3G iPhone news and rumors continue

Electonista is reporting that a Telstra Australia senior official claims that the next gen 3G iPhone will support their 42Mbps advanced 3G network when it comes online in 2009. They plan a roll out of a 21Mbps HSDPA+ network (21Mbs) this year.

AT&T has also announced plans to roll out HSDPA+ in 2009 in the US

The current AT&T HSDPA 3G network, which is completing it's 1st phase roll out in June, will reportedly support speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps

Many believe the 3G iPhone when released will be using an Infineon chipset for HSDPA which does not support HSDPA+. If so, achiving support for faster wireless networks like the one mentioned by the Telstra offical, would require an upgrade to become compatible with future 3G carrier network upgrades.

According to Apple Insider AT&T has put out a call via Kelly Temp services for extra help in June.

They did something similar prior to the iPhone launch last year and the temps were used to help direct traffic in store and manage crowds due to high iPhone demand.

MacRumors and others have cited reports that Apple has been importing mysterious new containers, 188 to be exact. Bills of Lading list the shipments simple as "electric computers". Apple and their supplier Quanta typically use the term "desktop computers" and these new shipments seem to be in addition to the typical computer shipments Apple receives.

Rumors from Arstechnica claim that Orange in France is calling iPhone customers to offer upgrades to 3G phones

Owners willing to trade-ins their current iPhones would reportedly get a new 3G model at just €50.

Or keep your 1st gen model and get new 3G model at a low subsidized rate. No details on what that rate or terms of the subsidy would be.

iPhone will get Scandinavian distribution via TeliaSonera who announced that they will sell Apple's iPhone in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

In Hong Kong and Macau, cellular provider 3 annouced that it too will be carrying the iPhone.

More photos and tweaked 3rd party iPhone case designs have surfaced to suggest that the new phone will have a slightly more curved backplate (desgined to accomodate thicker 3G chipset?), be plastic, and possibly available in other colors.

Patent filing surfaced this week suggesting that Apple may be looking at solar as an option for powering future iPhones and devices. One implementation suggests integrating solar cells into portable devices by placing them underneath the layers of a touch-sensitive display.

iTunes movies and TV shows in France, UK and Canada

TV shows are now available in iTunes France

Both international and local content inclusing US shows like Lost, South Park, and Desperate Housewives.

Shows are priced variably at €1.99 to €2.49 per episode

Apple expanded TV offereings in the UK and continued variable pricing.

Damages, NewsRadio and The Larry Sanders Show, Spiderman and Jackie Chan Adventures are now available in the UK. NewsRadio, Spiderman and Jackie Chan are priced at £1.19 per episode, Larry Sanders is at £1.49, and Damages at £1.89.

iPodNN reports that British newpaper the Times has studio sources saying Apple has signed deals with Fox, Disney, Warner Bros. and Paramount to bring movies to iTunes in the UK and Canada. Lionsgate and MGM are also rumored to be also joining the fray.

According to the piece pricing would be set similar to current DVD and on-demand prcing models in their respective countries. In the UK that means purchased movie prices ranging from £6 and £25.

Macbook updates may be delayed

According to Apple Insider, Intel has confirmed that shipments of the "Montevina" Centrino 2 mobile platform will be delayed by as much as two months.

Delay due to a bug in the integrated GRF chipset and a clerical error which delayed FCC approval of the Wi-fi components.

Puts a new Macbook model based on the platform into july at the soonest.

10.5.3 Update

Apple released software update 10.5.3 for Intel and Power PC based Macs.

Available as a stand alone downlaod or via Software update the latest relese includes over 70 fixes, enhancements, and updates. It also delivers several security patches and upgrades and is recommended for all users of Mac OS 10.5 Leopard.

Includes fixes for Time Machine and Airport, improvements in iChat sharing, and bring Google contact sync to Address Book and iPhones and iPods.

Michael claims the update has minimized the off angle discoloration issues on the 20" iMacs. He claims the effect is extrememly minimized.

Aaron, when is it "safe" to install an update? Shoul dyou wait to see if there are any issues?

Consider your potential risk.

Apple tests, but can't cover every configuration and environment

Make sure your firmware and all other parts of the OS and your applications are up to date.

Repair permissions.

Backup, backup, backup.

Watch sites like Macfixit and and Apple's support forums for reported issues and fixes.

www.macfixit.com

Some early reported issues

Adobe Photoshop and InDesign CS 3 users report files becoming corrupt when opened from a netwrork server and then saved.

Macbook graphics issues effecting apps like iTunes and Video playback. Large blocky dropouts of video on portions of the screen while scolling or playing.

More Apple Software Updates

Updates for Digital RAW Compatibility, Logic Express, Leopard Server, and security updates for Tiger and 10.5.2 users

Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.1 includes updates to support RAW file compatibility with more cameras from Canon, Epson, Leaf, and Pentax.

