Apple MacBook Air: Cooler graphics
from: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10279239-64.html?tag=mncol
story by: Brooke Crothers
Is there a downside to squeezing a real graphics processor into a 3-pound, ultra-thin laptop? Not if it’s a MacBook Air.
Surprise: higher performance = lower heat
After extensive use of two versions (the January 2008 original and October 2008 refresh) of the MacBook Air, my conclusion is that a decent graphics chip can–over the long haul–not only deliver the expected boost in performance but, surprisingly, contribute to better battery life while, even more surprisingly, bringing down the heat to acceptable levels.
First, let me address the original Air. I have used this version now for about 18 months. Though it has been remarkably reliable, the Intel graphics (housed in the chipset) is its Achilles’ heel. And I’m talking about heat problems, not performance shortcomings.
The culprit for me is video-intensive tasks (I don’t play games). Any extended video turns up the heat to lap-warming, or much toastier, levels. This can get downright uncomfortable at times. Not only does the bottom of the laptop get hot but the keyboard too.
Nvidia’a graphics-oriented chipset (the GeForce 9400M) and Intel’s updated processor used in the new version of the Air brings the heat down to lower levels. Overall, this Air runs cooler and longer with the higher-performance graphics. (The Nvidia 9400M graphics chipset is also used in Netbooks from Lenovo and Samsung.)
I won’t repeat the performance benchmarks, which have been amply cited in many reviews on the Web. Suffice to say, Nvidia’s 9400M delivers better gaming benchmarks (see second link above) than the Intel graphics in the original Air.
And what about newer versions of Intel’s chipset? By comparison, the ultra-thin Dell Adamo, an Air rival, uses a Mobile Intel GM45 Express chipset (the successor to the Intel GMA X3100 graphics used in the original Air) for its graphics. In this review, the Adamo was bested consistently by the Air with Nvidia’s chipset.
I also see (which is supported in some reviews) better battery life with newer MBA. Generally, I can squeeze 1.5 to 2.5 hours (depending on what I’m doing) out of the original MBA. With the newer version, it’s 2 to 3 hours.
And now that the Air can be had for $1,499 (versus $1,999 for Dell Adamo), it’s a fairly reasonable deal. (Remember: the high end version of the MacBook Air debuted at more than $3,000 back in January of 2008.)
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Boxee Alpha for Windows: Hands-On
New, free software transforms PC into interactive television platform.
Sarah Jacobsson, PC World
Boxee has quickly garnered street cred for turning Mac and Ubuntu systems into good-looking media centers. Now, PC users can get in on the fun: Boxee has publicly released the free alpha version of its software for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. I took the software for a spin today and discovered that it transformed my PC into a sweet interactive television/radio/media player.
The open-source Boxee platform brings together apps from such Internet media providers as CBS, Hulu, MTV, Netflix, Revision 3, and The WB–and Boxee has announced, along with its Windows release, new content from Digg, Current, MLB.TV, and Tumblr.
Installing Boxee was easy, as was getting started. The slick, attractive interface fills the screen and is heavy on blacks and grays. The main menu, which hides itself on the left until you mouse over it, directs you to applications (Internet-based content such as YouTube or CNN), local media (content on your computer, such as downloaded songs or movies), a browse feature, and the ‘App Box’, where you can download more applications developed for the platform. The main menu also reports the time and weather–helpful if you tend to get engrossed in media viewing.
As much as I liked its smooth design, I found Boxee’s interface annoyingly difficult to navigate on my PC. After I clicked into a video ("Stand" by Rascal Flatts), it took me a few minutes to realize that I needed keyboard shortcuts to get back to the main screen–or to cycle through the main menu again. In general, I’m a fan of keyboard shortcuts, but Boxee provides no on-screen indicators of the necessary key commands. There is no back button, either–so you have to rely on the Esc key and the backspace key to return to where you were before. I hope that Boxee addresses these issues as the software progresses from alpha to final code.
Video playback is the main event on Boxee, but it wasn’t as stellar as I had expected. Video streamed from many of the apps–including Hulu, MTV Music, and The WB–sometimes stuttered over my office’s ethernet connection. On the other hand, video from Apple movie trailers, for example, played smoothly. Playing videos seemed to bog down the system; when I moved the mouse, the video would pause or stutter. Likewise, trying to play video in the background while searching for more apps caused the entire platform to run slower. Of course, if you contented yourself with using Boxee as a TV replacement, the multitasking issues would vanish.
