9to5 Staff

David Pogue tweets (update: MacOSXHints had it yesterday) a pretty cool little tip for those of you who’ve upgraded to Snow Leopard: <Option-clicking> on the sound menu item at the top of the screen allows you to quickly change your sound input and output options.  Before, you’d have to go into System Preferences and Sound and check options from there.  This is especially good when getting a Skype call or other other sound emergancy.  See menu to the right —->

As you probably already know, option clicking the battery menu item gives you your battery condition and option clicking on the Time Machine menu item shows you other Time Machine disks.  Option Clicking on the Bluetooth menu gives you access to the PacketLogger and Bluetooth Browser.

Snow Leopard is still on sale at Amazon for $25.

Great news for i.TV fans. The highly anticipated i.TV app update is now available at the iTunes App Store. This update (iTunes link) includes a redesign and intuitive UI experience with complete integration control of iTunes and TiVo with more remote features on the way.

The differentiator, though, is push notification services. Schedule a TV episode or movie to watch and you’ll be notified via Push either to your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Not bad for a free app.

From the developer:

The top TV and movie guide for the iPhone and iPod touch is now your remote control!

We value your feedback: feedback@i.tv

What’s new

THE APP YOU ALWAYS WANTED!

This is our eighth release of i.TV and we hope that you’ll note the significant investment we have made to respond to your feedback and improve the app. If you have previously reviewed the app and were unhappy, we hope that you’ll take a moment to resubmit your review with a positive rating.

Update: It looks like the ZuneHD Marketing director is leaving MS two weeks before the unveiling.  

As Apple preps itself for its annual September iPod refresh keynote, Microsoft has kissed the Zune goodbye – but the company hasn’t abandoned its pipedreams for the portable media device market entirely.  Instead it is now simplifying its offering around the Zune HD, which goes on sale on September 15 (US only).

The company’s focus on touch is also reflected in its promised Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, which it will make available from October. This integrates touch capacities as Microsoft continues to lag behind Apple in its implementation of new mobile technologies.

“While you can preorder the Zune HD right now from a handful of electronic retailers, your choices are somewhat limited,” reports Paul Thurrot. “In pre-order form, you can only get a black body style by getting the Zune HD 16 GB. And if you preorder the 32 GB version, you can only get it in platinum. But if you wait until September 15, you can choose either color in either capacity, and if you order on Zune Originals, you’ll be able to customize your device further with other colors and etchings.”

Which is exciting news to consumers wanting to get on board the Zune HD train.

As part of its stab at the iPhone, Microsoft has also announced that a range of new mobile phones featuring the latest version of Windows Mobile will hit stores on 6 October. These offer an improved user interface, better browsing capabilities and access to services such as the Windows Marketplace for Mobile and the back-up and the free sync service Microsoft My Phone. Interestingly, despite Microsoft’s development of the Silverlight multimedia standard, the software also supports Adobe Flash Lite.

Adobe Flash Lite was of course derided by Apple CEO Steve Jobs as not being sufficiently tuned for mass market use.

CNBC via MDN

http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/1236098737/code/cnbcplayershare

Listen up, we know we keep going on about Apple’s unfolding iPhone adventures in China, and we know most of our US readers seem cool to this news, but it’s important, really important – if Apple plays its cards correctly it could lead to a major explosion in iPhone sales, dwarfing those in the US and the UK. And that’s why Apple management are exploring all available strategies to take a slice of this market…

We’ve already reported on the now-announced deal with China Unicom, which should see five million iPhones sold into China across Apple’s next financial year, generating a handy $1.5 billion in gross revenue for the firm.

We’ve told you that Apple remains in negotiation with China’s biggest carrier, China Mobile, which has an astonishing 460 million subscribers. Apple’s discussions with Chinese mobile carriers have been lengthy and complicated, so there’s another plan to penetrate the world’s most populous country.

Research firm Wedge Partners analyst Matt Mathison believes Apple’s management are quietly hatching another deal to get iPhones into China in quantity – a tie-up with China’s biggest mobile phone retailer, Di Xing Tong. That retailer has hundreds of stores across China, and is owned by long-time Apple partner, Foxconn. (Guess which products Foxconn make for Apple in the comments below).

