Evernote, the personal digital assistant available on the Mac, PC, web and several mobile devices, released a major new version of the desktop version for Mac users today, bringing it to 2.0 beta.
The new version is available now for all users; you just need to make sure “update to beta versions when available” is checked in Evernote’s preferences. Read more
RSS readers for Mac have been ignored for too long. After an enormous, and maybe initially unexpected, success on the iPhone and iPad, developer Silvio Rizzi set out to create the best new desktop RSS reader. A very simple goal. Perhaps the most difficult to accomplish.
See, they say RSS is dead. Some claim saying “something is dead” is dead. Truth is, Twitter users, Instapaper lovers and Foursquare dwellers don’t know what “dead” means anymore. Especially when it comes down to apps and services, everything can be dead or excellent in a matter of a few weeks. Just take a look at Instragram’s numbers. RSS isn’t for my father or my average non-tech savvy friends, but it definitely isn’t dead. It was just looking for a new desktop house to spend his retirement days in.
Here comes Reeder for Mac to redefine the rules, conventions, UI decisions and navigation schemes of RSS on the desktop. Read more
According to the most loyal Apple fan, two are the “dream products” Apple has in store: the iMac Touch and the MacBook Tablet. While we don’t know whether such machines would make for great innovations or terrible hybrids, the loyal Apple geek surely can dream. And it’s not that patents Apple is granted do anything to convince him that these products aren’t real.
As noted by Patently Apple, the much rumored and long-awaited MacBook Tablet showed up again in a patent published a few days ago. It’s a convertible MacBook / iPad-like device with a touchscreen and a physical keyboard, something that Steve Jobs could really describe as a MacBook hooking up to an iPad. Other patents Apple was granted include one for multi-touch scrolling behavior and the iPad’s virtual keyboard.
Dell is getting ahead of Apple in the convertible notebook market with its latest Inspirion Duo hybrid, and we’re not sure whether Apple will actually ship something like a MacBook Tablet in the next few years. It sounds cool thinking about some sort of MacBook Air with a touch screen, but, as usual, Apple patents are something the loyal Apple fan shouldn’t rely on.
Reeder developer Silvio Rizzi promised a public beta of Reeder for Mac by the end of November and he didn’t break his promise: Reeder for Mac “draft 1” is now available for download here. Reeder comes to the Mac after two very successful iterations on the iPhone and iPad (our review of the iPad version here).
This is a first rough beta of the app, which has been in the works for several months now, and it’s still missing key features such as in-app feed management, search and downloads. The application is already pretty fast and stable, but it can’t be considered a final version at all. Feedback can be submitted to: [email protected].
A lot of things have changed since our exclusive first look at Reeder for Mac months ago. Rizzi has been busy polishing the overall feeling of the app and adding features (especially sharing ones); he completely redesigned the navigation of unread items in Google Reader by putting folders and subscriptions in “boxes” sitting in a left sidebar, he tried a more iPad-like approach.
Reeder for Mac is going to be huge, and this is just the beginning. I guess the app will eventually find its way to the Mac App Store after initial testing. Look for a detailed review of Reeder “Draft 1” on MacStories tomorrow.
Update: review online here.
Update #2: Reeder Vs. Fitt’s Law.
Although they promised, Apple has not yet contributed its proprietary Java Runtime for the Oracle Open Source JVA, Open JDK project - although a French developer has created the first test builds of OpenJDK binary for Mac OS X. Read more
Usually, I’m not into wooden accessories. Heck, I’m not even a fan of wooden-like interfaces (hello, iBooks) – I just don’t like the feeling of wood when put next to a shiny Apple product.
The wooden cases from BlackBox, though, are a different thing of beauty. They are detailed, hand oiled, hand rubbed and numbered. They are unique pieces made for the exclusive Apple user. And they don’t come cheap: $129 for the 13” and 15” cases.
Still: they look good. Even to someone who’s not into this kind of accessories. [Gizmodo via BlackBox]
And we haven’t seen anything about Lion yet – Mac App Store and Launchpad aside. Exciting times ahead for Mac users.
Reminds me a lot of the iPad announcement and launch. But this time Apple doesn’t need to be saved.
According to several reports surfaced on iSpazio, fscklog and Apple’s discussion boards, hundreds of iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac users received random FaceTime calls from themselves or one of their contacts in Address Book on Saturday. Most specifically, it appears that a bug triggered these FaceTime calls to go out at 6:30 PM PST, 9:30 PM EST, 2:30 AM GMT and 3:30 AM GMT +1 on Saturday, November 27th (United States) and Sunday, November 28th (Europe).
Basing on the reports from iSpazio and Apple’s forums, it seems like these random and “fake” calls (not initiated by users, coming randomly from iPhone numbers and email addresses associated to FaceTime on iPod Touches and Macs) happened on devices running iOS 4.2.1 and iOS 4.1 (both regular and jailbroken devices). FaceTime for Mac, on the other hand, is currently in beta and available for download on Apple’s website. Read more
