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Klipsch gives its Icon VF-35, VF-36 speakers to Best Buy
Klipsch's Icon W speakers sure look a treat, but they're on the pricey end of the scale, so Klipsch is offering up the Icon VF-35 and VF-36 speakers to Best Buy shoppers at the lower price points of $750 and $950 per pair, respectively, to set things right. That 1-inch horn-loaded tweeter high on the front baffle somehow reminds us of a Dalek, which makes us wish we could remove the lower speaker grille to show off the trio of mid/bass drivers; but it's fixed (that middle pic is factory-only), so maybe live with the top grill on instead and be contented that those drivers are pushing response down to 41Hz and 36Hz, respectively. As you'd expect from Klipsch, sensitivity comes in at a high 97.5dB, so not a lot of amplifier will be necessary to drive these.[Thanks, Jim] Read - Klipsch Icon VF-35 Read - Klipsch Icon VF-36
Icon's foldable, 2-seater plane unveiled, available now
Icon's foldable airplane is meant to fill that all-important gap between, say, hang gliders and commercial jets. This 2-seater Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) was unveiled last week to much applause by people with all sorts of cash. From a gadget standpoint, though, the Icon is worth a little deconstruction. It's powered by a rear-facing, reciprocating engine, can be configured for water landing, has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,320 pounds, has a max airspeed of 120 knots (138 mph), and features a dashboard that's meant to be familiar to car drivers. Unlike the Terrafugia, the Icon is not meant to drive up to your house, but we figure you'll be cruising around in some expensive SUV with this thing in tow anyway. And better yet, you can order this thing online with a credit card and a $5,000 deposit. Check out the video of the Icon's unveiling after the break.[Via FreshCreation]
Apple's worst logo ever?
I'm eager to test out Apple's upcoming MobileMe service, the .Mac replacement scheduled to launch in a few weeks. Unfortunately for many, my enthusiasm is matched by disdain for the MobileMe logo.Gawker says "...it should be on a package of Japanese soap." Paul Thurrott notices a similarity between MobileMe and Microsoft WindowsME and Manhattan Offender asks flat-out: "Is 'MobileMe' the worst logo in the history of Mac?"First of all, Manhattan Offender, Apple is the company that produced MobileMe and its graphic representation, not "Mac." Remember, Apple is pushing this (get it?) as "Exchange for the rest of us." It's not a corporate product, but a consumer service with corporate-like features. We think the logo is airy and fun.What's your take? Decent enough or utter garbage?[Via Geek & Mild]
Klipsch intros new Icon W series speakers
Look at this -- another 2-channel stalwart company that has made the transition to the living room-as-theater world. Klipsch has introduced its Icon W speaker lineup, a traditionally designed (and we think, quite handsome) series that fills in the approximately $2,500 price point for a 5-channel (sans sub) setup. Klipsch has always been associated with horn-loaded drivers, and the tradition continues with the 1-inch Tractrix Horn tweeter deployed across the lineup. And here's something we like -- a naming convention that makes sense. The floorstanding WF-34 and WF-35 (pictured) floorstanders add in three of the 4.5-inch and 5.25-inch woofers, respectively. The WC-24 center channel and WS-24 surrounds use two of the 4.5-inch woofers; we'll let you guess the driver compliment on the WB-14 bookshelf model. Look for these at your local Magnolia store, with "per pair" prices from $499 on the WC-24 center to $1,499 on the WF-35.
WoW up your iPhone
Here's another user-made iPhone theme featuring the icons from World of Warcraft, made and sent to us by Nasum of Garithos, Hordeside. We covered one of these almost a year ago when the iPhone first came out, but this one is apparently made from scratch, and features the new iTunes store as well as an icon for the Installer.app (man, today is just a Mac gear day on WoW Insider, isn't it? I feel like I'm blogging for TUAW).Hopefully, when the official iPhone app store drops in June, we'll see some non-jailbreak uses of this stuff -- right now, to use either one of these themes on the phone, you have to hack into the firmware and go places Apple doesn't officially want you to go. But those WoW icons definitely work great for all kinds of things: even Blizzard officially put them to OS use in a downloadable theme for XP. There are so many WoW icons floating around that they're a natural (if not exactly legal) fit for almost any use -- here's hoping that in June, Apple's SDK will turn out at least one theming program, and we'll be able to do this stuff without hacking away at the iPhone.Update: Nasum (whose name we spelled wrong originally, sorry about that) says the theme is now in Installer.app, if you'd like to install it yourself.
