Posts in mac

Thoughts and Questions On The Mac App Store

Many of us thought Apple would never announce an App Store for Mac. When we discussed the subject, the most frequent reaction I heard from developers was:

“They can’t force users to go through an App Store on computers”

That is going to change. Like it or not, Apple wants to make the process of finding and installing software on the Mac easier, faster and integrated, and by bringing the system created on the iPhone and refined on the iPad back to the Mac, they’re going to literally reinvent the wheel. Read more

Inside FaceTime for Mac

Earlier today Apple announced FaceTime for Mac and released a first beta version for download. Despite some initial download issues, the beta is now up and available here. I’ve tested the app on my MacBook Pro by calling a couple of friends on their iPhone and MacBooks, and it works really well.

It’s a first beta though, and there are some unpolished areas and unfinished features Apple is likely going to address in the future updates. Read more

Eleven Is A Dark, Sexy Growl Style

When it comes to Growl styles, my choice is one: Mono. Designed by Christopher Lobay, it’s been my default style for the past year and couldn’t be happier with it. For as much as a Growl style it’s just a style after all, I highly rely on Growl notifications during my day, and Mono happens to be a minimal, elegant, unobtrusive, beautiful solution to display Growl notifications on screen.

Now Christopher is back with a new Growl style. Called “Eleven”, it retains the minimalism and simplicity of Mono, it’s inspired by OS X and it’s got a subtle animation I can’t just stop looking at. Maybe this is wrong, I don’t need to look at a notification like this - but man this is some serious pixel lust. It has replaced Mono for now.

You can go download Eleven for free here. You’ve been warned, it’ll look hot on your Mac.

OS X Releases Of The Day: Acorn Beta Adds WebP Support, Cyberduck 3.7

Two interesting updates for two popular OS X applications: Acorn image editor and Cyberduck FTP client got lots of new features and bug fixes worth mentioning.

The latest Acorn beta added support for Google’s WebP image format, meaning that you can now open WebP images inside the app and export them using the Web Export menu. Acorn beta also introduces Quartz Composer compositions as filters, and the very popular tilt-shift effect.

As for Cyberduck, it gets the ability to upload files with a temporary name and rename them after transfer is complete, import Transmit favorites (nice) and the possibility to copy files between browser windows in different sessions.

If you’re willing to know everything about these two new releases, check out the full changelogs below. Read more

SweetFM 2.0 - Last.fm Mac Client

Chocomoko has released version 2.0 of their SweetFM Mac application. SweetFM is a Last.fm client and player for Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.4.

Version 2.0 has a completely redesigned UI that is more user-friendly and uses native Mac OS technologies. It also comes with Safari and Chrome browser extensions for Last.fm station control and can open the iTunes store pages from the current track. Other features: supports Media Keys, has an EQ, tagging and social network sharing, device scrobbling, multiple user accounts, hot keys and playlist management. Read more

HyperMac Ceasing Sale Of MacBook Charging Cables

Starting November 2nd at 00:00 PT, HyperMac won’t be selling charging cables for MacBooks anymore. HyperMac’s external batteries will still be sold, but you won’t be able to charge your MacBook without the cable. The reason behind all this? “Comprehensive licensing negotiations with Apple” is what HyperMac claims, though it’s pretty clear that Apple’s recent lawsuit over Sanho’s use of the MagSafe connector played an important role.

Here’s your last chance to get a full HyperMac external battery set before November 2nd, stock is limited. As Engadget reports, there’s still hope for a legal solution - but if I were you I wouldn’t hold my breath.

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