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Leica Sofort 2June 13, 2024
The Hype: Yoshida & Co’s Porter BagsAugust 26, 2025
Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022

Recent Articles

  • Should Apple hide the Consumer Report…Report?

    Eliot Van Buskirk: A TUAW reader first pointed out that a number of threads mentioning the search term “consumer reports” had disappeared from discussions.apple.com, replaced by a note asking the user to log in to the site, after which the relevant discussions still are not viewable. However, Microsoft’s Bing search engine cached those pages before…

    Eliot Van Buskirk:

    A TUAW reader first pointed out that a number of threads mentioning the search term “consumer reports” had disappeared from discussions.apple.com, replaced by a note asking the user to log in to the site, after which the relevant discussions still are not viewable. However, Microsoft’s Bing search engine cached those pages before Apple removed them, so they’re still visible for the curious.

    The big issue here is not that Apple is covering up the fact that there is a problem with the antenna, rather that they are hiding the fact that Consumer Reports will not recommend the phone. Who cares? Consumer Reports is irrelevant to any good testing and has not been a stalwart recommendation service for anyone under 40 for the past decade.

    Why then is Apple removing posts citing Consumer Reports? Simple they don’t want bad press on their website just as your company would not allow bad press on its website. The issue isn’t the antenna, the issue is marketing. Apple will let you complain all day about any problem you want, just don’t link to articles talking crap about their products.

    Apple is in the majority in this thinking, and they are maintaining their private forum. If you want to bitch and link to Consumer Reports go get a GeoCities ((remember those)) page – just don’t do it in Apple’s playground is all that Apple is trying to say.

  • Why USB Syncing Needs to End

    If I had to pick one thing to complain about on the iPad it would be the syncing mechanism. I rarely sync my iPad because I don’t have time to wait for it to finish – I need to use it, or I am at the office (my iTunes library stays on an external drive…

    If I had to pick one thing to complain about on the iPad it would be the syncing mechanism. I rarely sync my iPad because I don’t have time to wait for it to finish – I need to use it, or I am at the office (my iTunes library stays on an external drive at home). The same goes for my iPhone – what a pain to take the time and sync it.

    It is not the actually syncing of content that takes the longest either, it is the ‘backing up iPad/iPhone’ part that is horrendously long. Let’s say I download a new album on my Mac and I want to sync that over to my iPad and iPhone – I have to plug them each in and wait for the back up and then the sync. If I download a song in the morning when I first wake up and try to sync this music to both my iPhone and iPad at the same time I will barely have enough time to pack up and leave. This is 2010 – we should not have to wait that long.

    • iPad Sync Time: ((This is a normal sync that I do about once a week. It includes a full backup, transferring of recently updated apps, putting on new photos and podcasts.)) 13:49 minutes for the total sync, of which 10:33 minutes was for just the backup.
    • iPhone 4: 5 minutes
    • iPod nano ((original)) : 46 seconds.

    At the very least Apple could allow us to disable the backing up portion of the sync, but they don’t. You can click the ‘x’ when you see the backup part start to skip it, but then errors pop-up and sometimes it will cancel the entire sync (annoying).

    Of course for my setup I only have to sync the media portions (photos, music, videos) as everything else is either wireless (contacts and calendars) or I download straight to the iPad/iPhone (apps and their updates). I can understand not wanting to allow Wi-Fi syncing of movies (given how large they are) but why can’t we wirelessly sync music and photos. Each file is small enough that if the sync was interrupted it could easily be resumed.

    Sure this may not speed up the syncing speed, but at least I could sit on my couch and use the iPad wirelessly – as it was intended. Even now I can’t use either device while syncing – which is just absurd. How can we not surf the web while data is being loaded onto the device – they are certainly powerful enough to do this.

    The Ideal

    Ideally we would be able to set our mobile devices to sync wirelessly with our computers / media servers while they are charging. In this scenario say I am going to sleep and I throw my iPad and iPhone on the charger – at this point the device would wait 30 minutes and then start syncing all data before finally performing a backup.

    Then in the morning if I wanted to load more songs the device would recognize that I have a current backup (made within the last 24 hours lets say) and would quickly sync all new media over Wi-Fi. Thus the syncing done while I am awake is only what I want to sync (setup in settings) and most all the other data is recent within the last 24 hours.

