Posted 07/03/09 at 05:29:22 PM by Andy Salisbury

Until now, it was assumed that Microsoft would only sell single license versions of Windows 7. But, thanks to a recent discovery in the latest license agreement, there’s some evidence suggesting otherwise.

In section two, there’s a new clause that clearly details a family pack, which will allow you to “install one copy of the software marked as ‘Family Pack’ on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there.” Which, for those keeping score, would finally let them combat Apple in this particular field.

Still, there’s no official word from Microsoft on pricing or availability, or if this is even true.

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windows, microsoft, Software, apple, windows 7

Posted 07/01/09 at 12:45:58 PM by David Murphy

Happy day-after-Firefox-release day.  If you're one of the 3.2 million Americans to download the latest release of the browser as of this column's writing, congratulations.  You, like your peers, have recognized the value of upgrading to faster and better technology products!  If that sounds weird, that's the point.  It should.  According to Net Applications, around twenty percent of users (out of a survey sample of around 160 million people) still use an older version of a Web browser, be it Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 2, or either Safari 3.1 or 3.2.  You are not among them; I salute thee.

You've probably read a lot of marketing in the last 24 hours about how fast, awesome, and packed-full of features the new Firefox 3.5 release is.  Since you've had a chance to play with the release candidate of this latest upgrade starting in early June, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.  But let's cut through the press release and examine the real facts: Just how much faster is Firefox 3.5 over its browser brethren?  Has Mozilla's newest TraceMonkey JavaScript engine delivered a princess or a barrel?

Click the jump to access the contents of this article 35 percent faster.

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apple, Google, firefox, benchmark, Mozilla, JavaScript, Safari, performance, TraceMonkey, chrome, 3.5

Posted 06/22/09 at 04:15:42 PM by Paul Lilly

Apple has begun offering a $30 iTunes Store credit for iPhone 3G S buyers who ran into trouble activating their new a device, a result of overloaded servers despite early indications that it would be smooth sailing. Here's the email that was sent out:

Dear Apple Customer,

Thank you for your recent Apple Store order. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience caused by the delay in your iPhone activation.

We are still resolving the issue that was encountered while activating your iPhone with AT&T. Unfortunately, due to system issues and continued high activation volumes, this could take us up to an additional 48 hours to complete.

On Monday, you’ll receive an email from Apple with an iTunes Store credit in the amount of $30. We hope you will enjoy this gift and accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this delay has caused.

Thank you for choosing Apple.

Sincerely, Apple Online Store Team

At first, the launch seemed to being smoothly, partially a result of Apple releasing the OS 3.0 update early. But as the day went on, some customers trying to activate their new phone received a message saying it may take up to 48 hours to complete. Some, like Kevin Mobley, a software performance expert at The Ian Thomas Group, warns that Apple's brand image might suffer from this and other similar problems.

"Going forward, as Apple presumably gets deals with other carriers and grows the iPhone user base, they'll have to determine if iTunes is really the best solution for activation," Mobley said.

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mobile, apple, itunes, Smartphone, activation, cellphone, iphone 3g s

Posted 06/18/09 at 09:00:37 AM by Paul Lilly

Apple this week released its iPhone OS 3.0 software update, the much anticipated upgrade that allows iPhone and iPod touch owners to run the next generation of iPhone apps, like peer-to-peer games. Over 100 new features find their way into the update, just a handful of which include:

• Copy & Paste text and photos
• New Spotlight allowing users to search across the entire information contained in the device
• Search in Mail, Calendar, and iPod
• Landscape keyboard
• Shake to shuffle music
• Improved parental controls
• Stereo Bluetooth

The new OS is free for all iPhone customers (both the original iPhone and iPhone 3G), while iPod touch customers will have to pony up $10 for the update.

iPhone Update
iPod Touch Update

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Software, mobile, apple, Smartphone, iphone, cellphone, 3.0

