[iPhone Game] KartRider Rush

獨樂樂，不如眾樂樂。打機固然好玩，但要是可以一班Friends一起玩，自然加倍開心，所以每次朋友在家聚會，甚麼《Winning Eleven》吖、《Mario Kart》等統統都會出動。提到《Mario Kart》，筆者就不可不介紹這隻於早前登陸iPhone平台的《KartRider Rush》。
在台灣，這款由韓國Nexon公司製作的人氣遊戲名為《跑跑卡丁車》，也許各位亦曾聽過它的大名吧。在iPhone版中，玩家可以選擇在「Item Mode」和「Speed Mode」和AI對手比賽，同時亦可以在網上和其他iPhone用戶進行「Multi Player」決戰。《KartRider Rush》和《Mario Kart》其實有兩樣，玩家除了以速度決勝之外，亦要利用不同的道具來干擾對手。要是各位是《Mario Kart》迷的話，《KartRider Rush》一定會是你iPhone的必然選擇。
遊戲名稱：《KartRider Rush》
售價：Free
系統：iPhone (3G、3Gs、4)、iPod touch、iPad
檔案大小：41.7MB
下載網址：http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kartrider-rush/id422264960?mt=8

就連開賽畫面，《KartRider Rush》都帶有《Mario Kart》的影子。

玩家除了鬥快之外，用道具干擾對手也是這遊戲的樂趣所在吖。

遊戲中有Garage功能，讓玩家儲起在賽事中贏回來的車輛，方便日後替換。

(Quoted from unwire.hk)

將 iTunes 10 三按鈕變回橫排

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新功能再好用也好，經過 Apple 大幅改版的 iTunes 10 無論圖示及操作介面均被不少用戶狠批，尤其是軟件左上角的 3 顆按鈕竟無故變成直排，實在令 Mac 友大惑不解，畢竟大部份 Mac 軟件都不會採用這種排列方式。Unwire.hk 今次便會教大家將 iTunes 10「導回正途」，令 3 顆按鈕變回傳統的橫向排列。

修改方法：
Step 01)

關閉開啟中的 iTunes 10，留意視窗左上方的 3 顆按鈕是以垂直排列。

Step 02)

到 Applications –> Utilities 中，打開 Terminal 終端機。

Step 03)

輸入以下指令，並按 Return 執行：
defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1

Step 04)

重新打開 iTunes，可發現左上角的 3 顆按鈕已變回橫向排列。

Step 05)

若要變回預設時的樣子，重複以上步驟，惟指令需要稍作修改：
defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -0

Step 06)

變回直排了…

(Quoted from unwire.hk)

Samsung caught presenting actors as Galaxy Tab "consumers," fudging thinnest tablet claims

After being forced to admit that its two million Galaxy Tabs last fall were just inventory and not actually sales to consumers, Samsung is now being accused of paying actors to pretend to be Galaxy Tab buyers and faking its claim that its redesigned tablet will be thinner than iPad 2 as originally claimed.

An exposé by Harry McCracken of Technologizer pointed out that the company's "Galaxy Tab Interview Project" purported to depict real consumers from "a variety of backgrounds," but was actually a staged presentation hiring paid actors to feign interest in its tablet products.

At the introduction of the company's revised Galaxy Tab, the company presented two stories of what appeared to be very satisfied Galaxy Tab owners, albeit voicing clumsy and phony sounding comments.

Joan Hess, described as a freelance travel writer, said "I would mostly use it communicating with people all around the globe when I'm on the move," before giggling "it's sexy, like me!"

A second spot with independent film director Karl Shefelman presented the filmmaker using the yet unreleased Galaxy Tab 10.1, a product originally announced in February and then sent back to the drawing board for a June release after Apple debuted iPad 2.

"Thinnest tablet on the market" not actually thinnest, nor on the market

After taking a moment between what were described as "true life stories," Samsung's chief product and technology officer Omar Khan introduced a revised Galaxy Tab 10.1, which he called the thinnest and lightest tablet "in the market," a clear shot at Apple's iPad 2.

However, despite describing the new Galaxy Tab design, slated to become available in June, as being 0.2 millimeters thinner than Apple's currently shipping iPad 2, reviewers at InformationWeek comparing the new Galaxy Tab prototype against iPad 2 have since published photos that show that the iPad 2 is actually thinner than the nonfunctional cases Samsung demonstrated.

After asking Samsung for comment, the report stated, "there was really no official Samsung response other than to say that the specifications are 8.6 mm. He was at a loss for words."

Acting! Genius! Thank You!

A third interview introduced Joseph Kolinski as a real estate CEO, referring to him as a "consumer" who had "picked the Galaxy Tab 8.9," a second version of the company's revised tablet lineup which also won't be available until June.

Kolinski said "I'm not very tech savvy," then recited a story about how he was skeptical of "toys," until the Galaxy Tab 8.9 helped him to stay on top of his busy schedule, noting how he was "surprised how productive he was able to be with it."

Given that the device does not actually turn on yet, real gains in productivity would be rather surprising. McCracken investigated the real life stories and found that Hess and Kolinski are actually New York actors, while Shefelman, "works for a New York production company, one that’s done work for Samsung."

This all happened before

Samsung's "real life story" charade is reminiscent of two Microsoft ad campaigns, one featuring Laura, who said she picked a Windows PC because she "wasn't cool enough for a Mac." It was later revealed she was actually an actress.

A second Microsoft ad, published in response to Apple's "Switcher" campaign, was entitled "Confessions of a Mac to PC convert," and featured a woman describing why she had decided to move from a Mac to a Windows PC.

