Macgasm

It seems that party-goers aren’t the only ones with hangovers on New Year’s Day. According to the Internet, iOS devices don’t recognize one-off alarms after the clock strikes midnight, and the calendar roles to 2011.

Observant readers will remember that Apple’s mobile OS also had issues back at Daylight Saving’s Time, but that issue was only with recurring alarms — the opposite of this issue.

To get around this issue, simply create a recurring alarm. But really, who needs to wake up early on January 1?

Article Via Engadget

Update: In the Christmas rush, it turns out I missed a post here on Macgasm about DropDAV. If you want even more DropDAV love, check it out.

Earlier today, I wrote a post about VoodooPad. I discussed syncing with a WebDAV server, but I warned that it wasn’t for the faint of heart. Turns out, there is a better solution to syncing via WebDAV than running your own server on your Mac: DropDAV.

This snazzy little service allows you to use your DropBox account as a WebDAV server. The best part? It’s free for small-scale use. If you have a free DropBox account, you can use DropDAV for free. If you have a for-pay DropBox account, you only pay DropDAV an additional 30% of your monthly fee for the service. If you have the $10.00 a month DropBox plan, you only pay $3.00 a month to the folks at DropDAV. It’s a very small price for an incredibly neat service.

To enable DropDAV, you visit their website, and then enter your DropBox credentials. After that, you just use a DropDAV URL with your DropBox username and password for syncing purposes. I just tried it out with VoodooPad on OS X and iOS — it works without any hassle at all. I’m thrilled, and I hope you all enjoy it too.

Photo Credit: DropDAV

If you live in a place with limited bandwidth (See: The boonies), you probably don’t want iTunes downloading podcasts all willy nilly. Luckily, there is a switch inside of iTunes to control this, but it isn’t quite as obvious as I’d like.

First, go to your iTunes Library, and go to the Podcasts tab. At the bottom left hand side, you’ll see a button labeled “Settings.” Click it, and you’ll get a new configuration window.

Switch the first drop down list to “Manually,” and the second drop down to “Podcast Defaults.” Click save, and you’ll no longer find iTunes sucking up your bandwidth behind the scenes. Also, you can change the settings for each individual podcast if you’d like. Maybe you want to automatically get the latest Macgasm episode, but you want to wait to grab Apple’s event videos. It’s very customizable, so you’re in good shape.

I’m sure you all know that I am a big fan of VoodooPad on the Mac. I use it all of the time, and I’ve become reliant on a certain image editing app from the folks at Flying Meat as well. Like a rollerskate with a matching key, the VoodooPad iOS app launched not long before I obtained my very own iPad to use it on.

In case you’re not quite sure what a VoodooPad is, I’ll drop some science on you. This wonderful little app is a personal wiki designed specifically for your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Instead of scattering everything in different places, you just put it into VoodooPad. No mussing and/or fussing with folders and different apps. Everything you need to organize and annotate your life is baked right into VoodooPad. Let go of the clutter, and trust the magic of the voodoo.

My favorite part of the iPad app is the ability to sync seamlessly to the desktop version. If you have MobileMe, it will sync perfectly once you enter your credentials. If you’re not a MobileMe member, you’ll need to set up your own WebDAV server. If you don’t know what that means, DON’T ATTEMPT TO DO IT! Go buy MobileMe, and you’ll be happy. Server futzing is never fun.

Once you have everything set up the way you want, you can edit the same document on your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or Mac, and it just syncs to any other device you have configured. I’m a little speechless at how great the sync works. It also has pretty snazzy conflict detection, so you won’t lose anything by mistake.

As far as iOS apps go, it’s a little on the pricey side at $9.99 USD, but it is completely worth it if you’re already an OS X VoodooPad user. I’m a poor Apple journalist, and I dropped the $10 on it without a moment of hesitation.

So, fellow voodoo-heads, what do you think? Is it worth it to spend $9.99 to buy the iPad/iPhone universal binary? Let me know by leaving a comment on the article.

Photo Credit: moonlightbulb

Analyst Brian Marshall of Gleacher & Co believes that Apple should buy Netflix. On Wednesday, he published an advisory note to clients. According to Marshall’s estimates, Apple’s movie and TV rental numbers are currently at about a tenth of what Netflix rents, compared on a quarterly basis. The DVD rental and online streaming giant handles approximately 5 million rentals a day, divided evenly between physical discs and streaming on demand, while Apple rents 475,000 movies and TV shows a day. In revenue, Netflix makes $550 million in rentals per quarter, while Apple makes $60 million in rentals, and another $50 million in purchases.

Marshall noted that if Apple can grow its rental business similarly to Netflix’s historical performance, it could be looking at a rental revenue of over $1 billion in five years. “As Apple’s rentals scale up going forward, they will generate significant profit. They will start to become more of a profit center for the company,” said Marshall.

Instead of competing with Netflix, Apple should acquire the company according to Marshall. He estimates that Netflix could be had for a mere $12 billion, easily handled by a company like Apple, which has in excess of $50 billion cash on hand.

