBP2-100.





Hyper has made external MacBook/Air/Pro batteries for years, and if you’ve ever been to an Apple (or any big technology) keynote event, many of the live bloggers have their rigs hooked up to them. HyperJuice’s latest line, dubbed the “MBP2 series”, expands on the capabilities of the big power batteries…

I’ve been using a Powerbag from Ful for my external battery needs for over a year. I love the idea of power inside a backpack, and it has saved me on many occasions, but I could also use some additional flexibility. You can’t remove the battery charging apparatus from the Powerbag, and it doesn’t offer a way to charge a MacBook.

HyperJuice takes a simpler approach and offers a battery that matches the aluminum exterior of a MacBook Pro/Air. If you want to pop it into a backpack, it is pretty quick and easy; all the ports and the display are on one side and easy to access. Or, you can throw it in a laptop case or even a roomy pocket of an iPad cover. I’ve even seen one double-sided taped to the back of a MacBook Pro.

The OLED screen provides detailed battery information like percentage power remaining, temperature, time to full charge and discharge. There are two iPad-level charging 2.1A USB ports on the front as well as DC in and DC out. The DC in is for charging via the included AC adapter, but you can also charge the battery via DC source like a car or boat. The 12V DC out is for your Mac via an adapter that looks like a car lighter.

To use the HyperJuice with a Mac, you’ll need to pick up the $50 Apple Airplane adapter (or a well rated $30 knock off). Since Apple doesn’t make an Airplane adapter for the Retina MacBook Pro, you’ll need the $10 MagSafe to MagSafe 2 adapter if you are using Retina. As an aside, here are my feelings on that:

    HyperJuice created a charger with a MagSafe tip a few years ago but Apple sued because the MagSafe adapter is trademarked and patented. Because there is no other way to provide extra power to MacBook users (Apple refuses to provide one) HyperJuice was forced to create a jury-rigged type of solution where it requires you to purchase an Apple Airplane adapter (never mind that most Airplanes use AC plugs now).  It gets worse. Apple still hasn’t released a MagSafe 2 adapter for Retina MacBook Pros (see my conversation with Apple Store chat at the bottom of this post) so you are forced to have yet another part in a daisy chain of pieces. It would be nice if Apple could license the MagSafe Adapter the same way it does lightning adapters for instance so that there was an elegant solution to extra battery life.

The 100W/h MBP2-100 model I received weighs about 1.5lbs or about as much as an iPad with a case. The battery storage capacity at 100W/h is about three times as much as the 36W/h battery you’ll find in a MacBook Air, and it is slightly more than the 95W/h battery you’ll find in a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

That makes sense, too, because it about doubles the amount of time I can use my 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro.  I usually get about 5- to 6 hours of real-world life out of the Retina MacBook Pro. I was able to go 5 hours and 45 minutes of a cross-country plane ride before the internal battery started discharging (which should have yielded me close to 12 total, but I landed with a few hours left!). With an Air, the time is even more pronounced. I get about 4 hours of normal use out of my 13-inch Air.  I was able to use the HyperJuice for over 10 hours before the normal battery kicked in for an overall time around 14 hours.

Recharging the HyperJuice from an AC adapter takes about 4 hours, and you have a reading on the front of the display to know how far to go. You could also theoretically charge it from a car or RV, but I didn’t make such an effort.

The HyperJuice was essential during Sandy’s aftermath, where my family lost power for two weeks. I was able to charge it up in the morning while working at a coffee shop (Thanks, Black Cow!), and then I worked from home for 10 hours until sleeping, while using my phone (also kept charged with the HyperJuice) as a hotspot.

The HyperJuice works even better as an iOS device charger. I didn’t measure usage, because it is probably in the weeks rather than days or hours. HyperJuice gives the following rates:
iPad Battery Life     Extend up to 50 hours (34 hours for the new iPad)
iPhone Battery Life     Fully recharge the iPhone up to 19 times

I was able to quick charge two iPads (a first-gen and third-gen) at the same time, because it has two 2.1A USB ports.

Downsides are few but this is a very big peripheral and probably shouldn’t be something you carry on your person.  Also, the process of buying an Airport adapter and for me a MagSafe 2 adapter was a hassle. Finally, the AC adapter feels a bit cheap, especially for a battery that costs hundreds of dollars – though there wasn’t any mechanical issue with it (and hypothetically, it would be easy to replace).

Overall, I was extremely happy with this device. I’ve spent years playing around with external batteries of different shapes and sizes – and often they fell short of expectations. The HyperJuice holds and keeps its charge for what seems like forever.

Buy it (or other versions)at HyperShop.com for $299 or older models at significant discounts at Amazon.com

Weekend Roundup: Apple vs Samsung, new Genius Bar, Black Friday iPad trends, Will.i.am’s new iPhone accessory, more

According to a report from IBM tracking shopping trends for Thanksgiving and Black Friday (via Fortune), Apple devices dominated among mobile devices for online buying with 10% of shopping online done from an iPad. The device also dominated for online purchases originating from tablets, accounting for 88.3 percent of traffic. iPhone came in at 8.7 percent of traffic for online purchases, while Android devices combined came in at just 5.5 percent.