The print ad portrayed her as saying "Yes, it's true. I like the Microsoft Windows XP operating system enough to change my whole computing world around. [...] Windows XP gives me more choices and flexibility and better compatibility with the rest of the computing world."

It was later revealed that an advertising copywriter for Microsoft simply made up the woman's comments and that the woman herself was actually just a stock photography model.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

炒燶 iPad2，每部蝕$2,000!

炒賣 Apple 產品在先達已令到不少水貨商人發達。不過今次 iPad2 不單賺不到還要蝕！筆者今日訪問了幾間水貨店，他們都覺得今次 iPad2 「中晒招」！當中還出現了一些怪現象..

Wi-fi 版無人問津
先達樂天店主表示，以前 iPad 1 16GB wifi是最好賣的，因為入門價錢平，令到它成為行手的搶手貨。 iPad2 推出時到貨時因為貨源短缺，很多商店以高價 $7,000 或以上去收「街貨」，滿以為標一萬甚至萬二可以穩袋三千，誰不知今次 16GB wifi 版竟然無人問津，商店們為怕「坐艇」都開始紛紛落價求散貨，頭幾次減價都沒有反應，最後跌穿六千關口才開始有人購買，直到今天最新價跌到 $5,280- 5,480 銷量才開始見好，差不多一部機就要蝕2,000 ! 店主表示　3G 版本雖然炒過萬，但仍然有不少人買，再加上他們收 16GB wifi 貨不多，拉上補下都有微利。 3G 版本 16GB 亦沒人買，大多顧客是買 32 及 64GB 版，店主更透露有行家入了二百多部 16GB wifi ，他們非常頭痛。

香港客為主
無論 iPad / iPhone 炒價如何昂貴，頭幾天都會有不少豪擲千金的內地客前來購買，但今次 iPad2 的顧客主要都是香港人。店主估計國內的水貨網絡已經比去年成熟，來貨供應充足，內地客跟本不需到香港購買，而且又不像  iPhone4 般搶先在香港推出 sim-free 版行貨，完全沒有地域優勢。最後因為定價太貴，對於精打細算的港客實在吃不消，令售價急速回落。
毋懼行貨殺到
先達數碼動力店主表示，澳洲的水貨明天會到先達，貨源供應更充足，預計售價會有所調整但不會跌太多，始終人工、稅、機票也是成本之一。對於四月有行貨發售，他表示不太擔心，因為行貨不知到數量有多少，而且未必所有型號都同一時間推出，貨源充足的水貨仍有一定的巿場

今日 iPad2 價格

• 16GB Wifi $5,480 (最抵玩有 5,280 送 smartcover 同保護貼)
• 32 GB Wifi $ 6,180
• 64 GB Wifi $7,080
• 16GB 3G 9,900
• 32GB / 64GB 3G over 10K (ask)

(Quoted from: unwire.hk)

ITC rules Apple did not infringe five Nokia patents

In the latest round of patent battles in the smartphone arena, an International Trade Commission judge has ruled that Apple did not infringe five patents belonging to Nokia.

A report by Reuters noted that ITC Judge James Gildea has ruled "in his initial determination that Apple did not violate the Nokia patents."

Nokia's charges were filed in December of 2009, and broadly applied to iPhones, iPods and Macs, including user interface, camera, antenna and power management technologies.

Last winter, the ITC began formally investigating the charges, which Nokia sought a billion euros ($1.415 billion) in damages and could have resulted in an import ban of Apple products into the US.

Apple brought its own counterclaims against Nokia based on 13 patents of its own. In November, the ITC staff sided with Nokia in determining that Apple had not provided enough evidence to establish a patent violation.

While both companies have ongoing disputes with the ITC (due to its power to block imports into the US, offering heavy-handed bargaining leverage), there are often parallel cases filed in US district court aimed at winning financial damages as well as additional cases filed in Europe, the Reuters report stated.

Nokia has dramatically lost market share, giving up large portions of its once dominant Symbian platform installed base to Apple's iPhone and devices running Google's Android platform. The company has recently partnered with Microsoft to begin efforts to release new smartphones using Windows Phone 7 software.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

Twitter update adds photo, video capture to iPad 2

The official Twitter app for iPad has been updated to version 3.3.2, and it now allows you to take and share photos and videos directly from your iPad 2. This functionality was already in there for the iPhone, of course, but now that the iPad is outfitted with a camera, Twitter has made it easy to take and share video directly from Apple's magical and revolutionary device.
The update has a few bug fixes, including a fix that helps location sharing work a little better. What the new version doesn't do is get rid of the trending topics quickbar, a feature that still has some users up in arms after it was added into the app a little while ago. But that fight aside for now, I look forward to seeing some iPads putting video and pictures on Twitter.

(Quoted from Tuaw)

Apple releases iOS 4.3.1 with minor fixes for cell networks

Apple on Friday released iOS 4.3.1, a minor security and maintenance update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, addressing issues related to connecting to some cellular networks, among other issues.

The udpate is available for the GSM iPhone 4, but no update has been made for the CDMA iPhone 4. That device is still on iOS version 4.2.6, released in January.

The iOS 4.3.1 update is also available for the iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad and the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. According to Apple, the update includes:

• Fixes an occasional graphics glitch on iPod touch (4th generation)
  
• Resolves bugs related to activating and connecting to some cellular networks
  
• Fixes image flicker when using Apple Digital AV Adapter with some TVs
  
• Resolves an issue authenticating with some enterprise web services

This week, it was rumored that Apple would issue iOS 4.3.1 within two weeks, making Friday's release somewhat unexpected. The accompanying notes make no mention of battery issues reported by some users of iOS 4.3, nor does it say whether a security hole exposed at a recent hacker conference has been patched.