Posted 06/09/09 at 11:30:00 AM by Roberto Baldwin

OS X is out there. You’ve seen it in coffee shops, on TV, in the laps of hipsters at the local taqueria. There‘s no shame in wondering what all the fuss is about. Hell, it’s healthy to mix it up a little bit. If only the idea of sending Steve Jobs and the rest of Apple, Inc. thousands of your hard-earned dollars didn’t send you into a cold sweat that only a game of Left4Dead can cure. Still, OS X is the subject of many glowing reviews. Even hardcore PC users are singing its praises. If you have the itch to try out OS X, but you’re not down with shelling out the cash for a new Mac, we have one word for you: Hackintosh.

When Apple announced the move to Intel processors for its computer lineup, the search was on for a practical way to install OS X on non-Apple hardware. Over the years, the best way to achieve this feat was to patch a retail version of the OS X install from Apple. Users would scour the Internet for the patches—always hoping that what they downloaded was indeed the correct patch, and not some virus or trojan horse ready to wreck havoc on their PCs.

But these days the quest for OS X needn’t be so perilous. Read on to see how an inventive little USB device can let you easily dual boot OS X on non-Apple hardware, using a legitimate copy of OS X.

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apple, how-to, OS X, features, how tos, Hackintosh, mac on a pc

Posted 06/09/09 at 10:30:00 AM by Florence Ion

Unless you spent this morning snoozing underneath a rock or immersed in your new Palm Pre, you are aware that Apple announced the impending release of a new mobile phone, the iPhone 3G S. The additional letter stands for Speed; the new iPhone boasts a longer battery life, environmentally friendly construction, voice commands, and a 3 megapixel camera with programmable macros, as well as the ability to record video. No doubt plenty of Apple fans have since been drooling uncontrollably over the announcement of yet another reason to empty their wallets on yet another Apple product – but not us, mind you, no siree. Here are five reasons why you won’t find us running to the Apple store on June 19th to upgrade our phones.

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mobile, apple, iphone, rant, iphone 3g s

Posted 06/09/09 at 10:00:00 AM by Paul Lilly

Apple, who knows a thing or two about marketing, released its Safari 4 web browser this week calling it the "world's fastest and most innovative web browser." Sound familiar? It should, because Apple made the same claim a little over four months ago when it released Safari 4 in beta form, only now the company has taken its self-praise a step further.

"The successful beta release helped us fine tune Safari 4 into an even better, faster version that customers are going to love," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Safari is enjoyed by 70 million users worldwide and with its blazing fast speed, innovative features, and support for modern web standards, it's the best browser on any platform." 

Safari owes much of its speed to the new Nitro JavaScript rendering engine, which the company claims executes JavaScript almost eight times faster than IE8 and three times faster than Firefox 3. At the heart of Safari 4 is the WebKit browser engine with support for HTML 5, advanced CSS effects, stellar web compliance, and more.

But the "best browser on any platform"? Scores of Firefox users addicted to add-ons might have something to say about that.

Download Link

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Software, apple, browser, safari 4

Posted 05/27/09 at 05:00:34 PM by Andy Salisbury

RussianMac is the latest company ballsy enough to tempt fate, and enter the fake Mac market.

On their site, they state that all of their machines come with a full version of Mac OS X Leopard pre-installed. They also state that the operating system will be able to receive automatic updates from Apple once everything has been installed. However, Apple has been able to dominate the Mac market because the OS X End User License Agreement (EULA), which clearly states that no one may install their software on hardware that hasn’t been sold by Apple. This clause has successfully shut down the entire Mac clone market.

But, in a twist, RussianMac claims that since they have bought the OS directly from Apple, they’re not in violation of the EULA (though, they are yet to explain how they’ve installed it on Apple’s hardware). It should be noted that the German company PearC was able to use that defense in order to sell machines in Germany, so perhaps this defense could work in Russia as well?

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apple, OS X, hardware, Mac, clone, RussianMac