Where’s “music menu selection memory” in the new mobile OS X?
Filed under: That's Weird..., Users Helping Users, iPhone, iPod, whining
Faithful Macenstein reader Justin writes:
Figured I would go to you because…
a> Macenstein rocks…
(Always a good way to start a letter to us)
b> You’ve submitted articles about a Leopard question I had before.
Anyway, iPhone/iPod Touch question… where the hell is music menu selection memory in the new mobile OS X interface? Remember on your old iPod, if you selected something, a song or album (even items in the settings menu) and went to another part of your iPod, you could return down the same menu path as you had previously? Each menu would start on the item that you had previously been on? This is a huge feature that definitely wasn’t brought over…
The only sort of memory they have for music is the “Now Playing” item… which doesn’t help much when Music crashes because your doing too much stuff in MobileSafari.
Anyway, love the site, keep it up… Thanks,
See how Justin brings his question full circle by kissing our ass in both its opening AND closing? I think we can all learn a lot from Justin.
As for his question, yes, Justin, you’re right. We also noticed that selection memory was lacking in the iPhone, and figured it was just one of those quirky things that makes an iPhone so lovable. It seemed like something simple that common sense suggested would be updated soon. However, now that we’ve gotten a bona fide “feature-packed” iPhone update from Apple and it is still missing, this seems kind of odd.
We could kind of buy iPod functions working differently on the iPhone (such as the way for no reason Apple changed it so none of the standard video out via dock cables seem to work, requiring we pay for new ones), but not on the iPod touch. After all, that still is by design a music player, and should behave exactly like a regular iPod, but with a touch screen.
The removal of music menu selection memory has no discernible benefits for the end user, so we say, bring it back Apple. If not for us, then for Justin.
Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month” (October 2007): Sarah
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Celebrity Mac Chick, Mac Chick of the Month, iBook, iPod
Welcome to Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month”.
Each month we feature a different die-hard, Mac-loving girl who is (almost) as well designed as the Apple products they love. This month we present you with the lovely, Sarah, a southern Florida art school student and die hard Mac Chick!
“I’m currently in college studying fine arts,” says Sarah. “I have been using Macs my entire life. My father is a graphic designer so we have always had plenty of Apple products in our house. I love Apple’s products because they are beautiful, sexy and fun to use! PC’s are like ancient machinery to me…booooring!!”
“I am proud to say that i have converted many of my friends to the world of Macs and they are all thrilled! =) yay. I currently own two iBook laptops, one mini iPod, one iPod nano, one 30 GB iPod and one 20″ iMac. I am constantly using my Apple gear all day, every day. I actually rely on them quite a bit. I am a Photoshop and Illustrator fanatic, and i am constantly doing art work”.
Age: 23.
Location: South Florida.
Occupation: Student/artist.
First Apple product: Old school ibook.
Favorite Apple gear: My 30 gb video iPod and my 20″ iMac!!
Favorite on-Apple gear: Um theres no such thing! I’m a devoted Mac chick all the way.
Favorite TV shows: Anything on the discovery health channel. Also, Showtime series like Huff, Dexter, The Tudors, Weeds, and The L word.
Favorite movies: Cry baby, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, The Last Samurai…
Favorite Bands: Linkin Park, Aesop Rock, Moloko, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, all elecro and DNB…way too many to list =)
Hobbies: PHOTOSHOP, collecting toys!! Photography, painting, drawing, illustration, playing on my macs, people watching…
Pets: 2 fabulous kitties.
“Art is my life and my iMac is one of the tools I use to express myself.”
“I’m also a hard-core toy collector. I have a passion for designer toys (urban vinyl art toys). I have hundreds of them! Unfortunately I am running out of room to put them but that won’t stop me, oh no, there are still TONS of toys that I need to complete my collection 
”
“I am striving to be a digital artist, most likely an illustrator. I am largely inspired by graffiti, pop art and low brow art. I am really a big dork who would rather sit home alone on a Friday night, watching movies or reading blogs from other toy collectors and artists. I also have a huge soft spot for other “geeks”…any man who is comfortable with himself and who doesn’t care what others think is an A in my book!!”
To see more of Sarah, visit her at: http://luminoussoul.deviantart.com and myspace.com/luminoussoul
Do you think you or someone you know would make a great “Mac Chick of the Month”? Send us an e-mail, or check out our application guide here or on our MySpace page for details.