News of iOS 4.3.1 came earlier this month via the Pwn2Own hacking contest, when security researcher Charlie Miller revealed that Apple has a fix in the works for a flaw in its Safari mobile Web browser. Miller exposed the flaw at the contest, and privately shared the exploit with Apple to help the company patch its software.

Also Friday, Apple released Xcode 4.0.1, also a minor update. Changes to the software, according to Apple, include:

• Improved Assistant editor logic when switching among different file types
  
• Fixed a bug in "Install Xcode.app" that hangs at 99% complete, never finishing
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented indexing of some projects
  
• Fixed a bug related to nil settings in the Core Data model editor
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented automatic download of iOS documentation
  
• Fixed a bug in LLVM GCC 4.2 and LLVM compiler 2.0 for iOS projects
  
• Additional bug fixes and stability improvements

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

Real Racing 2 HD to support 1080p video out

Newer models of the iOS device line have offered excellent-quality video out for some time using Apple's VGA connector cable. Now, Apple's 30-pin to HDMI adapter pushes quality even further. Today, FireMint Games announced its updated Real Racing 2 HD will support full 1080p output with (breathless cut-and-paste-from-press-release-excitement!) "rock-solid frame rates, with an unbeatable hands-on, precision control method that'll have your console green with envy."
Sounds pretty cool? We think so too. Real Racing 2 has already won bunches of awards and this new update makes us want to get racing. Click "read more" to see a video of it in action.
Hat tip, Federico over at MacStories

Erase the social network past with Last Night Never Happened

Let's be honest: We all enjoy a good night out on the town occasionally, and when fun happens these days, chances are you might say or post something on various social networks that you probably shouldn't, be that something negative about your boss or your ex, or just a little too much information about your current state of mind. Now there's an iPhone app that purports to deal with exactly these lapses in judgement.
Last Night Never Happened is an iPhone app that, when given access to your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, will delete or replace any social network postings that you happen to regret. The app will go back up to 48 hours, and as you can see in the demo, will clear out any photos, tweets, or Facebook posts you need to delete, optionally replacing them with a much nicer message.
Unfortunately, the app doesn't do any more than Twitter or Facebook, so all of those OK Cupid messages you sent are there to stay. And according to the fine print on the app, it doesn't do Facebook's status updates either, so you'll have to go deal with those yourself. But if you often find yourself regretting messages you sent and posted the night before, Last Night Never Happened may be able to help. It's $1.99 on the App Store right now.

(Quoted from Tuaw)

Judge Rules in Apple's Favor in Patent Lawsuit Filed by Nokia

Reuters reports that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a decision in the patent dispute between Apple and Nokia, ruling that Apple has not violated any of five patents cited by Nokia in its lawsuit.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) won a round in its patent battle with Nokia (NOK1V.HE) on Friday as a U.S. trade panel ruled that the U.S. company did not violate any of five Nokia patents.

The patents were for electronic devices, including mobile phones, portable music players and computers.

Nokia initially filed suit against Apple in October 2009, and the two companies have escalated the situation by filing countersuits and new suits citing an increasing number of patents and in a number of jurisdictions. Most recently, Nokia filed four new suits targeting Apple in European courts.

ITC staff have already issued a preliminary position siding with Nokia regarding Apple's countersuit claiming patent infringement, but an agency judge has yet to issue an official ruling on that case.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

Apple looking to 'radically improve' iPhone Maps & location services

New job listings from Apple suggest the company is still hard at work at a new, advanced version of its iOS Maps application along with improvements to location services for the iPhone and iPad.

This week Apple advertised two new hirings on its official site (1, 2) for the position of "iOS Maps Application Developer." The positions discovered by AppleInsider are based in Apple's corporate campus in Cupertino, Calif.

"Come work for the team that revolutionized the mobile technology industry as it continues [to] define what computing looks like in a post-PC era," the listing reads. "The Maps team is looking for an exceptional developer to join us in our mission to radically improve how people interact with maps and location-based services."

As is par for the course in Apple's cryptic job listings, it offers no specific details on what an updated version of Maps or new location services might offer. But the company does seek a candidate for the role that has experience in developing "sophisticated user interfaces."

The advertisement also reveals that the position will require an employee to collaborate closely with Apple's human interface team. Together, they will craft "new and innovative features" for iOS devices.

For years now, there has been mounting evidence that Apple is cooking up a major revamp of the iPhone's native Maps application, perhaps in concert with new and enhanced location-based features. In 2009, the company purchased Placebase, a competitor to Google Maps, which led to speculation that Apple could be interested in eschewing Google's mapping content for its own.

In addition, last July Apple acquired Poly9, an online mapping company from Quebec. Poly9 created interactive 3D mapping software for use in a browser.

Also last year, it was revealed that Apple had begun using its own location databases for devices powered by iOS, like the iPhone and iPad. In version of iOS prior to 3.2, Apple relied on databases maintained by Google and Skyhook Wireless.

