Andru Edwards over at GearLive.com put together this cool little video showing first hand the iPhone 1.1.3 Firmware. There had been a lot of skeptics out there claiming the images Andru had been posting were simply photoshopped. Watch the video and judge for yourself. Looks like 1.1.3 has some amazing features.
As promised, expansion here at Mactropolis is coming fast and furious 
Our new forums are almost ready for launch. We’re doing some tweaking, testing, all sorts of good stuff to make sure they are ready to go
You’ll want to stay tuned because I have a super-dooper contest that will launch to coincide with the launch of our forums. In a nutshell, simply be one of the first 1,000 members in the forums and you’ll automatically be registered for your chance to win some amazing Apple stuff (Maybe even an iPhone???).
Stay tuned. The forums will be launching in the near future and you will not want to miss your chance to register for our contest.
If you really, really, really can’t wait to start chatting in the forums and want to be notified the minute they go up… Contact me directly at mayor AT mactropolis.com and I’ll send you a personal note when they’re ‘good to go’.
Word is that developers have received their first pre-release build of Mac OS X 10.5.2 updater… and it’s not a small one. The update comes in at over 350MB. Yikes!
Apparently updates and changes have been made to Finder, iCal, iChat, Mail, Safari and Time Machine. Other fixes for Rosetta and AirPort are included as well.
One interesting update that I’m eager to see involves stacks. Apparently the new feature allows you to provide a ‘list’ view reminiscent of the traditional hierarchical style display of files and folders.
Look for this update in January… Possibly during MacWorld.
[Source]
I saw the Simpsons movie for the first time yesterday (and laughed out loud at most of it - it’s really funny) and then, when I saw this desktop image today it seemed very appropriate to share with you all.
You can get access here via pichaus.
Houdah Software has released HoudahSpot 2.0.4, the latest version of their popular file search utility. Some minor bugs have been fixed, and this is a recommended update for Leopard users.
Users may create detailed queries to pinpoint the exact file they want to get to. The results may be shown with any number of columns. The list may be sorted by any attribute imaginable. Users may set up templates for frequently performed searches and save queries for direct access to favorite files.
One of HoudahSpot’s key features is its extensive customization. Once fully customized, a preferred template may be set as starting point for future queries.
With HoudahSpot’s new all-in-one interface, results are shown next to the search query. By taking advantage of Leopard’s unique features, users can issue powerful search queries to the Spotlight engine to zero in on files quickly and easily. And with live editing, user may change search criteria on-the-fly without stopping the running query.
I was one of the folks that immediately had my copy of Leopard in hand for the update. Ordered the family pack for installation here at the Mactropolis offices and I was pumped. I’ve been using Leopard now since launch in late October. The last few months have given me a great opportunity to experience and share what I’ve found.
Installation on my MacBook pro was flawless and without any hang-ups. Immediately following the upgrade I of course began fooling around with the new features. Spaces was cool, the new ‘look’ I thought was OK, and Time Machine intruiged me. ‘I’ll have to get a huge external hard drive’ I thought to myself.
Initially Leopard was a hit here at Mactropolis. I installed Leopard on 3 more macs, each without any problems. With a few systems still running Tiger, I decided to leave things as is. I thought it might be interesting to see first hand the differences from Tiger to Leopard in terms of stability and usability.
Over time this became clear to me. In Tiger, I very, very rarely had any issues with applications locking up and freezing on me. In Leopard, I’m sad to report that this is a daily occurrence. In fact, shortly before sitting down to write this post, Safari froze up on me while I was doing some browsing. Frustrating to say the least.
Apple shares reached an all-time high yesterday, briefly trading at over $200/share. As I write this, the AAPL is currently trading at $201.31 on the NASDAQ.
I only wish I had bought Apple shares ‘back in the day’, don’t you? The steady rise of the stock has been solid over the past 5 or so years, and I’ve included a graph below to illustrate my point…
Thanks to Morningstar for the stock graphs.
Financial Times reports that Apple and Fox have signed a deal to launch an online video-on-demand service “that could change the way people pay for online film content.”
Part of the deal is rumored to force Fox to include Digital copies with DRM of a DVD movie that can be transferred to a computer and an iPhone. This way Consumers will not have to go through the trouble of ripping their Movies. And of course by not doing so will never be in possession of a DRM free digital copy they could put on P2P networks.
9to5 Mac claims that the prices will be very low (one or two USD) but they provide no sources for this claim.
Macrumors states that the service will cost 2.99/film for a 30-day rental.
The new service is set to launch at MacWorld Expo this January!
Last January, Axiotron promised a Mac-based tablet. It’s been a while, but it seems as though they are going to deliver on their promise… this January. According to a reseller, the ModBook will begin shipping on January 8th.
Some key features of the Axiotron Modbook:
Pricing will start at $2,279 USD for the ‘fast’ model and $2,479 USD for a ‘fastest’ model. It looks as though you can pre-order your ModBook from Other World Computing here.
With MacWorld upon us, I’m sure Axiotron is simply trying to hit the market before Apple releases their tablet computer. This raises the question: Does Axiotron know that Apple is going to be launching a tablet at MacWorld? Certainly food for thought.
I’d wait till MacWorld hits us before considering picking one of these bad boys up… Plus I’d wait to read some reviews as well. With tablets like the ModBook due to hit the market in the year to come, it will be only a matter of time before Apple releases their own version. What do you think?
For more info on the ModBook, click here.
This is a quick note to wish you and yours a Very Merry Christmas! May Santa bring you everything you wanted (if you were good)… and of course all the best in the new year.
MacWorld in January is sure to bring us lots of new and exciting products and goodies… I know I can’t wait!
2008 is going to be a tremendous year for us, with site expansion and much more. So stay tuned and join us for the ride
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Number of posts: 652 | View Posts
Number of posts: 59 | View Posts
Number of posts: 39 | View Posts
Number of posts: 39 | View Posts
Number of posts: 27 | View Posts
Number of posts: 17 | View Posts
Number of posts: 9 | View Posts
Number of posts: 8 | View Posts
Number of posts: 3 | View Posts