Samwise Didier on Blizzard's art and games
Eurogamer has interviewed Samwise Didier, Warcraft artist and icon, and the man who's pretty much defined the look and feel of Blizzard since even the early days. There's a lot of great stuff for Blizzard fans in this one -- I had no idea that an early build of The Lost Vikings had about 20 Vikings in it instead of the three we know -- and Samwise talks about his influences, including the way that Blizzard makes twists on standard genre conventions.But the guy still stays incredibly humble, and acknowledges that as great as Blizzard's art is, the thing that really brings people back to these games is the fun factor. It's the humor and the enjoyment that Blizzard fans love, and Samwise's (and all of the other Blizzard artists') art make it that much better.[Via WorldofWar]
New icons for commenters!
In honor of our new comment system here at WoW Insider, I've made some icons for our readers to use! Now instead of the mystery man in the little box next to your comment, you can use one of these neat icons. Don't know how? No problem! It's very easy.First, browse the gallery of new icons below, and find one you like, then click on it. After the picture has loaded, right click it, and choose "Save As" (or "Save Image As" if you're using Firefox), and then save the picture to your desktop.Next, find one of your comments and click on your name. This should take you to your Profile page. After signing in with your password, click on "Edit picture," then hit the "Browse" button. Navigate to the desktop (or wherever you saved the image from earlier), select the image, and click "Open."Finally, hit the "Upload" button to upload your new icon to your profile. Now all of your comments will be accompanied by the image you've selected, instead of the mystery man in the gray box!%Gallery-11181%
CandyBar 3 available now
This is going to sound sad, but the one application that I have missed the most in upgrading to Leopard is CandyBar 2. I've always been something of a customization addict, and being able to take advantage of some of the beautiful icons that artists have made over the years to make OS X look its best is something I can easily spend hours doing, productivity be damned Fortunately for me, Panic (the guys behind Transmit and Coda) have just released the Leopard-only CandyBar 3, meaning I can now resume wasting time making my desktop look its prettiest. CandyBar 3 adds more than just Leopard compatibility - it is a pretty substantial program overhaul. Not only can system icons be changed, the dock can be now be customized too (free Icon and Dock sets available from the geniuses at Iconfactory). Additionally, Panic and Iconfactory have merged the CandyBar and the Pixadex (kind of like iTunes for your icon sets) applications together, providing icon management and customization in one package, instead of two.From the CandyBar 3 release notes: Integrated CandyBar together with Pixadex with an entirely new interface Added large (512 x 512) icon support Leopard dock customization Additional system icons Quick Look integration More reliable system icon restoration, and much more The program can be downloaded for a 15-day/250-icon limit trial here. The program is $29 for new users. Owners of either CandyBar 2 or Pixadex 2 can upgrade for $24. Owners of both Pixadex and CandyBar 2 can upgrade for $19. Any user who bought CandyBar 2 or Pixadex 2 after October 1, 2007 qualifies for a free upgrade.Now, if we can only get a Leopard-version of Shapeshifter out - I can totally optimize my interface!Thanks, Sebastian
IconGrabber: easy icon extraction
This one is a little bit of inside (blogging) baseball, but I know a lot of our readers blog themselves and so might find this tip handy. Ankur Kothari (whose Quicksilver customizations we've mentioned before) has cooked up an excellent little Quicksilver plugin called IconGrabber that does exactly what it sounds like. It allows you to easily create an image of an application icon at an arbitrary resolution in one of several popular image formats. Using a few simple terminal commands to change the defaults you can select the default image size and format. So, for instance, here at TUAW we post lots of icons at 125px wide in the jpeg format. With IconGrabber I can now create those images in one step as you see above, where I'm saving the Time Machine icon to my TUAW pictures folder. If you're not a Quicksilver fiend, Ankur also has a stand-alone application to do the same thing. In any case, if you regularly need to extract icons as images, IconGrabber is a godsend.IconGrabber is a free download for either the Quicksilver plugin or the stand-alone application. The instructions for customizing are in the announcement post and the comments below.
