Category: Apple

Simperium Forms Around Simplenote

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Simplenote — the simple, polished note syncing software for the Mac, web, iPhone and iPad — has just been given a new lease on life:

We’ve decided to focus full time on Simplenote. Henceforth, we’re elevating Simplenote from its humble status as one of several side projects to the lofty position of core product and service.

This has several implications. Administratively, and less importantly, we founded a new company. Simplenote is now brought to you by Simperium (@simperium on Twitter). So when you see the name Simperium here and there, don’t worry: we’re the same people.

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iOS 4 Brings Support for Snow Leopard Server Calendar and Address Book Services

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Daniel Eran Dilger at Apple Insider:

Support for Calendar data store access from the new Calendar Event Kit, enabling apps to create and work with event information. Apple also now supports CalDAV-compliant account sync in Calendar (used by Mac OS X Server’s Calendar Server) and CardDAV-compliant account sync in Contacts (used by Address Book Server). Developers can also incorporate SMS features into their apps, add Quick Look support, and use improvements to Map Kit for drawing routes or adding overlays to map views they embed in their apps.

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On iOS App Icons

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Neven Mrgan:

It’s simply not possible to create excellent, detailed icons which can be arbitrarily scaled to very small dimensions while preserving clarity. Small icons are caricatures: they exaggerate some features, drop others, and align shapes to a sharp grid. Even if all icons could be executed as vectors, the largest size would never scale down well.

He’s done a great job at showing just how complex this all is.

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On the OS X Combo Update

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One of the best tools for Apple technicians and Mac nerds is the Combo Update — a package that Apple makes available for download that can update a system to the latest version of its OS with a single installation. For example, updating from 10.6.1 to 10.6.4 without stopping and saying hello to 10.6.2 or 10.6.3.

These updates can also solve many issues. Since they include all previous updates, they can often jumpstart a Mac that hangs at boot or suffers from frequent application crashes. They are a great step before jumping to the rarely-needed Archive and Install.

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MiFi Gets Added to an iPad

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Whitson Gordon:

The hack isn’t super complex, but it will require a little work (including soldering). You can’t just plug the MiFi in, unfortunately, but this hacker figured out all the little quirks and fixed them fairly easily. He hooked the MiFi up directly to the iPad’s battery for power, removed the power button (which turns the MiFi off after 30 minutes of inactivity) and replaced it with his own, small on/off switch, accessible from the SIM card slot. You’ll also have to remove half of the speaker set within the iPad to fit the oddly-shapped MiFi in.

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Apple and AT&T’s Servers Overwhelmed

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Neil Hughes:

Problems arose on Apple’s website with the eligibility check for existing AT&T customers. Many who attempted to pre-order iPhone 4 on Tuesday morning encountered a screen that read “Your request couldn’t be processed. We’re sorry, but there was an error processing your request. Please try again later.”

[…]

Issues even extended to AT&T’s website, where error messages informed customers that the site was not currently available. AT&T is the exclusive wireless carrier of the iPhone in the U.S. The company’s online site, along with Apple’s, was also plagued by slow speeds due to high demand for iPhone 4.

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