Appletell

This is part three of a five part series leading up to MacWorld.

iPod and iPhone predictions:

As far as the iPods go, I don’t think we’ll see anything realted to them announced at MacWorld. The only cause for any iPod news that I can foresee is if they announce a new feature for iTunes or something, and then they will announce it’s addition to the iPod. Otherwise, there will be no iPods released and no real updates, seeing as the current ones have only been out four months.

The iPhone, though. is a tricky little bugger. I’m not sure if we will be seeing these updates at MacWorld, but I am confident that we will see them:

A 3G iPhone will be announced. This is likely not to occur until later in the year. As a “tiding-over” present, I consider it likely that Apple will announce a 16 GB iPhone, and perhaps, just MAYBE, a small price drop in the 8GB version. Something like $349 for 8GB and $499 for 16GB.

That’s it for what I expect to see at MacWorld in terms of iPod. Apple did a nice refresh of the iPod back in September, so I don’t expect too much this time of year.

• Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.21.08 edition
• Apple launches new iPhone Your Life site
• Walmart will sell iPhone, just not for the holidays

No matter how good Apple Mac OS X Leopard is, there will always be features that people dislike, and want to change. And while Apple may think they have the perfect recipe for a perfect OS, many power-users will want to tweak OS X to their liking. They want to change more than their desktop image, or the icons in their dock. Sometimes Apple doesn’t always make it easy to tweak your Mac, so Appletell has compiled a list of several ways to tweak your Leopard.

MORE »

Pat O, Director of Marketing and Planning for Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit announced via Microsoft’s Mac Mojo blog that Microsoft Office 2008 will “launch” on January 15th.

On January 14th, many MacBU team members will be available at Macworld for the “A Day at the Office” conference, “a day-long conference at the Moscone [...] dedicated to extensive user training on the new Office 2008 for Mac.“ Microsoft will apparently have a large booth with product demos, and theater shows every half-hour.

Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 is a large improvement for Office. It introduces a much more native interface, like that of Apple’s iWork (make of that what you will…), finally introduces native Intel code, so it should run far faster than Office 2004 on Intel Macs. There are still a few missing features that Mac users want, such as improved Exchange support, but overall Office 2008 finally seems to make Office a real Mac application.

Read [Mac Mojo]

• Microsoft Office Home and Student only $79.95 (with free shipping!)
• Street Fighter IV coming to North American, Europe in Feburary 2009
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix release dates confirmed

Netscape Navigator, the of-late troubled browser that was the original mainstream browser in it’s heyday, will be laid to rest in February of 2008 when AOL will stop development and security updates for Netscape. Netscape.com will remain as a general-purpose web portal.

MORE »

GearLive posts pictures of what they claim to be Apple’s next iPhone update: Firmware 1.1.3. If you are one with a jailbroken iPhone, you may want to think again.

Based on the GearLive pictures, iPhone Firmware 1.1.3 allows you to [click features for pictures] edit your home screen, drag applications from the dock to the home screen, locate yourself on Google Maps (using cell tower triangulation, but perhaps this is a lead-in to GPS-enabled iPhones), use Google Maps hybrid view, SMS multiple people, and add bookmarks to your home screen.

With the release of the iPhone SDK early in 2008, There may no longer be a need for jail-breaking the iPhone. It should be noted that these photos conflict with earlier rumors, and that GearLive has never been a reliable or consistent sources of Apple rumors. However, there is nothing obviously faked about these features and none seem to be far-fetched.

Pictures [GearLive]

• Apple launches new iPhone Your Life site
• Walmart will sell iPhone, just not for the holidays
• Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.21.08 edition

2008 is just around the corner, and what a better gift to give than to share all the memories you had just days ago. Apple’s renowned photo books and calendars are on sale until February 29th. The codes are good for both items created in iPhoto and Aperture, and will save you a decent 20%. If you’re purchasing a photo book, use the code NAWinterBook08, and if you’re purchasing a calendar, use the code NAWinterCal08. Remember, that’s 20% off your purchase, and it’s good until February 29th.

Via [TUAW]

• Free Fridays: Free custom photo book from Snapfish
• Steam-y Deal of the Day: Half Life for 98 cents to celebrate its 10th anniversary
• Gamefly offering pre-Thanksgiving discounts on select games

Mac OS X Hints Reports on what may be a bug in Leopard… or may not.

This “bug” occurs when 2 administrator users are logged in using Fast User Switching, and the screen saver activates. If Administrator A has the preferences set to require a password when waking from sleep or on screen saver deactivation, the “bug” will occur. If both users are logged in, and Administrator A is currently the one working, and the screen saver activates, when the mouse os moved it will show a dialog with Administrator A’s username and a blank password field. The possible bug is that Administrator B can enter his or her username and password, and gain access to Administrator A’s account.

Whether or not this is a bug is debatable, as both accounts are administrators, and thus can change each other’s settings. If this were to happen between a controlled user and an Administrator, it would be cause for alarm.

Basically, if you don’t want people looking at your stuff, make sure that no other admins are logged in (or that they don’t know this little trick!)

Read [Mac OS X Hints]

• Chill out with Serene Saver
• 1Password: same great taste, new price
• Microsoft helps Xbox Live phishing victims

Just like those awesome guys at EMI did, Warner Music has decided to drop DRM from it’s music. iTunes Plus? You wish. Warner has decided to push their music through Amazon’s new music service, Amazon MP3. Although many see this as a bad decision, I personally cannot see the bad decision. From the user’s point of view, Amazon is cheaper, and seems to carry a larger selection of DRM-free music. So even though you won’t be able to get your favorite Warner tracks DRM-free on iTunes, you’ll be able to purchase them for even less on Amazon’s MP3 service.

Via [MacUser]

• How to get your Mac to talk to your PS3
• Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.21.08 edition
• Deal of the Day: Buy 2 select games at Amazon and get $25, buy 3 and get $50

Like a media extender but worse, the Apple TV has been highly criticized several times this year. Recently, rumors have been spreading regarding the discontinuation of Apple’s media center in a box. And what a better time for Yahoo to include the product on their tech “Worst of 2007” list. What, you may ask, caused Yahoo to place this device on their list? Actually, Yahoo gave a few decent reasons. Videos aren’t purchasable over the box, Apple has failed to provide ample software updates, and the video selection is slim.

Yahoo is surprisingly right. I’ve never desired to own one, and for a couple of hundred bucks more, I can go out and purchase a full featured Mac Mini, with Front Row running on it for the same interface. Microsoft seems to have made their way to the living room quicker than Apple did. Their Media Center and Media Center Extenders are nearly full featured, with DVR functions included. Apple’s first-gen living room product seems to have failed to make it, and may not be seen ever again if discontinued.

Read [Yahoo] Via [TUAW]

• Yahoo finally getting their act together
• Contest: can you be Yahoo’s next CEO?
• Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang announces resignation

Yet another patent has shown up from Apple, describing a wireless system that may allow iPhone users to purchase items on their phones. With Apple’s recent relationship with Starbucks, rumor mills can only theorize that this system will be used to purchase drinks at Starbucks. And you thought buying music on your phone was cool.

The system would not only allow users to purchase items, but would also notify them when their item was ready, truly making no lines possible. The patent, filed on December 20th, may just lead the way into electronic coffee purchases for the masses.

Via [MacRumors]

• Channel your inner child while checking Toys R Us’ leaked 2008 Black Friday ad listing
• Who’s On Crack in tech: 11.21.08 edition
• Apple launches new iPhone Your Life site