CoX Issue 11: First Impressions
The newest expansion for City of Heroes and City of Villains, Issue 11 has been in open beta for a couple of weeks, and -- so far, at least -- it's proven to be a hit. As with all other releases, there have been the inevitable tweaks and adjustments to make sure that levels are being balanced and that powers are neither too strong nor too weak. Still, all things considered, it's been a phenomenal step forward in the elegance of the game.It's hard not to squeal with delight when I think of the changes that have been made since I first created my account in June of 2004. Whether we were peering Through the Looking Glass or fending off an Invasion, NCsoft was always pushing to give us new features, and to make sure that the play was as balanced as possible. As far as I can tell, they've done a phenomenal job of continuing that trend. %Gallery-9980%
TUAW Tutorial: Custom Stack Drawer icons
Many folks commented on our recent post about adding those gorgeous drawer icons to your Stacks. As great as the originals are, however, a lot of you also wanted to know how to customize them. Fortunately, the original author was kind enough to make the blank drawer PNG available, so in this little tutorial I'll show you how to make your own customized drawer icons using nothing more than Preview. Obviously you can get much sophisticated results using a more serious image editing application, but Preview can do enough to get you the results you see above and since everyone has it, I thought it best to focus on using it despite its limitations.
Option intros iCON 225 USB modem for HSDPA
First generation 3G USB modems were monstrous, unsightly bricks, but like everything else in modern electronics, the wonders of miniaturization are starting to take effect. Option's joining the party with its iCON 225, a 63 x 26 x 13mm stick that Option says responds "to the growing market demand for very small yet high-performance wireless solutions" -- in other words, yeah, we like 'em tiny. HSUPA sadly doesn't make the cut here, but the iCON 225 does include support for a mighty 7.2Mbps of downstream data when hooked up to an HSDPA network that supports such blazingly fast speeds. The modem's already shipping to carriers, so look for it to start showing up in retail channels very shortly.[Via Electronista]
Refresh Finder is ready to refresh Leopard's Finder, too
Reader Fredrik L sends word (thanks!) that Samuel Svensson is back from India, and that means his little mini-application, Refresh Finder, has been updated and is Leopard-ready.There's not much more to say about this one-- you can probably guess what Refresh Finder does from its name, and while it is small and simple, it's also proof positive that even small and simple things can make life a lot easier. Keeping your Finder windows up to date isn't hard, but it's definitely helpful.
Mini How-To: Remove the Windows BSOD icon in Leopard, make OS X a little less smug
It's pretty clear that Apple left no stone unturned in Leopard, making changes and fixes throughout the new operating system. Unfortunately, that also included an upgrade to its crucial smugness subsystem: the image you see above of an old school CRT monitor with a blue screen of death is actually the not-so-subtle gag icon Leopard uses to represent Windows machines on your local network. (Is it any wonder why PC and Mac fanboys tend to get in so many fights?) Granted, many Leopard beta users have seen this icon since the early releases, but we didn't actually think the shipping version would include something so pompous and galling to the other 90%.We'll save the missive on the subject (although if that's what you're looking for, Anil Dash wrote a pretty good one), and skip straight to the problem solving: hidden away deep within the recesses of Leopard, far, far away from the reaches of Spotlight, is an unassuming icon file that's doing a great job at perpetuating the myth of Mac users' disdainful sense of self-superiority. Luckily it's an easy fix, and we'll show you the three easy steps necessary to get rid of the BSOD and make your Mac a little less condescending.
