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Win a premium 360 from Engadget!
Engadget is giving away a premium 360. That's right, giving away. Not some schmucky $349 "deal," they're actually giving it away. Entering to win is an insanely simple process, but I won't tell you what it is. If I did, some of you would inevitably try to enter here and not on Engadget. The contest is open until the 19th so, head over to Engadget and good luck!
How-To: Add an analog stick to your PSP
If you're sick of using that analog nub, the fine folks at our sister site Engadget has an incredibly detailed write-up on how to take the analog stick from a PS2/Xbox and graft it into your portable device. It won't be easy, but if you take the challenge, you'll see that your system will become stronger, faster... BETTER!
Windows Vista RC2 doesn't work on Macs via Boot Camp?
It appears the just-released Windows Vista RC2 and the latest Boot Camp 1.1.1 don't play well for some reason. I just tried installing it to round up that Vista + Intel Mac post I've been working on, but the Vista installation process kept telling me it wasn't happy with the drive Boot Camp creates, and thus wouldn't touch it even after formatting.This is extra strange, as the RC1 installed and worked on Intel Macs just fine, and as far as I know, Boot Camp 1.1.1 has been updated for full compatibility with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo iMacs like the one I'm typing this on. What broke since RC1, how and whodunit (it was Ballmer in the meeting room with the office chair!) are a mystery to me, but what about you guys? Anyone else know what's going on?
PSP gains touch screen support
People that try to avoid the flame war between the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP always jump to one conclusion: both are great systems, each with their unique capabilities... But it looks like the 0x89 development team is trying to blur the lines between the two systems by giving the PSP touch screen support. What?! In quite possibly the most ambitious homebrew modification to date, the team will allow you to attach a device to the PSP's USB connection and control the XMB and specially programmed homebrew applications. PSPTouchMe as it's called will not only give you touch screen capabilities, but it'll provide a new, completely customizable XMB that's far more flexible than Sony's official one. Look at their video support: avi, mpeg, mpeg4, wmv, avc, pmp. Most impressive.I wish the best of luck to the programmers: it'll be a truly amazing feat if they can pull this. If they're able to complete this project, tons of PSP owners will be able to understand that touching is good.[Via PSP Hacks]
iTunes song tagging redux
We reported a method for tagging iTunes tracks and creating on-the-fly playlists way back in January. However, it involved using Quicksilver and a couple of home-grown scripts, but we can dig it if some of y'all aren't down with a tool as broad-reaching as Quicksilver. Fortunately for the rest of you, a web designer and developer named Steven Campbell has written up a basic method for tagging iTunes tracks and creating playlists based on those tags. It more or less involves revealing the comments column in the song list for easy access, and using a simple system of comma-separated words to get your iTunes tagging on. This can work wonders for Smart Playlists, and Steven offers a few examples in his post.For those still interested in the aforementioned Quicksilver scripts and tools, the author has issued a bit of an upgrade and a new script since we first reported them. First of all, the scripts now live at their own domain name, TuneTag.com. The scripts still allow you to tag the song you're listening to on the fly and create on-the-fly playlists from those tags, but the author also added a new script that lets you select any number of tracks in iTunes and tag them all in one fell swoop. As a Quicksilver fan I'm already in love with the power of these scripts, but either method should work well for bringing the web 2.0 tagging craze to iTunes.
Newly resized iTS video content just a bad upsample?
It seems like not all larger iTunes Store videos are actually worth their new dimensions. Reader Paul did some investigating on the newly resized videos (i.e. - ones that were 320 x 240 before the new store, and are now 640 x 480), as a few seemed suspiciously like bad upsamples, rather than truly re-encoded masterpieces of H264 quality.Unfortunately, for this investigation Paul had to reveal he is an Anastacia fan, but that isn't important right now (just kiddin' with you Paul). Engadget has put together a good post with example screenshots (like the one above) of upsampled content that looks worse than its smaller predecessors. Some of the videos look great - like Paul's Anastacia examples, but others like Madonna's and Elton John's vids ultimately take the more jagged route.The thing I'm wondering is: who does the encoding? Apple, or the studios? This page at Apple's site for music labels interested in getting onto the store offers software called iTunes Producer to allow them to do the encoding, which makes me suspect this video upsampling issue could be the fault of the labels mistakenly assigning the video encoding and re-encoding work to some rookie intern.This is about all we know for now; Apple I'm sure is unavailable for comment, but check out Engadget's post for more screenshots and details of what's going on here.
