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The Untold Story Of The First Mac→

The Untold Story Of The First Mac

Aza Raskin shares a memo from his father Jef Raskin, one of the creators of the original Macintosh. An interesting tidbit about the vision of an integrated system, already growing at Apple back in the 80’s:

There were to be no peripheral slots so that customers never had to see the inside of the machine (although external ports would be provided); there was a fixed memory size so that all applications would run on all Macintoshes; the screen, keyboard, and mass storage device (and, we hoped, a printer) were to be built in so that the customer got a truly complete system, and so that we could control the appearance of characters and graphics.

Full document is available here, and it’s a must read. Thirty years ago, designers and engineers at Apple were already thinking about issues like software fragmentation and user’s ability to tinker with a device.

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Apple Testing An iPhone With A Slide Out Keyboard, But Will They Sell It?

Apple.pro reports this afternoon that Apple may be testing three different iPhone protoypes (including the mini iPhone we’ve been hearing about), one of which is a model with a slide out keyboard. The translation to English is very rough:

There are three iPhone5 prototype
one is a sliding cover which
Is the introduction of the keyboard after the side cover

Being a fan of physical keyboards (especially those on the Palm Pre), an iPhone five with a portrait slider might be enough for me to switch to the next-gen iPhone. Rumors aside, would it be wise for Apple to differentiate with an entire iPhone family to compete against Android, HP, and other competitors? We’re skeptical that Apple would actually launch an iPhone with a physical keyboard, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Also in the mix is a rumored upgrade to the camera, getting a bump to 8 megapixels from the iPhone 4’s current 5 megapixel camera. The report also notes that the transition to the next iPhone will be similar to the transition from the 3G to the 3GS: different guts with the same basic hardware design.

[Apple.pro via MacRumors]

Editors note: Image via TechShout

AT&T Loves iPhone Users, Increases DataPro Plan to 4GB

It looks like AT&T keeps saying “thank you” to loyal iPhone users. As you can see in the screenshot above, some users are receiving a message from the carrier about the automatic increase of the DataPro Tethering Plan from 2GB to 4GB. The monthly plan won’t change, and no action is required from users. A similar change in the DataPro plan was spotted by Cult of Mac earlier today, though it appears AT&T has started sending SMS notices this afternoon.

The change clearly is a move by AT&T to face the buzz generated from the Verizon iPhone, and keep users happy on their network. AT&T’s website doesn’t provide any info on this change at the moment, and it’s unclear whether all iPhone users are getting upgraded to 4GB or just a small section.

[Thanks, Willy]

What Overheating iPad? Judge Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit

Does the iPad overheat when used outside under directly sunlight or warm weather? U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogol has thrown out the case, where plaintiffs claimed Apple deceptive Apple marketing. The plaintiffs argued that books “don’t shut down,” arguing Apple advertised that the iPad was able to be read “just like an open book.”  Computerworld reports that this case didn’t go very far.

“The Court concludes that these allegations are insufficient,” Fogel wrote in his order. “At the least, Plaintiffs must identify the particular commercial or advertisement upon which they relied and must describe with the requisite specificity the content of that particular commercial or advertisement.”

I’m not going to outside and roast my iPad on the sidewalk and wait for it to overheat, but with any sort of common sense (or perhaps purchasing sense) you should realize the iPad’s screen is pretty glossy and isn’t desirable to read in sunlight in the first place. The Judge has given the plaintiff thirty days to gather evidence per his request, but what could they dig up? Commenters, do you think Apple any of Apple’s advertisements or website promotions could be sufficient for this case?

[Computerworld via Macworld]

How To: Send Any Webpage From iOS To Your Mac Browser

Yesterday, I asked on Twitter if there was an easy way to send a webpage from the iPhone to the Mac. Currently, there are several iPhone apps that allow you to get links from your Mac browser onto the iPhone or iPad: most of them either work with a bookmarklet or browser extensions that, with just one click, let you “push”  webpages to iOS. Apps like Handoff (review) and Push The Page even work remotely with the iPhone on a 3G connection. But the other way around, iOS to Mac, is not just as easy to achieve.

In my Twitter poll, many followers recommended AirLink, a web service that, once installed on the Mac and iOS, allows you to send an receive webpages remotely. AirLink, however, requires you to visit a special webpage on your browser to retrieve the link you have shared. What I’m looking for, and what I’m sure others like me have dreaming of for a while, it’s a simple system that allows me to send with a few taps any webpage from the iPhone (on WiFi and 3G) to the Mac, and have a new browser tab open on the desktop. So when I get home, I’ll find the link I shared on iOS ready in my browser. It turns out though, this “simple system” wasn’t so simple to achieve but now, thanks to the help of my friend @MisterJack, I think I’ve got something here that just works and does exactly what I need. Most of all, it requires three taps to be activated. Read more

Intego’s Free Antivirus for Mac Gets 500K Downloads in 30 Days

In its first month of downloads, Intego’s VirusBarrier Express, which is being distributed exclusively on the Mac App Store, has racked up an impressive 500,000 downloads. VirusBarrier Express is Intego’s free antivirus and anti-malware offering that claims to protect Mac users from viruses, Trojan horses and other malware, including Windows malware that could be accidently passed on.

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