The Apple TV is a strange beast. Steve Jobs famously referred to his company's media-playback box as “a hobby.” In early 2008 Apple released a major software update, Apple TV 2.0, that revamped its interface and added movie rentals to the mix. Yet in a world increasingly full of Internet-connected TV boxes, Apple’s “hobby” has remained strangely static.
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According to multiple sites, Apple has changed the rules regarding in-app purchases for App Store developers. Previously, in-app purchases were restricted to paid apps, but now developers of free applications can take advantage of in-app purchases as well. This is a welcome change, not just for developers, but for consumers as well.
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Based on pure aesthetics, Apple’s new Magic Mouse is a crowning achievement for the company's design team. Sophisticated, alluring, and downright stunning, the Magic Mouse epitomizes Apple style. Getting down to the nitty-gritty—actually using the mouse to get stuff done—I found that the Magic Mouse and its Multi-Touch features work well. But it may not be incentive enough to abandon your current mouse.
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Any designer worth their weight in beans will agree that typography is an extremely important part of what they do, not to mention an essential piece of your daily life. The art of arranging type is a deep and involved process, covering everything from simply choosing a font to settling on type placement and the proper use of glyphs.
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There is apparently no end to the number of games based on the concept of shooting marbles, moving marbles, or making marbles disappear. I spent a lot of time with Peggle, and liked it a lot. But MumboJumbo’s Luxor manages to stroke the same parts of my brain that Tetris does, creating a challenging (yet not overly frustrating) game that’s beautiful to look at and fun to play.
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This first-person role-play game has all the makings of a great game with a humorous twist. In between slaying bad guys and freeing prisoners, you find yourself booting mutant chickens across the room or punching the heads off skeletons. As the elite forces hero BJ Blazkowicz, you kick, punch, and blast your way through Castle Wolfenstein to save the world from the evil Axis Army.
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Your monitor is probably the most important piece of kit you own. A good monitor is the difference between eye strain and dodgy colours, and pin-sharp, perfect colours and a comfortable, restful Mac-using experience. It’s when you’re working on or viewing photos and other images frequently that a decent monitor really comes into its own, as colour reproduction and image sharpness suddenly count for everything.
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There’s a thin line between parody and imitation. If it’s funny, then it’s parody. If it’s not, you’re going to get sued. The space-based war in Earth Vs. Moon is a parody and homage to Missile Command, using the classic game premise and mixing it with a nonsensical plot, references to Internet culture, and 1950s sci-fi campiness.
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The CX 550 Style II earphones from Sennheiser are generally regarded as an replacement for the well received and favourably reviewed CX 95 in-ear headphones. Both share a noise-isolating design aided by a selection of supplied ear adaptors in two types and five different sizes. As well as keeping out much of the daily din of travel, this helps ensure the music remains focused and clear even at reduced listening sound levels.
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The simple 59p iPhone app, 3D Camera, threatens to bring the craze for 3D images back. Using the app is straightforward, though its functionality is hindered by a limitation imposed by Apple. To take a stereo image with your iPhone, you must take two shots, both pointed in the same direction but with the perspective moved a couple of inches to the right, to mimic the distance between your right and left eyes.
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Lacie’s d2 Blu-ray Professional BD-R, BD-RE Drive is an external optical drive that can burn data to Blu-ray discs, as well as single and dual-layer DVD and CD media. The drive connects to your Mac via FireWire 400 or USB 2.0, though we had some trouble using the USB 2.0 connection with the included Toast Titanium 9 software. (We also had issues with Toast Titanium 10.) The FireWire connection gave us no trouble.
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Pocket Universe would amaze Galileo – this £1.79 app puts the entire night sky in your pocket. If you’re using an iPhone 3GS, Pocket Universe uses GPS to know almost precisely where you’re looking as you point your phone skyward, updating its display in real time. If you have an earlier iPhone or iPod touch the app can still use Location Services to find your approximate location and can detect as you tilt the device up or down, but you’re forced to drag left and right for lateral movement.
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It used to be called ‘vanity publishing’ but in the internet era, self-publishing has been legitimised. We now have services that allow you to print books on demand – Blurb leads the way. You create your book, Blurb prints it and you can then share, promote or sell it online with your own mark-up above a base price. It’s a great way to get your work out there and – even if it doesn’t sell – there’s little impact on your pocket.
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