My theory on why Apple isn't including Blu-ray drives in Macs
Engadget HD linked a theory from Robert X. Cringely as to why Apple hasn't included Blu-ray drives in any of their Macs yet (it isn't even an option in the Mac Pro), despite being on the board of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Mr. Cringely more or less links the lack of Blu-ray in Macs to movies and Apple's strategy with downloadable iTS content and the upcoming iTV. The thinking goes: if Apple can sell you a downloadable movie through the iTS and an iTV on which to watch it - why undercut that model with a Blu-ray drive built right into the machine?I disagree. There's plenty of other uses and potential (heck, they can hold up to 50GB) in these warring next generation optical formats (Blu-ray and their mortal enemy, HD-DVD), and that's exactly the point: these formats are in the middle of an industry polarizing war, and I think Apple hasn't committed to including either in their machines because they don't want risk leaving their customers high and dry once the dust settles and (dear lord, finally) one format wins out. The iTS/movie downloads/iTV theory doesn't hold water in my book also because that would mean they should eliminate CD and DVD drives from their machines - after all, those drives can undercut their iTunes Store music and movie purchases, right? These discs can hold a lot more than simple movies.This ridiculous Blu-ray/HD-DVD situation is Betamax vs. VHS all over again, and while Apple is known for pushing the envelope on which technologies they adopt, I believe they're simply waiting for an actual standard to emerge. The only question is when these camps are going to get over themselves and stop forcing consumers to stock up on Advil for every trip to the electronics store.
Disney CEO confirms iTV has a hard drive under the hood
Mr. J is either going to be ticked that Disney's new CEO Rober Iger leaked a much-speculated feature of the upcoming iTV, or it's a clever piece of marketing to which he gave a thumbs up in the first place. Regardless, thanks to the iPod Observer, we now know the iTV, Apple's upcoming AirPort-Express-for-your-TV device they previewed at the recent September 12th It's Showtime event, will sport a hard drive so users "can download what you put on the device on your computer, on your iTunes, through the television set" (perhaps he could used more rehearsing when leaking big stuff like this).Now don't get ahead of yourselves - for a second there I too thought that "download what you put on the device on your computer" bit meant he was hinting the iTV might do DVR, but that wouldn't make any sense as it would cannibalize the TV shows and movies they sell in the iTS. Either way, stay tuned for more (hopefully less awkward) iTV detail leaks.[via MacMinute]
Not everyone loves Steve's parties
Yeah, while we were all geeking out and refreshing the Engadget page ad nauseam, the world continued to spin as it always does. Sure, there are bigger things in the world to consider like how to keep your linens fresh. And to painfully remind me of this fact, there's my wife. She's a fan of the Mac, after I made a convert of her several years ago (with an iBook G3 no less). But she's not obsessed like me. And when I started gushing about all the new toys today, she wasn't really interested.To further drive home her point, she started playing around in the iTunes Music Store. She didn't update iTunes, so it's still called the "music" store. Now, she's doing this at about 2:45 pm Eastern time. Any sane Mac zealot such as myself would say this is a bad idea. And it was-- errors popped up repeatedly while she attempted to buy "50's cruising music" for my son's "Cars" themed birthday party. Samples failed to load, and sometimes putting something in her cart was a multi-click affair. See, she's not even sold on the 1-click joyness! Ultimately she gave up, not downloading anything yet at my request. She turns to me and says, "have all your geek buddies messed up iTunes or something?" "Yes," I say, "we broke it with our love." I guess one person's party is another's poison...
Engadget gets their hands all over Apple's new gear
The good folks at Engadget were on the scene reporting from the Apple event today. As such they were able to give the new gear a once over thanks to Apple. They checked out the iTV, a 2GB nano, the new iPod, and the iPod shuffle. Head on over and feel the technolust.
Using LocationFree to stream video to your PSP
LocationFree support has been available for PSPs ever since firmware 2.50. However, because of how expensive the LocationFree devices are (retails for $200 at amazon.com), few have had a chance to actually try it and see how the PSP interfaces with it. Thankfully, this incredible video from theorycast's Kevin Lim goes through in meticulous detail how the hardware and software work. It's a bit long, and the PSP functionality is towards the end, but if you've ever wanted to see a truly in-depth presentation of LocationFree in action, this is where to go. This is the first time I've ever seen the LocationFree interface on the PSP, and I have to say that it's incredibly slick and desirable. Do any of you fanboys want to uh... donate $200 bucks to me? I kid, I kid.
