apple | Procrastinating in the Heat

Posts Tagged ‘ apple ’

First apps purchased

Twitter, Frame Calculator, Courier, Sound Cloud

Thanks to the heads up by the people behind Mac Heist, there’s a Super Secret preferences pane just for those who purchased Tweetie that came with the Mac Heist bundle released a year ago. This is to be my first app download from the store.

Tweetie, which was purchased by Twitter is known just as the Twitter app and feels like “a Snow Leopardy” version of Twitter. Great feature is the ability to just start typing to be able to tweet and Growl notifications for the tweets that mention you or direct messages. Much better than sending you every single tweet. Though I wished it had Twitterific’s ability to see public tweets. But I can see on how that can be a problem by the sheer volume of tweets that will be loaded. Available for free on the app store.

Frame Calculator is a great app for those who work with video a lot (attn: film students). It’s a never ending problem on determining how much space your project is going to need. Free on the app store.

Courier is the first app I purchased from the store. I took advantage of the $4.99 (originally $24.99) price tag from Realmac Software to be able to upload media to a variety of sites I choose. There are preconfigured settings for mobileme, facebook, youtube, vimeo, flickr as well as the ability upload to an FTP site or an AmazonS3 account. Just enter your login settings for the desired service, drop the file and send it.

Sound Cloud

Sound Cloud is an app with the main purpose to share sound. Registration and the mac app is free. It gives you the opportunity to discover music or sounds from other people and share it with your friends. It works best via the iPhone app ($1.99) which uses your iPhone as a recorder and send it straight away to the service. The app requires registration via the web prior to use. But with any social service, it’s only good as long as your friends are with you for the ride.

There you have it! The first few apps I’ve tried and so far I’m pleased with what I’ve downloaded. I’m sure there’s more out there. I can’t wait until WWDC 2011 in June.

2011: 01/10
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: app store
apple
iphon
mac
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The only app store you’ll need for your mac

Fire up that software update button and go up to 10.6.6 to be able to access the Mac App store from Apple.

In true Apple fashion it is easy to navigate through the menu. Much like the iTunes store but for apps. All of the iWork, iLife and Aperture apps are available for purchase to download including Remote Desktop. The app is intelligent enough to scan you application folder for the apps but it only works for Apple applications (for now?)

The store is very Apple like. If you know how to buy songs and apps off the iTunes Store, the Mac App store shouldn’t be a problem. Though it seems like the interface is still missing something like a side window for it to really look like the iTunes store.

Could that be in the future? Both the iTunes store and the App store will eventually merge and then iTunes will finally just be about managing your digital assets in your computer? Maybe? I’m just guessing here.

I can see the market that this fills. For those who just bought a mac and are lost with the tens and thousands of applications available including which one is real and which isn’t, this is a great starting point. The Garmin Base Camp app for the mac is a good example of this. I remember eternally searching back and fourth through the Garmin website looking for the app compatible with my mac. I eventually found it but the App store would have saved me hours searching.

Great apps that are already here are the OMNI series (Graffle, Foucs, Plan, Outliner and so on). Most if not all of the apps on the MacHeist bundles of past are also here.

Popular games such as Bejeweled, Angry Brids, and Enigmo are now just a click away. Sorry PvZ (Plants vs Zombies) fans it’s not here (yet).

Paying for these great apps are linked to your Apple store account which is much easier than entering your credit card information every single time or trying to remember your Paypal account. Piracy of apps is also rampant. Developers would be happy about the DRM but according to macnn the DRM has already been cracked. Expect an update to be released very soon.

Will this be the future of buying apps? Yes. It makes it faster and easier for applications to find their customers and vice versa. Physical discs will still be around a little longer. But when this becomes successful, expect all the apps to be delivered this way. But what about applications such as Logic Pro (installation is roughly 90GB) In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time.

2011: 01/07
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: app store
apple
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My precioussssss!

I finally got my hands on my iPad. I only had to wait 6 days from the time I made the reservation at the store. The odd thing about the iPad is that you can’t pay cash with it. Up until recently.

Anyhow I’ve had the iPad for almost two months now and I must say I don’t know how I was doing without it. I’ve used it in class to hold my presentations and videos as well as the books that I’m currently reading. I go everywhere with it.

