General Apple and Mac desktops is covered in The Mac News Review. iPad, iPod, iPhone, and
Apple TV news is covered in The iOS News
Review. All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
News & Opinion
Products & Services
Software
News & Opinion
Apple Exploring 'Invisible,' Disappearing Buttons
for Future MacBooks
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes reports:
"Apple's crusade against the physical button continues, with a new
patent application describing a disappearing input space that could be
featured anywhere on the aluminum shell of a MacBook Pro.
Link:
Apple Exploring 'Invisible,' Disappearing Buttons for Future
MacBooks
MacBook Users Still Experiencing Freezes
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler reports that some time ago they reported
on an issue where MacBook users were experiencing an intermittent
30-second freeze on their systems, and that while Apple addressed this
issue by releasing a hard drive firmware update, it appears similar
problems are persisting.
Link: MacBook Users
Still Experiencing Freezes
Touch-Based Computing and the Future of the
Mouse
Seeking Alpha's Larry Dignan says there's a digital divide in the
tech industry between operating systems that are touch and gesture
based and applications geared toward the trusty mouse and keyboard with
Apple vs. Adobe and HP vs. everyone in IT and HP alienating Microsoft
as a partner, with all of these skirmishes boiling down to a debate
over the future of computing: i.e.: will gesture and touch replace the
mouse, noting that if you're a developer you may have to ultimately
pick a side.
Editor's note: For my take on this issue, see R.I.P.
Computer Mouse? Not So Fast. cm
Link:
Touch-Based Computing and the Future of the Mouse
On the Road with the iPad: Can You Leave the Laptop
Home?
Computerworld's Mitch Wagner put an iPad to the test on a five-day business trip,
noting he didn't do it because he's adventurous, but because he's a
cheapskate. Having been laid off in December, Wagner is self-employed
and without a laptop computer, noting that on the iPad he can do 90% of
the computing tasks he needs to do - the Web, check email, Twitter and
Facebook, and, most important, write, so theoretically, he should be
able to use it as his only computer for at least short stretches.
However, it didn't take him long to hit some stumbling blocks, and
while on the plus side the iPad proved to be a lightweight powerhouse,
useful in situations where a notebook computer is impractical, it
simply lacked the tools and versatility he needed to be able to rely on
it as his only computer, concluding that the iPad is no substitute for
a laptop for even a few days.
He says he's ordering a MacBook Pro this week.
Link:
On the Road with the iPad: Can You Leave the Laptop Home?
Products & Services
NewerTech Intelligent Battery Charging/Conditioning
Station Price Cut
PR: Other World Computing (OWC), announces a price drop of up
to 20% off on its entire line of NewerTech® Intelligent Battery
Charging/Conditioning Stations, the only complete line of
chargers/conditioners on the market today to keep batteries in optimal
charged condition for maximum "unplugged" usage.
Available immediately and starting as low as $119.95 MSRP, the
NewerTech Intelligent Battery Charging/Conditioning Station is
available for the following Apple notebook models:
- MacBook Pro 15" Unibody
- MacBook 13" Unibody
- MacBook Pro 17"
- MacBook Pro 15"
- MacBook 13"
- iBook G3/G4 12"
- iBook G3/G4 14"
- PowerBook G4 12" "Aluminum"
- PowerBook G4 15" "Aluminum"
- PowerBook G4 17" "Aluminum"
- PowerBook G4 15" "Titanium"
'Intelligent' Design Takes Guesswork Out of Battery Charging
NewerTech Intelligent Battery Charging/Conditioning Stations are
ideal for users who have one or more batteries and want to keep their
batteries in optimal charged condition. The two bay design can
accommodate two batteries and when the first battery is done charging,
the unit "intelligently" begins charging the second battery. In
addition to charging batteries quickly and correctly, the deep
conditioning feature can bring back additional life to a battery that's
started to show its age.
NewerTech Intelligent Battery Charging/Conditioning Station
Features:
- 2 Bays: 1 bay charges, 1 bay charges & conditions
- 2 Year Warranty
- Power Input/Output: 120~240V 50/60 Hz 1.5A / 24V 2.3A,
regulated
"With the ability to both charge and deep condition batteries at the
same time, the NewerTech Intelligent Battery Charging/Conditioning
Station saves time as well as restoring new life to older batteries,"
said Larry O'Connor, CEO, Other World Computing. "Now Mac notebook
users can use their batteries longer and get better performance from
them for a double win."
Compliments Complete Line of High Capacity Batteries
In addition to its line of battery chargers/conditioners, NewerTech
also offers a complete line of NuPower® high capacity replacement
batteries for MacBook Pro, MacBook, PowerBook G4/G3, and iBook G4/G3
notebooks with up to 68% more capacity than original Apple
batteries.
Link: NewerTech
Intelligent Battery Charging/Conditioning Station
OWC NewerTech FireWire/USB Storage/Drive Genius 3
Drive Utility Suite
PR: Other World Computing (OWC) has announced today over 300
award winning OWC and NewerTech brand external storage solutions,
enclosure kits, and docking stations now include the opportunity to
purchase the full retail version of Drive Genius 3, the newest and
latest version of Prosoft Engineering's best-selling drive utility
suite for Apple Macintosh computers, for as low as $39...a savings of
$60 off the retail price.
Best Selling Utility & Broadest Storage Line From One
Source
OWC's Drive Genius 3 promotion makes it easy and affordable for Mac
users to maintain, manage and optimize their hard drives as well as add
a high performance external storage solution, enclosure kit, or docking
station with FireWire, USB, and/or eSATA interfaces to their machine.
