Category: Technology

iRig Mic now shipping

March 22, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I don’t usually report on press releases (take note, PR people), but I like IK Multimedia’s products a lot, especially with the release of GarageBand for iPad. I recommended the company’s iRig Guitar as one of my Holiday picks for the MacJury, and used the iKlip instead of a music stand when I played in the Macworld All-Star Band at this year’s Cirque du Mac party at Macworld 2011.

At least at first glance, the iRig Mic looks to be another hit. It looks like a professional stage mic, and has a built-in headphone jack so you can hear yourself (presumably with no latency.) Just plug it into your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and you’re a rock star. The company says it will work with GarageBand or the suite of iRig apps including a free audio recording app.

Priced at $60, it seems like a pretty good deal for an integrated unit and a killer accessory for the already amazing GarageBand. I’m particularly impressed that the housing is metal and not plastic. Details can be found on the company’s website.

Flow, project/task manager, now available

March 22, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Flow, an online project/task management system with companion iOS and Mac apps and collaboration features is now out of beta:

We’ve got great news. As of today, Flow is available to everyone for only $9.99 per month or $99 per year. The price includes unlimited tasks and task lists in addition to our free iPhone and Mac apps. You’ll also be able to purchase accounts for your team at a discounted rate—the more you purchase, the more you save.

As a thank you for all your great feedback, we’d like to offer you $30 off of your first year of an annual subscription. If you’d like some more time to decide, you’ll still be able to use Flow for free for the next 14 days.

We hope that you’ve enjoyed using Flow so far. We’ve got a lot of great features planned, so stay tuned to our blog.

I’ve been beta testing it for several weeks now, and it’s a highly functional, gorgeous system. It comes with a free trial and a neat companion iOS app. If you’re looking for a better way to manage team projects, it’s definitely worth a look.

AppleInsider: New iMacs coming in May

March 22, 2011 / / 0 Comments

From AppleInsider, reporting on a Tweet from CNet’s Brian Tong:

Apple may release a new line of iMac all-in-one desktop computers by the end of April or the first week of May with Sandy Bridge processors and the new high-speed Thunderbolt port, but no major cosmetic changes, according to a new rumor.

This is, of course, in response to my recent purchase of an iMac. You’re welcome. (via The Loop)

AT&T: ‘Competition will only increase’ after T-Mobile buyout

March 21, 2011 / / 0 Comments

From Macworld.com:

“We very carefully considered every aspect thoroughly and concluded that this deal can and should be approved,” Wayne Watts, senior executive vice president and general counsel said.

Well that settles it, then. Why waste taxpayer money with an FCC review?

“Competition is vibrant and will only increase after this transaction,” Watts said.

Right, because nothing generates competition more than fewer competitors. Seriously, do these people even pretend to believe some of the stuff they say?

How to ‘ditch wireless’ and go ‘completely wired’ in your home

March 21, 2011 / / 0 Comments

It may seem ironic give the fact that I’ve given seminars on setting up wireless home networks, but I agree with a lot in this Lifehacker post. My desktop machines are all hard-wired, and I have a spare port for plugging in laptops when I need wired speeds. My AppleTV is still wireless, but that’s only because it’s in a location that makes it difficult to run a cable.

Most homes will still need a wireless network for things like laptops, iOS devices and handheld game platforms. The Lifehacker headline is unnecessarily dramatic: nowhere in the article do they actually propose going completely wireless. Still, there’s good information in there, including a look at Powerline adapters, which let you run network connections through your electrical wiring.

For those interested, the slides from my 2008 Macworld session on setting up a WiFi network are still available and mostly still relevant.

AT&T to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion

March 21, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Good news for customers happy with T-Mobile who want iPhones. Bad news for just about everybody else. Less competition is not what the mobile carrier market needs right now.

I am curious to see if they’ll address this in those T-Mobile/iPhone commercials where they bash AT&T and Verizon. (Maybe the anthropomorphized carrier and phone finally get together.) (via New York Times)

The ‘Every Other Year iPad Club’

March 18, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Almost two years ago, I wrote a piece for the Mac Observer entitled “The Every Other Year iPhone Club.” In it, I explained not only why I was upgrading my original iPhone to the then-new 3GS, but why I hadn’t upgraded to the 3G a year before.

This year, I find myself in a similar situation: I love my iPad, and though I’d love it even more if it were faster and had two cameras, those new features are not enough to warrant buying a whole new device. Projecting a while further into the future, I’d be surprised if the iPad 3 had enough new bells and whistles to make me move from an iPad 2. But going from an iPad 1 to an iPad 3? I suspect that’s going to be a no-brainer.

And it seems like I’m not alone. Early reports say that up to 70% of iPad 2 purchasers were first-time buyers. That’s also great news for Apple, because it means they’re expanding their installed base — making it even harder for competitors to catch up, if and when they start actually shipping.

The phrase “evolutionary not revolutionary” has become cliche in describing the iPad 2, but it’s accurate. It’s also a smart strategy. By focusing on moderate but incremental improvements, Apple will continue to grow its customer base, while minimizing the backlash from its installed base (“Whaddaya mean I can have all these great new features — I just bought this thing?!”)

Apple’s resurgence and continued success has been built on the idea of introducing a revolutionary concept (iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad — even the MacBook Air) in a basic — almost vanilla configuration — and then gradually to add significant features to it.

That steady, sustainable growth strategy is a concept that seems so simple and so obvious, yet it’s one that amazingly few others in the tech world seem to grasp.

Now: back to saving up for that iPad 3.

New York Times introduces tiered subscription plan

March 17, 2011 / / 0 Comments

From Macworld.com:

Each month, users will freely be able to read up to 20 articles at the newspaper’s Website, though links from Facebook and Twitter will not count against this quota. If you want to read more than the allotted number, you’ll need to sign up for the NYTimes.com Plus Smartphone App plan at $15 per month. As the verbose name suggests, that plan will get you unlimited browser access to the Times’s site via all the devices you own, as well as unlimited access via the company’s official smartphone apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android.

If you want to read via The New York Times’s iPad app, which gained access to most of the pubilcation’s content last October, you’ll need the NYTimes.com Plus Tablet App plan, which runs $20 per month. This plan also offers unlimited browser access to the Times’s site on all your devices. But while it enables you to read the publication via its iPad app, the Times Reader 2.0 app for traditional computers, and the NYTimes Web app for Google’s Chrome browser, it does not include access via the smartphone apps.

If you want ubiquitous Web and app access to The New York Times, you’ll need the All Digital Access plan for $35 per month, which includes all aforementioned apps across all supported platforms.

If it takes 217 words to describe what you’re selling, something’s seriously wrong.

Chris Breen gives GarageBand for iPad 5 stars

March 17, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Speaking of superb reviews, Macworld’s Christopher Breen pens the definitive look at Apple’s GarageBand for iOS as only he — accomplished writer and musician — can.

GarageBand for iOS is what I’d always hoped it would be on the Mac. We’re no longer limited to just stringing loops together; now it’s possible to compose actual songs, with chord changes, without real instruments. The new version truly makes it possible for anyone to create real songs. I can’t say enough about it and it looks like Breen agrees with me — I don’t remember the last time I saw a full five-mouse review in Macworld.