Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

mac

Can the HP Pavilion dv3 take on the MacBook?

We'll come right and say it--we love 13-inch laptops. One point we're fond of making is that in a world where we have 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and even 20-inch laptops, the 13-inch size is the biggest we'd consider carrying around on a regular basis, as well as the smallest we'd be able to use as a full-time work machine.

Hewlett-Packard is debuting a new 13-inch model, powered by a variety of AMD CPU options (although, not the new low-power Athlon Neo). We've always liked HP's snazzy dv-series designs, with their glossy finishes, metallic accents, and subtle imprint patterns. HP describes this new model as having, "an argyle-like pattern for subtle contrast to the liquid appearance of the metallic finish." Then again, matte black works for us, too.

While the new dv3 is reasonably svelte, starting at 3.8 pounds and about 1.3-inches thick at its thickest part, we're most excited about the backlit keyboard--an extra we'd point out only comes with the more expensive $1,699 version of the 13-inch MacBook (and you can't even get the dv3's Express Card/34 slot in a 13-inch MacBook).

Look for the HP Pavilion dv3 later in January. Check out some more photos after the jump.… Read more

Hands-on with Picasa for the Mac

I'm a somewhat dissatisfied owner of a new MacBook. One of the things I was looking forward to with the computer was the vaunted easy photo management I kept hearing about. But I found the Mac's free photo management app, iPhoto, frustrating to use, compared to the product I had become accustomed to on Windows: Google's Picasa. I didn't like the fact that I had to manually import photos into the product--even photos already on my Mac--and that the import process made duplicates of my photos when I did so. I much prefer Picasa, which simply … Read more

Google to release Picasa beta for Mac

Google plans to release on Monday a beta version of Picasa for Mac OS X, helping Apple fans catch up to Windows and Linux users already employing the free tool for editing, cataloging, and uploading photos.

The Mac version largely matches the features in Picasa 3 for Windows, said Jason Cook, Picasa's marketing manager. Though the company has been scrambling to include some secondary features such as geotagging and the ability to get photos printed, the core abilities of Picasa are present, he said.

Picasa lets people edit and print photos, create collages and movies, and add labels, star ratings, and tags. More significantly, given Google's cloud-computing focus, it also lets people upload their images to the company's online Picasa Web Albums site where images can be shared. Google acquired Picasa in 2004.

"We have many Mac users," Cook said, though declining to offer any estimates, "and we think they'll be excited about this. It makes the Picasa Web Albums experience better." … Read more

Switcher's lament: The case against Mac

Think moving from a Windows PC to a Mac is easy? My experience, and my wife's, may encourage you to think differently. Here's the story:

When my latest Thinkpad began to get unreasonably slow, as Windows laptops often do after a year or so of use, I thought it'd be a good time to jump to the Mac platform for a while to see what the fuss was about. My wife's three-year-old laptop was running out of gas as well, so I thought she and I could make the change together. I was looking forward to an interesting period of learning a new platform, and I thought my wife, a heavy e-mail and Internet user but not someone who enjoys tinkering, would appreciate the fit and finish of products in the Apple ecosystem. I didn't think we'd have to give up much.

I bought a matched pair of MacBooks for us, and, over the holidays, we went cold turkey, leaving the Windows machines at home while we traveled to my wife Jennifer's parents for a 10-day-long holiday stay.

Technologically, it was not the happiest of vacations.

Before I get into the things that have been driving us batty, let me just say that the Apple hardware we moved to is gorgeous, and has been reliable. I'm enjoying the stability of OS X and the genius of the multitouch trackpad. And I love that fact that after I put the MacBook to sleep by closing the lid I don't have to worry about it not starting again when I open it.

But when it comes to the different applications my wife and I use, and to moving data from the Windows realm to the Mac, and to accessing hardware we already have, the process of switching continues to be rocky. Not all of the issues we have are with Apple products, and that's rather the point: No platform exists in a vacuum. People use other apps, and have their own training and preexisting hardware. Switching means overcoming a lot of technological inertia. … Read more

Unibody 17-inch MacBook Pro reportedly in works

It appears Apple is getting ready to expand its MacBook Pro lineup.

The Mac maker plans to unveil a 17-inch MacBook Pro, possibly as early as this week at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, according to reports on 9to5Mac and AppleInsider. Like the 13- and 15-inch models, the 17-incher is expected to sport a unibody construction. But unlike those smaller models, the new MacBook Pro will have a fixed internal battery, much like the MacBook Air's battery setup, according to the report.

The site also reported that we can expect a Mac Mini makeover that will include the … Read more

AMD inside Apple in 2009?

Here's a radical idea: a 2009 Apple computer with an AMD processor.

Maybe this isn't in the cards, but it should be. Especially in light of Advanced Micro Devices' upcoming ultraportable platforms.

I see an upscale Netbook-like Apple computer with, let's say, a slightly smaller form factor than the Apple MacBook Air. Maybe an 11-inch or 12-inch design packing low-power (and relatively inexpensive) AMD Yukon or Congo silicon. This would not be a Netbook clone--and would offer much better graphics silicon than a Netbook--allowing Apple to sufficiently differentiate itself.

Or what about an Apple laptop with an … Read more

Report: Apple's Internet presence grows

The Mac operating system in December made a stronger showing among users accessing the Web, according to preliminary figures from Net Applications.

For the month of December, the Mac OS accounted for 9.63 percent of what Net Applications calls market share of Internet usage, a second-place showing. The iPhone, broken out separately, logged 0.44 percent, good enough for fourth place, just ahead of the Sony's PlayStation. That puts the overall Apple share at just over 10 percent.

The percentage for Mac OS X is a record, up slightly from November but also up 32 percent from December … Read more

Macintosh at 25: Still the innovation leader

On January 24, 1984, the Macintosh came into the world, starting the second major revolution in the personal computer industry. Steve Jobs and team took some lessons from Xerox PARC and created the first user-friendly, mass market computer.

By today's standards, it wasn't that user-friendly (some will remember disk-swapping with the original Mac, which had 128KB of RAM and a 400KB 3.5-inch floppy disk drive), but compared with Microsoft's DOS operating system, it was a major technical innovation.

The 128K Mac version of the graphical user interface, with icons, fonts, folders, audio and a mouse, started … Read more

Quad-core MacBook Pro on the way?

Intel sneaked out a new low-cost quad-core mobile processor on Monday, prompting some observers to wonder if Apple will finally release a quad-core laptop.

The lack of fanfare surrounding the 2.53GHz Core 2 Quad Mobile Processor Q9000's introduction--it was merely added to Intel's CPU price list--is certainly interesting. It's a slow news week between Christmas and New Year's, so why not play it up?, is how the logic goes.

APCMag.com says it's possible Apple's been waiting for the processor to arrive from Intel, and it just happens to coincide with Macworld … Read more