When I used to go on trips anywhere I would always lug my 15″ Mac Book Pro which makes traveling a pain sometimes especially when you’re traveling in coach. The carry-on luggage restrictions as well as the weight limit is just not suited for the average business traveller. Not to mention I would also carry my DSLR with me and it would just be a game of chance with the flight attendant.

But now on a recent trip to Singapore, I just carried my carry-on luggage (with all my clothes and personal effects) and a small handbag with my iPod and iPad. It was great! I was zipping through the airport and security with ease. No worry of my clothes being transported off to who knows where and going around the city was a breeze. I could walk the streets without being burdened by 7 pounds of aluminum supercomputer. But instead I carried with me less than 1 pound of connectivity needed for a short trip. I still had room for some food stuffs I always buy in Singapore and was home in no time.

But for longer trips I’m afraid that this will not do. I cannot print my documents directly from it. I cannot import files from external devices directly to it. But I’m sure or at least that is coming in the future. I can however import photos to it but I have yet to acquire the photo connectivity kit.

In the end will it replace my Mac Book Pro? No. But it will make journeys much much lighter and just for that I am glad.

2010: 06/29
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
iPad
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Super sized Nintendo DSi

Nintendo announced a few days ago a new extra large DSi. It will be first released in Japan with other regions to follow in 2010. It is originally meant for “older” gamers who want a bigger screen to read and more space to use the stylus.

The DSi LL is about and inch larger than the current DSi. I guess the bigger screen also does not help with the battery life either as the the DS Lite still has the longest playtime for the handheld. Notice the bigger stylus. Now it really looks like a pen.

Judging from the screenshots, the bigger screen seem to have better graphics than it’s predecessor.

But I also know that the graphics are originally made for a specific resolution. Thus any graphical improvement if any is limited to the size of the displayed image and not from the image itself. In short, the bigger screen will not improve the quality of the graphics. Think of it like you just zoomed in an image and you’re seeing the bigger pixels.

Will I get one? I think not. If you already own the previous incarnations of the DS then there is no need to pick this one up. Unless you want to get your parents or grandparents a DS then this should be the right thing. But then there’s the issue of the cost. In Japan, the DSi LL will set you back ¥ 20,000 ($220 USD, or Php 10,000++). This practically puts it in the same price range as the PSP Go which retails at ¥ 26,800. Unless Nintendo phases out and drops the price on this thing I may even consider a purchase. But still, I’m still very happy with my battered DS Lite which I got a while back and the DSi doesn’t have anything that interests me right now.

I’ll wait until my current DS (knocks on wood) to die before I even think about picking this one up or if they release something so earthshaking on the DSi platform that I really must have. I think this is a safe step up for Nintendo by giving more of the same features as the original DS but incrementally adding features to keep a new crowd interested. Much like what Apple does with the iPod.

The Nintendo DS LL will be released on November 21 in Japan and early 2010 in North America and other territories.

2009: 11/01
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
videogames
TAGS: apple
japan
NDS
NDSi
nintendo
psp
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iTunes goes DRM free

The Price Of Going DRM-Free: Apple’s Hidden $1.8 Billion Music Tax

Yes that’s right! Free your music! No more DRM on all songs on the iTunes Store. It’s taken them a while to get there though. Amazon was among the first to sell DRM free songs and it has now arrived at the iTunes store with a cost.

It will cost each user ¢30 a song to “remove” the DRM. It’s actually downloading the DRM one and overwriting the old DRMed version. According to Tech Crunch, it will cost users $1.8 Billion to do where the math is based on the number of songs sold multplied by .30 and thus we have the = music lable tax to set their music free.

Too bad. The tax will still wont save the music industry.

2009: 01/07
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
DRM
iTunes
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So what did we get right?

Now that the curtain has closed on the (last) Apple keynote to grace Macworld what did I get right?

New iWork 09
17 inch unibody Mac Book Pro

That’s it. Sadly no netbook for mac fans. iLife 09 I missed (dang those two go hand in hand) no new iMacs and Mac Minis ot that Nano iPhone or a version 3 of the iPhone software either.

Even if I were Steve Jobs, I wouldn’t wake up on a cold morning just to tell the world all this. But it’s still a satisfying array.

I’m trying out iWork 09 right now and I must say I’m about to drop the Office suite alltogether now. Numbers has greatly improved. It can now handle my office spreadsheet of over 20,000 entries. I definitely like this version now.

