[WelMac] Welmac News & Update 17 Aug 08
WelMac news
news at welmac.org.nz
Sun Aug 17 22:59:08 AEST 2008
CONTENTS:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. MEETING UPDATE
2. APPLE WORTH MORE THAN GOOGLE
3. EXPLAINING APPLE'S FLASH KILLER STRATEGY
4. APPLE PREMIERES MOVIES ON THE ITUNES STORE IN AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
5. VMWARE FUSION 2 BETA 2 ADDS SIGNIFICANT FEATURES
6. IPHONE APPS THAT GO BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT
7. FIVE ITUNES 7.7.1 BUG FIXES DETAILED
________________________________________________________________________________________________
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1. MEETING UPDATES
Wellington Meeting
The next main meeting of the Wellington Macintosh Society Inc. will be
held on Monday 25 August 2008. This meeting will be held in the Ante
Room on the ground level of Turnbull House, 11 Bowen Street,
Wellington from 7.10pm.
The topic for this meeting will be Graphics applications on the Cheap.
As usual, we'll start with our Q&A session followed by a short supper
before the main presentation.
Kapiti Area Meeting
For those members living at or near the Paraparaumu area, our next
Kapiti meeting will be held at 7.10 pm on Monday 1st September 2008
(which also is Queens Birthday this year). It will be at the Rita King
Cottage at St Marks Church in Rosetta Road, Raumati. The topic of the
meeting will be the same as the Wellington meeting, i.e. Graphics
applications on the Cheap.
Mac Basics Meeting
This meeting is an introduction to computing on a Macintosh will be
held on Monday 8 September 2008 (tonight) starting at 7pm in the
Turnbull Room on the 1st floor of Turnbull House. This months meeting
will look at the first topic in our series of three, Mac OSX operating
system and its file structure and using the Finder to navigate your
way around your computer.
Applications Special Interest Group
Monday 18 August 2008 (TONIGHT) starting 7 pm in the Turnbull Room on
the 1st floor of Turnbull House.
These meetings will take a look at commonly used applications
(software) and this month will be the third part of three looking at
the uses and setup of basic databases and how you can make them work
for you.
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2. APPLE WORTH MORE THAN GOOGLE
Bryan Chaffin of the MacObserver electronic newsletter noted recently
that Apple Inc.'s market capitalization (market cap) has surpassed
Google's, with the company having a market cap of US$158.8 billion,
some $1.6 billion higher than Google's market cap of 157.2 billion.
Apple's stock has been on a run lately rising more than $15 per share
to close at $179.30.
Google's shares have also been on a heater of sorts, rising more than
$25 per share to close at $500.03 per share. For those keeping score
at home, Apple's market cap is higher because it has more shares
outstanding -- 885.9 million -- compared to Google's 314.4 million
shares outstanding.
Market cap is the term for the value of a public company as determined
by price per share multiplied by the total number of shares
outstanding. For the sake of comparison, Microsoft has a market cap of
$254.4 billion, while Dell Inc. has a market cap of a mere $50.8
billion. Hewlett Packard (HP) has a market cap of $112.5 billion.
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3. EXPLAINING APPLE'S FLASH KILLER STRATEGY
by John Martellaro
Apple could find itself in a position in the future when poorly
implemented versions of Flash and Silverlight for the Mac could put it
at a competitive disadvantage, according to Dan Dilger at Roughly
Drafted. Both Google and Apple, for different reasons, have a stake in
an alternative technology, and that explains Apple's resistance to
Flash on the iPhone.
Web and client technologies have reached the point where Rich Internet
Applications (RIA) are viable. One way to achieve that is open
standards such as HTML, CSS and Javascript. However, the plug-in
architecture of Adobe's Flash and Microsoft's Silverlight seize
control of the client and basically put control of the Internet
experience in the hands of those two companies. Apple is fighting back.
"...if the web requires Flash or Silverlight to run, Adobe or
Microsoft can either intentionally kill alternative platforms like the
Mac (or Linux), or simply make them work so poorly due to their own
incompetence that those platforms risk becoming non-viable. Adobe has
already proven its incompetence in delivering Flash for the Mac (and
really any platform outside of Windows), and I shouldn't need to recap
Microsoft's historical readiness to destroy anything that isn't
Windows," Mr. Dilger wrote.
As a result Apple has been rethinking how this should all work and is
promoting SproutCore. SproutCore, a rich way to access Web browser
functionality, has none of the weaknesses of the old thin client
mechanism. Moreover, "In Mobile Me, its new web apps tie into web
services vended by WebObjects and WebDAV servers, but anyone can build
SproutCore web apps that tie into PHP or any other existing servers
that offer up data in XML or JSON objects," the author noted.
In a sweeping and credible essay, Mr. Dilger outlined Apple's Internet
strategy that wraps up Mobile Me, the iPhone, and open Internet
standards that will not only put Apple Web apps in front of a lot of
Windows users but also put the brakes on Flash and Silverlight.
