It seems like the time has finally come for instant, automatic app updates from the Mac App Store. Apple has rolled out a new automated update service into the brand-spanking-new Mountain Lion beta that they’ve recently seeded to developers. Instead of having to manually head to the Mac App Store, users will be able to have their apps automatically download new updates on an app by app basis.
I’ve been waiting for this kind of thing for years. AppFresh, a popular app management app, had automatic app updates built in for years, but I’ve always had a hard time getting the updates to work. AppFresh would go out and grab Apple updates, Sparkle updates, Microsoft updates, as well as widget, prefpanes, and plugins and then download and install them automagically.
The fact that it appears that Apple’s finally built in this kind of functionality makes the Mountain Lion update worth it for me. It’s funny how something so small as automatic app updates can completely make an upgrade worth it.
I can’t wait until I can stop heading to the Mac App Store to update my apps. Hopefully this kind of thing happens in the iOS App Store as well in iOS 6. That would completely make my year. No seriously, my YEAR. Not having to think about these kinds of things and being able to just open up the latest and greatest patch from developers is going to be a huge time saver for a lot of appaholics. Me included.
The fine folks over at NowhereElse.fr have put together an interesting concept video based on today’s latest and greatest iPhone 5 rumors. The concept video has the new aspect ratio and 3.95 inch design implemented as well as some questionable speaker decisions, as well as the inclusion of a Thunderbolt plug instead of a dock connector.
The iPhone 5 won’t look like this, but it’s fun to speculate. Personally, I prefer the header image they’ve used for the post (seen above). It looks a lot more elegant than the video concept.
If the new iPhone is going to have a bigger screen like some major news outlets (Reuters, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal) suggest, then it certainly better have a widescreen 16:9 display, right? A sexy new resolution of 1136 x 640, right?
The lastest and greatest rumor from 9to5 Mac has indicated that insiders at Apple HQ, who apparently don’t value their jobs, have tipped them off with news that the next iPhone will not only have a bigger screen, but that it will also have a 16:9 aspect ratio.
While we’re not sold on a 16:9 aspect ratio in the next iPhone, we’re certainly starting to lean towards the next iPhone having a bigger screen. It’s based on a hunch, but a lot of people are “confirming” that the next iPhone will indeed have a bigger screen.
Personally, I’d like to see the iPod touch get the bigger screen, bringing the device in line with other gaming-only platforms on the market, and thereby turning it into Apple’s balls-to-the-wall gaming device. Hell, you could even name that the iPad mini or whatever else you want to call it, but I digress.
We’ve been pretty skeptical about the new iPhone going 4 inches in these parts of the Internet, but two independantly confirmed reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters have us rethinking our stance today. According to the reports, Apple is indeed moving to bigger screens for the next generation iPhone.
Below is an except from each report, just so you can see who is saying what on the new iPhone.
Apple Inc., AAPL +0.23% which is expected to launch its next-generation iPhone later this year, has ordered screens from its Asian suppliers that are bigger than the ones used in iPhones since they debuted in 2007, people familiar with the situation said. Production is set to begin next month for the screens, which measure at least 4 inches diagonally compared with 3.5 inches on the iPhone 4S, the latest phone from Apple, the people said.
The new iPhone screens will measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source said. That would represent a roughly 30 percent increase in viewing area, assuming Apple kept other dimensions proportional. Apple has used a 3.5-inch screen since introducing the iPhone in 2007.
We’re still not 100 percent sold on the rumors, as it seems everyone, including mainstream media outlets, are getting in on the Apple rumor mill cash cow these days. That said, we tend to give publications like The Wall Street Journal and Reuters the benefit of the doubt in these matters. Only time will tell, I guess.
Apple seems to have an oscillating love for Nvidia, often switching to and from the graphics chipsets with alternating laptop releases. Both ABC News and The Verge are reporting that Apple is planning to switch from AMD and back to NVIDIA for their graphics chipset in the rumoured upcoming MacBook Pro.
