Other Companies

Companies other than Apple which announce Macintosh or Apple related items.

Feb 22 2012

Is Microsoft Office Suite for the iPad Really Here?

A photo on the Daily, a news site covering a variety of topics, claims to be the next generation Microsoft Office Suite for the iPad.  While not all that far fetched since One Note was released for the iPad, the fact that Microsoft would want to go beyond the On Live concept with their iPad based application seems a bit preposterous.   With On Live, the control is all in the network, however, with an actual App, Microsoft loses all control except over the distribution of the App to the  iTunes Store.

The photo shows some familiar Microsoft logos as well as the standard settings and collaboration buttons on the screen but seems a bit unlike the normal Microsoft product.  Only time will tell if the photo is real, however, the user claims that the look and feel is much like that of One Note.

Source: The Daily

By admin • Apple Computing, General, iPad, Microsoft, Other Companies • 0 • Tags: , ,

Feb 13 2012

Mozilla Releases Critical Update to Firefox Browser Version 10.0.1

Mozilla has released an update to the Firefox Browser that they have classified as a critical update.  The update, Version 10.0.1, fixes a security flaw in version 10.0 as well as a Java freezing problem that was in previous versions of the browser.

New items in the update include

  • Most add-ons are now compatible with new versions of Firefox by default
  • The forward button is now hidden until you navigate back
  • Anti-Aliasing for WebGL is now implemented
  • CSS3 3D-Transforms are now supported

HTML 5 Items Updated

  • New <bdi> element for bi-directional text isolation, along with supporting CSS properties
  • Full Screen APIs allow you to build a web application that runs full screen

Developer items added

  • We’ve added IndexedDB APIs to more closely match the specification
  • Inspect tool with content highlighting, includes new CSS Style Inspector

Items fixed in version 10.0.1

  • Mac OS X only – after installing the latest Java release from Apple, Firefox may crash when closing a tab with a Java applet installed
  • Some users may experience a crash when moving bookmarks
  • Silverlight video may not play on some Macintosh hardware

Unresolved issues in this version are:

  • Two-digit browser version numbers may cause a small number of website incompatibilities
  • If you try to start Firefox using a locked profile, it will crash
  • For some users, scrolling in the main GMail window will be slower than usual
  • Some synaptic touch pads are unable to vertical scroll
  • Firefox notifications may not work properly with Growl 1.3 or later
  • Under certain conditions, scrolling and text input may be jerky

More information about the 10.0.1 update is available from the 10.0.1 Release Notes at:

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/10.0.1/releasenotes/

By admin • Apple Computing, Apps, Browsers, Bug Fixes, General, Mac OS X Lion, Macintosh, Mozilla, OS X, Other Companies, Software, Updates • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Jan 24 2012

Google Chrome Browser Updated

The latest version of the Google Chrome browser has been released.   Version 16.0.912.77 if primarily a maintenance release, fixing a number of bugs.

You can download the latest version from the Google Chrome website at:

https://www.google.com/chrome

By admin • Apple Computing, Browsers, Google, Macintosh, Other Companies, Software, Updates • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Jan 19 2012

FileMaker Offers $150 Off FileMaker Pro 11 for Purchase of FileMaker Go

Filemaker is offering 50% or $150 off the price of FileMaker Pro with the purchase of FileMaker Go for the iPhone or the iPad. The pricing for the iPhone version is $19.99 and $39.99 for the iPad Version.  The deal is outlined on the FileMaker Special Page and is limited to end users of the product.   The offer is good until 22 March, 2012.

More information is available on the FileMaker website at:

http://info.filemaker.com/fmgo_promo2012.html

By admin • Apps, Databases, FileMaker, Other Companies, Software • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Jan 19 2012

Study Shows Tablet Users Spent More Money than Others in 2011

An online study by Adobe Systems Inc shows that tablet users tended to spend about 21 percent more per purchase than other users.  This study shows that they spent even more when compared to smart phone users, by a whopping 54 percent.  This analysis may be the result of many companies tailoring their services for tablet devices in current updates.  However, with the current trend in tablet computing the ease with which purchases are performed on the devices could be the biggest factor.

Source: Enhanced Online News

By admin • Adobe, Apple Computing, iPad • 0 • Tags: , ,

Jan 16 2012

Adobe Releases Free Lightroom 4 Beta

Adobe announced this morning that they are releasing their Photoshop Lightroom 4 Beta and that it will be free for users to download.  This latest update to the Lightroom application includes some new features specifically targeting the latest DSLR capabilities as well as the ability to create better quality photo books.

To download your own copy of the latest Lightroom 4 beta, go to:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom4/

By admin • Adobe, Apps, Graphics, Macintosh, Other Companies, photography, Software • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Dec 21 2011

Version 1.0.1 of Google Currents Released But has Issues

Google has released an update to their Google Currents application just a week after the introduction of the package.  Version 1.0.1 is intended to resolve some of the stability issues with the Application as well as to fix scrolling issues on older versions of iOS 4.   There are also some library issues that have been resolved.