Due to popular demand, we are proud to offer a MCotM desktop wallpaper to enhance the beauty of YOUR Mac. As a special Halloween treat, this month we have included a bonus holiday wallpaper as well. Enjoy!
Click to download.
Click to download.
First Look: Mailplane – A desktop Gmail client for OS X
These days, web apps are giving their desktop equivalents a run for their money. Still, desktop apps provide a level of integration that is difficult to recreate through a browser. Mailplane aims to provide the best of both worlds for users of the popular web-based email service Gmail, plus some clever new features that aren’t found anywhere else. Mailplane will be released in the coming weeks – here’s our first look.
Desktop Integration
Mailplane tries to bridge the gap between web app and desktop, bringing drag-and-drop file management and integration with other applications to Gmail. While you can still use the “attach a file” link when composing an email, it’s now possible to simply drop an attachment into a new message. An “iMedia” browser gives direct access to the most likely locations for media files, potentially removing several steps from the process of attaching frequently mailed file types. While these features may be nothing new for most well-made Mac applications, Mailplane makes Gmail feel right at home on the desktop.
You can even attach multiple files in one step. Try that with Gmail’s file dialog.
There are also some unexpected niceties that aren’t all that common place. When composing a new message, for example, a “Screenshot” button becomes available. This opens Grab and prompts you to select an area of the screen to capture. Your new screen grab is immediately attached to the email. While it might be a little specific, it’s a useful feature that I’d love to see make its way into Mail.app.
Managing Multiple Accounts
Through a traditional browser, Gmail only allows one account to be logged in at a time, making managing multiple accounts a real chore. Mailplane works around this limitation, providing a sidebar listing of available Gmail accounts and unread messages in each. Switching accounts is as simple as a double click.
One small catch: while Mailplane handles the process of logging out of one account and in to the next, it can’t hold your place when you switch back. This means that if you just put together a complicated search in one Gmail account, then switched accounts to quickly read a new message, you’ll have to start your search all over again upon switching back.
A Specialized Browser
Mailplane is, at its heart, a specialized web browser exclusively for use with Gmail. This contributes both some strengths and weaknesses.
On the up side, you always see the full Gmail interface in the center of the Mailplane screen. This means that if Google decides to add a new feature or change the shortcut for a function, you won’t be stuck going back to Safari until Mailplane gets updated. That’s nothing to sneeze at considering how quickly things can change in the world of web apps.
On the downside, the buttons in the Toolbar are effectively “hacks”. They require Gmail’s Keyboard Shortcuts to be turned on (which Mailplane does nicely remind you to do when adding a new account,) and are limited to the functions that are accessible through those shortcuts. Those shortcuts do include 90% of what you’re likely to do in Gmail, but one could argue that you might as well just learn the shortcuts yourself, or use the buttons built in to the Gmail web interface. Luckily, the Toolbar is easy to customize, so you can mix and match as you see fit.
Sure, I could use the Toolbar button, but the regular one is so much closer.
Additionally, since Gmail doesn’t work without an internet connection, neither does Mailplane. No, I’m not expecting to be able to magically receive emails offline, but it would be nice to be able to review those I’ve already received and draft new messages. This is something we’ve taken for granted for a long time in clients like Mail.app, but making this possible in Mailplane would require some action on Google’s part. With Google Gears, however, it may not be long until this gets remedied.
I can see you, email… If only I could read you.
Overall, Mailplane provides some great new functionality and increased ease of use for many Gmail users, with a handful of minor drawbacks. If you use multiple Gmail accounts from multiple locations, or work with Gmail through a standard browser, Mailplane is definitely worth a try. However, those currently using Mail.app to check their Gmail account and working primarily from one computer are unlikely to find a reason to switch.
Mailplane for OSX (Currently in Beta, v1.0 coming soon)
Price: $24.95 for 1 license, $32.95 for 5 system “Family Pack”
Pros: Mailplane provides Gmail users with the kind of OS integration that can still only be found in desktop applications, without watering down Gmail’s impressive feature set. Working with multiple Gmail accounts in multiple locations is a breeze. Extras like easy screenshot mailing and iLife integration are welcome additions.
Cons: Mailplane’s “specialized browser” approach can lead to redundant options that are often more of a pain to use than Gmail’s built-in buttons. Mailplane relies on an available internet connection to function, making offline composition or review of received emails impossible.
Review: Contour Design’s Showcase for iPhone
Countour Design’s Showcase for the iPhone is that rare animal of case that merges the best parts of other cases to form an entirely new animal.