Selling iPhones through this giant retailer is a very big deal, the analyst says. He believes iPhones sold at these stores could be unlocked for use on the CHina Mobile network, no matter how direct negotiations with that carrier work out. The result? The analyst thinks these high street sales in China could add another five million iPhone sales to Apple’s existing predicted sales in the company’s 2010 financial year.

That would raise Apple’s iPhone sales in China next year to a potential 6-10 million units, aggregating various consensus estimates. That could equate to 40 per cent of total iPhone sales next year, some estimates suggest, assuming Apple can bring its products to market at a price that’s achievable by Chinese consumers.

There’s been some interest in eBooks of late, as devices such as Kindle, iPhone, iPod touch and others make electronic book-reading a little more comfortable.

Whether you’re an eBook afficionado, or a book as an item purist, you’ll have read about Amazon’s Kindle book store, now a UK start-up has introduced itself, offering six times the number of titles offered by Amazon in multiple formats for multiple platforms.
 
Coolerbooks.com has moved to partner with Google to launch the world’s biggest online ebookstore – 40 times bigger than Waterstones it aims to offer over two million titles by the end of 2009, with one million titles available right now.
 

Coolerbooks.com is the first ebookstore outside the US to partner with Google to include over 1 million public domain books (close to half a million outside the US) from Google Books in its online library.

Starting today, Coolerbooks.com will feature a Google API with out of copyright works from the Google Books index, accessible for free via the Coolerbooks.com website, and the company’s own ereader.

Company founder and CEO Neil Jones is an eBook evangelist, he believes that by 2015:
 
– A quarter of the UK population will own an eReader
– Every eReader will have the technology to contain as many books as are in the British Library
– eReaders will be a regular part of school and university education

The company offers its own eReader software. Cross-platform this lets users access a plethora of eBook formats, including EPUB, PDF, MP3, FB2, RTF, TXT, HTML, PRC (non DRM), JPG, GIF, BMP.
 

As we reported last week, Vonage submitted its iPhone app to the store to go thru the approval process.  One short week later, they say they are approved.  

Vonage is the second big VoIP company (almost 3 million US subscribers) to have an iPhone and iPod touch application.  Skype, which Ebay sold today to private investors for $2 Billion, was the first.  

There are many other VoIP services on the iPhone but they all have one thing in common:  They are all only allowed to function on Wifi.  Vonage will be no exception.  While it hasn’t shown up in our app store, it is expected to by the end of the week.

TechCrunch’s Sarah Lacy joins Jon Fortt of Fortune and host Scott McGrew talking about if Apple is taking too much control..

Update: The Loop says their sources say noway José to new AppleTVs.

In yet another research note to investors, Gene Munster today said that AppleTVs are going to get updated at September 9th event.  His rationale?  The 40GB version is taking 1-2 weeks for delivery at the Apple Store (160GB version is next day).  He pads this by saying that the AppleTV hasn’t been 2 weeks behind in shipping since he’s been tracking the device.  

He hypothesizes that the 160GB version will stick around and Apple will have a bigger model(s) ready for release next week.  That is pretty light evidence, but on the the other hand, AppleTV is LONG overdue for an update.

AT&T announced today a substantial strengthening of its 3G mobile broadband wireless network where it has deployed spectrum in the 850 MHz band across large portions of metro New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.  That should mean that New York iPhone users like myself should be able to make calls without getting dropped every few minutes and shouldn’t have trouble getting data in the largest city in the US.  They’ve also added additional bandwidth pipes to those 3G towers as promised in an announcement in June. 

The 850MHz band is especially effective inside and around buildings, something New York has plenty of.   Are any of you New Yorkers getting more love from your iPhones as of today?

More from Ma Bell:

“AT&T’s ongoing investment to build broadband networks helps to create jobs, fuel economic growth and enable our customers to quickly access the content that matters most to them,” said Jay Summerson, vice president New York, AT&T external affairs. “Our customers have embraced smartphones and upgrades like the additional 3G spectrum deployment allow them to enjoy the benefits of these devices and mobile broadband for years to come.

