Accessories, Apple, Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac

Accessory of the week: Philips Fidelio SoundSphere AirPlay Speakers

For those moments when you wish you were right next to the stage at your favorite pop concert, Philips Fidelio SoundSphere AirPlay Speakers comes in handy and provides an outstanding quality of the sound; so if you were to close your eyes, there would be no difference between a live concert and one right on the sofa.

The device is worth being mentioned especially for the free-standing AirPlay speakers with a floating tweeter, that practically distributes sound all around the chamber with such an amaizing clarity. Wit the AirPlay feature, one does not need anymore to dock the device but merely place it anywhere in the room because it plays wirelessly from the iTunes app. So one may move from one place or another and still experience an outstanding quality of the sound.

The unusual design and the shape of the enclosure mix in a perfect way as to let behind any trace of distortion and provide genuine sounds. The accessory is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV and Mac. For $799.95, one can take possession of Philips Fidelio SoundSphere AirPlay Speakers right from Apple Store.

Highlights and features:

  • Fidelio SoundSphere free-floating tweeter technology for wider sound-stage and incredibly life-like sound
  • Real wood cabinets handcrafted to optimize their acoustic properties and deliver natural, life-like audio
  • Positioning the tweeter outside of the speaker cabinet enhances stereo imaging and expands the listening “sweet spot”
  • Advanced audio crossover circuits and handcrafted wood cabinets to more accurately reproduce voices and instruments
  • Precisely tuned rear bass ports provide deep, tight bass reproduction
  • AirPlay technology lets you stream music from your iPod touch, iPhone, iPad or directly from iTunes on your computer on your existing wi-fi network
  • 100W RMS total output power
  • AUX-in jack for easy connection to almost any electronic device
  • Compatible with the free Philips Fidelio app that provides lots of useful additional features
  • Includes charging cradle and wireless remote

 

Apple, iPad, iPhone, Mac, News/Rumors

iPhone sales in 2011 exceeded the number of Macs sold in 28 years

Asymco quotes Tim Cook in the attempt of revealing the success of Apple iOS devices:

To put it in context, it took us 22 years to sell 55 million Macs. It took us about 5 years to sell 22 million iPods, and it took us about 3 years to sell that many iPhones. And so, this thing is, as you said, it’s on a trajectory that’s off the charts.

According to the research chart, the iPhone chuckles over success and remains first on top in people’s choice when it comes to Apple gadgets.  iPhones, iPads and iPods touch, all gathered have reached 316 million at the end of 2011. Although the iPhone was launched 4 years ago, it managed to sell that many devices that outrun the number of all the Macs ever sold.

Apple, Mac, News/Rumors

Apple’s OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

Rumors state that this summer a bunch of new features will be added  to the Mac operating system, OS X Mountain Lion. Major features include Messages (which is said to replace iChat), Reminders, Notes, Game Center, Airplay Mirroring, Gatekeeper, Share sheets, Notification Center and iCloud.

Apple Store describes it as inspired by iPad and re-imagined for Mac. Also, with the new update, Apple’s desktop operating system is now simply called OS X, so from now on Apple will be used when refering to hardware products while OS X goes for the software.

OS X Mountain Lion comes with Reminders and Notes to simplify the user’s work. Reminders are meant to gather all important events from one’s life and make sure the user doesn’t miss a single one; deadlines and alerts will remind one if something that mustn’t be missed is soon to take place.

What is really outstanding is that the latest operating system for Mac provides Notification Center that keeps the user in touch with the rest of the world. It pops up messages, calendar and friend request on the desktop for a short period of time.

Apple, Mac, News/Rumors

The New York Times gets from Apple the same treatment that Gizmodo got

Apple ceased to send Gizmodo invitations to its media events since the iPhone 4 scandal, when a stolen prototype of the device got into Gizmodo’s possession; instead of returning it to the company, the blog thoroughly described the device, unveiling Apple’s future product.

It happen the same to The New York Times; the editorial was not invited at the prerelease presentation of OS X Mountain Lion. Apple sent invitations to all media, starting with great editorials and ending with popular IT blogs, and even to independent bloggers.

The New York Times published an article in which an anonymous Apple executive claimed that the company is indifferent to the horrible working conditions in China factories:

“We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on,” “Why? Because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”

Tim Cook talked about the scathing allegations in a letter for the workers and said that

“some people are questioning Apple’s values today,” “any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us.”  

If the Times will receive or not an invitation from Apple to a future media event is not that important because the editorial already gained a bad reputation and made a fool out of itself as its report about the prerelease “hit the web late.”

Source: AppleInsider

Apple, Mac

AirPlay Mirroring on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

With the new update for the OS X operating system, the AirPlay Mirroring feature on iOS devices will also be available for Mac. Just use the feature with an Apple TV to witness the computer’s screen on a television.

