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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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iTunes 10.0.1 Goes Live with Ping Sidebar

Apple released a minor update to iTunes last night, which reaches version 10.0.1 and introduces a new feature for Ping users: the Ping sidebar. The Ping sidebar allows you to always have the updates from the people you follow under control: the “Recent Activity” is a smaller version of the Ping dashboard you’re used to and it displays new purchases, preorders and likes. You can like, comment, preorder and buy from the sidebar itself. Read more

More TV Executives Weigh In on 99-Cent TV Show Rentals→

More TV Executives Weigh In on 99-Cent TV Show Rentals

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman similarly cited the rental pricing as the primary issue, noting that it “doesn’t work” for the media company that owns such cable channels as Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

“The 99-cent rental is not a good price point,” said Viacom Inc. Chief Executive Philippe Dauman at the conference, which was hosted by Goldman Sachs. “It doesn’t work for us.”

Mr. Dauman noted that Viacom, which owns cable networks like Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, invests heavily to produce its content and plans to increase that investment.

“We value our content a lot,” he said. “We don’t think Apple has it quite right yet.”

Also, delays.

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