2009: 01/07
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
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Macworld 2009 Predictions

As the mac world breathes (intended pun) a sigh of relief that Steve Jobs isn’t dying as evidenced by his letter to the public, he has spoken that everyone should have fun and fun we shall have.

Macworld bingo!

Everyone has their own take on what will come out at Apple’s (last) Macworld and these are some of mine.

New iWork 09, cloud options will be a mobile me add on, more collaborative engines (see enterprise) will have additional features linked to OS X Server 10.6

Short demo of Snow Leopard

Updated iMacs and Mac Minis probably even Mac Pros with the new display ports.

Another iPhone/ iPod Touch software update v.3 paid update for Touch users (where’s the love?)

17 inch unibody mac (actually it’s expected since it’s the only portable that hasn’t been upgraded)

I don’t think that they’ll release a net book even though I’m secretly harboring for one. They obviously love the Air despite it’s limitations, namely price. But if Phil Schiller will walk on stage with one, then I will definitely be in heaven. Even if it will be priced in the $600 I will be the first in line to get one.

2009: 01/05
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
iphone
macworld
netbooks
Steve Jobs
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October was quite a month

The month of October drained my wallet quite a bit. Even with the economic downturn and the weak exchange rate, I always believed in pumping in money into the economy to keep to running even if it’s just a little bit.

Games I got this month

Yakuza 2
Infinite Undiscovery
Fable II
Fallout 3
Rock Band 2
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Little Big Planet

While in New York I decided to get one myself,

Visit Our Muppet Whatnot Workshop Boutique at FAO Schwarz

It was supposed to open to November 13 and I was there for the soft opening on the 28th. It was either this or the Ugly Dolls. My brother and sister made the obvious choice, get a muppet. I ordered the Ugly Dolls online.

I’ll blog later this month as I scan the design book and my experience in general. I must say it was one of the best purchases I made this month. Mine is the one in bag on the left. She doesn’t have a name yet and I would welcome any suggestions.

And to top my October vacation experience, I got myself the new Mac Book Pro. Yes it is heavier by .1 lbs. but it is just sooo pretty. More pics and another blog post to follow as I get back to blogging.

It’s really hard to blog while on vacation.

2008: 11/14
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
TAGS: apple
FAO
guitar hero
mbp
muppet
october
Rock Band
ugly dolls
videogames
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Best Buy buys Napster for $121 Million

Best Buy Puzzles With Napster Acquisition

Just a day before the Wall Street meltdown, electronics retailer Best Buy acquires beleaguered online music company, Napster for $121 million.

Napster was originally the hotbed of peer to peer music sharing which got sued to death by the record labels ushering in the music industry into the digital age. A current era which they are still powerless to resist. Apple came into the picture by offering the iTunes Music store and 99¢ a song which they willingly gave thinking that Apple can never make this work where they have failed. Apparently they were wrong.

Fast forward years later, Napster was revived as a legal music store in an attempt to make its once “music stealers” into “music buyers” apparently didn’t pan out. iTunes holds 70% of the online music business as well as the music players that play them. Amazon is also in the mix with their DRM-free music and even more following suit.

What does Best Buy hope to make with this acquisition? Napster as a brand is not synonymous with “online music store”, Apple has done a very good job of doing that. It would have been better for Best Buy to have created their own music store instead of getting a “has been” brand with losses since its inception and a bad reputation for once being the center of all pirated music in the internet.

At the end of the day, it’s their money.

2008: 09/16
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: gadgets
TAGS: apple
best buy
iTunes
napster
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Thoughts on today’s WWDC

iPhone 2.0

The 3G is nice.
GPS (finally)
$9.99 for iPod touch owners (say what?!?!?!) That would put the total I’ve paid this year to roughly $30 just to keep updating the iPod touch. This is just crazy.
3rd party apps look great. Easy to program and easy to install

mobile me

An upgrade finally worthy of the dot mac. Push delivery is a great addition to those who don’t want to be tied too much to blackberry

10.6 Snow Leopard

Ever thought of going to another species? Snow leopard?!? Sounds like as @richstyles on twitter, “still miffed with Snow Leopard aka 10.5 SP1, Cupertino, rev up YOUR copy machines”

It really does seem like a service pack to Leopard. But I don’t see it coming out until 2010.