Posts tagged with "mac"

First Lion App Compatibility List Is Here, You Can Contribute Too

With the first developer beta of Lion “out in the wild”, it’s no secret people want to know which apps are working on the new OS, and experimenting with ways to let incompatible software run just fine on 10.7. Website RoaringApps has put together the first unofficial app compatibility list for OS X Lion, and it’s already a pretty huge one.

Anyone can contribute to the Wiki by sharing details of an app that’s working on Lion or has issues, or you can join the community to discuss the list with fellow Mac testers and developers.

Again, the list is very useful and available here. Check it out.

Buy Todolicious Today, Donate To The New Zealand Red Cross

Mac app Todolicious by Mustacheware was one of the first Mac App Store-exclusive apps we covered ahead of the launch of the new Store and, overall, an elegant to-do manager for the Mac that makes it easy to jot down tasks with an intuitive keyboard-based panel you can invoke at any time. With the choice of multiple themes and cute sound notifications for completed tasks, Todolicious still is one of the “best new apps” available in the Mac App Store (also mysteriously not featured  by Apple since January 6th).

An update to Todolicious was released today adding a new editing engine and an option to delete completed to-dos, but that’s not what we want to focus on right now. The update is great and adds a bunch of much requested fixes, but what we think is absolutely worth of your consideration is the fact that Mustacheware decided to donate 100% of sales today to the New Zealand Red Cross in response of the earthquake that occurred on February 21. If you buy Todolicious today (February 25), you’ll give your contribution to the victims of the earthquake and, at the same time, you’ll end up with a sweet application on your Mac.

So head over the Mac App Store now, and download Todolicious.

#MacStoriesDeals - Super Friday!

Sorry for not having Deals yesterday, it was hectic around MSHQ! But don’t worry, today will make up for it! Here are all of today’s deals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get ‘em while they’re hot!

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Apple Prepares For Retina Monitors With HiDPI Mode in OS X Lion

Digging through the build of Mac OS X Lion that was seeded to developers yesterday, MacRumors discovered the presence of “HiDPI display modes” which suggests that Apple is planning for the possibility of Mac displays running something similar to a Retina display sometime in the near future.

Developers would, as they have done on the iPhone, provide each UI element in two sizes, one in the size they currently are and then one at twice the resolution. It would work virtually identically to how Apple implemented the Retina display for the iPhone, with the high-resolution displays using the double sized UI elements so that physically the size of the elements would stay the same.

MacRumors gives the example of a 15” MacBook Pro that has a resolution of 1440x900 that could be doubled to 2880x1800 and then use an app’s UI 2X elements and which would leave the application’s UI elements the same physical size, but with much greater detail. Apple had previously dabbled in the notion of creating OS X a resolution independent OS through a number of methods from using vector graphics to providing bitmaps for multiple screen resolutions, but none had previously eventuated.

The HiDPI mode is not turned on by default and must be done so through Lion’s Quartz debug in Xcode.

[Via MacRumors]

Sparrow Lite Available in the Mac App Store

Sparrow, one of our favorite mail clients for the Mac, has just realeased Sparrow Lite via the Mac App Store. The Lite version integrates all the features of Sparrow but you can only use one Gmail mail account, it has ads by Carbon (very nice by the way), and your signature adds ‘Sent with Sparrow’ after your name.

Sparrow Lite is a great way to give it a try before deciding if you are interested in buying the full version for $9.99. Sparrow Lite is FREE and is now available in the Mac App Store.

What Is Thunderbolt?

Thunderbolt technology is what was Intel’s Light Peak. It’s not an Apple technology, but rather the culmination of Intel’s handiwork in combination with Apple’s mini DisplayPort. While Light Peak was developed to work over fiber (literally for light speeds), Thunderbolt is implemented over copper. Despite this, you’re still getting bi-directional (in and out as they say), 10 Gbps connection over a cable, plus a 10 Watt feed so you can power heavy equipment on the go (you don’t get that with USB). For comparison, your current USB 2.0 devices only get 480 Mbps through the cable! With this technology, you can drive multiple inputs including monitors, workstations, and audio equipment without a bird’s nest under your desk.

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FaceTime for Mac Now Available in the Mac App Store, 720p Video Calling

Ahead of the new MacBook Pros, Apple launched the final version of FaceTime for Mac in the Mac App Store today. It’s priced at $0.99. The new version of FaceTime for Mac will allow 720p video calling Mac-to-Mac with supported Intel models that have a FaceTime HD camera – the new MacBook Pros. New MacBook Pro owners will get the app pre-installed, other users will have to buy it from the Mac App Store.

Video calls require a built-in FaceTime camera, an iSight camera (built-in or external), a USB video class (UVC) camera, or a FireWire DV camcorder; and a 128-Kbps upstream and downstream Internet connection. Making HD video calls requires a built-in FaceTime HD camera and a 1-Mbps upstream and downstream Internet connection. Receiving HD video calls requires a supported Intel-based Mac (for a complete list, visit http://support.apple.com/bk/HT4534).

Full description below. Read more

Bodega Update Adds Background Updating

Bodega, the alternative Mac App ‘store’, has been updated to version 1.4 and has a new feature that allows Bodega to update apps in the background. The app has also received extensive feature and performance improvements.

The background updater works as a background daemon that will check once a week for any applications that can be updated. It utilizes the Sparkle update framework, so whilst it may not work for every app, it should work for most. Bodega does not have to be running for the daemon to check and users have the option of ignoring pending updates if they wish.

[Via MacNN]