Logic Express Update 8.0.2, addresses "specific customer and compatibility issues of Logic Express 8.0.".

Server Admin Tools 10.5.3, tools, documentation, and utilities for remote server administration for users of Mac OS X server.

Security Update 2008-003, security updates for those on Tiger or not updating to OS 10.5.3. Available and recommened for Intel and PPC based Macs running OS X or OS X Server.

Apple readies Back to School Promo

Mac Rumors is reporting that Apple will launch it's Back to School promotion Tuesday June 3rd.

Aren't some schools still in session?

Details are not know, but Apple insider claims Apple's senior vice president Ron Johnson told Apple retail employees that it would be the companies biggest Back to School promo "ever."

Last years promo included a free iPod Nono or $199 credit tword the purchase of an iPod with the purchase of a qualifying Mac. iPhones were excluded from the promo.

Apple filming at NYC store

Reports and pictures flodded in that Apple closed down the 24 hour NYC store on Thursday night to film a commercial.

Some sites are speculating it's for the 3G iPhone.

All I can see is that they set up lights and cameras. It could be for a documentary about architecture for all I know.

Safari Exploit could give you a cluttered desktop

According to TUAW, security researcher Nitesh Dhanjani has reported to Apple on a Safari zero-day vunerability that could allow a malicious website that can begin downloading arbitrary files (including applications) to the user's computer without their permission.

The exploit effects both Safari for Mac and Windows.

Apple, has promised to patch the flaw in a future release of Safari.

Is .Mac due for a name change?

John Gruber of Daring Fireball kicked off the undercover work, citing a Russian-language that discovered a change in 10.5.3 iCal strings. the word .Mac is no longer hard code d in iCal’s “Localizable.strings” resource.

/* Label of the .Mac button in iCal’s General preferences. %@ is the new name of Apple’s online service (was .Mac) (remove -XX02) */

Further digging has uncovered other similar string changes for .Mac in OS 10.5.3

So what' sthe new name to be... we'll sveral trademark filings from January of 2006 noted by an Apple Insider report at the time suggest it may be "MobileMe".

There have also been strings and PNG images found in Photo Library frameworks of the latest iPhone Beta SDKs.

Sun offers Open Source VM Solution for Mac

Mac Observer is reporting on xVM Virtual Box

Sun Visualization Software

Supports Windows, Linux and Solaris VM clients and is available for Windows, Linux and Solaris VM clients.

Requires OS X Leopard and an Intel based Mac.

Circus Ponies

Notebook Free 30-day trial at Circus Ponies.com

circusponies.com

Listener Paul is using it to clip bookmarks and web pages into along with notes so he knows why he wanted to save the site.

Great for less used bookmarks

Save item for future purchases/wishlists

Safari bookmark printing

Peter is the developer at Balooba Software, makers of Bubblegym, a game that uses motion sensors in Macbooks for game play.

www.balooba.se

He also has a Safari Bookmark app called Safari Prariefire

Can clean-up bookmarks.

Finds dead links, dupes, redirects, etc. Allows you to remove them. Create a backup before it makes changes.

Now it can print.

Could be cleaned up a bit, but it's a good start.

Several listeners recommended the TextEdit "paste and Match Style..." trick. Command+Option+Shift+V paste in an RTF document to paste URLs instead of hyperlinks.

Safari notes trick from Albert

1) Create Blank TextEdit page in Rich Text Format and Save it

2) Do a File-->Save as.. Save and HTML without changing name to the same location.

3) Open the HTML version in Safari

4) Create a Bookmark for it in the Bookmarks Bar.

5) Command+Option+B Shows All Bookmarks

6) Drag the bookmark up to make it first in the Bookmark Bar list

7) Edit the URL portion of the link, changing the "html" extension to "rtf"

You can now type the Command+1 key from any page in Safari to open the TextEdit Document. Set documents up for taking notes and saving clippings you copy and paste from web pages.

Secondary tip... typing Command+1-9 will launch the corresponding link in the Bookmarks Bar list.

Rebuild Address Book Search Index

Listenerr is having trouble with search in Address Book not finding records. He can find the records with the same search in Spotlight in the Finder.

Is there a way to re-build the Address Book search index?

On-line there are several sites that say removing the ~/Library/Application Support/Address Book/AddressBook-v22.abcddb file and re-launching Address Book to recreate the index works.

I would make sure you have a good backup of the entire ~/Library/Application Support/Address Book/ folder before trying this.

I tried it and it seemed to be OK at first, but about 35 of my over 400 entries lost some data. Luckily it was backed up to my .Mac, so I was able to recover it on a sync.

The AddressBook-v22.abcddb files is a SQLLite database file and has many tables in it, but the one ZABCDCONTACTINDEX looks like it may contain the metadata keywords.