Customers can choose from over 300 OWC and NewerTech brand desktop, bus
powered portable, rackmount, RAID ready, and docking station options
that include the opportunity to purchase Drive Genius 3 and receive the
full retail version with all accompanying OWC product support at a
savings of up to 60% off the full retail price of $99.
OWC Covers Customers with Free & Discounted Upgrade Path
To express its commitment to taking care of its customers, OWC is
also providing a free and special discount upgrade path for customers
who previously purchased Drive Genius 2.x from OWC. Any customer who
purchased Drive Genius v2.x from OWC with an invoice date of 1/1/2010
or later will be provided a Free Upgrade to the latest Drive Genius v3
version, those with an invoice date of 12/31/2009 or prior will be able
to upgrade to the new version for the special discount price of $39.
Existing OWC customers with Drive Genius v2.x need only visit:
https://eshop.macsales.com/specialOffers/prosoftDriveGenius3Upgrade.cfm
to confirm their eligibility and take advantage of these upgrade
offers.
"We're pleased our long-standing partnership with Prosoft
Engineering enables us to offer OWC customers the easiest and most
attractive upgrade options available for Drive Genius 3," said Larry
O'Connor, CEO, Other World Computing. "Whether someone is a past
customer who qualifies for the free upgrade or a new customer that
wants to take advantage of our savings offer, OWC is the one stop value
source for Mac users to obtain Drive Genius 3."
Drive Genius 3 - A Proven History Now in a 64-Bit App
Drive Genius 3 is built upon the same award-winning platform that
earned the utility numerous industry honors including daily use by
Apple at the Genius Bar as part of the ProCare Yearly Tune Up. Now
running as a native 64-bit application to take advantage of Mac OS X
10.6 ("Snow Leopard"), Drive Genius 3 includes new features like
DrivePulse® which monitors overall drive health and alerts on
possible issues, RAID Support, and Email Notifications as well as
enhanced Defrag, Repartition and Scan functions.
Promotion Complements Existing Software Bundle Value
Certain OWC and NewerTech storage solutions also include a $200
retail value utility software bundle consisting of ProSoft Engineering
Data Backup 3, Intec SpeedTools Utilities, NovaStor NovaBACKUP and
Carbon Copy Cloner. OWC and NewerTech storage solutions offer further
value added features including all interface connecting cables for Plug
and Play operation straight from the box, free lifetime US-based
technical support, and industry leading warranty terms. From desktop to
rack mount, from performance RAID to bus-powered performance portable
solutions, OWC and NewerTech storage solutions provide a wide array of
options ideal for A/V, digital photography, professional music,
graphics, general data, and Time Machine ready storage capacity with
single drive solutions up to 2 TB and multi-drive solutions up to
8 TB.
Link: Drive Genius 3
Promotion
Software
Axiotron Quickscript Handwriting Recognition
Software
PR: Mac tablet maker Axiotron says its Quickscript
application doesn't merely convert handwriting to digital text: it
understands handwriting. Powerful language models help Quickscript
recognize words, word components and phrases, a contextual approach
that increases text recognition accuracy.
With Quickscript, Mac users can enter text in Pages, TextEdit,
Microsoft Word and Excel almost any application that accepts text
input. Dash off a message in iChat, take notes in class or add data to
a spreadsheet with ease. All from a single writing pad.
Features:
- Highly Accurate - Quickscript employs a state-of-the-art
handwriting recognition engine developed by Vision Objects. Tested on
millions of handwriting samples from around the world, Quickscript
accounts for subtle variations in alphabet, vocabulary and
country-specific handwriting styles.
- New and improved features - Quickscript 3.0 has several
improvements and fixes. It now features a writing line for an easier
writing experience, user control of how fast text is sent and toggling
of the auto-spacing feature.
- Easy to Use - There's no need to change your writing style
or learn special printing techniques. Just use your natural handwriting
and let Quickscript do the rest. The text-entry pane can be configured
with your preferences and used whenever and wherever you want, so you
don't have to adjust to different user interfaces for each
application.
- Gesture Recognition - Simple gesture recognition in the
text-entry pane lets you perform actions such as adding and deleting
characters or entering line breaks.
- Multiple Text-Entry Modes - Enter text on the writing pad
just like on a piece of paper, in either hand-printed characters or
cursive handwriting. Or use character-by-character mode to write single
letters, numbers or symbols. A convenient software keyboard also lets
you type in characters.
- Create Your Own Dictionary - Personalize Quickscript by
adding to your own dictionary! Your Quickscript dictionary will
recognize the words and phrases you use most commonly, limiting
mistakes and improving text recognition.
Use Quickscript on Modbook
computers running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
Quickscript supports 26 languages, including Japanese, Korean and
Chinese. It comes preinstalled with an English (US) language
package.
System requirements: Quickscript is compatible with Mac OS X version
10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard on Intel processor-based systems
only. Quickscript can be used with most applications that can receive
text input, but is not guaranteed to work with every application, and
certain text-entry fields (such as HTML password fields) may not be
able to receive text.
Free 30-day trial of Quickscript available.
Link: Axiotron Quickscript
Handwriting Recognition Software
Bargain 'Books
For deals on current and discontinued 'Books, see our 13" MacBook and MacBook Pro,
MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro, 15" MacBook Pro, 17" MacBook Pro, 12" PowerBook G4, 15" PowerBook G4, 17" PowerBook G4, titanium PowerBook G4,
iBook G4, PowerBook G3, and iBook G3 deals.
We also track iPad,
iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle deals.
