Graham Spencer

1054 posts on MacStories since January 2011

Former MacStories contributor.
graham@macstories.net

Apple Australia Lets You Reserve An iPad 2 For Pickup

If you’re on the hunt for an iPad 2 and live in Australia you might just have a good chance of snapping one up from an Apple Store by reserving one online. That’s right, Apple Australia is letting customers reserve iPad 2’s for pick-up at an Apple Store and the next day no less!

There is however a (large) caveat in that you can only reserve an iPad 2 if that particular store has them in stock – and after going live only 3 hours ago I’ve looked through most of the Australian Apple Stores and none have stock of any of the 12 models.  Apple Stores do however receive stock fairly frequently, at least a few times a week so keep checking if you’ve missed out in this first batch of reservable iPad 2’s.

If you live close enough to an Australian Apple retail store and want to reserve an iPad 2 for pickup, jump over to the Apple retail site. At this stage it seems that Apple isn’t offering to do reserve iPad 2’s in any other country but one would suspect they may transition this system internationally and hopefully soon as it sure beats going to an Apple store everyday to ask if they have the model you want in stock.

[Via MacTalk]

 

Cydia 1.1 Is Here! Speed, Stability and Search Improvements Plus A Resume Feature

Jay Freeman, a.k.a Saurik just tweeted out that Cydia 1.1 is out; the update focuses on being even “faster, slimmer and more stable”. It also adds an improved search algorithm and a “resume where you left off” feature in what is a really solid update to the app. To get the update all you need to do is run Cydia and it will prompt you to run some updates.

Cydia 1.1: faster, slimmer, and more stable; including an improved search algorithm and “resume where you left off”. Available in Cydia now!

Many people will be glad to hear that speed has most definitely been improved in the app and it is now far quicker at loading to a fully loaded state as well as checking for updates, searching and loading the various categories of repositories. As Freeman says in his tweet, there is a new search algorithm, which as he explained in a comment earlier this month includes “an integer-arithmetic radix-sorted relevancy algorithm” which does make a little bit of difference from my quick testing. Perhaps more helpful is that the search results screen has been tweaked to make the results slightly smaller so that more can fit on the screen at any one time, helpful to quickly scan across the results to the one you want.

One of the oft-requested features for Cydia was support for multi-tasking, however as Freeman explained in some comments, this is not feasibly possible because of the requirement that Cydia run as Root whilst SpringBoard (which controls the suspension and resumption of apps) does not, meaning it could not control Cydia like it can a normal app and let it run in the background. However in Cydia 1.1, Freeman has managed to largely resolve the issue of multi-tasking with a “resume where you left off” feature which lets you quickly (I experienced less than 4 seconds wait time) get back to exactly where you were in the app, whether it be on a search page or inside a section folder.

Retina Display Featured In Latest “If You Don’t Have An iPhone” Ad

The iPhone 4’s Retina Display is the latest feature to be showcased in Apple’s new advertising campaign characterized by the “If you don’t have an iPhone” tag line. It highlights how without a Retina Display,  ”movies aren’t this dramatic”, “maps aren’t this clear”, “emails aren’t this detailed” and “memories aren’t this memorable”.

Jump the break to watch this latest ad, as well as the other four featured in the “If you don’t have an iPhone” ad series which demonstrate Game Center, the App Store, iBooks and the iTunes store.

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Microsoft Prepares Enterprise Software To Manage iOS, Android and WP7 Mobile Devices

Despite the perception of Microsoft being bitter enemies with Apple it sure seems as if this rivalry is cooling off lately with Microsoft working to provide several services and products to iOS users in particular. From their iPhone apps to additional features in Bing (that won’t even make it to Windows Phone 7 till late 2011), Microsoft is making a concerted effort to be relevant in the increasingly iOS (and Android too) mobile market.

Its latest foray is an enterprise and corporate focused piece of software that will allow IT departments to more easily manage a workplace of iOS, Android, Symbian and Windows Phone 7 mobile devices. Named, in typically superfluous Microsoft fashion, System Center Configuration Manager 2012, it will let those IT departments enforce password complexity and security, remote wipe devices amongst other key functions.

As Microsoft describes it, SCCM can “Streamline operations with a unified infrastructure that integrates client management and protection across mobile, physical, and virtual environments.” The Beta 2 of System Center Configuration Manager 2012 is available for download but it does require registration and only runs on Windows Server 2008.