While Apple now provides location-based services from its own databases, the iPhone maker still relies on Google for maps and "Street View" content in the native iOS Maps application.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

充 iPad、不走電 Sanyo eneloop mobile booster

在成功解決問題貨源後，在今天，我們會重開 Sanyo eneloop mobile booster 的團購。現尚餘少量名額，如有興趣請從速報名。
今次團購產品：
- 價格不變 , 以 $490 優惠價發售, 街售約 $580 – $599
- 沒有跟火牛, 如不想經 USB 充電要自備第三方火牛
- 同樣有 1A 輸出可充 iPad
- 由三洋香港提供本地一年保養

(Quoted from unwire.hk)

iPad 2 international launch causes people to line up in line all over and over again

You may or may not know this, but the iPad 2 became available in 22 countries today, and from the looks of it above (snapped at London's Regent Street store), waiting in line was part of the deal. Now, we have this theory that people love to line up for anything, so we're not going to draw any conclusions about how dreamy the product is, but please, if you shot any line photos today, feel free to send them our way and we'll throw them in our post after the break.

Covent Garden, London


Ontario, Canada


Paris, France



Berlin, Germany (!)


Manchester, England


Milan, Italy


Sweden


Zurich


Edmonton, Alberta, Canada


Vancouver, BC, Canada








Montreal, Canada


Dublin, Ireland


Leeds, England


Hamburg, Germany


Bristol, England

(Quoted from Engadget)

Kodak says patent dispute with Apple worth more than $1B in royalties

The CEO of Eastman Kodak told reporters Thursday that his company could receive more than $1 billion in royalty revenue if it can achieve a victory against Apple and Research in Motion in a patent dispute over digital camera technology used in the two companies' mobile devices.

Antonio Perez made the comments in an interview in New York on Thursday, adding that his company "deserves to win," as noted by Bloomberg. The International Trade Commission is scheduled to announce Friday whether it will review an ITC judge's earlier ruling that Apple and RIM are not in violation of the company's image-preview patents.

Update: The ITC revealed Friday that it will review the judge's decision, reopening the patent case between Apple and Kodak.

“This is a lot of money, big money,” Perez said of a potential settlement. Kodak has received close to $1 billion from Korean electronics giants Samsung and LG in a settlement related to the same patent that Apple and RIM are accused of violating. According to the report, a different ITC judge sided with Kodak in the Samsung and LG cases, leading the phonemakers to settle before the full six-member commission could rule on the case.

Though the ITC Is unable to order monetary damages, it has the authority to block imports of products that are found to infringe upon U.S. patents. As such, the threat of an import ban often motivates companies to settle.

Rochester, N.Y.-based Kodak sued Apple in January of last year, alleging that the iPhone had infringed on patents relating to low resolution image previews. Several months later, Apple fired back with a countersuit over several digital imaging patents allegedly being violated by Kodak cameras.

In January of this year, an ITC judge ruled in favor of Apple and RIM, who had argued that the patent was invalid because it was an "obvious variation of an earlier invention."

Kodak's position in the case may have devolved into desperation. Two of the company's three main businesses lost money last year as revenues fell to $7.2 billion, compared to nearly half that amount in 2005. In the past year, Kodak has lost almost half of its market value.

Faced with the decline of the camera film market, Kodak has turned to its extensive patent portfolio as a source of income. Kodak licenses its digital imaging technology to about 30 companies, including handset makers such as LG, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

Japan disaster hasn't 'meaningfully impacted' Apple's iPad 2 supply

Despite initial concerns that the earthquake in Japan might result in a shortage of components for devices like Apple's iPad 2, a new report says the impact so far has only been "modest" at worst.

Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said in a note to investors on Friday that he believes demand for the iPad 2 will continue to outstrip supply into the June 2011 quarter. He said the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan will play a part in limited supplies, but not one as great as was originally feared.

"Apple recently reduced US iPad 2 lead times, which suggests the situation in Japan has not meaningfully impacted iPad 2 supply," Munster wrote. "We believe the most critical suppliers are back up and running following the earthquake and the impact to supply will be modest."

Munster said that both iPad 2 and iPhone 4 supply could be impacted with delays of one to two weeks. That's more optimistic than some earlier takes on the situation, like one that suggested the Japan disaster could leave Apple with a shortage of five key components of the iPad 2.

Just last week, Munster reported that the production status from Apple's Japanese component suppliers was changing hour by hour. But at the time, none of Apple's partners could quantify the damage at their facilities.

Though Apple has experienced crushing demand for the iPad 2 in the U.S. since its launch earlier this month, the company this week improved shipping time estimates to between three and four weeks, suggesting supply is catching up with demand. The change came as Apple begins selling the iPad 2 in 25 countries around the world at 5 p.m. local time today.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

Apple reportedly working on 'Smart TV' prototype in bid for living room

According to one analyst's checks with Apple's Asian suppliers, the company is in the process of building a 'Smart TV' prototype as part of an ongoing effort to assert a stronger presence in consumers' living rooms.

In a note sent to investors on Friday, analyst Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley wrote that the firm's "checks in Asia suggest Apple is working on a Smart TV prototype." Though further details remained scarce, Huberty speculated that an Apple Smart TV could be an opportunity for the Cupertino, Calif., company to consolidate "TV/Video content, gaming, DVR, as well as other features like apps and FaceTime into one product," much like the company did with its strategy for the iPad.

Huberty sees Apple's rumored Smart TV as "potentially the next new product category" and predicts that an Apple-branded TV could add approximately $4 billion per 1 percent share of the TV market captured by 2013.

The analyst also cited three other under-appreciated growth catalysts for Apple in her note: sales growth in Asia Pacific, especially China; expansion of iPhone price points leading to increased smartphone market share and continued dominance of the fast growing tablet market.

Projecting 60 percent annual revenue growth for Apple in Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, Huberty sees the Asian share of Apple's revenue approaching 30 percent in 2013. Huberty also noted that the Asia Pacific region tends to skew toward mobile devices, resulting in a higher profit margin for the company.

