Now Available: Safari 3.1
Apple today introduced the world’s fastest web browser for Mac and Windows PCs — Safari 3.1. In addition to loading web pages 1.9 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and 1.7 times faster than FireFox 2, Safari 3.1 runs JavaScript up to six times faster than other browsers. Available for free download for Mac OS X and Windows, Safari 3.1 is also the browser to support the latest innovative web standards needed to deliver the next generation of highly interactive Web 2.0 experiences.
Kudos for the “outstanding AirPort Express”
“If you use iTunes,” writes Eliot Van Buskirk, “you should consider the AirPort Express.” That’s because the diminutive base station not only “supports faster 802.11n wireless networks” and “enables easy printer sharing.” It also facilitates “quick-and-easy iTunes streaming.” Just “plug the Airport Express into a wall outlet near your stereo, run a single cable” (analog or digital) “to your sound system, run the configuration software, and you’re all set.”
Quick Tip of the Week: Sharing Screens
Thanks to Mac OS X Leopard, its even easier to collaborate with others on your network. Not only does Leopard facilitate the sharing of files, it also lets you start interactive screen sharing sessions. Screen sharing offers a great solution for training a co-worker or running a Keynote presentation on a networked Mac clear across the room. Watch the latest Quick Tip of the Week to learn more.
Introducing the new AirPort Express with 802.11n
Now featuring support for the faster 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, the new AirPort Express Base Station delivers up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous model. The world’s smallest 802.11n-based mobile base station, the new AirPort Express offers a great option for anyone who wants to set up a high-speed wireless network, share a printer wirelessly, or stream iTunes music wirelessly from a Mac or PC with AirTunes. And because its so compact, you can take AirPort Express with you and set up an ad hoc wireless network in your hotel room. Available immediately for Mac and Windows, AirPort Express sells for just $99.00.
Pro Tip of the Week: Annotating PDFs in Preview
While it was already a great tool for reading PDFs, Preview in Leopard became even better with new features that include a new user interface, relevancy ranked searches (thanks to Spotlight), and many more. In fact, Preview now lets you annotate PDFs, offering a fast and efficient way to share comments with those you’re collaborating with. Find out how by reading our Pro Tip of the Week.
New Mac Pro a “speed demon”
“I’ve never had to wait less for any application to launch or process to complete,” says Michael DeAgonia (computerworld.com) in his review of the new Mac Pro. Calling it “an amazing machine that is as fast as it is stable, offering pure brute force and processing power at a competitive price,” DeAgonia concludes that the latest version of the Mac Pro “is beyond the sum of its parts. It’s the technological equivalent of a well-played symphony: Each individual piece is solid in its own right, but everything is amplified once they’re put together in concert.”
“I can’t tell you how huge this is going to be”
Says David Pogue (nytimes.com). Waxing enthusiastic about the forthcoming iPhone 2.0 software, Pogue explains that following its release, “there will be thousands of iPhone programs, covering every possible interest.” And they’ll be available 24/7 since “Apple will preinstall the iPhone Apps Store right on every phone.” The move will turn iPhone into “an engineering tool, a game console, a free-calls Skype phone, a business tool, a dating service, an e-book reader, a chat room, a database, an Etch-a-Sketch,” and, Pogue predicts “a gigantic success.”
How big can iPhone market become?
“It’s clear that the platform is gaining momentum,” states Jim Goldman (cnbc.com). Goldman’s comments stem from the revelation this morning that more than “100,000 iPhone developers downloaded the beta version of the SDK in the first four days that it was available.” And to the fact that Intuit, Namco Networks, NetSuite, PopCap, Rocket Mobile, Six Apart, and THQ Wireless have joined Sega, salesforce.com, Electronic Arts, and ePocrates in expressing enthusiasm for the SDK and their interest in creating software for iPhone.
Shooting the moon with Aperture 2
After describing how he shot the recent Lunar eclipse, photographer Marty German also explains how he processed his RAW images: “I used my Aperture 2 trial software to process the three shots. Thanks to Derrick Story’s, Aperture 2: New Features tutorial on lynda.com, it took only a couple of minutes for me to adjust each shot, fine tuning exposures, boosting contrast and reducing color noise.” German adds that, in his estimation, “the raw converter in Aperture 2 is as good as NX’s and both NX and Aperture produce noticeably better Nikon raw conversions than ACR does.”
iPhone SDK “sets the bar high” for mobile software
Tom Yager (infoworld.com) expects gobs “of great software for iPhone and iPod touch” by the end of the year. All thanks to the recently released SDK, which Yager describes as “the simplest, best-documented, and most enjoyable experience for mobile application developers.” Comparing it to other mobile software environments, Yager says the iPhone SDK “blows them away.” In fact, Yager contends that once available, iPhone 2.0 software “will instantly transform high-end consumer phones and music players, and it will gradually alter the landscape for commercial mobile devices.”