Apple appears to be testing its new “floating” Genius Bar design in a couple of retail stores. We originally saw images of the new communal Genius Bar configuration back in July, but today TheDailyCity reported Apple is testing the design in at least two stores: one in Orlando at Mall at Millienia and another in a Philadelphia Apple Store. Apple will apparently be rolling out the design to its Florida Mall store. Apple appears to be liking the new design, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see it in more Apple Stores in the near future.

Apple and Samsung are now both seeking to extend their patent infringement claims in the California based lawsuit filed in August. Samsung asked the courts in a filing last week to add the iPad mini and new iPod touch to the case after recently adding the iPhone 5. Now, FossPatents reports that Apple, as of Black Friday, is seeking to add six new Samsung products including: Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 8.9 Wifi, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung Rugby Pro, and the Galaxy S III Mini. The case isn’t scheduled to go to trial until March 2014.

Will.i.am of Black Eye Peas fame is about to launch a new accessory for iPhone this week that is said to turn the device’s existing 8 megapixel camera into a 14 megapixel camera. TheTelegraph (via MacRumors) spoke with Will.i.am who described the product called i.am+:

    ‘We have our own sensor and a better flash. You dock you phone into our device and it turns you smartphone into a genius-phone. We take over the camera.’… The camera will be the first of a series of digital products that bear his name – to support them, he has invested in what he calls ‘digital real estate’ online. He now owns the domain www.i.am. Users of i.am+ accessories will be given individual online profiles, for example www.i.am/Will.

Apple has switched battery suppliers for iPad and MacBooks from Samsung SDI to Amperex Technology Limited and Tianjin Lishen Battery, according to a report from China Business News (via TechCrunch). Recent reports of processor price hikes and Samsung dropping out as an Apple display supplier were later denied by the company, so we’ll wait for official word regarding the batteries.

The majority of iPad mini displays are coming from LG, according to a report from Digitimes. We already knew LG Display, AU Optronics, and Samsung are supplying display components for the device, but the sometimes unreliable Digitimes claimed this weekend that the majority of displays are coming from LG, not AUO.

How to Enable Siri on iPad 3

Siri has made it’s way onto iPad 3 thanks to iOS 6 and it’s actually one of the best reasons to upgrade for 3rd gen iPad owners. Though you should see the option to enable Siri during the first reboot and basic setup after updating to iOS 6 or getting a brand new iPad, if you somehow skipped it or didn’t see that option, here’s all you need to do to get Siri on the iPad:

• Open Settings and tap “General”
• Find “Siri” and flip the switch to “ON”, make any changes to Voice Feedback, Language, and your identity as necessary
• Close out of Settings and Siri is ready to go

With Siri enabled, hold down the Home button for about 2 seconds to activate Siri and start asking questions, request information, and even launch apps.

The voice recognition aspect is just like Dictation in iOS and OS X, but with the responses it’s obvious Siri has undergone some major improvements behind the scenes, and the ability to answer even some obscure questions has dramatically improved. Sports fans will find the new sports features a welcome change too, letting you easily get game schedules, rankings, stats, and much more, perfect for couch lounging on Saturdays and Sundays.

Get Weather on iPad with the Clock App

iOS 6 brought with it a new feature that lets iPad users finally get weather on the device without downloading a third party apps: the new Clock app. Yup, there’s a new clock app for iPad users only, and it does all the things the iPhone and iPod touch clock app did, plus the ability to get the current temperature:

• Launch Clock, tap on “World Clock” on the bottom
• Enter the location(s) you want the current weather for

At a glance, World Clock shows the weather and temperature along with the times for each location around the world you specified.

You can also tap on a specific location to see a larger version of the clock with the current temperature indicated, as shown in the screenshot at top. The Clock app has limitations though, mainly that it will only provide the current temperatures in locations, so you won’t find any forecasting. For that you’ll want to use Siri or a third party app.

By the way, the full-screen clock makes a great screensaver of sorts for the iPad while it’s sitting around not in use. To have the full screen Clock stay visible, just turn off auto-dimming and screen locking.

Weather is obviously a fairly minor and subtle feature, but it’s very much appreciated.

How to Use Google Maps on iOS 6 Right Now

If having Google Maps on your iOS 6 equipped iPhone is an absolute must right now, you’ll be pleased to discover that Google Maps has a surprisingly good web app that works extremely well from mobile Safari. Thanks to the speed of the A6 process in the iPhone 5, the web app so quick it actually feels pretty much like a native app too. Here’s how to get access to Google Maps on your iOS 6 device right now:

• Open Safari and go to maps.google.com
• Tap the [>] arrow button to bring up the task menu, and choose “Add to Home Screen”

Now that you have added the Google Maps web app to your home screen, you can launch it like any other app, though it will load in the Safari web browser. That hardly matters though, because it’s full featured and has complete access to everything Google Maps does with all its detail, accuracy, and directions for cars, walking, public transit, and bikes.

