Pretty. Damn. Funny.

Where in the world is Steve Jobs?

Best. Quarter. Ever

3.05 Million Macs (74% MacBook/MacBook Pros)
10.2 Million iPods (50% are first time buyers - how is it that 5.1 million people last QUARTER along didn't already have an iPod? How is anyone left in the world without an iPod?)
7.4 Million iPhones
$1.67 Billion profit

Not too shabby.

Read more at MacRumors.com.

Mac OS X kicks Windows 7 Ass

This time it's just not me shooting off my mouth. It's engadget.

Dead Time Capsule? Memorialize It

Definitely a creative way to try to spur Apple into action. TimeCapsuleDead.org lets people post their frustrations away. While Apple is probably investigating the cause of the deaths, they're always silent about it until a fix is found, which will hopefully be soon.

Netbooks Suck - Michael Dell Says So

Well, he didn't use the word "Suck", but other than that I've quoted him verbatim.

C64 on the iPhone??!!

Oh yeah - C64 plays just a few games right now, but more are coming. I'm crossing my fingers for Beach Head II, one of my favs on the C64. Good times. Pick it up today.

iPhone Sex

Yeah baby....

NPR iPhone App

Even though it's a liberal media outlet, I still like NPR. They do have some good stuff from time to time. Today they released their first dedicated iPhone/iPod Touch app. Looks like a good one with the standard fair you find from media outlets. I'll play around with it and if I find anything cool or otherwise, I'll let you know.

Download for Free

Apple is Bigger than Dell and HP COMBINED

Market Capitalization:

Apple: $143 billion
HP: $100 billion
Dell: $27 billion

Who should be shutting down and giving money back to shareholders now Michael Dell?

Porn Finds the iPhone

Yep, you read that right. With the new parental controls in iPhone firmware 3.0, the first application with nudity is now available in the iTunes App store. Hottest Girls, for a mere $1.99, will gain you access to over 2200 photos of women dressed from scantily to nothing at all. It will be interesting to see if this was something that Apple knowingly allowed or merely let slip through its infamous erratic and inconsistent application approval process. But get it now while you can.

Update: As suspected, Apple has pulled the app.

WWDC - "Meh"

So like the Apple Fanboy I am, I was diligently refreshing the live blog feed from MacRumors and watching the 2 hour keynote via QuickTime last night.

The Good:
Snow Leopard. The biggest news is that existing users can upgrade for only $29. That's incredible. Take that Microsuck! From an everyday user's perspective, there's not a lot of wizbang new features. This release is all about speed and stability. In addition to freeing up 6GB of space on your hard drive, Snow Leopard should be significantly faster on your existing Mac with it's rebuilt Finder, QuickTime, and more.

iPhone 3.0. As an iPhone Developer (Shines Brighter Software), I've been running the 3.0 software for a while. It's noticeably faster and has a lot of great new features. The two best by far are the Spotlight search and landscape mail (and other apps). Spotlight is awesome because you no longer need to hunt and peck for stuff on your phone. If you need to find anything - ANYTHING, swipe to the left of the main home screen and start typing. Spot light begins to find stuff right away - applications, emails, text messages - anything on your phone. Sweet. Landscape is long overdue and just makes reading emails and others better. The copy & paste feature is well done (shake to undo), but in all my years of using mobile devices, I can think of 2, maybe 3 times I needed to use copy/paste. I personally never saw what all the fuss was about. But since I've said it, I'll probably have 32 copy/paste needs in the next 10 minutes.

iPhone 3Gs. Faster phone, digital compass, 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera with video, voice control. While Apple is pushing the video thing most, to me the feature with the most potential is voice control. Call anyone, dial by voice, control the iPod by voice, etc. Sweet. The autofocus camera with video is a nice upgrade and the ability to edit videos is cool.

The Bad.
Where to begin. Well, I'm disappointed with the new iPhone in that I was hoping for a bit of a design change. Not a lot, but just something. The rumor photos had a matte finish which would have been a LOT better than the slippery (and scratch-prone) plastic back of today. I'll get over it though. Update: The new iPhone 3Gs have a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic screen. Whatever the hell that means.