The idea is not new on the market; the iPad has been chuckling over success for quite a while with displaying everything that is happening on the gadget straight on the television. Again there is the proof that OS X Mountain Lion seeks to get closer to iOS features.

AirPlay Mirrorring practically transmits websites, videos and applications from the computer to an HDTV connected to an Apple TV. What is more appealing is that is requires no cables or adapters for making the transmissions possible.

Mac, News/Rumors

Messages beta for Mac available to download

The new cross-platform Mac Messages application for iOS it will be a great feature for the upcoming OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion which is set to be released this summer. But for those curious and impatient users, the early beta version is now available to download for free, directly from Apple’s site.

“When you install Messages, it replaces iChat,” Apple said. “But iChat services will continue to work. And Messages brings iMessage to the Mac – just like on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 5.”

This beta version requires the latest version of Lion, OS X 10.7.3.  According to Apple, the Messages features list is:

  • Send unlimited iMessages to any Mac, iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
  • Start an iMessage conversation on your Mac and continue it on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
  • Send photos, videos, attachments, contacts, locations, and more.
  • Launch a FaceTime video call and bring the conversation face-to-face.
  • Messages supports iMessage, AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, and Jabber accounts.

With this application, Apple is making big steps in obtaining cross device compatibility, having Mac OS X and iOS fusing to form a unified OS.

Apple, Mac, News/Rumors

Messages on OS X Mountain Lion


Messages is practically iChat 6.o renamed and allows users to connect to AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk and Jabber. Everyone can download for free the new application in the beta version from Apple.  They said users must experience “a taste of what’s coming in OS X Mountain Lion” for waiting eagerly for the new operating system to be launched.

Just like iOS devices, now Mac has come with the possibility of sending photos, videos, documents and contacts. Apple seeks to make everything more close to the iOS app so there exists a bond between Mac and iOS users. That’s one of the main reasons of Mac’s attempt to experience Notes, Calendar and Contacts.

iMessages permits connection with the iOS 5 gadgets  so if you establish a conversation on your Mac and are in a hurry, you can very easily keep it up on your iPhone or iPad. FaceTime is not replaced by Messages, it allows switching to it right in Messages for making the conversation face-to-face.

Mac, News/Rumors

Coming this week: VLC 2.0 for Mac with all new UI

Because the release of VLC 2.0 is approaching, I thought it’s time to take a closer look to its [changelog] and see what improvements it brings. The user interface on the Mac platform is totally changed, providing new capabilities such as redesigned subtitle manager, native full screen mode in Lion and enhanced video output modes.

During its development, VLC suffered minor enhancements, both technically and visually, but now the interface for Mac is dramatically different from its previous update. Playlist and video output share the same window, panels enhanced with various audio and video filters and the sidebar makes it easy to access the service discovery modules. The interface is clearly faster and complex, showing the big picture of VLC power and services. They also came with support for lua-based-extensions, allowing you to get info about the movies from Allocine, post to Twitter and retrieve subtitles automatically.

I believe VLC is a must-have Mac application as it packs support for many media formats which are poorly supported under Mac OS X and QuickTime platforms. The 2.0 version will be soon available for free download, but if you are impatient and want to try the first release candidate, just click here.

Apple, Apple TV, Mac, News/Rumors

Paul McCartney album release to be streamed by iTunes for free

Dear Paul McCartney fans, you can no longer “hope of deliverance” because the pop-rock legend officially made the deliverance that iTunes will stream its new album release concert for free, according to Guitarworld:

“Paul McCartney will commemorate the release of his new album, Kisses On The Bottom, with a free streaming performance that takes place 7 p.m. PST Thursday, February 9, from Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, where much of the new album was recorded.”

Steve Jobs was a great fan of The Beatles, McCartney’s former band, reason for which Apple favored the band. The album Kisses On The Bottom will be released this Tuesday, February 7, and the next day people that are not going to the concert can watch the whole performance via iTunes on Mac, PC and also Apple TVs.

Source: 9to5 Mac

Apple, Mac, News/Rumors

Introducing Bookle, a simple ePub reader for Mac

Thanks to Apple’s iBooks app, reading ebooks on iOS devices is easy and pleasant. But Apple hasn’t provided by now a similar program for Mac. Here’s where Bookle, a DRM (Digital Rights Management) – free ePub reader enters the stage. It was created by Tidbits Publishing in collaboration with Stairways software and has been launched officially yesterday.

 

The DRM-free ePub files includes Tidbits’s Take Control Books, Macworld’s Superguides and, of course, most free ePub files available on the web. The app works only for ePub files and cant open Kindle books. You can adjust fonts and colors for ebooks and you can build up libraries while browsing. You can even watch two books alternatively, by jumping back and forth without losing your place.

The app lacks some important features such as search or annotation functionality and the library interface is not full-featured yet, but  they are promised in future versions.

If you want to download Bookle for 10$, here’s the App Store link.