9to5 Staff

Fixes a small (we say small because not much was heard of it) bug in which SD video wouldn’t display on an external display on new Unibody MacBooks.

Now how about HD? Guess there is always Plex…

Plex.app hits .71 release this week and continues its ascent to the top of the Apple media center world.  Sure, Frontrow is blessed by Apple.  Boxee has lifted the same XBMC code and gone a different direction.  But, as far as fully funtioning Media Centers go, Plex.app is easily the best, and getting better fast.

This latest update adds support for Aperture library browsing (iPhoto and iTunes has been supported for months).  Not just your Aperture either…but any Aperture out there on the Internet so long as everyone is using Plex.  Support for Adobe’s Lightroom is also on the way.

Recent features include the ability to open any application from Plex’s interface (including FrontRow), iTunes visualizers and playback of DRM tracks from the iTunes store and Sparkle software updates.

 

Plex Media server, another recent update,  is a standalone program that runs alongside Plex (or alone on any machine, it’s a Universal Binary). It serves up media from your iLife applications and Aperature/Lightroom. Plex communicates with the Plex Media Server on the local machine, on your local network, or even across the world over the Internet. This means that you can play your friends’ iTunes playlists or browse their podcasts or photo albums.

The list really goes on and on.  Plex is everything you’d want in a media center including the ability to browse folders on any system and play just about any type of audio or video file.  Plex isn’t bound by any of the studio deals or format wars Apple software is limited to.

The release can be downloaded via Sparkle (updates), HTTP, or torrent, or built from source.

 

 

It looks like our hunch was right.  Not only Sony, but Warner and Universal are slowly populating their iTunes with DRM free, high quality tracks.  No official word from Apple yet…but it is Tuesday.  Click here to see the goods.

Update: IT looks like the functionality has been removed.  But for how long?

 

According to Paul McCartney, who is obviously not too tied up with this stuff, the Beatles aren’t yet close to showing up on the iTunes Music Store.  That being said, he acknowledged that there were indeed negotiations between Apple Corps/EMI and Apple, Inc.  And they are continuing.  Sort of.  He’s not too bothered:

"We’d like to do it," McCartney was quoted as telling the BBC on its website on Tuesday. "We are very for it, we’ve been pushing it. But there are a couple of sticking points, I understand.

"Last word I got back was it’s stalled at the moment," McCartney added. "But I really hope it will happen because I think it should." 

McCartney said that EMI, which has acted as the distributor for the Beatles since the early 1960s, "want something we’re not prepared to give ’em.

"It’s between EMI and The Beatles I think — what else is new?"

The solo catalogues of all four members of The Beatles are available digitally, and fans are keen for the group, the most successful in pop music history, to follow suit.

"We have been working hard to secure agreement with Apple Corps to make the Beatles’ legendary recording catalog available to fans in digital form," said a spokeswoman for EMI.

"Unfortunately, the various parties involved have been unable to reach agreement, but we really hope everyone can make progress soon."

It would seem that most of the people waiting for the Beatles to go digital would have already used alternative means to put their CDs or LPs on iTunes and that holding out for an official Beatles release is becoming less and less of a priority.

Apple today debuted a new ad campaign touting the new MacBooks’ environmental friendliness.  Even though Apple has been making great strides in its eco-friendliness, Greenpeace is still complaining that Apple could be doing better and that other electronics companies have a better record on the environment than Apple. 

From Apple:

Click to see the full sized video

 The new MacBook family embodies Apple’s continuing environmental commitment. Each new MacBook is designed with the following features to reduce its environmental footprint:

• Arsenic-free glass
• Mercury-free LED-backlit display
• Brominated flame retardant-free internal components
• PVC-free internal cables
• Highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure
• Up to 41 percent smaller packaging
  

More below

 

This one is mostly for bugfixes but we’ve heard reports of excess snappienes™

Great news for y’all out there trying to get your flicks onto your iPod.  Open Source Handbrake now accepts just about any type of file for input.  That means DIVX AVI’s, WMF’s and ASF files are all fair game for iPod users.  Ironically, for legal reasons, you can no longer natively encode DVD’s (the previous main reason for Handbrake).  You’ll need the assistance of VLC, which any self respecting Mac video user already has on their machine. 

