Better Video Performance

The video card was the biggest reason I upgraded. My old white MacBook featured the Intel x3100 integrated graphics card and the new MacBook Pro has the new GeForce 9400m card. While neither card is ideal for gaming, you can certainly see and feel the difference with the new GeForce card. On the old MacBook I could barely run The Sims 3 and the new computer plays it just fine with no slowdown. Also editing inside iMovie 09 is noticeably faster and cover flow in iTunes seems snappier than on the old MacBook.

Amazing Design and Features

Second, the laptop’s casing is just stunning. The look and feel of the new MacBook Pro makes it impossible for me to use the standard MacBook. The first thing I noticed was the large trackpad, which is now a button. Like the MacBook Air, this trackpad features up to four-finger gestures that let you rotate photos in Preview and even activate Expose. The case is made out of aluminum and it feels very solid. This laptop seems a lot more sturdier then the previews my previous MacBook. Probably the best new feature of this computer is the screen. This thing is just stunning to look at and it renders colors perfectly, this is by far the best laptop display I have ever seen, I can only imagine what the 17″ model looks like.

A few other things have been upgraded in the new MacBook Pro as well. First off the battery is now built in and is not removable, for the common user. Apple promises 7 hours of battery life, but I get around 4 1/2 with iTunes on and Wi-Fi running. Also the speakers have been greatly improved. Before you could barely hear anything in the Macbooks, now I can actually hear them in a crowed room or while a box fan is running, yes the other ones were that low. One nice little addition is the new SD card slot. This makes it easier to import photos for me while my iPhone and external drive are plugged into the two USB slots.

Worth Every Penny

Overall this is a solid upgrade over the old MacBooks. If you are thinking of upgrading, make no mistake that this is the best laptop Apple has ever made and should last you for years. If you have any questions about the new MacBook Pros, feel free to ask via a comment and I will try to answer your question.

Spotlight and Search

On the Mac i use Spotlight as my app Launcher so when Apple announced it would be on the iPod Touch it only made sense to me. Spotlight gets its on spot to the left of the main home screen and you can use it to search for any piece of information on your device. This includes mail, contacts, iPod, and calendars. Even in the beta firmware Spotlight is really responsive and this may be the answer for better app management on the iPod Touch.

Apple has also added search into most of their apps. Now you can search in Mail, Music, Videos, and of course contacts. Because my iPod is only 8gb search really isn’t that big of a deal in the Music app but its very useful in Mail. Not only does it search the mail installed on the device it checks the rest of your mailbox, so if you are using Exchange it will check the server.

Copy and Paste

Finally Apple has jumped into the 21st century and added copy and paste into the iPhone firmware. This is done by double tapping on a word and up comes the new menu with Cut, Copy, and Paste. You can select more text with this menu open by selecting the two points on the ends of the word to extend the selecting area. In Safari you just click and hold on a block to text to select it and the new menu will appear.

Copy and Paste is built into the firmware so all apps on the iPod Touch will be able to use the feature. Developers can even extend on the functionality with their own apps in the new SDK. In Safari its hit or miss on selecting text and it is rather frustrating, but because this is beta firmware Apple still has time to perfect this. Obviously this feature is needed for businesses users and is perfect for those of us who do a lot of emailing on the device. Adding the feature is a nice step in the right direction but it feels like it needs some fine tuning.

Other new features

• Youtube app now allows you to sign in and view your subscriptions. This is another thing that should have been there since day one and is a welcomed addition.
• Street View is available inside Google Maps on the iPod Touch. The feature was included on iPhones in the 2.2 update a few months ago and works great on Wifi.
• Landscape for more Apple apps. You can now type in landscape for Mail and Notes. Stocks is now available in landscape and you can get more information on your stocks.
• Like the new iPod Nanos you can shake your iPod Touch to shuffle your music.
• Of course Push is added but at this time there is no apps to test it out, unless we build one.

If you want to know anymore about the firwmare let me know via comment or if you have any comments about it you know what to do.

1. Small UI tweaks- I loved the look of OS X 10.4 but for me 10.5 just looks ugly. From the once transparent menu bar to the 3D dock I am not a huge fan of the new interface. While I know Snow Leopard will put “innovation on pause” I would like to see a little bit more unified interface. Maybe the support of themes is the answer or not, I just want to see OS X look stunning again. 
2. Fix Cover Flow- Cover Flow is a great idea and visually is looks great, but for me its useless. Looking through folders or trying to find files that are not visually different, Pages documents or folders, also Cover Flow can be slow at times when loading the icons. 
3. Time Machine- An update for Time Machine would be welcomed in Snow Leopard. While I can’t complain about the current version of Time Machine there a few things that I would change. For starters I would like a way to change the current interface. While I like the whole space theme like Cover Flow its too slow at times. I wish Apple would use the “simple is more” approach when it comes to things like this. 
4. Spotlight- Two years ago Spotlight was great, but today it feels like its stuck in the past. I hate the way search results are displayed and searching for a single file can be frustrating if you don’t know the exact name. I am not sure how to correct this but I am sure Apple is working on it.
5. The Dock- As I said before I am not happy with the new Dock. While I was never a huge fan of the Dock before now it just feels out of place. Recently I have switched over to Quicksilver for my application launching but I have not completely given up on the Dock. I wish Apple would implement away for an application stack to work correctly. I am not suggesting a “start menu” I would still like for me to be able to open any app from the dock without it covering my entire screen. 

“Handshake is sending my contact info to strangers! A random person I’ve never met before got my contact information when handshaking. They emailed and told me.”

