Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Apple is not known as a kingpin of the graphics chip industry. That would be Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices. But one review site shows Apple’s iPad 2 and its A5 chip handily beating Nvidia’s chip, which is housed inside the Motorola Xoom.
As fate would have it, an Intel chipset glitch delayed shipments of almost every laptop manufacturer, save one. Apple, which has typically been last in transitioning to new technology, is now among the first to launch laptops with Sandy Bridge (known officially as second-generation Core CPUs)—and arriving first has its privileges. The Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) ($2,199 direct) is the fastest laptop on our bench, thanks to a component overhaul that involves the first ever quad-core processor on a Mac laptop and a rekindled romance with AMD graphics. And then there’s Thunderbolt, a new connection technology that has mounds of potential, but I’ll contain my excitement until compatible peripherals ship. This, and a new Facetime HD Webcam, places the MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) at the peak of technology’s Mount Olympus and earns it an Editor’s Choice in the desktop replacement laptop category.
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CSS frameworks aren’t a new thing to me. My first glimpse into the css the framework world came while I was researching javascript libraries. I happened upon the Yahoo libraries and ended up not sleeping an entire night while I played with the Yui Grids. To be honest, I loved playing, but I didn’t get it. It would be a couple years later when a colleague insisted it was time to convert the Daz 3D site to a framework that I realized the true advantages of a framework.
I’ve developed with Blueprint, Yui Grids, the 960 Grid System, and I’ve been learning Scaffold and Compass. I don’t claim to be a framework authority and I definitely am not here to tell you which framework is best, but I do love saving time and making things easier for myself. To be honest, everything about css frameworks isn’t easy, at least in my development workflow and my underlying curiousity and laziness keeps my on a quest to find something new and simple.
I couple weeks ago I happened across the Easy Front-End Framework by Alen Grakalic of CSS Globe. His framework isn’t as dynamic as some of the others I am familiar with, but claims to include “all 3 layers of front-end: structural, presentational and interactive“. I was interested in the built-in javascript functions, so when a friend of mine asked if I had time to layout a project he was working on, I postponed my existing project to give Easy a go.
After a quick download, I unzipped Easy and found css, images, js, and library directories as well as index.html and demo.html files and even a favicon in place. Simple enough,
Opening the CSS directory, I found a well organized stylesheet as well as a print stylesheet. I then opened demo.html in my browser and the framework was clear enough for me to use. No documentation necessary. Although I have gone on to read everything I could about Easy front-end framework, it really is that simple.
“When I started to code Easy front-end framework I was driven by the idea of keeping things so simple that anyone can use it no matter of the knowledge level. I also wanted to make the setting up to be as simple as changing the class name(s) of the element.” -Alen Grakalic
IT was actually a joy to work with and a great starting point for the project I worked on. Oh and everything I built worked in IE6 the first try (well the second try). To me the combining a few jQuery basics and basic layout is a huge timesaver. I give Easy Front-End a thumbs up for its ease of use and the time is saved me.
Matt Rosoff of CNET reviews an iPhone app called PlaySafe that makes browsing your music library much more visible while driving. Drop the 99¢ and save a fender or two.
After a few hours on Tuesday of playing with the Zune HD that Microsoft sent me, I found a lot of things I like about it–the slim size, the Quickplay user interface feature that gives you immediate access to recently added and favorite songs, the big on-screen volume controls, and the Zune Pass, for example. But the Web browser seems like an afterthought.
Apple’s iTunes program is one of the most popular software products in the world. The company says hundreds of millions of copies of iTunes have been downloaded, far exceeding the 220 million iPod music players it has sold. That’s because many people use iTunes to organize, play and buy music and videos on their computers, or to burn music CDs, even if they don’t own iPods or iPhones. Ironically, the vast majority of iTunes copies are on Windows PCs, not Apple’s own Macintosh computers, because Windows machines are much more numerous.
Digital music workstation software can include an encyclopedic array of functionality. But when it comes to using these tools creatively in music making, a few details and the way they fit together can make a huge difference.
PROS
Flex Time and editing improvements make manipulating recorded audio more satisfying; MainStage 2 is a more complete live performance solution; lots of amp and effects goodies; many subtle usability tweaks.
CONS
MainStage’s looper can’t set a tempo from a first loop; Some tasks require switching between Flex Time Markers and Transient Markers; MIDI editing and some add-ons due for a refresh.
Apple just finished their latest press event, and they revealed a number of new services and features for their products. They kicked things off by saying that iPhone OS 3.1 is now available. It will add the Genius recommendation technology to the App store, giving users suggestions on which apps they might find useful based on what others with similar needs use. They’re also adding 30,000 ringtones that users can purchase. Next, they announced iTunes 9, which will use Genius to make mixes by analyzing songs in your library to see which go well together. iTunes is also seeing UI improvements for things like app management, and syncing utilities. You’ll be able to easily transfer apps, music, and videos from one of your local devices to another, and there is integrated support for Twitter and Facebook if you want to send music as a gift. Another big new feature: iTunes LPs. These LPs will be a digital album with cover art, lyrics, videos, and other customized content created by the artists themselves. Moving on, they showed off a few new games: an Assassin’s Creed sequel, an FPS called Nova that had impressive graphics and multiplayer capability, Riddim Ribbon, a futuristic driving/music game that lets you remix your songs by how you navigate the course, and Madden NFL 2010. Next, Apple announced a price cut for the 8GB iPod Touch and a doubling of available storage for the other models. It’s also getting OpenGL 2.0. The iPod Classic is getting a storage upgrade from 120GB to 160GB. In addition, there are headphones that have a controller for the Shuffle. Finally, Jobs got down to his “one more thing”: Apple will now be building a video camera into the back of every iPod Nano. Apparently it will be a simple matter to sync videos to your computer or put them up on YouTube, and they’re building in an FM radio as well. A detailed liveblog of the event with a ton of screenshots is available at Engadget.
Apple Announces iTunes 9, “LPs,” Video Camera For the iPod Nano
The new iTunes 9 offers special “iTunes Extras” as free downloads with the purchase of “iTunes LP” albums or movies. The new free bonus content is delivered as a self-contained website of bonus materials, making it easy to author.
Apple rivals DVD with new iTunes Extras for movies and albums