    I don’t want to be too demanding, but given that I labeled this portion of my rant ‘ideal’ it would only be natural for me to want Apple to implement a “Back to my Mac” feature that allowed syncing over the WAN (Wide Area Network).

    Where Is It?

    One company already has such awesome technology: Dropbox. Everything is in sync and I never notice it syncing. So the technology is out there and can move large chunks of data quickly – why the hell don’t we have it on mobile devices yet?

  • Why I Turned In My iPhone and Went Android

    Louis Gray: Second behind the word choice has to be “Momentum”. I can see that Android has momentum in terms of improved quality, in terms of the number of devices sold and users, and yes, applications, which are growing in quantity, soon to be followed by quality. I really do believe that if Android does…

    Louis Gray:

    Second behind the word choice has to be “Momentum”. I can see that Android has momentum in terms of improved quality, in terms of the number of devices sold and users, and yes, applications, which are growing in quantity, soon to be followed by quality. I really do believe that if Android does not already have a market share lead over Apple yet in this discussion, they soon will. It is inevitable. The growth in the number of handsets, carriers and users will drive more developers to the platform, and the holdouts who are not there will eventually make the move.

    To me the above statement just seems silly, that is like saying that you are using Windows and not Mac OS because the customer base for Windows is bigger. That is never a good criteria to make a decision on unless you are the provider or are talking about social networking.

    I switched to Android because I am extending my move away from the desktop and more to the cloud. iTunes does not deserve to be the core of my device any more, as it is simply a utility to rent films and get new apps for the iPad.

    The above however is an sentiment that I completely agree with.

  • New iPhone 4 Ads

    They all focus on FaceTime and they are all pretty damn good. Though I must admit that I have only used FaceTime twice since getting the iPhone 4. I suspect that usage will rise as I know more and more people with FaceTime capable devices.

    They all focus on FaceTime and they are all pretty damn good. Though I must admit that I have only used FaceTime twice since getting the iPhone 4. I suspect that usage will rise as I know more and more people with FaceTime capable devices.

  • Out Of Nowhere, The iPad Has A Real Competitor – Kinda

    Don’t get to excited, it still involves modification to the device to get it running ‘full’ Android OS. That said it is cheap enough that I suspect it to be a cult underground classic much like the Nokia Tablets of 5 years ago were (n770 w00t).

    Don’t get to excited, it still involves modification to the device to get it running ‘full’ Android OS. That said it is cheap enough that I suspect it to be a cult underground classic much like the Nokia Tablets of 5 years ago were (n770 w00t).

  • Man Claims 84% Ownership of Facebook

    Geoffrey A. Fowler: In his suit, Mr. Ceglia claims he signed a contract with Mr. Zuckerberg on April 28, 2003 to develop and design a website in exchange for a $1,000 fee and a 50% stake in the product. The contract stipulated that Mr. Ceglia would get an additional 1% interest in the business for…

    Geoffrey A. Fowler:

    In his suit, Mr. Ceglia claims he signed a contract with Mr. Zuckerberg on April 28, 2003 to develop and design a website in exchange for a $1,000 fee and a 50% stake in the product. The contract stipulated that Mr. Ceglia would get an additional 1% interest in the business for every day after Jan. 1, 2004, until it was completed.

    My guess would be that if this had any legitimacy we would have heard about it long ago.

  • Secunia Report Lists Apple As #1 in Vulnerabilities

    I think the most telling part about security was omitted from this report: speed at which a vulnerability is patched. Ever OS and Software platform will have vulnerabilities – it is how fast you patch for users that really matters to me. However, sad to see Apple at #1.

    I think the most telling part about security was omitted from this report: speed at which a vulnerability is patched. Ever OS and Software platform will have vulnerabilities – it is how fast you patch for users that really matters to me. However, sad to see Apple at #1.

  • Palm webOS Headed to HP Tablet, Printer

    Looks like HP may finally ‘get it’. ((HP wants to control all pieces of the mobile ecosystem, says McKinney. “If you look at success in the market, they are those companies who can control the end user experience and the entire experience stack,” he says.))

    Looks like HP may finally ‘get it’. ((HP wants to control all pieces of the mobile ecosystem, says McKinney. “If you look at success in the market, they are those companies who can control the end user experience and the entire experience stack,” he says.))

