Mr. Fadell was the first person to join Appleis iPod team in 2001, and was promoted to vice president of iPod engineering in 2004. He became senior vice president of the iPod division in April 2006. Appleis iPod is considered the dominant portable media player and has sold nearly 120 million units since its launch…
Jeff Gamet
Jeff Gamet is the Mac Observer’s Managing Editor, and co-host of the Apple Context Machine podcast. He is the author of “The Designer’s Guide to Mac OS X” from Peachpit Press, and writes for several design-related publications. Jeff has presented at events such as Macworld Expo, the RSA Conference, and the Mac Computer Expo. In all his spare time, he also hosts TMO’s Daily Observations podcast, co-hosts The iOS Show podcast, and makes guest appearances on several other shows, too. Jeff dreams in HD.
Articles by Jeff Gamet
Leopard: User Accounts Advanced Options
Leopardis Accounts Preference Pane also hides a set of advanced options you can use to customize user account settings. To get at the advanced options, Control-click a name in the Accounts Preference Pane, and then choose Advanced from the pop-up menu. Control-click an account to see the advanced settings.
NYC Pensioners Pursue Apple Lawsuit
Even though a federal Judge said the New York City Employee Retirement Systemis suit against Apple over improperly backdated stock option grants didnit hold water, the organization is moving forward with its case. The group filed a new version of its suit this week, and a hearing is scheduled in January to see if the…
PC World: Vista, Leopard, iPhone Top Tech Disappointments
PC Worldis Biggest Tech Disappointments list for 2007 is out, and Microsoftis Windows Vista operating system ranked at the top of the list. Microsoft wasnit alone on the list, however, because Appleis iPhone and Mac OS X 10.5 operating system made the cut as well. “Five years in the making and this is the best…
Analyst: 3G iPhone Concerns Overdone
One of the biggest complaints about Appleis iPhone is that it uses EDGE for data transmission instead of the faster 3G technologies. American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu thinks those concerns are overdone and misplaced. Mr. Wu thinks that, despite the hype behind 3G, the technology isnit widely deployed and network coverage can be spotty.…
QuickTime 7.3.1 Plugs RTSP Security Hole
The update also fixed a QTL flaw that an attacker could use to cause applications to crash or run arbitrary code on the victimis computer, and patched several security holes in the QuickTime Flash media handler by limiting playback to known safe formats. QuickTime 7.3.1 updates are available for Mac OS X 10.3.9, 10.4.9 and…
Leopard: IDLE-ing with Mail
Whatis IDLE, you ask? Itis a protocol that lets an IMAP email server tell your email client when you have new messages instead of waiting until your client app checks. When your email gets the signal telling it that you have new mail, it automatically updates your inbox. Think of it as proactive email checking…
Opera Files EU Antitrust Case Against Microsoft
Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner commented “We are filing this complaint on behalf of all consumers who are tired of having a monopolist make choices for them.” The company also claimed that Microsoft is intentionally refusing to follow industry standards which hampers the ability of Web developers to create browser-compliant sites. “In addition to promoting…
Montage 1.3 Adds Final Draft Export, Leopard Compatibility
The new version also added the ability to export scripts in the .sex format for production scheduling applications, added iScript support, improved file import performance, fixed several bugs, and more. Montage 1.3 is priced at US$139.95 The upgrade is free for version 1 customers.
