There’s over 200,000 apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Will Apple ever bring these apps to the Mac laptop and desktop lines? If so, how and when?
Most of these apps are built to take advantage of the specific form factor (touch, small screen, etc.) of the device, yet it would be great to be able to access some of these apps on your Mac laptop or desktop.
A lot of iOS apps could be run as widgets with simple mouse over control. The real trick would be how to incorporate multi-touch control without a touchscreen? If Apple were to “digitize” (touch input) the glass covers of iMacs, MacBooks and monitors, that would help deliver a more authentic overall app experience. Adding GPS to the Mac laptop line would also enable apps that utilize location services.
The question Apple is most likely to ask is, why do you even need to access iOS apps on your laptop or desktop when you can already do it on your iPhone or iPad?
My answer is simple, I want to be able to see and use multiple apps on the same screen at the same time. OK, maybe I just want to play Angry Birds on my work computer, but isn’t that reason enough?
Keeping your email inbox organized can sometimes be a real chore. If you get a lot of email, you’ve probably already created folders to keep your emails organized (business, personal, finances, etc.)
In Mac OS X Mail, you can save a lot of time by using “rules.” Rules allow you to automatically move and organize incoming emails, set auto responders (out of the office messages,) play alert sounds and even run Apple Scripts.
Setting rules in Mail is really easy:
1. Start by selecting an email that you would like to create a rule for (select a bank statement email for example.)
2. From the menu bar, open the Rules section in Mail. Mail > Preferences > Rules
3. Create a new rule. You can call this one Finances and set the rule that when ever you receive an email from this bank, the message is then moved to your Finance folder. You can add multiple addresses so other financial emails will also follow this rule.
Setting up rules in Mail takes only a minute to setup but can save a lot of time in the long run. Entourage also has this functionality, but the Mail setup is as easy as it gets.
Mactracker is a free OS X/Windows app that provides detailed info on every Mac and Apple product.
Want to know how much RAM your MacBook can take? When was the first Newton released? Mactracker provides all sorts of technical specs, marketing info, links to support docs, history and benchmark tests.
We’ve been using Mactracker for years and the info is incredibly useful and accurate (sometimes more accurate than the official Apple specs.) If you’re an Apple fan, this app is fun to browse. If you’re a tech, you probably already have it.
[ Mactracker ] BTW, the first Newton came out in ’93.
Firefox 3.5 for the Mac is now available for download.
This version comes with lots of new and improved features including better private browsing and an enhanced location bar (aka Awesome Bar.)
Speed is advertised as twice as fast as Firefox 3 and after a few hours of using the new version, it’s noticeably faster.
I still use Safari 4 as my primary and Firefox as my secondary browser but this new version is got me thinking about a switch.
[ Download Firefox 3.5 ] [ Features List ]
If you’re like me, you often send your friends links to webpages via email.
Usually I just copy the address in the address bar, create a new email and paste the link. The message sometimes looks like spam and is not very inciting to click.
Using Safari, you can easily email the page itself, rather than just the link.
File> Mail Contents of This Page or Command-I
This will open your email client and place the entire page in the email.
The email looks great and shares the info without having someone click on a link.
Yellow Dog Linux is alive and kicking thanks in part to the Sony PS3.
YDL was first released in 1999 for the Mac. At the time it was groundbreaking in that it let you run Linux on a Mac. Built for the PowerPC architecture, YDL’s popularity fell with the release and success of OS X, which itself is UNIX based.
The same Power architecture behind the G3, G4 and G5 processors is also found in the PlayStation 3 and IBM’s Cell chips. The most current version of YDL, 6.1, was released in Nov. ’08 for the PS3 and G4/G5 family. Future updates are in the works.
For users looking to run Linux on their PowerPC Mac or PS3, YDL is a great (if not the only) option.
[ From $49.99 via Fixstars ]
With the release of 10.6 around the corner, we thought it would be cool to take a look back at the intro songs that have been used for the different versions of OS X.
10.0 – 10.2 Sofa Rockers by Sofa Surfers
10.3 Panther Eple by Royksopp
10.4 Tiger Bytecry by Weevil
10.5 Leopard Exodus Honey by Honeycut
