COMPUTERWORLD: We’ll see the reality in a few hours, but there’s already some insight into what to expect from Apple’s new Mac App Store when it opens at 12 (noon) Eastern today. Critically, it’s likely we’ll see iOS developers port their apps at App Store prices, while existing Mac developers attempt to maintain classic pricing levels. (Image above is the holding page, thx to RFly.)
It appears that an upcoming update to Skype will allow iPhone and iPod touch users to video chat with desktop Skype users or other iPhones (an iPod touch 3rd Gen) users with Skype installed. Skype hasn’t released the software just yet but maybe they have a Christmas surprise?
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Apple has informed developers of applications and widgets on Apple’s downloads website that the site will be closing down come January 6th when the Mac App Store opens for business. Apple believes that the Mac App Store will truly be the best place to get Mac apps and this is another indication of that. One feature the downloads site has is access to Dashboard widgets. No word on whether the Mac App Store will be home to dashboard widgets and if not, Apple should think about leaving that portion up online.
Thank you for making the Mac OS X Download site a great destination with apps that offer users new ways to work, play, learn, and create on their Mac. We recently announced that on January 6, 2011, the Mac App Store will open to users around the world, presenting you with an exciting, new opportunity to reach millions of customers. Since the introduction of the App Store in 2008, we’ve been thrilled with the incredible support from developers and the enthusiastic response from users. Now we’re bringing the revolutionary experience of the App Store to Mac OS X. Because we believe the Mac App Store will be the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download your apps, we will no longer offer apps on the Mac OS X Downloads site. Instead, beginning January 6, we will be directing users to explore the range of apps available on the Mac App Store. We appreciate your support of the Mac platform and hope you’ll take advantage of this new opportunity to showcase your apps to even more users. To learn how you can offer your apps on the Mac App Store, visit the Apple Developer website at <http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/>.
Apple this morning confirmed it intends opening its Mac App Store on Thursday, January 6.
The store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature both paid and free apps in various categories.
“The App Store revolutionized mobile apps,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can’t wait to get started on January 6.”
Oh and Devs? You need to submit apps by Dec 31 to be in the grand opening.
Press Release follows:
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Good morning, while I apologize to our US readers as Spotify isn’t available in your area yet, for European 9to5Mac visitors news that Spotify has updated its applications for OS X, iPhone (and Windows) could be interesting.
The new version introduces the customary bug fixes, but also adds support for Mac media keys without interfering with iTunes. The new version also supports auto-play for all track links when clicked on from Twitter, Facebook, feed, etc. Existing users will see their install automatically updated in the coming days.
The big news is for iPhone users,
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We’ve come across an interesting Apple job listing today noting the different operating systems which power Apple’s North Carolina data center. The most interesting system mentioned is Mac OS X. With Xserves on the way out is Apple really stacking the place up with Mac Pro/Mac Mini server machines? Not bloody likely!
Our data center environment consists of Mac OS X, IBM/AIX, Sun/Solaris, and Linux systems. Though this position is focused primarily on Red Hat Linux and Oracle Enterprise Linux, you should also understand SAN, RAID, file system, and IP networking technology.
So the question is: Is Mac OS X running on Macs (old Xserves?) or is it running virtualized on data center hardware? We’d heard some rumblings of such a virtualized Mac OSX running on vSphere a few months ago. Such a setup would make sense in this situation.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQg046aoV9Y&w=640&h=390]
For those of us who still use a Mac Mini (or other Mac) as a MediaCenter connected to our TVs, today’s hack from Erica Sadun is a blessing. She created a Mac Application that can catch Airplay from iOS devices and output the video on the screen. For all intents, AirPlayer lets your Mac do what an AppleTV does naturally.
You can download the Macintosh Application, called AirPlayer.app here.
The interesting question is: Does Apple want us doing this? They make much more money selling Minis (and other Macs) than they do on AppleTV units. However, it would seem easy enough for Apple to include this type of Application with Mac OSX. So why does Sadun have to build it instead? Are we in for another cat and mouse chase?
(update: it is a .01 release and we did have some trouble getting it to work with a YouTube video over wifi)
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