Word of the Year: w00t
Merriam-Webster defines “w00t” as a word that “first became popular in competitive online gaming forums as part of what is known as l33t (ileet,i or ielitei) speak — an esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters. Although the double ioi in the word is usually represented…
Default Folder X 4 Gets Quick Look Support
The version 4.0 update also added a new HUD-style user interface, a preview window that floats below Open dialogs, full-screen previews, and more. Default Folder X 4.0 is priced at US$34.95 and is available for download at the St. Clair Software Web site. The upgrade costs $14.95 for users that purchased their copy of Default…
Anti-porn Bill Could Impact All Open Wi-Fi Networks
The SAFE bill, or Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act, is intended to help law enforcement with investigating and prosecuting people that use the Internet to distribute child pornography images. The side effect, however, is that anyone with an open Wi-Fi network will be required to comply with the law even if they operate a personal…
Bear Sterns Lifts AAPL Target on Strong Sales
Mr. Neff commented “We continue to see AAPL well positioned for the holidays given the confluence of product cycles for Mac (new iMac, low channel inventory, Leopard OS, BBY store expansion) and iPod (strong new product acceptance).” Like American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu, Mr. Neff expects that Appleis strong guidance for the December quarter…
Flash Player 9 Gets H.264 Support
Adobe released Flash Player 9 Update 3 on Tuesday. The new version of the Flash content player added support for H.264 video and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio. The update also supports hardware accelerated full screen video playback and multi-core procesors. The new version of Flash gives content creators and providers new options for streaming…
MIF Filter Converts FrameMaker to InDesign
The plug-in preserves page layout, content, settings, colors, anchored frames, paragraph styles, tables, graphic objects, cross references, variables, and more. MIF Filter can be used for free to open and review FrameMaker documents in InDesign, and includes a sliding scale pricing scheme for per-page conversions. Pricing for per-page conversion starts at €0.35 (about US$0.51) per…
AAPL Climbs Following 3G iPhone News
Word of a 2008 3G-compatible iPhone release didn’t come from Apple, but that didn’t stop the company’s stock from climbing. The Cupertino company’s stock closed on Wednesday at US$180.22, and climbed up over $184 late Thursday morning. The news that Apple is planning on releasing an iPhone model that works on AT&T’s faster 3G wireless…
AAPL Creeps Up Over $176 Again
Apple’s stock took another upswing in after hours trading to climb back up over the US$176 mark early Wednesday morning. The Mac and iPod maker’s stock closed on Tuesday evening at $174.81, continuing the company’s general upward trend. Apple’s market cap is recovering as well. As of closing Tuesday, it was set at $153.05 billion,…
Gadget Support Comes to Google Desktop for the Mac
Google announced on Wednesday that it is adding Google Gadget support to its Google Desktop application for the Mac. Google Gadgets are similar to Apple’s Dashboard widgets, but are cross-platform and work in Dashboard, iGoogle pages, and the Google Desktop Sidebar. Google Desktop: Now with Gadgets An extensive list of Google Gadgets is already available,…
DEVONtechnologies Updates Apps for Leopard
DEVONthink Pro Office, Pro, and Personal also added support for Microsoft Office 2007 and OpenDocument file formats, added the ability to accept links from Mail.app messages, and improved PDF output support. DEVONthink Professional Office 1.3.4, DEVONthink Professional 1.3.4, DEVONthink Personal 1.9.11, DEVONnote 1.9.11, and DEVONagent 2.3 are available for download at the DEVONtechnologies Web site.…
MacITT, Apple Matters Defaced by Hacker [Updated]
MacITT, Apple Matters and iPhone Matters, three Apple and Mac related information Web sites, were seemingly defaced by a hacker Monday night. The regular site contents was replaced with a message about “excessive Apple fanboism.” In the end, however, it turned out the defacing was merely a publicity stunt. Three Apple related Web sites were…
Protecting Files with an Encrypted Disk Image
Hereis how to make your own encrypted disk image: Launch Disk Utility. You can find it hiding in Applications / Utilities. Click New Image. Select New Image in Disk Utility.
Mac OS and Windows Through the Years
The clever gang at Gizmodo set their Wayback Machine so they could compare Apple’s Mac OS and Microsoft’s Windows interfaces over the years. The visual history starts with Mac OS 7 and Windows 95 and ends with Mac OS X 10.5 and Windows Vista, and shows how both have gone from boxy and basic to…
$10M Says Apple Can Use Burst Patents
Burst originally filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming the company was infringing on its patents with technology used in the iPod, QuickTime, iTunes, and the iTunes Store. Earlier in November 14, of the 36 claims were thrown out leaving 22 claims for Burst to pursue in court sometime in 2008. Burstis legal fees in the…
Snapz Pro X 2.1.2
Appleis Grab application is fine for taking screenshots on your Mac, but for heavy duty use it falls a bit short. Ask anyone that relies on screenshots for their work what they use, and youill probably hear “Snaps Pro X.” Donit expect that to change any time soon, especially now that this venerable screen capture…