AT&T. Wow, they really dropped the ball here. Two significant new features of the iPhone OS 3 are rendered useless until "sometime this summer". MMS (multimedia messages) gives users the ability to send and receive videos, photos and more via SMS. AT&T is apparently not ready. Tethering allows you to use the iPhone's internet connection. AT&T is not ready for that either. Lastly, existing iPhone 3G users have to wait until they're 1.5 years into their contracts to be eligible for the subsidized pricing. While I can understand and appreciate that they need to recoup what they've invested into the phone, I believe they're missing an opportunity here. I don't know a single iPhone user (and I know a lot of them) that are happy with AT&T. We're all counting down the days to be able to jump ship. Letting current iPhone 3G users upgrade at the subsidized pricing would lock them into another 2 years of painful service. If I've got to wait 6 months for the phone, I might as well wait another 6 months to (god willing) get the new iPhone 3Gs on another carrier. Apple, if you're listening to your users, you WILL NOT renew AT&T's exclusivity another year. Ugh. Update: Gizmodo has told me to quit whining. And they've got a point. I'll shut up now.

Quicktime. Well, the new QuickTime interface looks great, but the new icon is a purple abomination. That's all I've got to say about that.

The In-Between.
The new MacBook Pros. They fall in the "in-between" category. The better battery life, better price, better storage, better RAM and better screen are welcome updates. However, I don't understand the move to rid the computer of the ExpressCard slot and replace it with SD. The only SD device in my home is the Wii. I see no practical use for an SD card reader. "Pro" users who have a camera probably use a DSLR and they use CF cards. While personally I have no need to swap batteries, I can appreciate the need for road warriors who are not always going to be near a charge. Although if you really get 7 hours on a charge, you would think even road warriors would find a charge within 7 hours. I wouldn't hesitate to upgrade to the new model though - for me it's perfect. Better price, larger drives, more RAM, etc. Everything I'd take advantage of. Except that stupid SD card slot.

Find My iPhone. Cool feature and could help a lot of people. The requirement to have the $99 MobileMe sucks.

$99 iPhone

AT&T has refurbished iPhones for $99 (8GB) and $199 (16GB) here.

Nationwide iPhone App

Seriously great iPhone App from insurer Nationwide. Maybe I should think about switching...

Congrats, Steve

Steve Jobs finally won approval to raze his 17,000+ square foot mansion purchased a long time ago and replace it with a smaller, more environmentally home. It's been a long road for Jobs, so congrats!

More Details

New Mac Ads

Apple posted a couple of new Mac ads overnight. One, Elimination, is taking a stab at the Microsoft Laptop Hunters campaign. The others, Customer Care and PC Choice Chat are fun....

Download An App, Win A Prize

Apple is about to hit 1 billion downloaded applications from the iTunes App Store. Download an application and automatically be entered into the contest. Win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card, Time Capsule, MacBook Pro and an iPod Touch.

Might be a good time to purchase, oh, I don't know, maybe BeerSnap, Wine Journal, Driven or hmmm, WineSnap.

New Palm Pre Looks Intriguing

I must admit I'm intrigued by the new Palm Pre. See the video below. The one big advantage over the iPhone that I can see is the ability to run applications in the background. While I don't think it truly comes up often in real life, it would be handy on occasion. Apple claims running apps in the background significantly decreases battery life so it will be interesting to see how Palm fares. Maybe they've found a creative solution.

This is also the first multi-touch smartphone since the iPhone. Google Android and Blackberry Storm have so far stayed away from what is perceived to be an Apple patent. However, the patents Apple have don't cover multi-touch. It is said that Google did not include it at the request of Steve Jobs. Don't forget, Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt sits on Apple's board. Google also has a lot of incentive not to piss Apple off. Palm on the other hand, really has nothing to lose as it has seen it's market share tumble almost as fast as Motorola's.

This will be fun to watch.

Obama Gives Queen iPod

I may not like his politics, but I do love that he's a gadget freak. On Obama's recent visit to the UK, he presented Queen Elisabeth with an iPod. I'm not sure which model, but I would hope a Touch. Maybe the queen needs to keep track of her vast wine collection with Wine Journal. :-)

Happy Birthday Apple!

Apple is 33 years old today....

You Get What You Pay For

9 to 5 Mac shows you exactly what you get for the PC featured in Microsoft's new ads and it ain't pretty.

Thin is In

ZDNet has a great review of the thinnest, lightest laptop computers out there - Dell Adamo, Apple MacBook Air, Sony Vaio Z and Voodoo Envy. If you're in the market for the lightest, thinest and and most stylish laptop, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Apple's got a new iPod shuffle. The thing is insanely small and TALKS to you. So if you forget the name or the band of the song playing you can use the controls built into the earbuds to hear the iPod talk to you. Pretty slick. No controls on the ipod itself. Apple confirmed that the use of third party headsets won't work-for now. But it's working with third parties on solutions.

Pretty cool.