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4. APPLE PREMIERES MOVIES ON THE ITUNES STORE IN AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
Apple announced on August 14, 2008 that movies from major film studios
including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount
Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
(MGM), Sony Pictures Television International and Lionsgate are now
available on the iTunes Store in Australia (www.itunes.com/au) and in
New Zealand (www.itunes.com/nz). Movie purchases and rentals feature
iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying
movies as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes has always been.
The iTunes Store in Australia and New Zealand feature over 700 films
for rent or purchase, with new release titles available for purchase
on the same day as their DVD release, including favorites such as
“National Treasure 2,” “Jumper,” “27 Dresses,” “Cloverfield,” “Vantage
Point” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
“Movie fans in Australia and New Zealand can choose from a great
selection of over 700 films for purchase and rent on the iTunes
Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services.
“iTunes provides an incredibly easy and fun way for people to discover
and enjoy movies, and has quickly become the world’s most popular
online movie store with customers renting and purchasing over 50,000
movies everyday.”
With iTunes Movie Rentals, once a movie is rented, it starts
downloading from the iTunes Store directly to iTunes or Apple TV®, and
users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in
seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a
movie has been started customers have 48 hours to finish it—or watch
it multiple times. iTunes Movie Rentals also feature over 100 titles
available in stunning high definition, perfect for viewing on a
widescreen TV with Apple TV.
************************************************************************
5. VMWARE FUSION 2 BETA 2 ADDS SIGNIFICANT FEATURES
by Adam C. Engst <ace at tidbits.com>
Upping the ante in the ongoing virtualization competition with
Parallels, VMware has released the second public beta of VMware
Fusion 2. The beta, available for free download, adds features to the
Unity Mac-Windows integration technology, virtual machine snapshots
to protect against problems, enhanced video capabilities and
performance, and more. You can read more about it and view a demo
video on VMware's Team Fusion blog.
<http://www.vmware.com/communities/content/beta/fusion/fusion2_beta2.html
>
<http://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2008/07/safer-stronger.html>
The most obvious changes in VMware Fusion 2 Beta 2 appear with Unity
2.0, which now enables application sharing between the Mac and
Windows, thus letting you launch any Mac file with a Windows
application. Unity 2.0 also goes beyond simple folder sharing by
mirroring key folders between the two environments, such that Windows
uses Mac OS X's Desktop, Documents, Music, and Pictures folders as
the Desktop, My Documents, My Music, and My Pictures folders,
respectively. Other Unity 2.0 improvements include custom keyboard
and mouse mapping between the two environments, better reliability
with shared folders, and improved copy and paste that can handle up
to 4 MB of data, including styled text. Additional usability
improvements include support for Leopard's Quick Look, glowing icons
to indicate activity, better keyboard compatibility with Quicken and
Google Earth, and better integration with Boot Camp's support for 64-
bit Windows Vista.
Since many Windows virtual machines are used for testing, VMware
added the capability to take, save, and manage multiple snapshots,
making it easier to restore a virtual machine to a pre-damaged state.
Plus, Fusion 2 can now back up virtual machines automatically at
specified intervals with AutoProtect snapshots.
Video support has been improved, with support for 1080p high
definition video in Windows XP and Vista, better 3D support, and the
capability to switch in and out of full screen view while playing
games.
Now that Apple has eased the licensing restrictions on Mac OS X
Server (see "Apple to Allow Virtualization of Leopard," 2007-10-31),
you can create a virtual machine containing Mac OS X Server 10.5. The
beta also includes support for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron, provides
Unity view in Linux, and offers a Linux Easy Install that can install
VMware Tools for a number of popular Linux distributions. You can
also now resize virtual disks. Finally, this public beta provides
experimental support for up to 4 virtual CPUs in a virtual machine
and offers a command-line interface for scripting VMware Fusion.
Keep in mind that this is beta software and should not be used for
mission-critical tasks. When Fusion 2 is finally released, it will be
a free downloadable upgrade for all Fusion 1.x users.
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6. IPHONE APPS THAT GO BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT
by Adam C. Engst <ace at tidbits.com>
Not being someone with bits of extra time before meetings or while
commuting or standing in line, I haven't come wholeheartedly to the
iPhone revolution, and in fact, I've had to make a conscious effort
to find time to use my iPod touch. Until the release of the 2.0
software, that was nearly impossible, since there was nothing the
iPod touch could do that one of my Macs couldn't do better. But now
that I can download software from the App Store, the iPod touch has
become more useful.
However, I noticed something interesting recently, while browsing the
lists of top paid and free applications: they're nearly all games or
in some way related to entertainment. Scanning through the list of
the top 100 paid apps, I currently see about 36 that increase the
functionality of the iPhone or in some way promise to make your life
easier. But even that number may be deceptive, since that list
includes at least four voice recorders, three conversion utilities,
three programs that use the accelerometer to measure angles of
incline, two password managers, a couple of calorie counters, and
several location-aware apps that help you find nearby restaurants or
other services. A few that would seem to provide unique capabilities
include:
* Teleport: This $24.99 app provides a VNC client for the iPhone or
iPod touch that enables you to control any Mac or PC running a VNC
server.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=286470485&mt=8
>
* TouchTerm: Talk about backwards compatibility! This $2.99 app gives
you an SSH-savvy terminal program for logging into Unix machines (or
the Unix underpinnings of your Mac).