CoH tip: Earning your cape
When you train up to level 20 in City of Heroes, you earn yourself a free makeover at Icon, the tailors to the heroes. There's a mission to undertake for Serge, the manager, and you should get to that. Afterwards, however, you're eligible to earn your cape. Problem is, you're not really told that or who to see, and earning it at level 20 is a darn sight easier than waiting until later on. You don't have to wear one right away, certainly, but if you want the option, it's best to do earn your eligibility sooner rather than later. Later it will be much harder to accomplish, and possibly impractical to do solo.
DSicons come to save the art-impaired
Do you sigh with jealousy when you see someone with a super-hot emblem in Mario Kart, but find yourself stumped when faced with the tiny, pixelated icon box? Then this may be your lucky day, friends, because DSicons is here to save you. You can get anything from the triforce to a hunk of cheese, and DSicons shows you blown-up pictures and just which colors to use so you can do it on your own with their helpful guide. We're pretty attached to the Transmetropolitan-influenced emblem drawn with love by the man of the house, but must admit that the peppermint emblem is pretty snazzy, particularly for someone with our musical tastes. For those of you who really want something special, DSicons also offers custom-designed icons for a fee. If you can imagine it in a 32x32 pixel box, they can draw it for you.[Thanks, soulanger!]
Use (almost) Leopard's SysPref icon
If you're at all like me, you didn't wait for too long after the last Stevenote to scour the Internet for that "blades of grass" Leopard wallpaper, just so you too could pretend it was October already and you were using 10.5.Those of you out there (I have no idea how many of you there are-- we're all Mac nerds, right? ...right?) will have to join me in applauding reader Sebastiaan, who noticed that there was a new System Preferences icon in the latest Leopard build, and put it up for download. Spreading the actual icon (and the actual wallpaper, actually) is a no-no, but Sebastiaan's icon is only based on the same design, and not a copy of the icon itself.And even if you aren't into deluding yourself about your version of OS X, it's still a good looking icon. Changing the icon yourself is possible, but using CandyBar is infinitely easier. You too can pretend, at least for a few months until Leopard actually releases, that you're a Leopard-using rockstar.
iConiCal: Keep iCal's icon current
After my minor gripe that the iPhone's calendar app displays the proper date on its icon, even though Mac OS X's still doesn't, a few readers directed me towards iConiCal. Basically, all iConiCal does is start up up iCal to update its icon, then it quits both iCal and itself so you don't have extra apps eating up system resources, but you also gain an iCal Dock icon that keeps you up to date. iConiCal also gives you some icon customization options, offering two alternative colors for iCal's icon both in its dormant state and after it is updated. Of course, this app also has a 'start at login' option so your iCal icon can get set right when you log in or start up, so you won't have to think about it for the remainder of your session. For anyone clamoring to have an up-to-date iCal icon and those who aren't up for adding the date to their menubar by tweaking the Date & Time System Preferences pane, iConiCal sounds like a fine solution.iConiCal is donationware available from BlockSoft.
Import your icons into Photoshop
If you've ever wanted to edit or customize an Application icon in Photoshop, creativebits has a nice tutorial that shows how easy it is to import your icons into Photoshop as a PSD file. Basically, the trick is to open the application's icon in Preview (as was pointed out in the comments, you can most easily do this just by copying it in the Finder and selecting "New from Clipboard" in Preview's file menu), then save it in Photoshop (PSD) format. Now you can open it in Photoshop and get access to the image for editing, including the alpha channel. Once you get that far you may want to check out the nice Photoshop icon tutorial we mentioned back in February.[via uneasysilence]
Safari 3 sports updated icon
Eagle-eyed TUAW reader Scott Reeves tipped us off to the newly updated Safari 3 icon. The icon, which appears here on the left, seems to have lost its degree notches that are quite prominent along the bottom right of the Safari 2 icon. In addition, the background map is far clearer with improved contrast, while the shininess of the "glass" has been played down a bit. The circles around each letter also appear larger. What other changes can you notice? Let us know in the comments. Thanks Scott