Sort of the platypus of iPhone cases.
The Showcase is great for crazy folks like me who painted their iPhone. Now I can protect my expensive “Shrek-green” paint job and see it at the same time!
Not quite an acrylic case yet not quite a rubber case either, the Showcase allows you the ability to show off (most of) your beautiful new gadget’s surfaces, while still providing a fair amount of shock absorption in the event of a fall.
The lightweight case is actually 2 cases in 1, literally. First, the inner layer is a see-through acrylic that completely covers the iPhone (minus the screen and requisite holes for controls/ports). On top of that, Contour Design applied a thin, yet effective rubber coating to the outer bezel, sides, and lower rear of the case. This rubber does two things. First, it provides a bit of protection to your iPhone in the event of a fall, and second it makes the Showcase easier to grip, minimizing the chance of that fall ever occurring in the first place.
Much like the platypus, the design of the showcase is a bit unique as well. The case is more or less a modified clamshell design. To insert your iPhone, you need to fold open the case, and push your iPhone’s lower half into the bottom of the case, then flip the case closed at its hinge. The case snaps shut quite tightly, so no need to worry it will open accidentally, even when dropped (from a reasonable height). The downside here is getting the iPhone in and out of the case can be a little difficult, as the Showcase provides a rather tight fit.
The Showcase ships with a removable holster which works well, although it is a bit on the large side. The holster does a good job holding the case tightly, and its ratcheting clip allows for an endless range of positioning possibilities (well, 12 positions, actually, as it locks in 30 degree increments). As any faithful Macenstein reader knows, I am not a big fan of holster clips, and rarely use them to carry my iPhone. The only thing I find clips useful for is to double as a stand when watching videos, and you can do that with the Showcase’s clip as well with a 90 degree counter-clockwise turn.
The thing I like most about the Showcase is that you feel your iPhone has the security of a shock absorbing rubber case, but since you can still see a good 70% or so of the iPhone, the case doesn’t look as bulky (or feel as heavy) as one that entirely covers the rear of the case.
Since for most people the focus of the iPhone is on the large touchscreen gracing the front, I am glad to see Contour decided to pay tribute to the design of the rear of the iPhone as well with the Showcase. I have been testing cases quite a bit since I got my ColorWare-painted iPhone back, and this is the first case to finally let me see the back of my Jolly Green Giant while protecting it.
Issues
The biggest issue I have with the Showcase is the clear material the case is made of. In my testing (which wasn’t all that rigorous) the Showcase seemed to pick up scratches quite easily. Not the kind of giant gashes that mar its aesthetics – more so the swirly, thin lines that appear after a few weeks on an unprotected iPod’s body. These are the kind of scratches you need to tilt the case in the right light to see, but once you do, they somehow seem to be more obvious than they perhaps are. Since the point of the Showcase is to “showcase” your iPhone, it would have been nice if a slightly harder plastic was used.
The Showcase picks up minor scratches quite easily. I wasn’t really able to get a great photo of them (perhaps a sign they are not all that bad) but in person, even small scratches on clear acrylic catch the light and become noticeable.
My 2nd issue is minor, but I’m all about finding small things that bug me. On the back of the Showcase, up by the camera, Contour Design decided to embed their logo in the plastic. Again, sort of like the scratches, this is one of those things you may not notice until the light hits your case just right, but then it becomes a focal point. I would have much rather they embossed their logo (if need be) on the lower back of the case, in the black rubber. I feel its current placement mars the otherwise beautiful open-back window the Showcase provides.
I am not a fan of Contour Design’s choice of logo placement, as the embossed logo on the clear plastic on the rear of the case catches the light and is quite noticeable.
A final minor annoyance is the amount of effort it takes to get the iPhone OUT of the Showcase. As I briefly mentioned earlier, removing the iPhone can be difficult, and at times you may feel you are putting an abnormal amount of pressure on both case and phone. I would think if you are someone who changes cases often, it would likely only be a matter of time until you broke it. Perhaps I am just a spaz. However, you can connect the iPhone to you r computer via the dock cable while still inside the Showcase, so you may find you rarely (if ever) need to remove it.
Conclusion
I think the Showcase is one of the better-looking cases available for the iPhone, and its combination of shock absorption and eye-pleasing aesthetics make it a good choice for an all-purpose case. Unfortunately the Showcase’s ability to attract small scratches makes you wonder why an unprotected iPhone doesn’t scratch as easily as this “protective” case does.