Music playback from services such as Last.fm and Pandora sounded fine, with no detectable skips or lags in the music. Still, I was a bit disappointed at being unable to resize the window when I was just listening to music. Picture slideshows from apps such as Flickr and The Big Picture played nicely, and the full-screen format was particularly effective for those apps.
Boxee’s integrated social networking aspect was neat, too: If you add friends on Boxee, you automatically receive recommendations and updates from them; and you can browse their Flickr albums and watch shows simultaneously. Outside social networking services such as Twitter and Digg let you automatically update your feed and recommend videos, music, and pictures through the Boxee platform.
Even in this early iteration, Boxee looks promising, with its attractive and enveloping interface. Since Boxee for Windows is in the Alpha stage, it will be changing constantly as its developers receive feedback. As yet, it does not officially support 64-bit systems. I expect that issues like video quality and lag time will improve as the software progresses toward its final form. Beyond that, my biggest gripe with Boxee is that it currently runs in full-screen format only–a definite disadvantage for those of us who want to watch Taylor Swift music videos while writing software reviews.
First Explicit App Lands in iTunes
Daniel Ionescu
Jun 25, 2009 9:04 am
Apple’s App Store has approved the first application to contain sexual material. The move, which has been anticipated for a few months now, will allow parents to test the iPhone’s new parental controls to filter what their teenage children get to see.
The first app to see the light of nudity in the iTunes App Store is called "Hottest Girls," and is priced at $1.99. Until now, this application was delivering photos of women in lingerie, but the latest update, approved by Apple, takes it up a notch with pictures of nude women.
Merely a few weeks ago, this kind of application wouldn’t have joined the ranks of Apple’s App Store. But the ratings system introduced for iPhone and iPod Touch apps with last week’s 3.0 software update lets adults use parental controls to limit what their underage children can see.
The iTunes rating for the Hottest Girls application is 17+, and features "Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity" and "Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes".
If an adult downloads this application and then hands over his phone to an underage person, when turning on the iPhone parental controls (located in Setting>General>Restrictions) the explicit app will simply disappear from the home screen. Disabling the parental controls will bring the application icon back in the menu. Parental controls can also be set from iTunes.
More to Come
A wave of similar applications can be expected over the coming weeks in the App Store. Now that the door is open, adult content providers, such as Playboy (and so many others), get a new market. And with in-application purchases and updates, I can see quite a lucrative market coming.
But at a certain level, applications with explicit content will stir an even larger debate over what should and should not be allowed in Apple’s App Store. Applications such as Baby Shaker, managed to get Apple in hot water earlier this year.
Other applications that had a bumpy ride so far, such as South Park and Nine Inch Nails (NiN), may now have an easier time getting through Apple’s approval process. Meanwhile, pornography is still a very big industry, and the Cupertino company could make some good money (it takes 30 percent of app sales) out of those willing to have a bit of naughtiness on their iPhones.
from: http://www.pcworld.com/article/167339/first_explicit_app_lands_in_itunes.html
iPhone 3G S? Who cares?
from: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/167080/iphone_3g_s_who_cares.html
Saturday, June 20, 2009 3:45 PM PDT
The new iPhone 3G S is here! The new iPhone 3G S is here!
Big deal. New cell phone hardware doesn’t matter that much anymore.What’s important now is software. And networks.
Two years ago, the choice between an iPhone or an alternative to the iPhone was mostly about hardware. Cell phones had always been about hardware first, software and networks second.
The iPhone decision back then was: Can I live without a keyboard? The upside was a huge, high-quality screen. Do I want to control apps with touch? Or would I rather navigate menus? What about that horrible battery life? On the other hand, look how thin it is. It was all about hardware.
Now the decision is different. Do I want the iPhone’s thousands of apps or the Palm Pre’s multitasking ability? Do I want Android’s Google search centricity or Windows Mobile’s Microsoft Office compatibility? It’s all about software and networks.
Don’t believe me? Try the following thought experiments:
1. Apple rolled out this week an awesome iPhone 3.0 upgrade. The software improves iPhone 3G performance and functionality. Of course, the new iPhone 3G S runs the new 3.0 OS as well. But if you had to choose between the old iPhone 3G with the new iPhone 3.0 software, or the new iPhone 3G S with the old iPhone 2.0 software, which would you choose? I think most would choose the old hardware with the new software.
2. If you had to choose between the original iPhone, but have full access to iPhone Apps, or choose the new iPhone 3G S but have zero access to Apps, which would you choose? I think you’d go with the Apps.