Huberty predicts an LTE iPhone from Apple in 2012, with Apple marketing older 3G iPhone models to developing markets. According to the analyst, new features and faster performance of an LTE iPhone could preserve the device's $600 price point, while 3G iPhones would sell for a lower average selling price in countries like China, India and Brazil.

With the international launch of the iPad 2 set to begin on Friday, Apple's lead in the global tablet market is expected to widen. Huberty's long-term view of the device projects adoption rates similar to the iPod. Citing weak sales of non-Apple tablets in the first quarter of 2011 and mixed reviews for upcoming devices, Huberty predicts Apple will easily maintain "well north of 50%" of the tablet market.

Huberty maintains a price target of $410 for Apple stock by November 2011. In a bull case scenario, the analyst sees shares of Apple possibly reaching as high as $540, assuming 55 percent iPhone growth and 74 percent iPad growth. According to the analyst, a bear case scenario could see Apple stock drop to $270 due to the possibility of lower margins and concerns over CEO Steve Jobs' health.

Regarding rumors of a Smart TV from Apple, Huberty is not alone in her prediction. Analyst Gene Munster of investment bank Piper Jaffray has long held the belief that Apple will release a connected television in the near future.

"While Apple's commitment to the living room remains a 'hobby,' we continue to believe the company will enter the TV market with a full focus, as an all-in-one Apple television could move the needle when connected TVs proliferate," Munster said in a note to investors earlier this year. Munster sees a rumored $3.9 billion supply investment for display components by Apple as a possible indication of an upcoming connected TV.

Though Munster does not see an Apple-branded TV coming in 2011, he predicts that Apple could sell 1.4 million units in 2012, adding as much as $2.5 billion in revenue to the company's top line.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

Mac OS X Turns Ten Years Old

Today marks the tenth birthday of Mac OS X, which officially debuted on March 24th, 2001 as Mac OS X 10.0 with an internal codename of "Cheetah". As noted by Macworld, the release in retrospect was a milestone in Apple's transformation from a struggling computer company into the major technology behemoth it is today.

On March 24, 2001, the iMac was less than three years old, the iPod was still more than six months away, and Macs ran at astounding speeds of up to 733MHz. But most importantly, Apple on that day released the first official version of Mac OS X, changing the future of its platform forever.

Though nobody knew it at the time, the release, codenamed Cheetah, was the first step in transforming Apple from a company poised on the verge of disaster into the second most valuable company in the world.

While the impact of Mac OS X on Apple's products and the user experience they provide is undeniable, the early days of the operating system were anything but perfect, from a shaky public beta released in late 2000 through the public launch of Cheetah that necessitated rapid fixes and improvements that led to the release of Mac OS X 10.1 "Puma" just six months later. As Ars Technica noted in an extensive review of Mac OS X 10.0.0, the release showed "tremendous promise" despite obviously still being a work in progress.

Mac OS X shows tremendous promise, which is a nice way of saying that the 10.0 release is not quite ready for prime time. This is most certainly an early adopter's OS release. Interface responsiveness and effective stability are the two biggest fundamental problems, but missing features and compatibility issues rank just as high if you actually intend to use OS X as a full Mac OS 9 replacement: the 10.0 release cannot view DVD movies; printer drivers are still scarce; CD burning is not yet supported, even by Apple's own iTunes CD authoring application; and a lot of hardware (like my G3/400's serial port adapter to which my printer is attached) seem destined to be orphaned forever.

Mac OS X has obviously come a long way in the ten years since its initial release, but Apple has also become much more than a computer company: revolutionizing music consumption with the iPod, recreating the smartphone market with the iPhone, and most recently finally catapulting the tablet market into consumers' awareness with the iPad. In the process, Apple's operating system for mobile devices, iOS, has itself matured and yielded a number of new innovations and features.

Consequently, Apple has chosen to position the next step in the evolution of Mac OS X as "Back to the Mac", an effort to bring some of the most popular features of iOS to the Mac platform for the first time while retaining the familiarity, flexibility, and horsepower of Mac OS X. That next step, Mac OS X Lion, is set to debut sometime this summer, and developers and users should be able to learn much more about Apple's efforts at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference presumably set to occur in June or July.

(Quoted from MacRumors)

木製 iPad 2 保護蓋

Miniot 出 品的木製保護套一直贏得不少用戶的歡心，今次為 iPad 2 推出的保護蓋也沒有令人失望，甚至更勝蘋果原廠的 Smart Cover！不單止木的質感無可比擬，其捲動的設計更免去 Smart Cover 要摺疊的步驟，同樣以磁石固定，對應螢幕鎖開關。Miniot 日內就會接受預訂，定價50歐元起。跳轉後看示範影片了解更多。

(Quoted from unwire.hk)

Inside Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: Apple drops FTP, adds WebDAV file sharing for iOS

The upcoming release of Mac OS X Lion and Lion Server dramatically simplifies file sharing, removing official support for FTP and Sun's NFS file sharing protocols while adding a new WebDAV option making it easy to share files with iOS devices.

Changes in Mac OS X desktop file sharing

The most obvious change for desktop users is the removal of FTP from the available protocols in System Preference's File Sharing. FTP is a very simple, early protocol for making files available over the Internet, but offers little in terms of security.

While FTP is still available and configurable from the command line, it's no longer supported as an easy to turn on option in System Preferences, leaving only the Mac's native AFP and Windows-style SMB as options.

As noted previously, Apple's SMB (aka CIFS) file services are now home grown in Lion, as the company is no longer relying upon the Samba project to deliver its core Windows File Sharing software.

