Apple released Safari 3.1 this past Tuesday, among speed increases and support for HTML5 and CSS2, Apple included a few more enhancements not known to all.

Safari 3.1 was released on Tuesday via Software Update to both Mac and PC’s.

Today, I’m going to be giving a couple small hints regarding Safari 3.1. If you have already software updated to get it, good for you! Otherwise, I recommend you do a Software Update, or check out Apple’s website for the installer.

One of the most interesting, and certainly attractive features of 3.1 is the Element Inspector. Meant for developers, you can select individual items and see its place in the code. This can particularly useful when debugging a website across multiple browsers or looking at why something doesn’t appear correctly. There is also a host of tools that allow you to see how large your website is to load, how long it took your computer to load scripts, images and more!

You can access the element inspector by right clicking an item on a page in Safari after running this command in Terminal (and then quitting and relaunching Safari, if it is open):

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitDeveloperExtras -bool true

Not only does Safari 3.1 improve upon the already rich experience in Safari, it takes the Safari for Windows out of beta! In version 3.1, Safari on Windows has transformed into a very rich browsing experience- and this isn’t just Apple speaking. Over the course of the past few days, I have read numerous reports about Safari’s growing strength on Windows- how it has become a real contender to Firefox and Opera.

You might have also heard about the recent controversy surrounding Apple Software Update for Windows. Basically, Apple is pushing Safari 3.1 upon anyone who has Apple Software Update installed- making it appear as an update to QuickTime or iTunes would. While I think the concept of spreading Safari for Windows is good, I feel that Apple should have only suggested users download Safari. Either way, Apple is seriously preparing to increase competition in the Windows and Mac browser market.

You can look at some recent reviews of Safari 3.1 for Windows:
PC Magazine
ArsTechnica

Or read about the controversy surrounding Apple Software Update and Safari:
Macworld

Over this past weekend, a friend and I decided to take a trip to the 5th Avenue Apple Store. The experience below.

Outside the 5th Avenue Apple Store, Jobs’ 32 foot cube in sight.

My friends and family know that I often like to take trips to the Apple Store for no apparent reason. About every month or so, I’ll make at least one trip to my local Apple Store- there are quite a few, actually! Because I live in New Jersey, 10 miles from New York City, I have access to 3 flagship stores and 3 regular Apple Stores within a 15 mile radius!!

After the opening of the West 14th Street store (which you can see here), I was instantly in love with the 3 stories of Cupertino goodness found on 14th Street- which still holds the crown as my favorite Apple Store ever. However because it was Easter Sunday and all other stores in the area were closed, my friend and I went to the 5th Avenue store, which is open 24/365. Upon our arrival we found the store to be quite crowded, probably due to the Easter Parade which takes place on 5th Avenue, not to mention it was one of the few businesses operating that day.

Inside the store, it was nicely crowded, you had to wait to do anything, not to mention the line coming in and out of the store. As usual, most people were just surfing the internet and playing on iPhones and iPods- I saw relatively little retail activity- even though there was a large line to the registers!

We started by playing on iPhones (which I’ll get into at a later date), and then wondered over to the MacBook Air table, which we spent a lot of time at. We were on one for maybe 20 minutes, when all the sudden someone took control of our mouse and promptly shut down the computer- via Remote Desktop, of course. Puzzled we turned the computer back on and quickly slid down one MacBook Air and resumed our browsing.

Yay! Photobooth lawls.
Exploring the contents of an Apple Store MacBook Air.

Later, we moved over to an iMac, where I was showing my friend something by Control+Scrolling (via Mighty Mouse) and found myself stuck zoomed in to a portion of the screen. Maybe you guessed it, but the down scrolling wasn’t working! I ended up navigating into System Preferences and turning off and on the Control Zoom feature to bring the display back to normal. Dammed Mighty Mice!! While an easy fix for my mice at home, I was disappointed that at the Apple Store it wasn’t taken care of.

Then later, it happened again! Before leaving, I wanted to play with Aperture 2 on a new computer (ie, not a PowerPC based computer), so we found an empty iMac in the opposite corner of the store to play with it on. Not remembering my previous experience with the Control Zoom, I did it again, showing a section of the new Aperture UI. This time a little more frustrated, as it is something that I use often, I realized that this Mighty Mouse didn’t scroll down either! Gah! How are people new to the Mac platform supposed to scroll down? Or see Apple’s hardware not working?! I am currently drafting a formal complaint for the store.

Otherwise, it was a typical Apple Retail experience, good, clean, pleasurable. I hope next time I go to use a Mighty Mouse it can scroll both ways. If not, I’ll have a nice template to send my complaint with.