The entire Mac lineup has been reported to include Ivy Bridge CPUs in the upcoming computer refresh from Apple, but the inclusion of the GeForce GT 650M card in the MacBook Pro is a pretty new rumor at this point.
The laptops will also get a graphics boost from Nvidia’s latest graphics, the GeForce GT 650M card. ABC News has heard the same from its sources, which say Apple will move from AMD to Nvidia graphics chips in this version of the MacBook Pro.
The current MacBook Air has an Intel HD Graphics chip, and the MacBook Pro versions that start at 15-inches currently have an AMD Radeon HD 6750M card or Radeon HD 6770M card. We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple gives the graphics processor a bit of an upgrade moving forward. It pretty much happens every time they release a new version of their laptop.
Retina displays are the hot topic item around the rumor blogs these days, and today we’ve got word from Joanna Stern, perviously of Engadget and The Verge) during an ABC News report that both the MacBook Pro and iMac lineup will be getting an ultra-high-resolution Retina display.
The laptop will see the introduction of the “Mac Retina Display,” which is said to have a very high resolution. ABC News has similarly heard from its own sources that both the next MacBook Pro and the iMac would be getting very, very high resolution displays. Apple refreshed its new iPad with a Retina Display in March.
The MacBook Pro machines, to be unveiled at Apple’s annual developers conference starting June 11, also will feature high- definition screens like those on the iPhone and iPad, as well as flash memory to cut startup times and extend battery life, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public.
That’s two seemingly independant verifications that the new MacBook Pro and potentially iMac will be getting Retina displays. If you run a website in any capacity, now’s the time to start figuring out how to serve up Retina capable graphics to your visitors. Things are about to get a whole log blurrier come WWDC.
The Wall Street Journal is currently reporting that Apple will be adding a number of photo-centric features to iCloud that could directly compete with Flickr and other photo-sharing services like 500px. The new features are rumored to include tools to let iCloud users share photo sets and folders outside of the all or nothing Photo Stream service that’s already featured in iCloud.
The maker of the iPhone and iPad is preparing a big upgrade to its online service iCloud that includes new photo-sharing features, according to people familiar with the matter … The new features, likely to be announced at Apple’s world-wide developer conference beginning June 11, will allow iCloud users to share sets of photos with other iCloud users and to comment on them, these people said.
In addition to being able to share photos with friends and family, the service is also rumored to allow viewers to comment directly on photos. Going full circle to the Flickr and 500px references, it’s hard not to see these types of iCloud features directly competing with some of the major photo-based social networks currently on the market. Being able to share photos privately, in a potentially automated synching service like iCloud, would both save customers the headache of having to manually upload files as well as let them share photos and videos without having to publish them in a public forum. I know I’d retire my Flickr account.
Also included in this round of rumors is that Apple will begin letting its customers also sync home videos to iCloud, which would also likely coincide with an inclusion of video in Photo Stream in some capacity.
Both features have been highly requested both by people on Apple’s own support forums and across the major Apple-centric blogs on the Internet. Should the features actually be included in iOS 6, there’s a good chance that we may actually hear about them during WWDC this June.
The television specialist Loewe has an American report on an alleged offer to purchase from Apple rejected. The blog “Apple Insider” was referring to an unnamed informant wrote , Apple sell 87.3 million euros and Loewe would make a decision until next Friday. Is the data “absolutely nothing to it,” a spokesman said on Sunday Loewe.
Like the iPhone before it, it seems like the Internet is trying everything in its power to willfully rumor the Apple Television into existence. Reports pop up, like the one suggesting Jony Ive has a huge prototype in his lap, and then they disappear to never be heard of again.
As much as we would love to see an Apple Television hit the market, and more specifically hit up my living room, we really have a hard time believing that we’ll see the device this year. It seems that the market is terribly small.
It seems like the time has finally come for instant, automatic app updates from the Mac App Store. Apple has rolled out a new automated update service into the brand-spanking-new Mountain Lion beta that they’ve recently seeded to developers. Instead of having to manually head to the Mac App Store, users will be able to have their apps automatically download new updates on an app by app basis.
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May 22, 2012
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