Developers working with the new build say FTP does appear to still be supported from the Finder as a download client. Apple has never supported FTP uploads from the Finder, necessitating a full fledged FTP client for users who need to both download and upload files.

The removal of FTP services appear to be motivated by the non-obvious security implications involved with opening up unencrypted FTP file sharing from a client system. Additionally, there are often better methods for sharing files, particularly for Mac users who depend upon support for file and file system features that FTP does not support well.

Changes in Mac OS X Server file sharing

Apple has billed its Mac OS X Server product as "open source made easy," rolling together a variety of standard Unix services and open source projects and integrating them within an approachable, graphical interface in Server Admin.

With the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple created two interfaces for Server: the ultra simple Server Preferences, which made configuring services as easy as setting options in System Preferences, and the more complex but powerful Server Admin (below).

In Lion Server, Apple has greatly enhanced Server Preferences and renamed the app simply Server. Rather than being a simplistic set of preference panels, the app has transformed into what appears to be a toned down Server Admin, with an interface reminiscent of iTunes or the Finder.

Apple also appears to have removed much of the duplicated overlap in functionality between Server Preferences and Server Admin, relegating all file system and many other user-facing services (including web, instant messaging, and contact, calendar and wiki services) to the new Server app while leaving only network and backend services (such as DNS, DHCP, Xgrid, and more complex Mail settings) to the more technically inclined Server Admin.

Formerly, configuring file sharing on Mac OS X Server involved turning on individual services (AFP, FTP, SMB or Sun's NFS), then configuring shared folders under the Sharepoint tab of each service. In Lion Server, Server Admin is no longer even used to set up file sharing. Instead, it's simply a matter of defining a folder and checking boxes for AFP or SMB support, just like a desktop Mac.

WebDAV file sharing for mobile devices

While Apple is dropping graphical support for both FTP and NFS (which often used as a file sharing protocol in larger Unix environments), it's adding checkbox simplicity to WebDAV file sharing.

Previous builds of Mac OS X Server could define WebDAV shares as part of the configuration of web services, as WebDAV is an extension to a web server than enables it to allow clients to not just obtain web files, but also add, change or create new files on the server after supplying the appropriate credentials.

In Lion Server, WebDAV has moved out of the back corner of the web services configuration and is now positioned as a prominent file sharing protocol. WebDAV will allow Mac users to define shared folders that iOS devices will be able to access. Apple even defines WebDAV file sharing in the interface as being expressly for iOS clients.

The ability to find and access WebDAV file shares is likely to become a primary feature of iOS 5.0 this summer. Right now, iOS devices are limited to using iTunes File Sharing to copy files between iPhone or iPad apps and a desktop computer, or users can simply email files as attachments. It's currently not possible to upload files via Safari, nor is it possible to download most files over the web to save locally (outside of photos).

Apple also uses the open WebDAV protocol as the basis for its Address Book Server for contact sharing and corporate address books, and its iCal Server for shared calendaring on Mac OS X Server; each use an extension to WebDAV, named CardDAV and CalDAV, respectively. iOS already offers support for these protocols, but hasn't yet adopted full support for push updates.

The company's "out with the old, in with the new" stance on supported file sharing protocols, combined with the much simpler and comprehendible interface of Server and its apparently free bundling with Mac OS X Lion (formerly requiring a $500 license), should dramatically increase the audience interested in Apple's server tools, which include easy to use but powerful and sophisticated calendaring, web, wiki collaboration, and new profile management tools for managing both Macs and iOS devices.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

Mac OS X 10.6.7 Adds Support for New AMD Graphics Cards

As reported by tonymacx86, Apple's new Mac OS X 10.6.7 update for the 2011 MacBook Pro includes support for a number of AMD graphics cards not currently found in Apple's machines. While the development is certainly of interest to Hackintosh fans looking to build their own systems running Mac OS X, the inclusion of the new cards may provide some hints of graphics cards to be included in future Macs such as potential iMac and Mac Pro updates.

The following graphics cards appear to be natively supported:

ATI Radeon HD 5630 Device ID 0x68D8
ATI Radeon HD 5630 Device ID 0x68D9
ATI Radeon HD 5670 Device ID 0x68D8
ATI Radeon HD 5730 Device ID 0x68D8
ATI Radeon HD 5770 Device ID 0x68B8
ATI Radeon HD 5850 Device ID 0x6899
ATI Radeon HD 5870 Device ID 0x6898

AMD Radeon HD 6850 Device ID 0x6739
AMD Radeon HD 6870 Device ID 0x6738
AMD Radeon HD 6970 Device ID 0x6718

Interestingly, the broad range of cards apparently fully supported under Mac OS X 10.6.7 is leading to speculation that Apple may be looking to support more off-the-shelf GPU options as opposed to the Mac-specific cards that have been used to date.

(Quoted from MacRumors)

Apple files patent for graphics-based contact management

AppleInsider has discovered a recently filed patent by Apple that would, if implemented, overhaul the way users navigate through their contacts on the iPhone. The patent, "Segmented Graphical Representations for Recommending Elements," describes a way for users to navigate through their iOS contacts in a way other than through text-based lists.
An example of how Apple would use graphical elements to let users sort through their contacts would be by presenting a collection of graphical tiles which display thumbnail photographs of the contacts. Tap on the photograph to view that contact's information or (perhaps) directly call them. Using images for contact navigation isn't limited to just an individual contact's photo, however. Apple also states that people who work in the same company, for example, could be grouped into one image such as the company's logo. Click on the logo to see all the contacts you have at that company.
The patent also describes how graphics-based representation system could be applied to music, allowing users to search through their music by album covers presented in a mosaic tile. Apple typically files patents for things that never materialize, but that's not to say this graphics-based music and contact management system won't show up in iOS 5. The Contacts app itself has not seen a significant update since its inception in the first iPhone OS, while the iPod/Music software in iOS has received very few updates since its inception as well. Now about that Weather app (is a location-based/rotate-to-view-hourly-forecast weather app really that hard?)...