Last week was great- we saw a nice increase of traffic, a new podcast (finally) and began our affiliate program. This week ahead is going to be very interesting. I am leaving for New Orleans on Wednesday morning, and will not return until mid-day on Sunday. This may mean that I will not produce an article every day, but rest assured that I will do my best to get content out everyday. Sidney and I are going to record an audio podcast either today or tomorrow, as we are trying to increase the consistency of podcasts every week. It has been a relatively quiet week for Apple news, and probably will be similar this week. But who knows? Happy Monday y’all!

This week, a bunch of rumors have been circulating that Apple is preparing to offer an Unlimited subscription to iTunes on a yearly basis with hardware purchase.

Will we be clicking Subscribe anytime soon?

This past Tuesday, a report from Financial Times cited internal sources from within Apple claiming that the company is considering the option of subscription with a purchase of new hardware for the future. Similar to Nokia’s recent “Comes with Music”, a bundling of a one year subscription to their music store rolled into either hardware or service charges, thus appearing to the consumer as free. Theoretically, new iPod Touch or iPhone users could opt for this service for a premium charge- more likely free to iPhone purchasers and a fee for those who buy the iPod Touch. The idea would not only entice customers to use Apple’s iTunes but keep them with the Fair-Play DRM.

Now, this could be possible, but considering Jobs’ stance on subscription, it is probably unlikely. In April 2003, Apple introduced the iTunes Music Store, offering a pay-as-you go model- even allowing you to buy single tracks off an album. Steve Jobs has always been adamant against the subscription model. In the December 2003 issue of Rolling Stone, Jobs said:

While Jobs sometimes goes back on statements similar to these, besides the movie rentals, he has remained fairly consistent with the pay-as-you-go model in the 5 years since the introduction of the iTunes Store. With over 4 billion songs sold to date, the iTunes Store accounts for more than 70% of all digital music sales worldwide.

Even beyond the large success of the iTunes Store, while the Unlimited iTunes Music model might not be a bad idea both for Apple and iTunes, it will not happen- at least not in the near future. Until we see a successful subscription model come out, or even the success of the Nokia “Comes with Music” promotion, we can rest assured that Jobs and Co will remain selling tracks to own for years to come. Scratch this one off your rumor list.

The MacBook Air is Apple’s smallest laptop ever- but where does it lie with other laptops?

Is there something hidden under the MacBook Air?

When Steve Jobs released the MacBook Air, the intention was to fill a gap in the existing Apple laptop lineup. Following the buzz of Macworld, many reviewers have ripped apart (literally) the MacBook Air and comparing it to the other ‘Ultra-Portable’ computers from other manufactures. From the non user-replaceable battery, to no Ethernet jack and only one USB port- people have poked at some of the cons of using the Air and since given it mixed reviews.

While the complaints are genuine, now more than 2 months since the release of the MacBook Air, I have found most of the reviewers are slightly biased. As the reviews came out I would always find myself saying- “Well, this is what someone tech savvy might say, but what about the others?”. The answer is usually: “they don’t really care”. Most people don’t care about taking advantage of all the features in their computers- both hardware and software. They just want to do whatever they want to do. Those who take full advantage are usually the more technically inclined- ie, the people writing the review!

While I am not refuting the claims made by reviewers of the MacBook Air, I feel that most people who are interested or buy the MacBook Air don’t really mind the tradeoffs associated with it. And while you can say that with virtually any product ever, the MacBook Air appears to be in strong demand. I think that the MacBook Air might prove to be a very successful laptop, but certainly never overthrow its big brother, the MacBook Pro. Currently residing on the number one spot on the Apple Online Store, seventh on Amazon Notebook section (joined with five other Apple laptops), one can assume it is selling with reasonable pace. Apple even keeps a MacBook Air availability badge for each one of it’s retail stores, updated daily at 9pm, much like the iPhone badge seen in June of last year.

The MacBook Air availability checker.

So what is my point? The MacBook Air appeals to a certain type market of people. While this may not be everyone, it appears that a substantial amount of people are buying it. They feel that the other benefits the Air offers outweighs the non-user replaceable battery, one USB port or lack of Ethernet jack. While no product can ever be perfect, we shouldn’t forget that everyone sees things differently. This holds true not only with Apple, but the entire tech industry.

Sometimes, you wonder if some things could tell stories, what they might say. After explaining some of my laptops quarks to Sidney a few months ago, he suggested I write a story.

