Macgasm

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Video Converter for Mac

“Looking to convert all your media files on your Mac to just about any format you fancy? Look no further than ImTOO Video Converter for Mac. This versatile Mac video converter can convert between nearly all HD/SD format videos. Among the many video formats supported by this great Video Converter for Mac include AVCHD (*.m2ts, *.mts), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-2 HD, MPEG-4 TS HD, MPEG-2 TS HD, Quick Time HD, WMV HD, AVI HD, MKV, H.264/AVC, AVI, WMV, MPEG, MP4, MOV and many others. It can also work as an audio converter to convert between all popular audio files such MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, CDA, OGG, APE, CUE and so on.”

iPhone Magic

“iPhone Magic — the ideal iPhone manager to synchronize your iPhone with your computer; transfer between computer and iPhone both ways without limitations. Support iOS 4.”

We sat, and we waited for an official response from Apple regarding the iPhone 4 and its antenna issues. Finally, we get a response directly from the mothership, but it’s not exactly anything we weren’t expecting to hear. Here’s a brief synopsis of what happened today:

The iPhone can be returned for a full refund if you’re not happy with the device, restocking fees have been waived, and AT&T also has a buyer’s remorse program and will refund you. So, really there’s no reason for you to hold on to the phone if you don’t like it. Steve says it’s the best phone they’ve made, including the other iPhone models. Consumers seem to have responded by not returning the iPhone 4. According to the numbers released by Apple, only 0.55% of iPhone 4 users have called into AppleCare with antenna problems, and it drops less than one more percent when compared to the iPhone 3GS. What’s that mean in english? If the iPhone 3GS drops 4 calls out of 100, then the iPhone 4 drops 4.9 or less calls out of 100.

Maybe this isn’t a problem, but Apple hears the complaints and they’re about to do something about it—free bumpers for all!

If you purchased your iPhone 4 before September 30, 2010, you’re now eligible to get a free bumper or a choice of a case from some of Apple’s partners in their online store. Why September 30th? Well, Apple’s clearly got something up their sleeves, because they’re hoping to leave themselves a chance to re-evaluate the issue in September. This may be a sign that Apple’s already working on a hardware patch, especially considering the rumours that some phones are leaving repair centers with the “death grip” issue fixed.

In short, the iPhone 4 is an amazing phone, Apple doesn’t think there’s a major problem, but they hear our concerns, and they’re working on it. Until then you can either return your phone or get a free bumper.

If there’s one thing we can take away from this, it’s that in 22 days Apple’s managed to not only figure out what’s going on with their device, but also come up with a way to clean up the mess. That’s pretty outstanding. They’ve sent engineers to customers’ houses to test reception, taken logs from the phones, and done other tests. If that’s not caring about your customers, we don’t know what is.

So what do you think? Did Apple do enough?

Remember those orange and blue tinted photos from the Seventies, filled with moustached men in flares and women with daisy chain headbands? Ever thought they’d end up on the iPhone? Nah, me neither. They have though, in the form of the Hipstamatic app ($1.99).

Hipstamatic allows you to take photos through your iPhone camera, choose which lens you want, flash, and even film type — there’s even an in-app store (of course) to purchase more styles of each at 59p/99¢ each.

Once you load the app, you’re greeted with that familiar plastic back, bright yellow button and flash slider, as well as a small viewfinder — you’re almost tempted to put your eye up to it! I took a few pictures with the standard setting first, giving me a fifties style picture — light blue and green hues with plenty of shadows. Not being a photography buff, I have to say everything in this app impressed me. After seeing plenty of friend’s pictures in Facebook made by this very app, I wasn’t up for taking any old picture. I wanted interesting photos that really brought out the nostalgia in these old photographic styles.

Selecting the lenses, the standard choices are John S, Jimmy, or Kaimal Mark II — with the extra options being Helga Viking, Lucifer VI, and Roboto Glitter (that one sounds interesting). I had good fun finding out the different styles of these, eventually settling with Jimmy as my favourite — producing a real old style 70’s effect. Then with the Flash you only get two standard options — Standard (there we go, pretty self explanatory) and Dreampop which adds even more colour into your finished photo. The extras include a bigger range of gels and a Berry Pop multi-coloured pack including a lens and film. The films are a bit less exciting. There’s Blanko, Ina’s 1969, and Kodot Verichrome as standard, then Black & White, SuperGrain, Pistil, and Float as extras. I tended to stick with the Ina’s 1969 as I really liked its polaroid style.