(Quoted from: Tuaw)

Firm sees apps driving 50% sales growth for Apple through 2012

The founder of a prominent market research firm said Wednesday that he expects Apple to continue to post more than 50 percent sales growth over the next two years as burgeoning demand for mobile applications drives sales of Apple's mobile devices.

George Colony, founder and CEO of Forrester Research, made the predictions in an interview with Bloomberg.

Projecting Apple's current growth rates for the next few years, Colony sees the Cupertino, Calif., company's revenue surpassing that of other well-established tech giants. "They’ll be bigger than IBM next year, and they’ll be bigger than HP the year after that,” Colony said. Assuming that current growth rates continue, "they’re going to be a $200 billion revenue company,” he said.

When measured in terms of market capitalization, Apple became the world's largest technology company last year when it passed rival Microsoft. Shares of Apple have continued to climb since then, with the company's market cap topping $300 billion at the start of 2011.

Though Apple stock fell $2.01 to $339.19 on Wednesday, the company is up 5.2 percent since the beginning of the year.

Analyst consensus estimates also see Apple growing sales by over 50 percent to more than $100 billion in fiscal 2011, which ends in September, but some analysts see the company's growth slowing to around 18 percent in 2012.

Colony sees Apple's growth being driven by what he calls an "app Internet," where consumers and businesses rely on app for content and services, rather than the Web.

However, Colony's bullish outlook is tempered by concerns over Apple CEO Steve Jobs' health. Though he surmised that the company has a product pipeline set up for the next three to four years, an unexpected departure from the company by Jobs would affect Apple's product line and stock price.

“Remember, every two years they have to fill that store with new stuff,” Colony said, referring to Apple Retail Stores. “Without Steve Jobs as the CEO, I think it will be much harder for them to do that. That would be a massive, massive hit to the valuation.”

Jobs is currently on medical leave, though he remains involved in major strategic decisions.

During the interviw, Colony warned that Apple rival Google, which he claims relies too heavily on the Web, could struggle as consumers gravitate toward apps. “If you’re too Web-centric right now, you’re in trouble,” he said. “Google’s business model is completely based on you going to the Web and clicking on a link and seeing an ad impression. In the app Internet world, all of that goes away.”

The executive also cautioned that Google may face troubled times when co-founder Larry Page takes over for Eric Schmidt as CEO next month. “When it comes to Larry Page I have two words for you,” Colony said. “Jerry Yang."

Yang, who co-founded Yahoo, became CEO of his company in 2007, but was unable to turn the company around. He eventually stepped down in 2009 after critics blamed him for mishandling negotiations of a takeover by Microsoft.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

iPad 2 international pricing

Italian blog Setteb.it has published a chart comparing pricing between the USA and 18 of 25 countries involved in the March 25 iPad 2 launch. Each country's price listings take into account local taxes, with a 9.2 percent sales tax for the USA included for reference. All prices are expressed in local currency (if any) with all currencies converted into Euros for easy comparison.
The UK and most other European countries are paying a significant premium over US pricing. Regardless of local tax rates, most European nations can expect to pay €479 (~US$675) for a base 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, all the way up to €799 (~US$1125) for a 64 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model. In the UK, once VAT is subtracted the base retail price of the 64 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model comes to about US$892, much higher than the before-tax $829 price in the USA.
Remarkably, New Zealand has some of the lowest pricing on the chart. Although it's traditionally been home to very high prices for Apple gear, NZ's before-tax pricing for the iPad 2 is very close to that in the States. Once New Zealand's GST is subtracted out, the 64 GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad 2 costs US$834, only $5 more than the base US retail price. The base 16 GB Wi-Fi model before-tax price is US$517, again not much higher than the $499 US price. For Kiwis used to paying a 5-15 percent markup on retail pricing on top of GST for Apple gear, these lower prices will make the device a much more attractive prospect than before.
We still don't know how the international launch will play out on the 25th, but given the way things played out in the US launch, it's likely that stocks will be very limited in most countries. If you live outside the US and want an iPad 2 badly enough to brave both the higher cost and the launch-day craziness, good luck and good hunting.
[via Wired]

(Quoted from Tuaw)

Paying Suppliers More to Ensure Touch Panel Supplies?

DigiTimes reports that Apple is considering offering to increase the price it is willing to pay for touch panel supplies in order to secure a steady flow of the components for its iOS devices as suppliers struggle to recover from the Japanese earthquake. With Apple said to already be soaking up 60% of the entire touch panel market, the move could significantly increase pressure on smaller competitors trying to lock in their own supplies. In particular, Apple is looking to Taiwan-based suppliers whose importance has increased with a number of Japanese plants going offline or operating with reduced production.

In order to secure sufficient supply of touch panels used in the iPad and iPhone, Apple has talked with Taiwan-based makers, considering some room for them to hike quotes, according to these makers.

With Apple's capacity, It is a reasonable strategy from Apple to allow suppliers to hike quotes, and it will be a great help to the overall supply chain, even just for the short term, but will increase pressure to other vendors for tablet PCs and smartphone, touch panel makers believed.

