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Is it time for the MacBook mini?

Thursday, 04 September 2008

I recently returned from the sausage-eating and tech slavering extravaganza that is the IFA Show in Berlin, and the lasting impression I got was the almost omnipotent presence of the small laptop.

Ever since ASUS found itself the sudden darling of the tech industry with its cheap, and frankly interesting, Eee PC, everybody – and I mean everybody – is making the same laptop. It's roughly 9in in size, has a keyboard (some good, most bad); it is powered by an Intel Atom processor, 80GB hard drive and 512MB or 1GB of RAM. The OS of choice is either Windows XP (but not Vista) or – more interestingly – a version of Linux. They're either called Netbooks, UMPCs, MIDs, mini-notebooks or sub-notebooks, but they are all the same thing. Each one costs between £300 and £400 although Aldi now has a Medion Akoya Mini 10in on sale for £279.

Mark Hattersley | Mark Hattersley | Read more...


Why China Mobile isn't right for Apple and the iPhone

Thursday, 04 September 2008

Apple's discussions with China Mobile about bringing the popular handset to the world's largest mobile market is the stuff of tech journalists' dreams. The potential deal would join together the world's largest mobile service provider with the planet's most talked-about phone. Both companies are tight-lipped, offering us nothing more than confirmations of the talks and statements that indicate that the two sides want to make a deal.

With no deal, no timetable and ultimately no pressure on either side to come to an agreement, there's a lot of room in between for speculation. So here's my contribution: Apple is negotiating with the wrong potential partner for the iPhone in China.

Macworld Team | Steven Schwankert | Read more...


IFA: Commodore stand

Monday, 01 September 2008

Imagine my surprise when as I took a stroll among the lower echelons of the IFA show I came across a stand for Commodore Computing. When I was young I owned just about every Commodore going. I had a Vic-20, Commodore 64, Commodore Plus/4, and Commodore Amiga 500.

I only stopped short of getting a Amiga 2000 because that marks the point where you go from being a grateful customer to an obsessive fan that'll buy any tat with the right logo attached (insert your own joke into to the Comments section).

Mark Hattersley | Mark Hattersley | Read more...


IFA: First thoughts and OLED displays

Friday, 29 August 2008

I’ve arrived at IFA and am doing the rounds: looking at new products, doing a few interviews and collecting photos and press materials. I’ve also shot a few video clips and I may put some online soon.

My first thought on IFA is that it truly is an impressive electronics show. The stands here are pretty amazing. The first two stands I visited were Harman Kardon and Samsung, both of which are roughly the size of a football pitch (I kid you not). I actually got lost in the Sony stand while looking for the press area.

Mark Hattersley | Mark Hattersley | Read more...


Into the IFA

Thursday, 28 August 2008

Just a quick note to tell Macworld readers that we’re covering the IFA show in Berlin. While I’ve been to many trade shows in the past, IFA is a new one to me so it should be exciting in many ways. It’s billed as “the world’s largest consumer electronics trade fair” (whether it’s bigger than CES remains to be seen though). I’ll be blogging from the show floor on Friday so hopefully will have lots of new products to tell you about.

While it’s hardly an Apple event like the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, there’s a lot of tech toys here that should be of interest to Mac owners. Certainly if you’re a bit of a gadget hound like myself there should be plenty to pique your interest.

Mark Hattersley | Mark Hattersley | Read more...


NASA hits aliens with space virus

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

In a plot straight from movie 'Independence Day' NASA has launched a first strike against an alien attack by sending a virus into space.

The Gammima.AG worm apparently made its way into space on an astronaut’s laptop (or possibly via a USB flash drive) in July and is still a live infection on the International Space Station (ISS), according to the SpaceRef website.

Simon Jary | Simon Jary | Read more...


How Apple could make e-books work

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

Since the iPhone App Store opened, a non-negotiable part of my day is devoted to safely guiding cartoon animals around a go-kart track. And I’ve yet to encounter someone who finds PhoneSaber as funny as I do, but every new person I meet is a new opportunity to prove every last friend and family member wrong.

Yes, these new iPhone apps have finally delivered on a promise only hinted at when the iPhone arrived a year ago. Today, the ability to evade productive work and avoid rational, linear sequences of thought during those idle moments in line at the post office is no farther away than your shirt pocket.