The 850 MHz spectrum was deployed for 3G use at more than 1,600 cell sites in metro New York, Long Island and New Jersey. It is considered a high-quality spectrum, which generally results in better in-building coverage. While specific benefits of the additional 3G spectrum will vary by location, AT&T 3G customers should see improved quality and coverage throughout New York City, Long Island and New Jersey where 850 MHz spectrum has been deployed. AT&T technicians nationwide responsible for monitoring network performance for service quality and coverage have seen significant increases in total 3G data traffic in areas where the 850MHz spectrum has been deployed.

“Where we deployed the additional 850 MHz spectrum, we saw an immediate increase in wireless data activity across the AT&T 3G network in those areas,” said Tom DeVito, vice president and general manager for AT&T in New York and New Jersey. “The additional spectrum helps to enhance the 3G network so that our customers have the best experience when they make a call, check an e-mail or surf the Internet on their AT&T device.”

This deployment is one part of AT&T’s ongoing initiatives to enhance the speed and performance of its network. Recently, AT&T announced plans to further upgrade its 3G network nationwide with HSPA 7.2 technology to deliver considerably faster mobile broadband speeds. The upgrades are planned to begin in the fourth quarter, with completion expected in 2011. Additionally, AT&T is continually optimizing and adding cell sites in New York, New Jersey and across the country to maximize performance for customers. AT&T is planning to add nearly 1,900 cell sites nationwide this year, and we’re adding new backhaul connections across the country to support the increasing volumes of mobile data traffic.

AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies that includes GSM and UMTS, the most open and widely used wireless network platforms in the world. AT&T offers 3G data roaming in more than 100 countries, as well as voice calling in more than 215 countries.

Across the U.S., AT&T’s 3G network is available in more than 350 major metropolitan areas. For more information about AT&T’s 3G coverage in metro NY or anywhere in the United States, consumers can go to http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/. The online tool can measure the quality of coverage based on a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

The winner of a recent Startup Weekend on Microsoft’s campus didn’t build anything for Windows, no, but software for an iPhone, Engadget informs.

Microsoft hosted a gathering of developers on its campus recently, offering developers access to its own development tools. The only snag was the winning app was designed for an iPhone. Learn That Name, a name recognition memory game, was voted best app in show.

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Do you remember the days when Microsoft’s Zune team had an iPod amnesty bin in their entrance hall, in an attempt to convince company staff to dump their Apple product in favor of Zune?

Perhaps Microsoft is starting to acknowledge the ubiquity of Apple’s mobile platform.

AT&T has hinted a new version of the iPhone OS will ship later this month, iPhone Software 3.1.

The new software is likely to deliver on some of the promises made to AT&T users when iPhone 3.0 shipped, specifically MMS messaging (at last) and the capacity to engage in Bluetooth file transfers.

iPhone 3.1 will also likely offer support for any of those features we’ve been hearing so much rumour and speculation about, such as social networking of iTunes songs played, potentially a subscription-based streaming music service and more.

We also predict the software update will be made available for iPod touch users (yes, that’s pure speculation, but let’s face it, it’s the least likely unlikely you’ve ever seen this side of a specious double-negative).

Whatever the content of the new patch, we’re pretty certain we’re going to know by the middle of next week on September 9, when Apple opens the curtains and informs the public and the industry of just how it’s going to improve its iPod products to maintain another year or two of market leadership. (Hint: It’s not just cameras, it’s what you can do with them that matters…).

Also of interest to industry watchers is if we’re going to find out what those recently noticed ‘iProd0,1’ and ‘iProd1.1’ products are going to be – 6-inch giant iPod touch maybe? Or just a casual slice of rumour-mongering?

Wait and see. It’s open season on speculation once again. Enjoy.

Apple may soon be offering the iPhone to a bigger population than that of the US and the UK combined, as the company continues to engage in talks with China’s biggest mobile telco, China Mobile.

As we quietly confirmed last week, the recently-hatched China Unicom deal is a non-exclusive one, and while that deal alone may make for up to five million iPhone sales in China (up to one-in-five of all iPhones sold next year), but Apple’s management continues to negotiate for a bigger prize in getting hitched with China Mobile.

With 460 million subscribers, China Mobile offers the iPhone access to a market that’s bigger than the US and UK populations combined. And that’s got to be good for a few million more sales, once the deal’s inked.

No saying the deal will ever appear, of course, as talks between Apple and China Mobile have “reached no conclusion yet”, reports IDG News Service. And discussions began two years ago, that report confirms.