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=286623227&mt=8
>
* Files and FileMagnet: These two apps ($7.99 and $4.99,
respectively) seem similar in that they let you copy files to your
iPhone or iPod touch from your Mac (Files also works with Windows),
and view (but not edit) common file types.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=285578660&mt=8
> <http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284797161&mt=8
>
* Picoli: Although it's not exactly Photoshop, the $4.99 Picoli lets
you retouch photos on the iPhone itself (it also works with photos
synced from your Mac, if you have only an iPod touch).
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=286056016&mt=8
>
* MagicPad: This notebook app goes beyond the built-in one by adding
rich-text editing with fonts, colors, and styles, and by adding
perhaps the most-requested iPhone feature: copy and paste.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=286616920&mt=8
>
* Distance Meter: Like a full-fledged GPS, the $2.99 Distance Meter
can tell you how far you've travelled and at what speed, and it
provides GPS coordinates and altitude information as well. Works only
with the iPhone 3G.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=286133117&mt=8
>
On the free side, only 28 of the top 100 apps would seem to be useful
in some form or fashion, and once again, they tend to clump, with a
few apps providing ad-supported views onto Web-based news, a couple
of flashlight apps that turn the screen a single bright color, and a
few more location-based service finders. Still, some that stand out
from the crowd include:
* WritingPad: This notebook app offers an unusual text-entry approach
where you trace word shapes on a keyboard, rather than tapping each
key individually.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=285484703&mt=8
>
* YouNote: Another note-taking application, YouNote lets you record
audio notes, make notes from photos, draw notes with your fingers,
capture a Web page as a note, and even compose text with the keyboard.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284969305&mt=8
>
* Flashlight: An app that just turns the screen a single bright color
is silly, I know, but my teenage-girl-cell-phone from Virgin Mobile
has a built-in LED flashlight, and I use it all the time.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=285281827&mt=8
>
* Epocrates Rx: This drug reference is probably useful primarily to
healthcare professionals, but given that it's free, I could see it
being of interest to anyone taking a number of medications. (It
requires that you set up a free account online.)
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=281935788&mt=8
>
* WeatherBug: The default Weather app from Apple is pretty weak, but
WeatherBug goes much further with more current weather conditions,
full text forecasts, a zoomable radar map, and photos from nearby
weather cameras.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=281940292&mt=8
>
Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against playing games on the
iPhone, or doing puzzles, or whatever, and I do all those things, on
occasion. But for many of us, free time is sufficiently scarce (and
the iPhone is sufficiently expensive) that iPhone apps need to help
create leisure time rather consuming it.
****************************************************************************************************
7. FIVE ITUNES 7.7.1 BUG FIXES DETAILED
by Adam C. Engst <ace at tidbits.com>
Apple has released iTunes 7.7.1 with criminally terse release notes
saying that it includes "fixes to improve stability and performance."
As a result, it's nearly impossible to figure out what has changed,
although some trawling through Apple's discussion forums yielded
additional information. Two of the bug fixes below were noted by an
pseudonymous Apple employee, which gives them a certain imprimatur,
but for the rest, the best we can do is to offer user reports that
have only anecdotal support.
* A comment from Apple employee "iTunes Mike" states that iTunes
7.7.1 fixes the bug that caused accented characters in artist and
track names to be corrupted (see "iTunes 7.7 Corrupts Accented Artist
and Track Names," 2008-07-24). That post also confirms that the bug
affected only versions of Mac OS X prior to Leopard, and only MP3
files (not AAC or Lossless).
<http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=7759172#7759172> <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9705
>
* Another post from iTunes Mike indicates that iTunes 7.7.1 should
also fix a bug that prevented audio CDs from being ejected while
iTunes was running.
<http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=7550414#7550414>
* Other users report that iTunes 7.7.1 appears to solve a problem
that prevented attached iPods from being recognized quickly; some
claimed that it was taking many minutes (reports ranged from 4
minutes to over 40 minutes) for iTunes to realize that an iPod was
connected.
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7760703#7760703>
* At least some people are reporting that iPhone backups that were
taking an extremely long time (many hours) are now faster, although
it's unclear as yet if the problem has been solved entirely, or for
all users.
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7760835#7760835>
* On the Windows side, iTunes 7.7.1 appears to fix a problem syncing
information from Outlook with the iPhone.
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7760565#7760565>
iTunes 7.7.1 is a 48 MB download available via Software Update or
from the iTunes download page.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/>
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Some articles above have been reprinted with permission from TidBITS.
TidBITS has offered more than ten years of thoughtful commentary on
Macintosh and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access
to the entire TidBITS archive, visit www.tidbits.com.
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