Contour Design’s Showcase for iPhone
Price: $35
Pros: cool looking, provides a nice blend of protection and style
Cons: case picks up small scratches easily, hard to remove iPhone from case, poor logo placement
iLife updates hint at new product offering?
Apple today released a slew of incremental updates for their iLife ’08 products. Aside from the usual bug fixes, we couldn’t help but notice the tantalizingly-named iLife Support. Is this the first hint that Apple Inc., recently freed from the bounds of its “Computer” nomenclature, is taking a step in the direction of continuing and end-of-life care? Would Apple really be so careless as to let slip an update for such a groundbreaking yet-to-be announced product?
While it would certainly be the fulfillment of a life-long dream for many an Apple fan-boy, let’s just hope they do a better job with quality assurance than we’ve seen of late rolling out iLife Support in our local ER. Might be worth using extra care around falling debris and sharp objects until they roll out Rev. 2.
Apple Store gets the blues
Filed under: Apple, Apple Fanboyism, Humor, Opinion, Photos
Apple’s somewhat drab, monochromatic online store got a small splash of color today.
The former “bachelor pad”-inspired gray, white, and black (left) have been replaced with a “I’m now seeing someone” BLUE, white, and black (right).
We fully expect analysts to raise Apple’s target stock price accordingly, up to around $190 or so, because, as any first-year business school student will tell you, a store in love tends to sell more product.
Alyssa Milano and her iPhone
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Celebrity Mac Chick, Photos, iPhone
No story here, just an excuse to put up a picture of Alyssa Milano.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Tony Micelli for the tip! (via Hollywoodtuna).
EyeTV 2.5 kicks ass – Now let’s give it a pair of steel-toed boots
Filed under: Apple, Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Tips/How To, Updates, Users Helping Users
This Monday Elgato released their EyeTV 2.5 update, and I must say it has changed the way I watch TV. Well, not so much the way I do, but where I do.
The main feature of the update was the seemingly gimmicky ability to stream recorded shows wirelessly to your iPhone/iPod touch from your EyeTV computer. I wasn’t all that sure how useful this feature would be (and quite frankly, I’m still not) but there’s a very cool side benefit to this technology that for some reason El Gato is not really promoting in their literature. Not only can you watch you shows on the iPhone/iPod touch from other rooms, but you can watch them from other computers on your network as well.
Above: Behold the crappy shows my EyeTV must record (FYI, “CG” is Curious George, on PBS).
When the Wi-Fi option is enabled on the “host” computer (the one that is recording the shows), it generates a local website address you can access via Safari on the iPhone, which in turn calls up QuickTime to play the stream. This address can also be accessed from any computer on your home network as well, and it works GREAT. As we speak (or type), I am watching The Daily Show, recorded last night upstairs on my Mac mini, on my Mac Pro’s second monitor (located in my dungeon office). The benefits of this become even more apparent for laptop owners who can now use the “large” screen of the laptop (well, compared to the iPhone at least) to serve as a second TV in the kitchen, or by the treadmill, or a bedroom.
As for the EyeTV-to-iPhone streaming, it actually works quite well too. There is a slight buffering delay I did not experience on the networked computers in my house, but last night I watched the first half of When a Stranger Calls (the horrible 2006 remake, not the original) while lying in bed, and after a few minutes you do sort of forget you are holding a 3.5-inch screen a foot from your head and not watching a big screen.
I think wearing headphones helps.
So, now the obvious question is, can any of the more tech-savvy readers here tell me how to get these shows to stream to my iPhone while on the road? Some sort of Terminal trick with Web sharing and symbolic links or something? Whoever can deliver such a workaround becomes my official best friend for the week, and gets to see next month’s Mac Chick of the Month a couple days early (sorry, we’re all out of real prizes).
Where the Frotz is Zork for the iPhone?
Filed under: Games, Humor, Opinion, iPhone, iPod Touch
While the iPhone is enjoying brisk sales and an avalanche of media hype, there is still one thing that is holding it back from being the kind of runaway “Tickle Me Elmo” hit that every red-blooded man, woman and child craves.
That one thing is, of course, a decent port of the 1979 text-based adventure game Zork.
“It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.”
Zork support is time and again the feature smartphone owners overwhelmingly cite as the catalyst for choosing their particular handheld, and the lack of a Zork iPhone port is just embarrassing at this point. As both a Mac user and iPhone owner it pains me to read the countless articles from the WSJ, CNET, CNN and others, bashing the iPhone for its lack of Zork support.
