Wednesday 25 July 2012

OS X Mountain Lion arrives on the App Store



Alas, my iMac (Late 2006) is too old to play nicely with OS X Mountain Lion! Let me know what you think of the latest iteration of OS X in comments. Apple's press release follows...

CUPERTINO, California—July 25, 2012— Apple® today announced that OS X® Mountain Lion, the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, is available as a download from the Mac® App Store℠. With more than 200 innovative new features, Mountain Lion includes iCloud® integration, the all new Messages app, Notification Center, system-wide Sharing, Facebook integration*, Dictation, AirPlay® Mirroring and Game Center. Mountain Lion is available as an upgrade from Lion or Snow Leopard for $19.99.

“People are going to love the new features in Mountain Lion and how easy it is to download and install from the Mac App Store,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With iCloud integration, Mountain Lion is even easier to set up, and your important information stays up to date across all your devices so you can keep editing documents, taking notes, creating reminders, and continue conversations whether you started on a Mac, iPhone or iPad.”

With more than 200 innovative new features, Mountain Lion includes:

*iCloud integration, for easy set up of your Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Messages, Reminders and Notes, and keeping everything, including iWork® documents, up to date across all your devices; the all new 
*Messages app, which replaces iChat® and brings iMessage™ to the Mac, so you can send messages to anyone with an iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch® or another Mac;
*Notification Center, which streamlines the presentation of notifications and provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps; system-wide *Sharing, to make it easy to share links, photos, videos and other files quickly without having to switch to another app, and you just need to sign in once to use third-party services like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Vimeo; 
*Facebook integration, so you can post photos, links and comments with locations right from your apps, automatically add your Facebook friends to your Contacts, and even update your Facebook status from within Notification Center;
*Dictation, which allows you to dictate text anywhere you can type, whether you’re using an app from Apple or a third party developer;
*AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send an up-to-1080p secure stream of what’s on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV®, or send audio to a receiver or speakers that use AirPlay; and
*Game Center, which brings the popular social gaming network from iOS to the Mac so you can enjoy live, multiplayer games with friends whether they’re on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Additional features in Mountain Lion include the revolutionary new Gatekeeper, which makes downloading software from the Internet safer; Power Nap, which automatically updates your apps and system while your Mac is asleep; and a faster Safari® browser. New features for China include significantly improved text input, a new Chinese Dictionary, easy setup with popular email providers, Baidu search in Safari, and built-in sharing to Sina Weibo and popular video websites Youku and Tudou.

Pricing & Availability OS X Mountain Lion is available from the Mac App Store for $19.99 (US). Mountain Lion requires Lion or Snow Leopard (OS X v10.6.8 or later), 2GB of memory and 8GB of available space. For a complete list of system requirements and compatible systems, please visit: apple.com/osx/specs. OS X Server requires Mountain Lion and is available from the Mac App Store for $19.99 (US). The OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date upgrade is available at no additional charge from the Mac App Store to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorized Reseller on or after June 11, 2012.

Download OS X Mountain Lion from the App Store

Thursday 19 July 2012

My Xbox LIVE updated for iPad



A couple of weeks ago Microsoft updated its free iOS companion app with media control functionality. At the time I bemoaned lack of support for iPad…

This Tuesday that complaint was rendered moot! This is a welcome addition, but will leave users clamouring for more! For example you can't switch on the Xbox 360 or purchase games in-app. Presumably the good stuff will arrive in the form of SmartGlass later this year.

Download My Xbox LIVE (iTunes)

Saturday 7 July 2012

Star Wars Origami session at Comic-Con 2012



If you are going to Comic-Con 2012, definitely stop by Room 7AB from 2-3pm on Friday, July 13th for the Star Wars Origami folding session with author and master origami artist Chris Alexander.

Chris will be leading a hands-on class, teaching you step-by-step how to fold an exclusive Comic-Con Boba Fett helmet, as well as a lightsaber and Han Solo in Carbonite. This is an event you won’t want to miss!

ABOUT THE BOOK
The Jedi Master of origami, Chris Alexander teaches young Padawans how to fold 36 amazing projects from a galaxy far, far away. All your favorite characters, creatures and objects from the Star Wars universe are here. Included in the book are 72 sheets of specially designed origami paper, so that once folded, the models look like they stepped out of the movie. August 7, 2012 | ISBN 978-0-7611-6943-7 | $16.95

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Alexander began doing origami at the age of four. Since then he’s created dozens of original designs, many of them Star Wars themed. He has a large Star Wars fan base and tours the country folding at conventions and museums. His website is www.starwarsorigami.com. He lives in Lancaster, California

Star Wars Origami will be available in bookstores August 7, 2012. Pre-order here.