At issue, China Mobile seems to want to offer its own App Store in preference to Apple’s, and has also implemented a non-standard form of 3G, which the iPhone isn’t equipped for.

Meanwhile China Unicom will begin offering the must-have smarter smartphone from the fourth quarter.

Browser bonanza, Mac users, with the all-new Opera 10 browser available now and an updated and much-improved Google Chrome browser alpha also doing the rounds.

Google has introduced Chrome 4.0.203.4 for Mac, addressing compatibility problems in Snow Leopard and mending a bunch of additional bugs in the process. There’s some user interface changes, including support for tab-to-search and command/shift clicking.

While the browser’s only available as a developer preview at the moment, those of us using it from time to time are impressed with how development’s progressing. It’s shaping up toward a beta, we think. Which it’s going to have to pass with flying colours, as Chrome will be the foundation of Google’s foray into the operating system market with Chrome OS.

Then, to quote a favorite CEO of a US company, “boom”, and Opera has introduced Opera 10. Three months since the beta version shipped the all-new Opera 10 is available for Mac, Linux and Windows systems. Its a fast browser with built-in features (Opera Turbo) designed to boost performance on slow connections and an improved user interface.

What else has it got? Tab bars double as webpage thumbnails, an enhanced Speed Dial (which gets you to the sites you visit most often) and the capacity to customise the browser with its own background picture. An incorporated email client and support for 51 languages also feature in this iteration of the increasingly mature browser.

Normally we like our news short and succinct.  But there are always exceptions, especially when it comes to information about  the Operating System we are going to use for the next few years.

John Siracusa isn’t at a loss for words about Snow Leopard.  In fact, he fills 23 oversized web pages full of information on the new Apple Operating System.  That might be more pages of information than even Apple includes with the OS.  That being said, the review is great (OK we’re not even done yet, but it isn’t easy to get through in one sitting).  Read what some consider the definitive review here.

Also this morning, Gizmodo points us to a post on why Apple dropped ZFS from Snow Leopard.  Former Sun employee and storage guru, Robin Harris, postulates that there were licensing issues that prevented Apple from going full bore with ZFS.  While he originally thought there were technology issues keeping ZFS out of Snow Leopard, he now believes that the issue involved the GPL vs CDDL licensing scheme that Sun wanted to use.

The issues revolve around the issue of patent indemnification claims and whether Apple would be vulnerable to claims such as the one NetApp is currently pursuing against Sun.

He believes that Oracle’s takeover of Sun should alleviate those issues in the long run and that ZFS on Snow Leopard is far from dead.  Apple still lists ZFS as one of the Open Source technologies it uses.

As a refresher, ZFS brings many exciting technologies to storage:

• Manage storage, not disks. You can put all your disks in a pool and specify the redundancy level. ZFS takes care of the rest.
• No more silent data corruption.Wonky things can happen to your data to and from a disk. ZFS checksums every file before it is written and stores the checksum on the parent. When the file is read, the checksum tells the filesystem if that is the block it wrote.
• Easy snapshots. Ever wish you could roll back to a known good state? Snapshots make that easy and ZFS makes snapshots easy.
• High performance software RAID built-in. Worried about protecting your data. ZFS provides strong RAID capabilities without adding hardware.
• Transparent compression on the fly. Save capacity by compressing old and/or large files automagically.

Update: Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. released a note to investors this morning saying Jobs was a no-go for the iPod event.  Munster has been historically more accurate than Wu, plus we want to see Jobs doing his thing so we’re going with Munster.

Apple’s now-confirmed special event on September 9th may mark the return to the keynote stage of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster, claims this morning.

In a note to clients the analyst warned investors may not be blown away by the new camera-carrying iPods classic, nano and touch. He believes the iPod segment is slowing, but ignores that iPod touch sales continue to climb (up 130 per cent last quarter y-o-y). He also ignores that the inclusion of video extends iPods into a whole new category of casual digital video cameras, a la Flip.

The analyst thinks the return (if it happens) of Jobs will inspire renewed investor confidence.

Other possible announcements next Wednesday, according to Munster as reported by CNNMoney:

– A new version of iTunes with integrated social networking features.
– Changes to the iTunes Store, including new music features with richer album artwork.
– Expanded TV and movie options on iTunes with more available content and/or better viewing rights for multiple devices.

