Ever since Apple and Intel introduced the Thunderbolt high-speed data connectivity standard back in late February, there has been speculation about whether the standard would support booting from external disks. At that initial release on revamped MacBook Pros, Andy Ihnatko reported that booting was not supported, although Target Disk Mode was supported. But a report from The Mac Observer early last month indicated that booting from disk would be supported over Thunderbolt.
With Apple's Thunderbolt cable and the first third-party drive systems hitting the Apple Store yesterday, Apple posted a few supportarticles outlining some of the Thunderbolt functionality, but failing to disclose any booting capabilities and thus leaving potential customers still in the dark about compatibility.
AnandTech's 12 TB Promise RAID setup
It now appears, however, that we do have confirmation that booting over Thunderbolt is supported, as we received word yesterday from a reader who had received multiple confirmations from LaCie representatives that the feature will indeed be supported. Meanwhile, AnandTech has already received one of the new 12 TB RAID systems from Promise and confirms that booting over Thunderbolt is supported.
Software sales from Apple's mobile App Store as well as competing options like the Android Market are expected to continue their huge growth in the coming years, reaching $14.1 billion in direct revenue in 2012 and nearly $40 billion by 2015.
To a writer a decent text editor is worth its weight in gold. Unlike Word or Pages, Byword is a text editor that gives you just enough to get the job done, while getting out of your way. In its most basic form it's a plain text editor, but it can also produce and edit rich-text files and MultiMarkdown support, meaning that for the most part, you can get almost any sort of creative writing done within its minimalist writing interface.
When windowed, Byword gives you a svelte borderless writing experience, but when full-screen it removes all distractions with a blank off-white background that fills the screen with just a single column of text with some great typography in the center. Various tools like a file type indicator or word and character counters are available at the bottom of the screen in faint text, while search and full-screen buttons are hidden in the top right hand corner. The font size, color, column width and typography can all be customized, even allowing white text on a black background if required.
Byword also includes a "focus" mode, which highlights a portion of the text (shown above), fading out the rest. You can choose from one to nine lines or just one paragraph to include in the highlight, which allows you to concentrate on just the text needed at the time.
For US$9.99 Byword is a great text editor, providing just enough functionality while getting out of your way.
If you're still using AppleWorks (or know someone who is), it's time for an intervention. Here's how to convert your files to a more forward-looking form.
iOS, the mobile operating system that powers Apple's popular iPhone and iPad devices, offers more protection than its Android counterpart, the security experts at Symantec have concluded in a newly published report.
An updated version of Goodreader, an iPad application that allows users to read and annotate Microsoft Office, iWork, PDF, text, HTML, image, and media files, has been released in the App Store. The v3.8 introduces a new file management system, named File Tabs, that is designed to allow users to quickly switch between recently viewed files. GoodReader 3.8 also offers a new Side Menu for creating PDF annotations, which can be kept open while editing and hidden when not needed. Furthermore, the update includes the ability to change line thickness and color without leav...
Trimit is a new app that promises to automatically summarize text. The idea is this: You enter a URL, trimit ingests the web page you pointed to, and then it spits back a condensed version at the length you specify.
TUAW had a chance to take an early peek at this app, which is due to launch soon on the App Store. So how did it measure up? All in all, I was impressed by its looks, but not by its functionality.
Trimit is visually lovely. But that loveliness has not been designed around a solid user experience. I did eventually get the hang of using the application, but given the number of steps it took to make things happen, I felt that the app would benefit from hiring a usability designer.
Here are the steps you need to take for the most common use case:
In Safari, find a URL you want to work with and copy it to the system clipboard. The application does not offer a built-in web browser.
Tap the link button (it's in the center of the screen, one icon over from the left, looks like a two-link chain).
Paste the URL into the "import text source from url:" field.
Tap Go and wait. Trimit extracts the content text from the page.
Tap on settings. This is the leftmost icon in the middle of the screen. Once tapped, it becomes a keyboard icon. You'll need to use this after picking your destination.
Select a destination, like Twitter (which is the top-left of the options). A teeny tiny checkmark appears next to the choice. I could figure out Twitter at a glance, and "f" is probably facebook, but the other options may leave you guessing.