Andy Ihnatko | Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Survey says slow iPhone 3G speeds may be due to carriers

Tuesday, 26 August 2008

Complaints about the iPhone 3G's networking speeds - or, more appropriately, lack thereof - have been floating around ever since the phone's release last month. We even did a little testing of our own and established that the results varied widely depending on geopgrahic location.

Now, the fine folks over at Wired (led by none other than former Macworld editor Brian X. Chen) have taken it a step further, compiling a global survey of iPhone users' experiences with their network connectivity. What did Wired find? Well, they've concluded, as we did, that 3G speeds do fluctuate broadly, and that those differences seem largely to fall at the feet of not the iPhone itself, but to the carriers.

Macworld Team | Dan Moren, Macworld.com | Read more...


Apple, we have an iProblem

Saturday, 23 August 2008

Since the App Store launched, I've been happily spending some of my free time playing with my various applications on my first-generation iPhone. I've enjoyed it. This last weekend I got hit by what seems to be a well-known bug, which means none of my third-party apps work, and I can't access any media held on my iPhone (despite that its capacity is taken up by the media the device can't see, grrr.)

Presumably the problem emanates from an iTunes authorisation SNAFU. Basically, iTunes can't get its act together to recognise the device correctly, so "boom", you can't access anything with a taint of FairPlay DRM about it - so no apps, music or movies for you. Or, in this case, me...

Jonny Evans | Jonny Evans | Read more...


Looking for a fix for Apple's iPhone fix

Thursday, 21 August 2008

I love my iPhone 3G. It works well for phone calls, fast internet surfing, and of course running the variety of applications that can be installed from the App Store. That is, it did work until I installed Apple's recent software update.

Apple says the iPhone software 2.0.2 update improves 3G communications, but it turned my iPhone into a beautifully designed device that drops more calls than it did before. I was on an important conference call yesterday and the iPhone dropped me four times.

Macworld Team | Jim Dalrymple, Macworld.com | Read more...


Apple's MobileMe is the Christmas Grinch

Wednesday, 20 August 2008

Apple's attempt to pacify customers over its MobileMe launch fiasco has seen the firm inadvertently take a chunk out of my Christmas shopping budget!

While this was clearly not part of Apple's overall plan for a smooth, customer-focused, well-rehearsed tango to tenderly tease existing subscribers to remain with the service, the 90 day extension the company has offered could be costly for some.

Jonny Evans | Jonny Evans | Read more...


iTunes Store pays tribute to the great Isaac Hayes

Tuesday, 19 August 2008

To many younger folk, Isaac Hayes will be remembered primarily as the voice of Chef from South Park, but to those who grew up in the 70’s, Hayes is a legend. One of the most prolific artists of the era, he composed the iconic theme music for Shaft, and helped launch soul music into the mainstream with his record label, Stax Records.

Not just a singer-songwriter, Hayes was also an actor, film composer, record producer, and arranger. His album Shaft made him the first African American composer to win an Academy Award for Best score. So it’s no wonder iTunes is paying tribute to Hayes’ expansive accomplishments with a special page devoted to him. You can pick and choose songs from 20 albums of funky soul goodness (but you can’t rent Shaft), and read a biography on his greatness.

Macworld Team | David Dahlquist | Read more...


Mobile still isn’t really portable

Monday, 18 August 2008

My two-year-old daughter looked at me with confusion and at my camera with derision as she tried to navigate through the pictures on the LCD screen using her fingers. She is so used to flicking through pictures on my iPhone that a real camera lacking this rather obvious functionality seems perverse to her.

I have so many portable devices nowadays that together they’re not really portable at all. There’s my iPhone, which is excellent as a phone, web browser, emailer, texter, video player, location finder, contact manager, clock and calculator, but is pretty useless as a camera and lacks the capacity to replace my iPod. So I have to keep my iPod (itself a bit light at just 60GB) and a compact Canon camera for my audio and photography needs. I’ll probably upgrade to the iPhone 3G, as web browsing is my number one use of the mobile, but that won’t help either my music or picture-taking needs.

Simon Jary | Simon Jary | Read more...


Teacher fury at iPod-hiding school blazer

Monday, 18 August 2008

Teachers are waving their canes in fury as Mrs Thatcher’s knicker-maker Marks & Spencer is selling a "Blazer for iPod” as part of its 2008 Back to School collection.

