512 Pixels

Get it while it’s hot, folks.

Be sure to read this little nugget of information from that page:

Whenever someone tries to reach you, the call rings through on every Mac you own even if FaceTime isn’t running. So you never have to worry about making yourself available. If you don’t want to receive calls, just turn FaceTime off in Preferences.

Very cool, but I have one big question — why is this not just part of iChat? Or will these two apps combine in OS X 10.7?

Update: The UI in FaceTime is very minimal, and very dark. It require an AppleID, and will let you create a new one right within the app. FaceTime can use an email other than your AppleID email, which is nice for those of us who keep using an expired MobileMe account for an AppleID name.

During today’s “Back to the Mac” event, Steve Jobs asked:

What would happen if an iPad and a MacBook hooked up?

The new MacBook Air is the answer.

The biggest story here I think here is price. Yes, it’s neat¹ that Apple is building their own flash-based storage. Yes, it’s awesome that they are finally shipping a sub–12" notebook again. But all of that pales in comparison to the price.

The 11.6″ MacBook Air starts out at just $999 for a 1.4GHz Core2Duo and 64GB of storage. Bumping up to 128GB of storage is an additional $200. The 13.3″ Air starts at $1299 with 128GB of storage and a 1.86Ghz Core2Duo. Bumping to 256GB is an additional $300.

The MacBook Air debuted at $1,799 just under three years ago.

Like last time, it requires Safari 4 or 5 on Mac OS X 10.6 or Safari on iOS 3 or later.

Things should get going in just under an hour.

Genius tips for the Microsoft and the Apple trolls of the world.

Joshua Topolsky:

Despite some issues, webOS 2.0 is probably neck and neck with iOS4 when it comes to polish and ease of use, and that’s a pretty huge thing for Palm. This isn’t just a good OS, it’s a great OS, and the updates in this version have made it even better. It’s obvious that when combined with even slightly better hardware, it’s also a fast experience that makes it easy to get real work done. And that’s the problem with webOS 2.0, really. Palm is still hampered by last-generation, underpowered hardware. The Pre 2 is nice, but it’s not cutting edge, and it doesn’t hold a candle to the iPhone 4 or G2. If Palm wants to survive in this game – let alone truly compete – it needs to push killer hardware into the marketplace now. The faithful are dwindling, and the smartphone race is getting more crowded every day – webOS 2.0 is a big improvement, but if this and the Pre 2 are Palm’s hail mary, they just lost the game.

Sounds like HP is following in Palm’s footsteps. This is a real shame.

Twitter’s Carolyn Penner to Macworld on the beloved Mac app:

We aren’t actively planning Tweetie for Mac 2, but we maintain the app for current users. For example, over the summer we updated the client to use OAuth and improved MagicMouse support. We also made the app available for free.

Tweetie is one of the best designed programs for the Mac, however it is already behind the times, lacking both native retweet support and lists. While there are some other great Mac Twitter apps out there, it’s sad to see this one begin what will surely be a long, painful death.

Update: From TUAW:

MacHeist director John Casasanta was even surprised by Williams’ tweet, because he reports being in contact with Tweetie’s developer, Loren Brichter. The good news? Tweetie 2 for the Mac is alive and well, even though work has slowed due to the Twitter acquisitions of the mobile products. There’s still no word about when it’ll be released, but we’ll be sure to let you know when it’s out.

Until Loren breaks his silence, I wouldn’t count on a Tweetie 2.

Mac Rumors has a great post up summarizing today’s call.

Also from today’s call:

This size isn’t sufficient to create great tablet apps, in our opinion. While one could increase the resolution of the display to make up for some of the difference, it is meaningless unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of their present size.

Ben Brooks was right.

Steve Jobs, in today’s earnings call:

Our goal is to make the best devices in the world. Not to be the biggest—Nokia’s the biggest, and we admire them. But we don’t aspire to be like them. We want to be like us, and we want to make the best ones.

This sums up Apple so well, the company could print it on employees’ business cards.

Another record-breaking quarter for Apple.

Hilary Stout for The New York Times:

Along with fears about dropping and damage, however, many parents sharing iPhones with their young ones feel nagging guilt. They wonder whether it is indeed an educational tool, or a passive amusement like television. The American Academy of Pediatrics has long advised parents not to let their children watch any TV until they are past their second birthday.

Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, a pediatrician who is a member of the academy’s council of communications and media, said the group is continually reassessing its guidelines to address new forms of “screen time.”

We always try to throw in the latest technology, but the cellphone industry is becoming so complex that we always come back to the table and wonder should we have a specific guideline for cellphones,” she said. But, she added, “At the moment, we seem to feel it’s the same as TV.”

I know our two-year old just about hurtles himself across the room if he sees me with my iPad. We try to be deliberate about limiting his time with technology but the simple fact is that it is a hard thing to do. We try to balance this by keeping very few electronic toys out for him to play with it. Thankfully, most days he’d rather push his toy trains around or build with blocks than stare at the iMac.

Without a doubt, this is one of the trickiest thing about parenting in the 21st century. I hope we all get it right, for our kids’ sakes.

All indications are that Apple will preview the next version of Mac OS X on Wednesday. In keeping with the tradition of Apple-centric blogs, I’ve got some predictions about what the company has up its sleeve.

The iPadification of Apps

If the new MobileMe web apps are any indication, Mail, iCal and other OS X applications are going to get a serious visual overhaul to bring them more inline with the iPad’s apps, which isn’t a bad thing. iCal is stale, and Address Book in 10.6 looks like Address Book in 10.2.

However, I really hate when UI developers add things like leather and woodgrain to make apps look “real.” Apple has dabbled with this on the iPad, and I really don’t want it on the Mac. Please Apple, keep the madness at bay.

UI Refinements

Historically, Apple has used iTunes to quietly introduce new UI elements. iTunes 10 shipped with a muted appearance — gentle colors, sunken graphics and the horrifying vertical window controls. I hope there’s more of the first two on the way.

FaceTime

This really is a no-brainer. While the Mac has done video chat for years, adding the ability to video chat with someone on an iPhone or iPod touch will add some sparkle to a feature most people probably rarely use.

Finder

All I want out of Finder is tabs. And better network drive support. And tabs. And WebDAV that doesn’t blow up anytime I try to use it. And tabs.

Performance

It’s 2010, and ridiculous that OS X doesn’t include SSD TRIM support.

I’m sure 10.7 will boot faster than 10.6, wring more power out of modern GPUs and run smoother. For the most part, new Mac OS X versions run faster than the previous version, which is an impressive feat.

While Snow Leopard tightened up a lot of things under the hood, there is still work to be done. Hopefully Lion will be the next step to a leaner, more compliant OS.

I’d imagine the minimum requirements for 10.7 will be an Intel-based Mac and 1.5GB of RAM — up from Snow Leopard’s required 1GB RAM.

iOS Tie-ins

I don’t think Apple is going to start merging Mac OS X and iOS at this point. While I’m sure the two shall meet, I don’t think this is the time.

How Loud Will Lion Roar?

Snow Leopard, while a solid OS, is just a refined Leopard. It’s almost certain Lion will be a bigger revision. My guess is that it will be as big of a jump as 10.5 was from 10.4. While Tiger was a great OS, Leopard make it look dated immediately. I think we’re in for the same experience this time around.

Editor’s Note: Be sure to see my thoughts on the rumored 11.6" MacBook Air, which may also be introduced this week.