This web-based solution is obviously temporary as Google is widely expected to release an independent iOS Maps app for iPhone and iPad, but there’s still no estimate on when it will arrive. In the meantime, bookmark Google Maps to your home screen, check out Bing Maps as a replacement, and last but certainly not least, give Apple Maps a chance. After using Apple Maps quite a bit I have found it to be quite good, though it’s obviously still a work in progress for some regions. Instead of buying into the negative press (though some of the surrounding humor is quite funny), try it out yourself for a while and you’ll probably agree.

Use Siri as a Calculator

Don’t want to unlock your iPhone and launch the Calculator app? Bummed that iPad doesn’t even have a default Calculator? No big deal, because Siri can function as a regular old calculator, and it has the obvious added bonus of being handsfree. To have Siri calculate equations for you, just feed Siri numbers and thanks to the Wolfram Alpha backend Siri will quickly spit out the answer, complete with a number line.

The simplest forms of Siri calculation can be used as follows:

• Number + number
• Number / number
• Number X number
• Number – number

Try it out by saying the equation aloud to Siri just as it reads. You’ll find the results vary a bit based on the equation given:

Addition and subtraction, Siri will return an easy to follow number line showing movements to the sum.

Multiplication of large numbers, Siri returns the answer in addition to a number line that shows any potential exponents.

Division, Siri provides the answer, reduces the fraction, gives the number as a decimal, and even shows a mixed fraction.

You can string a variety of numbers together and make fairly complex equations, which Siri typically gets right. You’ll notice on some particularly complicated equations that Siri won’t necessarily obey the proper order of operations, so you may want to avoid using Siri as a calculator for complex algebra and calculus homework.

We covered a similarly themed tip recently discussing how Siri can function as a tip calculator, but with how useful the general calculation functions are it’s well worth mentioning the wider potential uses here.

This tip comes to us from Jason R. who uses Siri to add up receipts for expense reports, thanks for the idea J!

Good Apple Deals: iPhone 5 at $99, MacBook Air at 16% Off, iPad at $439, & More

The days after Thanksgiving are always great for bargain hunters and today is no exception. As usual, Amazon has loads of great deals right now on everything under the sun, and we gathered a few particularly good deals from there and elsewhere in a short set of lists below.

iPhone 5 Deals

By far the best deal on iPhone 5 is for refurbished AT&T GSM models at a whopping $100 discount. That means you can get an iPhone 5 16GB model for just $99 with a standard two-year contract, and 32GB models for $199. The refurbs are available at AT&T’s online store and come in all sizes and colors with free shipping.

• 16GB Black – $99
• 16GB White – $99

See all other iPhone deals at AT&T, all refurb iPhone 5′s are $100 off, refurb iPhone 4S is available for $1 with a contract, and there are even great deals on Android and Windows smartphones if that’s what you’re in the market for.

Refurbished Apple gear is high quality and we recommend them highly for the great discounts complete with a standard warranty. Sure, the refurbed iPhone models may ship with a little scratch or ding, but at a 50% discount I’m guessing most people won’t mind.

Mac Deals

There are quite a few good Mac deals out there today. If you’re near an Apple Store or shop online through Apple you can get about $100 off any Mac model. Best Buy also has good deals in stores, but some of the best deals are coming from Amazon with 16% to 20% off some of the newest MacBooks including the Air, Retina 13″ Pro, and

• MacBook Air 13″ base model for $1012
• MacBook Air 11″ base model for $895
• Retina MacBook Pro 13″ for $1515 (retina!)
• MacBook Pro 13″ for $964 (not retina)
• See all deals on MacBooks at Amazon

iPad & iPod Deals

Apple and Best Buy seem to have the best deals out there on iPads and iPod touch.

Apple Store – deals are valid from online store and in stores

• $41 off iPad with Retina display at Apple Store (online and local)
• $31 off iPad 2 at Apple Store (online and local)
• $31 off iPod touch at Apple Store

If you were hoping to find a discount on the iPad Mini, you’ll be disappointed to find out it’s just not happening right now. It’s not just Apple though, no retailers are marking down the Mini, and even the popular competing 7″ tablets from Google and Amazon aren’t discounted either.

Best Buy – deals are valid in store and sometimes online:

• iPad with retina display at $439 and up
• iPad 2 at $369 and up
• iPod touch from $268

Note that some BestBuy items need to be picked up at a store to get the best prices.

Misc Deals

Hard drives, SSD’s, cloud backups for your computers, here are a few other great deals around the web right now:

• Seagate 3 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive – $99.99
• SanDisk Extreme SSD 120 GB SATA 2.5″ – $84.99
• Samsung B550 Series S23B550V 23″ LED Display for $180
• Crashplan online cloud backups – 92% off but slowly going up throughout the day, great cloud alternative to Time Machine

More great deals will likely surface as the weekend progresses, we’ll post anything else worthwhile.