Federico Viticci

10788 posts on MacStories since April 2009

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about portable gaming and the handheld revolution.
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@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

Leaked Intel Roadmap Reveals 2.8GHz Core i7 Processors, New Macbooks Later This Year?

A leaked Intel roadmap has surfaced on Engadget, and it turns out that the company will release a speed bumped Core i7 processor later this year. As Macrumors reports:

“The upcoming Core i7-640M will run at a base frequency of 2.8GHz with “turbo boost” speeds up to 3.46GHz. This new processor draws the same power as the current MacBook Pro processors so should be a natural upgrade for Apple.”

Indeed it’s very likely that Apple will implement these new processors in the new Macbooks sometime this fall or next year, but you can bet that the next Macbook line won’t be just about speed bumping. Also, we don’t think we’ll be hearing anything about desktop computers at the upcoming WWDC. Remember, it’s about the iPhone OS platform.

Opera Releases 10.60 Alpha

Opera has just released a first alpha version of its browser, labelled 10.60. It’s available for download here, and the final version will be released “this summer” for Mac, Windows and Linux at the same time.

10.60 seems to be a “finely tuned” version of the popular 10.50, with enhanced tab functions (visual peeks on hover) and an even faster Javascript engine. Other changes include widescreen speed dials, a more visible Menu button and many other fixes.

Go download it here.

SketchyPad, Easy Wireframing on the iPad

After the iPad was announced developers started working on new applications for it, and we all remember that. What you probably don’t remember is the huge amount of previews that were floating around on the Internet back then: video previews, exclusive screenshots, leaks. Put simply, every single development team wanted to gain some attention for their new products, and now - two months later -  we’re waiting for the second wave of great iPad apps, because let’s face it - the first one hasn’t been that great after all. There was this app though, called iMockups, which managed to actually gain a lot of exposure, be it for its name (the “i” prefix is still pretty strong) or for its purpose. Cody has already reviewed iMockups here.

Today I’m going to take a look at a similar app which has been recently released in the App Store, SketchyPad.

Read more

Apple Reaches UK iBooks Distribution Deals

Is there someone who seriously believed that Apple wouldn’t manage to reach distribution deals for iBooks in the end? Of course it happened, and what Apple achieved in the UK is pretty impressive: publishers Hachette UK, Penguin, HarperCollins and Pan Macmillan are available on the iPad with their titles.

As the BookSeller reports though, books comes at a higher price than Amazon’s hardback versions:

“Prices are in the main more expensive than the equivalent print versions available on Amazon.co.u. For example, the paperback of Wolf Hall is £3.60 on Amazon, but £6.99 on the iBookStore. Thousand Autumns… is £11.99 via Apple, but Amazon is charging £9.41 for the hardback.

However, readers can download more than 100 pages of Wolf Hall for free, with an option to buy it while reading the sample. Nearly 100 pages of Mitchell’s novel can also be downloaded for free.”

The platform has to grow, and this is just the beginning.