Apple relents, sanctions custom ringtones! - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Apple relents, sanctions custom ringtones! - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) Good grief! I never thought we'd see this. Apple are sanctioning the creation of custom ringtones. All the winging and moaning about the lockdown of ringtones and having to pay extra seems to have been settled in one fell swoop. You can still buy ringtones if you want but Apple have now made it simple to create your own. Much, much Kudos to Apple for doing this! I hope this generates as much positive press as the original position created negative press. Here is a direct link to the instructions

Click to read more ...

iProng Magazine Now Launched

Bill Palmer over at iProng Radio has now published the inaugural December edition of iProng Magazine. You may remember I did an article for the mag covering the iPhone launch in the UK which subsequently was published on the iProng site. Even though you may have read the article, there's plenty more good stuff in there! Download a copy from here http://www.iprong.com/magazine/iProngMagazineDecember2007.pdf

Click to read more ...

Apple TV Mark 2?

Lots of talk about the perceived "failure" of the Apple TV typified by posts like this from Macworld. There's probably some truth in that, especially following Steve Jobs pronouncement at the D Conference that the Apple TV was "a hobby" for Apple. That's a pretty off the wall statement to make about one of your own products and most definitely not an off the cuff remark. A classic case of misdirection I believe. I've been using the Apple TV since it was released and it has the potential to be a killer device. The current plus points include:

• It's always on and there when I need it.
• It syncs pretty transparently.
• The UI is brilliant and so simple to use.
• YouTube support is something I never thought I'd use but it's pretty compelling

But there have been downsides:

• Due to the lack of availability of material on the iTunes store (here in the UK at least), I've had to rely mainly on Podcasts and material sourced from elsewhere.
• Invariably, most external content requires conversion and is time consuming and unwieldy.
• Even if more content were available, I can't buy from the iTunes store directly from the Apple TV
• If I want to play a DVD I have to rip it first - again time consuming and unwieldy
• Lack of support for external storage even though a USB port is built into the device.

One of the problems with the Apple TV Mark 1 was the timing of its introduction. Originally announced back in September 2006, launched at Macworld 2007 and finally released in April of 2007, the Apple TV has had to play second fiddle to both the iPhone and Leopard for most of 2007. As we know, scarce resources were diverted from the Leopard team across to the iPhone team in the middle of the year and since then Leopard has probably taken up most of Apples development time. So I think the Apple TV has suffered through lack of attention. So understandably, many people have switched from the Apple TV to the Mac Mini as their home entertainment hub. The Mac Mini provides a much more flexible option which removes the hassle and limitations of the Apple TV:

• Hook up a 500GB external USB drive
• support for a gazillion codecs so everything will play on it - no conversion required
• a DVD drive so you can watch your existing movies straight away
• Direct support for PVR such as EyeTV so you can use it as a VCR replacement
• Not forgetting it's a fully featured Mac so you can do everything that you can on a Mac - browsing, burning, you name it
• Add in a software package like Remote Buddy and control your Mac Mini from your Apple remote

Not forgetting of course that Leopard now includes FrontRow, the Apple TV interface. So what's next for the Apple TV Mark 2? Not withstanding the PVR capabilities (as I'm sure that Apple don't want you to record TV, they want you to buy from iTunes) I'm confident we'll see a new Apple TV at Macworld based on the Mac Mini form factor including an Optical drive. Things that would re-energise the Apple TV would be:

• The capability to playback existing DVD media (plus HD-DVD or Bluray?)
• The availability of HD material from the iTunes store
• The ability to buy video content from iTunes directly from the Apple TV
• The introduction of Movie rentals within the iTunes store
• The ability to extend the storage via an external drive
• The introduction of new capabilities to enable access to the other functions of the Mac OS via the Apple remote - simplified browsing, access other Macs on the network, etc.
• A tweak to enable the Apple remote to control the TV Volume

If we get really fanciful, how about some other cool features such as:

• Integration with Back To My Mac so you can access your Apple TV content from anywhere
• Integration with the iPhone or iPod touch to create the killer remote control
• Built in streaming from the Apple TV to the iPhone or iPod touch (as already demonstrated by the EyeTV)

Perhaps the new Apple TV will in fact be a new TV, the fabled Apple flat panel TV with a Mac Mini built right inside. Well it won't be long until we find out what Apples strategy is moving the platform forward, but rest assured, it's certainly not a hobby for them!

Technorati Tags: Apple TV, Leopard, Macworld 2008

Click to read more ...

MacLevelTen Formation

I'm delighted to announce the launch of a new mac media group - MacLevelTen

MacLevelTen is a group of independent media producers who deliver audio, video, web and print information for the Macintosh professional, enthusiast and user. Covering a wide variety of disciplines in the Mac world and beyond, MacLevelTen member productions are characterized by quality, reputation and the personalities of their creators. Our productions intersect but seldom overlap, and include audio, video, print and web channels of information delivery.

MacLevelTen is the brainchild of Chuck Joiner who many of you know from the MacNotables and MacVoices podcast. Chuck was kind enough to invite me to join the group based on my work with ScreenCastsOnline and of course, being the "European Correspondent" for MacVoices! If you wan to learn more about the group, I suggest you checkout the MLT Web site and take a listen to the inaugural podcast!

Click to read more ...

Top Ten List

Here's a link to an interesting article written by one of my good buddies, Mark McCall. Mark runs the excellent Automated Home Web site and is very active within the UK HA community. I've attended several HA meetups in the UK that Mark has put together and his web site is a gold mine of info for HA related information. It's been interesting to see Mark move from a 100% windows user to a convert to the Mac. Mark knows all there is to know about gadgets, HA and related technologies and is well versed at evaluating and recommending stuff for his site. His whole hearted adoption of the Mac as a platform goes a long way to remove the "Mac fanboy" label that stymies many Mac adoptees who just think that the Mac is a great platform. Way to go Mark!

Click to read more ...