Author: Staff

I should’ve predicted world peace

July 16, 2009 / / 0 Comments

On a recent MacJury, during a discussion on the new ability for iPhone applications to send “push” notifications, I joked about a Twitter client with that capability and what a nightmare it would be. We all had a good laugh at the ridiculousness of the suggestion and moved on to more serious topics.

I was surprised then to hear about Twitbit, a new Twitter client for the iPhone that features — you guessed it — push notifications. I’m struggling to comprehend the benefit of this. Unless you’re following very few people (and if you are I’d argue you’re not a good candidate for a for-pay Twitter client for the iPhone) it seems like the near-constant notifications of new Tweets would quickly drive you crazy — not to mention kill your battery.

Twitbit’s developers say the app will be configurable in future versions, so you can turn notification off for regular Tweets, but on for Direct Messages. Since you can already set that to happen via email, I still don’t see a big benefit. It will be interesting to see how Twitbit does (or evolves).

Had I known my predictions carried such power, I surely would have gone with something other than a Twitter client with push notifications.

Twitbit is available in the iTunes store for $4.99. More information is available on the app’s website.

‘Pick Your Topic’ on Your Mac Life

July 15, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’ve appeared on Shawn King’s excellent “Your Mac Life” podcast several times over the last few weeks, but have neglected to mention it here. So before I forget again: I’m on tonight’s show, in a pre-recorded segment called “Pick Your Topic.” It’s a clever idea: Shawn presents three current Mac or Apple-related stories in the news, and the guest picks one of them to talk about. It’s also a little unnerving; the guest is not told what the choices will be, so he or she can’t prepare in advance. “Winging it” like this is way outside my comfort zone, but it makes it all the more exciting and I usually wind up really enjoying these segments.

Another Your Mac Life development I meant to talk about but didn’t: YML is now available from iTunes as a free podcast. Previously, you could either listen to (or watch) the show live or stream the previous week’s show from the yourmaclifeshow.com website. If you wanted to listen to it on the go, you had to subscribe to the show via Audible.com. I’ve been pushing for the show to go the free podcast route for a while now, so I’m tremendously glad to see it happen. I think it will open the show up to a much bigger audience–one it richly deserves. Shawn has been broadcasting Your Mac Life (and its predecessor, The Mac Show) for years now–way before the word “podcasting” was even coined. He is, in my view, the Johnny Carson of tech broadcasting and a genuine pro in the medium.

So–what was my topic for tonight’s show? You’ll have to tune in to find out: the show runs from 8:30-11:00 p.m. and is available from the show’s website.

iPhone tips and recommendations on MacJury

July 9, 2009 / / 0 Comments

macjuryI took part in another session of The MacJury, Chuck Joiner’s excellent panel-based podcast. This time out, we talked about our favorite tips, features and accessories for the iPhone — particularly for the new iPhone 3GS and 3.0 software. These are always lots of fun to do, and entertaining to listen to (I hope.) On this session were Steve Sande from The Unauthorized Apple Weblog, Pat Fauquet of MacMouseCalls, author Tom Negrino and my Mac Observer compatriot Jeff Gamet. If you’re a reader of this site, I hope you’re also a subscriber to this podcast — it’s always a good discussion, whether I’m a participant or not.

The ‘Every Other Year iPhone Club’

June 29, 2009 / / 0 Comments

My wonderful family gave me a new iPhone 3GS for Father’s Day this year. It’s an amazing device that has enough improvements in speed and new features that it feels like as big a game-changer to me as the original iPhone. I wrote a short piece for The Mac Observer that explains why I thought this was a very compelling upgrade—at least for someone who had skipped the last one. [UPDATE: The article is now available on The MacObserver. If you feel so inclined, please leave a nice comment.]

IDG moves Macworld Expo to Feb 9-13, 2010

March 30, 2009 / / 0 Comments

IDG World Expo announced that it’s moving the dates for next year’s Macworld Conference & Expo from January to February 9-13. This is a great move on the part of the Macworld Staff. One of the few criticisms of the show was that it was held too close to the Holidays. The extra breathing room will benefit developers, attendees and even us lowly conference faculty.

But best of all, it will no longer coincide with my lovely wife’s birthday.

iPhone 3.0 discussed on MacJury

March 18, 2009 / / 0 Comments

macjuryThe latest installment of Chuck Joiner’s MacJury podcast is up. In it, I take part in a great panel discussion with a stellar lineup of “jurors:” Macworld’s Peter Cohen, Tonya Engst of TidBITs and Take Control, John Braun of The Mac Observer, Don McAllister of Screencasts Online and Adobe’s Terry White.

It’s a lively hour’s worth of talk about what’s in the update, what’s not and a little digging into what’s important and why. Panels this large can tend to get a little unwieldy, but thanks to Chuck Joiner’s expert choreography and the terrific panelists, the result is a spirited, friendly and fun discussion.

If you don’t already subscribe to the MacJury podcast, you should. It’s a consistently relevant, interesting and entertaining look at the issues surrounding Apple and the Macintosh.

Apple’s iPhone 3.0 update: the good, the bad and the still missing

March 17, 2009 / / 0 Comments

iphone_3-0Apple held its iPhone 3.0 event today and unveiled a slew of new features, but no real surprises. Cut and paste is finally here, Flash is still not, and Push Notifications are apparently here for real this time.

Perhaps the biggest news — or at least the news with the most far-reaching consequences — is related to commerce. The iApp store will now have support for “in-App” purchases along with subscriptions. That means you can buy new furniture within The Sims, buy new books within an eReader app, or subscribe to a magazine or online financial service. The “one-and-done” method of purchasing iPhone apps could well be over. As I “semi-live-Tweeted” the event, I called iPhone 3.0 the “Monetization” update and noted that it would be interesting to see how the inevitable attempts by developers to “nickel and dime” the iApp buying process would fly in the face of the existing 99¢ per app mentality that seems to be dominating the market.

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‘Bootleg’ video of the Macworld All-Star Band at MacVoices TV

February 5, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Chuck Joiner, of MacJury/MacNoteables/MacVoices fame, posted some video of the Macworld All-Star Band’s performance at Cirque du Mac 6.0 during this year’s Macworld Conference and Expo.

We’ve been doing this for eight or nine years now, and I’m always impressed by how the documentation of the event evolves as technology progresses. From postage-sized, choppy video of our first gig at New York’s “Cooler,” to the High Definition clips of 2009, it’s been a pretty amazing progression. And, it’s always cool for those of us in the band to have a look and listen from the audience’s perspective.

So thanks to Chuck for taking, editing and posting these clips, and of course, a big thanks to the guys in the band who consistently make this night my favorite experience at Macworld: Paul Kent, Dave Hamilton, Chris Breen, Bob LeVitus, Duane Straub and Bryan Chaffin.

The episode — along with links to other videos taken that night — is available on the MacVoices TV website.