We noticed that Blake Patterson had uploaded a new photo to our Flickr group today. It’s an iPod and Apple logo carving inspired by the Macintosh “Picasso” logo. Send us your photos and I’ll be posting the best ones on Macgasm all day today!
I’ll make it really easy for you to submit: You can upload it to our Flickr Group
OR
You can @ us on Twitter with a link to it @macgasm
OR
If you still use that thing called “email” you can send it to me Marilyn@macgasm.net
Good luck and I look forward to seeing all your creativity!
An update to Apple’s iOS App Store application may be about to not only get an upgrade, but also provide customers with the ability to self-checkout while shopping in their retail stores using an EasyPay system.
Apple is also updating its own Apple store app on iPhone/iPod to incorporate EasyPay that allows customers to check themselves out for accessories purchases. EasyPay is the same platform Apple employees use to complete those in-store credit card purchases. Since higher priced Apple products are all stocked up in the backroom, you’ll still have to find the help of an employee. Expect the update in a few days on November 3rd, just in time for the holidays.
MacRumors is also reporting that they’re hearing the same thing.
This will be great, should it turn out to be true. How many times have you meandered around an Apple Store looking for an employee who’s not engaged in a deep discussion with a customer to check you out? Being able to check myself out, then leave, without ever having to talk to a person is great. But, something tells me that the security guard who keeps eyeing me as I walk around the store will want a few words with me before I fully make it out of the building.
Apple may be about to release a 15-inch MacBook Air-like MacBook Pro in the near future. According to a report from Macotakara(translated), Apple has just finished testing a 15-inch portable with the same dimensions as the MacBook Air (thinner, tapered, etc). There seems to be some uncertainty about whether or not this laptop will be branded an Air instead of a MacBook Pro. Our money is on a MacBook Pro, but for no other reason than really hoping the MacBook Pro line gets the Air treatment.
It should probably be noted that there were rumors back in July that Apple had begun working on a 15-inch “Air” model, so this rumor isn’t completely new. Also, if you think this one is far-fetched, you should probably take a moment and watch the last MacBook Air Keynote. Jobs himself has been quoted as saying, “We think it’s the future of notebooks” during the unveiling of the latest MacBook Air edition.
We’re with Jobs on this one. Apple’s entire lineup will eventually look like the MacBook Air, especially once Apple can offer higher solid-state storage capacities to professionals at a reasonable price. The Air is too thin and too compact to be ignored by professionals, who in all likelihood carry their machines with them on a far more frequent basis than the average consumer.
I’ve been saying lately that my next laptop upgrade will be from my current 2009 MacBook Pro to the new MacBook Air; however, this could change everything. All things being equal, I’ll take the Pro over the Air, but as it stands, the size of the MacBook Air offers me a huge advantage over the current MacBook Pro — size.
Happy Halloween! Well, tomorrow that is, but I’m excited and ready today. Full disclosure on this week’s pic: it’s mine, but I am within my Macgasm rules as it is in our Flickr pool. I have a little bit of a Nightmare Before Christmas obsession, and quite a toy collection. I think Jack looks quite at home with my laptop, don’t you? Now on to the goods…
The current developer beta of iTunes, 10.5.1 beta 1, just announced to me that it will expire in 52 hours. In my mad panic to remain up-to-date, I ran for the iOS Developer Portal to update, only to find that I was indeed running the latest version.
Sometimes it’s worth going back to the old pencil and paper to wireframe and plan your applications. Instead of relying on freehand sketches for your UI layout, you can now use UI stencils for the iPhone and iPad from, you guessed it, UI Stencils. Both Stencils come in at $26.95 USD per stencil.
The company also has stencils for websites, Android and Windows phones at the same price range.
If you’re the old-school wire framing type, you may want to look into these stencils.
Apple may be about to end its reliance on Google for their mapping functionalities in iOS. According to 9to5Mac Apple has just purchased C3 Technologies, a 3D mapping company, in an attempt to bring their 3D maps, based on declassified missile targeting methods, to their products.
C3 Technologies is the leading provider of 3D mapping solutions, offering photo-realistic models of the world for search, navigation and geographic information systems. Since 2007 when it was spun out of the aerospace and defense company Saab AB, venture-backed C3 has redefined mapping by applying previously classified image processing technology to the development of 3D maps as a platform for new social and commercial applications. The Sweden-based company’s automated software and advanced algorithms enable C3 to rapidly assemble extremely precise 3D models, and seamlessly integrate them with traditional 2D maps, satellite images, street level photography and user generated images, that together are forever changing how people use maps and explore the world.
Apple must be working on a huge project. Like 9to5Mac notes, they’ve purchased Placebase, Poly9, and now C3 Technologies over the last couple of years. Back in May, a patent surfaced that showed Apple was working on some powerful location-based applications.
We noticed that Blake Patterson had uploaded a new photo to our Flickr group today. It’s an iPod and Apple logo carving inspired by the Macintosh “Picasso” logo. Send us your photos and I’ll be posting the best ones on Macgasm all day today!
October 31, 2011
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