512 Pixels

Sorry if I just spammed your RSS reader; I am doing a little behind-the-scenes stuff tonight and it was inevitable. Here’s a cool GIF.

Apple:

Safari is the best way to see the sites on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Safari Technology Preview gives you an early look at upcoming web technologies in OS X and iOS including the latest layout technologies, visual effects, and developer tools so you can provide input on how they are implemented and deliver a best-in-class user experience on all Apple devices.

As Jason Snell points out, Apple previously released “nightly builds” of WebKit, but this new program looks to offer a more structured testing platform.

Apple:

The Podcast Producer service can support different methods of authentication depending on the version of Mac OS X Server. This article explains how to enable or disable specific authentication methods in different versions of Mac OS X 10.5 Server.

You may be asking yourself, “What the hell is Podcast Producer?” I’ve got you covered:

Podcast Producer is a complete, end-to-end solution for encoding, publishing, and distributing high-quality podcasts. Ideal for employee training, university lectures, presentations — or whatever audio or video podcasts your organization requires — Podcast Producer simplifies the process of recording content, encoding, and publishing podcasts for playback in iTunes and on iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV.

Back in February, I wondered if a smaller Smart Keyboard could be any good. Jason Snell has gotten some time with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and its keyboard. Here’s what he writes:

Since the new-model Smart Keyboard must double as a cover for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, it’s necessarily scaled down from its 12.9-inch equivalent. The larger Smart Keyboard is 12 inches wide, enough space for a full-sized set of keys. The new, smaller model is only 9.4 inches wide, and that 2.6 inches of lost space does take a toll.

He does end up saying that the Smart Keyboard is totally usable, however. My guess is that if you’re a hardcore touch typist on the Mac, that this won’t be shockingly more comfortable than other, previous iPad keyboard cases. I’m jut glad that it’s not the dumpster fire I had feared it may be.

This month, in my column over at iMore:

This month’s old Mac is the weird cousin of the iMac G4 we looked at in February. Introduced only months after the iMac G4, the eMac mashed up old ideas with new tech: It retained the all-in-one design defined by the iMac G3, but it shipped with a larger 17-inch CRT display and used the same G4 chipset found in the LCD-equipped iMacs.

Priced at $999, it looked like a great deal — but you couldn’t just walk into a store and pick one up when it launched in April 2002. You see, the eMac wasn’t for the average user: It was for the education market.

This week on Connected, Federico and I talk about Apple’s new push into content, iOS 9.3 woes and the purpose of beta testing.

My thanks to our sponsors this week:

• PDFpenPro, from Smile: The All-Purpose PDF Editing Tool
• Ministry of Supply: Menswear made smarter. Use ‘connected’ for 15% off your first purchase.

Horace Dediu:

In Apple’s first 40 years it shipped 1,591,092,250 computers.

This shipment total is higher than any other computer company in its first 40 years. Actually there are no PC makers that are 40 years old. One computer maker (IBM) is older but they only sold PCs for 24 years and what they still sell they don’t sell in high numbers.

The tiny iPod shuffle was introduced as a “One More Thing” back in 2005 at the same Macworld where the Mac mini showed up. It was designed to push further into the low-end market than the iPod mini had done, but that’s a story for another time.

The first Shuffle was built like a glorified USB thumb drive. This new player was smaller than a pack of chewing gum, and built around the concept of shuffling your music. There was no need for a screen or a true clickwheel. If you wanted to listen to music in order, the switch on the back could be set to continuous playback. iTunes could even autofill the device’s 512MB or 1GB of flash storage from music in your library.

The second-generation Shuffle was a big departure for the tiny device. The first generation sold 10 million units, and 2006’s model capitalized on what made the first one great. As you can see, it’s much smaller. The real trick was that this iPod shuffle was a wearable. Gone was the lanyard; in its place, a simple clip. To reduce the size, Apple ditched the USB plug, replacing it with a Dock that synced data via the headphone port.

In 2009, Apple revamped the Shuffle again, but I think they went too far. The company ditched the physical controls, relying instead on in-line controls on the built-in earbuds. Apple also bundled VoiceOver, allowing the iPod to read out information about what’s playing and giving users the ability to choose between playlists.