Sure, you can play Zork 1, 2, and 3 on the web via Safari on the iPhone, but it is hardly the same. The formatting is rough, the gameplay glitchy, and forget about saving. Odds are the iPhone will run out of battery before you get out of the cellar. We need a native Zork port, and we need it yesterday.
“Above the trophy case hangs an elvish sword of great antiquity.“
A call to arms
Apple made it a bit difficult to get Zork onto the iPhone, but not impossible. Frotz, an interactive fiction book and game emulator, runs on every platform under the sun, including OS X. Frotz is what powers the Zork ports currently enjoyed by smug Symbian UIQ owners as well as those blasted Windows Mobile 5.0/PocketPC/Windows CE users we all see playing Zork at the beach.
Now, despite the title of this article, Frotz is no longer the bees knees when it comes to text-based adventure games on the Mac. The real place the iPhone Zork-hacking community should be focusing their attention is on Zoom, the awesome open source OS X app by Andrew Hunter.
I recently spoke with Andrew about the possibility of porting Zoom to the iPhone. Andrew lives in jolly old England, so he says he can’t really even begin to think about it until the iPhone drops there this November. But, he claims there is no real reason why Zoom shouldn’t be able to run on the iPhone with a little tweaking. The real concern, as he sees it, is just how much Cocoa is available on the iPhone. ” I suspect that it would be no problem getting the interpreter running,” says Andrew, “but the UI could be quite a lot of work.”
Sounds like a challenge worthy of Frobozz himself!
So, what brave adventurer programmer out there familiar with the Sparkle framework, CocoaGlk and expat is going to help keep the iPhone from becoming the laughing stock of the smart phone world? Who will step up to the plate and bring the world of Zork to the iPhone?
It shouldn’t take you more than a couple hours, the way I figure it.
[UPDATE:] Apparently Frotz has already been ported to the iPhone (and has been since August!) with iphonefrotz. Yikes! I was half kidding!
While still not the seamless app install I envisioned, it certainly appears to be a nice implementation of the Z-Machine Interpreter. I guess if you’re geeky enough to want to play Zork on your iPhone, you’re geeky enough to follow the install steps.
Apple says don’t be surprised if the next iPhone update bricks your hacked iPhone
Apple today issued its official stance on iPhone unlocking, and all indications are that if you were one of the few who unlocked your iPhone, either to use it with another carrier, or just for the sheer geeky thrill of it, you may soon have a $599 (minus rebate) or $399 brick on your hands.
CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone’s software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed. Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update, containing many new features including the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store (www.itunes.com), later this week. Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone’s warranty.
The term “irreparable damage” is a little disconcerting here. We’re assuming this applies only to “real” unlocking, and not the iPhone hacking that iFuntastic and Installer.app allow for (or at least we hope so, for our sake!). But it looks like anyone thinking they might be able to just get away with a simple “restore” of their iPhone is going to be SOL.
This “news”, if you want to call it that, really should not come as any surprise. In fact, if I may toot my own horn here for a moment (the women may want to avert their eyes), I would like to take you with me for a ride in our WayBack Machine, to the sunny (I think) and care-free morning of Friday August 24th – the day the iPhone was first officially unlocked. In my critically acclaimed article “My conspiracy theory – expect an iPhone update with new features soon“, I point out that the first “real” iPhone update (one with new features, not merely bug fixes) has a good chance of not working on hacked iPhones, and may even render them inoperable if installed.
It is so rare one of my predictions comes true, I just had to share (after all, this one certainly bit me in the arse!).
Anyway, it looks like by the end this week we’ll know for sure one way or the other how serious Apple is about protecting its partnership with AT&T. That is of course assuming someone who risked their $599 investment to unlock their phone will tempt fate a second time and install the new update on their unlocked iPhone.
So, my NEW prediction…
Try as Apple might, odds are (unless the update is designed to fry circuitry of unlocked phones) there will be a workaround released within a couple days that makes unlocked iPhones play nice with the new update. Such is the cat-and-mouse game hackers live for (and Apple PR likely lives for as well. Amazing how easy it is to keep the iPhone in the press!).
In a war between the hacking community and any major corporation, I always side with the hackers. No corporation, no matter its size, is a match for the amount of free time a dateless 17-year-old boy has.