  • Judge OKs iPhone class action against Apple, AT&T, Marco Responds

    Marco Arment: The majority of cellular phones sold in the U.S. are carrier-locked. Furthermore, since the two biggest networks in the U.S. operate with different radio standards and cannot share devices, there’s almost zero demand for unlocked phones here. He does a great job of setting the record straight – I like Marco – have…

    Marco Arment:

    The majority of cellular phones sold in the U.S. are carrier-locked. Furthermore, since the two biggest networks in the U.S. operate with different radio standards and cannot share devices, there’s almost zero demand for unlocked phones here.

    He does a great job of setting the record straight – I like Marco – have no clue how this made it to an actual case.

  • Backup Reminder – A look at my Backup system

    A couple of months ago I had a stark reminder of just how important backups are. I didn’t have my hard drive fail – though I thought it did – my Macbook Pro’s hard drive just wasn’t right. The system was running slow and the keyboard was unresponsive. I took the computer into the Apple…

    A couple of months ago I had a stark reminder of just how important backups are. I didn’t have my hard drive fail – though I thought it did – my Macbook Pro’s hard drive just wasn’t right. The system was running slow and the keyboard was unresponsive. I took the computer into the Apple Store where they did and archive and install for me that solved the problem. Up and until that point in time my backup strategy was as follows:

    • Backup internal hard drive with iBackup once a week.
    • Store many files in Dropbox.
    • Archive older documents and design files on iDisk.
    • Store Aperture libraries and Music on two separate hard drives.

    That was it, short sweet and simple. My rationale was that I didn’t need to worry about lost files from the current week as they are easily reproducible. However when all of this happened it meant I lost and entire day of work time and spent it at the Apple Store. Had I had a proper clone of my internal HD I would have been able to diagnose the issue as software related and restored myself later (spending the rest of work off of the cloned drive).

    Since that time I have drastically altered my backup strategy. Here is what it looks like now:

    • Backup internal hard drive with SuperDuper! every other day on two different drives.
    • Store all working files on Dropbox.
    • Archive older documents an design files on iDisk.
    • Store Aperture libraries on 3 different external hard drives.
    • Maintain one small ‘working’ Aperture library.
    • Keep iTunes music folder on external drive with a backup copy on another two drives.
    • Store one of the duplicate backup drives in fire safe.

    The main difference is that I have more redundancy, and cloned copies of my internal HD (both on a pocket sized external drive and larger more reliable drive) and that I am keeping a lot of data in Dropbox. I have yet to – and hope never to – run into a problem where I have to put my backup system into effect, however it offers quite a bit of comfort.

    My Wife on the other hand refuses to use some of these tools and instead I have her Macbook Pro backing up to an external HD wirelessly through Time Machine. It is better than nothing, but it is far from great.

    It is Monday – we all had a nice weekend (hopefully), give yourself the little extra piece of mind this week. Go buy an external HD (they are really cheap) and download a backup program that clones your HD (I recommend SuperDuper! for Mac users) and clone the drive while you sleep. Make it a habit and you will sleep better.

  • Microsoft is Hardcore about Making Win 7 Slates

    Steve Ballmer (via Todd Bishop on Twitter): We are hardcore about this. That’s all fine and dandy, but is he talking about the never successful (except in niche markets) Tablet PCs, or the newly found successful iPad style computer? There is a big difference.

    Steve Ballmer (via Todd Bishop on Twitter):

    We are hardcore about this.

    That’s all fine and dandy, but is he talking about the never successful (except in niche markets) Tablet PCs, or the newly found successful iPad style computer? There is a big difference.

  • How Mariano Rivera Dominates Hitters

    This is an older item, I just had time to watch it and it is a fantastic use of the newer PitchFX data for baseball. Really cool flash video.

    This is an older item, I just had time to watch it and it is a fantastic use of the newer PitchFX data for baseball. Really cool flash video.