24-inch iMac unpacking pr0n
It should come as no surprise that once a new product like the 24-inch iMac is introduced, the unpacking pr0n soon follows. These pictures hail from a .Mac user we know only as 'bigeyed' - yea, that's right: not a Flickr album. While there are obviously more attractive images in the set, I chose the one accompanying this post because of its sheer width; I can't think of another time we have seen an Apple keyboard swimming in so much styrofoam.While there isn't anything much else mind-blowing, check out bigeyed's gallery if you can't get your eyes on enough 24-inch iMac paraphernalia, and congrats to all the lucky new owners out there.[Update: here is a duggmirror link to the thumbnail pictures; unfortunately they don't have a way of mirroring the larger ones.]Thanks Glenn
iMac 24-inch surprise: graphics card is upgradeable?
MacsimumNews broke down a MacGeneration post (a French publication) revealing that the new 24-inch iMac Apple introduced this week could quite possibly be the first iMac with a truly upgradeable graphics card. Thanks to a new Mobile PCI Express Module (MXM - originally designed for high-end notebooks) standard in the biggest iMac of 'em all, owners might be able to upgrade their own graphics card and (finally) ditch that old just throw it out when you want to upgrade stigma - if this is true, of course. You can also thank NVIDIA and their partnership with some of the industry leading notebook manufacturers (we would imagine Alienware and even Dell, believe it or not) for this standard that was quite a long time coming. Why this much-requested feature isn't getting any spotlight time on the new iMac's graphics page, or why the 24-inch is the only model to receive the coveted upgrade-ability treatment, definitely doesn't help our skeptical side. We'll be investigating this further, as it could easily be that Apple adopted the standard for one reason or another (like cheaper manufacturing costs), but still soldered the card (which will most surely cause an uproar, if true).We'd also like to echo MacsimumNews' observation that it would be stellar if Apple could work this standard into the next MacBook Pro revision, as the company kinda dropped the ball with their current lineup.Thanks Michael!
Calling all PSPs
Sony and one of its sister-companies, Sony-Ericsson, are hinting at a couple of interesting possibilities for a PSP phone, including the possible addition of VoIP capabilities to our favorite handheld as well as the potential for Sony to introduce some sort of brand-new "Playstation Phone" Frankenstein that would be separate from the PSP all together.In an informative and fun read, GameDaily goes sluething and digs up some interesting evidence that supports the rumors. Here's our favorite nugget-of-fun:"Sony Ericsson's senior vice president of Product and Application Planning, Rikko Sakaguchi, said such a phone may actually be in the works. Sakaguchi cryptically revealed to CNET Asia that the company 'is working on something' related to a PlayStation phone, but that 'the surprise must be kept for the future.'" Without doubt, that quote is cryptic, non-specific and bordering on hearsay. But that's the stuff that fanboys like us live for. Now, go and discuss.[Via GameDaily]
Apple Store down
The Apple Store (at least in the U.S.) is down. A quick check of newsfeeds shows that no one really knows why, as the only predictions are centering around September 12th, next Tuesday's special event. This is most likely a maintenance thing, but we'll let you know more as soon as we do.Thanks to everyone who sent this inUPDATE: Looks like there's nothing new in the store boys and girls; false alarm. Guess you'll just have to keep biting your nails for September 12th.Disclaimer: TUAW neither encourages nor condones developing or continuing the habit of biting one's nails.
An explanation for random MacBook shutdowns?
