Apple Hot News News

• Ping Users Top One Million in First 48 Hours

  Apple today announced that in less than 48 hours since its launch on Wednesday, more than one million users have joined Ping, its new social network for music. Ping lets users follow their favorite artists and friends to discover what music they?re talking about, listening to, and downloading. ?One-third of the people who have downloaded iTunes 10 have joined Ping,? said Eddy Cue, Apple?s vice president of Internet Services. ?As many more people download iTunes 10 in the coming weeks, we expect the Ping community to continue growing.?

• iMac Is ?the ultimate all-in-one?

  Computerworld reviewer Michael deAgonia writes that for ?the past month, the latest 27-inch iMac from Apple has been the center of my digital universe.? Citing the computer?s high-resolution LED-backlit display, clean design, and speed, deAgonia concludes: ?The iMac is pretty much everything I could want from a modern computer, the ultimate all-in-one.?

• New Bento 3 Project Manager

  FileMaker, Inc. announced the Bento 3 Project Manager, a brand new set of templates designed to make it easy for Mac users to track their personal projects and manage their time within one integrated, intuitive place. The Bento 3 Project Manager includes a free 30-day trial of the popular Bento 3 personal database for Mac, plus two professionally designed, ready-to-use templates.

• Apple Introduces New iPod touch

  Apple today announced the new iPod touch, packed with incredible new features including Apple?s stunning Retina display, FaceTime video calling, HD video recording, Apple?s A4 chip, 3-axis gyro, iOS 4.1, and Game Center ? all combined in the thinnest and lightest iPod touch ever. The new iPod touch features up to 40 hours of music playback and seven hours of video playback on a single battery charge.

• Apple Reinvents iPod nano with Multi-Touch

  iPod nano has been completely redesigned with Multi-Touch, which lets you navigate your music collection by simply tapping or swiping a finger on the display. Nearly half the size and weight of the previous generation, the new iPod nano features a polished aluminum and glass enclosure with a built-in clip, making it instantly wearable.

• Apple Unveils New iPod shuffle

  The redesigned iPod shuffle features both clickable buttons and Apple?s innovative VoiceOver technology, enabling you to easily navigate your music and playlists without ever looking at your iPod shuffle. The wearable iPod shuffle has an all-aluminum enclosure with a built-in clip and comes in five brilliant colors ? silver, blue, green, orange, and pink.

• Apple Introduces iTunes 10 with Ping

  iTunes 10 features Ping, a new social network for music that lets you follow your favorite artists and friends to discover what music they?re talking about, listening to, and downloading. With Ping you can post your thoughts and opinions, your favorite albums and songs, and the music you?ve downloaded from iTunes ? plus view concert listings and tell your friends which concerts you plan to attend.

• Apple Premieres New Apple TV

  The new Apple TV offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows on your HD TV for the breakthrough price of just $99. With Apple TV, you can choose from the largest online selection of HD movies to rent, including first-run movies for just $4.99, and the largest online selection of HD TV show episodes to rent ? from ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel, and BBC America ? for just 99 cents.

• Mac Pro Is Go-To Choice for Creative Professionals

  Computer Shopper makes the quad-core Mac Pro an Editors? Choice, citing its speedy performance, easy upgradability, and new lower price. The reviewers write: ?Creative professionals who need a machine with both muscle and good looks, and Mac fans who love to game, will find a lot to like in the new Mac Pro.?

• iTunes U Downloads Top 300 Million

  In just over three years, iTunes U downloads have topped 300 million ? making it one of the world?s most popular online educational catalogs. A dedicated area within the iTunes Store, iTunes U offers users public access to university courses, lab demonstrations, special lectures, and more from world class institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, Oxford, University of Melbourne, and Université de Montréal.

• Auto Innovators Roll with iPhone and Custom Apps

  JM Family ? an $8 billion diversified automotive company and the largest Toyota distributor on the planet ? has integrated iPhone and business apps available in the App Store into all of their daily operations. The company has also created a custom app that enables their sales organization to quickly track, review, and update dealership numbers.

• Apple iAd Partners Happy with Early Results

  The Los Angeles Times reports that Apple?s iAd mobile advertising platform is ?getting favorable reviews from the companies whose advertisements were the first to run on the new system.? The article quotes Joe Jacoby, a senior manager of Nissan?s media operations, who says, ?What iAd promises is the most progressive thing I?ve seen to date? in digital advertising.

• Sophisticated But Simple iMac

  PC Magazine makes the new quad-core 27-inch iMac an Editors? Choice, calling it ?a highly sophisticated, yet simple to use media PC.? The magazine found the new iMac to be faster than other all-in-one models they?ve recently tested and concludes that it ?cements the Apple iMac as the all-in-one desktop to have and to beat.?

• Eat Pray Love Goes From Page to Screen via Final Cut Pro

  Editor Bradley Buecker describes how he cut his first feature film, Eat Pray Love, using Final Cut Pro. To edit more than 70 hours of footage shot on location in New York, Italy, India, and Indonesia, Buecker found a fast, efficient editing format in ProRes 422 (Proxy), introduced in Final Cut Pro 7.

• iPad Opens Up New Worlds for Autistic Children

  SF Weekly profiles a Redwood City mother, Shannon Rosa, who blogged that iPad had helped her nine-year-old autistic son, Leo. ?With the iPad, Leo electrifies the air around him with independence and daily new skills,? she wrote. The article credits Rosa?s post with contributing to a ?quiet revolution? in the autistic community focused on using iPad for teaching communication and social skills to autistic children.

• Magic Trackpad is a Winner

  The San Jose Mercury News reviewer Troy Wolverton gives Magic Trackpad a 4.5/5 rating, calling it a ?winner? and noting that it ?could give other desktop users a good reason to finally ditch their mice.? He concludes, ?I like the Magic Trackpad a lot and hope it will spark imitators on the PC side.?

• There?s Magic on Your Desktop

  Gadgetwise blogger Nick Bilton at The New York Times reports taking Magic Trackpad for a test drive that covered ?two-finger scroll on Web pages, pinch and zoom on images in Apple?s Preview application, and a number of other multitouch features.? He concludes: ?I?m pretty certain I will never own a traditional mouse again, at least when I use an Apple computer. Instead I will own a trackpad ? a Magic Trackpad.?

• iPhone Apps for Every Business

  Check out a few new iPhone apps demos to see how apps are changing the way businesses do business.The featured apps and the companies that use them are: Workday, used at illumina; Cisco WebEx, at RTKL; Documents to Go, at Unisys; and Airstrip OB, at Memorial Hermann.

• MacBook Pro Shines in Dual Environments

  Government Computer News tested the 15-inch MacBook Pro in its ?powerhouse notebook? roundup, making it a ?Reviewer?s Choice? and giving it an A+ in battery performance. The reviewer notes that what ?really knocked our socks off? was how MacBook Pro fared in the ?brutal conditions? of the battery life test, where it ?lasted five hours and 13 minutes, outlasting its closest competitor by almost two hours.?

• Magic Trackpad an Excellent Mouse Alternative

  Seattle Times reviewer Jeff Carlson calls Magic Trackpad ?an excellent mouse alternative? and ?a fascinating addition to the Apple hardware lineup.? He also mentions the new Apple Battery Charger, noting that it ?pulls much less power (30 milliwatts) once the batteries are charged compared to other battery chargers.? About Magic Trackpad Carlson concludes: ??if you want to take advantage of Multi-Touch gestures on a desktop computer, it?s a stylish and solid implementation.?