  • It’s As If Apple Has Hired Don Draper

    MG Siegler: As we’re all well aware, video chat, even on phones, is nothing new. Sure, Apple has simplified it, but they’re not really showcasing that here. Instead they’re going right for the heart strings. They’re doing something rather incredible. They’re conveying how you’ll feel if you use the product, by making you feel alongside…

    MG Siegler:

    As we’re all well aware, video chat, even on phones, is nothing new. Sure, Apple has simplified it, but they’re not really showcasing that here. Instead they’re going right for the heart strings. They’re doing something rather incredible. They’re conveying how you’ll feel if you use the product, by making you feel alongside those in the commercial. They’re creating this sentimental bond.

    Spot on, it is an amazing commercial. This commercial is the reason parents and grandparents want every member of the family to have and iPhone 4.

  • SSD Performance in Macbook Pro (late 2008 Unibody)

    I ordered up an SSD drive for my Macbook Pro and just finished installing and testing its performance. It is mind blowingly fast – incredible. My Macbook Pro’s specs are as follows: 2.8ghz Core 2 Duo 6gb RAM Late 2008 Model (expresscard model) All test performed plugged in while using the faster graphics card Hard…

    I ordered up an SSD drive for my Macbook Pro and just finished installing and testing its performance. It is mind blowingly fast – incredible.

    My Macbook Pro’s specs are as follows:

    • 2.8ghz Core 2 Duo
    • 6gb RAM
    • Late 2008 Model (expresscard model)
    • All test performed plugged in while using the faster graphics card
    • Hard Drive was a 300gb 7200rpm drive
    • SSD drive is a 240gb OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD

    Now for the results:

    Cold Start
    Hard Drive 1:47.9 mins
    SSD 59.4 secs
    Restart
    Hard Drive 1:44.7 mins
    SSD 1:10.6 mins
    Launch Photoshop CS5 Extended
    Hard Drive 16.2 seconds
    SSD 3 seconds
    Lauch InDesign / Photoshop / Illustrator (CS5 Same time)
    Hard Drive 1:54.4 mins
    SSD 10.3 seconds
    Load Dashboard & Widgets
    Hard Drive 16.9 seconds
    SSD 3.5 seconds

    As you can imagine I am quite happy with these results. (Please note that during each restart I had to enter my password, that takes me about 1.5 seconds on average.)

  • An interview with Michael Lopp from The Setup

    Loop: I’m a Mac OS X nerd and have been so for the past eight years. I’m a LaunchBar guy. Any time I have to touch the mouse, I feel inefficient. Amen to that.

    Loop:

    I’m a Mac OS X nerd and have been so for the past eight years. I’m a LaunchBar guy. Any time I have to touch the mouse, I feel inefficient.

    Amen to that.

  • Small Biz: 5 Quick Tips for Success

    Here are five quick small business tips that have helped me out over the past 5 years – let them soak in over the weekend and get going on them Monday. Pay yourself as little as you can get by on A lot of small business owners and freelancers pay themselves whatever is left in…

    Here are five quick small business tips that have helped me out over the past 5 years – let them soak in over the weekend and get going on them Monday.

    Pay yourself as little as you can get by on

    A lot of small business owners and freelancers pay themselves whatever is left in the account after all the bills are paid. I am here to tell you that this is a terrible idea. For the first year you need to be paying yourself the least amount of money that you can afford to live on. This comes in handy for those months that you have no work – as you can still pay yourself.

    After a year you should have a pretty good idea of what you make and can afford to pay yourself. Don’t bother projecting out the year ahead – base your salary off of last years revenue and stock pile a couple months worth of your salary in the business account. This has saved my ass time and time again.

    Indulge on things you use the most.

    I see small business owners make a ton of stupid purchases – a 60″ LCD for the lobby – and really skimp where it counts. If you use something for more than a few hours a day, take the time and money to buy the best thing you can. For instance you should start with your desk chair. A good office chair should cost you between $700 and $1500 and you should be happy to pay that. It will last years and benefit you for the rest of your life (your back will thank you when you hit 60).

    Lose the fear.

    Want to know how to fail fast? Be afraid to do anything, see how at works out for you. Self-employment is risky, but it is even riskier to wait until you have other peoples salaries that you need to pay. If there is a risk you are debating – now is always better than later.

    Be courteous always.

    Business is built on relationships, and ‘throwing your weight around’ only makes you look like a dick. Instead just smile and be nice, it goes a long way and you wick be surprised what great service and relationships you can forge out of it.

    Build up favors and don’t cash them in.