Once you’ve picked your bits and pieces, you’re ready to bring all the memories flooding back. A notice states the camera is ‘warming the transistors’ before you get to slide the flash on and I noticed when you first open the app you’re greeted with ‘wiping off the lens, please wait’. Oh iPhone, I’m not used to you being so…dated! Then after taking your picture you have to wait for it to be “developed and printed,” which I did get quite impatient with. It’s not like your classic iPhone camera where it’s instantly in your gallery. You have a wait a couple of minutes for it to “develop” the photo into your library. From there you can share by emailing or posting to Facebook, as well as creating albums to separate all your styles.

For me the app is a bit of fun but I’m pretty sure I’ll get bored with it soon, after its novelty has worn off. For the more serious of fans, you can enter a monthly contest to win prizes for your best HipstaPrint at their community.

The app is, of course, not as good as the real deal but it’s certainly cheaper than buying a hipster cam in a trendy store and a handy way of keeping your prints together to upload in batches. We’re all tired of scanning polaroids aren’t we? Hipstamatic is available on the App Store for $1.99.

Telltale Games is reporting that “Beyond the Alley of the Dolls,” the fourth episode of Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse, will be released on July 20th.

Here is what Tom, a Telltale representative, had to say in his blog post:

In this last episode before the epic season finale, the forces that have been pulling the Freelance Police’s strings begin revealing themselves in…Beyond the Alley of the Dolls, a tale that will change the way you look at Sam & Max forever! An onslaught of oversized canine clones akin to a zombie apocalypse has our heroes running for cover in a barricaded ramshackle diner as the game kicks off. And it gets even stranger from there.

As the penultimate episode draws near, I am becoming very excited. If you’re behind on the times, you can head on over to the Telltale Store, and pick up the whole season of Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse for $34.95 USD.

What do you think is going to happen? Are you loving the new gameplay and Mac support? I want to know about it. Please take a second to drop some science on us by commenting on this post, or hitting me up on Twitter.

What gets my goat more than anything is when someone talks about something they obviously have new clue about, or they don’t have all of the facts.  Who am I talking about you might ask?  I am taking about New York Senator Charles Schumer (D).  He has written an open letter to Steve Jobs informing him that he needs to resolve “antenna-gate” with transparency.  Wow Senator, transparency.  Really?  I wish government would practice what the Senator is preaching. Wish they were as transparent as he wants Apple to be.

Boy Genius Report was kind enough to share Senator Schumer’s open letter in its entirety:

“July 15, 2010

Dear Mr. Jobs,

I write to express concern regarding the reception problem with the Apple iPhone 4. While I commend Apple’s innovative approach to mobile technology and appreciate its service to millions of iPhone users nationwide, I believe it is incumbent upon Apple to address this flaw in a transparent manner. According to Consumer Reports’ review, released Monday on its website, the iPhone 4’s signal-strength problem is a hardwire glitch triggered by gripping the device in a particular manner. This finding, according to Consumer Reports, “call[s] into question” Apple’s recent claim that the problem is “largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software.” Consumer Reports declined to recommend the iPhone 4 because of this hardware design flaw.

Given the discrepancy between Consumer Reports’ explanation of the reception problem and the explanation provided by Apple in its July 2 letter to customers, I am concerned that the nearly two million purchasers of the iPhone 4 may not have complete information about the quality of the product they have purchased. The burden for consumers caused by this glitch, combined with the confusion over its cause and how it will be fixed, has the potential to undermine the many benefits of this innovative device. To address this concern, I ask that Apple provide iPhone 4 customers with a clearly written explanation of the cause of the reception problem and make a public commitment to remedy it free-of-charge. The solutions offered to date by Apple for dealing with the so-called “death grip” malfunction-such as holding the device differently, or buying a cover for it-seem to be insufficient. These proposed solutions would unfairly place the burden on consumers for resolving a problem they were not aware of when they purchased their phones.

I also encourage Apple to keep its promise to provide free software updates so that bars displayed accurately reflect signal strength; I further urge Apple to issue a written explanation of the formula it uses to calculate bar strength, so that consumers can once again trust the product that they have invested in.

I look forward to Apple’s swift action on this matter, and once again laud Apple for its innovative efforts and service to millions of Americans.

Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer”

This guy really takes the cake.  After reading this all I can think of is an election year is coming, and this guy wants to look hip to his constitutes.  I love how Schumer cites Consumer Reports.  Really, did he even read the report, or did one of his assistants paraphrase key points, and the Senator just ran with it?  Let’s move on.  The good Senator then proclaims that he wants Apple to remedy the situation for free.  The only thing I can think of is that he wants Apple to give us all Bumpers, or recall two million iPhone 4s.  Schumer continues along the same vein when he states, and I quote, “I also encourage Apple to keep its promise to provide free software updates so that bars displayed accurately reflect signal strength…”  WOW!!!  Senator, if you even understood one iota of how Apple has been doing iPhone updates, you would realize that all iPhone updates have and continue to be free.  Why would Apple charge for an iPhone update?  This one statement proves that the Senator has no idea what he’s talking about, and renders his point moot.

I think there are bigger issues going on in the US right now that could use the Senator’s attention rather than an issue with a phone.  He should focus his attention where it is truly needed, not for nonsense like this.  As I write this I have just finished updating my iPhone 4 from firmware version 4.0 to 4.0.1, and I continue to have no issues.  In addition, I did this free of charge, compliments of Apple.  This should make the Senator feel better.  For every complaint I hear or read about, I also hear or read about how other people’s iPhone 4s are not having any issues.  These issues are relegated to a small few, who seem to be very vocal and are making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Photo Credit: Senator Schumer holding a press conference with the families of Flight 3407 in the Senate Rules Committee hearing room (05/18/2010)

Article Via Boy Genius Report

The rumours were true, and 4.0.1 is upon us, a full day before Apple plans on addressing the nation at an exclusive media event tomorrow. While the update notes are as terse as normal, Apple does make a direct mention of “a new formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display”. That’s Apple’s way of saying, “we updated your signal strength indicator.”

There’s still a lot of trepidation amongst iPhone 4 users about whether or not this will actually fix the grip of death issue that’s been plaguing small subsets of iPhone 4 users. If anything, it should at the very least, accurately indicate just how crappy the AT&T network is throughout the US. While we don’t have access to the iPhone 4 up here in Canada, we’re guessing that the update is going to be showing a lot of those death gripers just how terrible coverage in their area. Instead of dropping 5 bars in signal strength, they might now go from one bar to zero. But, we’re speculating, and we’ll keep you posted with updates as others start figuring out just how 4.0.1 has changed their devices

Also of note is the iPad update to iOS 3.2.1. The update includes improved Wi-Fi connectivity, resolution of the copy and paste problems with PDFs, fixing some video playback issues, among other things. This update does not bring the iPad to iOS 4.0, and the features from iOS 4 are missing. Apple’s not expecting to bring iOS 4.0+ to the iPad until the fall of this year.

If you want to update your iPhone 3G, 3GS, or 4, you can open up iTunes, connect your device, and click the update button.  We’d recommend you do that.

Article Via Twitter

I might be alone in this, but I’m looking forward to a time when I can do away with cables and dock connectors. I’m so tired of having to dig around my drawers for appropriate cables. The iPod and iPhone lineup isn’t too bad, because they all use the same proprietary cable for each device, but I have noticed that my 3G iPhone has begun to crack exactly where I plug my device into my Bose SoundDock. It’s probably a result of me navigating the menus on the iPhone, while it’s plugged into the dock, and then the subsequent pressure from each time I push the play button.

Apparently I’m not alone in my dream of removing all dock connector like plugs from my Apple products, because Steve Hotelling and Gus Pabon, over at Apple, have been wrestling with a solution to my problem. A device that has a connector invisibly built into the device. Line it up, in any orientation, and you’re connected to the dock. This also means that you might soon be able to connect to your peripherals in either portrait or landscape mode, should the patent application actually come to fruition.

What do you think? Are they on the right track with eliminating the dock connector entirely?

Article Via Apple Insider

Jérôme Gravel-Niquet, the developer of the Beautifier extension, has released a Twitter client that operates in Safari on top of your currently displayed web page. When you click the toolbar button to launch the Ostrich Twitter extension, it overlays your tweetstream in the upper left hand corner.

The only real downside to this extension is that it has to spawn a new window for you to Tweet. I spoke to the developer over Twitter about this user interface hiccup, and he linked me to his explanation. After reading the reasoning, it seems like a reasonable hassle until he works out a better way to securely deliver the messages.

I’m very pleased with the first implementation, and I expect this extension to spawn many, many competitors. If I’m right, we’re in for some very creative times. What do you think of this extension, and the idea of integrated social media? Leave a comment below this post, e-mail me, or hit me up on Twitter.

Article Via Safari Extensions