Evernote, the personal digital assistant available on the Mac, PC, web and several mobile devices, released a major new version of the desktop version for Mac users today, bringing it to 2.0 beta.
The new version is available now for all users; you just need to make sure “update to beta versions when available” is checked in Evernote’s preferences. Read more
According to the most loyal Apple fan, two are the “dream products” Apple has in store: the iMac Touch and the MacBook Tablet. While we don’t know whether such machines would make for great innovations or terrible hybrids, the loyal Apple geek surely can dream. And it’s not that patents Apple is granted do anything to convince him that these products aren’t real.
As noted by Patently Apple, the much rumored and long-awaited MacBook Tablet showed up again in a patent published a few days ago. It’s a convertible MacBook / iPad-like device with a touchscreen and a physical keyboard, something that Steve Jobs could really describe as a MacBook hooking up to an iPad. Other patents Apple was granted include one for multi-touch scrolling behavior and the iPad’s virtual keyboard.
Dell is getting ahead of Apple in the convertible notebook market with its latest Inspirion Duo hybrid, and we’re not sure whether Apple will actually ship something like a MacBook Tablet in the next few years. It sounds cool thinking about some sort of MacBook Air with a touch screen, but, as usual, Apple patents are something the loyal Apple fan shouldn’t rely on.
Are you one of those who recently uninstalled Flash from your computer? I did, mainly because I use Chrome – which comes with its own instance of Flash. If you’ve really uninstalled Flash though, you might want to take a look at Adobe’s latest beta release of the popular plugin.
Version 10.2 beta comes with initial support for Stage Video, a new API Adobe demoed a few weeks ago that is aimed at reducing processor usage by relying on the GPU instead. While hardware acceleration had been deployed in the previous versions of Flash, Stage Video offloads all video tasks to the GPU reducing the CPU load by up to 85%.
Flash 10.2 beta also improves text rendering and support for dual monitors. It’s available for download here, press release embedded below. There are a lot of fixes in this new release as well, so make sure to hit the Adobe source link for a full rundown of what’s new. [TUAW via Adobe] Read more
Reeder developer Silvio Rizzi promised a public beta of Reeder for Mac by the end of November and he didn’t break his promise: Reeder for Mac “draft 1” is now available for download here. Reeder comes to the Mac after two very successful iterations on the iPhone and iPad (our review of the iPad version here).
This is a first rough beta of the app, which has been in the works for several months now, and it’s still missing key features such as in-app feed management, search and downloads. The application is already pretty fast and stable, but it can’t be considered a final version at all. Feedback can be submitted to: [email protected].
A lot of things have changed since our exclusive first look at Reeder for Mac months ago. Rizzi has been busy polishing the overall feeling of the app and adding features (especially sharing ones); he completely redesigned the navigation of unread items in Google Reader by putting folders and subscriptions in “boxes” sitting in a left sidebar, he tried a more iPad-like approach.
Reeder for Mac is going to be huge, and this is just the beginning. I guess the app will eventually find its way to the Mac App Store after initial testing. Look for a detailed review of Reeder “Draft 1” on MacStories tomorrow.
Update: review online here.
Update #2: Reeder Vs. Fitt’s Law.
Although they promised, Apple has not yet contributed its proprietary Java Runtime for the Oracle Open Source JVA, Open JDK project - although a French developer has created the first test builds of OpenJDK binary for Mac OS X. Read more
Usually, I’m not into wooden accessories. Heck, I’m not even a fan of wooden-like interfaces (hello, iBooks) – I just don’t like the feeling of wood when put next to a shiny Apple product.
The wooden cases from BlackBox, though, are a different thing of beauty. They are detailed, hand oiled, hand rubbed and numbered. They are unique pieces made for the exclusive Apple user. And they don’t come cheap: $129 for the 13” and 15” cases.
Still: they look good. Even to someone who’s not into this kind of accessories. [Gizmodo via BlackBox]
Maybe. Maybe it’s just a Windows 7 skin. Damn, those Chinese manufacturers fooled us again. Thing is – we have seen “interesting” Apple knockoffs in the past, but this one beats them all. It’s a fake MacBook Pro that seems to be capable of running OS X out of the box, even if the website reports it ships with Windows 7. Hmmm. Maybe they just don’t want to get in any trouble with Apple, right?
As for the specs:
For 3100 yuan (about $466), it’s got a 14-inches 1376×768 LED backlit display in 16:9 ratio, powered by Intel Atom D510 1.66GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive (5400rpm), based on Nvidia ION-2 platform in which you get dual graphics, Intel GMA 3150 and ION 2.
The machine also comes with a fake Apple logo, a Windows key (what?), three USB ports, a 1.3MP camera and a built-in SD card reader. 10 hours battery life. Not bad, right? Right? Come on, it’s basically a MacBook. I think.
Check out more photos below. But don’t ask us where you can get one. We don’t know. [Engadget via M.I.C. Gadget] Read more
A few weeks ago we saw the first screenshots of the next version of The Incident, which will allow you to mirror the game on your TV and control it with your iPhone. Admittedly, the iPhone can serve as a great “external” controller, even better than when you’re using it to control and play at the same time because you don’t have the actual game covered by your fingers. With a small multi-touch surface in your hands, the possibilities for TV gaming are endless.
The next version of Chopper for Mac, Chopper 2, will allow for a similar setup, although the TV isn’t involved this time. Instead, Chopper 2 will let you pair your iPhone with your Mac and control the game on your computer using the accelerometer and multi-touch technology on your iPhone. The demo video below gives you a brief preview of what’s coming, and it’ll be interesting to see whether Mac games that will be published in the Mac App Store will take advantage of this pairing technology or not.
What’s for sure is, the iPhone can be a great game controller. Read more
Digitimes has other interesting tidbits to share this morning: according to sources close to component makers (the ones being used in Apple’s computers), Apple is set to ship around one million MacBook units per month in Q4 2010, with the new MacBook Airs accounting to 20-25% of the volume.
The sources cited IDC’s figures and pointed out that Apple’s combined shipments for the first three quarters of 2010 reached about 6.88 million units, and its global notebook market share rose from 3.7% in the first quarter to 5.2% in the third, while its market share in the US market surged from 6.7% to 12.6%.
Rumors have also surfaced in the past few days regarding Apple willing to remove optical disk support and add SSD to the next generation MacBook Pros, which will likely be refreshed next Spring.
With shipments of current MacBooks ramping up to 1 million per month, the Mac App Store opening in January, new MacBook Pros on the horizon and OS X Lion coming next summer – it looks like 2011 will be an interesting year for Mac users.
