Safari on Windows
One of the big announcements to come out of WWDC was the release of Safari for Windows. It’s still in beta but seems perfectly workable, although it is a bit frustrating that to open a new tab you have to remember a key combo or right-click whilst on every other browser it’s a double-click on the tab bar. I think I’ll definitely use it for a while on Windows as it seems to have some neat features, but whether it’ll replace Firefox (with its super-useful extensions) as my default is another thing.
Posted: Mon 11 Jun 2007 ~ filed under Apple ;General Web ;
Apple iPhone
Despite Linksys already having brought out a product called iPhone, Apple today revealed their long-anticipated entry into the mobile/smart phone market bearing the same name. The iPhone was among a slew of products the various pundits hoped would be announced in Steve Jobs’ keynote address at the San Francisco MacWorld conference, although pretty much the whole of the keynote was given over to this and the previously announed iTV. This meant no immediately announced updates to hardware (except a new Airport), no iWork 07 and an iTV which had the most basic feature list (although still darn cool and sure to be built upon).
The iPhone looks like a great piece of kit, combining a full web browser (Safari) a mail client, wireless and bluetooth access, photo software (all running on OSX), and of course a video iPod. That last bit shouldn’t be a surprise as it is Apple’s killer app for this type of hardware and the thing they have over their competitors in the smartphone market. I think we’ll see all the major players move to the touch-screen interface in the coming months as Apple’s share of customers increases, though it is interesting they moved away from the clickwheel interaction for the iPod part of the phone.
We may also be seeing the first device which popularises the mobile web with the inclusion of a slightly tweaked Safari browser, giving people a consistent experience as they move from desktop to iPhone as it syncs your bookmarks between the two. This may be the end of WAP 2.0 and walled gardens.
Posted: Tue 9 Jan 2007 ~ filed under Apple ;
SmackBook Pro
The MacBook Pro laptops have a motion-sensor in them, designed to prevent damage to the hard-drive when dropped. This has already been put to admirable use for mac lightsabre fights (I can imagine the calls that would be put into tech repair from people renacting the Darth/Obi Wan fights).
Here's a much more work-friendly use. This bit of scripting uses the motion-sensor to change virtual desktops when the monitor is tapped. The video is just great and it looks so much easier than a cluster of key combos.
Posted: Thu 25 May 2006 ~ filed under Apple ;
Apple localization
Browsing around the Apple store website, I came across an interesting example of localization. Localization is the customisation of a product to a particular market, whether that be changing menus or content to a different language or modifying aspects of the prduct to take account of differences in culture.
On the Mac Mini page of the UK Apple store the product description goes “More expandability options and ports”, whilst on the US page it says “More expansion options and ports”. Not sure what cultural differences they are taking account of here, but for me the US description certainly sounds better.
Posted: Mon 1 May 2006 ~ filed under Apple ;
The Microsoft Mac Lab
David Weiss has a tour of the Mac lab at Microsoft on his blog. What hits you is the amount of testing they do, the huge amount of cabling - and yes the 150 Mac minis they use for automation. Lucky for Microsoft Apple don’t produce that many configurations.
Posted: Fri 21 Apr 2006 ~ filed under Apple ;