Macgasm

We’ve been testing the latest beta of iOS 4.2 for a while, and one of the things that stands out, and that continues to be pretty annoying is the orientation lock, or lack thereof, in iOS 4.2 beta 3.

If you’ve grown accustomed to flicking the switch to lock the screen, you’re going to be pretty annoyed when iOS 4.2 launches next month. Apple plans on leaving the switch as a mute button.

According to another vague email from Jobs, it’s pretty clear that they intend on leaving it as a volume mute switch, which has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s not stupid because the iPad needs a mute switch. It’s stupid because the iPad already has a mute switch: it’s called holding down the lower volume button on the volume rocker. The volume drops from one bar to mute in a split second.

How many steps is it going to take to switch the screen orientation? Five. You’ll have to double click the home button to bring up the multi-tasking menu, then swipe (left to right) to bring up the controls, then unclick the orientation lock, then flip the device, then re-click the orientation lock to lock it.

How many steps is it currently? Three. You flip the switch, flip the device, and flip the switch again. You tell me which one makes more sense?

If you’re expecting Apple to make it an option you can control, you’re kidding yourself. Steve Jobs also answered that question with a resounding “Nope.”

Article Via Just Another iPad Blog

Some people have been heralding the Apple TV as revolutionary, while others think the Google TV might be the better option. If you prefer Google TV and you’re planning on streaming television directly off the internet, you might want to think again. ABC, NBC, and CBS have started blocking video streaming from their websites to Google TVs. They’re the first to block content, and it’s sounding like Viacom and Fox might be joining them shortly.

If streaming television shows from the internet is the future, it’s pretty clear that the major networks don’t want that capability extended to televisions. It’s a pretty lame move by the television networks, and someone needs to tell these executives that a 27-inch monitor attached to a computer isn’t much different than a television. Anyway, I digress.

So what does this mean for the Apple TV? We’re not completely sure, Apple’s model is clearly focused on “renting” shows, but AirPlay seems to be threatening that model before it even gets released. If NBC, ABC, and CBS have all decided to block Google TV connections, there’s probably a good possibility that we won’t be seeing AirPlay coming to the CBS app any time soon.

This is where things get interesting, though. In Canada, CityTv.com has clearly been working on integrating AirPlay technologies into their applications, which just happens to also stream content from major US networks. I’ve got a feeling that this is going to get a lot uglier before it gets better.

From my perspective, the more I use Netflix the more I’ll be relying on that service over cable. If these major networks don’t get their crap together soon, a lot of people will be leaving them behind entirely. It’s not like there’s much worth watching on the BoobTube anyway.

Article Via Macworld

Since I purchased my original iPhone in July of 2007, and even before my iPhones, I’ve always had a case on my phone. Not just because I want to protect it, but because it does add some grip to the device, which has tended towards becoming more prone to slipping out of one’s hand as time has progressed.

When I purchased my iPhone 4, I also bought one of Apple’s Bumper cases. I bought it because it was one of the only cases around at the time, but ever since I’ve been on the look-out for a new one. It’s not that Apple’s Bumper case is bad; it just doesn’t offer the protection that I would expect. It is for this reason that I was intrigued when our own Josh Schnell alerted me to Default Case.

Default Case has only two different cases at this time, although they do plan on adding more in the fiture. They have a range for the iPhone 4 and another for the iPhone 3G/3Gs. Each range comes in 9 different colors: Wistful White, Bold Black, Roaring Red, Sleek Silver, Cobalt Blue, Outrageously Orange, Boss Blue, Pretty Pink, and Glorious Green.

Unlike the Apple Bumper case, the Default Case itself is a sturdy plastic that surrounds the sides and back of your iPhone. Each of the iPhone 4 models contains 999 holes along the back and sides. They could have made it 1000 even by placing a slight piece of plastic between the camera and flash or even the volume buttons. The holes provide two functions: the first is to differentiate the case from other designs and the second is to provide some airflow and dissipate any heat from the phone. This generally works well, as long as you’re in a dust-free environment. If you are not, and most of us are not, once you remove the case you will see a nice pattern of dust that mimics the back design.

The case snaps into place over the iPhone 4 and it fits quite snuggly. The edges are well protected and the reportedly more fragile back of the phone is also very well protected.

There are a couple of negative aspects to the case. The first is that if you get a gouge on the case, lightly rubbing it will only cause it to become worse.

The second issue, which may just be nitpicking, is that the middle section of the case is a couple of millimeters too far down. No, this does not affect the case nor its durability, but it is a small missed item, even  though most will never know nor care about it.

The third negative is the retail price — $34.99 is a bit too steep for the case. The only reason I even purchased the case was because it is currently on sale for $0.01. Yes, it only costs $0.01 (plus $3.99 shipping and handling), for a limited time. If there was not a sale on, I would not have even looked at the cases due to the exorbitant price. I tend to not look at cases priced higher than $20 for my mobile gadgets, unless there are no other alternatives.