See it in action below.  Note that it is a speed burner on the new Unibody MacBooks operating at about the same speed as Quicktime Pro – which it largely renders irrelevant.  It also has some great batch conversion functionality which can convert "whole seasons" of AVI’s into iPod compatible MP4’s in just minutes.

Download it here for Intel or PowerPC

via TUAW

 

We knew the new iPod touch had its processor cranked a bit higher (500MHz vs. 412MHz) than its predecessor and the results prove it.  The reason for Apple cranking up the juice on the iPod touch vs. the other devices (including older iPod touches) is still unknown but Apple appears to be intent on distinguishing otherwise almost identical hardware with software changes.  The iPod touch appears to be a gaming device first while losing other capabilities for navigation…

 

At the same time as giving the device more ooomph, the latest firmware is denying iPod touch users one of the major features of the 2.2 firmware, Google Streetmaps.  It was purposely disabled (because of the accounting – you have to pay for features?).  Not to worry jaibreakers, You can enable it again fairly easily.

Will we continue to see the lines diverge?

via engadget

That took a litlte longer than 24 hours but it’s a weekend so we’ll give the Pwnage crew a break.  There is now a jailbreak for the new 2.2 version of the iPhone and iPod touch. 

Of note, the 2.2 software updated the baseband on the 3G iPhone and the Dev team warns against Pwnage the regular old way on this one as you’ll upgrade the iPhone 3G to the new, less hackable baseband.  Instead, they’ve put together a plan which gives iPhone 3G owners a way to enjoy 2.2 Jailbroken without updating the baseband. 

What’s best for the Dev team is best for us.  Hopefully none of the reported problems with 2.2 pop up for you jailbreakers out there.

 

We’re not sure exactly why this matters.  We guess in two-three years when your battery is pretty much dead, this could be a concern…but apparently, running your MacBook/Pro without the battery will cause it to run one third slower.   Who knew?  Who cares?  Why are you running your Macbook/Pro without the battery in it?  Is this a common occurrence out there that we don’t know about?

Possible reasons for this include:

• spikes in processor usage cause more power to be consumed than the AC adapter can provide causing power outages
• someone at Apple is messing with the .0001% of the population that pulls their battery out of their laptop before using

 

 

What gives Apple?  BDEmailer (iTunes link) goes up against Apple’s own Mail program on the iPhone in writing emails.  While it is only part of an email solution, it is very similar to podcaster which bettered the iPod application in downloading podcasts.  Poscaster still relied on the apple application to play the files.  BdEmailer relies on Mail.app to send the emails. 

That’s a big negatory usually and often is cited for Apps rejections.  Is this thing a ‘NetShare type incident’ that slipped through and will be pulled any moment now?  If so, get it while the gettin’ is good.

From their website:

Tired of struggling to type on the iPhone’s tiny keyboard? Why isn’t there a landscape option for working with emails?  Why can’t you save emails in progress or see your sent history? 

With BdEmailer you can:

• NEW and EXCITING — quick responses DIRECTLY from BdEmailer

• NEW — more intuitive layout

• NEW — can select subject or message ONLY

• NEW — you can now add signatures

• Type an email in either Portrait or Landscape mode

• You can work off-line on emails and store them as drafts

• See your Draft History

• You can search saved Drafts and Favorites

• You can store multiple address for group emails

• You can make any saved message a Favorite

• You can change the type size for easier writing

• Automatically saves your sent emails in a searchable history file

• You can reuse the message body or message addresses for repeated use

Apple’s iPhone Email is a basic application that only lets you address, compose, and send emails.  BdEmailer has all the functionality of the iPhone’s email application and adds many missing components. 

One of the unique features is the ability to send direct responses via SMTP directly form inside of BdEmailer.  There are dozens of already created responses by category to choose from.

BdEmailer adds the ability to use multiple email addresses, save any number of working email as a draft or favorite or recall stored replies instead of re-typing a response. 