After tapping on the destination, once again tap on it, but this time tap and hold until the iPhone vibrates. A pop-up appears. Choose whether you want to compress vowels and/or add abbreviations.
Tap anywhere but on the destination again. (It took me forever to realize you could not dismiss the pop-up by re-tapping.)
Tap on the keyboard icon to leave the destination settings mode.
Shake the iPhone strongly. A gentle shake will not do. And *only* shake in the right mode, which seems to be compose mode or something like that, after destination picking. You'll be shaking your arms off otherwise. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why some massive shakes would work sometimes and others wouldn't.
Wait for trimit to compress your message.
If needed, further edit the message by hand (so you can add a bit.ly'd source to the summary, for instance).
Tap the send button at the top-right corner of the screen. It does not look like a button, just like an arrow, but it is a button. (Other on-screen buttons have shadow effects to show they are tappable buttons that invite interaction.)
Select how you want to send the message, e.g., "Twitter it" or "Facebook it" (their phrasing). While these items do explain what each icon means, those same explanations should have been on the destination chooser and should follow the same order. They aren't and they don't.
Enter credentials, authorize the application, and send.
Tap the keyboard to re-enable the link button.
Pull down to clear the previous text (otherwise the app will append new material, not replace it) and confirm your deletion.
I love the idea of trimit, but the app itself is a big ol' mess. With this high degree of summarizing, not being able to include a source link is incomprehensible. What's more, people seem to do a much better job of summarizing the cool web pages they just read, whether using a basic tweet test or allowing more lax summaries.
For example, consider this Auntie TUAW post. Most people would tweet it like this: "iOS devices are no replacement for Wacom tablets http://aol.it/jx5AvB" 70 characters or so. How does trimit summarize the same material?
I am looking for an iPad app that allows it 2 function as a graphics tablet, similar 2 something like a Wacom tablet.
No source link, and very little context. Here's another go. Website io9 seemed to like Sunday's True Blood season premiere. What does trimit have to say about their write-up?
Con: Sookie is pized that Jason had the audacity 2 sell her (her grandmother's) house, after she's been mizing for over a year.
Honestly, do you really want to tweet that out? As if you had written it?
I found trimit more concept than execution. I didn't like the "shake to summarize" -- don't build your apps around shake gestures, people -- I wasn't impressed by the summaries, and I found the user interaction crippling.
Trimit is an app that should have soared. It is a great concept, but the app doesn't deliver on execution. Trimit will be available on App Store for US$0.99 (introductory price), moving to $4.99 once the initial sale concludes.
A bad cold has temporarily robbed me of my voice, so I decided to pay homage to Stephen Hawking and whip up a poor-man's vocalizer. More fun than function here, but it did let me order my latte at Starbucks without pain, and with a great many laughs all around.
Run this from the AppleScript Editor, save it to the Scripts Menu, or save it as an Application; whatever method works best for you.
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2011 second quarter ended March 26, 2011. The Company posted record second quarter revenue of $24.67 billion and record second quarter net profit of $5.99 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $13.50 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.07 billion, or $3.33 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. ?With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we?re firing on all cylinders,? said Steve Jobs, Apple?s CEO. ?We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year.?
A bad cold has temporarily robbed me of my voice, so I decided to pay homage to Stephen Hawking and whip up a poor-man's vocalizer. More fun than function here, but it did let me order my latte at Starbucks without pain, and with a great many laughs all around.
Run this from the AppleScript Editor, save it to the Scripts Menu, or save it as an Application; whatever method works best for you.
If you're still using AppleWorks (or know someone who is), it's time for an intervention. Here's how to convert your files to a more forward-looking form.
An updated version of Goodreader, an iPad application that allows users to read and annotate Microsoft Office, iWork, PDF, text, HTML, image, and media files, has been released in the App Store. The v3.8 introduces a new file management system, named File Tabs, that is designed to allow users to quickly switch between recently viewed files. GoodReader 3.8 also offers a new Side Menu for creating PDF annotations, which can be kept open while editing and hidden when not needed. Furthermore, the update includes the ability to change line thickness and color without leav...
