This is for all you old school Sega Dreamcast users - a hardware mod to use your old Virtual Memory Unit (VMU) as a handy-dandy sixth generation iPod Nano case. Just open the VMU unit, place the Nano inside the case, fit the headphone wire (with some work) and put it back together. Not only does this destroy Apple’s minimal design principles but it gives your Nano a protective beige case - but isn’t it cool? Pictures and video goodness below. Read more
iPod Nano + Dreamcast VMU = Nostalgia
More European FaceTime Commercials
Last night we reported that some major Italian TV channels started airing the first iPhone 4 commercials, all of them focused on FaceTime. It turns out that the commercials are the same across all Europe, UK and Spain included. Check out the videos here if you missed them last night.
3Italia has posted two new ads on their official Youtube channel, and I have to say they’re a lot better than the first two. They’re emotional, human, simple and effective. We’ve embedded them after the break.
TotalFinder: What Mac’s Finder Should Have Been
Over the years I’ve tried many solutions to make the default OS X file manager, Finder, better and more suitable to my needs: PathFinder, a 3rd party application that can live on top of Apple’s Finder and brings dual-pane navigation and tabs to the mix, plus some custom Applescript and Automator workflows that allowed me to easily perform certain tasks like “move these files to another location” or “copy newly downloaded files with .pdf extension in Dropbox”.
None of the aforementioned apps and scripts managed to work for me for more than a month. I grew tired of them, and most of all I grew tired of PathFinder living as a layer above Finder, but not really replacing it. I even tried to completely replace Finder.app in CoreServices, you can guess how it ended. I wanted a better Finder with dual-pane navigation and tabs, but I also wanted to be able to tweak it and customize it, yet retaining the stability and efficiency of the default Finder.app. I didn’t want a standalone app, I was looking forward to something that would let me modify the native app without replacing it. A few weeks later TotalFinder by BinaryAge came out (as an alpha build) and I immediately started testing it.
A year later, here we are with a final 1.0 build of TotalFinder and months of reinvented workflow to talk about. TotalFinder reinvented the way I interact and work with OS X so much that I cannot imagine going back to Apple’s default file manager anymore. Read more
Apple Dominates Tech News→
Apple Dominates Tech News
A yearlong look at technology news coverage by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism found that 15.1 percent of tech articles were primarily about Apple; 11.4 percent were about Google; and a meager 3 percent were about Microsoft.
It’s not as if Microsoft lacks for public relations people. But Apple is especially effective at seizing journalists’ attention, said Amy S. Mitchell, the deputy director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, citing the anticipation for new devices and Apple’s very public way of releasing products.
It seems like Apple sells more newspapers.
iPhone 4 Sold Out In China
This is surprising: the iPhone 4 went on sale in China last weekend, and chinese carrier Unicom can’t keep up with the demand which has already exceeded the initial supply. Unicom received 200,000 preorders since September 17th and sold more than 60,000 units last Saturday. More than 1,000 people waited in line at Apple’s Beijing store to get their hands on an iPhone 4. Read more
Ars Technica Reviews Parallels 6→
Ars Technica Reviews Parallels 6
Parallels has had their eye on Windows 3D gaming from the start and, with this release, they’ve finally converted me. I’ve been a virtualized-gaming skeptic, but the results with this new version are what every delusional Mac gamer was hoping was achievable in the days of VirtualPC on the PowerPC.
The usual 10 pages review from Ars, perfect for Instapaper (although many screenshots are in there). I bought Parallels 6 three days ago and it looks like a huge improvement from the 5.x version so far.
About Time: Italian FaceTime Commercials
A few hours ago some major Italian TV channels started airing the first, official FaceTime commercials for the iPhone 4. Smart move from Apple: Sunday is football’s day in Italy, and Apple picked sport-based channels like Sky to air the commercials. Even though the iPhone 4 came out in late July and they could have aired the ads before, this is a clever day choice.
As for the videos, it’s the same background music of the US commercial, but the subjects are different. Check them out after the break, we like them. Hat tip to iSpazio for finding the videos on Youtube.
Apple Adds Badge to Game Center Apps in the App Store
This is a neat little feature, a small improvement, but we like it: Apple has added an indicator in the App Store page of Game Center-compatible apps. You can check it out in the top-right corner of a page like this one.
It’s easier now to know whether a game supports Game Center or not, but an indicator is not enough: what does the app allow you to do on GC? How many achievements does it come with? I don’t think that developers should put all this information in the product description, a dedicated one is needed. Also, what about already-purchased apps? You still have to try and click Buy to find out, as there’s no indicator for that. (Update: not to mention a “Retina Display-ready badge)
Apple is working on making the App Store a better marketplace (remember, it’s not a simple showcase of 10.00o apps anymore), but it still lacks basic features like a complete and detailed history, or a better wishlist. We’ll just have to wait, I guess. Read more
Send Attachments From Finder via Folder Actions→
Send Attachments From Finder via Folder Actions
This hint allows you to drag files to a Finder folder and have them instantly emailed to a pre-configured address, simply by attaching a Folder Action to the folder. It’s a great way to get files off your Desktop and backed up offsite.
Great tip from Mac OS X Hints in 2007 worth a re-link. I use this for Gmail every day, as there’s no better and faster way to get files off your Mac and onto Gmail.