The analyst yesterday predicted Apple may introduce a cable competing all-you-can-eat TV show subscription service through iTunes to boost the Apple TV.

Munster also predicted Apple will move away from exclusive iPhone deals with carriers in the next year.

It may not be a Beatles line or a Hendrix line (it’s a Stones line) but the September 9th event is now official.  Apple sent invites out to the tech journalist community today. The event will again be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco at 10AM PST.

UPDATE: In keeping with previous years, Apple this morning confirmed there will be a simultaneous European press/industry briefing held in London on the same date, with the keynote presentation streamed via satellite to attendees at the invite-only event.

Remember, 9to5mac will have live coverage (video again hopefully) so come join us for the festivities.  Photo iPods for everyone!  

via Giz

Those cosy exclusive deals between Apple and carriers including AT&T and O2 may be on the way out, as the company seeks to widen market share and regulators ponder the significance of these deals as they examine the business methods of the wireless industries.

We’ve heard plenty of reports suggesting Apple plans to at least partially abandon these exclusive tie-ups.

Doing so makes lots of sense, on the one hand those firms with exclusive distro deals for iPhone seem to attract complaints at the patchiness of their networks; the other reason, of course, is to boost market share of the iPhone. There’s plenty of potential customers out there who just don’t want to be vassal to AT&T or O2, just in order to get hold of an iPhone.

Movement in AT&T’s competitor, Verizon. shares in the last few days has been pretty active, lending support to notions that some industry gossip predicts something from the company. Could this be a September 9 announcement of wider distribution for the iPhone? We don’t think so, but we do see some kind of tablet-laced tie-in in future.

We can’t say for sure, so you’ll have to pop that notion in your air-locked speculation chamber, but it marries sundry rumors, rumors which have legs according to an analyst this morning.

As explained by the beard and Jim Dalrymple this morning, Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster has issued new guidance in which he claims Apple will transition to a multiple carrier model for the iPhone within the next year, “most likely next summer”.

“The multiple carrier scenario is not new for Apple. In France, for example, the company moved from an exclusive arrangement with Orange to a multi-carrier deal. According to Munster, this led to greater success for the iPhone in that country,” Dalrymple notes, observing Apple to have around a 40 per cent market share in France, in contrast to lower numbers in countries currently doomed to exclusive deals with carriers.

It’s around this stage we’d respectfully suggest AT&T begins to emulate Adobe by beginning to put into effect a little more transparency and a better feedback loop (and coverage) for its customers. That’s if it wants to keep the market share gains it acquired from offering the iPhone.

Munster also informs Apple has no plan for a cheap mass market iPhone ever, a $30-40 subscription TV service on iTunes to compete with cable. These nuggets are all available over at Fortune.

We like the Apple TV. We can see a future for it as a games console, running titles originally developed for the iPhone/iPod touch/tablet on your TV; now it looks as if Apple’s working to ramp-up the video it makes available through iTunes to transform its “hobby” into a product to take on cable TV firms.

Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster, has issued new client guidance claiming Apple will liberate its iPhone from carrier exclusive deals in the next 12 months or so. But his research also includes a few fillips for fans of Apple’s set-top box…and these promise even more utility for the millions of owners of these systems.

“We continue to believe that Apple will eventually offer a monthly subscription for iTunes TV shows accessible on Apple TV, iPods, iPhones, and Macs/PCs,” Munster notes.

He also speculates the company may begin offering an all you can eat, watch what you like TV service for a standard monthly fee, which he pegs at $30-40 per month.

“Such a product would effectively replace a consumer’s monthly cable bill (~$85/month) and offer access to current and older episodes of select shows on select channels,” he writes, as noted by Fortune.

The analyst warns that putting the relevant required deals in place may take the iTunes team a while, but posits the suggestion the new purported service will launch with a new version of the Apple TV, or its software, which he somewhat uncertainly slots into a time frame of “within the next year”.

We wonder if Apple will be able to achieve such a nadir, given the impact this might have on sales of DVD box sets of classic series, such as The Prisoner.

Alright, time for a little early morning speculation, but it seems to us the music business is preparing a range of tasty treats designed to fit like lovely snugly gloves around Apple’s rumoured Cocktail music format and the industry’s attempt at the same, CMX.

