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With plenty of time to spare for the 2009 holiday season (although the seasonal isle at Walgreens would make you think Christmas is next week), Apple has announced a new option consumers to reserve a product through their online store and have it ready and waiting at your nearest Apple Store. Their goal is to guarantee to customers that the product they are looking to buy for their loved ones this December will be available in-store when they go looking for it.
As Apple’s Reserve and Pick-up page states,
“With Reserve and Pick Up, you can make sure the top things on your list are definitely under the tree. Reserve an iPod or Mac online today and it will be waiting for you to pick up and purchase at an Apple Retail Store from December 15 to 24. You can even have many products wrapped. It’s just another way we make it even easier to get through the holiday crowds — and your gift list.”
A new “game” for the Mac called Lose/Lose, created by some guy named Zach Gage, which has a retro-style feel to it is truly a lose/lose scenario for anyone who has the nerve to play it. This so-called “art project” is, simply put, a game of Russian roulette that you play with the files on your computer. In a space-invaders style of gameplay, aliens come down at you, but the big twist is that every one you kill permanently deletes a random file off of your hard drive. If for some reason you come across this game, just don’t play it. Delete it and never look back. The following video tells you a bit more about the “game” and warns those who are tempted to play it.
For those of you that absolutely have to run one or more Windows programs on your Mac, there are a few great options out there. Parallels Desktop being one of the foremost choices. As of yesterday, the latest version, Parallels Desktop 5.0, hit store shelves and is ready to improve your Windows virtualization experience. Their website boasts the product as being faster, smarter, and more powerful. It now offers full Windows 7
Apple announced via a press release today that the App Store has officially reached 100,000 Apps available for download to iPhone OS devices. According to Apple, “iPhone and iPod touch customers in 77 countries can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel.” The App Store is no where near perfect and I’m sure there are plenty of developers and customers who have valid complaints, but for something that hasn’t even reached its second birthday yet, that is quite the impressive number and I have no doubts that it will continue to grow.
Remember those commercials that Microsoft spent an obscene amount of cash on that portrayed Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates as best buds shopping for shoes? No? That’s probably because they dropped the ads like a bad habit and moved on to greener pastures. Here’s a reminder:
Now you remember? Ok, lets continue. Rumor has it that Jerry Seinfeld is back to using Macs and the picture below, snapped during the filming of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm
Welcome back, Jerry!
Do a quick search for where to download Windows 7
Sometimes you just need to get a quick screen shot of whatever is on your iPhone. Although there aren’t as many options as there are when taking a screen shot on a Mac, you can still (since iPhone OS 2.0) capture whatever is on the screen of your iPhone or iPod Touch. Here’s how.
- Open up the page, app, website, or whatever else you want to grab a picture of.
- Press and hold the Home button (the round button at the bottom center) then press the Sleep button on the top right of edge of the phone. You phone will flash white, make the camera shutter sound, and you’re done.
- Open up your Photos app, and you’ll see your screen capture as the most recent picture in the Camera Roll ready to be moved to your computer, sent in an email, or uploaded to a website.
The picture will be exactly what was on your phone when you took it, as seen below.
Here’s the breakdown of its features:
The Good
- Bluetooth – This means it is truly wireless. No USB receiver taking up a spot on the back of your computer and cluttering up your desk.
- Seamless Multi-Touch Surface – There’s never been a mouse like this before. The entire top surface is multi-touch, bringing a feature enjoyed on the trackpad of Mac laptop users everywhere to the desktop. From Apple’s website, “Scroll in any direction with one finger, swipe through web pages and photos with two, and click and double-click anywhere.”
- Laser – It doesn’t get more precise than this, and is far more precise than the older optical tracking. It makes this mouse perfect for gaming, graphic design, or pretty much any other use.
The Bad
- Seamless Multi-Touch Surface – As awesome as this is, it’s got a learning curve and will take some getting used to. This probably isn’t for everyone, so unless you already know you’ll like it, swing by your local Apple store and play around before buying one.
- Form – I’m not entirely sold yet on how this feels in my hand. I’ve got relatively large hands, so I’m used to having a relatively large mouse.
The Ugly
- Apparently there is zero support for Dashboard and Exposé (yet?). This could be a deal-breaker for many Mac users.
There you have it! I hope you’ve enjoyed our very first new product review here at The Apple Vine. Please feel free to reply with any comments you might have about this review or about the Magic Mouse.
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