App Me Out To The Ball Game

One of the first and best iPhone apps has been updated for 2009. MLB At Bat lets you see real time scoring, pitch-by-pitch, and even watch clips of game highlights. Essential for people like me living in Atlanta trying to keep up with my beloved Chicago Cubs.

Get MLB At Bat on the iTunes App Store.

New iMacs a Better Deal than HP and Dell

Not even taking into account the better operating system, included software (iLife), and overall better fit, finish and experience, iMacs are still $100-$250 cheaper than the comparable HP & Dell all-in-one systems. The only thing those products have that the iMacs don't is a TV Tuner which you really need can pick up for the Mac (not built-in though) for $40-$60.

via Fortune Apple 2.0

Doesn't Get Anymore Blatant Than This

Happy Birthday Steve!

Steve is 54 today. Happy B-Day big guy. Get well soon.

Microsoft Retails Stores

Here they come...

Oh My

This is why Vista sucks so bad...

Sony's New Stupid Box Thing

OMG - Hilarious.


Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work

AT&T Sucks Less When You Pay More For Their Inadequacies

I can't really represent it any better than iPhone Savior has. In a nutshell, if you get sucky 3G reception at home (who doesn't), you can now pay even more for the sucky service if you want it to suck slightly less. Yep, no pricing details are available, but expect $5-$10 more a month if you want to boost your signal at home. Incredible. Man, I hate AT&T. The iPhone is the only thing that keeps me with them. The second the phone is available on another network, I'm jumping ship. Unless of course AT&T finally gets a clue and improves their service. Yeah, pigs will fly and hell will freeze over too.

My Latest Q&A At My First Mac

I love shameless self-promotion. Check out my latest round of Q&A over at My First Mac....

Review: FastMac TruePower MacBook Pro Battery

The battery on my MacBook Pro died a couple of months ago. Apple wants $129 for a new one, so I was happy to find a battery that was not only cheaper, but claims longer battery charge and life - The FastMac TruePower Battery. It even looks like the original Apple battery. A number of online reviews seem to like the battery, so I thought it was safe.

Well, real life doesn't match brief web site reviews. In the time I've had it, the aluminum cover (which doesn't really match the color of the laptop) on the battery has already peeled off a couple of times. The worst part is that the battery now only holds an 80% charge. I've attempted to contact FastMac on a couple of occasions but have been unable to get through. I'll keep trying and post an update. I hope they'll do the right thing and replace the battery or refund my money.

Update: I was finally able to get through to customer service. They are replacing my TruePower battery with an Apple OEM. No hassle, no mess, no fuss. According to the rep I talked to, they are moving manufacturing of the TruePower battery and they're temporarily unavailable. Have to wonder if I wasn't the only one having problems. Regardless, I'm happy.

Happy Birthday Mac!

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Apple Macintosh Computer. Below is its introduction in 1984 by Steve Jobs (dude, what's with the bow tie?).

It Was 25 Years Ago Today

The famous (infamous?) Apple Macintosh super bowl commercial is 25 years old today. In two days, the Macintosh itself will be 25. My how time flies...

State of Smartphones

Engadget has a great post comparing the iPhone, new Palm Pre, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Android feature sets and staking a claim as to whom is currently ahead.

Learn Objective C

Interested in learning how to program applications for the iPhone or Mac OS X? Stephen G. Kochan dives into the topic with a highly-rated book appropriately named "Programming in Objective-C". Written in a tutorial style, the book is excellent for beginners and experts alike.

Shameless Promotion Part Deux

I've got a total of 4 iPhone apps out there now:

BeerSnap - just like WineSnap, but for Beer.
Driven - Track mileage driven, ridden, hiked, etc. using the iPhone's built-in GPS
WineSnap - quickly note the details of a good wine.
Wine Journal 2.0 - Formerly Vinoriffic, Wine Journal 2.0 was just released and offers more fields, photos and more.

Shameless Promotion

Check out my latest iPhone/iPod Touch Application - WineSnap. WineSnap is a derivative of Wine Journal (formerly Vinoriffic), but is closer to our original vision - a simple application to quickly note the name of a great wine you've had while out. That's it. No cataloging, etc. Just a quick note. Check it out (opens iTunes).

Latest My First Mac Post

I'm doing Q&A over at My First Mac nowadays. Check it out.

New Matte Screen Option for MacBook Pro

Nope, I'm not talking about the new 17" MacBook and it's $50 matte option. Techrestore is now offering to matte your MacBook Pro screen for a mere $199. If you just can't stand the glossy screen, it's at least an option. Or wait until Apple starts offering it any week now.

(Via 9to5 Mac)