While a handful of components have been determined to be directly vulnerable to shortages caused by the earthquake and related disasters, Apple's manufacturing partners have been said to have several weeks' worth of supplies already on hand and Apple's supply agreements and market position give it significant leverage for obtaining supplies going forward. But given the complex international nature of the electronics production business and Apple's penchant for maintaining lean manufacturing processes, any disruption in the supply chain could have significant effects.
(Quoted from MacRumors)

[iPhone Game] Crazy John

說到喪屍遊戲，你會想到那幾款？《Bio Hazard》？《Dead Rising》？無論你想起那一款，相信都一定離不開血腥情節，恐怖畫面吧，但今天和大家介紹的這款《Crazy John》剛剛和以往的喪屍Game相反，一點兒都不驚嚇，反而有點可愛呢。
遊戲中的人物都以積木造型出現，樣子看起來笨笨的，非常有趣。故事的主人翁阿John被困在喪屍城當中，城裡的人都被感染了，阿John被迫得發 瘋，於是鼓起勇氣，拿起武器，決定要殺出重圍。過程中，玩家除了要把喪屍殺得片甲不留外，途中還會遇上生還者，成為英雄的你，千萬別忘了把他們救走啊！
遊戲名稱：《Crazy John》
售價：限時免費
系統：iPhone (3G、3Gs、4)、iPod touch、iPad
檔案大小：24.7MB
下載網址：http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crazy-john/id395129761?mt=8

遊戲中的角色全都是四四方方，像積木般相當可愛。

玩家除了要消滅喪屍外，別忘了要救走生還者啊。

《Crazy John》備有道具版面，增加了一些RPG元素，讓遊戲的耐玩度更高。

(Quoted from unwire.hk)

Despite opposition, Apple CEO Steve Jobs re-elected to Disney's board

Investors in the Walt Disney Co. voted to re-elect Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs to the company's board of directors on Wednesday, going against the advisement of a prominent federation of labor unions.

A preliminary count of shareholder votes found that 74 percent of investors supported keeping the 12-member board -- including Jobs -- the same, according to Bloomberg. The vote was closely watched as continued health issues surrounding Jobs had led some to question whether he was fit to retain his status as board member.

This week, the AFL-CIO labor union made waves when it announced it had voted against the re-election of Jobs. The organization collectively holds 3.8 million shares of Disney stock.

Institutional Shareholder Services didn't advise its clients to vote against Jobs, but did note that he showed "poor attendance" in recent years, attending less than three-quarters of Disney's board meetings since 2008. The ISS also said that Jobs' recent health issues also raise questions about his ability to fulfill responsibilities on the Disney board.

Jobs has been a director at Disney since 2006, when the entertainment giant acquired Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal made Jobs the single largest shareholder of Disney.

Apple's co-founder took another medical leave of absence from his company starting in January. Though he has been absent from day-to-day operations, Jobs remains CEO of Apple, and even made a surprising return to the stage at the iPad 2 media event earlier this month.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

Users report freezing issues with FaceTime on Apple's iPad 2

A few kinks apparently still need to be ironed out with the newly released iPad 2, as some users have reported freezing issues with the FaceTime video chat feature, requiring a restart of the device.

A handful of users on Apple's support forums have posted to a growing thread where they have described a problem where the image displayed by the forward-facing camera on the iPad 2 crashes in the FaceTime application. The same issue is also detailed in two other, smaller threads (1, 2).

"When I opened up FaceTime the first time, the camera was working fine, but now whenever I open it up, it just shows a still image from when I left," user "CRK The Man" wrote. "How can I fix it?"

Most users seem to have found success in repairing FaceTime by simply restarting their iPad 2. Others have gone as far as completing a full software restore of the iPad 2 to address the problem.

One user, "dels7080," claimed that the manager of a Verizon store in New York City revealed that the FaceTime glitch has occurred to "a lot" of demo units available for customers on the sales floor to try. They too said the problem is solved by restarting the iPad 2.

"It happens quite frequently," user "leov36" wrote of the issue. "Restarting the ipad fixes the problem, BUT, it happens again with in the next two to three times i go to use it."

FaceTime is only available on iOS devices with a forward-facing camera, including the newly released iPad 2. To take advantage of the forward and rear cameras on the second-generation iPad, Apple also added devoted applications for picture and movie taking, as well as Photo Booth for taking and editing photos.

(Quoted from AppleInsider)

WordPress blogs in an optimized view on iPad

WordPress is the world's most popular blogging tool, with over 25 million users. The iPad is the world's most popular tablet device, with over 17 million shipped in 2010. What happens when you get these two popular kids together? Magic.
Automattic Inc, the company behind WordPress, announced a new iPad-optimized view for all WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress blogs. They've developed a new plugin in cooperation with Onswipe that provides iPad users with a special experience, featuring touch controls that provide navigation of WordPress blogs through swiping, rotation, and other gestures. The plugin even knows how to properly format content based on the orientation of the iPad.
As you can see in the screenshot at right, the iPad-optimized view displays posts in a visual grid, with individual posts readable with a tap. The plugin is entirely HTML5-compliant, and can be customized from the WordPress Dashboard to create a magazine-like cover page, display a logo on the cover, and choose from 9 different skins to match the overall theme of your site.
For WordPress.com users, the plugin is available with a touch. Self-hosted WordPress users just need to install the Onswipe plugin available here.
Automattic notes that WordPress.com is already seeing about 750,000 page views a day from iPad visitors, with the numbers rising rapidly.

(Quoted from: Tuaw)