This device didn’t go over well. It was confusing to use, leading Apple to publish a 4-minute video tour walking users through the controls and features.

Thankfully, logic won out, and the current iPod shuffle is more or less a smaller version of the 2nd-gen model. VoiceOver is still on board, but the familiar ring of buttons is back.

Unlike a lot of Apple products I talk about, the Shuffle is still around. $49 will get you a 2GB player in a range of six colors. It’s been for sale for 6 years without a revision, but if you’re looking for something to work out with or take on a run and don’t want to take your phone, it’s hard to beat something that weighs less than half an ounce.

This fortnight on Liftoff, Jason and I take a tour of the space stations that have graced Low-Earth orbit over the decades.

My thanks to our sponsor, Luminos, which is a fantastic astronomy app, 10 years in the making! Now with an Apple Watch app for skygazing!

Interact empowers you and your contacts to get more done in less time, with features like group management, one-tap contact creation, and easy communication.

Interact works directly with your iOS Contacts accounts, adding features not available in the built-in iPhone and iPad Contacts app, like:

• Group management. Create and manage membership in groups.
• Capture contact information from plain text anywhere with the system with the Contact Scratchpad. The Scratchpad automatically recognizes phone numbers, emails, addresses and much more to easily turn an email signature or other block of text into a complete contact record.
• Send group emails and messages with attachments from photos or files from Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Google Drive or any other iOS document provider.

And best of all, since Interact works directly with iOS Contacts, any done in Interact is immediately reflected throughout iOS wherever contacts are used.

Get Interact on the App Store today!

HyperCard is one of the lost wonders of the MacOS age. The latest episode of Simple Beep covers in depth.

As previously reported, Memphis’ Apple Store was set to move across the street from its original location into a brand-new space that is among the first of its kind here in the United States.

This morning, the store re-opened. I decided to hang out with some local Apple fans at the opening event, and check out the new store.

As shown in the renderings, the front of the 4,000-square ft. space is more or less just giant sheets of glass, allowing sunlight to pour into the store:

The effect is rather impressive; it’s hard to tell where the store ends and the sidewalk outside begins.

Inside, the store has familiar elements, but they’re put together in some new and interesting ways. Products are still displayed on large wooden tables, but they’re now laid out in a large grid:

Down each side of the store is what’s called an “Avenue.” The idea is to allow visitors to “window shop” select accessories and smaller items, like iPods. Here in Memphis, one Avenue held cases for the iPhone and iPad, while the other was dedicated to Watch and audio accessories:

These bays can be changed out independently of each other, and can house anything from products to video screens to even live plants. They have a few hidden tricks, too. If a visitor wants to buy a dark blue iPhone case, the clerk simply pulls on the sample case that’s visible on the wall, sliding open a drawer full of products for sale. I immediately thought of a safety deposit box when I saw it.

Likewise, the headphones rest on wooden spheres, and their audio cables auto-retract into the cavity behind the panel when a shopper is done trying them on:

While the back of the old Memphis store housed the Genius Bar — and a theatre before that — Genius appointments now take place at the tables on the sales floor. Technicians can now sit down with their customers and work together, instead of having the Bar as a barrier between them. This is a change that I’ve heard praised from Geniuses all over the country, and as much as I’ll miss the Bar I stood behind so many years go, I respect this change.

In it’s place is a giant video screen, rumored to cost over $1 million. It shows clips of various Apple products in a loop, and is pretty damn impressive. I can imagine that after dark, this will be visible from the street quite easily, despite being at the back of the store.

The screen is a rare showing of hubris in what’s an otherwise understated space. In fact, there’s no logo on the front face of the store. Rather, an Apple logo has been screened onto the casing around the window, but is only visible if you’re right at the glass:

Today was my first store opening. While I was present for several Mac OS X launches and the first two iPhones as an employee, it was more than a little weird to be applauded and high-fived for entering what is, at the end of the day, a retail store. That said, I’ll give Apple this: it’s a beautiful one.