Tapulous Support 

What is handshaking and what is Friend Book? The app in general is a way to manage contacts and in some ways works better than the built-in contacts app. Also with this app you can share contacts with someone who is in the same area as you and has an iPhone or iPod Touch of course. The information is pushed to a cloud and then given to that person, but it appears that others are also receiving the information as well.

If you read on in the forum others have claimed to receive random contact information and some have even had their information sent to random people. Some people have even been contacted by these strangers who received their information. This is a scary thought that someone random person out there has your email, phone number, and/or even other personal data of yours.

Tapulous has removed the application from the App Store and has not said a word about this, or even announced that the app went live in the first place. For all you iPhone and iPod Touch users out there with Friend Book installed it’s best to uninstall it until it’s released again, unless you want your data pushed to random people.

Update: Tapulous has released the following statement from its blog.

“I am sorry to report that the release of Friend Book will be delayed by at least a week or two.

Yesterday, the app was briefly made available on the AppStore. However, after receiving several reports of the Handshake feature malfunctioning, we decided to remove the app from the AppStore until we can be certain that the app is behaving correctly and that users’ privacy will be fully guarded.

Meanwhile, keep on tapping and twinkling!”

Update #2: The CEO of Tapulous has released a statement on this matter.

Comments welcome.

What sets Twinkle apart from Twitterific is its beautiful interface. As you can tell by the screen shot the app stands out and shows off how well the iPhone screen looks. The sounds are also surprisingly well and stands out compared to the other Twitter apps.

The best feature of Twinkle is the nearby feature. It attempts to locate you and when it does it shows other people who are using Twitter around you. This is great for meeting new people and is really just a cool feature. This is the sole reason why I am now using this over Twitterific. So don’t delay go ahead and download Twinkle for free from the App Store.

App Store Link 

Aruroa Feint can be described as a Puzzle RPG. Instead of fighting off random enemies to level up you have to finish off puzzle levels, all of which are the same by the way. The object of the game, and like many puzzle games, is to get three colors in a row. You use the swipe controls to move the blocks back and forth, which makes it easy for anyone to pick up and play.

The best part about the gameplay is the twist in how you can move the blocks around. You can tilt the screen and the blocks will fall into position, meaning you can set up some serious moves. Also shaking the iPhone makes the pieces move into different positions, keeping you from getting stuck in a hairy situation.

After you gain enough experience you can upgrade to different abilities but at this time I have yet to figure out how to do different moves, so the RPG part of the game feels a little incomplete.Graphically the game looks great. The animations as you blow up the blocks looks stunning and what’s even better then the graphics is the music. You feel as if you are in a Lord Of The Rings movies with this stunning sound track. The music helps set the stage so much that you feel as if you are watching an epic movie.

As I said at this time I cannot comment on the full game because I have yet to learn how to do the RPG side of the game. Still the game won’t cost you anything and you can download it today from the App Store.

App Store Link

Finally there is a Rotten Tomatoes app available for the iPhone. This free app is simple, fast, and perfect for the mobile device.

Yes Heavyweights is my favorite movie.

Tomatoes allows you to search for movies and get an instant rating for that movie, along with an overview of the movie and its rating. This is perfect to have at the video store or at Best Buy if you are unsure of a movie.

The app is simple and that is its downfall. There should be a few more basic features.For starters you should be able to rate movies on the fly and see press reviews of that movie. A little more advanced feature that should be adds is the ability to write your own reviews and have others be able to read them and write their own, all from the iPhone of course.

Overall this app does what is supposed to do and it does it well. With a few more features this could be a great app and you should check it out.

App Store Link

The interface is stunning and easy to use.

Facebook on the iPhone gives you five great blades at the bottom, one for Home,Profile, Friends, Chat, and Inbox. Having all of these are very useful and looks and feels even better then the original web based version of Facebook. The friends feature is just amazing. Not only can you see your friends but you can see their cell number, email, and you yes you can click a number and it will dial it and yes you can email them with a click of the email address. The mobile chat is also well down and right now I am using it over AIM.The Inbox is great and it a good alternative to sending those pricey text messages. Also being able to upload profile pictures is a plus. As you can tell I am pleased with the Facebook app.

The only downside I see is there is no news feed option and it is sorely missed. Other then that Facebook is a great download for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

App Store Link

Moving on the single player is nothing special. The gameplay is lacking anything special. You have to lay the iPhone almost perfectly flat to hit the ball, much like the frustration with Super Monkey Ball, and trying to figure out where the ball will land is too hard to enjoy the game. Easy mode feels as if it was made for Roger Federer, and I am too scared to try out the harder difficulties. After a while the controls do get easier to learn but this game should be more of a pick up game then one in which you have to master.

As much as I want to love this game it is nothing special and should only be bought if you plan on playing multiplayer with other iPhone or iPod Touches.

*Update- After talking to the developer it should get an update here soon to add new features and fix bugs, including the ability to calibrate the accelerometer to your liking. Expect the update in the coming days.

3-D Vector Pong iTunes 

One of the biggest grips I have had with the App Store has been that the Entertainment section has been flooded with book releases everyday. The company that is putting these books in the App Store is AppEngines. What they are doing is nice to see, you can never have to many e-books on the go, but it has really gotten out of hand when trying to look through the App Store. Last night they admitted there is a problem and that they were putting their foot down.

We share your concerns that our ebook applications are taking up too
much space in the App Store. We have written to Apple, requesting a
that the books can be moved to their own category. We will not submit
any more books until the situation is resolved. Thank you. 

They received their wish and the App Store now has a section for books, but this still doesn’t fix the problem. All of the books don’t need to be in the App Store. AppEngines should of thought this through when making their e-book reader for the iPhone. The books should be located at a different spot, like maybe on their server, and you can purchase the books right from the e-book reader.

Still this is a good step in the right direction