Many of us respond to the same recipients or get asked the same questions requiring us to re-type the same message again and again on the iPhone Email.  Unfortunately, the iPhone doesn’t have the ability to store messages for reuse.  BdEmailer allows you to search and recall Drafts or Favorites dramatically improving your productivity.

If you are a power email user, BdEmailer is for you.

All this for only $0.99 US.

Note: A WiFi or Cell connection is required to send emails with BdEmailer, but not to create and store emails.

Lost in the news of iPhone Firmware 2.2 is another update from Apple that addresses the pro applications. A general update was released for all the apps, alongside updated versions of Final Cut Pro, Shake, Compressor, and Color.

While this is all fine and dandy, as a Final Cut user myself, I can’t help but wondering when the next real update to Final Cut Studio will come. Apple dropped out of NAB this year, and there hasn’t been any news at all regarding Final Cut Studio 3 for as long as I can remember. Hopefully they have something great in store for us in the near future.

Click here for more specific details.

 

OK sorry to Woz bash…here’s his latest BBC interview that is pretty interesting.

Via the Dr.

 

Update: OK go for it!

While we are excited to get our hands on things like Google Street View and Podcast direct downloads (no push notifications?!), the iPhone Dev Team warns us that upgrading an EDGE OR 3G iPhone to 2.2 will break the jailbreak and activation.  They expect to have an update out shortly to adress this. 

Now that we’ve performed our civic duty to warn jailbreakers, let’s look at what the new update has in store for us:

Those Swedes.  Meatballs, IKEA furniture, and now iPhone MMS applications.  You might have heard of Swirly MMS, right?  It is the jailbroken iPhone MMS that a lot of us have been using to communicate with our Luddite (Travis – this is you) friends who don’t use email for camera phone pictures.  Where is it from?  Sweden! of course.  But it is a rogue jailbroken application.  Booo!

Fast forward a year and another SWEDISH company called Mobispine has an iPhone MMS application.   This time they are taking it legit with a white label app that they are trying to sell to the big telcos.  They have a totally different name and different logo and even a new business plan and have nothing to do with those rogue Swirly guys from Gothenburg.  Sweden is a huge place and there could totally be two seperate MMS iPhone development teams operating independently from one another there…

Oops – from the great minds think alike category, Aviv sent us this post from a few days back…

 

The Press release:

Stockholm, Sweden, November 19 2008 – Mobispine AB (MOBS) the market leader in delivering mobile solutions to operators announced the availability of the world’s first true Multimedia Messaging (MMS) for iPhone. Mobispine is now offering a “white label” MMS service for iPhone to global operators. This new and innovative service will increase revenue per user (ARPU) and generate profits for operators. “Mobispine continues its strong track record of innovation and is proud to unveil the first true MMS service for iPhones. We are confident that global operators will find Mobispine’s MMS service for iPhone easy-to- use and profitable,” said Dusyant Patel, CEO, Mobispine. “This new offering will help operators generate revenue and differentiate their offerings in a highly competitive market.” The ability to send, receive and forward MMS from any iPhone offers operators the opportunity to drive sales, increase messaging usage and improve subscriber retention. Additionally, by providing a value-added service that end-users find useful, operators can increase customer loyalty and recognition as the brand is displayed on the user’s phone. The application will be branded for each operator and distributed via the Apple Appstore. For the end-user, MMS on iPhone enables easy, convenient and cost-effective communication with colleagues, friends and family. Users can easily create a new MMS and attach a picture from an album on the phone or simply take a new snapshot with the camera. The application is integrated with the iPhone’s contacts for easy access. Some of the key features for end-users include the ability to easily send and receive messages from iPhone to any phone with a native and intuitive user interface. The application also offers the ability to capture a picture via the iPhone camera or the option to select from existing photos.

Tomorrow is November 21st, and if the Greeks are to be believed, we will see iPhone Firmware 2.2 appear in iTunes within the next 30 hours. Some of the expected features include Google Street View, a horribly redesigned Safari menu bar, new languages, Japanese Emoji, Line-in audio, and best of all, direct downloading of podcasts to the phone. While the common gripes like Copy/Paste and MMS probably wont be addressed, these are definitely welcome additions, and if we see further bug fixes to go along with these new features, I’m sure a lot of people will be pleased. 