[Via TUAW]

iPad 2 Price Comparison Across The World

Thanks to Italian blog Setteb.it you can easily check how much the iPad 2 price varies across most of the 25 countries launching the iPad 2 tomorrow. As is always the case for internationally sold products, and for a variety of reasons, the price varies quite substantially from country to country - even when currency and tax discrepancies are removed. The iPad 2 is no exception and some countries are paying a little more than their US counterparts, whilst some are paying far more.

The site tried to take the key variables of currency and tax out of the comparison by converting the local prices into the Euro and adding a rough sales tax average of 9.2% to the US prices. What was revealed was that the US had the cheapest prices for the iPad 2 but Australia was not far behind, only 14 Euros more expensive on the base 16GB WiFi only model and had the next cheapest prices for every other model except the 64GB WiFi + 3G which New Zealand had for the second cheapest price at only 18 Euros more than the US.

Comparatively the iPad 2 had the highest markup in Sweden and Norway at 100 Euros more for the 16GB WiFi model in Sweden and more than a 200 Euro markup in Norway for the 64GB WiFi + 3G. Click here for the full table of prices.

[Via TUAW]

Happy Birthday, OS X!

Ten years ago today, on March 24th 2001, Apple released Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah. Now ten years on, OS X has evolved into what we know and love as being Snow Leopard, that latest major update to OS X.

Between the original, and rather buggy version of OS X, Cheetah and Snow Leopard now, we had 10.1 Puma (September 2001), 10.2 Jaguar (August 2002), 10.3 Panther (October 2003), 10.4 Tiger (April 2005) and 10.5 Leopard (October 2007). With just a few short months before the summer, we don’t have much longer to wait until OS X 10.7 Lion arrives and brings a convergence of traditional desktop OS design and iOS design together into one great operating system.

So Happy Birthday OS X! If you’re feeling nostalgic you might want to have a read of the Wikipedia page on OS X which gives a nice synopsis of the major feature additions each release brought and jump the break to watch Steve Jobs introduce OS X at the 2000 MacWorld.

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iReply: Never Forget To Respond To A Text Message Again

It’s happened to everyone, you’ve received a text message and quickly read it but for any number of reasons decided you would respond to it later but then realize two days later that the message is still sitting unanswered in the Messages app on your iPhone.

Apple does a good enough job of alerting you to any unread text messages, but once read, you won’t get any more alerts about that text message. A new tweak to hit the Cydia store, iReply, aims to enhance that iOS SMS alert function by also reminding you of any text messages that you haven’t replied to and avoiding that awkward moment when your friend or boss asks why you ignored their text message. Jump the break for a short review of the app.

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US Senators Want Apple To Pull Apps That Aid DUI Checkpoint Evasion

A group of four US senators have called on Apple to remove apps from its App Store that warn and alert users of where DUI (driving under the influence) checkpoints are. In a letter addressed to Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iPhone software, the four US senators which includes Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, Frank Lautenberg and Tom Udall convey their “grave concern” over the apps which are “harmful to public safety.”

The letter doesn’t name any specific apps but takes at aim at those which “allow customers to identify where local police officers have set up DUI checkpoints” and citing a police officer asks “what other purpose are they going to use them for except to drink and drive?” The App Store does indeed include numerous apps that have DUI checkpoint databases, some of which are free and some of which are paid and many feature crowd-sourced information gathering on the location of the DUI checkpoints.

The senators end their letter stating “We appreciate the technology that has allowed millions of Americans to have information at their fingertips, but giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of public concern.” Currently the App Store Guidelines only state that apps cannot “encourage excessive consumption of alcohol or illegal substances, or encourage minors to consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes” - there is no mention of such police or DUI checkpoint evasion apps.

CNet contacted Apple for comment but received no comment at the time of publication. For the full letter from the senators, jump the break.

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Wife Said No But Apple Says Yes And Gives Guy Free iPad 2

In what is quite an amusing tale, one of the iPad 2’s returned last week was owned by a guy who was unfortunately told to return it by his wife. Because Apple had been troubleshooting returned iPad 2’s his iPad was discovered with a post-it note reading “Wife said no.” According to MacRumors, this was escalated up the Apple hierarchy as somewhat of joke, eventually reaching two VPs.

Those VPs decided it was only fair to send the guy an iPad 2 and add a note that said “Apple said yes.”

Genius.

[Via MacRumors]