It’s difficult to see exactly what Apple would get by buying Netflix. Apple doesn’t like to run other business, it usually absorbs them, and unless Apple is making a move into the subscription model, I don’t see them absorbing Netflix and all their subscribers into some kind of iTunes Movie and TV subscription package. Netflix right now is a prime offering on their Apple TV and a selling feature. Would Apple really buy Netflix, keep the Netflix brand, and continue running it, DVD rentals and all? It’s doubtful. If Apple grows its own business to a $1 billion a year profit engine, as Marshall says, I think they’ll be happy to just do that and let Netflix do its own thing.

What do you think? Does Apple stand to gain anything by buying Netflix?

Article Via ComputerWorld
Photo Credit: MacLife

I’m on the record as being, let’s say, hesitant to embrace Google’s Chrome browser. I certainly didn’t like the first windows-only implementation. It was wonky as hell, and they really broke Webkit. I didn’t like the initial OS X release either. It didn’t work as well as Safari, and it still had plenty of quirks. Since then, Chrome has grown by leaps and bounds. At this point, it is an incredibly usable browser. While some of my concerns (Feature bloat vs. speed) remain, I have come to accept Chrome into my daily life.

I started using it heavily when Xmarks had a death-scare. I was worried that I’d be without bookmark syncing, so I wanted to make sure Chrome’s sync had a recent copy of my bookmarks. Well, you know what they say: Come for the syncing, but stay for the URL bar. After using the customizable “Omnibox” for a while, it became second nature. Instead of effing with Safari to allow me to use the string “w Baloney” to bring up the Wikipedia page for Baloney, it just worked out of the box in Chrome. That was what sold me in the end.

That said, I do miss using Safari sometimes. There are a handful of very pretty Safari-only extensions that don’t have a counterpart over in Chrome-land. There will never be a perfect browser, and I think I’m okay with that. For now, I’ll just use what’s available.

So, what do you think of Chrome? Have you warmed up to it? Let me know by leaving a comment on this post.

Today, the United States’ Patent & Trademark Office filed a patent application from Apple. It details an application shoppers can use to communicate with friends about potential purchases through pictures, video, and comments. In addition, the app would allow users to check store inventories for product, which can then be put aside.

It Starts With a Kiosk

The application is part of a larger social network, one that begins with a “kiosk.” It appears as though the kiosk would be a physical fixture in-store, or inside a shopping plaza, so iPhone users could receive information identifying and recommending items of interest.

The store inventory checker and reservation system could allow users to cut down on shopping time, as potential purchases could be identified and held ahead of time. So instead of wandering around a two-story Anthropologie for that polka-dotted sundress, it would be ready for you to try-on in the fitting room.

Below is a graphic demonstrating the kiosk interface (click to enlarge):

Application Workflow

There are several potential methods for users to communicate with their friends about potential purchases. An illustrative display (as seen in FIG. 3, above) could identify an item with a photo, as well as a store ID and other pertinent information. Or, users can take their own photos or video to share with friends in the app’s network.

The purpose of sharing an item with friends is to receive feedback. For example, what if that polka-dot Anthropologie dress is cut unusually short? If a friend in your network can ping you with that info, she or he has saved you the time it would take to try it on (should you choose to take their advice, of course.) If you don’t end up purchasing the dress, one of your friends in-network could suggest another item for you.

The below graphic shows a potential interface design (FIG 4), feedback request (FIG 5), and reception of feedback (FIG 6):

“Put it on hold, please!”

Another feature of the social-networking/shopping app would be the ability to communicate with stores directly about potential purchases. Users could find stores with their item in stock, and have store employees put those items on reserve. This feature makes sense, as the ability to reserve iPhones is already available in Apple retail stores.

What do you think of this patent? Would you use the app? Let us know in the comments!

Article Via Patently Apple

Photo Credit: Patently Apple

In October 2009, Nokia complained to a United States federal court that Apple, Inc. infringed on 10 of their telecommunications patents.

The below graphic neatly summarizes the patent charges:

Fast forward to present day December 2010. Nokia’s grievances increased to 75 complaints of patent infringement over the past 14 months. Today, this is what the patent charges look like:

Currently, the finished document spans 19 pages (“moves”), 11 reference pages, 31 PDF slides, and more than 75 patents. Oh, and did we mention the various “moves” are being heard by seven different courts? (Among them: Delaware and Dusseldorf.)

Nokia must think they’re the victim in this situation, as this kind of case must carry hefty legal fees. As a company, they’ve got major cajones to stand up to behemoth Apple in court. At the least, they should be given respect for their attempt.

However, it’s not for us to say who infringed on whom. Rather, in an idealistic world, it’s hoped that the justice system will rule based on fact. A multi-billion dollar payoff would be nice, but intellectual property is priceless.

Article Via Fortune

Photo Credit: FOSS Patents