Apple released iTunes 8.0.2 today, and while it only addressed a few bugs, it’s very likely that it was released in order to support the forthcoming 2.2 iPhone update.

Tomorrow is the Greek Orthodox holiday of the presentation of the Virgin Mary into the temple. Let’s hope tomorrow also is the presentation of firmware 2.2 into our iPhones.

Tomorrow is November 21st, and if the Greeks are to be believed, we will see iPhone Firmware 2.2 appear in iTunes within the next 30 hours. Some of the expected features include Google Street View, a horribly redesigned Safari menu bar, new languages, Japanese Emoji, Line-in audio, and best of all, direct downloading of podcasts to the phone. While the common gripes like Copy/Paste and MMS probably wont be addressed, these are definitely welcome additions, and if we see further bug fixes to go along with these new features, I’m sure a lot of people will be pleased.

Tomorrow is the Greek Orthodox holiday of the presentation of the Virgin Mary into the temple. Let’s hope tomorrow also is the presentation of firmware 2.2 into our iPhones.

Browsing through Apple’s clearance page, I came across one item of particular interest, the previous generation MacBook Air. As you probably know, the air is normally priced at 1799, which in my opinion is way too high considering what you get. However, Apple is now offering the previous generation MacBook air for only 1399, completely new in box. The only difference between the previous generation model and the current generation model are the graphics and Displayport (if you don’t have a Displayport monitor, this may actually be an advantage). 1399 for the air is much more reasonable, and is how I feel it should have been priced in the first place. 

To go buy it, click here.

I don’t know what to say. I am livid. 

Not only has Apple charged me $100 to use my 30 inch screen with my Unibody MacBook, but the adapter is huge and takes a USB port for power.  Oh, and there was a one month wait for these parts initially.  Also, the way this technology works, I can’t use a regular DVI adapter on a 30 inch monitor.  If I try, I get the same resolution as on my MacBook’s built-in display, not normal 1920×1200 resolution that the normal DVI supports.  WTF.

OK, whatever.  I am over it.  It should come any day now right?  Wrong!  In a letter that could have been worded by the Grinch, Apple wrote to tell me and probably many others (below) that my Dual Link DVI Adapter wouldn’t be shipping until Dec 23.  That is over two months past when the MacBooks were shipped! Great news, we’ll all be on Christmas vacation by then. 

Unacceptable Apple.  UNACCEPTABLE!!!

 

 

 

 

Oh, and fanboys?  Light me up, I can’t wait…I have the alert on ready

Apple tonight posted the version 2.3 ?TV software update.  While the updates (below) are somewhat substantial, the million dollar question is: did it kill Boxee?  (Answer Yes it did!)  Don’t upgrade  if you want to keep your Boxee!

In addition we are hearing reports that:

 

• ?TV v2.3 fixes soft subtitles display. It no longer cuts them off and properly displays multiple lines.
• It has newly added rentals and newly added purchases under movies.  As well as Recently Played, Highest Rated, and video playlists.
  
• added proper hd logos to user encoded movies as well
• Volume works with music videos, not just audio files.

  With volume control, and improved streaming artwork with the last Remote App update, I will use Apple TV as my server, and not my iMac in my office. Now, when I have parties, I can use my iPhone and friends can use the little white remote. There won’t be any confusion/mess. And it can play in my bedroom with Airpot Express and my bookshelf speakers.

  Downside:

  I’ve lost a "zone", since my iMac can’t act as a client to Apple TV. Not a big deal, but I hope they add this in an iTunes update 

 

According to a court filing in the Psystar v. Apple lawsuit, Apple, Inc. has no corporate-wide policy on electronic document retention — something one e-document expert told The Industry Standard was "negligent."

Employees could have emails from 5 years ago that become "potentially relevant", but because there was no policy in place regarding e-documents, those records could easily become destroyed — making it potentially impossible for a plaintiff to make a case from internal documents.

One lawyer told me "that kind of crap could really get them in trouble."

Get the rest of the story from The Standard.