Today marks 70 years since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the catalyst for America leaping into World War Two. A rather somber day of remembrance for many of us, but the tech world isn’t about to stop, with no less than three major App Store events on top of a couple of juicy Apple product rumors as well. Let’s have a moment of silence for the 2,403 lost on that fateful day, then dive into what’s making tech news on this Wednesday, December 7, 2011.
We’re quite used to seeing iPhone/iPod touch apps go universal and add native iPad support, but more and more we’re starting to see the reverse take place. Case in point: A new version 1.7 update to formerly iPad-only “personalized magazine” reader Flipboard, which brings all the fun into the palm of your hand by adding iPhone and iPod touch compatibility. The free update also includes a new Cover Stories mode for the iPhone, which selects interesting articles and photos “and it gets smarter every time you use it.” (The feature is promised as “coming soon” to the iPad.) The app also boasts some significant speed increases and Flipboard accounts will help keep your favorites synced between devices. And hey, it even got a nod of approval from Apple VP Phil Schiller on Twitter earlier today, which caused a surge of traffic that immediately collapsed the whole deck of cards. Things are getting back to normal, so grab that iPhone 3GS/third-geniPod touch or higher and install — but make sure you have iOS 4.0 or later first.
Forbes is reporting on some next-generation Apple television speculation which just so happens to line up with one of our predictions many moons ago. According to Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair, the next version of the iMac coming in 2012 may actually include current Apple TV technology as well as traditional television features. The analyst theorizes “pushing the largest screen sizes of the iMac toward the TV market by integrating Apple TV and iCloud features into a slimmer all-in-one PC with TV capabilities” might be just the ticket. Of course, Apple would have to expand the screens well beyond the maximum of 27 inches we currently enjoy before anyone would be interested, but it’s an intriguing concept. Wouldn’t it be funny if all this speculation lately about an Apple television was simply a new iMac with a TV inside…?
Game-crazy iOS device owners just got a little love from Microsoft, courtesy of the new My Xbox LIVE app. The free, universal 17.4MB download just hit the App Store today and promises to “take your Xbox LIVE experience wherever you go.” Among the app’s many talents is the ability to track and compare achievements, connect with Xbox LIVE friends, change up your 3D Avatar, review recent games and of course, jump into the games hub to learn about the latest LIVE games and apps. If that’s not enough, the app also promises to “access Xbox Spotlight feeds, get breaking news from Xbox LIVE, game tips and tricks, gamer spotlight and much more.” So what are you waiting for?
No real revelations here, but AppleInsider is reporting that the next iPad will be “slightly thicker” than the iPad 2 while retaining the same 9.7-inch screen size as well as support for its Magnetic Cover. According to Macotakara, the reason for the thicker model is unknown, but it’s widely expected that Apple will introduce some form of Retina Display into the next model, which likely requires a little bit more breathing room inside. That decision will likely cause some chaos for third-party case manufacturers who create products to cover the back of the iPad, which is said to retain “the same rounded side as the iPad 2.”
If you happened to be up late on Tuesday night, you might have seen an update to iBooks pop up in the App Store, bringing Apple’s e-book reader and storefront to version 1.5. So what does the free, universal 20.7MB update include? Glad you asked. Late-night readers will be pleased to hear that a nighttime reading theme is now included to make “reading books in the dark easier on the eyes,” with a full-screen layout lets you focus on the words without the distraction of those pretty graphics. iBooks now features an improved selection of fonts along with “beautiful new classic covers for public domain books” and “a redesigned annotation palette” which claims to make it easier to choose a text highlighting color. It all works for us!
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If you’re running Mac OS X 10.6.7 on a 2011 iMac, you may have noticed some graphics glitches going on. Don’t worry, Apple took notice too and released a small firmware update to help out!
Some of the issues that would arise from the glitch would be a white screen during startup, which could cause your Mac to go unresponsive, or vertical lines would show up on the screen while in use. According to the release notes:
This firmware update fixes an issue that in rare cases may cause an iMac to hang during startup or waking from sleep. Do not shut off the power on your iMac during this update. Loss of power could result in your iMac failing to start up.
