Essential Mac Apps

Now that you have a Mac, what are the apps you can't live without? Here's a short list of apps that I have installed on my Mac and that make my life a lot easier.

Mac or PC?

A couple of months ago, as my work laptop was due for replacement, I struggled with the decision of which laptop I should request next. The options were somewhat limited to a couple of Windows machines, and a couple of MacBooks. For years I have resisted the Apple temptation, and faithfully stuck with Windows. In the last couple of years, though, more and more of my friends and colleagues have made the move to a Mac and keep exalting its qualities.

Typing Tip for iPhone Users

I'm not a texter! I hate typing on the iPhone, the iPad or any other small keyboards! But every once in a while, one has to do what one has to do, and I will have to send a text message or reply to an email on the phone, not to mention taking notes. If you too have to type on your phone, you will understand that one simple task may be really frustrating, and that is to simply change the keyboard to show punctuation marks so you can type in the period, then add a space, turn on the capitals and start a new sentence. Well, here's a tip that will save you some time and frustration.

When you finish a sentence, just tap the space bar twice, and it will add the period, the leading space and turn on the capitals for you! How about that!! And this works on any iOS device, any application, be it SMS, Email or Pages.

Type away and have fun!

iOS 5 Woes

Quite probably one of the most anticipated and feature rich upgrades to Apples`s mobile platform operating systems, iOS 5 ended up being also one of the buggiest. Adding to the (hopefully resolved) battery and DST bugs, it is now surfacing what seems to be one of the most annoying bugs of late, especially if we take into account there is no fix announced. After updating to iOS 5 many idevices are now unable to connect to wireless access points, or get such a weak signal that it becomes impractical to use Wi-Fi at all.

What I find interesting is that everyone criticizes Windows for its bugs, but Apple has no heat for theirs, even repetitive ones, like the DST bug.

I am getting really annoyed at not being unable to connect to my home wireless network, especially when iOS 5 brings Over the Air updates to the iPhone and iPad... right!

Have you been plagued by this bug? What are your thoughts?

iOS 5 Wi-Fi Sync... Oops

If you read my post from yesterday about the iOS 5 new features and similarities with other existing apps, this one won't come as a surprise to you. It seems like this new feature is very, and I mean very similar to an app submitted a year ago to the Apple Store, which Apple refused, but instead called the developer and asked for his CV. Greg Hughes, though, preferred to take his app to the Cydia Store (that's for jailbroken iPhones, in case you are wondering) where he made about half a million dollars selling it.

iOS 5 New Tricks

I was really excited when I first read about the new features iOS 5 will bring to the iPhone and other iDevices. I had been waiting for the announcement and partly followed the live coverage of Steve Jobs keynote address. When he finished, I was looking forward to this Fall, when iOS 5 is supposed to become available to the masses, but then I started thinking...

Watch Flash Movies on your iPhone / iPad

As you well know, Steve Jobs is not a fan of Flash, and he's committed not to have Flash ever in his iDevices, but some rogue iOS developers think otherwise and decided to open the Pandora's Box of Apple! Yes, you guessed it, there are ways to watch those elusive Flash movies on your iPhone or iPad.

I will only mention two apps that allow you to work around the no-Flash policy of Apple and explore the goodies of Flash based websites, some with more

iOS 4.3 New and Improved Features

Ready for the iOS 4.3 upgrade? Connect your iDevice to the computer you synch it with iTunes and get ready for a 400+ MB download. If you haven't done so yet, you will also need to update your iTunes to its latest version, iTunes 10.2.1.1.

For those of you interested in What's New on the latest iOS iteration, here's a list

iOS 4.3 is out!

Apple has launched iOS 4.3 today to all supported iDevices. This includes the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad. From the several hours I have been using it on an iPhone 3GS I must say I am positively surprised with this upgrade that, though not offering much in terms of new features, has certainly sped up

LDS Scriptures App update to 2.52

For all those LDS iPhone users out there, the best LDS Scriptures app available has just turned even better. With update 2.52, and I wonder why not a full number increase, such are the improvements, a revamped Library with bookshelf appearance, in similitude with the iBooks UI, makes its debut, certainly making for a better visual experience. Citations is a new feature which shows you at a glimpse how many General Conference talks, manuals and

iOS 4.2.1 Slows Down 3GS

After installing iOS 4.2.1 on my iPhone 3GS I noticed some operations would take a little bit more than they used to, so I decided to try a few different things. I concluded that my iPhone is now slower then before the update, and I really haven't seen much benefit. My wife's iPad, on the other hand, has received a new lease of life, with multitasking and folder creation finally coming to it. As far as printing goes, it hasn't been able to find my network printer, so I'll keep using a third party app which has served me well in the past and apparently continues to be indispensable.

