Macenstein

A new video iPod just ’round the corner, or wishful thinking?

Posted by iGor Hardmac has taken a snowflake of a story and rolled it into a Frosty The Snowman-sized iPod rumor. Apparently, they feel there is a strong possibility of new iPods being released in the not-too-distant future based on a report from a European journalist, who Hardmac deems a trustworthy source. The newsman in question reportedly received an 80GB iPod last week from Apple for review purposes, but only days later he received an urgent call requesting he send the... Read More

Review: The V20 Notebook Speakers from Logitech

Posted by Dr. Macenstein The built-in speakers that come with Apple’s latest MacBooks and MacBook Pros have come a long way from those found in the PowerBooks of just a few years ago. Still, if you’re traveling for any extended period of time, you’ll likely find yourself looking into a set of portable speakers to help make listening to music and watching movies on your laptop more enjoyable. Above: The V20′s Hooked to a MacBook (top) and a 17-inch MacBook... Read More

Put a RAID 0 in your MacBook, PowerBook, or MacBook Pro

Posted by Helper Monkey If that 60GB-200GB drive that came with your Mac laptop just isn’t cutting it these days, and you’re not put off by the thought of never listening to a CD or watching/burning a DVD again without an external hookup, then MCE has the solution for you. Their OptiBay Hard Drive kit adds a second hard drive to your MacBook, MacBook Pro, and yes, even your old PowerBook, by replacing the SuperDrive with up to a 160GB of extra storage space. Eric... Read More

What Jobs DIDN’T mention about iTunes subscriptions: Movies

Posted by Dr. Macenstein Earlier this week, Reuters asked Steve Jobs whether the iTunes store would ever adopt a subscription based approach to music instead of Apple’s current purchase-only model. “Never say never, but customers don’t seem to be interested in it,” Jobs said. “The subscription model has failed so far.” Quite right. However there is one area of the iTunes store where there can be no doubt that a “renting” model has... Read More

Review: Fluid Mask 2 for Photoshop

Posted by Dr. Macenstein Anyone who has ever tried to manually cut out a subject from a digital photograph knows how time-consuming and unrewarding the process can be. Even studio-quality shots taken against solid colors can be problematic using Photoshop’s built-in tools, and fine details like blowing hair or smoke are all but impossible to perfectly isolate. Fluid Mask from Vertus is truly a god-send for both the aspiring amateur and the professional Photoshop artist... Read More

Apple releases first 99¢ iPod game: iQuiz

Posted by Dr. Macenstein Apple has broken from its traditional $4.99 price structure and released the new iPod game iQuiz for just 99¢. iQuiz is a pop culture trivia game designed to test your knowledge of music, movies, and TV shows. You can also choose Music Quiz 2 and iQuiz will test your knowledge of the music on your own iPod, asking questions about artists, tracks, and albums. What’s unique about iQuiz among iPod games (aside from the price) is the ability to... Read More

Vote for Steve for TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Person!

Posted by Helper Monkey Steve Jobs runs the most influential consumer electronics company in the world, and is the largest shareholder of Disney. Yet is Steve Jobs more influential than a South Korean Pop Star? Not according to TIME. TIME Magazine online is having a contest to determine the TIME 100 Most Influential People of the Year, and right now the current leader is Rain, a South Korean Pop Star. It would appear the list is little more than a popularity contest, as other... Read More

“DVD Jon” looking to hire Apple DRM-hackers?

Posted by Dr. Macenstein DVD Jon is arguably the movie industry’s least favorite hacker, having gained infamy a few years back for cracking the copy-protection on commercial DVDs. While the young Norwegian has been keeping a relatively low profile as of late, it would appear he is ready to stir things up again, and this time, it looks like he’s set his sights on the treasures held within Apple’s iTunes store. On his personal blog, Jon has posted a couple of... Read More

Bill Gates showcases iPhoto, er, um, Windows Vista

Posted by iGor ZDNet Austrailia’s Munir Kotadia has come across one of the funnier “geek” videos we’ve seen in a long time. Apparently someone who has seen one too many Windows Vista demonstrations showcasing all the “new, never-before-seen” features Vista has introduced to the world, has decided to take Bill Gate’s voiceover from a Vista demonstration and overlay it on top of a video they made of iPhoto, which has had these “never-before-seen”... Read More

The “Great Apple Thesaurus Debate”, part III [UPDATED]

Posted by Dr. Macenstein Well, the continuing saga of the “Who Put What in Apple’s Dictionary/Thesaurus?” has seemingly come to an end. In response to this latest round of inquiry, we received the following e-mail from Grant Barrett, an Assistant Editor who worked directly on the OS X dictionary. Grant no longer works for Oxford University Press, but wanted to provide some clarification on the whole “Who wrote what” debate: “I can tell you... Read More