You can get the standalone iMac Graphic FW Update 2.0 (700KB size) if you’ve been experiencing some of the above issues on your mid-2011 iMac, or check out Software Update from the Apple menu and then following the onscreen instructions from there.
via 9 to 5 Mac
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In case you didn’t hear, Apple released new iMacs on Tuesday, which can only mean one thing: iFixIt Teardown! Or as the company puts it, they sharpened their suction cups (two of them, in fact) and dove in.
iFixIt has posted the requisite teardown photos from the latest 21.5-inch iMac that Apple released only yesterday. The new model, EMC 2428, scored a “very respectable” seven out of 10 on the company’s “Repairability Scale,” with the iMac getting cracked open (by way of two medium-sized suction cups) in the same manner as previous generations.
According to the teardown, RAM replacement is easy for the casual user, with the hard drive and optical drive being “moderately difficult.” If you’re looking to replace the CPU or GPU, you’ll have to first remove the logic board, a tricky process intended only for “adventurous users” — not to mention those willing to void their warranty with Apple. (That may or many not include the iFixIt team, as you can see from the image above.)
Other highlights from the teardown include the discovery that the LED display is manufactured by LG, model number LM215WF3 — the exact same display used in the previous generation iMac of the same size. The Thunderbolt port nearly matches the one found in the latest 15-inch MacBook Pro as well.
If you’re aiming to buy with the optional SSD, you may be interested to learn that the unit appears to be installed under the optical drive — the only space where the iFixIt team found something was clearly missing, although they note that the SSD option is only available on the 2.7GHz model.
The remainder of the iFixIt teardown didn’t reveal anything too crazy or new, but you can get a glimpse of the gory details for yourself by heading over to their website.
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(Images courtesy of iFixIt)
Once again, the rumor mill has gotten the better of Apple. As widely reported in the last week, Cupertino has released a refresh of their iMac line on Tuesday, complete with quad-core Intel Sandy Bridge processors, beefed-up AMD Radeon HD graphics and the new Thunderbolt I/O.
Apple announced Tuesday that its signature all-in-one iMac computer has been refreshed for 2011. Starting at ,199, the new iMac is up to 70 percent faster thanks to next-generation quad-core processors, with powerful new graphics delivering up to three times the performance of the previous generation. The new iMac line also gets a FaceTime HD camera as well as the latest Thunderbolt I/O technology as well.
“Our customers love the iMac’s aluminum enclosure, gorgeous display and all-in-one design,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With next generation quad-core processors, powerful new graphics, Thunderbolt technology and a FaceTime HD camera, we’ve made the world’s best desktop even better.”
The iMac now features a quad-core Intel “Sandy Bridge” Core i5 processor, with customers having the option of choosing a Core i7 processor at speeds up to 3.4GHz. Thanks to the new AMD Radeon HD graphics processors, the new iMac touts the most powerful graphics ever in an all-in-one desktop.
Perhaps the biggest news is the inclusion of Thunderbolt, the new I/O technology that Intel and Apple first debuted on the MacBook Pro back in February. While the 21.5-inch iMac comes with a single Thunderbolt port, the new 27-inch model features a pair of them — meaning it’s more than ready for all of the cool peripherals about to be unleashed this sunny summer.
Finally, the new iMac includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera and comes standard with FaceTime software for crisp, widescreen video calling the whole family can enjoy. You’ll be able to ring up family and friends in high definition with other FaceTime HD-enabled Macs, or in standard definition with the iPad 2, iPhone 4, fourth-generation iPod touch and other Intel-based Macs.
The new 21.5-inch iMac starts at ,119, with the base model 27-inch iMac starting at ,699. Apple’s online store is currently showing ship times “within 24 hours” for all models, so what are you waiting for?
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If you happen to be having problems booting up your mid-2010 model iMac, Apple may have a solution for you in the guise of the iMac Hard Drive Firmware Update 1.0 — provided that you have the exact model that it’s capable of patching.
Apple released the iMac Hard Drive Firmware Update 1.0 on Monday, a seemingly modest 767KB download aimed at solving some booting problems for certain iMac models from last year’s lineup.
“This firmware update fixes a hard drive issue that may prevent some iMac (21.5-inch and 27-inch, Mid 2010) systems from booting properly,” reads the awesomely brief note on Apple’s support website.
In addition to having the correct screen size, you’ll also need Mac OS X 10.6.7 installed — and apparently, there’s some other mysterious requirement as well. We tried the firmware patch on our 27-inch iMac Core i7 and got the following not so helpful alert:
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Anyone else have any luck applying Apple’s latest iMac fix? Did it resolve any booting issues you may have had? Sound off in the comments.
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