All in all, iOS 4.2.1 is great news for the iPad, but not so great for the iPhone 3GS. I am hoping the iPhone 4 won't suffer from the same slowness!

iOS 4.2 Available Now

As you may have realized, the much expected update to the Apple OS for iDevices (iPhone, iPad, iPod), version 4.2, is finally available through iTunes! With this, Apple has kept its promise of making the update available before the end of November.

It's Today... Hopefully

In a press release from Apple we are being told iOS 4.2 will be released today, and sources are pointing to a 10 AM PST, 6 PM in the UK, release time. Hopefully, no bugs will spoil the fruit!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Will Apple keep the promise?

Apple has promised a November release for the much expected iOS 4.2, but with several delays and a third "Gold Master" seeded to developers, some are starting to fear Apple will not keep their word. The last iteration of the "Gold Master" is version 4.2.1, and the developers have been told not to re-submit their apps, which means the changes have been minor, but it appears the bugs are eating the Apple bad. On the bright side, it's a good thing that Apple doesn't release this update until all the known bugs are fixed, which isn't always the case with other software and OS makers.

iOS 4.2 has a few new features coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch, but it is primarily aimed at bringing the iPad up to speed, adding multitasking, folders, printing and content streaming to the Apple flavored tablet.

iOS 4.2 coming out... after a delay

iOS 4.2 for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch was delayed after its release having compromised by a newly found bug that affected the iPad WiFi connection. This bug has now been corrected and the release is expected this coming in the next few days.

iTunes 10.1, which is necessary if you want to upgrade to iOS 4.2, was nevertheless released on time, and you can proceed with the ~90 MB download and install to prepare for the iOS upgrade. More news on the new features coming with iOS 4.2 will follow soon.

Mac OS X 10.6.5 Released

Apple has just released a new version of the Mac OS X Snow Leopard, version 10.6.5, featuring a number of bug fixes, stability improvements and security updates for the Mac platform. This update is free for all Mac OS X Snow Leopard users.


General fixes and improvements

• Improves reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers.
• Addresses performance of some image-processing operations in iPhoto and Aperture.
• Addresses stability and performance of graphics applications and games.
• Resolves a delay between print

Find Your Way With The Maps App

Here's a little cool trick some of you may not be aware of. On your iPhone, start the Maps app.

When you get the map on the screen, find the GPS/Locate button on the bottom left hand corner.

GPS/Locate Button

Now, double tap on that

iOS 4.2 coming to the iPhone and iPad

After a long wait, iOS 4.2 is finally becoming available, bringing long awaited features to the iPad and adding some to the iPhone and iPod Touch. If all goes well, this update should become available on Friday, around 10:00 AM PST, 6:00 PM in the UK! In order to apply this update you will need to also update your iTunes to version 10.1.

The main purpose of this update is to

iPhone Camera Roll Corruption

The other day I started the Photos app on my iPhone, went to the Camera Roll folder and got a big scare. I could see the last three photos I had taken, but the previous two hundred and some all showed black. First I thought I had lost the pictures, but when I touched on the black area a picture would come up, so I knew they were there, just not showing on the thumbnail view. I restarted the app, them restarted the phone, took more pictures, sync’d the phone, and nothing would change. Finally, I found a solution I want to share with you.

First, you will need to

Future of Storage

For years and years the main storage device in a computer hasn't changed much. Removable storage, in the last 30 years, has gone from floppy disks holding 1.44 MB to Blue Ray discs holding 128 GB (BDXL), with many options available both in the past and the present, like CDs, DVDs, USB drives, etc. For a computer main storage device, though, we have been stuck with Hard Disk Drives (HDD) since they came up.