Archive for the Apple Category
Posted by Stuart on November 17, 2009 at 22:11 pm
So, I’ve been wondering how to get my Mac to output Mono audio from my headphone/audio out port. But I have found out how!
(I have a video tutorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXrB3oydqT4 )
Requirements:
HALLab (comes with the iPhone SDK, create a free account here)
A Mac
Procedure:
1) Go to ”/Developer/Applications/Audio/” and launch “HALLab” (or search in spotlight for “HALLab”)
2) Click on “Built-In Output” and then click “Info”
3) Go to the “Output” tab and where it shows the two drop down menus that say “1″ and “2″, change them both to “1″
4) Try it out with a song!!!
NOTE: THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH ITUNES!
Posted by Stuart on August 27, 2009 at 23:59 pm
So, by now you should know that Apple released Snow Leopard today. Here’s my review.
Enhancements
First off, I’ll start with enhancements. Like it says on Apple’s website, “Refined, not Reinvented”. Snow Leopard’s major purpose was to boost speed, performance, and set a some-what standard structure for future OS’s. Snow Leopard really pulled through with this well, in my opinion. Finder, especially, has had an amazing upgrade. Finder is now faster, smoother, and nicer to use. Quick Look also helped make finder much much better. Quick Look got a big speed increase for pretty much everything, and it’s quite noticeable. Time Machine backups where also noticeably faster, and when going into Time Machine for restoring a file, it seemed a lot more smooth and responsive. Wake & Shut Down times varied; I have to say that my MacBook didn’t always shut down faster than 10.5 Leopard. But the wake up times where faster, which I like. Apple also mentioned how Mail doesn’t use as much processor or RAM when you don’t have it active. Let me tell you that this is very nice, and it also makes Mail more responsive & fast.
Quicktime X
With Snow Leopard, Apple introduced the next version of Quicktime, Quicktime X. In my point of view, Apple pretty much re-designed Quicktime with this release. Everything has a new fell and look; even when you view media files in a web browser. A couple cool features that Apple added where the ability to send it to iTunes, YouTube, or MobileMe. You can also now “trim” your video, just like on the iPhone 3GS. I also like how when you move your mouse off of the video, the top bar will disappear. It makes the video nicer to view.
New Technologies
Snow Leopard has really come through with some great new technologies, including the new, Grand Central Dispatch. Grand Central really lets you take full potential of those quad- or eight-core processors in the Mac Pro by spreading the tasks to all the processors. This means you could have a lower speed 8 core but still run the final speed of a higher dual-core. Mac OS X 10.6 also is fully 64-bit. A 64-bit OS means applications can handle more Memory (RAM) at a time; 16GB. This also means the system is even more secure against attacks. OpenCL also unleashes the power of the graphics processor. It makes the system capable of using bits of the GPU to make it run better; and believe me, it’s nice. The new technologies in Snow Leopard also have set a building block for future Mac Operating Systems.
Universal Access & Exchange Suppport
Universal Access in Snow Leopard has made Accessibility even better. A couple new refinements/features include faster keyboard navigation, more braile support, custom labels, the rotator, and more. Universal Access now has a brand new VoiceOver quick-start tutorial that will help you get set up with everything. Apple has also put Microsoft Exchange support into their applications. You can now use Mail, Address Book, and iCal with Exchange.
Overall
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard has really come through to be a great upgrade. Apple has really worked on the speed side of things, along with some great fixes & additions. If you’re thinking of getting it, I would go ahead and do it. Snow Leopard makes the “Mac Experience”, and your life, a lot better, smoother, and responsive.
Snow Leopard is $29 (single license) or $59 (family pack). The Mac Box Set, which comes with Snow Leopard, iWork, and iLife, is $169 (single) or $229 (family).
I also posted some screenshots HERE & some short video clips HERE.
Posted by AppleMitch2008 on August 24, 2009 at 17:37 pm
Hi guys, it’s Mitch. I know i haven’t wrote anything on here for a LONG time, but I’m hoping to change that starting with this post. So today Apple announced that their newest operating system - Snow Leopard - will be available to purchase starting this Friday, 28th August. The announcement was made around 7pm GMT on Apple.com, much to the praise from fans, that have been waiting for this operating system for over 2 years. The newest OS will be priced at a very reasonable $29 (£36) and will include features that are dubbed ‘Next-gen technologies’ and will be Faster, better, and easier to use.
For more information on Snow Leopard, head on over to http://www.apple.com
Posted by Admin on August 11, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I haven’t written a blog post in so long, I’ve just been really busy lately. But anyway I am going do a review of an application of the iPod Touch and iPhone called “Ambiance”. It’s a simple app that helps you focus/relax/fall asleep by listening to relaxing looping sounds such as Rain, Campfire, Rain Forest, and much, much more. This app has become one of my favorites, I have been using it so much and you will see why in a little bit. The application has received many updates since it was released; I’ve owned the app from when it was first launched however I haven’t used it much at all before. The app was very simple and basic when it came out but now the GUI has been updated and it looks wonderful, not only that but there are many new sounds that are added constantly, and you are notified when they are added with push notifications. To add sounds to your Ambiance library just browse or search for sounds. Then preview them and if you like to download the 
sound. Then you can listen to it whenever.
There is a timer feature which is really nice so you don’t waste energy. So when you are going to bed you play the sound, turn the timer on, set the time you want the sound to stop playing and finally sleep and let Ambiance do the rest.
I like to plug my iPod Touch in my iHome speaker dock and relax to all of the wonderful sounds in this app. Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep, so at night I use this app to fall asleep easier and faster, and my iPod charges at the same time (because I use the iHome). Overall I think this is a wonderful application that easily earns a 5/5. I find myself using it all the time and at the $0.99 price point, you just can’t beat it. If you are unsure if this is the right app for you there is a lite version that’s free, so try it out and decide for yourself.
Posted by Admin on July 15, 2009 at 17:30 pm
Apple released an iTunes update (8.2.1) which it’s main goal was to prevent/not allow Sprints Palm Pre to sync with iTunes. This was expected from the beginning when Palm announced that the Pre can sync with iTunes. Of course Apple wouldn’t allow that to happen, the Pre is a “rival” of the iPhone so it wouldn’t make sense for Apple to allow the Pre to sync with their Media Player/Organizer.
Apple states in the Software update information that:
“iTunes 8.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes and addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices.”
This is bad news to all the Pre owners out there who don’t want to get away from iTunes, however I’ve heard people using “Media Monkey” to sync their Pre with their computer, I don’t know how good it is, but like I said I’ve heard good things about it. Or you can just stay with your current version of iTunes, which in my opinion is your best option.
Also here is Palms response:
“Palm’s media sync works with iTunes 8.2. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we can consider.”
Posted by Stuart on April 7, 2009 at 17:36 pm
No, i’m not talking about what time it is. Times is a neat little RSS application for the Mac operating system made by Acrylic. Except this isn’t your ordinary RSS reader.
Times turns everything into a newspaper-like layout, making it easy to find and read anything you want to. You can add different pages/sections of your “newspaper”, each with its own title or category. You can then add feeds to the different spots on that page. Times comes with 25 different pre-entered feeds that you can use or delete. Adding different ones is a charm. Just click on the plus icon and you can type in the URL and Times will pick up the name of the feed (which you can edit if you like). If you have a URL pasted to your clipboard, then it will automatically show up in the URL spot. One cool feature in Times is the shelf. Simply drag the article you want to the shelf, and you can save it for later reading- without worrying about you loosing it between all the other ones. If you want to inform the world with what you’re reading, just enter your login information (for sites like Digg and Twitter).
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