Default Case is trying to get its feet wet by offering cases for just $0.01. As their website states, they’d rather pour a bunch of money into advertising, and they would rather allow early adopters to get their cases at a discount and extoll their virtues.

The cases will only be on sale for a limited time, so go and pick up a couple today before they go back to their retail price.

Photo Credit: Default Case

Sam Oliver at AppleInsider:

The research department of Concord Securities has reportedly predicted that the MacBook Air will account for 17 percent of an estimated 4.1 million Mac shipments this fall. In addition, Mingchi Kuo, vice president of the firm’s research department, believes the new, smaller model with an 11.6-inch screen will account for 60 percent of MacBook Air sales.

With better battery life, instant-on and SSD features, the new MacBook Air line is more competitive than ever. With the lowered price points, Apple has moved the MacBook Air line from the high end of the product line to the low end, creating a much larger market for the slim notebook.

The prediction about the 11.6-inch model outselling the 13-inch one is interesting, and I think will prove to be accurate. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is a far more powerful machine for less money, and I think Mac customers have wanted something to replace the 12-inch PowerBook G4 for a long time.

With the holidays approaching, the new MacBook Airs should sell well — much better than before, when the machines were more expensive. Will Apple sell 700k of them? We’ll see.

Either way, I think that AAPL will continue to climb.

FaceTime doesn’t work in Saudia Arabia by default on the iPhone or iPod Touch. It also doesn’t work in the newly minted OS X version either. It seems like Apple has excluded the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt from the list of regions , so they’ve made it quite clear that they don’t want them using FaceTime.

But, like all good geeks, some people have done some digging and found a workaround, and it’s a simple one. To thwart the FaceTime censorship in Saudi Arabia, all you have to do is select a different country while setting up your account.

How simple is that?

We don’t want to hear about religion in the comments. We’ll delete all comments that fall into that category.

Neil Mawston at Strategy Analytics:

Despite component shortages, smartphones continued to surge in the third quarter of 2010. Global shipments reached a record 77 million units and annual growth hit an impressive 78%. Apple was the star performer, as it overtook RIM and closed the gap on Nokia to the smallest level since first entering the mobile market in 2007.

This is big news. RIM has been shipping smartphones for a lot longer than Apple, the company’s inroads in the enterprise are incredibly impressive. As the iPhone has grown in popularity outside of the enterprise, more and more companies have been adopting them. Coupled with Apple adding enterprise-level security features and Exchange support over the years, the iPhone can replace the Blackberry for a large segment of workers.

However, RIM’s losing ground can be blamed on several things. Their first touch-screen phones didn’t do well, not to mention their lack of well-made apps and barebones media support.

With the latest version of the Blackberry software, RIM has tried to meet customers’ wishes. While time will tell, news like this isn’t reassuring that RIM can compete longterm with the iPhone.

Article via The Loop.

If you were on the fence about Apple’s arrival on the Verizon network happening in the near future, this might be a little nugget of information that helps push you over the edge: AT&T is preparing to lose their exclusivity with Apple.

According to Bloomberg, AT&T is not only adding as many phones to their holiday lineup as possible, but they’re also in the process of retraining their employees to “reduce reliance on its top-selling smartphone” during the holidays. The “reduce reliance” is a little bit of a tell. AT&T could be moving support staff off of the popular device, and instead shunting them to other architectures, or it could mean that they’ll be placing emphasis on their other offerings during the holidays. Our guess is that it’s the previous, ensuring their employees are as knowledgable about the Windows 7 and Android offerings as they are about the iPhone 4.

There’s only so much they can do to mitigate the damage a lost exclusivity deal could have on their company, and ensuring that their employees can handle requests and sell other alternatives is an obvious must if AT&T is going to survive the divorce.

Being in Canada, I can’t even begin to tell you how awesome it is to have the iPhone on multiple carriers. Once my current contract is up, I’m jumping ship.

Article Via AppleInsider and Bloomberg

Alongside the announcement of iLife 11, we expected Apple to update their boxset bundle, which includes both iLife and iWork, as well as Snow Leopard. It happened today, the Mac Box Set now has iLife 11, Snow Leopard, and iWork 09.

It makes sense, but it also ends the rumors that we could see iWork in the near future. The Mac Box Set is now $129.00, which is a huge steal of a deal when you stop and think about the value of the bundle in comparison to other alternatives on the market.

But, if you’re as crafty as we think you are, you’ve probably already checked the prices on Amazon. You can get Snow Leopard for $29.00, iLife ’11 for $44.99. and iWork for ’09 for as low as $61.00. That works out to being $134.99. It’s still cheaper to buy the Mac Box Set from Apple, but should you find that you need one or two of the three packages in the bundle, you may want to consider Amazon as an alternative.

You can usually find some great deals on there, for instance, MobileMe is currently available for $61.27 instead of the $99.00 offered by Apple. These little savings obviously add up quickly.