posts

Hacking the iPod⇢

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Nicholas Deleon at Motherboard:

“I’ve [refurbished] four iPod Classics and six iPod Minis,” one iPod reseller, Tired8281, told me recently via Reddit private message. “They all sold, and I made a nice profit on all but one.” These refurbished iPods, he explained, are all outfitted with brand new batteries and, depending on the model, either a CompactFlash card or an SD card. Both solutions replace the mechanical hard drives that were originally present on the portable media player, increasing both battery life and the device’s responsiveness since there’s no moving parts to slow things down.

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Ten years of Intel Macs

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I would have missed this anniversary if it hadn’t been for this week’s episode of Simple Beep: at Macworld 2006, Steve Jobs unveiled the Intel-based iMac and the very first MacBook Pro.

I’ve written a little bit about the first Intel iMac in the past, while discussing the iMac G5 (iSight). That machine was very short lived, and the original Intel iMac ate its lunch in terms of speed and power.

The MacBook Pro was a little more interesting. Apple took the opportunity to slightly redesign the PowerBook G4’s case, making it thinner and adding things like MagSafe and an IR port for use with the Apple remote. With Apple never being able to squeeze the hot and power-hungry G5 into a notebook, the new machine was a really nice upgrade for customers who wanted both power and portability.

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f.lux responds to Apple’s Night Shift

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The developers of f.lux, responding to Night Shift, the iOS 9.3 feature that’s … uh … very much like their app:

Today we call on Apple to allow us to release f.lux on iOS, to open up access to the features announced this week, and to support our goal of furthering research in sleep and chronobiology.

As we continue to innovate and improve upon our ideas, we remain hopeful that we will have the opportunity to offer our best, new work to everyone who wants it. We’ve learned that people’s lives, biology, and everyday routines are incredibly, wonderfully different, and these differences must be embraced. There is not one right answer for everyone, so we are committed to making software that’s ever more adaptive and responsive to each individual’s needs.

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On Apple and Sonos

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My wife and I recently bought a Sonos PLAY:1 to put in our kitchen, replacing a Bluetooth speaker that’s been acting up.

If you aren’t super familiar with Sonos, in a nutshell, the company sells a range of Wi-Fi equipped smart speakers that can be used individually or together.

Instead of relying on a Bluetooth connection or AirPlay, Sonos built their own app, which can be used from any smartphone or computer to stream music from the device over Wi-Fi. While the bigger speakers have a line-in port, the PLAY:1 we bought doesn’t have one, so I’m not able to route audio to it except via the Sonos app.

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Interact⇢

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If you need more than what iOS’ built-in Contacts.app allows you to do, Greg Pierce’s new app piece of wizardry is for you:

Interact empowers you and your contacts to get more done in less time, with features like group management, one-tap contact creation, and more you won’t find in the built-in iOS Contacts app.

I was able to beta test this app, and it really is amazing what you can do with your contact data right from an iPhone with this app. Go check it out.

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LEGO reverses decision on bulk ordering guidelines⇢

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On LEGO’s corporate blog:

Previously, when asked to sell very large quantities of LEGO® bricks for projects, the LEGO Group has asked about the thematic purpose of the project. This has been done, as the purpose of the LEGO Group is to inspire children through creative play, not to actively support or endorse specific agendas of individuals or organizations.

However, those guidelines could result in misunderstandings or be perceived as inconsistent, and the LEGO Group has therefore adjusted the guidelines for sales of LEGO bricks in very large quantities.

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The most upgradable portable Mac ever

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This is a guest post written by my friend and Newton aficionado Thomas Brand.

The PowerBook G3 Series was Apple’s most upgradable portable computer ever! It weighed 7.8 pounds, and cost anywhere between $2,299 to $7,000 fully loaded. Codenamed “Wallstreet” the PowerBook G3 Series was the second line of Macintosh portable computers to include a PowerPC G3 processor, and the oldest portable Macintosh capable of running Mac OS X 1.

image via Shrine of Apple

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