    One of my favorite things is when someone owes me something because I did something helpful for them. I have a ton of favors built up, and I try ti never cash them in. The result is that when I truly do need a favor there are a lot of people there ready and willing to help. If you always cash in every favor people will be far less inclined to really want to help you.

  • Grain of Salt Warning: NDrive GPS App Disappears from Apple App Store, Kill Switch the Culprit?

    Evan Selleck: The application itself went for $2.99 in the App Store, and it provided upwards of 1.8GB of US map data. However, it sounds like people didn’t have long to download it, or enjoy it for that matter, before the application itself was pulled from the App Store. And then subsequently pulled from customer’s…

    Evan Selleck:

    The application itself went for $2.99 in the App Store, and it provided upwards of 1.8GB of US map data. However, it sounds like people didn’t have long to download it, or enjoy it for that matter, before the application itself was pulled from the App Store. And then subsequently pulled from customer’s iPhones as well. It’s also disappearing from people’s Macs and PCs, too.

    No sources listed and the company is not confirming either way if this is true.

  • I Have a Fever: Ashes for iPad

    I had been waiting for some way to read Fever on the iPad. I was a hardcore Fever user but switched back to Google Reader so that I could use Netnewswire and Reeder. Sad that Ashes doesn’t live up to the hopes of Fever users. It is also sad that Shaun Inman has seemingly put…

    I had been waiting for some way to read Fever on the iPad. I was a hardcore Fever user but switched back to Google Reader so that I could use Netnewswire and Reeder. Sad that Ashes doesn’t live up to the hopes of Fever users. It is also sad that Shaun Inman has seemingly put Fever development on hold so that he can finish his new projects.

  • iPhone 4 as good as the 7D? No, but it’s amazing for what it is

    Damn impressive side by side video comparing the iPhone 4 and Canon 7D.

    Damn impressive side by side video comparing the iPhone 4 and Canon 7D.

  • The Danger Of What Could Come – Apple Post Steve Jobs

    We all know what happened to Apple when Steve Jobs was forced out of the company ((Source)) by then CEO John Sculley. Apple without Steve Jobs’ direction was not the Apple that we know today. Jobs has turned Apple into a market leader, innovator, and design oriented company. The natural question then is what happens…

    We all know what happened to Apple when Steve Jobs was forced out of the company ((Source)) by then CEO John Sculley. Apple without Steve Jobs’ direction was not the Apple that we know today. Jobs has turned Apple into a market leader, innovator, and design oriented company. The natural question then is what happens to Apple after Jobs leaves again?

    As reasonable people we know that at some point in the future Jobs will not be with the company (most likely through age or retirement). At this point should we advice that everyone dumps stock and runs away scared? I think not.

    If you look at the current landscape we have a pretty clear idea of what I would consider to be a worst case scenario for Apple – that scenario is Microsoft. Bill Gates left the CEO role, then left the company – handing over the reigns to those that he had been working closely with for years. ((Source))

    Many see this as a terrible outcome for Apple and for Microsoft – but is it really that terrible? They are sitting on roughly $37 billion in cash and gross profits in the $46 billion range. That is not a failing company by anyones standards. ((Source))

    Remember too that I said early this is a worst case scenario for Apple post Jobs. If Jobs leaves Apple and appoints a reasonably competent CEO then at the very least Apple retains profitability and produces mediocre products (such as Microsoft has been doing). As a consumer and Apple fan(boy) this is tragic – as a stock holder this is not the best news, but hardly worth jumping out of a window over.

    Now of course this is all assuming that Jobs leaves Apple rudderless when he leaves. I would guess that when Jobs leaves he will be leaving with a 5 and 10 year road map already in place at the company. The product cycles may or may not slow after he leaves, but the vision that he instills in the company on the daily basis will still serve as an over arching compass for the company.

    Add to all this the fact that because of Jobs every person currently with Apple (mostly the upper tier of management) knows what has driven the success of the company for the past decade and knows of that importance. Jobs has in effect instilled his personality and business belief system into all of the employees that he works closely with.

    Assuming there is no mass exodus or power struggles when Jobs leaves I would suspect that Apple will be just fine without Jobs. At the very least Apple with remain profitable and viable for the short term (10 years) after Jobs leaves.