I used an open source app called SQL Lite Database Browser to open and inspect the AddressBook-v22.abcddb file.

sqlitebrowser.sourceforge.net

Re-installing apps after a OS X re-install

Listener Felipe got a new 24" iMac and wanted a clean slate, so he didn't want to bring over the old Library files with migration assistant, trouble is re-installing apps now requires re-entering serials, etc. Is there a way to avoid this?

He is also finding that many apps are requiring each user account to "register" even though he already registered under the main admin account.

Paul is having trouble with not all apps being available to all users after he re-installed them with an admin account.

One possibility they may have installed them into the Applications folder in his Home folder. I think this gets set-up when some apps ask if you want to install a program for "just this user" or it was left over from Tiger?.

He is also getting a strange message that, "You cannot open the application "X" because it is not supported by this architecture"., but it runs fine under the admin account on the same hardware.

Auto backup a Flash Drive

Jose recently had a thumb drive fail on him, was able to get files off his internal drive, but wanted a way to have the drive automatically backed up when he mounts it.

Do something when, an system preference app that will let you trigger actions based on events like mounting a disk.

azarhi.com

Options for mount, unmount, launch and quit.

Trigger Applescript, Automator actions, or apps.

Use an Applescript to run an rsync command to backup the thumbdrive on insert.

Link to article with Applescript example and basic instructions for setting this up.

Auto backup Flash drive

The amazing disappearing hard drive

Jamie can do a cool trick where he clicks his Mac hard drive icon in the Finder and it disappears. I think it's cool, he doesn't.

This seems to be a known bug in OS X, not 1005 certain on all the causes, but one site notes a culprit may be Spotlight and setting the comment metadata in the Get info window.

Also accessing a file in the Home folder from a Windows app in Parallels can cause the Home folder to go invisible

Whatever the cause the Invisible bit is getting set on the column or directory.

Can fix it temporarily by using the 'sudo chflags nohidden '/path/to/directory/' command in the Terminal. Only a temporary fix.

Maybe 10.5.3 has a bug fix for this?

Building a bridge to solve drive issues

Talk about issues with external Firewire drives that don't use "Oxford" chipsets.

Listener Paul was having issues with a "Fantom" brand drive.

Switch to USB2 if an option.

Cable lengths and daisy chains can be an issue also. Also conflicts on the Firewire bus/chain.

Slow mouse, curves ahead

Michael has a "sluggish" BT Mighty Mouse. It's not the speed, but the "precision".

There is a great Tidbits article by Parrish Knight that explains why.

Has to do with the "mouse acceleration curve". Apple has chosen to use in OS X's default mouse drivers and there is no way to change it.

OS X'c curve is too steep. It takes a long time to get the pointer moving and then flattens out quickly. For most people this results in a sluggish, slow to start, feeling and then jumping to too fast movement where they over shoot their destination.

Can't be controlled by changing the mouse speed.

Solutions?

3rd party mouse with own drivers.

Alternate mouse drivers. USB Overdrive or Steer Mouse.

USB Overdrive
Steermouse

Free solution in Mousefix, but is more tricky to set up and has not been updated since 2006, so I doubt it may not be Leopard compatible.

Mousefix

Mail image attachments as icons, not inline

Dan want's to know how to force OS X Mail to not put image attachments inline. Play comment.

OS X Mail will display PDF and images in line by default.

A couple of options...

1) In the Finder, Control+click the image and choose "Compress..." to create a ZIP and attach that.

2) Make the email plain text. Under the format menu choose 'Make plain text' and make image display as icon (Command+click and choose 'View as icon').

Also if you use the "Attach" paper clip icon from the menu-bar or choose "File-->Attach file..." you get a checkbox for "Send Windows Friendly Attachment".

Also note that when attaching an image at the bottom of the message window you have additional options to control the size when sent

Actual size, small, medium, and large.

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No Maccast Loop this Sunday

And for the foreseeable future.

Talkshoe has decided to change how it doing business with podcasters and how it is handling ad revenue shares.

I don't want to go into specifics and I do understand their business need for the changes, but I don't agree with how the change was handled.

Without going into details... some of the changes they made are retroactive back to the begining of the month dramatically changing the compensation terms for shows that I have produced and that they presumably benefited from.

I don't agree with they way the choose handle this part of the changes and will therfore no longer be using their service going forward.

Let me be clear... I still feel they have a good product and I am suggesting you don't use Talkshoe. This is burely a business decision between me and them. They offer a lot of great conent and their technology is great. I am just deciding to end my relationship with them. The Loop archive will also stay on the service as long as they choose to allow it to remain.

Victor and I are exploring options and alternatives, but until we can find a new home the show is postponed indefinately.

"One" by Shawn Z

Listener to the show.

Part of a music project called Argyle St.

He will be releasing an album on June 16th on iTunes

Visit his website MySpace page for details and more music.

myspace.com—argylestreetmusic

EOL: Lux, multitouch OS X

OS X based multitouch concept

nuiman.com—lux

YouTube Video

YouTube Lux Video