Blogger Martin Backschat has more or less translated a German article that takes a stab at trying to figure out what is going on with this random MacBook shutdown issue. One only needs to check out MacBook Random Shutdown.com or comb the archives of digg and Apple discussion forums to grasp how many are plagued by this dark game of workflow Russian roulette, but we have yet to hear even a peep from Apple as to what the problem is, and how they're going to fix it.Martin says the theory centers on a cable that runs between the heat sensor and the CPU's heat sink being too short. The heat sink expands when operating the MacBook, which causes it to contact the heat sensor's cable and melt its insulation - hence, a short circuit and a shutdown. Once the MacBook is no longer running, the heat sink cools down and contracts during the process, breaking the short circuit and allowing the machine to boot again (this expansion and contraction can happen pretty quickly, so it would make sense if your machine can boot almost immediately after shutdown). It's a twisted game these components play with each other for sure, and we're all hoping for some kind of a statement or - ideally - a solution from Apple soon. The more widespread and publicized this issue becomes, the farther away these Macs will get from their 'it just works' reputation. Something tells us 'it just works - until it decides not to and randomly shut down, blowing away all your work' wouldn't roll off Justin Long's tongue nearly as well.[via digg]
John Gruber issues open challenge to MacBook Wi-Fi hackers
Oh it's on now: criticism of the MacBook Wi-Fi hack has been mounting against the original hackers (David Maynor and Jon Ellch) and SecureWorks, while they have remained mostly silent. At least one passionate blogger has been defending the hack and the original statements, but John Gruber has issued an open challenge for Maynor and Elich to prove this hack once and for all: "If you can hijack a brand-new MacBook out of the box, it's yours to keep."From my understanding of the hack as it was originally explained and pseudo-demonstrated, Gruber's criteria and the actual nature of the challenge sound reasonable: he will meet Maynor and/or Elich at an agreed-upon Apple Store or Mac reseller, and he will purchase a brand new MacBook (but the true question is: traditional white, or $150-premium black? Update: he's already laid down a $1099 price; the base configuration). After taking the machine through a default setup with one administrator account, he will enable Wi-Fi (if it isn't turned on out of the box), but will refuse to join any open networks (since Mac OS X is designed to deny this by default, and the attack - understandably - can't be based on a user blindly joining just any open networks, especially one that might be created specifically by an attacking machine). John will then create a basic file on the desktop, with the default permissions assigned by Mac OS X (read/write by user, read-only by Group and the World). Maynor and/or Elich are then free to attack, and if the file disappears from the desktop - they win a (very slightly used, recently attacked) MacBook. If the file stands its ground, the hackers owe John the price of the MacBook. If the dynamic duo manage to only crash the machine or the current login session, John will call the challenge a tie, whereas he will keep the MacBook, and the duo don't have to whip out their checkbooks.I am admittedly no security expert, nor am I a 1337 h4x0r, but the challenge seems sound. Any readers who have been following this saga spot any holes? Feel free to sound off - and stay tuned: the challenge must be accepted by Friday, September 8th, and as John already deduced: the most likely outcome is that they'll only take the challenge if the know they can win.
Crossover for the Mac Beta
CodeWeavers has just released the beta of Crossover for the Mac. What the heck is Crossover for the Mac? It is a WINE environment that allows you to run Windows applications along side OS X applications, without the need for virtualization. This product will be a boon for those folks that only need one Windows application from time to time.I had a chance to install this on my MacBook Pro (this works on Intel Macs only, folks), and it is obviously still a beta. I was able to install Office 2003, but Outlook refused to connect to my Exchange server, which pretty would be the only reason I would be using Crossover. However, it is still a beta so these things will happen (it also froze up a few times). You can check out more pics of Crossover in action over at Engadget.
Keyboard coming Spring according to contest
One of the features that fans have been clamoring for on the PSP has been keyboard support. While we've seen one potential keyboard accessory die, it appears that another one is coming down the horizon. At least, according to a new contest sponsored by FITC and Silver Platter. The contest asks for talented coders to make a Flash application that'll utilize the keyboard. Winners will win UMDs from Silver Platter, PlayGear headphones and PlayGear cases. The first prize winner will get tickets to FITC Hollywood and also have their application packaged with the keyboard, coming this spring.The contest ends September 21st, so coders should get moving quickly. Hopefully, we'll find out more information about this peripheral soon enough.[Via IGN Boards]
Engadget's ultimate fake PSP collection
It's August 25th. You know what that means... only 4 months until Christmas! Better start shopping. While you could get your friends real PSPs (or even better yet: a signature edition PSP), but if you're a cold-hearted Scrooge like me, you'll much rather get them knockoffs. Sure, PSP Fanboy's shown you a few before, but Engadget has rounded up a real winner of a list here. For the price of one real PSP, you can piss off at least nine of your friends. And isn't that what the holiday spirit is about?