3. Which would you choose: The Palm Pre with the iPhone 3.0 software, iPhone Apps and iTunes — or the iPhone 3G S running WebOS and accessing the Palm App Catalog. I think most iPhone fans would choose the Palm hardware with the iPhone software and network. And most Palm fans would choose the iPhone with the WebOS. (What Palm users like best, according to my own unscientific poll, is the WebOS and its gestures, "card" system and multitasking — in other words, the software.)
In fact, Apple is dominating the cell-phone handset market precisely because it realizes the new primacy of software and networking. Apple set up a development system that resulted in a huge number of standard-functioning low-cost applications. This month, they also rolled out new hooks into MobileMe, which give the iPhone new functionality — and users new reasons to demand an iPhone.
A similar phenomenon is happening with other devices. For example, the Amazon Kindle is by far the best selling e-book reader. But the Kindle hardware device is nothing to write home about, especially the first one, which was a piece of junk. What’s great about the Kindle, and the thing that makes it "better" than the Sony Reader and even better than all the color "Kindle Killers" that have been demonstrated in the past year, is the Amazon Kindle Store. Hardware doesn’t matter. Network is everything.
And look at the console gaming contest between Microsoft and Sony. The Sony Playstation hardware is vastly superior to Xbox 360. But Microsoft wins primarily because of the appeal of the Xbox Live network.
What’s happening with these consumer electronics devices is that they’re going through the same transitions as PCs did in the early days.
Back in the 1980s, people bought hardware, and the software was secondary. Over time, however, each PC hardware line increasingly resembled all the others, and what really mattered was software. Eventually, even Apple ended up moving over to Intel-based PC hardware. But nobody cared.
What really matters now is the Mac OS X or Windows or Linux, and all the software you can run on these platforms.
And just look at what’s different about the iPhone 3G S. Like a new PC, the new phone is pretty much the same as the old phone, just faster. (The "S" stands for "speed.")
Why this matters
So what does it mean that cell phone software and networks are more important than the hardware?
In a nutshell, it predicts which non-cell phone devices are likely to succeed and fail in the months and years to come.
For example, we’re almost certainly going to see new netbooks and tablets running cell phone operating systems real soon now. We’ll be able to buy systems running the iPhone OS, WebOS, Windows Mobile and possibly others. These devices will hook into the respective app stores and take advantage of other services offered by the companies.
Because of the new primacy of software, I can safely predict even now, sight unseen, that Apple’s offerings will probably dominate as thoroughly as the iPhone, and for the same reason: The App Store, iTunes and MobileMe.
The new importance of networks also raises an interesting set of questions. For example, who will create the first or best Xbox Live-like multiplayer gaming network for a cell phone platform? What if Microsoft rolled out a version for Sidekick users, and pushed Xbox gaming development in that direction? Or, alternatively, what if Apple built an Xbox Live-like gaming network?
What if one of the major handset makers, through partnership or acquisition, gained exclusive control of Amazon’s Kindle and Audible.com distribution? Or Netflix? Or Facebook?
The game-changers of the future will not be new hardware features, but new software and network capabilities.
So if you’ll be buying a new iPhone 3G S, enjoy it! But realize that the best thing about it is that it gives you the iPhone 3.0 software, the App Store, iTunes and MobileMe just like the old iPhone did. Just faster.
Mike Elgan writes about technology and global tech culture. He blogs about the technology needs, desires and successes of mobile warriors in his Computerworld blog, The World Is My Office. Contact Mike at mike.elgan@elgan.com, follow him on Twitter or his blog, The Raw Feed.
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IPhone 3.0 Update: 10 Hidden Features
It has been a crazy night trying to download the latest iPhone update, with many people reporting that they are unable to access Apple’s servers due to unusually high traffic. But Apple’s servers are now up to scratch and everybody should have the 3.0 software update installed on their iPhone and iPod Touch.
If you haven’t had a proper run-down through all the new features in the iPhone 3.0 software update, our colleagues from Macworld have a comprehensive hands-on review. But now that many had the chance to play around with the new iPhone OS, plenty of undocumented features and nifty updates are starting to show up.
I have complied for you this list of the top 10 hidden gems within the iPhone 3.0 update, which are some of the most important undocumented features so far. If you find any more, make sure you leave them in the comments, so that everyone gets to try them.
Adjustable Song Scrolling Speed
Previously, while listening to a song, you had a simple dot on the song bar to rewind or fast forward. But now in the 3.0 update, you can scroll through songs at various speeds. Put your finger on the scrolling point and it will start glowing. Now, if you drag your finger left or right, you will scroll through the song at "high speed," and if you do this movement while dragging your finger down the screen, the speed decreases to "half speed," "quarter speed," or "fine scrubbing."