We know the Beatles have a box set coming through soon (which is picking up lots of pre-release positive murmurings on music industry networks), and we think that release could easily lend itself to Cocktail. Maybe. (We do look forward to testing speculation on or around September 9).

Now Sony is planning a 2010 release of Jimi Hendrix recordings and video, including rare never seen before bootlegs, video clips and unreleased recordings.

The label this morning announced its plans, saying, “Sony Music Entertainment and Experience Hendrix have agreed to a monumental catalog licensing deal to set the stage for a worldwide campaign to make all of Jimi’s extraordinary music, including classics, never before heard archive recordings, and filmed concerts available through every type of media.”

Much as we despise the expression, “key takeaway”, the key takeaway hidden in there is the “every type of media” comment. Could this hint a Cocktail/CMX release containing all manner of legendary Hendrix content? (We also think little of the word, “content’, by the way, as it seems to us it implicitly reduces the value of creative expression to something to wrap ads around).

Cocktail/CMX are new digital music formats championed by Apple and the majors (respectively) which are designed to boost album sales by combining digital music files with video, lyric sheets, artwork, imagery and all sorts of additional digital materials. Effectively the described Jimi Hendrix collection seems well-set for release in this new format, though conceivably you’ll be able to buy the music in so-called “normal” digital formats too.

Moving along, the release explains, “Legacy Recordings, Sony’s catalog music division, will issue definitive deluxe editions of the classics released during Jimi’s all too brief career including GRAMMY Hall Of Fame Inductees "Are You Experienced", "Axis: Bold As Love", "Electric Ladyland" and (outside the US) "Band of Gypsys." In addition, Legacy will also release those posthumous compilations produced by Experience Hendrix during its stewardship. Each title will also be available through major Digital Service Providers.”

So Apple should be selling it then. Adding a little grist to the Cocktail rumour-mill.

Signing off, we think it appropriate to broadcast some of the praise for the work of Hendrix contained in the press release, mainly because his work is and was that special.

"Jimi’s legacy and vision were unique and there will never be another that reaches his unparalleled genius. He was the greatest guitarist ever," said Janie Hendrix, President and CEO of Experience Hendrix. "We are confident that our new relationship with Sony Music will honor my beloved brother’s legacy and will deliver Jimi’s special ‘Message Of Love’ across the globe. We look forward to the creative partnership and ground breaking releases that this new relationship will engender to bring Jimi’s music to successive generations of fans."

"No artist has ever transformed the pop music landscape as profoundly or as permanently as Jimi Hendrix," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "We are proud to be partnering with Experience Hendrix, keeping the sound and spirit of Jimi’s music alive for future generations around the world."

Summing up, it would be no great surprise to us if the new digital album formats, Cocktail and CMX, were to be used to offer digital versions of this all new Jimi Hendrix Multimedia Experience.

Have a gratuitous Hendrix clip on the house…

Twitter may suffer from hack attacks and have no clear ‘monetisation’ strategy just yet, despite its huge user base, but Mac users now have an all-new thing they can do with their Twitter account – remote control of their Mac…

Ever wanted to get a quick and dirty picture of your office taken by your Mac when you’re not at home to help with pet care and security and so on? Or perhaps you’ve gone away and forgot to shut down your computer? Well, TweetMyMac (the cousin of TweetMyPC) has landed and the beta can do some of these things.

You use TweetMyMac to send commands to your Mac over the web, from a remote computer or a mobile phone.

Install the app and connect it to your Twitter account (worth setting up a special private account for this) and you can send your Mac commands via Twitter. The utility checks your tweets, and if one containing a command is detected it will put that action into effect.

There’s numerous useful commands you can send, including Shutdown and Sleep. You can also get the Mac to take a screenshot of what apps are running on it at the time, with the image then uploaded to TwitPic.

We think the iSight command’s the best one, just send the command and your Mac will take a picture of what/who is in front of it using the built-in iSight camera. That image is also uploaded to TwitPic (quite handy if someone’s made off with your Mac, potentially – perhaps Apple should extend its Find My iPhone feature to help find lost/stolen Macs also?)

The software’s in beta right now, but we felt it suitably interesting for inclusion here, given the Twitter meme that’s burning up our digital planet right now.