It was a fairly mild May day, May 23rd to be exact. The model iBook had been out for approximately a month when an Army solider decided to purchase his first Mac. He customized it to have 512MB of RAM and even opted for the Bluetooth wireless option. At the cost of approximately $1,200 it was a very respectable system- including AppleCare! After treating it like his baby, a little more than 2 months of owning it, he found out his was deployed to Iraq. Understanding that the computer wouldn’t get used very much while he was gone, he decided to sell it on eBay.

I was a sophomore in high school at the point, and was in the market for a new computer. After my iMac G3 was damaged by lightning in a recent storm, I wanted to get a laptop. The decision to get a new computer, as WWDC had recently taken place did require some thought into the future. I knew that I couldn’t stand another two years with my aging iMac G3, that I would have to live through the transition- I knew I would be getting a new computer by the end of my senior year. I originally thought to get a brand new computer from the Apple Store online, but had a whim to go on eBay and see if I couldn’t fetch a better deal there.

After much searching, I stumbled upon a few auctions that fit my needs. Being a good eBay buyer, I closely monitored the activity with these (three or so) auctions- looking for the right time to snatch my deal. Behold my connection with the Army solider. I won the auction, paying about $900 with shipping. I was amazed- I got a computer worth more than $1,200 retail at the time at a discount of almost $300. Not only did I save money, but I saved a computer from going to waste.

The seller was extremely nice, and sent me an email wishing me good luck with the computer, and to take care of it- because he would miss it. I tried contacting him upon compiling this story, but haven’t yet received a response. Not only have I taken care of this computer, I have put it to good use. I almost see it as a physical representation of my high school career- it has been with me for these past 4 years reliably and has seen a lot.

I couldn’t even begin to count the miles I have put on it- but I can estimate that it is at least 10,000. Where did I get this number? Well, in the past 4 years, I’ve taken my laptop with me to Amsterdam, San Francisco, Denver, Florida, Canada, North Carolina, St. Louis, Atlanta- to name a few. In fact, I’m writing this story on it currently en-route to Hartford, Connecticut. I also have been in and out of New York City, New York State, Connecticut, Massachusetts on a monthly basis. I bring my laptop with me virtually everywhere- from trips to the Diner with my family, to the mall, friends houses and often to school. Even with the excessive amount of traveling and milage put on it, it has stood up well.

Stood up well… for the most part: It has made a few trips to the repair center, for numerous issues, nothing too serious. I have had the battery replaced, new bottom case installed, gone through more rubber ‘feet’ than I can care to remember, had the hard drive swapped out and the bezel changed. Otherwise, my computer (which is now out of AppleCare) has remained solid. Even through in this time of Intel processors ‘screaming’, the G4 has kept me running fairly well- I’ve been on Leopard since it came out, and besides intensive media work (mainly Final Cut, or rendering of any kind) it can keep me up to speed. Sadly, I have to admit that even with my love for it, I will have to replace it with a new MacBook Pro for college in June. I won’t abandon it- it will stick with me and I will never forget the service it has given me.

I would be interested- what is the story behind your computer? Let us know!

Last week Trent Reznor released a collection of instrumental tracks independently, in a surprise move even his fans couldn’t anticipate. The collection, called Ghosts I-IV, was done in a ten week period last fall, produced mostly by himself and a few of his friends. The album’s first 9 tracks can be downloaded on Bittorrent officially for free, while users can also choose to download just the music and a 40 page PDF for $5. If listeners really want a physical product, they can pay $10 for two CDs, $75 for a deluxe edition, or $300 for a limited edition with vinyl, CDs, and even a data DVD of all the multitracks.

Astoundingly, the download site was hit with so many requests that it had to be shutdown for several hours so it could handle all the traffic. Thankfully for some, the album was still available on Amazon, where this author was happily able to download 36 high quality tracks for the very low price of $5. Most people would see this as just an attempt to copy Radiohead and gain free publicity; however, by looking deeper into the way the idea was executed, it is clear that Trent Reznor takes it one step, if not three steps, into the future of the music industry.

Read more…

Often times, people request features for the iPhone. What about features found on the iPhone but not the Mac?

With the release of the iPhone firmware version 2.0, Apple has launched a set of enterprise features aimed at companies with mobile cell phones- support for Exchange servers, Cisco IPSec VPN and more. While this may be great for the iPhone, and help gain support from large companies and professionals alike- what about the Mac? If Apple supports these features for the iPhone, why can’t they give native support in OS X?

The initiative from Apple to open up the iPhone to developers and natively support a wide host of enterprise features is welcomed by all, as this is something Apple usually stays away from. In the past, Apple has typically made anyone wishing to use such enterprise features found in the iPhone firmware 2.0 relay on 3rd party developers such as Microsoft or Cisco. Why can’t Mail have Exchange support?! If Apple is going to continue to add features to the iPhone, will the Mac be left in the dark?