While this upgrade will work for some folks, several users are complaining about their feeds disappearing from their library.  Also errors in the interface are causing some users not to be able to have problems going back.  This bug is leaving the only option to return to the home page in the App.   While there have only been 9 reviews on the Google App page for the program

By admin • Google, iPad, iPhone, iTouch • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Dec 10 2011

An A.P.P.L.E. Review — Google Currents – Is it ready for Prime Time?

When Google Currents was announce yesterday, we were initially a bit skeptical that the app would do what it said it would.  But then we have seen so many supposed publishers come and go quickly due to the fact that they did not do the job as advertised.

As for Google Currents, the app works well and for those who bothered to read the instructions on the Google website, one must first download Chrome Browser.  I really was not thrilled by this requirement but then it is Google and I am sure that they are writing their app for their browser.  The next step after getting to the webpage is to log in.  You can use an existing Google account and Currents will present you with a form for application and tying the publishing system to that account.  For those who are setting this up for usage by many folks, we recommend setting up a new Gmail account.

Once this application is done, the publishing setup screen is presented to you.  When you have completed your set up in the Currents online publisher,adding the feeds to the app and all appropriate graphics, then it shows you what the feed will look like.  The Currents publisher also asks you to verify that you own the server by downloading a simple HTML file and ftp’ing it to your server.  Once this is done, everything should just work once you finish the settings and publish the edition to the web.

On the Apple App Store, many folks said it got only one star.  These people obviously did not bother going to the Currents web page on google first to read the instructions. Frankly, the system was fairly straight forward.  The only thing I didn’t like other than the browser was the fact that a post seems to need to be on a server for 1 hour minimum before the the propagator will pick it up as part of the news feed.  Also the App while it does do what it advertises, is a bit clunky and not exactly intuitive.  1.5 stars off for these issues.

Over all, I would give the APP a 5 for the fact that it does exactly what it advertises but definitely has left a lot of room for improvement.  We did like the view of the app on the actual devices but were less than impressed with the way it handles graphics in the articles.  In the snippets pages, it has issues with sizing of the graphics which is not an issue when the actual article is full page.  Seemingly, the system in incapable of knowing how to resize the graphics so that the view of the articles is clean. This is one area where they will need to improve drastically if Google really wants to compete directly with the folks over at Flipboard.

We enjoyed the experience with the app for the most part, putting our magazine on it, however, since the app does seem a bit of a kludge at points, I only gave the App 3 Apples out of 5.

By billm • Apps, Google, Software • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Dec 8 2011

Call-A.P.P.L.E. News now on Google Currents

This morning, Google announced the availability of Currents, their Flipboard like application for the iPhone, iPad and Android.  The App system itself produces very nice clean type and has a number of popular magazines already in the system, including out Call-A.P.P.L.E. News.  You can download the Google Currents version of Call-A.P.P.L.E. News at:

http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAowyI4W/call_apple_news

You can download the Google Currents App from the following location:

http://www.google.com/producer/currents?referrer=utm_source%3Dlinkshare%26utm_medium%3Dweb%26utm_campaign%3DCAow6LoV

By admin • Google, iPad, iPhone • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Dec 6 2011

Linux Mint 12

This article is presented for those with Intel Macs (and PCs) who choose to have an alternative operating system available. It is possible to install it as a Dual-Boot system, Virtual Machine, or just run it from the live DVD.

Late last month (November) Mint 12 was released to the public (free). Mint is a full multi-media distribution of Linux. There has been a lot of extremely positive press about this version. It’s almost as if someone hired the PR departments from both M$ and Apple. ;-) With all due respect, I disagree with their evaluation. I work with older computers and find it is barely usable. Here is why:

  • On a 32bit IBM Netvista running at 2.5GHz with 1GB of RAM it takes multiple attempts to install from the CD.
  • Once installed the default setting is to run Gnome 3.
  • The Gnome 3 desktop is very bare. There is no menu only the icons to access programs directly.
  • In order to access any sort of menu from Gnome 3 the user has to right click on the desktop and open a shell. From there they have to type “gnome-panel” every time they login.
  • The different system settings are spread across three different menu items.
  • In Gnome 3 I have yet to find a way to add items to the panels.
  • Most users have apparently stayed with Gnome 2 because most of the features they want are still there.
  • To change the panels in Gnome 2 the process has been changed from a right click to holding the <Alt> key while right clicking.
  • The whole system is slower than previous releases.
  • This release looks like it is becoming more bloated (still not as bad as as Windows or OS X).
  • The operating system is convinced my desktops are laptops. This means a whole lot of useless software gets installed.

There are a number of good reasons to consider this version:

  • IF it installs correctly, it is stable.
  • The eye-candy is appealing.
  • Under Gnome 2 all the previous software remains available.
  • Although I haven’t tried it, I have been told KDE works really well.
  • It includes newer programs than previous releases.
  • It installs very well in a Virtual Machine.
  • It is still faster than Windows and OS X.
  • The authors have bent over backwards to support laptops and netbooks. This is somewhat useless if it is installed on a desktop though.

My final impressions are the authors are telling the users what they want as opposed to listening to what the users want. Also that the new desktops resemble pre-OS X Macs or Windows 3.1 without the speed.

By BlankMike • Cross Platform, Emulation, Macintosh, Microsoft, OS X, Software, Updates • 0 • Tags: , ,

1 2