The iPod-hiding blazer has been branded irresponsible by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), the largest union representing sirs, misses and head teachers in the UK.

Simon Jary | Simon Jary | Read more...


Dell’s new plan is music to your fears

Monday, 18 August 2008

Remember Dell’s new music initiative? The one that Rob Enderle works for and then failed to disclose? Turns out they’ve got a secret weapon: the person heading it up is an ex-Apple executive, Tim Bucher, who was briefly Senior VP of Macintosh Hardware Engineering in 2005 and oversaw the development of Mac mini.

Bucher went on to found Zing, which was later bought up by Dell and became the main thrust of their attempt to unseat iTunes and Apple from the top spot in digital music. Zing’s premise is to create an open-standard of music and media that will allow Apple’s rivals to take it on as one force, rather than a bunch of smaller companies. Dell will build the software, then work with hardware manufacturers to establish the standard.

Macworld Team | Dan Moren | Read more...


Thin Steve Jobs

Friday, 15 August 2008

It kinds of amuses me that everyone’s so worried that Apple CEO Steve Jobs looks ill.

He steps onto stage looking like his lost a bit more weight and all havoc breaks loose. Recent speculation about his health even caused Apple’s share price to take a plunge.

Karen Haslam | Karen Haslam | Read more...


Second thoughts about iPhone 2.0?

Friday, 15 August 2008

Elsewhere on Macworld, I've offered up some advice on troubleshooting common iPhone issues. That was my mostly reasoned approach to troubles that have sprung up since I've upgraded to the iPhone 2.0 software; this is my more emotional response.

I've had a colourful history with Apple's iPhone software updates. Back in the 1.x days, I was convinced that I would never upgrade my iPhone software--not while I could enjoy the best applications that my jailbroken phone could support. I softened my stance with the arrival of the iPhone 2.0 update and its introduction of the App Store, because I believe third-party apps increase the power and the utility of the iPhone--and perchance because Those Who Sign The Checks asked that I upgrade. Despite my reluctance, however, I've been generally thrilled with the third-party App Store programs that I've installed, tested, and reviewed.

Macworld Team | Rob Griffiths | Read more...


Apple loses site of Me

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

One of my favourite Apple tools is HomePage – a wonderfully easy and stylish photo-sharing feature in Apple’s .Mac suite of web services. HomePage started life as Claris Home Page – one of the first user-friendly WYSIWYG HTML editors, which launched in 1996. Creating your own web pages required no knowledge of HTML. In 2000 it became HomePage in Apple’s online iTools suite.iTools and Apple’s later versions are examples of so-called “cloud computing,” using the internet to allow users to access technology enabled services and applications.

HomePage in iTools was free until July 2002, when Apple changed iTools to .Mac and started charging £69 a year. The fallout for Apple was immense. The company was even denounced by one Macworld reader at the time as acting like a drug dealer: “Dealers give out free drugs then charge once you need it. Sounds very like .Mac email addresses to me.”

Simon Jary | Simon Jary | Read more...


Locked out

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

If I thought conditions were primitive on board the cruise ship I sailed on last year to Mexico – and honestly, they were: beverages in the four restaurants included milk, water, lemonade and iced tea… but you were charged extra for sodas and mixed drinks – they were nothing compared to what my ancestors faced nearly 100 years ago.

They piled into the steerage compartments of unseaworthy vessels and hauled off across the Atlantic to America, taking with them nothing but the clothes on their backs, their meager savings, and the desire to experience ethnic and religious persecution from the other side of the ledger for once in their lives.

Andy Ihnatko | Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Cleaning up the MobileMess

Friday, 08 August 2008

Part of a stipulation of testing a product is that it works. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this was something that MobileMe spectacularly failed to do upon launch. The failure of a product to work as intended puts the reviewer in something of a difficult spot.

There is the potential of user error, which although problematic for the consumer, is potentially embarrassing for a reviewer being asked to rate millions of pounds worth of investment for a company in front of a wide audience of, potentially, pitchfork-wielding Mac fans (a generally fanatical mob that is often unsure in which direction to wave the pointy-bit at).

Mark Hattersley | Mark Hattersley | Read more...