There is a long standing rumor that Leopard was delayed because of the June iPhone release date. This wouldn’t be the first time that Apple has neglected the Mac over the iPhone- but with good reason. The iPhone marks a new chapter of Apple, one that is showing a more mature Apple- and could become extremely successful over the coarse of the next few months. All I ask from Apple is- can we have all the iPhone features on the Mac?

The iPhone has so much potential. The cell phone market is ripe for change. Can the iPhone do it?

The definition of a smartphone, according to Wikipedia: “A smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC-like functionality.” The smartphone market is growing larger and larger everyday- dating back to 2001, when the first BlackBerry was released. However, since their inception almost 8 years ago, the technology and software behind these devices (BlackBerry, Treo, etc) have changed little. That was, until last year.

With the introduction of the iPhone in January 2007, the technology world was suddenly mesmerized with what is still referred to as the “most anticipated cell phone”. The iPhone broke the mold of all other ‘traditional’ cell phones in many ways- it’s touch interface, slick integration of 3 devices into one, core software being OS X- not to mention that Apple designed alone- there was no influence from the carrier. While the iPhone’s concept is great, execution was good and has proved midly successful, we are only seeing the foundation laid by Apple. Until June 2008, the iPhone has been under the sole control of Apple.

In a situation strikingly similar to the original Macintosh, the iPhone is innovative and has revolutionized the cell phone market already like the Macintosh. Now that Apple has laid the groundwork, it is time for the developers to step in and give the world another reason to buy an iPhone, to build the metaphorical house. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the Macintosh never saw this stage in 1984- it was crippled by a limited amount of 3rd party software.

The iPhone is in entirely different situation. While developers were initally scared by the GUI in the Macintosh, developers have been begging to develop for the iPhone since it’s introduction! Last week, developers were finally given the opportunity to start writing their app’s for the iPhone- not to mention Apple’s commitment to add enterprise features! This announcement was met with very positive reaction from the technology community. There is no question: the iPhone is headed in a really great direction. Not only strengthening the iPhone platform, Apple is getting ready to compete with the biggest smartphone maker- RIM.

Just as it did with it’s iPod years ago, Apple is slowly beginning to dominate the smartphone market and with the latest trajectories, could leave its competitors in the dust. The more I think about it, RIM and its BlackBerry devices are almost reminiscent of Creative’s music players 7 years ago compared to the iPod. And after last weeks announcement, all the sudden the iPhone is a full-blown competitor to RIM’s BlackBerry. The iPhone may become the next iPod for cell phones. Will the competitors see it coming this time around?

Over the past few years, I have always wondered- how far can Mac OS X go?

Mac OS X was first released in 1999, with Mac OS X Server 1.0. In 2001, Mac OS X version 10.0 was released for desktop consumption. Based on UNIX, and taking many hints from NeXTSTEP, the NeXT Operating System, OS X brought us Aqua- a new GUI that reflected Apple’s colorful product lineup at the time. Now, almost ten years later, what has become of OS X?

Speaking about the recent Mac OS Tiger v10.4 release at WWDC 2005, Steve Jobs said:

Funny, that makes a lot sense- with last October’s release of the latest iteration of OS X, 10.5 Leopard- we are not even halfway into the 20 years Steve mentioned, but halfway through the 10.x cycle. In 2007, the Mac saw its market share rise to almost 8% by years end. Apple sold almost 4 million iPhones worldwide. Both product lines rely on OS X for software. From its inception in 1999, this is significant progress. OS X has become more than an Operating System- it is working its way into the core of Apple.

Last week’s iPhone Road Map event is a great example of the power in OS X and what it can do beyond the personal computer. The iPhone SDK will probably become another landmark event for OS X, as developers harness the power of the software running in the iPhone. Intern, not only will that sell more iPhones, but it will expand and solidify Mac OS X’s presence.

Later this year, we will see more and more integration of OS X into Apple’s other products that aren’t a desktop or laptop. For example, last year, we saw the iPhone, iPod Touch and AppleTV introduced- all of which run OS X at the core. This year, and as we continue into the future, we will see more devises shipping with OS X and continue to see it’s market share increase.

With more products running OS X, and continued demand for these products- be it iPods, Macs or iPhones- OS X has a very bright future. The shear fact that one OS is powering a Phone, an iPod, a set top media box and personal computers demonstrates its power and potential for future devices. The question is… what will OS XI bring us?