Special Characters In Messaging
The 3.0 keyboard has a few extra special characters when holding certain signs down. For example, when you hold down the "." you also get "…" The dash "-" also displays an em-dash "-" and quotations and apostrophes display "<<" and ">>" and can also be curved. Another quick tip is to hold and press on the numeric button while in letters mode and slide your finger to the desired punctuation sign. Then, the letter keyboard will come back automatically.
More Ways to Access Spotlight
Spotlight, the search function that looks through your e-mail, contacts, appointments, notes, and more can be accessed in multiple ways. While on the first Home Screen page, if you swipe towards the right side of the screen, Spotlight will be activated. (there is a little icon above the quick launch bar, just before the dots representing the multiple screens). You can also access Spotlight while pressing the home button when on the first Home Screen page. Alternatively, Mail and Contacts have now search bars at the top of the list.
Quote Fragment Within Reply in Mail
Just like on its desktop counterpart, the Mail app in the iPhone 3.0 update can now reply with only a quote from the original e-mail. To achieve that, you tap and hold in an e-mail (just as with copy/paste) and select the portion of text you want to quote. Then just hit the reply button and the selected fragment will be appended at the end of the e-mail (under your signature), instead of the whole original message.
Remove Individual Texts from A Conversation
One annoyance in the 2.X iPhone software was that you had to remove an entire conversation of text messages. But in the 3.0 update, there is an Edit button (it’s in the top-right corner when inside a conversation), which allows you to select and remove individual text messages from a certain thread, similar to the way it is done in the Mail app. Extra tip: this way you can also select a text you want to forward (instead of copy/paste).
Open Link In New Tab In Safari
Safari now uses tabbed browsing, like big boys do on the desktops, and this new hidden feature is great. If you tap and hold on a hyperlink (hyperlinked text) on a Web site within Safari, a dialog will prompt you to open this link, copy it (link locations) or open it in a new page (which opens a new tab in Safari).
Force Quit Unresponsive Apps
Because of multiple functionalities for the Home button, this key will no longer force quit unresponsive apps like it did in 2.X software. To force quit an application in 3.0, you have to hold the sleep/wake button at the top until the red power off slider appears. Then you have to hold down the home button to quit the unresponsive application.
Shake Phone to Undo Typing
As simple as it sounds, when you are in the Mail, Messaging, Safari or Notes applications, after you typed a word/several words, just shake the phone and a pop-up will appear, asking you whether you want to undo what you have just entered.
Change App Store Account On The Fly
Until now, you were stuck to changing your iTunes account from your computer and then sync back to the iPhone. In the 3.0 software this can be done in two ways: either by going to Settings/Store and logging out and then back in with a different account, or straight within with the App Store application. At the bottom of each search page, your current account is displayed, so if you tap on it, you can sign in/out or even edit/view account information.
Unlimited Number of Apps Installed
In the 3.0 software update, you can now install an unlimited number of application (as long as the storage space allows you). The number of applications pages has increased from nine to 11 and any apps installed above the 176 that could fit on these pages will not be visible (no icons on pages). However, these invisible apps can be accessed via Spotlight (see above multiple ways to access Spotlight).
Is there anything missing from the 3.0 software update? Have a look at our iPhone 4.0 Wish List.
The Hottest Smartphones of Summer Battle It Out
We delved into four of the hottest phones available this summer–the Apple iPhone 3G S, the Nokia N97, the Palm Pre, and the T-Mobile myTouch 3G–to see how their hardware and software stacked up.
Ginny Mies, PC World
Jun 19, 2009 10:30 pm
The Four Contenders
Apple iPhone 3G S. Nokia N97. Palm Pre. T-Mobile myTouch 3G. Of all the smartphones recently launched and soon to be released, these four are the most closely matched–and the most desired. Which one comes out on top?
All four smartphones have large touch displays, slim and pocketable designs, and updated operating systems (in the Pre’s case, a brand-new OS). The N97 has a matte backing and a sturdy body, but it’s a bit bulky due to its slide-out QWERTY keyboard. I love the Pre’s glossy (albeit easily smudged) back cover and its curved ergonomic shape, but its construction feels a little cheap. The iPhone 3G S retains the same elegant design as the 3G model–the only difference is that the text on the 3G S’s backing is silver rather than gray. The HTC-manufactured T-Mobile myTouch 3G has a pronounced curve at the bottom, which makes for a comfortable thumb grip.
Overall winner: Tie between Apple iPhone 3G S and T-Mobile myTouch 3G
